Overdubbing a MIDI track at 2 different tempos

[le revelateur]

Hi,

I'm currently working on a song running at 60BPM, and there is a particular MIDI sequence that I would like to change from 60BPM to 30 BPM without having to change the tempo of the whole song, and I'm having a hard time figuring out how to do this. If I change the tempo of the whole song to record a take, every other track ends up shifting and they don't match up together anymore. I can always just record a take this way and then align it properly with the other tracks once I switch the tempo back to the original one, but I would like to be able to listen to the result before actually recording it, so that I may tweak the slower version of the MIDI sequence if need be.

I've only managed to find information on how to change the tempo within a song (p.649-656), but I don't want to change the tempo sequentially - I would like to record two different versions, at two different tempos, of the same MIDI sequence so that they overlay.

Is this even possible with DP? Did I miss something in the manual?

Thanks!

[HarmonicMotion]

I'm confused as to why you can't just record two versions of the song at two different tempos using the conductor track in multiple sequences, and then just put them together at the end in an other sequence.

Maybe I don't understand your question?

[le revelateur]

Yes, I've done that before and it worked, but in this case I would like to be able to modify the 30BPM version before recording it into an audio track, so I would actually need to be able to hear what it sounds like when played alongside the 60BPM version, and the rest of the song for that matter, in order to create more interesting pattern interchange.

Basically, I want to use the 30BPM sequence as a template to create a MIDI sequence that will work with the rest of the song at 60BPM. I guess it's the same as if I was sending two versions of the same MIDI sequence - one on a track running at 60 BPM and another on a different track running at 30 BPM - to two different synths. Is this even possible?

I hope I'm not confusing matters more.

[stephentayler]

As this is a simple case of the tempos having a direct relationship, as in being double......

Record MIDI at 60bpm
Make a copy of the MIDI track. Lock only this one.

Change sequence tempo to 30bpm.... now you have both the original MIDI and the new slower version side by side.....

You can also create 2 audio click tracks for 60 and 30 for any further reference.....

That is if I have understood your issue, I haven't been very clear......

Cheers!!

Stephen

[le revelateur]

Hi Stephen,

Thanks for your reply! Sounds like what I was looking for...

I forgot to mention one thing; I'm pretty far advanced in the composition/arrangement of the song and all the audio tracks are also running at 60 BPM, so I would need to lock the audio too, right? Or else the audio tracks won't align once I change the sequence tempo to 30 BPM.

I have to admit that I'm still new to MIDI and sequencers in general, so I'm not even sure if I can lock audio?

Your suggestion will help either way, as I can manage to work on the arrangement without using the other audio tracks that were already recorded as reference.

Thanks!!

[stephentayler]

yes, lock the audio tracks and they will stay as they are.

Cheers

Stephen

[le revelateur]

Excellent! Thank you...

[wheever]

Just to add to your bag of tricks, here's another approach: just duplicate the MIDI tracks you want to have play at 30bpm, then select them all and scale time to 200%. That way there's no chance of other tracks being messed with and needing locking, etc.

This is what I would do.

I'm really curious why you need to do any of this at all.

[rhythm_kitchen]

I once had both Vision and Digital Performer open on a Pismo. Vision's click was 6/8, Performer 4/4. Tempo's set so the downbeats lined up. It played both QT clicks for a few minutes then froze. If I remember correctly sync'd with MTC via the IAC bus (no audio engines loaded).

However in real life, one simply locks a second machine and via lightpipe, feed those stems back to the master DAW.

(or developers could add a polyrhythm track with an alternate meter and tempo. These alternate bar lines could display in the tracks or sequence window in a different color, or not depending on overview preferences).

Then you could print out Jobim's 'Stone Flower' composition as written and not as triplets. --- > Or in a dire emergency smoke it

[FMiguelez]

Just to add to your bag of tricks, here's another approach: just duplicate the MIDI tracks you want to have play at 30bpm, then select them all and scale time to 200%. That way there's no chance of other tracks being messed with and needing locking, etc.

This is what I would do.

+100

Me too. I think that's the way to go.

Incidentally, and as another item for the bag of tricks, that same technique is awesome to get any kind of tuplets perfectly and quickly set (by setting the selection to some useful ratio)

[Shooshie]

Add me to the list of those who would simply use "Scale Time." Maybe I missed something by scanning the thread rather quickly, but normally Scale Time is what I'd use to change a selection to half-tempo without actually changing the tempo.

Shooshie