jyoung60
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Recording without a metronome
I'm about to start a project that involves just me and one acoustic guitar, doing a slow, freestyle type of song. That is, there is no consistent tempo or rhythm to it. So I need to record without a metronome.
My question is for those who have experience with this sort of thing: Is there anything I should know about doing a recording like this when it comes to editing/mixing/whatever? Whatever might make the process less painful, if possible.
Thanks!
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michael japan
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/23 22:56:16
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Probably just google mic placement. If you want to be able to process your voice and guitar, you could consider doing another take where you record separately - especially helpful if you need a little tuning help on the voice. And if there is any possibility you will want to add drums down the line, do a third take with a metronome.
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chuckebaby
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/24 01:07:43
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☼ Best Answerby jyoung60 2017/08/24 02:03:25
If you don't plan on multi tracking at all, then just go with it.
But if there is going to be any additional tracks added later, you might want to leave some cue markers for placement purposes. Those can be done with Click tracks (A 4 count) added in random areas where changes will happen (Typically triggered by a foot switch).
Recording without a click track does add that special "Real feeling" to a recording but it can also add that "WTH is this" feeling as well. So be cautious of dragging and/or speeding up.
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Anderton
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/24 19:42:56
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☄ Helpfulby jyoung60 2017/08/25 00:42:27
With Melodyne active, you can drag the clip into the time ruler, and SONAR will automatically generate a tempo track. This is basically like magic  , and means you can sync things up later to something recorded without a metronome. I did a demo once at Sweetwater with it, you could see jaws drop because I did outrageous tempo variations.
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jyoung60
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/25 00:43:03
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bitman
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/25 01:29:13
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Anderton
I did a demo once at Sweetwater with it, you could see jaws drop because I did outrageous tempo variations.
This isn't easy as it seems when you're trying to.
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chuckebaby
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/25 10:08:47
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Sometimes its the best tool for the job, other times I've dragged projects that were recorded inside sonar to a metronome and they vary +/- 3 BPM.
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Cactus Music
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/25 14:40:01
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☄ Helpfulby jyoung60 2017/08/25 14:55:16
Really if your not planning on adding any midi instruments that would need quantizing there is no need for a tempo ( or map) at all.
About all that would do is give you a visual of measures to navigate with.
I have a ton of live recordings that are set at 120 BPM.. I edit and add new parts to. I even add keyboard parts but I have to watch my timing because you cannot quantize.
What I might do is change the tempo so it's fairly close just for visual layout. Changing tempo does not effect audio.
The Melodyne trick is hit or miss I gave up on it. It didn't even see to work with a kick drum track that was very close to staying on time through a whole song ( real good player)
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jude77
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/25 16:08:31
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Anderton
With Melodyne active, you can drag the clip into the time ruler, and SONAR will automatically generate a tempo track. This is basically like magic , and means you can sync things up later to something recorded without a metronome.
I did a demo once at Sweetwater with it, you could see jaws drop because I did outrageous tempo variations.
Craig, That sounds like a miracle. Since I'm the absolute least technical guy on this site could you (or anyone else) explain what you mean when you say "with Melodyne active"? Thanks!
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S.L.I.P.
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/25 16:24:32
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Steve_Karl
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/25 17:05:52
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Anderton
With Melodyne active, you can drag the clip into the time ruler, and SONAR will automatically generate a tempo track. This is basically like magic , and means you can sync things up later to something recorded without a metronome.
I did a demo once at Sweetwater with it, you could see jaws drop because I did outrageous tempo variations.
I've never used Melodyne so I don't understand what "with Melodyne active" means. Can someone please explain in more detail? Thanks!
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S.L.I.P.
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/25 17:13:10
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Take a look at the above video. Melodyne just needs to be installed in your system. Extremely easy to use.
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Steve_Karl
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/25 17:25:40
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Ahhh ... I see. I just needs to be installed. Thank you.
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Anderton
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/25 17:39:22
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☄ Helpfulby Steve_Karl 2017/08/25 18:08:03
The demo in the video referenced above is pretty tame . If you want to see a radical demo of just how insanely good the tempo extraction is, start at 3:30 in the following video. The section on tempo extraction lasts about two and a half minutes.
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Steve_Karl
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/25 18:08:35
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Yea. Good video on many other points also.
Thanks!
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jude77
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/25 21:24:55
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Thanks Craig and S.L.I.P.!!
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Jon Bryson
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/26 02:42:25
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Ok, that Melodyne trick *is* basically magic. Nice!
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Bflat5
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/26 08:09:14
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Anderton
With Melodyne active, you can drag the clip into the time ruler, and SONAR will automatically generate a tempo track. This is basically like magic , and means you can sync things up later to something recorded without a metronome.
I did a demo once at Sweetwater with it, you could see jaws drop because I did outrageous tempo variations.
Nice! :)
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danbottomburp
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/26 08:39:17
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Anderton
With Melodyne active, you can drag the clip into the time ruler, and SONAR will automatically generate a tempo track. This is basically like magic , and means you can sync things up later to something recorded without a metronome.
I did a demo once at Sweetwater with it, you could see jaws drop because I did outrageous tempo variations.
Is there a link to that demo Craig, i would really like to watch,as tempo is probably something i should improve on. Never-mind i should have read the entire thread 
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jimkleban
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/08/27 17:27:42
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Just adding my 2 cents, Melodyne sometimes does some real funking tempo maps during certain sections of a track. Not all the time but most of the time on my end. Don't have a clue what causes this but it is so inconsistent that I am about to abandon its usage and go back to manually adjusting the TEMPO map.
However, per the OP, I think I hear that the OP only wants to mix his dual audio tracks that don't follow a tempo. And as such, wouldn't need a metronome or tempo map for such editing and should just leave the metronome off for both playback and record. Record the audio track(s) and mix your heart out during playback.
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MondoArt
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/09/01 19:25:33
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☄ Helpfulby jyoung60 2017/09/01 20:18:51
Here's my approach (never tried the Melodyne thing):
Find a tempo that's close; set your default tempo to this.
Record your track(s)
Set your snap to transients only
Snap on the downbeat of each measure in the guitar track, and use "Set/Measure/Beat at Now" to define the measure numbers and tempo map.
Do similar for other beats depending on your song. THis can be tedious, but use the keyboard shortcut (Shift-M) and it goes a lot faster.
Even if it's just guitar and vocal, using tempo-based effects like delay will work better as they will follow the tempo map.
I've even managed to add other tracks like MIDI drums, bass, and piano and quantize to the new beats - works great.
Neel
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MondoArt
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/09/01 19:40:53
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Just watched the video with Criag demonstrating the tempo map by dragging the clip to the ruler. Neat, but it didn't work well. After you clicked to measure 16, the downbeats of the guitar were lining up with beat 4 of each measure, so you had the snare hitting on the downbeat. Maybe the "drag to ruler" thing works for small variations, but doesn't seem trustworthy for anything else. In any case, sometimes it can take longer to fix an automated tempo map then to define it for yourself so you ensure it's right.
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Cactus Music
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Re: Recording without a metronome
2017/09/01 20:05:13
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My experience as well. Cool trick-when and if it works.
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