Creating a tempo map from a MIDI performance

[norfolkmastering]

I want to create a tempo map which matches a song which has been imported as a file into a new Cakewalk project.

I tried audio to tempo conversion but it doesn't work well with this particular song.

So instead I want to record a MIDI track (maybe using the virtual keyboard) and simply tap out the tempo using my mouse.

Is there a way to then take this MIDI track and derive a tempo map from it?  Or is there a simpler way to tap directly into the tempo map using a mouse whilst listening to the audio track?

I do not want to adjust the timing of the original audio track.

[Base 57]

4 hours ago, norfolkmastering said:

So instead I want to record a MIDI track (maybe using the virtual keyboard) and simply tap out the tempo using my mouse.

What you are looking for is called "Fit Improvisation".

Look it up in the reference guide. It is much easier to do than explain.

[reginaldStjohn]

I have not done it personally buy several people here have mentioned using this technique.

https://legacy.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=Cakewalk&language=4&help=Tempo.14.html#:~:text=Choose Project > Set Measure%2FBeat,to accept the default values.

[norfolkmastering]

Thanks for the link.  That method looks to be entirely manual and would take me hours to do the song tempo.  I was looking for an automatic method which timed off the t edge of each midi note.

[msmcleod]

22 minutes ago, Base 57 said:

What you are looking for is called "Fit Improvisation".

Look it up in the reference guide. It is much easier to do than explain.

Yes, this is what you're looking for:

1.  Create a MIDI track and arm it.
2.  Start recording, playing a single note (usually quarter notes) along to your song.
3.  Once finished, select the MIDI clip and choose "Fit Improvisation" from the main Process menu.

This is much quicker than using Mark Measure/Beat - it essentially takes the duration of your song.  However it is only as accurate as your MIDI performance, but you can use Mark Measure/Beat at various points to clean it up.

[norfolkmastering]

Thanks Mark, that worked.

However I found my MIDI note timing was not accurate enough so I ended up using the manual method of marking the start of each bar against the original audio waveform peaks.  It took 90mins but it's done and pretty tight.