User Manual

CONTROL PANEL
207
type in a number) and then tap the Tap t o Ente r
Temp o keyboard shortcut at the tempo you wish to
enter. This allows you to specify the tempo by
“feel”, rather than by typing a number.
The default keyboard shortcut for the Tap to E nt e r
Temp o command is the back slash key ( \ ). You can
easily change this default key binding by searching
for the word “tap” in the commands window as
shown in Figure 22-43. You can also assign a MIDI
event from a drum pad or other MIDI source.
☛ The Tap to Enter Tempo command shown in
Figure 22-43 is not the same as the Tap Te mp o
feature (see “Tap Tempo” on page 957). The Tap
Tempo command shown above is meant solely for
entering a BPM value in tempo text boxes.
Cancelling tempo entry
If you begin to tap in a tempo, but then change your
mind, press the escape key (esc) to exit the tempo
text box without making a change to it.
The current meter display
The meter at the current location is displayed for
your reference. To change meter, you must use the
Change Meter command in the Conductor Track
sub-menu in the Project menu.
The beat value
The beat value is the note duration that “gets the
beat” in a given meter. In 4/4, for example, the
quarter note usually gets the beat: in this case, the
beat value is a quarter note. In 6/8, the beat
generally falls on the first and fourth eighth notes
in the measure, thus the dotted quarter is the beat
value.
The beat value you set does not necessarily
correspond to the value you set for the metronome
click. The metronome click value is set when
specifying the meter with the Change Meter
command in the Conductor Track sub-menu in the
Project menu. For example, in 6/8 meter, you may
set a tempo of an eighth note = 220, but, set the
metronome click to a dotted quarter note
(standard in 6/8 time). Quite often though, the
beat value will be the same as the meter
denominator (the lower number of the meter
marking).
The current tempo
By default, tempos are displayed in beats per
minute (bpm). The beat value can be any standard
musical duration between a sixteenth and whole
note. All beat values can be dotted. A dotted value
is equivalent to one and a half times the value of the
duration. (A dotted quarter note is equivalent to
one and a half quarter notes, for example.) Tempos
are displayed and entered with an accuracy of a
hundredth of a beat per minute. This allows you to
specify tempos with two numbers to the right of
the decimal point, e.g. 104.78 beats per minute. In
addition to providing you with a high degree of
resolution, this also allows you to easily enter
tempos that match standard frame click
metronome values.
When the tempo slider is controlling tempo, you
can enter the tempo directly into the current tempo
box. To change the tempo, click the current tempo
box to edit the tempo. If necessary, click the current
beat value to change it.
Displaying and typing in frame-click tempos
If you write music for film, you might be
accustomed to expressing tempos in frame-clicks
as well as beats per minute.
In Digital Performer, you can type in tempos using
either format. If you enter a frame click tempo,
such as 12-6, Digital Performer will automatically
convert it to beats per minute—at an extremely
high degree of resolution (well beyond a hundredth
of a bpm).