Using Beat Detective

[DonaldM]

Looking for some advice on the best way to use BD to create a tempo map for a song recorded with out a click track. I have an audio file with vocal and acoustic guitar. The song was not recorded with a click track, so the tempo is not consistent throughout.

What would be the best way to use BD to create some sort of tempo map? I'm not asking how BD works...I understand that. What I'm looking for is the most efficient process to employ.

I was thinking of setting up an instrument track with a drum kit and then just tapping out the kick drum as I play the audio, then using BD measure by measure to id the tempo. But that seems tedious to me. So before I do all that, is there a better approach?

[Stig Eliassen]

Using BD to create a tempo map is tedious work, and with a loose performance there's no way around it. Boring, but sometimes necessary. Make some coffee, and off you go.

I did this for an entire album recently, and it is a PITA. Take it bit by bit, measure by measure.

Good luck.

[DonaldM]

Originally Posted by PT Lover

Using BD to create a tempo map is tedious work, and with a loose performance there's no way around it. Boring, but sometimes necessary. Make some coffee, and off you go.

I did this for an entire album recently, and it is a PITA. Take it bit by bit, measure by measure.

Good luck.

I think I've got the tedious work part down pat. Am I on the right track to create a second track to tap out the beat while playing back the audio track and then using BD to id the beat off the beat track?

[Stig Eliassen]

Am I on the right track to create a second track to tap out the beat while playing back the audio track and then using BD to id the beat off the beat track?

You can do that if the reference track doesn't have prominent transients for BD to work properly. Hard to tell without hearing the track.

[DonaldM]

No, it doesn't have any consistent prominent transients that BD would recognize or could use. That's part of the issue, here, and why the coffee and tedious approach is probably the only one that is going to work!

[ondruspat]

I haven't had much luck using BD to make a consistent tempo map. I always end up using "tab to transients" and "identify beats" to mark the tracks. And like you suggested I've done it sometimes with a guide track tapping out the beat, usually just using a MIDI track with no sounds (I'm just using it to lay marks on the timeline).

Happy mapping!!

[DonaldM]

Wheee!!!