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User profile for user: osxuser93
osxuser93 Author
User level: Level 1
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Beat Mapping in Logic Pro X

Hello fellow Logic users,


I'm fairly experienced with audio editing, but haven't done a whole lot of MIDI editing in Logic Pro yet. I was thrilled yesterday to discover beat mapping as a way to turn piano performances into sheet music more efficiently. However, I'm having a little difficulty, specifically when I'm mapping out a song with both piano (MIDI) and vocals. I would like to keep the actual speed of the song from changing (and thus keep my tracks in sync), but I need the musical grid to fit the song as well so that the score will work properly.


It works fine, most of the time. But sometimes it ends up changing the tempo and therefore throwing the piano and voice out of sync. I haven't been able to isolate what causes this, exactly, but I'm still experimenting. It will get stuck on a certain section and I won't be able to map it properly without huge, drastic tempo changes (which are not in the music). These same sections also have other issues. Beat mapping shouldn't directly change the MIDI content at all, right? Sometimes it will actually change the relative positions of notes in the Piano Roll, which is strange (as well as messing up my score).


Has anyone else experienced this? Is there something I'm doing wrong? The manual doesn't really address this problem - maybe it will be fixed in a future update? (Is this Logic Pro X only, or did Logic 9 have it as well? I have that also, so I'll do more experimenting...)

Logic Pro X

Posted on Jul 19, 2013 7:41 AM

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User profile for user: craigetty
craigetty
User level: Level 1
10 points

Posted on Aug 1, 2013 10:16 PM

HI!


First I am happy to hear Logic X has beat mapping - I did not see it in the configure global tracks window on first look but will hunt for it again. Just got X yesterday.


Couple suggestions for you. First, a very practical one, is to save a session as a 'score' version that ultimately may not matter if you lose sync with audio and MIDI - you're priority will be getting the music printed as you like. It will not, and perhpas need not be the version you mix from.


That said - first check if you are working with LOCKED regions. If the MIDI regions are LOCKED it can wreak havoc. Especially if you are doing the manual drawing and connecting beats with MIDI notes. Save several versions and play with different combos of AUDIO or MIDI region locked or unlocked. It has been a while since I dealt with that issue so sorry I can't remember the magic combo.


But try this - it's a real time saver:


Insert a Klopfgeist Click track on an Audio Instrument track and record a manually played click that keeps time with the free performance of your song.


Select the click-track MIDI region and then in the Beat Mapping window click on Detect Beats from Region - a dialogue will come up asking what note value = each click. So if you clicked quarter notes you'd select 1/4. Boom....the beat mapping lays out the grid to match your performance with all necessary tempo changes. You will now see a piano score that makes sense arranged in appropriate bars/beats/measures on the page.


If you do this in a separate version where your goal is only to get a readable score - quantize the piano tracks at the appropriate level (1/4, 1/8, 1/16) and then the score will be much more clean and accurate. (you can of course just quantize in the score window which cleans up the score but does not change the timing of the performance). In this version, since sync is of no concern, you can even flatten out all the tempo changes to a common tempo using tempo operations.


Best of luck!
Craig Richey - film composer

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User profile for user: craigetty
craigetty
User level: Level 1
10 points

Aug 1, 2013 10:16 PM in response to osxuser93

HI!


First I am happy to hear Logic X has beat mapping - I did not see it in the configure global tracks window on first look but will hunt for it again. Just got X yesterday.


Couple suggestions for you. First, a very practical one, is to save a session as a 'score' version that ultimately may not matter if you lose sync with audio and MIDI - you're priority will be getting the music printed as you like. It will not, and perhpas need not be the version you mix from.


That said - first check if you are working with LOCKED regions. If the MIDI regions are LOCKED it can wreak havoc. Especially if you are doing the manual drawing and connecting beats with MIDI notes. Save several versions and play with different combos of AUDIO or MIDI region locked or unlocked. It has been a while since I dealt with that issue so sorry I can't remember the magic combo.


But try this - it's a real time saver:


Insert a Klopfgeist Click track on an Audio Instrument track and record a manually played click that keeps time with the free performance of your song.


Select the click-track MIDI region and then in the Beat Mapping window click on Detect Beats from Region - a dialogue will come up asking what note value = each click. So if you clicked quarter notes you'd select 1/4. Boom....the beat mapping lays out the grid to match your performance with all necessary tempo changes. You will now see a piano score that makes sense arranged in appropriate bars/beats/measures on the page.


If you do this in a separate version where your goal is only to get a readable score - quantize the piano tracks at the appropriate level (1/4, 1/8, 1/16) and then the score will be much more clean and accurate. (you can of course just quantize in the score window which cleans up the score but does not change the timing of the performance). In this version, since sync is of no concern, you can even flatten out all the tempo changes to a common tempo using tempo operations.


Best of luck!
Craig Richey - film composer

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User profile for user: osxuser93
osxuser93 Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

Sep 6, 2013 5:08 PM in response to craigetty

My sincere apologies. I delayed responding until I had time to give Craig's suggestions a try, and shortly after I figured it out, college started and I've been just about swamped ever since without much time to edit my music or post on Apple's forums.


Thank you so much, Craig! Those suggestions did work, and I've created several scores much more easily that way. 🙂

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Beat Mapping in Logic Pro X

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