Click Tracks... - 09/15/20 04:08 PM
Hi there -
Have been working trying to add BIAB backing tracks to an existing recording using the BIAB plugin. The existing audio didn't use a click track, but in my DAW (Reaper), I was able to tempo map it without affecting the recording. However, the BIAB plugin had several issues - not respecting the tempo (largely due to the decimal bpm changes in the track - even when I 'sync' the DAW), and very inconsistent behaviour generating audio (loops didn't work at all).
Be that as it may, I figured that if I had a click track (I first tried with a rim shot in a loop, but BIAB VST doesn't seem to work with this...), I could stretch the BIAB audio to the original. BIAB doesn't have any click tracks that I could usefully find (there's a midi metronome style, I think, but stretching from midi seemed tricky in my use case...).
So... I created a set of RealDrums click tracks of various styles. They click ABAB, BABA, _A__, A___, A___x___A___x___, etc. In the VST, just add them as an extra drum track, and you'll get a clean click to export with the BIAB audio. In the DAW, group the tracks, create a dynamic split, and the snap the BIAB tracks to the grid en masse. (You can do it in Reaper, but I imagine that most DAWs can do it one way or another.
Why so many variations of click track? Well, if you do it every measure, and if the original (tempo mapped) audio slips a lot, things may map to the wrong measure mid song. Wider stretches (4 bars, etc...), and a lowered resolution tempo grid in the DAW reduce the chances of this from happening.
Bottom line, it's a workaround, but it's workable. It'd be better, of course, if tempo syncing worked with finer granularity, or if loops worked in the VST, but I can live with this for the moment.
Since I could not find any samples of the Click Tracks anywhere online, I made some...:
ClickTrack^ RealDrums
No warranty, etc., but I thought at least a few you good folks might find it handy.
Cheers!
Have been working trying to add BIAB backing tracks to an existing recording using the BIAB plugin. The existing audio didn't use a click track, but in my DAW (Reaper), I was able to tempo map it without affecting the recording. However, the BIAB plugin had several issues - not respecting the tempo (largely due to the decimal bpm changes in the track - even when I 'sync' the DAW), and very inconsistent behaviour generating audio (loops didn't work at all).
Be that as it may, I figured that if I had a click track (I first tried with a rim shot in a loop, but BIAB VST doesn't seem to work with this...), I could stretch the BIAB audio to the original. BIAB doesn't have any click tracks that I could usefully find (there's a midi metronome style, I think, but stretching from midi seemed tricky in my use case...).
So... I created a set of RealDrums click tracks of various styles. They click ABAB, BABA, _A__, A___, A___x___A___x___, etc. In the VST, just add them as an extra drum track, and you'll get a clean click to export with the BIAB audio. In the DAW, group the tracks, create a dynamic split, and the snap the BIAB tracks to the grid en masse. (You can do it in Reaper, but I imagine that most DAWs can do it one way or another.
Why so many variations of click track? Well, if you do it every measure, and if the original (tempo mapped) audio slips a lot, things may map to the wrong measure mid song. Wider stretches (4 bars, etc...), and a lowered resolution tempo grid in the DAW reduce the chances of this from happening.
Bottom line, it's a workaround, but it's workable. It'd be better, of course, if tempo syncing worked with finer granularity, or if loops worked in the VST, but I can live with this for the moment.
Since I could not find any samples of the Click Tracks anywhere online, I made some...:
ClickTrack^ RealDrums
No warranty, etc., but I thought at least a few you good folks might find it handy.
Cheers!
