I’ve got quite a lot of tracks where they start out on the beatgrid ok but then drift off.
I’ve heard that if you put in more than one manual grid marker then basically you can’t use sync (or you have to then un sync then re sync when you get to the next grid marker) - the problem with this is a lot of my tracks need 7 or 8 or more grid markers.
I just wondered if anyone has got any good advice or info on how best to approach this?
I don’t want to put the tracks in ableton or logic and warp them and bounce them, i’d rather just keep it within Traktor if possible.
Either Traktor analyzed the BPM of the song incorrectly, you set the BPM incorrectly, or the songs are rushing/dragging out of a constant BPM. Hard to say from the info you gave.
You shouldn’t have to imagine – it’s pretty easy to figure out what the problem is. Follow the track and see where the drift starts. Set the grid so it is consistent as far as possible and then see where it drifts off (or sometimes suddenly falls off). If it’s a wonky breakdown but the BPM is the same before and after, you set a second gridmarker and that’s it – rare you would ever need more than 2 gridmarkers. If there is a BPM shift you’ll be able to pinpoint where it’s happening (sometimes it’s intentional, of course). If it’s a vinyl rip you may even have recorded a dust bunny hop – very different situation than BPM drifting back and forth. If your turntable is decent you shouldn’t have BPM drift from recording vinyl records – there is drift but it is infinitesimal on a Technics 1200 for example (assuming of course you aren’t fiddling with the pitch control while recording, heh).
But make sure your grid is as close as it can be when you start - check tutorials on beatgridding if you’re not sure. Just remember, the grid itself won’t drift – the grid is an exact mathematical representation of the BPM value. If the beats do not conform to the grid, adjust the BPM value (and the position of the first gridmarker) until they do. Once you get the hang of it you’ll see it becomes pretty easy to see where the track falls off tempo.
you can drop as many grid markers as you want. bear in mind though that if you have one at the start and one near the end, but the middle is out of whack, the sync function wont work for that section.
I zoomed in real close on the first beat, lined the beatgrid marker up perfectly, the track stays on the grid for the first minute, then it starts drifting, so I put a second marker in at that point, tightened it up so it’s bang on, then about 15 seconds later it’s drifting again - this went on and on - I ended up with like 8 beatgrid markers in the track. And it’s very time consuming!
I often use ‘tap’ tempo button to get the grid on point, then go through it to make sure it’s ok throughout the track. For these old vinyl tracks I’d say 70% are ok.
Pitch drift…I use Ableton to warp the tracks back to the right tempo then re-grid in Traktor..works perfect, but takes alot of prep time. This way im only wasting 1 beatgrid marker per track.
I have a few tracks like this. I lock all my tracks that are beat gridded properly so I KNOW when I see a track that isn’t locked I have to mix it “old school” and ride the fader. I know this doesn’t solve your problem but it will help you keep a record of the wonky tracks.
I just warp everything in Ableton. I don’t use sync on everything, but I do tempo transitions with synced tracks so I like my grids to be perfect. I’ve never used more than one grid anchor in a song.
