Tap Tempo Fixed?

[Shooshie]

Yesterday I used Tap Tempo for the first time since upgrading to DP9. It was in a simple, 4-track MIDI arrangement, and there were no audio tracks, plugins, or anything else but a VI (Ivory).

I hate to get anyone's hopes up without testing it further, but it absolutely worked! No work-arounds, no special tricks, no do-overs. It just worked right the first time. It felt like 1992.

After so many years of it just not working right, this is a welcome relief! But I still need to try it on some other projects with more demanding tempo changes, etc.

Shooshie

[waxman]

How about posting an iphone video?... what did you use to tap?

Yesterday I used Tap Tempo for the first time since upgrading to DP9. It was in a simple, 4-track MIDI arrangement, and there were no audio tracks, plugins, or anything else but a VI (Ivory).

I hate to get anyone's hopes up without testing it further, but it absolutely worked! No work-arounds, no special tricks, no do-overs. It just worked right the first time. It felt like 1992.

After so many years of it just not working right, this is a welcome relief! But I still need to try it on some other projects with more demanding tempo changes, etc.

Shooshie

[stubbsonic]

I won't get my hopes up, (still in v8.07), but that is promising news. That's a feature I have used in many, many projects.

I'd be curious to know how well audio tracks play while in tap tempo recording. For me, the audio might not come in for 10 seconds or so. I just keep trying over and over again until the audio plays from the downbeat.

[Shooshie]

You know, I can't say I've ever used Tap Tempo with audio. Does it actually work? Can you set tempos in recorded audio? I can't imagine it happening live at a speed necessary to respond to your taps.

I only use it with MIDI, but it's been so screwed up that I've almost forgotten about Tap Tempo entirely. Still, when I have a MIDI file that was input with step record, quantization, or notation, I've just got to try to make it more listenable. I hate mechanical MIDI. So, Tap Tempo is the only real option I've got other than to go in and draw every single tempo change on every single note. (I've done that, too, but won't unless I'm backed into a corner)

Tap Tempo used to be so sensitive that it felt like you were conducting. When I did it a couple days ago, it had that feel again. I remember Magic Dave saying something about it being fixed back at NAMM or somewhere before then, but I never heard any more about it. I think they really did it!

Shoosh

[mikehalloran]

So, "tonight we're gonna party like it's 1992" ?

[MIDI Life Crisis]

So, "tonight we're gonna party like it's 1992" ?

I'm sooooo busted. Oh wait, it's legal now!

[Kurt Cowling]

I'm trying to use tap tempo in 9.12 and having problems. I'm using MIDI only (no audio tracks at this point).

Tap Tempo works for awhile, then seems to top out at some maximum tempo after some arbitrary number of bars. As I tap faster than the "ceiling" tempo the playback of MIDI stays constant rather than following me. The playback cursor moves further ahead than the actual sounding MIDI notes. I'm not sure if my faster tapping is getting recorded into the tempo track because I just delete the last several bars of tempo info and punch in. At that point I again can tap in the tempo successfully until at some random point it again tops out and stops following me.

Anyone else having these same problems?

Thanks!

[Shooshie]

I'm trying to use tap tempo in 9.12 and having problems. I'm using MIDI only (no audio tracks at this point).

Tap Tempo works for awhile, then seems to top out at some maximum tempo after some arbitrary number of bars. As I tap faster than the "ceiling" tempo the playback of MIDI stays constant rather than following me. The playback cursor moves further ahead than the actual sounding MIDI notes. I'm not sure if my faster tapping is getting recorded into the tempo track because I just delete the last several bars of tempo info and punch in. At that point I again can tap in the tempo successfully until at some random point it again tops out and stops following me.

Anyone else having these same problems?

Thanks!

Oh, God, NO! Not again!


Shooshie

[Phil O]

I haven't even looked at Tap Tempo in years. I was hoping this thread would be a big present with pretty paper and fancy bows. Looks like there still might be some issues. ...piece o' coal.

[Shooshie]

I haven't even looked at Tap Tempo in years. I was hoping this thread would be a big present with pretty paper and fancy bows. Looks like there still might be some issues. ...piece o' coal.

I had used it several times in DP9 or 9.1, and it seemed to be fixed. I haven't tried it again since reading the above post about 9.12. But the report above is exactly the way it used to behave, so I have no reason to doubt its veracity or accuracy.

I'm wondering if the new next-gen/pre-gen might have something to do with the problem. I wish they'd get Tap Tempo working like a pro, and keep it that way. It's all but useless when you have to go back and fix it constantly.

There's a scene in the Pixar movie "The Incredibles" in which Mr. Incredible is talking about it being all in a day's work to save the world again and again, but [with obvious impatience and frustration in his voice] "sometimes you just wish it would stay saved for a while!" That's the way I feel about Tap Tempo. I just want it to stay fixed for a while. It's easy to think that nobody uses it anyway, but that's because nobody CAN use it! Get the darn thing fixed and keep it fixed, and I think you'll find that Tap Tempo (the kind which allows you to conduct a MIDI sequence in real time) is one of the most useful features in any DAW.

Shooshie

[Phil O]

Agreed!

[bayswater]

I'm wondering if the new next-gen/pre-gen might have something to do with the problem.

Yes, doesn't any form or extent of pre-gen make tap tempo impossible (at least until MOTU perfects time travel)?

[Shooshie]

I'm wondering if the new next-gen/pre-gen might have something to do with the problem.

Yes, doesn't any form or extent of pre-gen make tap tempo impossible (at least until MOTU perfects time travel)?

If I were programming Tap Tempo, I'd merely turn off Pre-Gen (and all plugins except instruments) while it is in use. In fact, I've always done something similar. I've always used a blank saved mix. In the Mixing Board we can save our mixes, so I always create a blank mix — no plugins — for tracking, Tap Tempo and troubleshooting. Seems like something a programmer could handle. If next-gen pre-gen has no plugins to process, it should be able to handle real-time Tap Tempo without any trouble.

Admittedly it could be tricky, but I think the clever lads and lasses of MOTU should be able to figure it out. Worst case scenario, use an external MIDI rack instrument, but Tap Tempo must be fully functional and accurate.

However... I have not tried it in DP 9.12. Maybe I should see if I am actually having problems before worrying too much.

Shooshie

[bayswater]

If I were programming Tap Tempo, I'd merely turn off Pre-Gen (and all plugins except instruments) while it is in use. In fact, I've always done something similar.

There may not be a lot of "merely" to be had. Consider that a user might set up a sequence with a lot of processing going on, that face hidden by pre-gen. Then they turn on tap tempo, pre-gen turns off and the CPU spikes, audio drops out, timing fails etc. They come here and complain, leave a tech note, and so on. I'd want to avoid all that.

[Shooshie]

If I were programming Tap Tempo, I'd merely turn off Pre-Gen (and all plugins except instruments) while it is in use. In fact, I've always done something similar.

There may not be a lot of "merely" to be had. Consider that a user might set up a sequence with a lot of processing going on, that face hidden by pre-gen. Then they turn on tap tempo, pre-gen turns off and the CPU spikes, audio drops out, timing fails etc. They come here and complain, leave a tech note, and so on. I'd want to avoid all that.

The key, as I said above, would be to have it ignore plugins. Essentially, it would switch to a blank mix, a default mix that can't be changed, but which would come on when using Tap Tempo and revert to the current mix when the user is done with Tap Tempo.

But I'm not the programmer, so I don't know how they'll do it. All I know is that it has to be done. Don't make me switch to Logic when I need Tap Tempo!

Shooshie