Below the main audio track is a bar that shows the processed progression giving you a good nudge on where to start. The Jam Master section offers you the first line of defense to transcribing songs with the tempo control that tells you the starting tempo of the imported song and lets you slow it down or speed it up by 50%. The pitch control allows you to increase and decrease the pitch up to one octave in either direction, one semitone at a time. The isolate section is a filter that allows you to isolate specific parts of the song by frequency so you can hear a given part, be it the rhythm guitars, or a lead melody more easily. The Riff Builder is a fun and potentially incredibly funny way to take a song and rearrange it to either form a brilliant backing track or a manifestation of chaos. You can divide a song up into 16 pieces through 6 banks that can be organized through the riff bank selector. The Chord Viewer is an extension of the chord bar in the audio track and gives you a suggested chord shape to work with as well as giving you a heads up on the next chord to pop up. You can also tinker the pitch, tempo, and switch from open to power chord suggestions from this view. Riffstation’s learning curve is easily among its greatest asset. While there is an online help option available it’s probably only necessary for the most perplexing cases. None of the tabs are so mired in tools that it’s remotely easy to get confused and, as I prefer it, just tinkering around with things will clear up any such mystery. In the case of the tempo and isolation filter you’re in a circumstance where you’re tinkering with the song and the quality becomes altered. If you simply just reduce the tempo the sound quality is preserved quite well, but it can get a bit grainy sounding if you drop it down to the slowest tempo and then crank the filters up. If you’re aim is to learn lead melodies then rest assured that’s as easy as it gets.

It can be a bit cumbersome to isolate rhythm guitars and that will offer a bit steeper of a learning curve, but even that’s not too bad. The biggest concern regarding the filter is what song you are loading into it. The guys at Riffstation have made it clear they are targeting guitarists, but I wanted to see just what all Riffstation could handle.

I’ve imported some Satriani songs, Tony MacAlpine, Guns n’ Roses, a couple of songs from the Mass Effect 2 and Super Meat Boy soundtracks, the haunting Torgo theme, some of Bach’s harpsichord fugues, and a couple of songs from my improv band Hulk Big Knife. In regards to the guitar-driven songs it Riffstation does a really good job.

Isolate bass riffstation