Creating a 4 bar ritardando in Logic Pro X for use in Beat Buddy
Purpose: BB lacks tempo change capabilities. Several users have requested a ritardando ending capability.
Caveats:
Everything in :
Creating a “Tempo Change” for Beat Buddy using Logic Pro X (LPX)
applies here. If you have not read that or cannot follow and understand that, stop here, and come back when you can.
Process:
We’re are going to use the OPBK tempo change file for Wouldn’t it Be Nice that we created in
Creating a “Tempo Change” for Beat Buddy using Logic Pro X (LPX). The songs doesn’t really need a ritardando, but the file can work for this purpose.
Open the file Wouldn’t it Be Nice OPBk tempo change in LPX. Take a look at the end of the track. There is some dead space at the end of the track. Let’s cut that first.
Before:
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After:
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We have to select where to begin and end this ritardando. Note that the sustained end note actually begins in bar 70. That will be our end target. We need to begin three bars before that, so that will be 67. Apply a split at bar 67.
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Create a new track and drag the split off region to the beginning of the track. We are going to make this new region into an outro section for illustration purposes.
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Split this region at the beginning of bars 2,3 and 4
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Drag the Regions at least 1 measure apart to give them space for the transform. It will help with the next steps if you line these regions up with the beginning of bars, so go ahead and do that now:
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Lengthen the first 3 regions by 1 bar, and the last region by two bars to give space for the transformation. In practice, if you last region is longer than two bars, you will need to just double its length.
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Now, we apply the transformations. Selection the first region. Go to Functions>Midi Transform>Half Speed. Enter 1.25 in both value boxes in the transform window. Click Select and Operate. Do the same with regions 2, 3 and 4, entering values of 1.5, 1.75 and 2.00, respectively.
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Notice how we did not need to calculate values. We are doing a preselected slow down given the value of the existing midi song. So unlike a within song transform, for the 4 bar ritardando, we don’t need to do that.
- These preselected values, now also aid in in trimming the regions. Assuming we have a 4/4 song, the fist region is one beat longer, the second is 2 beats longer, and the third is 3 beats longer. Trim region 1 at the end of measure 2 beat 1. Trim region 2 at the end of measure 4 beat 2. Trim 3 at the end of measure 6 beat 3. Do not trim region 4.
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