How to work out exact timing of a song to record!

[mennyroux]

Hi.....i know this might be a stupid question but im trying to record a whole band one instrument at a time, my only problem is i cant seem to work out exact time for each section of song....cant work out bbp in verse and chorus ect...how does one calculate exact time for each section so one can copy and paste later on in song without losing timing? Need eact split second timing

Thanks NEED HELP ASAP
M.R

 

[RAMI]

You can download this: Audio Downloads : TapTempo /// AnalogX

Tap along while the song is playing (or while you sing the song in your head), and it will tell you the tempo of the song. Most songs don't have different tempos in the chorus, verses, etc....Some do, but it's very rare.

 

[mennyroux]

Problem is if each section is milliseconds out ..timing will be lost? and want to not record verse 3 times in a song , want to copy and paste but cant seem to calculate exact time for each section....

 

[RAMI]

Problem is if each section is milliseconds out ..timing will be lost? and want to not record verse 3 times in a song , want to copy and paste but cant seem to calculate exact time for each section....

I understand that. This is why you need to figure out the tempo, and then record your parts to a click track set at the tempo of the song.

 

[mennyroux]

so once i have worked out temp how would i work out exact time? for example tempo is 130bpm how would you calculate exact milliseconds so i would know how long each verse would have to be?

 

[RAMI]

I would recommend doing it another way. Don't worry about milliseconds. That will all fall into place if you're playing to a click. If your verse is 16 bars long, copy those 16 bars, paste them where they need to be, and they will be the right length.

 

[mennyroux]

I understand what you are saying...which DAW software are you using? Do u record a metranome as a backtrack then record with it?

 

[gecko zzed]

You can use a metronome, which will count out the beats for you and you can follow that.

Or you can set up a drum loop, which effectively does the same thing

 

[mennyroux]

Ya will try that but still not sure if the bpm is like 130 Bpm how to copy and paste the exact time in the recording software if im just going by Bpm or clicks?

 

[RAMI]

Ya will try that but still not sure if the bpm is like 130 Bpm how to copy and paste the exact time in the recording software if im just going by Bpm or clicks?

I wish I was more articulate, because I understand your question, but I'm having trouble putting into words why all you have to worry about is the BPM. I hope someone else will come along and explain it better.

All I can say is that, if you're playing to a click (metronome, drum loop, etc....), then everything will be the right length if you copy and paste. If you want to do all your verses before you do your choruses, then just count out the length of the chorus and paste the verse after that. I know I'm not being as helpful as I want to be, but it's early.

 

[mennyroux]

I appreciate it!! I understand what you are saying im just battling to find some kind of calculation to get exact measurement of time to copy and paste for my verse to have perfect timing.

 

[gecko zzed]

If you want to cut and paste sections of a song, you need to understand tempo, bars, and beats. Time is irrelevant, and you don't need to know about it.

Tempo is the speed of the song. A measure of tempo is beats per minute, the more beats per minute, the faster the song. RAMI posted a link to way of calculating beats per minute.

Songs are made up of a bars, each containing a number of beats. Commonly, there are four beats in each bar (but there are endless other possibilities).

You can play your verse, and count the bars in the verse. You can do the same for the chorus.

You can load up your DAW, set the tempo to whatever it works out to be. You can set the arrange page (or whatever it's called) to show a scale of bars and beats, rather than time.

You can turn the metronome on, hit record and play along to the metronome. If you play in time, your verse will start at a bar, and finish at the end of a bar, maybe 16 bars later. You can then copy and paste this wherever you want.

 

[mennyroux]

Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Understand now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[RAMI]

If you want to cut and paste sections of a song, you need to understand tempo, bars, and beats. Time is irrelevant, and you don't need to know about it.

Tempo is the speed of the song. A measure of tempo is beats per minute, the more beats per minute, the faster the song. RAMI posted a link to way of calculating beats per minute.

Songs are made up of a bars, each containing a number of beats. Commonly, there are four beats in each bar (but there are endless other possibilities).

You can play your verse, and count the bars in the verse. You can do the same for the chorus.

You can load up your DAW, set the tempo to whatever it works out to be. You can set the arrange page (or whatever it's called) to show a scale of bars and beats, rather than time.

You can turn the metronome on, hit record and play along to the metronome. If you play in time, your verse will start at a bar, and finish at the end of a bar, maybe 16 bars later. You can then copy and paste this wherever you want.

There ya go!

That's what my 5am brain was trying to say.

 

[jonny deep]

You should be able to use the snap to grid option in your DAW to make sure stuff lines up properly when you copy and paste.

 

[Armistice]

You should be able to use the snap to grid option in your DAW to make sure stuff lines up properly when you copy and paste.

This was what I was about to say.... when you copy and paste things line up exactly when you have this on, which it usually is by default... so you really shouldn't have to worry too much about it.

 

[Lt. Bob]

Ya will try that but still not sure if the bpm is like 130 Bpm how to copy and paste the exact time in the recording software if im just going by Bpm or clicks?

you go by clicks ...... 16 beats is gonna be 16 beats everywhere in the song.

 

[mjbphotos]

Often, when I am setting up to track a new song, I will have to experiment with the BPM to find just the right speed I want. I'll set up a drum loop at the guessed tempo, play along with it for a few bars, adjust tempo, try again, until I get what I want.
Sometimes I do change the tempo for chorus or bridge, too, speeding up or slowing down (usually just a few bpm can put a different 'feel' at that point).

 

[cletisrayevans1]

I have the same prob,using acid studio and zoom r8,acid program give a total song tempo,like my alesis sr16,but when you change tempo in a song it doesnt beat map with the other parts,I made the tempo real fast,changed time signature,and made seperate file names for each tempo change,then I tried recording them off the computer back into the R8.I'm still learning the software and manuals to see where I went wrong.there should be an easy solution,it just takes time to get perfect timing,I may have to shorten lenghts of tracks or move them on the timeline to match up,or fade tracks in and out.Good Luck.