I am pulling my hair out over this... PLEASE HELP!

[RennyFN]

Hey guys and gals, this is something that I've never had to do - and I'm pulling my hair out over this, and I'm sure there must be an easy way to do it, but having read the manual everything just seems too complex for what I want to do. OK....

Here's the rundown of what I want to do:

1. I have a song, which I do not know the tempo of.
2. I am going to eliminate the centre so I lose the bass, and the kick and snare etc
3. I want to put a click track to it.
4. My drummer will then play along to the click, and my bass player can fill in on the bass parts, thus leaving just the synths and backing vocals.

The tempo upon tap tempoing it is around 118bpm. However, it goes in and out, and loses the click constantly.

IDEALLY, what I'd like to do is, just tap along to the whole song, thus getting a natural sort of groove, and edit the tempo as I go along. IS THIS POSSIBLE?

This would obviously be the quickest way, and would mean I can then bounce down the audio with the click track... However, I can't seem to find a way to do this... Do I really have to do it bar by bar, tediously dragging the start and end markers of each bar?

Anyone that can help, I will kiss you.

Thanks!

I am using Pro Tools LE 8.0.3 with MPT2 fyi.

[spicemix]

You would use Beat Detective for this. I would suggest Kenny Gioia's videos on it but you might find something free on youtube etc.

Another way is to use Identify Beat. After using Renumber bars to set 1|1 you run through, e.g. tabbing to transient and saying identify beat (cmd-I) and tempo changes will be generated for you.

[RennyFN]

But can I do this over an entire song? It's a 5 minute song.

Also if there are subtle tempo changes that fluctuate around 118, would this method still work in theory?

I'll look some of the videos up in the meantime...

[guitar486]

Do a google search for "pro tools identify beat."

[RennyFN]

Ok just to clarify, I think the tempo DOES change. But it fluctuates...

I just want a tempo map that fluctuates with it basically, so the drummer can play along to the click, and all the backing can come out the PA.

I'm not sure beat detective is helping me with that.

[RennyFN]

Shows how wrong I was! Think I've got it sussed, thanks for the help guys! haha

[RennyFN]

Nooooooooooo... It was NEARLY right. But it still goes out... Hmmm.


Can I "Identify beat" intermittently and change the tempo like say 12 or 13 times in the song? That would still be quicker...

At the moment, it changes the tempo for the whole song...

[spicemix]

Every section, every bar, every beat, every 32nd note... Whatever it takes

[Sol7]

Use Tab to Transient. Then use Identify Beat as has been stated. You can down to each 32nd note.
Or just do it measure by measure or Phrase (8 Bars whatever)
That will create a tempo map. Generate a click track it will follow
the tempo map and your drummer can play to that.

You might want to leave the centre alone it will give good transients for
Tabbing.

[RennyFN]

Thanks for all the help guys. I got there in the end! It did take a lot of splicing and dicing and beat detecting, but it worked in the end. Just didn't expect it to take that long!

It's a shame you can't literally play a track though, and just tap along to it to get an overall tap tempo map...

Nevermind! Job done. I don't fancy doing that again soon in a hurry!