Just got my pair of SC5000. Very excite. While nothing on this topic seems to be written in the manual, I noticed that if I hold the scroll knob down for a moment, the track drops into beatgrid edit mode. From here, I pretty easily discovered how I can use the jog wheel to slide the grid to align with the track, but
How can I squeeze/stretch the grid independent of the track in the case where the BPM wasn’t recognized wrong just as half or double where I can use the /2, *2 on-screen buttons, but like some odd fraction. In this case, some of my DNB (~170 BPM) is being recognized as 140 or something really odd. Unfortunately, so far, it seems like the “SC5000’s insanely accurate beatgrid analysis” might not be up to the level of its competitors, at least for the DNB I’ve put into it . . .
Is full beatgrid manipulation possible on the unit?
Have these songs been analyzed before? Did they have any BPM attached to them beforehand? Were they ever imported into iTunes?
Also, make sure to check your BPM Range in the SC5000 Preferences and set it to something appropriate, like 88-175 before analyzing.
The SC5000 like any other analysis engine may also have trouble depending on the track structure and sound quality. If you still find that the song wasn’t analyzed correctly, it would be best to use the Engine Prime software to fully analyze and edit the beat grid.
Let me know if this helps and we’ll go from there!
I’m not 100% sure if the tracks in question originally had a BPM attached, but even if they did, wouldn’t we expect the Engine Prime (Mac) software to overwrite them? I don’t use iTunes. The process I used was to use the Mac software, set the BPM to 88-175, and set the software off too analyze all of my music. I admit, with as happy as I am with these players so far, the one thing that is going to really impede my experience so far is the fact that the hit-rate on the beatgrid autodetection for my dnb does not seem great so far. Sometimes it sets the starter marker one beat after the start of the tune; sometimes it registers 140 for a 170 BPM track.
It’s that latter case – where the detected BPM is not simply half or double but some odd fraction off. With the Engine Prime software on my Mac, I have little arrow buttons that will stretch and squeeze the grid with respect to the waveform, thus changing the detected BPM outside a simple half/double factor.
However, I do not seem to be able to figure out how to do this on the SC5000. I hold the scroll knob down to enter beatgrid edit mode, and I have the ability to do everything except this particular type of manipulation.
Is there a key sequence that will allow me to manipulate the grid in this way? It seems logical… I should be able to hold shift and move the jog wheel, for instance, but no dice!
I would love any other thoughts on this topic. I fiddled around a bit more earlier and couldn’t stumble upon the feature. Again, my assumption was that holding shift and moving the jog wheel while in grid edit mode would adjust the BPM (by making the beat grid markers slide closer and further apart, independent of the waveform). But alas, shift does nothing here.
Perhaps it’s a feature, still to be implemented. This is only somewhat surprising because it seems to be the one last thing needed before we have full beatgrid editing capabilities directly on the unit.
When I attempt to stretch/squeeze the grid, even on Prime software, it does not function in this way. I could use either sets of arrows and it simply moves the grid left to right. No change in actual BPM.
You can adjust the BPM on the software, there is a a /2 and x2 function. Not sure about on the player, haven’t needed it myself. My big problem is why are the beat grid adjusts not saving to the files when I’m making them on the player? How come I’m having to do it every time?
Can the beatgrid be adjusted on the units? eg I ran some tracks through engine my library is 58k songs deep I don’t have the time to start doing it one by one in the Prime software, my usual work flow even with Serato is to use hardware functions to edit grid whilst cueing up the track during sets.
When I press shift + long press the scroll knob I get a beatgrid menu and there is icons on the screen that suggest one can move the grid and a “reset” but neither of this does anything.
Am I missing a step?
I noticed if I have a hot Cue point set, the beat grid slide icon moves the cue point in either direction.
It’s always wise to download the user manual from the site, because the one supplied with the unit is old (at least the one that came with my unit). Beatgrid adjustment on the unit was not in manual version 1.0, for instance.
@Alan_inMusic
You might want to change the user manual link on the website. Current link on the website is V1.1, while there is newer version (1.2).
This version adds the following:
You can also show or hide the beat grid controls in Performance View. The beat grid is automatically detected
and set when the track is analyzed.
To show the beat grid controls, press and hold the Select/Load knob for a second. Six buttons will appear
at the bottom of the display, and the beat grid markers will appear on the waveform.
To reset the beat grid, tap Reset.
To shift the downbeats of the beat grid left or right (in one-beat increments), tap the < or > buttons,
respectively, or turn the Select/Load knob.
To freely shift/“slide” the beat grid left or right, move the platter.
To halve or double the number of beat grid markers, tap /2 or X2, respectively.
To hide the beat grid controls, tap Close.
Can one adjust bpm/beat grid on the players? I have come across tunes that I’d analysed on Engine Prime but the BPM is wrong and tgat throws the beatgrid off on the unit.
So is there a way to tap the tempo in on the player to correct the BPM.
Mufasa,
currently there is no way to adjust the actual BPM on the players, only within the Engine Prime Software.
On the players, you have the option to half or double the BPM or shift the grid left and right
With D’n’B the problem isn’t so much the beatgrid, but the BPM detection, and that’s up for revision in future firmware updates on the SC5000 firmware. It’s a common enough thing for D’n’B to require a “multiple BPM by 1.5” or something along those lines.
Once BPM detection is d’n’b friendly, then the beatgrids will tie up more uniformly.
On the player itself, currently beatgrids can be moved left or right on the track by using the platter (once you’ve held the sliver knob down to a second or so, until it flashes). Once you’ve moved the beatgrids to your desired new location, press the silver knob again.
For individual beatgrid marker changes, which would typically be an on-stage thing, more of a pre-show preperation thing, then Engine Prime will allow creation and deletion of individual beatgrid markers.