Setting the project tempo from an audio recording

You can extract a tempo map from an audio recording as long as the audio contains discernible beats or rhythms, even if the audio was not recorded to a metronome of contains tempo drift. By adapting the project tempo to match the recorded audio, you retain the imperfections and human performance variations in the recorded audio.

Sonar uses Melodyne to extract tempo information from recorded audio. Melodyne features accurate tempo detection, and Sonar’s ARA integration allows you to easily synchronize a project’s tempo map to the tempo of any Melodyne Region FX clip or regular audio clip.

Method 1 (Melodyne)

To add the tempo from an audio clip to the project’s tempo map:

1.	Do one of the following:

Drag the audio clip to Sonar’s Tempo track or Time Ruler.

 

Note: In addition to dragging a Melodyne Region FX clip to the Time Ruler, you can also drag any audio clip to the Time Ruler and Sonar will extract the tempo information using Melodyne and ARA and set the global tempo map for that region. It is not necessary to first convert the audio clip to a Melodyne Region FX clip, but this approach will not allow you to edit the tempo in Melodyne before extracting the tempo. The only exclusions are Groove clips and REX files, since they already follow Sonar’s tempo. If a clip has Lock Position enabled, hold down the CTRL key in order to drag it to the Time Ruler.

[Melodyne Region FX clip only] Click the Tempo Options button in Melodyne, then select Confirm as File Tempo.

2.	In the Select Algorithm dialog box, select the algorithm that best suits the audio material, then click OK.

The clip’s tempo map is added to Sonar’s tempo map.

Method 2 (AudioSnap)

You can also sync the project tempo to an audio clip with the following method:

1.	Select the audio clip(s) that has the desired tempo map.

2.	Press ALT+A to open the AudioSnap palette.

3.	Click the Set Project Tempo From Clip button on the AudioSnap palette.

The clip tempo map is copied to the project tempo map so the tempo maps are identical. This allows the project’s measure boundaries to align with the audio clip(s).

Note 1: The Set Project Tempo From Clip drop-down list lets you specify at which resolution the clip’s tempo map should be copied to the project tempo. The options are as follows: 4 Beats 4 Measures (default) 4 Clip

Note 2: If multiple audio clips have their Clip Timebase property set to Musical, changing the project tempo will affect the relative positions of the audio clips. When using the Set Project Tempo from Clip command, Sonar will offer to convert the timebase to Absolute.

 

See also:

Synchronizing audio and the project tempo

To make a Melodyne clip follow tempo changes in Sonar

To copy a Melodyne clip’s tempo map to Cakewalk’s tempo map

 

See:

How tempo changes affect audio clips

How tempo changes affect automation

Tempo track

Tempo Inspector

Changing tempos

Using the Tempo track

Using the Tempo Inspector

Using the Transport module

Using the Tempo commands

Setting the project tempo by tapping

Offsetting the tempo map

Setting the project tempo from freely recorded MIDI or audio

Aligning measure/beat boundaries manually

Setting the Metronome and Tempo settings

Backwards compatibility

Tempo