Beat Detective LE

Phil Aiken · 29th March 2005, 10:07 PM

Worth the upgrade?
Yea or Nay?
What are the limitations?

johnjm22 · 29th March 2005, 10:13 PM

Haven't used it yet. But I think it can only be used on a stereo file.

aaronsternke · 29th March 2005, 10:29 PM

I have used beat detective extensively, both on HD and LE.

The limitation on LE is that it can only process 1 track at a time. After trying several things, I've come up with what, for me, is the easiest workaround. And really, now I love doing Beat Detective in LE. Here's how I do it:

1. Group the Drum Tracks you want to edit

2. Use tab to transient to find the common transient peaks in your drum tracks, and seperate your regions at these transients. (this is the same as what beat detective does with its "Bar + Beat Marker Generation" and "Region Seperation"... I actually find Tab to Transient to be more accurate) Doing about 2-4 measures at a time seems to work best for me.

3. Open Beat Detective LE, and skip down to "Region Conform". At this point you will have to suspend your drum group, in order to process each track seperately. Apply whatever strength of conformity you like to your tracks (using the same settings for each track, obviously). Since you seperated all the tracks at the same places, and you are conforming them to the same grid, they will line up perfectly.

4. Now select "Edit Smoothing"... Oddly enough, this feature works across multiple tracks. So you can once again group your drums and apply whatever smoothing you think sounds best.

5. That's it! Not that hard at all.

For me it was absolutely worth the $75 upgrade. Beat Detective was the #1 thing I was missing about HD, (a close second being the arbitrary 32 track limit in LE... grr.)
and now I feel I can get the same results in LE.

Hope this helps!

Aaron

Phil Aiken · 29th March 2005, 10:37 PM

Thanks!!! Does sound easy...

OK...bear with me now...
Will this keep everything phase coherent?
Does the tab to transient function get confused by say, a snare being a few msec off between the close snare and OH, or the room mics?

aaronsternke · 29th March 2005, 11:21 PM

Phil,
Bear in mind that when you tab to transient over a group of drum tracks, you are separating all the drum tracks at the SAME EXACT moment, and when you move the tracks you are moving them all to the same spot... so the phase relationship stays the same as it was when you recorded it. Nothing changes as far as the relationship between drum mics.

That said, it's still a mystery to me how exactly tab to transient works. Obviously, when you hit tab, it goes to the next transient. But it has never been said what the exact dB reference of this transient needs to be in order for Pro Tools to catch it. I've always thought it would be nice if you could select how sensitive tab to transient is. But... nope, can't do it. Not yet anyway.

My thought is that when you tab to transient over a group of tracks, it goes to the FIRST transient in all the tracks. At times I've had to manually readjust where my separations are, because the drummer hit the hi hat quite a bit eariler than the kick drum... obviously your main references for quantizing live drums are going to be your kick and snare, so just keep an eye on these tracks when separating.

Cool!

Aaron

Phil Aiken · 30th March 2005, 04:44 PM

Coolio!!!!!!!!!

Think I will grab 6.7 shortly....

Thanks alot!!!

blackcatdigi · 30th March 2005, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronsternke

The limitation on LE is that it can only process 1 track at a time.

Geez, that is ridiculous.

Kudos for coming up with a workaround, but this is yet another fine example of Digi handicapping LE to further entice you to pony up for the 'real' deal. They'll give you a taste, but then...

I have an ongoing Love/Hate relationship with this company and their products.

aaronsternke · 30th March 2005, 06:32 PM

I know, it's ridiculous.

But I like my workaround, and it's all the more reason for me to laugh at them and say "haha! I've beaten you! and I'm not buying HD!"

Aaron

Dan_Pence · 31st March 2005, 05:48 PM

Aaron,

Thanks for the Beat Detective LE insight. I've been considering upgrading from my 001 lately and BD LE is one of my main incentives. But, I had heard that you could only process one track at a time, so I've been kind of wondering if it will be worth it or not. It seems that there is a good workaround though. Thanks!

By the way, I noticed you were from Franklin, TN. How odd, as I am as well. I just thought that was random.

Dan Pence

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31st March 2005, 05:48 PM	#9
Dan_Pence Gear interested Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Franklin, TN Posts: 1	Beat Detective LE Aaron, Thanks for the Beat Detective LE insight. I've been considering upgrading from my 001 lately and BD LE is one of my main incentives. But, I had heard that you could only process one track at a time, so I've been kind of wondering if it will be worth it or not. It seems that there is a good workaround though. Thanks! By the way, I noticed you were from Franklin, TN. How odd, as I am as well. I just thought that was random. Dan Pence

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29th March 2005, 10:07 PM	#1
Phil Aiken Gear Head Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 53	Beat Detective LE Worth the upgrade? Yea or Nay? What are the limitations?

29th March 2005, 10:13 PM	#2
johnjm22 Gear addict Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Barstow, CA Posts: 365	Haven't used it yet. But I think it can only be used on a stereo file.

29th March 2005, 10:29 PM	#3
aaronsternke Gear maniac Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 198	I have used beat detective extensively, both on HD and LE. The limitation on LE is that it can only process 1 track at a time. After trying several things, I've come up with what, for me, is the easiest workaround. And really, now I love doing Beat Detective in LE. Here's how I do it: 1. Group the Drum Tracks you want to edit 2. Use tab to transient to find the common transient peaks in your drum tracks, and seperate your regions at these transients. (this is the same as what beat detective does with its "Bar + Beat Marker Generation" and "Region Seperation"... I actually find Tab to Transient to be more accurate) Doing about 2-4 measures at a time seems to work best for me. 3. Open Beat Detective LE, and skip down to "Region Conform". At this point you will have to suspend your drum group, in order to process each track seperately. Apply whatever strength of conformity you like to your tracks (using the same settings for each track, obviously). Since you seperated all the tracks at the same places, and you are conforming them to the same grid, they will line up perfectly. 4. Now select "Edit Smoothing"... Oddly enough, this feature works across multiple tracks. So you can once again group your drums and apply whatever smoothing you think sounds best. 5. That's it! Not that hard at all. For me it was absolutely worth the $75 upgrade. Beat Detective was the #1 thing I was missing about HD, (a close second being the arbitrary 32 track limit in LE... grr.) and now I feel I can get the same results in LE. Hope this helps! Aaron

29th March 2005, 10:37 PM	#4
Phil Aiken Gear Head Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 53	Thanks!!! Does sound easy... OK...bear with me now... Will this keep everything phase coherent? Does the tab to transient function get confused by say, a snare being a few msec off between the close snare and OH, or the room mics?

29th March 2005, 11:21 PM	#5
aaronsternke Gear maniac Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 198	Phil, Bear in mind that when you tab to transient over a group of drum tracks, you are separating all the drum tracks at the SAME EXACT moment, and when you move the tracks you are moving them all to the same spot... so the phase relationship stays the same as it was when you recorded it. Nothing changes as far as the relationship between drum mics. That said, it's still a mystery to me how exactly tab to transient works. Obviously, when you hit tab, it goes to the next transient. But it has never been said what the exact dB reference of this transient needs to be in order for Pro Tools to catch it. I've always thought it would be nice if you could select how sensitive tab to transient is. But... nope, can't do it. Not yet anyway. My thought is that when you tab to transient over a group of tracks, it goes to the FIRST transient in all the tracks. At times I've had to manually readjust where my separations are, because the drummer hit the hi hat quite a bit eariler than the kick drum... obviously your main references for quantizing live drums are going to be your kick and snare, so just keep an eye on these tracks when separating. Cool! Aaron

30th March 2005, 04:44 PM	#6
Phil Aiken Gear Head Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 53	Coolio!!!!!!!!! Think I will grab 6.7 shortly.... Thanks alot!!!

30th March 2005, 06:32 PM	#8
aaronsternke Gear maniac Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 198	I know, it's ridiculous. But I like my workaround, and it's all the more reason for me to laugh at them and say "haha! I've beaten you! and I'm not buying HD!" Aaron