From 45ad7680ac35e4d634e8559ab005cc070e117e40 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: nick_m Date: Tue, 31 May 2016 05:22:09 +1000 Subject: [PATCH] Add some sparse documentation for tempo and meter. --- _manual/25_tempo-meter.html | 6 + .../25_tempo-meter/01_tempo-and-meter.html | 132 ++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 138 insertions(+) create mode 100644 _manual/25_tempo-meter.html create mode 100644 _manual/25_tempo-meter/01_tempo-and-meter.html diff --git a/_manual/25_tempo-meter.html b/_manual/25_tempo-meter.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc2839a --- /dev/null +++ b/_manual/25_tempo-meter.html @@ -0,0 +1,6 @@ +--- +layout: default +title: Working with Tempo and Meter +--- + +{% children %} diff --git a/_manual/25_tempo-meter/01_tempo-and-meter.html b/_manual/25_tempo-meter/01_tempo-and-meter.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a385f1f --- /dev/null +++ b/_manual/25_tempo-meter/01_tempo-and-meter.html @@ -0,0 +1,132 @@ +--- +layout: default +title: Working with Tempo and Meter +menu_title: Tempo and Meter +--- + +Tempo and meter belong together. without both, there is no way to know where a beat lies in time. + +Tempo provides a musical pulse, which is divided into beats and bars by a meter. + +TEMPOS + +In PROGRAM_NAME, tempos can be adjusted in several ways: + +by double clicking on a tempo marker. +this opens the tempo dialog which will allow you to enter the tempo directly into an entry box. + +by using the constraint modifier (which is set in Preferences->User Interaction) to drag the beat/bars in the BBT ruler or the tempo/meter lines. +this is the preferred way to match the tempo to previously recorded material. + +NOTE - When dragging the BBT ruler, musical snap has no effect, however be warned that non-musical snap is in effect if enabled. + Snapping to a minute while dragging a beat may result in some verly slow tempos. + Snapping a beat to a video frame however is an incredibly useful way to ensure your soundtrack is punchy and synchronised to the sample. + +by holding down the constaint modifier while dragging a tempo vertically. +this is best used for complex tempo solving, as it allows you to change the position and tempo of a tempo marker in the same drag, +it is, however, a useful way to adjust the first tempo for a quick result. + +Tempos may be locked to audio or musical time. You may change this by right-clicking on a tempo. +If a tempo is locked to music, an entry will be available to lock it to audio. +Similarly an audio-locked tempo may be locked to music by right clicking it an selecting the "Lock to Music" entry. + +Audio locked tempos stay in their frame position as their neigbours positions are altered. Their pulse (musical) position will change as their neighbours move. +Music locked tempos move their frame position as their neighbours are moved, but keep their pulse position (they will move as the music is moved). + +Tempos may also be remped or constant. + +A constant tempo will keep the sesion tempo constant until the next tempo section, at which time it will jump instantly to the next tempo. +these are mostly useful abrupt changes, and is the way in which traditional DAWs deal with tempo changes (abrupt jumps in tempo). + +A ramped tempo increases its tempo over time so that when the next tempo section has arrived, the sesion tempo is the same as the second one. +this is useful for matching the session tempo to music which has been recorded without click tracks or electronic clocks. +Ramps may also be used as a compositional tool, but more on this later. +Note that a ramp requires two points - a start and an end tempo. The first tempo in a new session is ramped, but appears to be constant as it has no tempo to ramp to. It is only when you add a new tempo and adjust one of them that you will hear a ramp. +The same applies to the last tempo in the session - it will always appear to be constant until a new last tempo is added and changed. + +To add a new tempo, use the primary modifier and click on the tempo line at the desired position. +The new tempo will be the same as the tempo at the position of the mouse click (it will not change the shape of the ramp). + +To copy a tempo, hold down the primary modifier and drag the tempo you wish to copy. + + +METER + +Meter positions beats using the musical pulse of a tempo, and groups them into bars using its number of divisions per bar. + +The first meter in a new session may be moved freely. It has an associated tempo which cannot be dragged by itself (although all others can). +It can be moved freely and is locked to audio. + +New meters are locked to music. +They may only occur on a bar line if music locked. + +An audio locked meter provides a way to cope with musical passages which have no meter (rubato, pause), or to allow a film composer to insert +a break in music which cannot be counted in beats. + +If a meter is audio-locked, its bar number is fixed from the point at which it left the main score. +That bar number cannot be changed, nor can tempo motion allow the previous bar to overlap. +If you need another bar, lock the meter to music again (right click->"Lock to Music"), drag the meter to the desired bar and re-lock to audio. +You may now drag your new bar freely again. + +To change a meter, double click it. A dialog will appear. + +To copy a meter, hold down control and drag it. + + +Techniques + +As a general approach, the best way to control tempo ramps is to use them in pairs (disregarding the first one). + +Lets imagine we want to match PROGRAM_NAMEs click to a drum performance recorded in 'free time'. +The first thing we need to do is determine where the first beat is. Drag the first meter to that position. + +Now the first click will be in time with the first beat. To get all the other beats to align, we listen to the drums +and visually locate the position of bar 4. You may wish to place the playhead here. + +We then locate bar 4 in the bbt ruler and while holding the constraint modifier, drag it to bar 4 in the drum performance. + +We notice that the click now matches the first 4 bars, but after that it wanders off. +You will see this reflected in the tempo lines.. they won't quite match the drum hits. +We now locate the earliest position where the click doesn't match, and place a new tempo just before this. +Two bars later, place another new tempo. + +Now while dragging any beat *after* the second new tempo, watch the drum audio and tempo lines until they align. + +Notice what is happeneing here: the tempo previous to your mouse pointer is being changed so that the beat you grabbed +aligns with the pointer. +Notice that the tempo lines previous to the changed one also move. This is because the previous tempo is ramping *to* the tempo you are changing. +Look further to the left. The tempo lines in the first four bars do not move. + +Again, some time later the click will not align. I didn't say this was easy. + +Repeat the same technique : add two new tempos and drag the BBT ruler *after* the newest tempo so that the beats align with the audio again. + +In a general sense, adding tempo markers in pairs allows you to 'pin' your previous work while you move further to the right. + +Another use case : matching accelerando. + +Imagine you have some video and have located where your music cue begins. Move the first meter to that frame +(you may snap to TC frames, but not music with an audio locked meter). + +Find a starting tempo by listening to the click while you drag the meter's tempo vertically using teh constraint modifier. + +You have the playhead at point where the dude slams the phone down, and your idea was that 4|1|0 +would be good for this, but you want an accelerando to that point. + +Add a tempo ar bar 4. + +Holding down the constraint modifier, and with snap set to 'TC Frames', grab the BBT ruler just *after* 4|1|0. +Drag the ruler so that 4|1|0 snaps to the 'phone' frame. + +Notice what happened : The second tempo was changed. + +You had set a musical position for the second tempo marker. It was not alignaed with the frame you wanted, so +you dragged the BBT ruler, making the second tempo provide enough pulses over the ramp for 4|1|0 to align with the desired frame. + +If your ramp doesn't feel correct, you may add more points within it and keep adjusting beat positions in a similar manner. + +General note: + +Audio locked meters can be very useful when composing, as they allow a continuous piece of music to be worked on in +isolated segments, preventing the listening fatigue of a fixed form. +Reassembly is left as an excercise for the reader. -- 2.37.2