[ubuntu-studio-users] Converting a recorded track to a timing track

Ralf Mardorf ralf.mardorf at alice-dsl.net
Mon Dec 26 12:09:00 UTC 2016


Hi,

you need a sequencer that records a tempo map following you tapping a
key. This automatically would set the tempo, BPM in relation to the time
code position. This works very well to sync a sequencer to "averaged
normal music" played by real musicians. After or before doing this you
still need to manually edit the signature. No software is able to
detect if you are playing 3/4 followed by 2/4 or if you are playing
5/4. Apart from this, if you are really playing by pulse, recording a
tempo map might be more or less impossible, since when you actually
wouldn't count, you need to count, resp. tap, so that the sequencer
knows at what tempo you are, where quasi no tempo exists. In short, a
feature to sync a MIDI sequencer to human played audio tracks by
tapping a key does exist since decades, even to analog audio tapes
where the sequencer is synced by SMPTE. I guess you won't find this
feature provided by Qtractor. There only seems to be     View > Tempo
Map > Tap    to set a tempo at a given position, not to generate a
tempo map while playing the song. Maybe Ardour, Rosegarden or another
Linux sequencer provides it. I suspect that assuming Ardour's Rhythm
Ferret should still exist and assuming it should work, it just would
work for "averaged normal music",
https://community.ardour.org/a3_features_ferret . However, beat
detection is for sure less good than tapping, if you are playing by
pulse. Sync is an issue for all computer platforms, but Linux for sure
is by far the weakest platform in this domain.

Regards,
Ralf



More information about the ubuntu-studio-users mailing list