Transcribe audio into a reviewable drum score

Backbeat Forge keeps the recording, the detected hits, and the written drum part in one local desktop project. The goal is a strong first draft that a drummer can verify, not a promise that every ghost note or cymbal is guessed perfectly.

1. Choose the right source command

• Full mix opens a song with other instruments and prepares local drum separation before detection.
• Drum stem opens an already isolated drum track and skips separation.
• Import MIDI maps an existing percussion performance into the same five-line editor without running audio detection.

For supported formats and source trade-offs, read Audio inputs and drum separation.

2. Set the analysis controls

For audio, set Detection sensitivity before selecting Transcribe drums. A higher value can recover quieter hits, but it can also admit bleed or transients from the rest of a dense mix. Choose the Written grid for the notation you want to review; the grid controls readable placement, while the source timing remains available as evidence.

3. Review before you correct

Play the source and follow the written playhead. Select uncertain hits and compare the kit piece, onset, velocity, articulation, and confidence with what you hear. Review fills, open hi-hats, ghost notes, crashes, and syncopated kick patterns carefully because those are the places where source separation and musical context matter most.

4. Correct the current draft

Double-click the staff to add a missing hit. Drag horizontally to change timing or vertically to move the event to another kit piece. Use the selection inspector to adjust velocity and articulation, and use Apply grid only when the chosen written rhythm improves readability. The edit history supports undo and redo within the current session.

Continue with Edit and review the drum score for a detailed correction pass. Save a .bforge project before a long edit so the score, analysis settings, mixer state, and source identity can be reopened together.

5. Deliver only the reviewed draft

PDF and MIDI export both use the current edited score. Check the complete part first, then follow Export PDF and MIDI. Community Edition is free and includes drum detection plus five-line score review; editing and export require an optional licensed edition.

Return to the Backbeat Forge help index or download the current desktop build.