Track tempo question

[southcoaststeve]

Hi all,

I have created a track and set the tempo to 80bpm and into this track imported a drum loop which is also 80bpm.

However, when I try to loop this track (Ctrl L + drag) it alters the tempo of the clip to half time.

If I change the tempo setting to 160bpm in the control bar, then the drum loop reverts back to it's original tempo.

Now I know how to fix the issue I can work around it but can anyone tell me why this might happen?

Thanks in advance.

[msmcleod]

Not all drums loops are created equally.

If the clip is actually a groove clip, it will have had all the beats identified and saved within the file. This allows the loop to be stretched intelligently, giving regard to where the actual beats are.

Many loops however, are just standard WAV files which simply reference the tempo they were recorded at in the filename.

For these to work properly, they need to either be converted to groove clips (by using the Loop Construction view - which involves a combination of automatic transient detection, and you going through filling in the missing bits), or you simply treating it as a standard audio clip and using copy/paste or duplicate clip rather than trying to use it as a groove clip.  Of course, even with a standard WAV file you can still use regular time-stretching to fit the loop to any tempo, but it's a bit more of a manual process and results are not as good as with groove clips.

I suspect the loop in question is either not a groove clip, or has the tempo set wrongly within the file.

[southcoaststeve]

Ah.... yes it's a standard wav file.

So effectively it's a 'recording' rather than a 'constructed' beat and therefore cannot be manipulated in the same way?

 

[chris.r]

5 hours ago, southcoaststeve said:

Hi all,

I have created a track and set the tempo to 80bpm and into this track imported a drum loop which is also 80bpm.

However, when I try to loop this track (Ctrl L + drag) it alters the tempo of the clip to half time.

If I change the tempo setting to 160bpm in the control bar, then the drum loop reverts back to it's original tempo.

Now I know how to fix the issue I can work around it but can anyone tell me why this might happen?

Thanks in advance.

Set this drum loop to groove loop first (right click on the clip and choose Groove-Clip Looping) then open it in the Loop Construction view (right click View > Loop Construction) and set the correct amount of Beats there. Now you can simply slip-drag the clip edge (without Ctrl+L this time) to make it play in loop.

Edited April 15, 2021 by chris.r

[southcoaststeve]

Thanks Chris.

Just tried that but the box within the loop construction window is greyed out.

 

[scook]

Select the clip then open the Loop Construction View or change the "Beats in Clip" in the Groove Clips section in the Clips Inspector.

[chris.r]

16 minutes ago, southcoaststeve said:

Just tried that but the box within the loop construction window is greyed out.

That means that the loop is not Groove-Clip enabled. You need to right click on the clip first and choose 'Groove-Clip Looping'.

Also it works best if the loop is just a few bars long. I can't tell how well it can work with a song length loop, may be fine if you manage to count the proper amount of beats.

EDIT: probably clicking 'Loop' button in the LCV  (to the left of the 'No Slice' drop-down) will work too

Edited April 15, 2021 by chris.r

[scook]

The LCV works with any audio clip.

By default double-clicking a clip opens the Clip Properties inspector (the Groove Clip section is immediately below Clip Properties)

This may be changed to open the LCV using the Track View Options menu - Click Behavior > Double Click > Audio Clips