Snares as beatgrid markers in Traktor

[sineman]

Hi,

I noticed in a couple of videos that Ean advises putting a Beatgrid marker on a snare rather than a kick (in Traktor Pro 2) as its more reliable. The problem I've had with this is my first Hot Cue then is placed on that randomn snare and so not much use as a Hot Cue. Is there any way of avoiding this other than just using the kick instead?

Only recently discovered this site. Its mighty fine. Wish these sort of resources were around when I started DJing back in 1993. So much more fun now!

Many thanks.

[mdcdesign]

Traktor Preferences --> Analyze Options --> Untick "Store Beatmarker as Hotcue"

Having your beatmarker on a snare is a bloody stupid thing to do though tbh, if you ask me, as it means you can't use quantize with hotcues, to drop a beat, as your hotcues will always snap to the snare instead of the kick.

[JDFS]

I'm doing it like Ean, except for the snare thingy. Just place a marker at the downbeat and then with the tick on adjust it. Mapped < and > keys on my keyboard to be grid adjustments.

[loverocket]

I think Ean recommends this for newbies when beatgridding tracks that are NOT 4 on the floor kicks.

If you try to beatgrid a hip hop track and get the grid marker on the wrong kick you can screw it up.

It's way easier to hit the snares as they will usually be on the quarter notes.

I always beatgrid my house tracks on the kicks.

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[b1sh0p]

If you beatgrid drum and bass by the snare, it's only going to work if the tune is 2 step. If the tune has any kind of rhythm, it's going to be a mess. Beatgrid off the downbeat (first kick) IMO.

Also, the easiest way I've found to beat grid is to turn tempo sync on, beatmatch the tune manually and line up the phase meter until it's at the middle point. Basically instead of using the metronome, you're using another tune. You can beatgrid your tune while mixing instead of beatgridding it as a separate exercise.

[sineman]

Ok fair enough, sounds like using the kick for the beatgrid makes the most sense. 90% of my stuff is house or at least 4/4 so makes sense.

Cheers all.

[SlvrDragon50]

Another question, is the beat supposed to be in the middle or beginning of the kick waveform? I don't think my ears can really tell the difference when I match it up against the metronome, or maybe I just haven't trained my ears yet.

[mdcdesign]

Another question, is the beat supposed to be in the middle or beginning of the kick waveform? I don't think my ears can really tell the difference when I match it up against the metronome, or maybe I just haven't trained my ears yet.

It depends on the track itself, specifically the attack/decay envelope used when designing the drum beat in the first place. I've got tracks where the peak is half way through the waveform, and others where its right at the start.

[b1sh0p]

Another question, is the beat supposed to be in the middle or beginning of the kick waveform? I don't think my ears can really tell the difference when I match it up against the metronome, or maybe I just haven't trained my ears yet.

I think a lot of that depends on what part of the tune it is. If you're in a real busy verse, the drum waveform won't be as defined because there's more action. If you're gridding off the intro or outro, in my experience its nearly always at the beginning of the kick. I definitely wouldn't count on that though. You're better off gridding by ear.

[loverocket]

Is it just me or does Traktor do an excellent job of beatgridding automatically ???

I just load new tracks into Traktor and 98% of the time the beatgrid is perfect.

I would say that 1 out every 50 tracks I might just have to delete the first marker and replace it at the first beat.

Why does beatgridding come up so often ?

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