How to Tempo Map in Reaper: 5 Methods

[@manthosdamigos]

Hey there! Lovely collection of methods! Very valuable, and I'm actually in need of them for a current project... so you came to the rescue in a way! One thing I noticed... it's very important to find out what the actual beginning of the musical measure is, and not assume it is the first hit on the audio file. Drum loops usually start on the first beat, but a live drummer might to a fill starting midway through a measure. So... your examples are spot on when it comes to the tempo correction, but from what I can hear, snare hits should be on beats 2 and 4 of a measure, and kicks on 1 and (sometimes) 3. You start with a snare on the 1, so you kinda offsetted the whole thing by 2 beats 😅 It wouldn't be a problem if you could move all the tempo changes en masse with ease at a later stage, but I think that if you do it's gonna be a headscratcher 😟 - esp. midway through a large project. So it's important to get it right from the get go. Plus... if you want your musicians to overdub on a click, most of them would get a bit confused of this misalignment. They would hear beat 1 be a beat 2, etc.

[@itsoundshuman]

Of course! My example had that 1 start, but you HAVE TO know and be able to detect it so you can start mapping properly. :) Regarding the click is a whole thing. Sometimes I use Reaper click, but I got used to not using accents! So sometimes it really doesn't matter. That's why I tried to clear that saying "A bar" :) But indeed, you always have to check, this is just a fast example to show the methods. ❣️ Thx for pointing that out.

[@manthosdamigos]

@@itsoundshuman Hey! Thanks for the reply! :D It is clear from your content (this and other vids) that you know this stuff... I pointed this out mostly for people who would see the vid, jump to try the methods in a hurry, and not pause and search for beat one. Thus... making their life harder :P As to the usage of clicks... I get you. In those cases I wouldn't listen for the click anyway - you have drums, or other instruments with rhythmic info to lean on. My concert is mostly visual and structural. Misaligning in this way makes bars not be accurate. So... you might grab a loop or another sound with rhythm (or MIDI) thinking it should go to measure X beat 1, because that's how they looped from their creator... only to find out they mismatch. Or you want to move sounds from verse A to B, and they don't fit. That's my worry in those cases :P Thanks again so much for the vid. I already added a few nifty buttons to my toolbars... and suggested your vid to plenty of musician friends who are beginning to produce, and have had problem with tempo mapping :)

[@itsoundshuman]

If you are using stretch markers to fit some things in other places. There are also actions to pull stretch markers to grid. So if you already mapped out the drummer and you are not pulling too much. It should save enough time. Happy to help. ❣️

[@soundtaxiproject]

Your comparison was very useful... to overthink tempo mapping. - For the last years, i did that like Kenny Ghioa following his advice. Thank You very much for sharing Your thoughts. 🎶

[@wenglish1968]

Good information, as always, Juan!

[@nugznmugz]

What theme are you using? It looks very usefull

[@itsoundshuman]

It's ReaperTips theme but I modded a couple of things. I have it linked in the description of the video.

[@santana2420]

Another great video, man. Any advice to level guitar presets (with phones) on a guitar fx processor (Axe Fx, Helix, Kemper...) using Reaper meter plugins? Gracias

[@itsoundshuman]

After recording I would first pick which one is the level you find works best. Select Media Item Action "SWS/BR: Analyze loudness..." look at the Maximum Momentary. Action "Item properties: Normalize items (peak/RMS/LUFS)..." user Momentary Normalization on all the clips you just want to auto-gain to that level. It will bring them up or down accordingly without compression or distortion. Give yourself some space, so don't try to get they audio to 0 dB. Around - 18 to -12 Peak should do the work.

[@santana2420]

@@itsoundshuman Joder. Muchísimas gracias. Respuesta rápida y concreta. Crack

[@santana2420]

@@itsoundshuman Ok. One more question: If my main preset is -14.5 LUFS Maximum momentary... I would choose "Normalize Media Item to LUFS-M max" with -14.5?

[@itsoundshuman]

Yep

[@alexmagor]

My question is when you drag the bar lines to line up with the transients how do you get it to snap to the transient (or to the cursor since I can use a key command to get the cursor to snap to the transient)?

[@itsoundshuman]

I use the Play Cursor as Snap. So I use Move the Playback cursor to next transient to find it, then I drag the bar line to that. If it doesn't work, lmk, I'm not on a computer atm.

[@Diegel]

I tried setting playback cursor as snap but it didnt seem to snap to it. Not sure why

[@itsoundshuman]

@Diegel :O When I'm at the computer I'll check again. Maybe I forgot a step.

[@itsoundshuman]

So I'm checking & the steps... Open Master Track Show Tempo Envelope Shift + Left Clic on Tempo Envelope to Add Point. This Adds New Bar Up Top. Cmd on Mac / Ctrñ on PC + Left Click & Drag should Snap to Cursor when you are really close.... I use a lot of Zoom in & Out Commands on my keyboard, combined with the Marquee Zoom Tool in Mouse Modifiers & this action "View: Restore previous zoom level" On the Grid Setting Menu you can also modify the distance from where it snaps in Pixels but apparently it's not working for Dragging Timeline. Only for Media Item and other Arragement things like Media Item Dragging, etc...

[@alexmagor]

@@itsoundshuman I followed these steps but it is still not snapping

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[@itsoundshuman]

Thx, I'm already doing my own strategy for that kind of thing.