Tap tempo syncing to others?

Elektron Gear
#1

I wanted to check with people how tapping the tempo works out for you. By tapping I mean the function + tap combination. It appears to me that tapping the tempo is mostly useful when you want to perform solo in a particular tempo based on feel, as opposed to entering a numeric value.

I ask because sometimes I need to use tempo tapping when there’s no common clock available (i.e. no midi, usb or other) when playing with others. I’ve also tried getting a feel for the tapping function by practicing syncing to an individual metronome, in order to rule out the possibility that I try to sync to performers that doesn’t keep time.

Of course, my tapping could be tighter, so that’s on me. However, I wanted to ask if anyone find the tap function itself useful/suitable for the situation described above?

#2

I use it when I’m down at the studio with a live band. We just freestyle every week, the guys tend to want to do metal or blues which doesn’t really fit my elektron setup amazingly well… But tap tempo is great for allowing my Nord lead to have delay/time synced effects from the octatrack that’s synced with the drummers pulse as I noodle on the keyboard, or add a bit of extra digital percussion here or there.

Edit: Live bands tend to drift a bit, so yeah, I’ll often have to retap the tempo. Usually I’ll do it on a drum fill as I’ll tend to sit quiet or holding a single note for the duration of the fill, and they happen every 4 to 8 bars so the sync never drifts too far out of tempo.

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#3

Sounds like fun! So you tap sync the octatrack to the drummer, and the nord effects follow the octatracks tapped tempo?

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#4

Yeah, exactly. Although the old NL2 doesn’t have any FX, so I route it through the octa and use it to build an FX chain. It’s really nice to be able to do a quick slide on the crossfader to introduce some crunchy bit reduction, reverb swell, flanging or even a pseudo-wah. Occasionally I’ll get super brave and try a synced LFO on an effect or two, but need to be super careful to have started the sequencer on the one. That’s one point, I know it’s dumb/obvious advice, but count whilst you tap tempo. I tend to hold func and tap beside the tempo button whilst counting till I feel my pulse is right, THEN tap tempo else I’ll often be off by 5-10 BPM.

Listening to the drummer is key though, one of the few places where my little brother is the boss. If he’s set the tempo, you better match it because the lad is a metronome.

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#5

Yeah, this is what I’m having trouble with. Or sometimes I nail the tempo, but the beats are syncopated, haha… Trying to figure out what’s the biggest problem, my timekeeping or the tap function in itself.

Have you tried tempo syncing the sequencer? Because to my ears, that’s where the precision becomes crucial.

That’s good advice, thanks!

Sounds like he’s doing his job right! :+1:

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#6

but the beats are syncopated

Easy done! I think there are maybe three solutions to this…

  1. Don’t run the sequencer whilst tapping tempo. Do your 4 taps to get the tempo with the seq off, then tap another 4 times beside the play button to keep time (gonna call this a preroll tap, just for your internal timing clock). Slap the play button on the one of the bar after that. I guess this would look like:
  • beat1 [TempoButton],
  • beat2 [TempoButton],
  • beat3 [TempoButton],
  • beat4 [TempoButton],
  • beat1 [preRollTap],
  • beat2 [preRollTap],
  • beat3 [preRollTap],
  • beat4 [preRollTap],
  • beat1 [PLAY].
  • I’m only suggesting this because sometimes shifting to play from tap tempo button can throw your timing off if your muscle memory isn’t great with button placements. If you’ve started on bar 1 of a 4 bar phrase, you might want to preroll-tap till bar 4 is finished, hit play on bar 1.
  1. Use [left/right] buttons to shuffle your seq forward or back by a few BPM whilst it’s running to help it align. I am terrible with this, but it’s something I haven’t really practiced. You might love it though!
  2. Fuck the other guys, you’ve got a litteral metronome which will never desync. You start the jam and they need to dance to YOUR tempo :joy:.

Trying to figure out what’s the biggest problem, my timekeeping or the tap function in itself. Have you tried tempo syncing the sequencer? Because to my ears, that’s where the precision becomes crucial

I feel like the tap tempo is pretty accurate, it’s defo gotten easier with some practice. You might find that practicing against random records or YouTube videos can help with the confidence in shifting and managing tempo.

You’re right though, it’s much harder with a live band, specially as the speed can drift as the band gets more hyped or laid-back… But slap down a 4 on the floor kick drum before everyone starts playing, a snare on 2 and 4, your band WILL sync to it, it’s really hard not to. You can then start to remove them when everyone’s locked into your beat, add in the bits and bobs your actually want to play :). Obviously doesn’t work for every song style, but for jamming out with some mates it helps :).

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#7

These are great tips, thanks! Will try them out!

I played with a friend yesterday, and found that if I’m really close to the other tempo, listening to wether i was ahead or behind and nudging the tempo with +/-1 bpm at a time helped me get on track.

On one hand a bit finicky, but on the other hand you could create some real cool grooves, for being just barely off tempo.

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