Need help: conforming grid/measures to MIDI notes

larryf · Post by **larryf** » Mon May 07, 2007 8:15 pm

Hi, I saw something on this board about getting DP to conform measures to a MIDI sequence, like it would analyze the sequence and get the notes in a freestyle (non-metronomed) performance to line up with measures. I couldn't find the post(s), but in DP I found Region - Extract Tempo From MIDI. Unfortunately, this did not work. It inserted a huge number of conductor track tempo changes, and now my piece which was recorded freestyle at 102 bpm is playing back at 131 to 136 bpm depending on the measure (it keeps changing!). It's like chipmunks on PCP playing piano. I thought there was a way to have DP conform the measures to the performance without changing the performance in any way. Can anyone shed light on whether this is possible? Thank you.

Mr_Clifford · Post by **Mr_Clifford** » Mon May 07, 2007 8:54 pm

It's called 'Adjust Beats'. Although it's not quite as automated as you think, but it works great.

auptown · Post by **auptown** » Mon May 07, 2007 8:55 pm

I just learned this from a Shooshie post. The automatic one did not work for me either, but, if you go to the projects menu, modify conductor track, and select adjust beats and leave the little window open (it can be hidden). Now you can just drag barlines around to fit the notes.

And a great trick -- open the conductor track in a parallel window, and you will see the resulting tempo of each measure shown as the height of a bar. If your playing wasn't perfect (like mine!) you can try to get the bars all the same height (and same tempo) then move the notes a little.

Works great!

pencilina · Post by **pencilina** » Mon May 07, 2007 10:03 pm

Adjusting beats is too time consuming for me. Here's my tried and true way. I've tamed many a grid and preserved many a vibe. Someone back in the day from a DP list showed this to me you might have to fill in the blanks here as I'm in the middle of a project right now.

- create a MIDI track name it "click"

- tap 1/4 notes along to the song

- playback make sure your taps are accurate

- make sure the first tap lines up with the first note if not draw some in. I usually have to draw in the first bar because that's where I got the tempo to tap to.

- save (and save a backup) when the 1/4 notes seem lined up

- Assign the output of your "click" track to an empty MIDI out port (eg. "port 8 out")

- run a MIDI cable from that out port back into an empty in port on your interface (eg. "Port 8 in") and make sure your "click" track isn't record enabled

- goto project>modify conductor track>record beats
(I usually select "OK is first beat")

- Let the sequence play through- you won't see any data being recorded.

-mute your "click track" and DP's grid (and metronome) should now line up to your performance based on the 1/4 notes you tapped in. Notice all the tempo changes in the conductor track (this is dp conforming its tempo to you instead of vice versa). If all is cool unplug the MIDI cable you looped back into you box.

a few things:
-don't lock your MIDI tracks
-if you need to quantize this rubato MIDI you can erase changes in the conductor track
-I seem to remember doing this at some point without the MIDI cable loopback business using the a tapped "click" track and region>extract tempo from MIDI when I tried it recently it didn't work so I went back to my old way

I hope this helps you and keeps the dusted chipmunks tamed.

Shooshie · Post by **Shooshie** » Tue May 08, 2007 9:10 am

That works for some things, but not for, say, a classical performance of a rubato piano sonata, or something to that effect. Before I used "adjust beats" I used "record beats," and I could get very close, but not perfect. The performance is not a perfect rendition of the original.

Adjust beats, when set to 8th note resolution, works for most sensitive applications. It's possible to use 16ths, but for diminishing returns in my opinion. Each resolution increase doubles your work.

Using beat snapping, and other options in the Adjust Beats window can make it go very fast. Also, lining up the conductor track in Consolidated Windows, and matching the zoom so the barlines are vertically aligned with your working track makes the work much easier. When there is any question about where the beat goes, just hit COMMAND to stop the snapping, and watch the conductor track to get the beat in the right place. It becomes obvious what to do as you do it, so I won't elaborate.

Shooshie

ganapatimusic · Post by **ganapatimusic** » Tue May 08, 2007 7:03 pm

One possible advantage to the record 1/4's on a MIDI track first over simply using "record beats" is that it allows to edit if any of the 1/4's tapped don't correspond to the performance. In a long piece it can be hard to tap accurately for the full length, and editing an punching in on the MIDI track to perfect the 1/4 notes can be more flexible or easier than trying to punch in on record beats. On the other hand, there might be a little additional "offset" in the result from the MIDI delay and slop that might occur going out of the MIDI interface and back in.

FMiguelez · Post by **FMiguelez** » Tue May 08, 2007 7:25 pm

.

True. I've also found that using the Record Beats command gives me a great head start to the Adjust Beats thing. They don't need to be perfect, just enough so that the bars and beats are close to where they are supposed to be. Then, fine tune with adjust beats.

Sometimes tapping 8th notes gives more resolution as well, depending on the nature of the music.

These 2 features are VERY powerful. I love them.

waxman · Post by **waxman** » Sat May 12, 2007 4:13 pm

ganapatimusic · Post by **ganapatimusic** » Sat May 12, 2007 4:46 pm

1/8's sometimes are better. Originally I thought the smaller the increment the better. But it a appears that with adjust beats for example that if you line up with every beat or 1/8'th of the drummer your tempo map will be of what he/she played, not the tempo they were feeling neccessarlity. Your downbeats may be lined up where their feel was antipating or lagging compared to the tempo they were feeling. Then if you add and quantize additional percusionsion or a bass, the drummers anticipations won't have the feel of an anticipation that was the fell they hopefully wanted when they played it. If you are aligning to a drum machine with no "human feel" then this may not make a difference.

Also, too frequent of tempo changes add to the strain on a CPU making DP overload at a lower threshold.

Shooshie · Post by **Shooshie** » Sun May 13, 2007 4:04 am

FMiguelez wrote:.

True. I've also found that using the Record Beats command gives me a great head start to the Adjust Beats thing. They don't need to be perfect, just enough so that the bars and beats are close to where they are supposed to be. Then, fine tune with adjust beats.

Sometimes tapping 8th notes gives more resolution as well, depending on the nature of the music.

These 2 features are VERY powerful. I love them.

Now, if they'll just fix Tap Tempo. I used to use Tap Tempo on nearly every song. It has not worked properly in 4 years.

Shooshie