Beatgridding Problem

Hi, I am hoping that someone can help me out with a problem I have been having when beatgridding tracks. When I beatgrid certain tracks, the grid will fall off at a certain point in the track. For example, the first minute of the track may be gridded correctly, but then it will fall off maybe 30 seconds later, and then maybe the last minute will be gridded properly again. Then when I try to sync it with the incoming track, it is completely off, and even when I try to match it manually it just keeps falling off every 2 seconds. I use a controller so it becomes quite annoying to keep correcting it. I have noticed that it usually happens with tracks that are not 4/4, and occurs most times with tracks that are broken beat. If someone can help me I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

Steven

 

would you have an example of such track?

 

Yes. All three tracks will fall off at different points, especially the third one.

Ancient Methods- Am-5 B1

Steve Poidexter- Computer Madness

Morphosis- Spiral

 

I don't know the other two tracks but Computer Madness is a really old track. Maybe the BPM of the track was never consistant.

 

if youtube videos are anything to go by, then I found the following:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpJRP4wRmFs"]Ancient Methods - Untitled A1 (Fifth Method) - YouTube[/ame] - ancient methods - BPM fluctuates some, but not to the point the track is not mixable (127.970 BPM)
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI8l6u_gAPg"]Steve Poindexter - Computer Madness - YouTube[/ame] - steve poindexter - some fluctuation in BPM, mainly in the middle of the track, but no disaster, 127.483 BPM, actually mixes rather nicely with pop art - sub system
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJH3iLJNsfg"]Morphosis - Spiral - YouTube[/ame] - morphosis - BPM fluctuates quite heavily, I'd not mix this track, 118.805 BPM

 

Not all tracks are going to have a constant bpm
especially older tracks,rock,some rap, anything with a live drummer, and then of course the tracks mixed with a transition where one song ends and another beat or song starts without being synced.

Also tracks that have the main drop(beat) start after singing or high hats may not catch the correct beat and be off.

Be sure to have your bpm range in prefs set pretty wide I now use 80-164 range to cover all tracks.

Here is a link to a little bpm test I did last week. Might help with understanding the range a bit.

http://www.native-instruments.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152789

 

Thank you for the replies, much appreciated.

 

just FYI, all those tracks are 4/4.

 

I know thanks.

 

NI needs to keep working on improving their beat gridding. There is no reason why they cant have flexible beat grids....where you can set one grid for the first 3 minutes of a track....and then if the track varies slightly in the breakdown, you cna come out of it with a slightly adjusted beat grid to get the second half of the track back on point.

Ableton has had this for years...no reason Traktor cant do the same.

 

I've heard that Serato also uses variable beatgridding. It seems also Pioneer's updated Rekordbox software is able to handle variable beatgrid.

As i'm an allround DJ who play's party's as well as wedding party's, i do play music of the 70's and 80's and it's just not possible to get them gridded correctly as most of these songs have some small variable beats.

Therefore i would be very gratefull if NI was able to get this in the soft. Maybe give possibility to analyse and beatgrid f.e. in Rekordbox and that Traktor can copy the gridding? Just an idea.

Anyway thanks for looking in to this for the next update.

Still using Traktor Pro, willing to upgrade to Pro2 but only if this beatgridding thing is fixed! Hope to be able to upgrade soon guy's:S

 

I just tried serato dj today with Itch and the beat gridding is so nice very quick to set uyp and allows flexible beat grids , im hoping NI get on it soon. It i s the last thing left for me to be added!

 

if only we could be that lucky but i will not hold my breathe

 

That's all you want from Traktor? TSP 3, should also have a vector based UI to support retina displays, vertical waveforms or stacked waveforms, Video support, and instant loading of playlist on external drives.

Also, I think Traktor should just work without a license even if at a limited capacity when you plug into an A6, A10, and Z2 to promote the use of their hardware/software. People who want the full software when not plugged into the devices I mention would have to buy a full Traktor license.

 

Yep of course the waveforms in serato are much better and also having marker labels clearly shown all at once , i actually switched to Traktor for the midi mapping and effects but now thinking of going back to Serato . Just need to see if i can convert all my crates playlists etc.

 

you really think the waveforms in serato are better? everytime i dj with someone with traktor and look at his screen i'm like "poor boy, you surely get eye cancer from this gui and i cant even see anything informative" ^^

 

Hi Fluke

Yeah i much prefer the waveforms in Serato as you see each song running next to each other . Helps a lot if you don't use sync and want to nudge a track slightly back or forth to line it up.

 

@Freshfluke I totally respect you but, the waveforms in Serato from a mixing standpoint are way way better. The phase meter in Traktor is fine for quantized music but when you play non-quantized music Serato is at a great advantage especially now with elastic beat gridding. I can mix with my ears but, I need them for the rest of my life and don't mind help from ScratchLive's beatmarkers/phase meter whatever you call them.

 

This will make me unpopular most likely but, Traktor and Serato both use the Finder to place and move files I think. There is nothing to stop you from highlighting all the songs in a Traktor Playlist and dragging them into a Serato Crate and vice versa. You will lose your cue points but that's no biggie to me. I think the best solution for managing music though is iTunes.

 

maybe it's just about what you're used to @Irv_Tf but i never could deal with the ssl waveforms... but i see the slight advantage you have when playing not quantized music.