How to Rip Tabs from MIDIs (And Modules)
(or: The Tone Deaf Man's Guide to Creating Tablature)
=====================================================
    Okay, so you have this song you absolutely love, and you want to
be able to play it on your cheap-ass guitar (or maybe you have a good
one, but that's beside the point), but there's no tabs available
anywhere, and as much as you'd like to figure it out yourself, you
currently have all the ear training of Vincent Van Gogh. As you'll 
see, this is in no way a flawless process. When it works, is generally 
works really well, and when it doesn't it can be frustrating in the 
extreme.

Using Melody Companion/Harmony Assistant
========================================
    Well, if you happen to have a MIDI of the song, you're in luck.
The process is sometimes time-consuming, but it works. A MIDI file just
tells the computer what notes to play when, and with which instrument
sounds, so the information you want -- what to play on your guitar --
is in there somewhere. As such, you'll need some software that can
handle this sort of thing. Of course, 90% of all music shareware is
crippled to the point of being nearly useless, but two such programs
that aren't quite so bad are Melody Companion and Harmony Assistant,
from Gullion Bros. Software (http://www.myriad-online.com). Both are 
very powerful music making programs, and using them to rip tabs out of 
MIDIs is really only using the tiniest fraction of what they can do, but 
they do it better than most. Melody Companion tends to complain if you 
have large songs, but it's only $15 to register. Harmony Assistant (which 
costs a fully $65) doesn't do that.
    In either case, load up the MIDI and find the track for the 
instrument(s) you want the tabs for. Especially for lead and rhythym
guitar, the chords may sometimes be spread over a few different tracks.
You can highlight a track, Copy it, and then use the Add command in the
edit menu to combine its notes with those of another track. Us bass
players don't have this problem, generally... Once you have the right
track, click the little "TAB" button by the track, and pick the
appropriate intrument type.
    Wow! Tab. Now you just need to get it into a usable format. You
can save it as a tab file if you have the registered version, or a
graphics file if you don't. I usually end up re-typing the tab manually
into Notepad.

Octaves
=======
    This is where some more complications can come up, especially for 
bass; the notes may be something the instrument can't play, whether 
too high or too low. MIDI composers are usually very good, but 
sometimes they have odd ideas about how high a bass guitar can go. To 
fix this, go to Edit, and pick Shift Up One Octave or Down One Octave, 
depending, to get something that's actually on your fretboard.

Alternate Tunings
=================
    Of course, sometimes an octave shift will still make the notes too 
high or too low. This may be because the piece is meant to use an 
alternate tuning. For the uninitiated, this usually takes the form of
adjusting all of the strings on the guitar so that they play one or
two half-steps lower than normal. Of course, if your ears aren't that
good yet, you'll need one of those digital tuners to achieve this (Korg
makes a little silver thing that does a good job of this).
    To make alternate-tuning tab, you simply pick the alternate tuning
version of the instrument when you pick it for conversion to tab. This
generally means it'll be listed with "Eb" (E-Flat) or "D"/"Drop D"
tuning, for what note the top string (normally the E string, and shame
on you if you didn't know that).
    Alternate tunings aren't used everywhere, but they're common enough
that you should be aware, especially if you're into heavy metal; tuning
down gives you a heavier sound that makes it easier to get a "metal
sound."

Bass Stuff
==========
    A standard electric bass has four strings that go EADG, but a lot of
the time there's music that goes below the E string, or even the D that
it can be easily tuned down to. Sometimes it's because the piece was written
with a synth doing the bass parts, but a lot of musicians use 5- and 
6-string basses. A 5-string, in case you don't know, adds a low B string, 
while a 6 string has a high B string as well*.
    If you're stuck with a 4-string, you can sometimes still fake it; the 
E-string can generally be tuned down to C# (3 half-steps down) without much
trouble, though the strings rattle a bit much if you go too much lower. To
use this kind of thing in Melody Assistant pick the bass in the tab menu,
then click "other" and then down-shift the E-string 3 times.

*Conklin makes a 7-string that further adds a high E string, giving it the
same BEADBE string setup as a 7-string guitar. It costs a bit over a grand.
 7-string guitars, BTW, are almost never used. Same goes for 6 and 7 string 
basses.

ARGH!
=====
    Sometimes a MIDI just _won't_ work for this. It sounds fine, but
the information you want just isn't there; I've come across songs where
the bass line is non-existent, or just completely different, and there
isn't a whole lot you can do. If there's another MIDI or module (see
below), you can try that, or you may be able to get a rough idea from
looking at other tracks which follow the same melody.
    But at some point you may end up armed with only your ears. And
since I can't really do that myself, I can't offer much advice. There
are programs that can slow down music but keep the same pitch (such as
Musician's CD Player) to make transcription easier.

The Rule of 5-0
===============
    Hopefully you know this already, but in case you don't -- playing
the 5th fret on one string is the same note as playing the next highest
string open. Likewise, 6th is the same as 1st on the next string, and
so on. Letting a computer do the tabbing means that it'll use these
two interchangably sometimes; presumably there's a process that goes
on here, but I don't know what it is. Especially when you have 
something like this:

   A|-0-----0-1-1-1-1-| Which could be: A|-0-0-0-0-1-1-1-1-|
   E|---5-5-----------|                 E|-----------------|

    When picking wheter to put 0 or 5 on your tablature, take into
consideration which would be easier to play.

Listen To The Song!
===================
    Before you go putting your song up on the net and being insulted
on the newsgroups or whatever, sit down and listen to the original
song. Play the CD if you have it, download an MP3 if you don't, since
you generally do need that level of quality in order to make out the
individual instruments, and for bass it helps to have some kind of
bass boost or equalizer. What I do is try to follow the tab on paper
as the song plays; it becomes evident pretty quickly whether the tab
is going to work or not, and where any problems might be. It's also
a little bit of ear training too. Try to play along, and if necessary
experiment a little until it sounds right.
    Oh, and if there's more than one MIDI version of the song, it 
doesn't hurt to go over that too, to double-check.

Credit Where Credit Is Due
==========================
    Okay, there is a good reason I call this "ripping" tabs. You are,
after all, taking them out of someone else's MIDI sequences. Not
exactly 100% kosher, but if you need to do this it's because you can't
any other way. Even so, I suggest you at least give credit to whoever
created the sequence, maybe even ask them for permission. This isn't
always possible, of course -- MIDIs are thrown around the internet
like crazy, and more often than not without any clue as to who 
originally created them -- but if you can, do it.

Tabs From Modules
=================
    The various Module formats (MOD, S3M, IT, XM, etc.) are similar to
MIDIs, except that the instrument sounds are provided by the composer
in the form of actual samples included in the file. The end result is
a fairly compact music format which allows for digital recordings and
even voice samples. You can do much the same thing with them to get
tabs -- MC and HA support MOD and S3M files -- but there are a few
caveats to go with them.
    First of all, the "Credit Where Due" statement goes double for
modules. These files have headers that clearly show who made them, so
excuses about being unable to figure that out won't fly, and module 
composers are sometimes more protective of their works.
    Second, the formatting of modules can sometimes make getting tabs
more tricky; the labels for what the samples are are usually left blank
or contain info on the author and the song, so you may have to just
listen to figure out which one (if any) is the instrument you want.

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Ewen "Blackbird" Cluney                     blackbird@blackbird.nu
Blackbird's Domain                        http://www.blackbird.nu/
The Official Thrash Home Page          http://thrash.blackbird.nu/
Knight Kevlar of the Immortal Frog        Silver Knight of Mihoshi
              "Be nice to me; I might just develop 
             psychokinetic powers and destroy Tokyo!"
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