What BPM do you record at?

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
Post Reply
dfusion
Posts: 165
Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2003 12:13 am
Location: USA

What BPM do you record at?

Post by dfusion » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:47 am

This is more of a music 101 question for my own sake. 8)

For those writing 4 on the floor music at 128+ BPM, do you initally lower the BPM during recording of your midi sequences...then increase the BPM afterwards to check out how it sounds at regular speed? I'm not all that experienced with 4 on the floor and it just seems more practical to record my midi sequences slower because I'm more precise and can get my performances down on the first or second pass. Recording midi performances at 128+ seems ok for pads but not for melodies.

Thanks....
-d

Lo-Fi Massahkah
Posts: 3604
Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2004 2:57 pm
Location: The south east suburbs of Malmö, Sweden.

Post by Lo-Fi Massahkah » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:53 am

While what you're saying is good for experimentation. It's quite hard to get predictable results since tempo very much affects the feeling or groove of a song. This kinda makes it unpredictable - although nice to find out new parts.

Regards,
Mikael

SubFunk
Posts: 7853
Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:41 pm
Location: A Big Toilet Called Berlin
Contact:

Post by SubFunk » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:00 am

usually in the tempo of the song, for the reasons Lo-Fi Massahkah mentioned, sometimes in half or double tempo, but very rarely and only to achieve a certain "effect"

minimal
Posts: 939
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2004 9:57 am
Location: zh - switzerland
Contact:

Post by minimal » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:55 am

I'm slave of 127 bpm. I find it is the perfect speed for the sound I do.

subterFUSE
Posts: 1557
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:04 pm
Location: Winter Park, FL

Post by subterFUSE » Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:40 am

I tend to DJ around 127 BPM
M-Tech D900T laptop, 17" WSXGA+ wide-screen, Intel Pentium 4 3.4 GHz HT (600 series) 2 MB cache, 2048 RAM (Dual Channel DDR2 PC4200 533 MHz), Dual hard drives: 80 gig x 2 = 160 gig SATA 5400 rpm (RAID 0 config)
Korg Zero 8 mixer/soundcard/MIDI

DJ VAKIS
Posts: 2084
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 7:26 am
Location: MUNICH-GERMANY
Contact:

Post by DJ VAKIS » Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:02 pm

Usualy at 120bpm,but after i change the bpm to check how it sounds with faster tempo.
http://www.myspace.com/djvakis
http://mix2r.fm/audio/user/221


----------------------------------------
MacBookPro 13" Core 2 Duo 2.26Ghz 2GB
Live 8 -Operator -Sampler
AKAI LPD8-GENELEC 1029A-iPhone runing TouchOSC.

djadonis206
Posts: 6490
Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2004 4:23 pm
Location: Seattle, WA.

Post by djadonis206 » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:06 pm

130 + Bpm's in this camp

I have no clue how to play the keys but I know what sounds good

I'll lower the tempo from time to time <-- that's the beauty of Ableton, you can do that if you work with loops

but honestly...uh oh here this fool goes again

If I hear a beat that has a hot groove from a old record or something I do 2 things

first I figure out what notes are being played by sampling a loop and playing along

then I take that loop and import it into recycle - turn the grid on and jack the groove

now I've got the notes and groove - I don't end up using the exact groove but I play with the notes and groove - different notes sound better with that groove, different grooves sound better with different notes

ok easy - I have all kinds of midi grooves taken from some of my favorites records

but dance is pretty forgiving when it comes to doing your own groove - sometimes the simpliest groove can be the most effective if you got the skills

peace out


Adonis
Ableton | Elektron

Music

mike holiday
Posts: 2433
Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2004 8:52 pm
Location: NOW

Post by mike holiday » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:30 pm

128-134

after a few months i change the tempo otherwise everything i did would be 130
dual 1.8 G4 10.4.9 w/768 ram & A&H xone 3D


"I ain't often right but I've never been wrong"

polyslax
Posts: 2402
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 11:22 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Post by polyslax » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:54 pm

No dance floors in my future!

Usually 80-100 bpm, sometimes up to 120.

Put up a track yesterday though, Your Umbrella, at 65 bpm!

At my bpms no real need to slow it down to allow me to play it.
Image Image

SubFunk
Posts: 7853
Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:41 pm
Location: A Big Toilet Called Berlin
Contact:

Post by SubFunk » Tue Jun 27, 2006 4:13 pm

ahh, if the question is strictly related to BPMs, then i am all over the place not tied to any particular tempo here.

Rabid
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 11:39 pm

Post by Rabid » Tue Jun 27, 2006 4:22 pm

Depends on my mood. Sometimes I start by recording audio without a click track and then see what the temp is after the recording.

But if I choose a tempo it is most often 118. Not sure why.

djsynchro
Posts: 7471
Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2005 9:06 pm
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Contact:

Post by djsynchro » Tue Jun 27, 2006 4:22 pm

Lowering the BPM is like zooming in to edit you can play it "just so" then put the sequencer back at the intended BPM.
:D

divonic
Posts: 430
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2004 5:40 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Post by divonic » Tue Jun 27, 2006 4:29 pm

I've been hovering around 105 BPM tho I've jumped around a bit. 103, 115, 120, 140. depends on the song.

as for adjusting the BPM to work on a track I never got into that you get used to a certain BPM and then when you change it it sounds different.

Post Reply