Bpm Display - M-Audio Torq 1.5 User Manual

Torq 1.5 User Guide Torq 1.5 User Guide
< BPM Display
Tempo is a measurement of the speed of a song and is normally expressed as Beats Per Minute (BPM). As the
BPM increases, the speed of the song increases. In order for two songs to be mixed together with their beats
aligned, the two songs will need to be playing at the same tempo. This is why Torq's Decks are equipped with
Speed Sliders. In the event that you are trying to mix two songs with different tempos (which happens more
often than not), you will need to use the Speed Sliders to match the tempo of the new song to the tempo of the
current song.
» Automatic BPM Detection
Any time you load a new track into
a Deck, Torq will analyze it and
attempt to determine the tempo
of the song. For most dance music,
Torq will be able to determine the
tempo accurately. Once scanned,
the tempo of the song will be shown
in the BPM display for the Deck,
which is located just to the left of
the Speed Adjust slider.
✓ Note: Determining the tempo
The BPM shown here is a "living value"—it will change when you alter the speed of the song with the
Speed Adjuster. This is extremely helpful when trying to synchronize two songs since you'll be able to
match the tempos of the two songs just by matching the BPM values shown in the displays.
» Double/Halve Button
When Torq incorrectly identifies the tempo of a song, it will often return a result that is a multiple of the
actual tempo. This occurs frequently when using Drum & Bass tracks with tempos in the neighborhood of
174 BPM. Torq may think that the tempo of the song is 87 BPM or 116 BPM. When this happens, you can
quickly adjust the tempo using the Double/Halve button.
This button works by applying a multiplication factor to the current BPM. The first time you press
this button, the up arrow will light and the tempo of the current song will be multiplied by 1.5 (the
multiplication factor will be shown in the Tooltip). If the song was detected as 116 BPM, it will now show
174 BPM (116 BPM x 1.5 = 174 BPM). The second time you press this button, the multiplication factor will
increase to 2. If the song had been detected as 87 BPM, it would now show 174 BPM (87 BPM x 2 = 174
BPM. The multiplication factor will continue to increase in .5 steps each time this button is pressed.
This button can also be used to divide the current BPM by the same amounts on the occasion that Torq
detects a BPM higher than it should be. Simply hold the SHIFT button when pressing the Double/Halve
button to move downward through the sequence of factors. If you decrease the factor to a point where
the new BPM is less than the detected BPM, the down arrow will be lit on the button.
of a song is a complicated
process for a computer. While
Torq's beat-detection system will
usually provide accurate results
when set to its default settings, some types of complex music can confuse the beat-detection system resulting
in incorrect tempos. To increase the accuracy of the beat-detection in these cases, you can specify the type
of music you'll be using in the Preferences menu thus limiting the tempo range used by the beat-detection
system. Be sure your selection matches the type of music you're trying to analyze. If you have "Drum & Bass"
selected as your style and attempt to analyze a trip-hop track, Torq will give you the wrong tempo. You can
then change the music type and re-analyze the song if needed.
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