Hi all, trying to start the journey of learning to chart. I started my first tempo map. But I have a few questions….

 

For my first tempo map I took a song and calculated approximate bpm using a bpm counter. Turns out once I lined up the song at the closest whole bpm the song actually lines up almost perfectly the whole way through. So with that said do I still need to place time signature markers at every measure or does the song just need to be in time with the grid? If I do still need to put markers does logic dictate that I just turn on snapping and place a marker at every exact measure marker? How exact does the map have to be?

I first tried to add time signature markers from the beginning of the song by ear. But it turned out very messy and kind of all over the place. So I figured I’d start over and just try lining it up at the proper bpm and low and behold it sounds a lot better that way. The song I’m working on doesn’t have great peaks so its hard to line up by looking for the kick. I tried going back and tweaking some of the spacing after it was mapped but it seemed to just make the next measure off every time I corrected one.

Thankfully I used to make music and Reaper was my DAW of choice so I have some experience using it, but I mainly did Hip-hop and electronic music so I’m used to everything being locked exactly to a tempo. Never really had to use time signature markers…

 

Anyway if you have any tips on tempo mapping let me know.

 

Thanks

First a tip, use this website to get BPM without having to calculate it yourself: https://getsongbpm.com/tools/audio So far for me it’s been dead on.

Second, no you don’t have to place markers if the song is in perfect tempo (sometimes referred to as using click). Even if you did, it’d be the same time signature and when you went to compile it with Magma, it’d still say there’s no tempo map. Just ignore the Magma error (that one you can) and compile as normal.

Third, there is a LOT of tips on this board for tempo mapping already. My best tip for that is to use a lot of different methods to find the one that fits right with you. This was by FAR the hardest thing for me to get my head around and then do right. But now, using a totally different method than others use, I am very comfortable doing tempo maps and don’t have a lot of issues (until I do a punk rock song, then I want to cry).

Search these forums for tempo mapping advice, read every technique, try each technique, then it’ll probably be the in-between that gets you there. Took me almost a full year before feeling good about tempo mapping. Keep with it!! Perseverance is the only thing that separates a charter from a non-charter.

Thanks much for the advice! Looking forward to the journey, hopefully I stick with it. Seems pretty daunting right now…

Don’t forget to check your PMs at the top right of the screen! ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_smile.gif” />

To detect music Key & tempo (i.e BPM) please try https://vocalremover.org/bpm-finder