A Matter of Tempo

I was wondering, how in the heck do you choose your tempos? I find it quite odd that, the more I learn about electronic music production, the more I notice that people tend to use un-rounded-number tempos, such as 123BPM or, even more weirdly and to the point, something like 119.84 (which I read in a well-known magazine). Why would one do that? Does it appeal more at a subconscious level, as opposed to a more rounded number (to the nearest ten)? It's definitely not a matter of tempo, since there's not an awful lot of difference between 123BPM, 119.84BPM and the tidier rounded number of 120BPM... Even if you're recording actual physical instruments - unless you're recording a totally spontaneous jam-session where no metronome is utilised, or unless it's your intention to play how you feel like and then tap in the tempo later for mixing purposes - you're still setting the metronome at a particular tempo; how do you choose that? Any thoughts about any of the above are very much appreciated!

Hi Jeff, thanks for your detailed reply! I'm a drummer too and yes, I suppose in that scenario there is a bit of a difference (although I'm more used to faster BPMs, being a metal drummer, so maybe I'm a little 'blunted' to smaller differences in tempo). However, I was referring more to electronic dance music where (in my humble and probably meaningless opinion) the main kick-drum beat really does not sound siginificantly different at 120BPM or 123 BPM; I've tried this myself... 5BPM is more tangible, so I've started rounding to the nearest 5, instead of tens, but I still really don't see the point in not rounding at all (as far as dance music is concerned)... Also, the 119.84BPM actually comes from an article talking about 'chart hits' and this being the 'magic number' for all current chart successes; and not an article on software DAWs or anything of the sort... I have a feeling I shouldn't take everything written in magazines (however widespread and successful) as gospel... Regarding the staying in MIDI mode, I do do that (as much as my computer allows), although I've seen in many tutorials that prolific producers tend to record everything immediately as soon as they've settled on a particular riff, sound or kick; which I have tried to emulate and honestly I find it to be somewhat of a nuisance... Would you be able to expand on those "magic around tempos" you mentioned? And how are they magic? Does this refer to the subconscious effect they may have on the listener, or something more tangible for the producer such as decreased phase damage etc.?

Hey Mike I am still not sure about 119.84 being special compared to say 120 BPM. We are talking a difference of 0.16 BPM! And that is in a tempo of 120 so we are talking now a change of only 0.1% change in tempo. Do you really think you are going to feel that.

Creating audio parts early is OK if the DAW in use is OK at time stretching. I use Studio One for example and all you have to do there is alter the project tempo and all the audio files get time stretched perfectly to the new tempo. But even as good as it is I would not be wanting it to be making major changes in tempo though. Small perhaps. 

I use quite a lot of external midi (hardware) as well as virtual so I think it is possible to avoid audio all together for quite a time before settling on the tempo. I work like that a bit if I am involving synths a lot. But if it's a band I think it is better to get down to sorting out the tempo pretty early.

Anything related to 12 is good isn't it! Tempos of 120, 132, 108, 96, 84, 72 etc are all good! I am not sure about that really. I think you have to just feel it where it should be and be prepared to fine tune if necessary. 

Yes you do sometimes have to alter the tempo in a second DAW to keep things right. You start by setting it to 120 BPM as you would expect and at the start the second DAW metronome is perfectly in time but not right at the end. In this case the metronome will be early right near the end of the piece compared to the music in the second DAW. Early means the second DAW is playing fast and you might have to shift the tempo down very slight amounts eg 119.84 and then everything will line up again nicely. Not sure but I think in Logic you can set the tempo to 4 decimal places.  This is also when audio is involved not midi only for obvious reasons.

Another place where weird tempos show up is in film scoring. Sometimes you have to alter tempos very small amounts to meet up with hit points perfectly as well.

Right, I see! (re DAWs, tempo and metronomes)

I have run into a case where my part of a song was recorded at 120BPM in SONAR X1 and when I took it to my partner's studio (using Adobe Audition), the tempo registered as 119.86....and it did make a difference in the project.  I had to edit the clarinetist's audio wave in spots to keep up with the song if I remember correctly.

Here's an interesting page regarding tempo and click tracks
http://labs.echonest.com/click/

Small differences in tempo are more readily perceived when in relation to each other. If the song you're listening to increases by 2bpm halfway through, you notice.  A 2bpm difference between songs is less noticeable (unless you're an autistic savant and have some unusual power in this respect) .

But I sometimes wonder if tempo has a "color" associated with it, like pitch. I often wonder about people's choice of key, and if people will perceive my song as less interesting if I arrange it in C, for instance. If I choose Gb instead, does it sound more interesting because it's a less common key?


Similarly, do people choose 123bpm because they feel like it'll stand apart from the more common tempo of 120bpm? 


I tend to choose tempos by tapping them, having spent some time jamming the riff or chords by feel. It's very rarely a round number. 


Tempo is very powerful though. Sometimes I'll spend ages feeling that there's something not quite right about a song, so I'll shift the tempo by +-5bpm (or more) and all of a sudden it's found it's groove. 

I stand there in my studio like an idiot and and dance to my tune, and the number that feels best while I'm shaking all over the place is the one I go with.  LMAO

 Tony -lol.

 I mostly start by a feel I get for a particular passage or idea and then if I carry it further I tap a tempo say into a guitar effector or  my metronome which has a function in it that lets me tap a button and it shows me the tempo and this is how I decide on a project tempo. One of my last projects was at 111 BPM.

 I have read  that the reason for the common 120 tempo is based on a persons heart rate...well most people unless you are doing coke or something.

 Give or take a few bpm, this is the tempo of your heart. Making songs in that tempo  fit well into a persons inner rhythm. A little slower than that and the song takes on a more relaxed feel, tempos of 130 or higher are geared towards getting the heartrate up, the adrenalin flowing, like metal music.

 A song written at say 126 bpm might be just enough to pull it out of limbo.Instead of the Sonar preset of 120.

 So the tempo is a really big influence on how music feels.Something I intended to make more use of was to change tempos during a song because this adds more interest in some situations.

 As for why certain bands might use an odd tempo of 119.83, I can't really say. The 48/44.1 khz conversion makes a lot of sense. Us  musician types can have a ton of odd reasons why we do something.

 I noticed quite awhile ago when I needed to play someone elses material that all kinds of goofy things were going on. A lot of bands seem to like playing in places that can be difficult to tune to or play.Maybe this is intentional to make it diificult to play their material or maybe they all tuned off of one guitar and it wasn't tuned up right or the guitar player likes alternate tunings....I know I ran off topic  here sorry...on the subject of why some bands choose certain tempos it could be anything. If the band is into numerology they might decide to use only hex tunings and tempos( this isn't me BTW..not by a long shot) If 7 is significant someone might base an idea off of it. I once heard an album that was created based on the light wave lengths of the colors the rainbow....It is probably most often based on the feel of the music though.

 Reasons are both scientific and unscientific for tempo choice. I am of the opinion that numbers are significant even if they seem random.

  Thanks for clearing the misinformation up Jeff. The average blood PRESSURE is 120 over 80 and average heart rate is 60 to 100 bpm from what I garnered on the web.

 I did read an article about there being a correlation between music,tempo and our heart rate. I was hoping someone else remembered reading it because I thought it was interesting but I didn't remember all of the details from the article..I apologize for getting the details wrong . Basically the article was making the case I made earlier,that our heart rates can be tied to song rhythms.Here is a similar article although not the one I read which made more of a case for our folllowing something easier if it was tied to our HR- 

http://www.livestrong.com...ween-music-heart-rate/

Maybe this is why a lot of ballads are written in the 80-95bpm range. That would make sense from that perspective. A common tempo of 120 also fits well into the theory. 

 In my case, if I get a certain feel for a song and try to go with a default of 120, my groove goes away almost immediately or I have to follow it instead if it following me. I personally want it to follow me and not change my ideas based on a preset tempo if the standard makes me change my ideas.

 In Dance ,Rap and Techno music more often than not the computer is the conductor with parts being added to it.Not necessarily a bad thing, usually not my thing . I have done some loop tunes. One of my first favorite bands was Kraftwerk....." we are the robots....." if you remember that then you are probably the same vintage as me. I think the fact that it was so exact is what made it interesting. At that time not  many musicians were making anything even remotely like it,and they were some of the first to explore sequencing at that level. Their music was about as robotic as it gets lol.

It is all about feel.  Sometimes I have the hardest time getting the tempo for people I bring in.  We try it at 124, then 126 and after a few takes drop it to 122 (purely a fictional example here).  While I don't think a fraction of a beat makes a lot of difference, a beat or two can make a world of difference to a player.  And funny, the next day that same player might feel it a beat or two different if you try another take.

@

Absolutely, Jeff! I've found that balancing on your stool and just moving your arms and legs is absolutely the way to go too-- everything else is just theatre! You should set your drum kit thusly. I think any good drum teacher would tell you this as well. It's quintessential to extreme metal drumming too because the drummer simply doesn't have the time or the extra energy to spare. I've also noticed the breathing thing, too! Although it's more of a subconscious thing for me, but when it starts getting heavier I definitely notice it and sort of consciously feel my playing is benefiting from it. If I'm playing very fast, I'll enhale deeply on, say, the first beat of the first bar and exhale on the first beat of the third bar I think, and so forth... Heart rate and BPM also makes a whole lot of sense of course. As does (to whatever degree, subjectively) other more occult reasonings such as numerology etc... The light wavelengths thing is fascinating! Who was this?? Thank you all for your input, also!

Actually 126 BPM would be the average heartbeat of dancers if you have taken Party Enhancers, this is why most dance music has an average BPM of 120.  Under the influence of Party Enhancers you'd be amazed as to what you can feel.

Just saying thats all, not trying to start a fight on this one.

Peace Ben

Anybody dancing or doing any strenuous physical activity will have a heart rate around 120bpm, without enhancements! Just look at sports people like runners. Dancing is no different.

Very interesting post though.

I read an article MANY years ago about a couple of Paula Abdul's tunes, and I remember them saying there was something magical about 120 BPM for a dance tune.

Unfortunately, that's all I can remember.  LOL