Let's talk BPM

[YEK]

Bpm isn't something I pay attention to. Most of the music I made in the past I didn't even change from default 120. I know that lots of hip hop is 90 bpm. What speed does dancier stuff start at ? I really don't know. 

What do you guys like to use ? And do you prefer making slower music or fast music ?

[TubularCorporation]

69 bpm

[ArtificialDisco]

420 bpm

[ArtificialDisco]

Kidding aside, I really just go by feeling. Maybe it's like I want something that's kind of like 120 but a little more chill so I'll set it at 110.

I think I have a kind of a general idea what 60, 90 and 120 etc. is like and I'll go from there.

Actually it's surprising how little I've thought about this.

[YEK]

how fast is too fast ? please don't be silly.

[whosebrian]

04142021

[auxien]

the BPM of a track only matters if you're trying to make bodies move in a specific style.

22 minutes ago, yekker said:

how fast is too fast ? please don't be silly.

180-200 BPM is about as fast as you can reasonably get with most stuff, at least without spending most of the track in half-time. are you wanting to make really fast stuff or something?

[Braintree]

Back in the day, I would write to anything, but these days it's usually around 160 just because my body likes it around there.

[bronchuseven]

As a DJ, I like to guesstimate BPMs of songs when I hear them for the first time to see if they would work in my sets. Mostly this is accomplished by comparing them to tracks in my head that I know the BPMs of - a lot of these reference songs are Autechre. 

[YEK]

10 minutes ago, auxien said:

are you wanting to make really fast stuff or something?

No, but I think I should try experimenting with this stuff.

[Himelstein]

I think over 135 is too fast for the typical “danceable” techno/house/rave. DJs always said 133 was the best for actual dancing, but who knows. 140-170 seems pretty idm. I like 90-150. Most of what I write is 100-110, tho. Also, I might have certain gear at 200 in a 100 song for faster rolls or whatever. 

[auxien]

17 minutes ago, yekker said:

No, but I think I should try experimenting with this stuff.

experimenting really is key here imo, just playing with programming beats and and speeding/slowing, write a quick melody over it at a new BPM then listen why that melody is worse at -30BPM or is way cooler at just +10BPM, yknow? just play and have fun and trying and pick some trends out with what works for you / sounds like other stuff / etc.

[bronchuseven]

Sometimes I prefer songs not in their native tempo. For example, this Ceephax tune was released at 112 BPM, but sounds amazing at 128, an increase of 14%.

 

[YEK]

Just now, eassae said:

For the past few months I've been writing everything at 84, but then changing to 168, or occasionally 126 in the same track. So basically starting with a number with other multiples that I like.

Nice idea

[Boxus]

I've always loved the feel of 94 for some reason. and I like 172 for hyperactive dnb type stuff

[Limo]

4 hours ago, Himelstein said:

DJs always said 133 was the best for actual dancing, but who knows.

128 is what I’ve heard.

It’s definitely nice and bouncy. 126 if you want to be chill out a little.

Old school techno and house was a lot faster, though. It begat gabba, after all.

[zkom]

For "idm" I use 90-120 BPM usually but it's not really meant for dancing. 60-100 BPM for ambient.

Although a funny thing about ambient is that some ambient tracks actually have relatively high BPMs but the lack of drums create the illusion of chill. The Orb's "A Huge Ever Growing.." and so on is about 128 BPM which would make it clearly danceable if it just had a constant kick or something.

[Kid Lukie]

78 is good chill.

[Satans Little Helper]

Dpends on the kind of drugs.

[thawkins]

Most of my stuff has been 120bpm for the past year since that ensures that I can mix and match loops from my different tracks and build something more out of it.

I also like 90bpm (essentially 180bpm) for faster stuff, and there is a cool trick where if you have triplets on 90bpm, the beats are 120bpm so you can transition really neatly. I am not very good at math so I have not figured out how to "get back from 120 to 90". This will also mess with your head if you have a metronome on.

 

Generally BPM is like a chicken-egg problem: I need to set it before I start my jam session, but then depending on the BPM I might tend towards different rhythms/melodies.
 

I feel like BPM is not really in a direct relationship with "how fast" the track is. It's just this mechanical heartbeat that drives loops and sequencers and it kind of determines your "grid" of melodies and rhythms that are easy to sequence/quantize. I think it would be great if there was a mathemagical trick to find a good BPM/quantization/looping combination that allows you to pull off whatever you want so that things loop easily and you do not have to be super good with timing how you record your parts (or when you quantize, it does not destroy the microtiming groove). 

[Hugh Mughnus]

BPM good. I like how the beats are measurable in regards to how many occur during a minute.

[zkom]

It would be more idm to measure the tempo in Hz instead of BPM, f.e. 120 BPM = 2Hz.

tbqfh

[ArtificialDisco]

2 hours ago, thawkins said:

I also like 90bpm (essentially 180bpm) for faster stuff, and there is a cool trick where if you have triplets on 90bpm, the beats are 120bpm so you can transition really neatly. I am not very good at math so I have not figured out how to "get back from 120 to 90". This will also mess with your head if you have a metronome on.

If you could play three quarter notes in the space of four that would be 120*(3/4) = 90 beats per minute. It would be a triplet made out of half-notes I think. It's tricky to do at least.

[Nil]

I've been stuck at ~ 140 for the last couple of years, it's quiet a flexible bpm, I like it a lot. As usual, it all depends on how you fill (or not) the bar, if you go for obvious 4/4 or not etc. For instance Beatrice Dilon's Workaround LP is locked at 150, and yet it often feels like it's not.

[dcom]

Sully's Destroyah off Voidsucka has a transition like this, from (broken beat) 4/4 to triplets/sextuplets with the same BPM - too bad the clip is too short to have the return to 4/4. I couldn't find a full version anywhere, but you can hear it from my old dubstep set from 1h38m40s onwards almost in full. It has other polysync tricks, too.

Edited April 16, 2021 by dcom