New Tutorial Vid: Tempo Mapping Wandering Recordings

[ryanharlin]

Hey Guys, I've just released a new tutorial vid for Reason users to show an advanced technique for tempo mapping and getting song material back to a fixed tempo grid in our sequencer.

I came up with this tutorial idea when I found myself working with Take ideas I'd find on Discover that were totally cool but the Take users recorded them without using a backing beat. Often they were just grabbing a quick idea without thinking about the rest of the production chain but fortunately that doesn't stop us as Reason producers from being able to develop their material. And thanks to Reason's freakishly good time stretch, it sounds great too.

[5mile]

Wow good morning Ryan
Best trick I've seen in ages !!
This is reason Jedi stuff upper echolan
Thanks so much

[eusti]

Great idea and neat video! Thanks for sharing!

D.

[Jagwah]

It's a very clever and solid method Ryan, well done. 

I thought the video was very polished, and it was a relief to see something directing Discover / App users towards Reason itself. Hey, maybe it's not the end of the world after all.   :comp:

[Makis]

Good....but no multitracks, no party for me.

[Concep]

Awesome tutorial Ryan!

[ryanharlin]

Good....but no multitracks, no party for me.

Imagine if that's what Daft Punk, The Beastie Boys, and about 35 years of hip hop and sampling culture had said...

Discover is early and we have a lot planned for it, so don't put away your party bow tie just yet. This tutorial is more about working with unclicked material, though. That technique applies to any version of Reason that supports audio and from any source.

[Olivier]

This is so much more pretty a method than i've been using Thanks !!

[tibah]

Good stuff!

[EnochLight]

Hey Guys, I've just released a new tutorial vid for Reason users to show an advanced technique for tempo mapping and getting song material back to a fixed tempo grid in our sequencer.

I came up with this tutorial idea when I found myself working with Take ideas I'd find on Discover that were totally cool but the Take users recorded them without using a backing beat. Often they were just grabbing a quick idea without thinking about the rest of the production chain but fortunately that doesn't stop us as Reason producers from being able to develop their material. And thanks to Reason's freakishly good time stretch, it sounds great too.

Ryan - I just wanted to say thanks very much for creating this video. I've been a Reasoner for almost 15 years and consider myself a seasoned Reason veteran, and it never occurred to me to use this technique for tempo mapping

Absolutely brilliant - thank you!!!

[QVprod]

This is cool! Had a similar situation where I did a reference recording with a client without a click and stretching it to a set tempo didn't work so well. Who knew the solution was so simple??? Thanks Ryan! 

[zeebot]

Good vid Ryan but I'm still not upgrading!

[jfrichards]

Great tutorial Ryan!  I'm wondering now that if a TV show, like The Mindy Project, wanted to use your version for a part where Mindy is watching the rain from a coffee shop after a blowout with her boyfriend Danny, how would that be done?  There is a certain Lennon/McCartney thing going on from a composer point of view (not just stylistic), where you did the arranging on Faustine's piece.  Would the UTV/NBC producers negotiate with you and you negotiate with Faustine?  Would they just download it and use it for free?  I'm confused because Faustiine and you signed away financial rights by using Discover, no?  I'm not upset or picking a fight at all, just interested.  It really did turn out perfectly for a TV show scene.  Technically, could I download it, add some acoustic bass, and sell it to UTV, so you get the fame and I get the fortune (a common deal)?  Or maybe they would negotiate with Faustine and you would get arranger/musician pay from her?  I'm confused.

[ryanharlin]

Good vid Ryan but I'm still not upgrading!

What if we told you that 8 puppies come with Reason 8?* See below for actual footage of a Reason 8 unboxing.

 

* actual puppy count included in the box may vary from advertised amount by up to 8 puppies.

[JiggeryPokery]

What if we told you that 8 puppies come with Reason 8?* See below for actual footage of a Reason 8 unboxing.

 

* actual puppy count included in the box may vary from advertised amount by up to 8 puppies.

There's ten there

[Gaja]

That is awesome!
If only I had known earlier!

[EnochLight]

* actual puppy count included in the box may vary from advertised amount by up to 8 puppies.

LMAO!!!!

[MarkTarlton]

so don't put away your party bow tie just yet..

haha! you always have a way with words ryan.

I almost spit a little coffee out when I was reading through your post

thanks for sharing and making the vidget!

[Wee Joe]

Great Tutorial Ryan, please do more.      Wee Joe    :s0826:

[MarkTarlton]

I forgot to ask you ryan in my first post...how long did it take you to get those automation points drawn in?

[ryanharlin]

I forgot to ask you ryan in my first post...how long did it take you to get those automation points drawn in?

About 15 minutes for this song. Her song was only like 30 measures so it's not too long. I did another one last night with rapper who was rapping in French and that took maybe 20 minutes or so. They go sorta fast once you get in the groove of it.

I think of it like knitting or cleaning bathroom tile in your shower... you just do little by little focusing on the small part in front of you and before you know it you're done and you have this great sense of accomplishment... and sometimes a scarf, in the case of knitting. 

[craven]

very nice tutorial, Ryan

would quantization sound too unrealistic? I mean, there must be a way to get it done automatically. Will try this out next time I need tempo mapping.

[ryanharlin]

very nice tutorial, Ryan

would quantization sound too unrealistic? I mean, there must be a way to get it done automatically. Will try this out next time I need tempo mapping.

Effectively this is quantization, craven. It's just a rather efficient method of dealing with a giant bunch of unknowns.

I'll try to explain: Automatic quantization happens when you have 3 things:

1.) A known tempo for your song
2.) A known tempo your recording is played at
3.) Little human fluctuations within that known tempo that need correcting.

The problem is that when an artist records without a click they often wander and thus ruin item number two in the above list.

So when the tempo is unknown - and often varying to a big degree - how does a computer know to quantize something? If its sequencer is set to 110BPM but the recording has slowed down to 102BPM, how does it know where the nearest 8th or 16th in the music is? Short answer: It doesn't. That's something humans still excel at understanding. So we have to teach the sequencer how the tempo moves to essentially reinject criteria number 2 above back into the process.

One the computer knows that Faustine starts at 56BPM but slows down to 54BPM then up to 58BPM... then it could apply normal slice quantizing because the audio makes sense to it again.

And once it makes sense, we delete the tempo automation lane to iron those fluccuations back into a steady tempo. You could, if you want to, NOT delete the tempo automation lane. In this case, Faustine's tempo was just wandering out of error - maybe she was looking down at her lyric sheet while recording... maybe she doesn't have a solid internal tempo clock like a drummer would... but whatever her reasons the tempo variance wasn't good. But there are times when maybe you want to stop in the process before you delete the tempo lane. For example, maybe you've mapped a piano player with a totally great feel that isn't steady but it's great! You could map it and then add all your loops and midi and you'd be able to quantize your midi to his great feel by leaving the tempo map in place and producing it from there. Make sense?

[tt_lab]

My trick is to delete all the markers except from the 1 and sometimes the 3 and quantize.
5 minutes job.
Anyway nice trick there!

[JiggeryPokery]

Very funny video. I was constantly thinking, the automation can't be used with anything that involves a delay line, so would still need exporting first.

But "Bounce to new recording" includes tempo automation?! That's a great bit of info! Probably dumb for not even thinking that would be the case.

The video does, however, prove that including the ability to adjust the sensitivity of audio markers would pretty much be considered a necessity now. (I think that's what tt_lab is secretly implying )