Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bpm

No such thing as painless systems design

ttyn — Sat, 23 May 2009 12:32:42 -0800

What are the internal business processes I should concentrate on when evaluating a clothing retailer? What are some questions I can ask the owner to help me identify where the processes could use some improvement? I want to ask the best questions in order to identify what processes could use some work/tweaking. And I want to do it in 1-2 emails max.

Any help coming up with good questions or ideas about what processes I should focus on to save us both time are more than welcome.

itunes whut?

saysthis — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:25:43 -0800

I have a 100g+ and growing music collection that needs proper management. Currently I just dump it in to winamp and hit shuffle, but that doesn't help me tag or organize the stuff, and sometimes the transitions between songs are pretty jarring, e.g. it'll jump from Tortoise to Black Flag. I'm looking for software or winamp plugin(s) that can fix both these problems: Specifically, the music player I want will do these things:
1) Support tagging and adding a song to new playlists as I'm listening.
2) Maintain a solid tracklist of things already played, so that I can go back and add details as I need to.
3) Have some kind of bpm/tempo/whatnot analysis intelligent enough to separate my experimental noise tracks from my snarly garage rock from my dub, and preferably with graduated beat transition management.
4) Not hijack my system with adware or pester me for constant updates.
5) Gotta be able to function off a network - the player computers and server where the music is stored are different devices.

Optionally, I'd love it to gel with ptunes or core media pocket player, but that's not a dealbreaker for me right now, since my phone can't hold 100g.

AND, if it's got an on-the-fly language switching or some kind of multilingual profile support, oooooh! We're a bilingual household, and it significantly lowers usage barriers for the wife if she only has to learn to click one button for her language.

Does this exist? Please say yes.

Lend me your earbuds

bove — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:36:58 -0800

I just bought my first MP3 player and I need some advice on earbuds and song selection. I just bought a Sansa e280 and I like it fine. However, now that I am starting to use it there are two issues that I am unable to figure out.

Earbuds: I don't like the included earbuds because they don't feel good in my ears (they feel too big). I have looked at prior threads on what good earbuds there are, but how will I know which ones will fit right in my ears without putting them in my ears? Stores don't let you try them out do they? Seems like a costly trial and error process to buy lots of pairs to find ones that fit right?

Song selection: I read in the NYTimes that listening to music at a specific tempo has been found to help people exercise longer and more intensely. The article mentioned that music that was 125-150 bpm was the most effective. I know which songs I have that are generally uptempo, but is there any way to actually view the specific tempo of a song?

Where can I find bpm databases?

ageispolis — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 21:29:45 -0800

On the prowl for online databases that list BPMs of popular music. When remixing and sampling popular music, it's handy to know the BPM of the song you're working with. This askmefi question solves that problem by providing software that can analyze songs and determine the BPM automatically. However, I am not getting the accuracy I need to synchronize and layer material. Tap Tempo sometimes works as you tap the tempo manually, however, for some songs this can be a struggle for accuracy (especially when the tempo has decimals in it).

With all that out of the way, I am looking for databases, archives, text files, forum threads, or anything that lists a large selection of songs with their respective BPMs.

This particular thread offers a ton of hip-hop BPM's which is perfect for when you have the vocal track of a popular rap song and you want to create a mash-up or whatever your remixing heart desires.

Other than that, the only real resource I've found is the BPM Database which doesn't have a whole lot yet, although it's been helpful in one or two occasions.

Obviously it's difficult to find a comprehensive list of the BPM of every song in the history of popular music but the more resources bookmarked the better. Thanks for your help.

Tap this again and again. Beat on this tool.

Moistener — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 15:34:25 -0800

I create loop-based MIDI music. I want to jam with a live drummer who can't play to a click track so I'll have to manually sync to him. Come!! Let us discuss tactics and tools. So yeah.

Q: In the shifting waters of human tempo, how do I pilot my little MIDI rig through the Jungle of Most Prosperous Groove?

A: In the words of one of my music teachers, "Listen. And adjust. Listen. And adjust. Listen.." So forth. And so on.

I imagine a foot pedal onto which I stomp quarter notes. Or maybe a little midi trigger doodadpad. There I am: tap, tap, tap along with the drummer.

I imagine a simple little midi applet that listens to my clumsy stomping and applies math vaseline and starts pumping out rock-steady MIDI clock at exactly "133.3 BPM".

Will I have to tap every single quarter note of the song? What if I take a break and use both hands? Will the beat-tapping-midi-clock software of today meet my needs? Or will I need to code this up myself with some midi programming language? How can computormachine let me adjust. And adjust. And adjust. ???

All I fracking need is "Humanly Repeating Midi Event" converted into a "Steady Midi Clock". Please unfurl your intelligenitals.

finding beats per minute

StickyCarpet — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 14:13:10 -0800

Software to find the beats per minute for digital music files. I would like to find a program, preferably free, that will scan a list of sound files and find the BPM for each one. I don't want a stand alone beat matching program, as I do not want to modify the music. Any other tools for crafting music sets with minimal processing of the sound files appreciated. I'll be assembling in Audition.

More Podrunner please!

jopreacher — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 20:35:59 -0800

Does anyone else do anything like Podrunner? I really enjoy the podrunner mixes - the only problem is that my tempo is 160 or so - and DJ Steveboy has not done a 160 yet. Anyone know of other podcasts or websites where I can find more stuff like this for running?

Suggestions for songs to run to

Rash — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 16:18:17 -0800

Seeking some specific work-out music. The type or vintage is unimportant; what I need is songs which exactly match my running tempo. Over the years, I've filled four tapes with these matches, but I'm always seeking more. I run on the treadmill, at 6 miles an hour. I think my beats-per-minute is about a hundred but I get really confused trying to measure this (IANA Trained Musician).

Here's some examples of what works:
Classic -- "Surfin USA" "Fun Fun Fun" "Shut Down" and even "Good Vibrations" by the B Boys, "The Night Before" and "Tell Me Why" from the Beatles' movies, and "Jailhouse Rock."
Middle era -- "All the Young Dudes" by Mott the Hoople, "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin, "Dream On" by Aerosmith, "Major Tom" by Peter Schilling and "I Ran" by A Flock of Seagulls. (Also Pink Floyd's "On The Run.")
Current: "Mission Creep" by Massive Attack, "Loser" by Beck and "Yoshino vs. the Robots" by the Flaming Lips.

I used to have access to a dubbing cassette deck with an all-important "pitch" knob, which allowed for tempo-tweaking of the near-fits, but alas (and since I've resisted the movement towards Stereo-Computer convergance, any suggestions concerning software which adjusts MP3s isn't relevant).

Does anyone know of an iTunes plug-in that will auto-detect a song's BMP and insert it into the file's ID tags?

o2b — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 12:08:40 -0800

Does anyone know of an iTunes plug-in that will auto-detect a song's BMP and insert it into the file's ID tags? I, of course, meant BPM...

I love smart playlists, but in order to take my usage to the next level, I need moods and BPMs. I'm assuming I'll have to do moods manually, but what about BPM?