EarChord

Product Introduction

1. Overview: EarChord is a client-side web application for automatic music transcription, specifically designed for chord, key, and tempo detection from audio files. It operates within the category of Music Information Retrieval (MIR) tools.
2. Value: It provides musicians, producers, and learners with instant, private, and unlimited structural analysis of any song without requiring software installation, user accounts, or uploading sensitive audio data to external servers.

Main Features

1. Client-Side Audio Processing: All signal processing, including Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis and chromagram generation, is executed locally in a Web Worker. Audio files (MP3, WAV, M4A, AIFF) are never transmitted over the network, ensuring privacy and speed.
2. Comprehensive Harmonic Analysis: The engine outputs a detailed timeline of chord changes, identifies the global key using the Krumhansl-Schmuckler key-finding algorithm with a confidence score, and calculates the Beats Per Minute (BPM) by analyzing energy peaks across the track.
3. Dual-Notation Output: Results are presented in both absolute chord names (e.g., C, G, Am, F) and Roman numeral analysis (e.g., I-V-vi-IV) relative to the detected key, facilitating music theory study and transposition between songs.

Problems Solved

1. Challenge: Musicians and students often struggle to transcribe chord progressions by ear, a time-consuming process. Existing online tools frequently impose limits, require subscriptions, or compromise privacy by uploading audio.
2. Audience: This tool is essential for guitarists, pianists, songwriters, music producers, DJs needing key/BPM for mixing, and music educators looking for quick song analysis.
3. Scenario: A guitarist can drop a downloaded MP3 of a song they wish to learn, instantly receive the chord chart and key, and use the Roman numeral analysis to understand the song's harmonic structure and transpose it to a different key for their voice.

Unique Advantages

1. Vs Competitors: Unlike services like Chordify, which limit free users to 2-4 songs per day and lock file uploads behind a paywall, EarChord offers truly unlimited, free analysis with no account required, positioning it as a superior chordify alternative.
2. Innovation: Its technical edge lies in its pure signal-processing pipeline (chromagram generation and template matching) over machine learning, allowing it to be incredibly lightweight, fast (analyzing 32 seconds in ~0.1s), and run entirely within a modern web browser without GPU dependencies.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What audio formats does EarChord support? EarChord supports common audio file formats including MP3, WAV, M4A, and AIFF for chord and BPM detection directly in your browser.
2. How accurate is the chord detection? The algorithm is optimized for detecting the 24 major and minor triads in pop and rock music using chromagram template matching, providing high accuracy for standard progressions while avoiding over-complication with extended chords that can reduce reliability.
3. Is my audio file uploaded to a server? No, all audio processing for chord and key detection happens locally in your browser using Web Workers; your files are never uploaded, ensuring complete privacy and security for your music analysis.