I’m trying to set up my beatgrids in Traktor and I’m running into an issue. By default Traktor is placing the mark slightly after the note, but from what I read, it should be at the start of it. Reason I ask is because Traktor is not placing it at the start on any of my tracks.
Here is the default grid by Traktor:
Should it be more like this??
Thanks in advance!
-A
Ps. I’m using Minimal / Techno tracks. Doubt that matters but I thought I would throw it out there.
I’ve always wondered about this. Never got a straight answer, though.
You’re gonna hear a lot of comments about “transients” in this thread, and people will SOUND like they know what they’re talking about - but that type of comment has never really helped me…
For me it’s just a case of using my ears. Some tracks sound fine with the grid (or the warp marker in Ableton) right at the beginning of the sound, and some need to be shifted forwards a little.
For me, it’s not such an issue, because I use timecode vinyl (without the phase meter) so as long as I set a beat grid that sets the average BPM of the tracks correctly, I can nudge them into phase using the vinyl.
I always try to have the grid start at the beginning of the track i.e the second pic. If you follow this rule for every track then in theory they are all set to the same point and ‘should’ sync correctly. 99% of the time this works for me.
I seriously thought I must have been doing it wrong, so glad you guys are doing the same as me.
For me, the right place for the marker is definitely as per the second picture.
However, I totally regret drawing that conclusion!
Because I have now basically guaranteed that I will have to do work with EVERY grid in my library.
I wish that when I started using Traktor I’d just gone with the software’s own preference instead, because then a large proportion of my library would have been gridded ‘correctly’ without any input from me.
The transient is simply a high frequency detected by Traktor during analysis. If no AutoGrid is applied Traktor puts beatmarkers on the transients. These are not just the kicks but any high frequency. Traktor does this much better than it did before but it can still be confused by complex rhythms or beats that have a slow attack (a bit like pre-echo).
That’s just Traktor detecting the transients. You cannot change this until you apply a BeatGrid or AutoGrid.
The correct position of a BeatGrid is on the beat which may actually ‘appear’ to be in front of it… this is just how it appears, it is the correct position. I don’t think it helps too zoom in on a waveform that much because you will see more the high frequencies of instruments as well as the beat (and you only need the beat).
Here is a beatmarker (not BeatGrid) set on a transient that Traktor has detected that is in the correct position. You can see more than just one beatmarker on a beat but other high frequencies as well
Here is the same but with a AutoGrid. Now you only see lines on the beats which are spaced out equally defined by the BPM.
Here is the same with a Load Marker on it but zoomed in bit. Hitting this marker starts the track on the beat and it loops perfectly.
Here is the same but with a BeatGrid and zoomed in much more. The Grid looks incorrect. It is 100% correct
Zooming in too far is not a good idea.
Trust your ears. If you hit that marker and it plays the beat instantly and it loops perfectly then it’s right. If it looks wrong, it isn’t.