SMPTE lock is not working as expected

Hi Guys—

 

I have to change the tempo of a project without changing the tempo of tracks (the drummer started playing a nice beat and I started recording before I could set the tempo). I had thought that by applying SMPTE lock to the drum tracks, I should then be able to change the project tempo to the actual tempo of the drum beat, but this is not working. After SMPTE locking the tracks, the tracks change tempo when I change the project tempo.

 

What am I doing wrong?

 

Thanks!

Yeah the SMPTE lock will only look the loops to a particular time which is useful when syncing to picture.

 

What you need to do is make sure to turn off the audio "Flex & Follow" settings in the Inspector. MIDI tracks will adjust to tempo automatically.

Thanks for the help Simon. I selected every region using Flex and turned off "Flex & Follow", but after changing the project tempo, some tracks are quite slowed down and not aligned with other tracks as they were.

Thanks for the help Simon. I selected every region using Flex and turned off "Flex & Follow", but after changing the project tempo, some tracks are quite slowed down and not aligned with other tracks as they were.

Without screenshots or more details or screenshots it's challenging for us to guess what could be going on. If the audio files have the correct tempo data embedded then turning on Flex and Follow should make them follow the new tempo.

 

First of all: when you enable Flex for a track (but before you even change the project tempo), do you see its regions visually change length? That would indicate that the regions have the wrong tempo information embedded. If that's the case, turn off Flex, select the regions, choose Edit > Tempo > Write Project Tempo to Audio Files, and then try again.

But I want to write the region/track tempo to the project tempo, not the other way around.

 

To clarify what happened:

 

• I created a new project (which by default set the tempo to 120 bpm).

• Without a click playing, the drummer started in and I recorded multiple takes of the drummer (who was playing a beat at 74 bpm).

• I edited the drum part to find the pieces of takes I wanted.

 

Now, if I change the project tempo to 74 bpm (the correct tempo of the song) the drum tracks slow down, which is not what I want. I want the project tempo to be the same as the recorded parts.

 

Does that make more sense?

If you disable flex on all tracks and SMPTE lock all regions, you should be able to change the project tempo without changing timing or audio slowing down (flex) ?

Thanks. I tried that, but it does not work. The tracks change tempo (oddly not matching the new project tempo)

Thanks. I tried that, but it does not work. The tracks change tempo (oddly not matching the new project tempo)

If you have SMPTE lock ON and Flex OFF then you should be able to change the project tempo as much as you want and your audio tracks shouldn't be affected. They may change visually but press play, and you will hear the same thing.

 

If that's not your experience, then share before and after screenshots: How to attach files to your post

I must admit this is one thing about Logic, or any DAW I image that gets a bit convoluted. To be honest, there is no way to really have flexibility and make it any easier for the user. This is because the DAW cannot read your mind, it doesn't know what you intend to do. Especially in the times of audio stretching and tempo manipulation and working to SMPTE are all commonplace.

 

What may be happening is you may have Project Settings -> Smart Tempo set up to Set New Recordings to "ON". Possibly.

 

So what will be happening is as you record with a tempo setting of 120, that information is getting written to the audio. But if that's the case turning the Flex Off on each REGION, should still disable that, unless I'm mistaken.

 

You can always delete that information in the Smart Tempo editor though. Even have it suggest a tempo for you. For a simple constant tempo male sure to set it to "constant", not variable.