Hi guys - this's my first post here, though i've lurked sometimes here, but mostly on the sister site.


I'm hoping that someone can help me out with couple of questions that i have.

I'm new to MIDI compositions in general - i'm using MIDI CC Korg Taktile 49, which works perfectly and i'd recommend it to anyone.

However the issue is the following.

When i'm in process of composing music, it's basically plug-in, arm - record, play.
I'm not sure how other compose, but for me how i think it should work is:
"let the music come out - plug & play // then fix the errors"

However there's a problem there, which's that i don't instantly know the BPM or the time-signature in which i'm playing.
How do i figure that out? Especially if i'm composing something that seems to me that varies a bit in tempo & time signature, and especially since that composition is done instantly "out of head"

And more precisely, after i'm done "playing" it, how exactly do i find the BPM & time-signature of said composition?

The reaper itself has a wonky timeline, in which you need to use SWS addons to make sure that the MIDI files do not change in tempo, when you're playing, but i've got that part covered.

The current piece that i'm trying to figure out all of above, is https://www.sendspace.com/file/1p8asl
Starts at 0:08

Do know that it's shit, but i still want to explore and get better with it, if any of you know how to help me out with this issue i'd be most grateful, thanks in advance.

 

Hi Sillytune here is the tempo file made with Melodyne, just import in Reaper.
Hope this will help you.
http://www90.zippyshare.com/v/p2Wc4XG4/file.html

 

Thanks for that, however that was not really the question mate ><

 

That was the question? or am i missing something if so please explain your question a little better.

 

English is not my native language, so maybe you mean something else. good luck mate

 

No worries, maybe i've written it wrongly - english isn't my native language either.

The question was, if someone could share with me the process in which they deal with "composing straight out of their head"

Or in other words, how to find the BPM & time-signature of "complicated" compositions that you've "just thought of, and finished recording"

 

english is not my native language either. if you have a problem with understanding bpm and time signature my advice is don't do a complicated compositions as it's to early for you. As I understand 4/4 is easiest and almost all pop, rock, rap etc music is done 4/4 as it's symetrical and easy to predict. If you play (compose), a tempo and messure should be a foundation you have in your head. Internet should be your friend. After hundreds of composing attempts you'll get better.

 

But that's the thing - it isn't
I can make a "complicated" composition, the issue is finding the tempo and messure of it, after i've played it

Imagine jamming a song, and then liking it, - and then you want to record it properly, in order to do that, you need to know its tempo and a messure.

In the most stupid way possible that i can dumb down the question "how do i find the tempo - messure of a song that i've just jammed out of my head"

 

what instrument do you try to play, what kind of music? I woudn't call it playing if you have no idea of tempo and messure. By the way what do you mean saying "record it properly'? I don't think so. Imagine you recording a jazz ensamble in your studio and there are tempo and time signature changing during a composition you have no idea about. In my understanding it should not be an obsticle. What about recording a music with no exact tempo and time signature?

 

Last edited: Apr 19, 2017

It doesn't exactly matter which one.

Lets say i'm exploring an idea, and at the same time im recording it as im exploring-playing.
And i end up liking it, however it needs to be recorded properly, meaning that the errors have to be fixed, and some parts need to be redone
For example i've done: https://www.sendspace.com/file/1p8asl (which ofc isnt anything great - it is simply an idea) the drums i've played by messing around, and i want to align it properly to the Reaper Timeline, so i can fix it in piano roll - but i can't align it properly, because i do not know it's tempo nor time signature.

In nutshell the question when its dumbed down still remains: how can i find the time signature and the tempo of a song that i've just jammed.

 

Well, if you say it does't matter what kind of music and which instrument you try to play you probably right and it really doesn't matter. Just do some internet search of what tempo and messure is plus listening skills

 

Mate, mate, mate.

Have you opened up the link?

There are parts in that drum section, that're different, they're in different tempo, they're in different messure.
And i've recorded //played it, at "one" go, now i want to revisit it, and i don't know the tempo of those different sections, nor do i know the messure of it.

I want to learn for now, and for the future, what parts do i need to count, in order to know the tempo, and the messure, when the melody itself, is not static.

Does... this... make... sense?

There's no a guide to it on internet, i was hoping that there is someone here who could help me out.

 

Seems like you have a workflow problem.

For now: it seems like u want 2 find the BPM of a song https://www.google.com/search?q=find+audio+bpm+software . It helps if the BPM is constant . There's also mixxx (free DJ software). I use traktor.

IN THE FUTURE: Turn on the metronome in R when you record.

 

For now the question is really simple, and i've never understood why people reply if they can not give an accurate answer to it.

The software obviously does not help, for the track that i was working is not constant in BPM nor time signature.

Just leave it be, i will not find the answer here, thanks never the less.

 

Have you actually tried the reaper forum yet, probably the best place to ask. I've seen questions similar to yours asked and answered there before.

 

select a MIDI clip., You can press ctrl-F2 , ignore project tempo & then MIDI clips won't change with tempo stretch. Then you can make your own tempo map - add as many BPM & TS markers as the song changes BPM/TS.

 

The link has to be downloaded. As a lot of people have their DAW on their computer that's connected to the internet, they are uneasy about downloading to it. I would suggest that you use Clyp.it to upload to and then leave that link. this will take them to a player, so no downloading. More people will be likely to listen to it.

It's bongo drums. These are usually used as an accompaniment, to a structure, which would normally have a kick drum. As there is no kick drum giving time this will make it very difficult for most people to work out. Your best bet is to edit the title of your thread to something like, Any drummers here that could help me find the BPM and Time signature to this bongo drumming. Leave out the DAW bit as it's irrelevant to what you want to find out.

If you are going to record live into your DAW then you just need to remember to keep all tracks at the same as the original recording, which in this case I assume would be 120 bpm, as that is the standard defult bpm of Reaper. You can then record new bits while playing along to the original and use Reaper to blend them in. This will be good enough to let you carry on with what you have started, untill you can work out the bpm and time signature that would best suit the thing as a whole. As for the future you'll need to go online and learn to recognize the different time signatures by ear. Tempo is just how fst those time signature are being repeated in each minute. But as others have said, always turn the metrognome on when you reacord to give you a sense of time.

Be patient. There are people from all over the world here. They are online at different times of day, so may not have seen your post yet.
Anyway, Welcome to the forum.

 

hello Sillytune, I am not sure how helpful this will be but the method i use to do what you are describing is , to start reaper with empty project, listen to the track find the steady beat, enter that into reaper than import the track i draw it out to see how OFF it is, then if off little account by starting new project again typing in tempo then when import the audio should be able to align to the point of zooming in really close having reapers' grid match the transients of the audio and you can go beginning middle or end of song and it still aligned.
If it happens that there is multiple tempo changes for song, i will get tempo for intro of track do inserts along as time changes and the tempo changes until finally you have all aligned with tempo insert changes. I dont know if this help you but i am interested in what you find out from people and maybe what I have explained can at least be of help to you under certain contexts.

 

Hi Sillytune,

its quiet easy to tempo map in reaper as long as you know your beat and are able to count the steps (bars) to a full beat. You select a range of 4 beats ((If 4/4 beat.)(Count it by listening or watching the items)) then go to menu/insert -> measure from time selection -> "detect tempo" or "new time siganture". In your case, its "new time signature". If you have a lot of tempo changes you have to go thru the whole track and you should end up with a variable time signature similar to your played instrument. I'am not sure, but i think you can even choose 1 step of a beat and type it in the up popping dialog to create really tiny and smooth tempo changes.

Here is a video:

In the playlist you find other similar video fitting your question. By the way: reaper has a really big library of tutorial videos. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq297H7Ca98HlB5mVFHGSsQ has hours of hours of interesting video clips.

I hope it helps you with your problem.

 

Last edited by a moderator: May 2, 2017

If i understand you right, you will find the perfect way to solve your problem at the end of the video above by inserting time markers and move them by holding strg to fit your midi items or audio transients. Thats just the perfect workflow. And as always: Reaper is just amazing in its versatility.