Tutorial for creating a tempo change in Beat Buddy using Logic Pro X, part 1

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Creating a “Tempo Change” for Beat Buddy using Logic Pro X (LPX)

Purpose: BB lacks a tempo change capability. This tutorial shows how to create the an accurate effect of a tempo change using midi time stretching.

Caveats:

  1. This explanation presupposes a basic understanding of midi editing in LPX. There may or may not be similar tools available in Cubase, FL Studio, ProTools, etc. With regard to any other midi editing programs, including the built-in midi editor, I am ignorant and apathetic.
  2. This example uses an accurate time stretching feature, so after the point in the song in reached when the time is stretched, the beats will no longer line up with the BB visual metronome. You will need to use your ears, not your eyes.
  3. This technique creates a sudden tempo change, not a gradual change.
  4. With regard to 2 and 3 above, this will be most appropriate for OPB-type song files. The reason being that after creating these time stretched areas, it will be very unlikely that the resulting measures will end on the points designated by Logic as measure ends. However, it can be used to create a pseudo-ritardando, useful for an outro, as I will explain in a second tutorial, which will be posted immediately after this one.

Process:
Ok, you understand LPX, so let’s get started. First steps -

  1. Start with an OPB you’ve created that needs one or more tempo changes.
  2. Make note of the tempo change locations and the tempos needed.

How to:

  1. I am going to use a version of Wouldn’t it Be Nice that I just created from the midi file that Phil posted with his version. I chose this because Phil indicated it needed a tempo change to be true to the original. I essentially used his edited midi, just adding a little piece from the Accordion and Saxophone from the original into the piano track. The piano track was created from the Harp and the Steel String Acoustic guitar in the original. There is a hideous tremolo picking section in the original guitar part that Phil deleted. I concur.
  2. The original piece has a dead measure at the front which I cut. The original tempo changes were at 54 and 62, these are now at 53 and 61. The piece starts with a tempo of 118, and then goes to 124 after the harp solo. I am deeming this close enough to not be bothered with, and will treat it as 124. At measure 53, the tempo drops to 99. At measure 61, it resumes the 124.
  3. Apply a Split Regions to the OPB at 53 and at 61. I use the Command+T tool for accuracy.

[ATTACH=full]6765[/ATTACH]

  1. Create a new track for this region, or if you have an existing open track, drag the region to it. Here, I have moved the region to a track left open after my merge of the tracks which created the OPB:
    [ATTACH=full]6766[/ATTACH]

  2. The magic will be performed by the midi transform tool. It is found under the functions menu for the tracks:
    [ATTACH=full]6767[/ATTACH]

Select Functions>Midi Transform>Half Speed. Note that there is also a Double Speed option, but I prefer to use the Half Speed option for these types of manipulations, as I will explain below. When you select Half Speed, this window appears:
[ATTACH=full]6768[/ATTACH]

  1. Note several things about this window. In the lower half box, there are two drop down selections labeled MUL, and below them are value windows which each have 2.0000 entered in them. This is the command to be performed by the transformation. It will MULtiply the midi values by 2.0000, effectively making them a half speed section. The notes will be twice as long as they were originally. The Double Speed window uses a DIVide command, but I find it easier to think in terms of multiplying rather than dividing.

Even though this window is a preset for Half Speed in the Transform command, it does let you enter values, so you can make it any speed, not just Half Speed. To calculate the number you need to enter use this formula:

Original Speed / New Speed = Multiply Value

Applying this, we have 124/99 = 1.2525. 124 was the original speed. 99 was the speed for the slower section. (see 2 above)

  1. Before we can apply the transformation to the region, we need to give it enough room to hold the new longer region. Simply drag the right side of the region with the region end tool, not the loop tool, to give space. I usually make the region twice as long as it was originally, just to be safe. Before you do this, though, you’ll want to be sure that you will be able to find the accurate place to rejoin the regions. If you have a note in the region that goes all the way to the end of the region, you don’t nee to do anything extra. But, if you don’t, drag the last drum tick to the end of the region.

Before:
[ATTACH=full]6769[/ATTACH]

After:
[ATTACH=full]6770[/ATTACH]

Then, lengthen the region:
[ATTACH=full]6771[/ATTACH]

  1. Now apply the Midi Transform. Select the newly lengthened region, then select Functions>Midi Transform>Half Speed, and enter 1.2525 in both value boxes. Click Select and Operate. and you held see something like this:
    [ATTACH=full]6772[/ATTACH]

  2. Make sure Snap is Off, and then drag the right edge of the region to the end of the last note that you lengthened, or the end of the last note, if you didn’t have to lengthen one.

[ATTACH=full]6773[/ATTACH]

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Go here for part 2 Tutorial for creating a tempo change in Beat Buddy using Logic Pro X, part 2

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Here is an updated PDF.

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FYI - I started working on the ritardando tutorial mentioned in this pdf, and then started feeling not so well. It’ll be a couple days until I get it posted.

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For those that use Cubase instead of Logic Pro X, you can follow Phil’s instructions but use the Object Selection tool and click it again to choose Sizing Applies Time Stretching. Then stretch out the MIDI parts to slow it down. A bit of trial and error you’ll get it sussed. Then join the parts together and export the MIDI to the Manager! :+1:

1 Like
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Genius, pure genius of @Phil_Flood . Thanks a lot, Phil, following your instructions (on the pdf I found elsewhere in the forum) I managed to create a version of a song with multiple tempo changes.

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I very glad that you found it to be helpful!

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Hello, thanx for the tip.
I am working on a project “Take me out” 'Frantz Ferdinand" and i was wondering :slight_smile: When the tempo is slowing (145 to 110 in a single measure then 120 til the end) can we add a .wav file to play this moment that is played automatically in the song ?

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There’s no reason why you couldn’t but you have several other options available and there’s a few examples here on the forum on how others have done what you’re thinking of trying.

The three options I’m suggesting below are simplistic outlines and you would have to follow the forum tutorials for the steps involved. Make sure you edit your MIDI source file so that the velocities

  1. My general thoughts on why I wouldn’t:
    • You’d have to create the 145bpm wav file (I’m assuming you will be using an MIDI source file to do so)
    • Modify an existing drum kit specifically for the 145bpm wav (in effect making this a kit good for only a one-time use)
    • Create the MIDI file for the song at 110bpm that embeds the trigger for the wav file
    • I think this process is kind of more time consuming than the other two options but you might want to give all three a try and see which one works best for you.

The other options include but are not limited to:
2. - Time stretching the MIDI using a DAW (digital audio workstation). There are a couple of different methods based on similar principles. I’m using Logic Pro X (LPX) to outline these methods. The first one is to use MIDI Transform > Double Speed for the 145bpm section and keep the overall song’s MIDI at 110bpm. The second method is to keep the song’s MIDI at 145 and use MIDI Transform > Half Speed for the MIDI section that’s 110bpm.
3. - The easier option might be to Trim the MIDI file to separate the two sections: edit the first section and export it at 145bpm; place it in the Intro section of the BeatBuddy Manager (BBM) and make sure to set the song’s default BPM at 145 in the BBM. The next step is to edit the 110bpm MIDI section and leave several blank bars at the end of the MIDI so that you have time to end it with a double-tap before it begins to loop again. Export the 110bpm MIDI section and add it as a Loop to the BBM song—set the song’s default bpm for this loop at 110bpm.

If you’re not using LPX, these examples might not make sense to you. If you are and you’d like help, I can post the transcribed songs along with the edited MIDI files for options 2 and 3.

Let us know which method works best for you. I’m sure others will chime in here with their thoughts.

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Another consideration here is that the timing of this one measure ritardando would need to be such that it fills exactly one measure at its stated BPM. Otherwise, BBM, when processing this short section, will likely add additional dead space to the beginning of it, resulting in a drop out of sound when performing. As you are intending to go from 145 to 110, it is neither a 145 nor a 110 measure.

If you would intend to have this measure as a separate section in the BB song, i.e., a fill or transition, or even another main loop, you could experiment with various BPM setting for the measure to find the one that would fit it best, and then made you midi trigger note for that part at the discovered BPM.

In my view, the most practical method is to use midi time stretching, and create a one part song for the BB. Your visual metronome will be in time for the first part of the song, but then would be off for the 120 section. It would still sound correct, but the visual feedback from the BB would not be giving you the correct beats. You could do something similar to Persist’s #2 method, with the stretched measure at the end of part 1, ensuring that it has music going to the full end of its last measure. Then place that part containing the 145 section and the altered measure in the intro, with the 110 section in the main loop, with space at the end, as Persist states, to give you time to end the song before it loops.