1. How Ivory works
Ivory transcribes piano audio into sheet music. You provide audio (a YouTube link, an uploaded file, or a live MIDI recording), and a machine-learning model converts it into notes. You then read it, play it back, correct any errors, and export it as sheet music or MIDI.
Ivory follows a four-step workflow:
- 1Import. Bring in audio via a YouTube link, an uploaded file, or a live MIDI recording.
- 2Transcribe. The model converts the audio into notes.
- 3Review & correct. Play it back, then fix any errors in the Editor.
- 4Export. Download the result as sheet music (PDF / MusicXML) or MIDI.
Ivory keeps two versions of every transcription. The performance is the raw output: exactly when and how hard each note was struck. The score is that performance snapped onto a grid of beats and measures so it can be drawn as readable notation. The playback audio source and the MIDI export options let you choose between the two.
The score is always generated from the performance MIDI, so the performance is the source of truth. If you edit the performance, for example, by adjusting the falling notes, those changes flow through to the score the next time it's generated.
2. Getting your music in
Every project starts on the Transcribe screen. There are two ways to provide audio:
- Paste a YouTube URL into the top field. Ivory pulls the audio from the video.
- Upload a file in the drop zone below. Audio files are transcribed; you can also import an existing MIDI file directly into your library.
Accept the terms, then press Start. Ivory treats everything it hears as piano, so clean, solo-piano audio gives the best results.
The screen switches to a progress view, and the job appears as a card in your Library. You can leave the page while it's processed in the background; the finished song appears in your Library when it completes.
Good to know
3. Recording from a MIDI keyboard
The Connect screen records directly from a MIDI keyboard instead of from audio. Connect the keyboard over USB or Bluetooth; Ivory detects it, shows the device name, and enables the Start Session button. If no device appears, check the cable, confirm the keyboard is powered on, and try another USB port.
During a session, your playing scrolls down the screen as a falling-note waterfall while an on-screen keyboard lights up in real time. This path captures MIDI directly rather than inferring notes from audio, so the note data is exact and goes straight to the score-building stage.
4. Your Library
The Library holds every transcription you've made, one per card. A YouTube job shows the video thumbnail; uploaded or recorded jobs show a generic cover. A double-note badge in the corner means the readable score has already been generated for that song.
Each card and the toolbar provide:
- Search: filter by name with the box at the top.
- Open: click a card to open it in the Player (new tab).
- Sheet / Download icons: open the sheet-music view or the export dialog.
- Rename and Delete: the pencil and trash icons on each card.
- Multi-select: select multiple songs to delete them together; a floating toolbar shows the count and a select-all option.
A transcription still in progress appears as its own card at the front of the list and updates until it completes.
5. Three ways to open a song
Every song opens in one of three views, each built for a different task:
Player
Plays the song as a falling-note waterfall (the raw performance MIDI). Opens when you click a song card. Use it to hear the result.
Sheet
The engraved score with a following cursor and full playback controls (speed, transpose, loop, metronome). Use it to read and practise.
Editor
The correction workspace for fixing notes, hands, rhythm, and measures. Use it to clean up the transcription.
The Sheet and Editor views are linked: the Correct button in the Sheet view opens the song in the Editor, and the Editor's Open score button returns to the Sheet view.
6. The Sheet view: read & play
The Sheet view renders the transcription as engraved notation and plays it back with a cursor that follows the music note by note. The header holds the playback controls:
Play / Stop
Start playback with a cursor that tracks the notes; stop resets to the beginning.
Speed & Transpose
Slow playback to learn a passage, or shift the whole piece up or down by semitones.
Loop a section
Select a start and end measure to loop a passage.
Metronome
Toggle a click and set its volume.
Performance audio
Switch between the quantized score MIDI and the raw performance MIDI.
Keyboard view
Show a piano keyboard that lights up with the notes as they play.
7. The Score Editor: fix & refine
The Editor is where you correct a transcription. AI output is never perfect: a note lands a semitone off, a chord splits across the wrong hands, a barline sits in the wrong place. The Editor fixes all of it on an interactive score, with full undo/redo.
The Help & Shortcuts panel opens automatically the first several times you use the Editor. It lists every shortcut and is always available from the ? button at the top right. This guide covers the same material in more depth.
Notes, downbeats & measures
A song is a stream of notes positioned in time. The Editor groups that stream into bars using downbeats, markers that set where each measure begins. Correct downbeats are what make the rhythm read correctly, so much of editing is positioning measures rather than notes. Show or hide the downbeat markers, add or remove one at the cursor, and drag the triangle handles to move a barline.
Navigating & selecting
Move between notes with the left and right arrows; hold Ctrl to move the cursor one beat at a time. Click a note to select it, Shift-click or Shift+arrow to extend the selection, Ctrl+A to select all, and Esc to deselect. The toolbar shows the selection count. Most actions apply to the entire selection.
Editing pitches & hands
Transpose the selection with the up and down arrows (a semitone each), or hold Ctrl for a full octave. Press X to move notes between the left and right hand, which corrects chords assigned to the wrong staff. The toolbar provides the same actions as buttons.
Rhythm & durations
Select notes and press a number key to set their duration (1 for a 32nd up to 6 for a whole note), then . to toggle a dot. Triplets have their own keys (E, Z, A). The same durations are on the toolbar.
Articulations & modifiers
Apply articulations to the selection: G marks a grace note, S a strummed/rolled chord, and T applies legato. All three are also on the toolbar and in the right-click menu.
Copy, paste & repeat
Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, and Ctrl+X copy, paste, and cut; paste drops at the cursor. R repeats the selection immediately after itself, the fastest way to duplicate a repeating figure.
Measures, time & tempo
Press D to toggle a downbeat at the cursor, or B to insert a one-beat rest that pushes everything after it forward. Use this to fix a bar that's a beat short. The toolbar's Actions menu holds higher-level operations: convert between 3/4 and 6/8, insert or remove a beat, and halve the tempo (for transcriptions captured at double speed). The BPM slider in the header sets the playback tempo.
Keys, clefs, notes & text
The Key and Clef dropdowns insert or remove a key-signature or clef change at the cursor. Add inserts a new note. Text places an editable label on the score for titles, fingerings, or annotations.
Listening while you edit
Space plays and pauses. The toolbar's speaker button toggles note preview, which controls whether notes sound as you select them. Turn it off during heavy editing to reduce noise.
Saving & safety net
Ctrl+Z undoes and Ctrl+Y redoes; every edit is tracked. Save with Ctrl+S or the save button. Open score saves first, then opens the Sheet view to play back the corrected version.
Keyboard shortcut reference
Navigation & playback
Selection
Copy, paste & repeat
Editing notes
Note modifiers
Rhythm & duration
Measures & timing
Saving
8. Exporting your music
The Download button (on a Library card or in the Sheet header) opens the export dialog. The formats fall into two groups:
Performance MIDI
The raw transcription with its original timing and velocities, closest to the performance.
Score MIDI
Quantized MIDI generated from the readable score (on the grid).
Ivory JSON project
The full editable project data, for re-opening or backing up your work.
MusicXML
Standard notation interchange format. Opens in MuseScore, Sibelius, Finale, etc.
A printable, engraved copy of the sheet music.
9. Account, subscription & feedback
The Account screen manages your profile, plan, and subscription. Transcription quotas and the score-based exports depend on your plan; upgrade here when you reach a limit.
The Build board is Ivory's public feedback space. Post a feature request or bug report, browse other suggestions, and track items as they move from Suggestion to Accepted to Completed.
10. Tips & troubleshooting
- The transcription plays at double or half speed. Use Half the tempo in the Editor's Actions menu, or correct the downbeats; the AI sometimes locks onto the wrong pulse.
- Notes are in the wrong hand. Select them and press X to flip between staves.
- The barlines drift out of place. Show downbeats, then drag the triangle handles or use D to re-place them; everything re-bars around the downbeats.
- An export option is greyed out. Open the Sheet view once to build the score, then export.
- Playback sounds robotic. Switch between Performance and quantized audio in the Sheet view's Playback panel.
- Clean input gives the best results. Clear, solo-piano audio outperforms a noisy or dense full-band track.