Finding the Song Tempo in REAPER

[@paulwheeler3896]

I'm new to Reaper, and your tutorials have literally taught me everything - thanks so much for this great work!

[@SuperSyracus]

Damn, just spent 2 hours two days ago to adjust an mix multiple songs by try and error. If I would just have known this! Thanks Kenny, for your work. They are really valuable and your tutorials are my main source of education for anything related to Reaper!

[@sonidodemoniacostudios7752]

saved a lot of grieff

[@robertmyers6518]

Kenny! You have saved the rest of my hair from being pulled out! I've been trying to figure this out for the last couple of years with only sad-trombone success. Thanks a bunch!

[@Mordi]

I find an easier way is to just make an accurate selection from bar 1 to 3 and then right click ruler -> find tempo from selection. However, this, and the tip in the video only works if the song tempo is constant. If the song doesn't have a constant tempo, the fastest way I find is to simply play through the whole thing, pressing M on each bar. Have to make sure to be zoomed out for this, and it's best if you go in and clean up the marker-positions by hand afterwards.

[@dfgvjnkjdsnbkjsbdvjkhdsb]

thanx for advice! but then when u precise moved each marker in place how to move every bar in marker positions? so if the song is about 150 bars it's pretty hard, no?

[@boimesa8190]

What does M do??

[@ARE_YOU_SICK_OF_YT_CENSORSHIP]

M places a marker on the ruler

[@southsideronnie]

Super super valuable info Kenny! Thank you again!!

[@EuropaMan]

Thank you Kenny. I have been fighting with this for while now. VERY CLEAR explanation. Extremely helpful for some old recordings that I am working on without a click. Keep up the good work!

[@REAPERMania]

Thank you Eric!!!

[@DIY-DaddyO]

That, my friend, is pure genius. I'm new to Reaper and I'm being blown away by the tricks it can do. Thank you...

[@mearkitek3773]

Another great tutorial, Kenny! I'm new to tempo mapping, and trying to find the tempo of an oldie, "Hello Mary Lou." I've determined it changes tempo slightly throughout the song, speeding up and slowing down slightly as determined by the groove of the band during recording.

[@Bouldercannon]

You're a star, man. Thanks for all your REAPER content.

[@szla.]

A video of 2017 saved my life in 2020. Thank you

[@alejandronieto576]

Thanks for your dedication Kenny. You should just add that prior to the first method you should right-click on the ruler -> Ruler layout -> Display tempo changes. I could not see the markers i.e. could not drag them, so I needed to do this.

[@seanraz]

This!!! thanks for posting

[@alejandronieto576]

@@seanraz no problem!

[@robhebert5137]

Thank you for this whole series!

[@tony_austin]

Having tried a commercial plugin and found that it did not give accurate enough results, I came back to Kenny's video. Not being fluent enough with Reaper made it very hard to do everything just right but I managed it in the end - should be worth the effort and I learned a lot in doing it.

[@zombieguitar]

You are awesome brother! Thank you so much for these great tutorials...you just made my life WAY easier with this video!

[@iluvsyphonfilter]

Thanks, Kenny! That's a very clever way to find the tempo!

[@SamStrane]

When you CTL moved the time line. bro. Thank you - From my riddled brain trying to get these mash ups out. Thank you.

[@elektrodenio]

Thank you for the explanation! I am still experiencing problems though-after the process is completed and I play the song,from the beginning to about half of the song the metronome is nicely aligned,but as the track progresses the metronome gets more and more misaligned with the song tempo.Could it be a sloppy performance of the artist(the song should be constant tempo from start to end)? Maybe this could be fixed if a few time markers are inserted.

[@musicalsam1]

Did you delete the new tempo marker once the tempo was found?

[@wyrmwoodhelix002]

you sir, have just saved me hours and hours of using the tap tempo function and trying different variables of decimal bpms. i thank you deeply

[@nando745]

Very Helpful Kenny, as always. Thanks.

[@davidovsepyan2638]

Thanks, Kenny! You really helped me out. You're a panacea for Reaper users. ✨

[@Virtual-Media]

Sounds like an auto-feature Reaper should add to the next update.

[@TheDarmardar]

Quanti loops ios app calculates a loop tempo very easily... one double click and it does it.

[@midiland09]

Great DAW and great teacher!

[@LiveArtPresents]

Bless you!! Would never have come across this, and need it often. You're the Man.

[@otraperspectiva]

This is genius! Thank you so much, reaper guru. It's such a good feeling to get more skills to work in my DAW. I do have a question; how do I avoid MIDI note data from moving when I change the tempo??

[@robozbeci]

Thanks! Great video! What is the logic when you count the numbers/ beats? I'm fully beginner :) Thank you so much!

[@rajeshantonyk]

Thank you so much for all the lessons Kenny...💖

[@speedoflink]

There are so many ways to find a song's tempo in reaper omg

[@falorebew]

Excellent. This was what I was looking for. Thanks a lot.

[@ryanschindler923]

Why don't you just tap it out on the BPM button at the bottom of the screen or do it on a phone metronome, way faster. This is a highly convoluted method to get to the end result.

[@lhu1961]

I chose reaper also for your videos, great way to learn. Thanks for this one

[@davevanallen1964]

Fan-freakin-tastic!! Thank you Kenny!

[@JFrameMan]

I've spent years doing this the slow way. Thanks so much for this.

[@mattmurray517]

Kenny is brilliant, great tutorials. You saved me many times sir

[@electricwhiterabbit]

Great videos. I am learning a lot. I have a question. What if you have a piece of music and it was recorded on cassette tape and the tempo drifts? I made a number of tempo markers and moved them around to adjust for the fluctuations in the tape to accommodate this. But this piece of music has an intro to it that leads into the song. I can't figure out how to move the tracks with the tempo markers. When I move the tracks, the tempo markers stay in the same place which is not what I want. Any help?

[@MrFLAVIUS12]

Hi kenny, the new tempo markers dont show the vertical line, any ideas??

[@mikeKidLazy]

Nice, but what about songs which are not recorded to a click track (i.e. songs where the tempo is fluctuating throughout the whole song, as in the drummer for example playing a beat but not always landing 100% on the correct beat in each measure). What can we do with those?

[@weaktearecords]

Thank you, I have been trying to figure out how to do this. Thanks

[@ashleyneptune3239]

Did you play or find the melody? very sweet chords

[@granaff]

Another brilliant tutorial when I need it, thanks.

[@nicethelyrical1529]

I Love your Videos! I wish I could work on a project with you! Keep up the great work!💪🏾💯🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@akusbass]

Thanks a lot for all your vídeos!

[@NIGHTOWLmetalcore]

finally! this one video helped me change the click track tempo when the other video's didn't explain it like this. thank you!

[@c0untbakwerdz]

Magic. This is just what I've been needing. All that second guessing and trying out decimal point tempos is (hopefully) done with! Thanks again:)

[@ghostduster1]

Thanks. Mind blowing how versed you are in Reaper.

[@croay]

Hey, Kenny, so I figured out a super easy and faster way to do that, simply assign a key to the SWS/BR: Move closest grid line to mouse cursor (perform until shortcut released) extension and have fun.

[@MartyNo1]

top class tutorials, as always. Thanks!

[@underappreciated27]

Thanks Kenny, your clear and detailed explanation much appreciated

[@BurningBushPedagogy]

You are a sweet heart. Kenny

[@inarisound]

Hi Kenny ! I have a question.... is it possible for you to go through all SWS features or if you already done it.... do you have a playlist? I couldn't find it.... I was interested a lot in some tempo manipulation features and Cue Bus generator.... idk there seems to be a lot of interesting stuff that I never touched =(

[@TNStutorials]

Thanks Kenny, this was really helpful!

[@LuthieriadeBanheiro]

Awesome! Thanks!

[@KrzysztofChomski]

Great tip, just slicing my first drum loop and this will really come in handy! Thank you!

[@boytino2646]

Same here ,,hehehe

[@InXLsisDeo]

I did learn something, Kenny, and damn that was something I always wanted to know. BIG THUMBS UP !!

[@robertsweeney2]

Fantastic tutorial! Thank you so much for all your videos, you have really helped me grow into a bedroom engineer.

[@etiloyon3681]

Hi everybody, I am not good for numbers, memory, let's say "math" ; so I played the above maybe 5 times (takes all kinds). Finally I figured something for peoples having hard time. The game here consists to adjust one to the other let's say the beginning of beat#3 of the item to the beat#3 of the rule. In a nutshell. Then you need a couple of tools which are nicely presented here. .Ah also, be aware, some music style practice before or after the beat playing. So, you might have derivation from the computer found tempo. But it still help a lot.Thanks so much anyway Kenny

[@audiosounddoctor5834]

So simple and informative ....thanks!

[@Rafa-ot2vc]

Mestre, Obrigado! 🇧🇷

[@maryannfarleymusic]

Kenny, I don't know if something has changed (or if it's me), but when I remove the tempo marker according to your instructions, the whole song whacks out tempo-wise. Those opening four bars will be fine, but if I remove that 120 marker at bar five, it all goes haywire. The song doesn't immediately snap to the new tempo at the beginning. I've tried multiple times following along closely. Maybe something in the new version has changed? I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.

[@vladyko3550]

extremely useful

[@DIY-DaddyO]

Ok, just a side issue, suppose I'm just doodling a tune and not being tide to a metronome beat, How do I then find the tempo I'm jamming in when I'm using a midi instrument?

[@musicalsam1]

Brilliant! Cheers. Much safer than relying on an autodetect.

[@johnp82]

Do you know if there are some popular songs that exist where the tempo changes one beat per minute mid-song? For example, if the verse was 120 and the pre-chorus was 121.

[@klon22]

you can search for map tempo, its refering to changing the tempo in some parts of track

[@hanswesker8455]

Nice tutorial! Clear and concise!

[@adamhakim9446]

thank for the video. Can you do this to adjust time signitures, if somthing goes from 4 /4 to 7/8?

[@DelReiRock]

When I create the tempo/Time signature marker there is no bar to it. I move the team marker but there is no bar following and the ruler does not changes. Just the marker moves. Why?

[@DelReiRock]

Got it. Gotta press Control and move the marker.

[@shaddartshaddart]

when he rounds off the tempo to 77 at the end, does it time stretch the audio or shift the bar lines?

[@Novalarke]

What a pain in the ass. What was faster for me was to export the track as wav file, bring it in to Ableton Live, and it will tell me immediately what the file's BPM is.

[@Cam_B]

Couldn’t you use the tap temp feature as well and tap along with the song?

[@pedrokuntrophus]

Hi Kenny!, very clear thanks a lot !! by the way , I'm trying to configure Rewire to talk midi between REAPER (host) and Notion 6 (slave) on Windows 10/64bits; but it only takes the score generated by Notion 6 as audio. I can't get it to convert into midi. Do you have any idea if it can be done? I appreciate your time and consideration in this matter . Kind regards!

[@davidhaolai]

extremely useful vid

[@djabthrash]

So useful ! Thanks a ton Kenny !

[@caspermaster-com]

Nice man. A quick way is to just tap tempo to the song and write in closest whole number, with your time based setting

[@REAPERMania]

That is quicker but not as accurate

[@caspermaster-com]

Yes. I usually tap tempo and then look further down if its aligned, and its usually 1 or 2 bpm off, but both ways are probably equally quick, yours need less brainpower tho, not needing to perform tapping to tempo and stuff:)

[@tkelong3569]

This is absurd. They should come up with a simple menu item called ‘detect audio tempo’. This method you’re describing here is a creative process murderer. I can do this in a 1/4 Of the time by simply turning on the click track and adjusting the tempo accordingly. I have to remove and replace the audio a few times, but it nowhere near as cumbersome as the process you described. Not your fault. That’s on Cockos.

[@JohnnyGuitar1]

Nuendo 10 has a Detect Tempo function that does exactly that in 3 seconds. This is why it’s hard to switch to REAPER. Yes the price is great, but if you do studio production as a full time living, this is murdering Father Time.

[@gobanana1786]

This method needs few minutes to do.

[@MyHeavyMetal100]

where is that option??? HELP please, this video was useless for me ...

[@chadjohnson-authormusician8072]

Once you know how to do this, it takes about 15 seconds tops.

[@juneywhank1189]

John Ferreira a

[@ryanburchett8455]

This does not work for me now. Not sure why. Maybe doesn't work this way on new version?

[@BillMontana]

Thanks Kenny. I learned plenty as always and I can use it.

[@cormacpurtill5124]

BRILLIANT!

[@russellcarnahan8761]

When I delete the tempo marker the track stretches back to the original grid lines. I have it on time base, but the grids don't like to stay where I put them? Any help would be great! Is there an additional setting I am missing here?

[@Ruaille]

Life saver! Thanks Kenny!

[@princesssophie9780]

Thanks for helping to do that i know to do REAPER Thank You Very much!

[@docf.n.t.2310]

I just completely reset reaper - AGAIN !!! STILL SAME PROBLEM !!! Does this not work in reaper 6.x ? Does anyone have a damn clue whats going wrong here ? !!!

[@winhungthao4704]

I had the same problem

[@HaiNguyen-dd4te]

The problem is Project Setting You go to Project Setting (Alt + enter) >> Timebase for item / envelopes / marker: select [time] >> Timebase for tempo / time signature envelopes: select [beat] Then, you do the same as the tutorial clip is ok

[@Bassclefderreck]

What if the tempo gradually slows. Say from 130 to 100 within a measure or two?

[@danilocongiu8583]

Terrific man \m/

[@javiramallo]

Thanks Kenny.

[@ElisandroDeLeon]

I tried this with the uptown girl drums, but It just wont sync with the metronome. If I tap the tempo, the BPM is 129 or so. Using this technique, the metronome syncs up for the first 6 bars at 127.04 BPM then fails to keep up.

[@Jozelo]

Looking for something like this 2 days ago! Great! 💪🏼

[@BurningBushPedagogy]

Interesting but not so easy this way. Thanks a lot for been. You give Reaper a pretty and solid name.

[@coachsean9982]

OMG, THANK YOU KEN!

[@beatweezl]

Kenny you are the best explainer but the problem with this method is over time, the alignment will drift away from the click because of the 10ths or 100s of BPM. It's not precise.

[@shaung3223]

What i do is skip through the song say about 1min then 2mins and so on.keeping an eye on the bass transient in relation to the kick drums.as it starts to creep away i adjust in 10ths then finally 100ths of a second then after a bit of practice you can get it bang on everytime.

[@Stan622]

this is awesome

[@ypluto_7933]

if i hold control and drag the time marker it also changes the speed of the track...

[@dawidmisztela6683]

Hi! Newbie here. I got some tracks with recorded click on them. Tempo changes few times on every track. Click is pretty loud so transients shoudl be transparent. How do I map out automatically the grid according to the prerecorded click including the tempo changes? PLS HELP!

[@TheCompleteGuitarist]

I learnt something. Excellent tutorial.

[@PhilSowden]

Can I set where beat 1 is w/o trimming? I kinda need the intro leading up to it...

[@gobanana1786]

You can also right-click the item, "item-settings", hook "Set item timebase to time"

[@bobco5]

this is the only way for me that BPM wouldn't speed up or alter the rate , setting it in Project Settings wouldn't over ride this setting , had to set it in item for it to work for me , change bpm and NOT rate ! Thanks

[@narrowgatemedia3305]

Learned so damn much in this tutorial! Thank you!

[@PrettyLady7282]

great video! thanks

[@emachineseventyseven7164]

Reaper is a beast hands down.

[@anthonybaker9006]

Is there no way to just play the song and auto detect I got so lost trying to follow this

[@MrSinister718]

seriously. It's fucking 2020

[@danadams6075]

He's basically finding an upbeat as the start point, then counting x amount of bars (3,4,5 etc) pausing and seeing which note is closest. By marking the note as the end point you can find the bpm in that "gate" Follow the steps again you'll get it 👌🏼

[@nibblrrr7124]

Not sure about the state of the art, but last time I checked "automatic beat detection" failed for everything more complex than a 4-on-the-floor EDM beat.

[@NewGenRec]

After the marker is set to the 3rd bar at the correct bpm, It just goes right back to 120 bpm after the marker. I tried removing the marker as your tutorial instructed but it just stretched the entire track to the adjusted (new found) bpm. Please advise

[@deltavistastudio124]

Watch the first part of this video, he explains that part well. :)

[@sirvaant]

Perfect explanation! Thanks! Your helping us learn!