WAV to chords
WAV is the cleanest input this tool can get: nothing has been thrown away by an encoder. Drop one and read the chords back.
Why WAV reads well
A WAV file is uncompressed PCM, so the spectrum your browser hands us is exactly what was recorded. There is no encoder ringing and no missing high band. If you have both a WAV and an MP3 of the same take, use the WAV.
That advantage is smaller than people expect, though. Chord detection reads a narrow band in the middle of the spectrum, and lossy encoders mostly damage the parts outside it. WAV wins on stems and raw recordings, not on commercial releases.
Bounced stems are the best case
If the WAV came out of a DAW, bounce the harmonic parts on their own: rhythm guitar, keys, pads. Drums and vocals add energy at pitch classes nobody is playing, and removing them measurably sharpens the read.
Files are held in the tab, so a long uncompressed WAV uses real memory. If a 40-minute session bounce stalls, export the section you actually care about.
Questions
- Which WAV formats work?
- Anything your browser can decode: 16, 24 or 32-bit, mono or stereo, any common sample rate. Everything is mixed to mono at 44.1 kHz before analysis.
- Is AIFF supported too?
- Yes. AIFF, FLAC and M4A all work wherever the browser has a decoder for them.