User Manual

RECEIVE SYNC
960
make adjustments by rerecording certain sections
and by editing individual tempo changes in one of
the Conductor Track’s edit windows.
Tapping to prerecorded music on tape
You can use Tap Tempo to record a tempo map
while Digital Performer is slaved to tape—or, more
accurately, referenced to external time code. You
can record a tempo map that matches the music on
tape, allowing you to perfectly synchronize your
sequence to the prerecorded music. This process is
explained in detail in “Using Tap Tempo while
slaved to external sync” on page 961.
Hints for using Tap Tempo
Here are some ways to use Tap Tempo.
Recording music simultaneously
If you plan to record music simultaneously with
your tap, choose a tap event that doesn’t require use
of your hands. Controller #64, sustain, is usually
triggered by a foot pedal and is a good choice for a
tap because it has only two values: On or Off.
Further, Digital Performer will let you use either
value for your tap.
Using alternative tap values and sources
You can set the tap as an Off value for a particular
note or controller:
1 In the Receive Sync settings window with Tap
Tempo chosen, Tab to the Event box.
2 Depress the note or controller, leaving it
depressed.
For example, push a modulation wheel away from
its ‘zero’ location. The controller number and its
value will appear in the box, highlighted.
3 Without releasing the note or pedal, click on the
highlighted Event value.
4 Release the note or pedal.
To continue the example, let the mod wheel spring
back to its zero location. The Event box will show
Off or 0 as the tap value.
So far, our examples of using Tap Tempo have
involved tapping a MIDI instrument to ‘teach’
Digital Performer the temporal details of a
sequence. When you tap, you simply send a MIDI
event and Digital Performer does the rest. This
means you can use any MIDI sequencer to load its
own tempo map into Digital Performer — just
program the sequencer to play a song’s worth of
quarter notes while Digital Performer is slaved to
Tap Temp o s y nc.
Yet another way of sending Digital Performer a tap
is to use a device that converts an audio click into a
MIDI event. A click or other regular, amplified
signal (a click track on tape, a miked rim shot, etc.)
can be fed into such a device and converted into
MIDI events from which Digital Performer can
generate a tempo map.
Punching in a tempo
AutoRecord can be used with Tap Tempo to ‘punch
in’ tempo changes for a section while preserving
the tempi outside that section. Enter the Punch In
and Out times in the Auto-Record bar, found in the
Control Panel, click on the Auto-Record button,
then follow the applicable steps above. (Don’t be
alarmed if both the Play and Record buttons go
grey at first; the Play button is waiting for sync
information, and the Record button is waiting for
the Counter to reach the punch In location.)
Remember also that slaving Digital Performer to
Tap Tempo disables the sequence’s existing tempo
map. So when you start playback in Auto-Record
mode, even though Digital Performer will only
record taps from the In location to just before the
Out location, you will have to tap throughout the
pass. Give yourself the most accurate temporal
‘context’ — the tempi before and after the punch-in
passage — as is possible, so that the recorded