Klangio was founded in 2018 by Sebastian Murgul and Alexander Lüngen. The company provides various programs for the transcription of audio files. Artificial intelligence has been developed for this purpose, which is able to record various tones and process them independently. The algorithm is currently used for the transcription of musical notes from musical instruments. Due to the constant expansion of the company, further projects relating to audio processing using AI are pending.

Establishing artificial intelligence in the music world and making work easier for musicians is the central concern of the Karlsruhe start-up. For this purpose, you have set yourself the goal of fully automatically transcribing audio recordings into sheet music. The idea for Klangio actually comes from a nice gesture by the founder Sebastian Murgul. “My sister wanted to play a rehearsed song on her keyboard. So I measured and transcribed the notes individually using an oscilloscope. That cost both time and nerves, which is why I wondered if it couldn’t be easier ”. This gave birth to the idea for Klangio, a company dedicated to products related to the transcription of audio files.

What began as a small idea in the student room quickly developed into a business idea, which the founders Sebastian Murgul and co-founder Alexander Lüngen continue to develop and perfect alongside their studies. This combined not only the specialist knowledge of the electrical engineering and computer science courses, but also enthusiasm and curiosity for technology in music. Klangio started out under the name Melody Scanner and was used for the fully automatic transcription of various instruments – from the guitar to the saxophone. Audio files can also be imported. Since the algorithm has much greater potential, Melody Scanner will become Klangio in early 2021, a company dedicated to processing everything related to audio files. Melody Scanner now functions only as a product of the company. In order to perfect the level of detail of the individual instruments, the program will be further expanded and differentiated. The company’s latest product is Piano2Notes, which is specifically dedicated to the transcription of piano pieces. The product acts as the company’s flagship.

The company is currently located in the Perfekt Futur in Karlsruhe, a cradle for the ideas of young start-ups. “The many start-ups in one place give you the opportunity to exchange ideas, plans and approaches. It’s the perfect place to advance ideas, ”say the two founders.

Both founders are certain of one thing: the idea has a lot of potential and can also be used in the long term outside of the music industry. Therefore, there are a few exciting projects in the near future relating to the transcription of other instruments, but also other products relating to AI-based audio analysis.

Piano2Notes
Piano2Notes was specially designed for the transcription of piano pieces. This targeted processing by means of the AI algorithm achieves a better accuracy of the note recording, but also a finer level of detail in the generated sheet music. There is also a special focus on the playability of the transcription. For example, there is an optimal separation between the left and right hand. A polyphony of up to four voices is also possible. At the same time, the algorithm detects the dynamics of the tones. Piano2Notes enables a detailed transcription, which is not available in any form.

Melody Scanner
Melody Scanner is the first program that enables the complete transcription of pieces of music to sheet music. The program can be used universally and was programmed to transcribe a wide variety of instruments. From guitar to saxophone, the AI algorithm processes the different tones and generates the associated sheet music. It is also possible to adapt the transcriptions to different instruments in order to enable a high level of detail in the transcription.