i've always been under the impression that i want to set the beatgrids on all of my tracks on the first beat of the "breakdown".. the waveform here is usually pretty easy to map.. is this a bad idea or does it even matter?
i've always been under the impression that i want to set the beatgrids on all of my tracks on the first beat of the "breakdown".. the waveform here is usually pretty easy to map.. is this a bad idea or does it even matter?
Technically it doesn't matter where you put your beatgrid marker, as it extends the grid backwards as well as forwards from the marker. I tend to put mine at the first major kick of the track; ie, on Ultrabeat - Pretty Green Eyes, after the weird siren noise at the start.
It depends on if you use the beat/measure counter in Traktor. Even then the grid marker may not need to be on the first beat of the track as some tracks have a intro section or start on an odd measure.
The only other problems I can see with your method is if the song changes tempo or doesn't have a consistant tempo/BPM. You can sometimes use another grid marker to correct these. With the marker always at the breakdown, you would need to move the marker to the beginning and place another after to correct the problem.
Edit: not entirely correct. Just my method. Adding another marker before the one at the breakdown would also correct the problem
Traktor has gotten better at BPM analysis, but it is still not 100% accurate. When the grid is stretched over the entire track (marker at the start), you can check the grid (especially at the end of the track) to make sure it is correct and adjust it. With the marker at the breakdown it might not be exact as the grid is only from breakdown to the end.
There is a very good video/blog article on this that Ean did a while back. Check the blog archives.