BPM's still in question

[loverocket]

BPM’s still in question

I took some heat about this before and now it’s propagating into our youth.

Can we teach them to read and correctly identify BPM’s before we leave a legacy of corrupt ID3’s ?

TRAP is NOT in the 120-150 BPM range.

Here is an actual TRAP producer stating it correctly as 67 BPM.

Gangsta Trap/Dirty South Beat (Exclusivity March 2011) [67 BPM]

[mwn11]

Why does it matter?

If the readout wasn’t there it wouldn’t make a difference? You could still beatmatch one into another.

[Shishdisma]

Surprise surprise, Trap producers loosely understand basic music theory… What’s our next lesson? The majority of DJs don’t understand the basics of sound engineering or software?

[squidot]

Looking for trouble, eh?

Imo its irrelevant what people decide to tag their bpms at. They can do whatever works best for them and their mixing style.

[Era_7]

so?

[rdej47]

This is what the /2 or 2x button is for in Traktor

[Ed_Paris]

same goes for dubstep. it´s all a matter of taste and in what way you´re mixing.

[DJ_SB]

@Ed_Paris

same goes for dubstep. it´s all a matter of taste and in what way you´re mixing.

This.

[underwaterrobots]

Technically and sonically speaking, there is a huge difference between 70 BPM and 140 BPM, so it does irk me when BPMs are mislabeled. As others have said, it doesn’t matter when beatmatching, but it makes a huge difference in the flow of the mix.

[Ed_Paris]

@underwaterrobots

Technically and sonically speaking, there is a huge difference between 70 BPM and 140 BPM, so it does irk me when BPMs are mislabeled. As others have said, it doesn’t matter when beatmatching, but it makes a huge difference in the flow of the mix.

care you give me an example? cause i don´t see a difference transitioning from 140bpm to a 70bpm track or the other way around.

[dripstep]

I delete everything in the id3 so that all of my tracks are blank. Gamble and match by ear. Seriously though, who don’t you just change the bpm in the id3 yourself? You are asking the whole internet to follow rules.

[underwaterrobots]

@Ed_Paris

care you give me an example? cause i don´t see a difference transitioning from 140bpm to a 70bpm track or the other way around.

Let’s say you’re 75% into your set and are building up the energy with uptempo songs (140 BPM), and then you drop a 70 BPM song that’s been mislabeled as 140 BPM. That’s just going to kill the energy buildup you’ve worked for, and will likely throw the crowd off. Of course, a proper DJ will know his/her tracks inside out and know not to drop that 70 BPM song no matter what the BPM says, but I am just trying to illustrate that BPM is more than mathematics.

[Ed_Paris]

@underwaterrobots

Let’s say you’re 75% into your set and are building up the energy with uptempo songs (140 BPM), and then you drop a 70 BPM song that’s been mislabeled as 140 BPM. That’s just going to kill the energy buildup you’ve worked for, and will likely throw the crowd off. Of course, a proper DJ will know his/her tracks inside out and know not to drop that 70 BPM song no matter what the BPM says, but I am just trying to illustrate that BPM is more than mathematics.

but that doesn´t explain it. bpm doesn´t really matter. it´s more the vibe of the song rather than it being 140bpm or 70bpm.

[pbcrazy9898]

All my tracks are labeled between like 81 to 160 bpm because I don’t like having worry about traktor syncing it wrong if I miss something in the heat of the performance. To me that is almost a backfire method because its not the BPM that makes the intensity of a track. It’s better to know the style/feel/groove of your songs so that you aren’t relying on your tagging system to create big drops. I love building up in 140bpm( or 70bpm) and then dropping in like a hard 112 bpm and it sounds dope as balls. (If I pick the right songs)

[ApplianceTyrant]

I’m pretty sure trap is 205.33333333333333 BPM.

[b1sh0p]

@underwaterrobots

Let’s say you’re 75% into your set and are building up the energy with uptempo songs (140 BPM), and then you drop a 70 BPM song that’s been mislabeled as 140 BPM. That’s just going to kill the energy buildup you’ve worked for, and will likely throw the crowd off. Of course, a proper DJ will know his/her tracks inside out and know not to drop that 70 BPM song no matter what the BPM says, but I am just trying to illustrate that BPM is more than mathematics.

If you drop a half step tune into your set and don’t know what it is, that’s your own fault for playing tunes you don’t know. That doesn’t change the tempo of the tune.

[mdcdesign]

Trap is a hybrid music genre, usually incorporating elements of hip-hop, crunk, house, and dub music.[1] It is characterized by crisp snares, sweeping sub-bass, pitched-down vocals[2] and high-pitched repeating sounds that accompany lyrics often concerned with drug dealing or “the trap”.

I think the more important question, given the genre of music in question, is who cares?

[b1sh0p]

Trap is just a bite off of Chicago gangsta rap, which bit off of Memphis gangsta rap. Then dubstep nerds got a hole of it and renamed it.

[underwaterrobots]

@Ed_Paris

but that doesn´t explain it. bpm doesn´t really matter. it´s more the vibe of the song rather than it being 140bpm or 70bpm.

The vibe is often determined by the BPM (I don’t want to get into arguments, so I won’t say always). When you sit down to write a song, you take whatever idea you have and you start playing it at a certain tempo, again often specified by the BPM. If it’s twice as fast or twice as slow, obviously the vibe will be different.

@b1sh0p

If you drop a half step tune into your set and don’t know what it is, that’s your own fault for playing tunes you don’t know. That doesn’t change the tempo of the tune.

Yes I understand that, as I stated in the last sentence of the quote.

If you want to DJ based on vibe alone (which I agree is the better approach), that’s great. But that doesn’t change the fact that BPM is a fundamental aspect of music theory that any musician should know, and should never be brushed off as “doesn’t matter.” It’s the same thing with key… If a song is labeled a certain key, then of course I’d prefer it to be labeled correctly.

Anyway, it’s just my opinion that given a song that you’ve never heard before, a DJ should be able to tell right away if it’s 70 or 140 bpm. It’s just something I value, but if it’s not important to others, then that’s okay too.

Bottom line is… if you’re going to ID-tag, I’d prefer it if you did so correctly.

[b1sh0p]

@underwaterrobots

The vibe is often determined by the BPM (I don’t want to get into arguments, so I won’t say always). When you sit down to write a song, you take whatever idea you have and you start playing it at a certain tempo, again often specified by the BPM. If it’s twice as fast or twice as slow, obviously the vibe will be different.

Yes I understand that, as I stated in the last sentence of the quote.

If you want to DJ based on vibe alone (which I agree is the better approach), that’s great. But that doesn’t change the fact that BPM is a fundamental aspect of music theory that any musician should know, and should never be brushed off as “doesn’t matter.” It’s the same thing with key… If a song is labeled a certain key, then of course I’d prefer it to be labeled correctly.

Anyway, it’s just my opinion that given a song that you’ve never heard before, a DJ should be able to tell right away if it’s 70 or 140 bpm. It’s just something I value, but if it’s not important to others, then that’s okay too.

Bottom line is… if you’re going to ID-tag, I’d prefer it if you did so correctly.

I’d always just assume 70 is going to be half beat. Traktor does some weird things with halftime drum and bass. It’s never a problem because I just know the tunes.