B.P.M Question(Probably Stupid)

The Lounge General Discussion
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Okay here goes stupid question of the day.
Do single notes have a B.P.M or tempo? As in one shot notes played on a piano or synth or guitar or a drum strike? I mean lots of my samples one shots last different times in length. So in order to have a BPM you must have at least two notes played? Okay told you it was stupid. :flushed:.

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no
well assuming its a single hit? like how could a kick drum have a bpm from a single hit. obviously if its a timed sample like a loop then yes but thats not a one shot. I suppose you could say theres a middle ground between one shots and loops

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A one shot can have a BPM too. Lets say you have a one Shot samples with a noticeable LFO Wobble. If you want to match that to a beat, the BPM of the Beat and the Frequency of the LFO (that can be translated to a BPM) can/should match.

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also nothing stopping you using a timed sample like an LFO wobble out of its ‘correct’ bpm for funky rythms though

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Note gate length is totally related to BPM, it may or may not be an issue depending on the sound, but a 1/4 note at 70bpm will be twice the duration of the same at 140bpm. So if the sound lasts the whole duration of a 1/4 note (that is the gate length in sequencer speak) increasing the tempo will reduce the gate length, decreasing tempo will increase gate length.

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If a single sound/sample doesn’t have any rhythmic element to suggest a tempo, then the answer is no, it doesn’t have a bpm. However the length of the sound/sample could represent a certain time division within a BPM (such as being a quarter note long, or eight note, etc).

Haha - I think @darenager and I responded at the same time, and were saying similar things.

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Sure, nothing is stopping you from playing a 120bpm drum loop at 110bpm too :slight_smile:

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Strongly reminds me of: What’s the sound of one hand clapping?

But more seriously, a single hit carries an inherent note length that can be rhythmically relevant.

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Also some drum machines will change the length of a sound depending on the bpm, some don’t, the TR-606 open hihat is a notable example, at slower tempos it has a longer decay, at faster tempos a shorter decay.

Sampled loops will also change duration according to the speed at which they are played, the pitch will also increase with tempo unless timestretch is on, timestretch can make it sound granular though.

Long decay percussion sounds such as cymbals or long 808 style kicks will be cut off on a monophonic sampler if retriggered before the decay phase ends.

So in answer to the question, mostly yes - however many creative uses can be found if not sticking to the rules, where samples are concerned.

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Here is a good example of the old trick of using a sample at the “wrong” tempo, by Legowelt, at 3:58 he plays a random riff, then uses that resampled to make a new phrase (around 8:00 in you hear it) but worth a watch all the way through anyway.

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If you play a single note on your keyboard and the next day at the same time you play another single note on your keyboard the tempo will be 0.0013888888888889 BPM.

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That is not strictly true, it will depend on the notes in any given bar of music.

For example if a bar contains a single 1/4 note, as you increase the tempo the rate of note repetition will increase but the heard note length will only reduce when the tempo reaches a speed that causes the notes to be cut off by the subsequent notes.

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Note I said gate length though - which is strictly true, as gate length is derived from sequencer ticks. You can test this yourself by setting a gate length with a sound which lasts the whole duration of the gate, then change the tempo.

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Yes that is correct when you are letting the sequencer control the duration of the sounds as opposed to just triggering the sounds.

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Yeah the question was

To which I said:

I think it is clear enough? I italicised it for clarity.

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If you are simply talking about BPM as applied to step sequencers then sure gate length is a consideration.

However, if you are talking about BPM in music generally then that is not the case. Just think at the one BPM there can be many different note lengths in the music.

For example if I hold down a note on a keyboard for 2 seconds once every 10 seconds you will repeatedly hear 2 seconds of sound followed by 8 seconds of silence.

If I increase the tempo by holding the note down for 2 seconds once every 5 seconds you will repeatedly hear 2 seconds of sound followed by 3 seconds of silence.

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Not just sequencers though, any time playing legato the increase in tempo will necessarily result in the notes being shorter.

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This topic escalated quickly :frowning:

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Ha, not as far as I’m concerned, I was just trying to make clearer what I was (and wasn’t) saying, but text is not always the best medium to get things across.

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Thanks for helping :slight_smile:

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