Logic Pro - importing audio files

[DanielBeach]

Hi everyone,

I produced an album back in about 2018 using Sonar, but switched to Logic soon after. I'm now revisiting the project, and completely reediting and remixing from the ground up. So, I've selected all the audio files created by Sonar, and dragged them into Logic, and told it to create a track for each audio file. So far, so good.

However, what I can't figure out how to deal with is tempo. If I choose Adapt Project Tempo, it doesn't change the project's tempo from the default 120bpm to what the files were originally recorded at (I think c.88bpm). What's the best way to deal with the tempo options on audio import to Logic, please? I would like to import the files, and then get Logic (if possible) to change the project's BPM by analysing the audio files. Or, I want to experiment manually with the project tempo without the audio files changing their playback speed, which seems to be happening at the moment. I need to get the project set to the exact original BPM as I'll be recording a lot of new audio and midi tracks, and need everything to line up to measures in order to use the metronome, quantise features, etc...

Any help gratefully received!

Thanks,

[muzines]

Logic imprints the tempo onto audio files as metadata, so if audio files have that information, it will ask if you want to import it.

If your DAW doesn't do this, then I wouldn't waste time with trying to analyse the audio files to extract tempo - simply export a MIDIfile for the project from Sonar, and this will have all your tempo and tempo changes intact. Load that into Logic first, then import your audio files.

Make sure your audio tracks are not set to flex/follow tempo, and then they won't change as you change tempo. If you have lots of region edits, rather than straight single audio files from the first bar, you can SMPTE lock them first to lock them in time, not by bar position, then you can change tempo freely.

[DanielBeach]

Many thanks for reply.

I don’t have access to Sonar any more, so can import the audio files which are left over from the sessions - I don’t think I have the midi files any more.

I’ll try analysing the audio files I guess - might be my only option?

[muzines]

Are your projects generally a simple one-tempo metronomic drum machine thing, or are they free tempo recordings, multiple tempo changes and other more complicated scenarios?

But yes, you'll generally have to faff.

Whenever I've needed to do this, what *should* be simple usually becomes a mess, even if something is in strict time. Logic is supposed to have automatic smart tempo analysis but it just always seems to behave terribly for me when I go there - for example, I load up some audio which has a drum machine, metronomic tempo, Logic detects it as variable tempo and just does silly mid-beat constant micro tempo changes to line up the bars, so the feel is just all over the place, instead of just detecting the consistent single tempo to make all the beats line up. Try to tell it "No you dummy, this is fixed tempo" and it gets all confused. And then I spend ages trying to fix it, juggling and messing with beat markers, or trying to convince Logic to do a better job, and I usually get annoyed.

Maybe other DAWs do this better, or maybe I'm just missing some magic ingredient and it works great for everyone else, but it's usually a pain for me.

Give it a go though - maybe you'll unlock the secret formula, and can tell me how to make it work better!

Any other DAWs that do a great job with this?

[DanielBeach]

Thanks, Desmond,

I shall give it a go tomorrow and see what happens! Meanwhile I shall go hunting and see if the MIDI tracks still exist and could be imported.

It’s constant tempo (everything was recorded to click in Sonar) so there’s a hope……

[BigRedX]

If your projects are all constant tempo it should be simple to set it manually. Look at the drum track(s) and line up the first beat with a bar marker. Then using the Track editor view adjust the tempo until the first beat of what should be the next bar lines up with the next bar line. Then scroll through the song in Track Editor view and check that all the subsequent bars and beats line up, if necessary adjusting the tempo very slightly as you move through the song. I find that if I can get the very first beat of the first two bars aligned and very last beat also the rest will be close enough for what I need.

[muzines]

Yep, that’s the classic manual technique…

However all these modern smart tempo functions that are trying to do this *should* be able to do this easily - it’s just annoying that the reality often falls short of the promise, even for somewhat simple material.