Anyone who’s had to do some interview transcription knows that it makes you want to tear your fingers off. It’s one of the most tedious things I have to do, so anything that makes it easier thrills me (probably too much).

Enter Express Scribe. ES is just a simple and well designed piece of software. It’s got a lot going for it, beginning with the fact that it’s free. But the basic operation does everything you want it to. You load in audio in any one of a number of formats (my files are almost all either wav or mp3), and move over to a text editor. ES sets up universal hotkeys for handling the audio.

So, for example I’ve got all my hotkeys lined up on the function keys: F2 = slow play (ES lets you customize how slow), F3 = normal play, and F4 = stop. On the other end I’ve got rewind and fast forward on F11 and F12. ES does all the little things that make transcription easier. The audio automatically bumps back when you stop (by a customizable amount, of course), the program remembers your spot in the audio, even if you quit and come back. It displays the current audio time in the task bar. And, of course, you can use it with a set of foot pedals if you have them.

5 stars, highly recommended!