How to Finesse tempo changes?

[toddthing]

I'm curious what work flow and/or tricks people have developed (and Logic functions I might be overlooking) that will allow me to introduce natural feeling tempo changes in songs that are for the most part governed by a click track. With particular emphasis on how do I set up a recording session so that the analog musicians can give their most natural performance?

 

I know how to create different tempos within a project, how to make tempo "curves", and how to beat map. 

     But how to do this? A song begins 120bpm, then there's a short section cued by the singer where I want to give the singer the ability to define the tempo (rubato). Then at a precise moment I want to be able to reintroduce the click track (maybe at a different speed) and have that moment correspond to the one of the next bar line. (I realize this will be a multi-step solution.)

 

I've gotten this far: record the preceding click track governed section, when the section where I want the singer to march to her own drummer comes I'd prearrange for any click track or midi part to stop, let the singer (and whatever other musicians are playing) do his/her thing... then, once they've reached the "one" of the first bar where a click track is wanted... then what? How do I say "this is where I want the next bar to begin"? (creating the tempo for that bar is easy). What I have done is fiddle with the rubato section tempo setting until the first beat of the next click tracked section falls roughly where I want it to but I don't like this solution... feels imprecise and messy...

 

NOTE: I've done this sort of thing may times at the ends of pieces. The question is how to get things rolling again in a way that is half way elegant!

 

I hope that is clear.

 

thx,

todd