Incremental Tempo Changes Within Context of the Song

[Line666]

How many folks are doing this/have done this and care to comment on its effectiveness? (ie bumping the tempo slightly dependent on the section of the song)

I've just started doing it on a track I've started recording recently and I kept the difference between verse and chorus to about 3bpm but I'm wondering if anyone has had any results with stuff thats more drastic, how do you normally find yourself pacing these things? Is it something you do all the time or just occassionally etc etc?

 

[Ermz]

I do it all the time, on every project I produce. It tends to depend on the song, obviously, with some wanting more drastic moves than others. I normally keep it in the realm of 1 to 3 BPM for subtle shifts (for example verse to chorus), but there are some songs which just don't sound right at all until you give them larger shifts, like 6BPM+. The band don't realize it when they set up their recording tempos, but often they'll be adjusting the pacing on stage as they get to these parts. Then when they try to play it to the single tempo click they map out it all feels completely wrong until you work out the correct change.

 

[Skinny Viking]

I'll do this between parts by around the same amount .... 3-6 bpm, just to give something a push

mostly when I demo stuff everything is at one tempo throughout .... after I hear it all together with vocals and leads, blah blah I find what seems to need a little more energy ... chorus sometimes, other times the verses or whatever, and adjust those change ups.

I've also done it in extended solo sections, one main section plays through and then depending on the type of solo coming next, push or pull it back a few bpm to make it a little more dramatic

I typically don't do a lot that would require drastic changes so I can't help much there

 

[exoslime]

all the time on every song..
very small tempo changes like 1-3bpm from verse to chorus for example..and sometimes more drastic, like 6pbm but it always depends of the song and the atmosphere and feeling of those parts!
sometimes if the changes are too drastic, you feel that it sounds unnatural then you have gone to far and need to decrease the differenc
to keep the overview of the tempos in a song i create a new miditrack and name the events to the exact amount of bpm

 

[Gage Condemned]

I've never thought about this, it's a good idea I'm in a deathcore band and a lot of the time the tempo changes are quite big for example a 170bpm tremolo riff would sometimes drop to 100/120 bpm breakdowns - but now I know this I might try it out thanks

 

[greyskull]

All the time. Songs just sound flat without doing it. Get the best of the live feel and playing to a click. Can be a complete ball ache to work out all the tempo changes, but it's totally worth it.

 

[abt]

I was having this conversation with someone recently. I was telling him that I sometimes increase the tempo in say the chorus but then I always return to the original tempo. Parts that need a bit of a lift. For example vs 110bpm ch 115pbm vs 110bpm.

He was telling me that the songwriter in his band wants to increase the tempo as the song goes along so vs 110bpm ch 112bpm vs 115bpm ch 117bpm. Obviously if it works then he's right, but I didn't think was such a good idea. This is not what you guys are doing right? I also think that a lot of people (including Andy I believe) like to cut and paste sections, this option makes that impossible. Unless you do some time stretching.

 

[amarshism]

Do it all the time. Always drop the half time cymbal parts 1-3bpm for effect. Love doing it, makes a good difference.

 

[Lon]

this is relevant to my interests, is there a genereal guideline of how to approach this to maximize impact or just go by gut-feel until its "right" ?

 

[greyskull]

this is relevant to my interests, is there a genereal guideline of how to approach this to maximize impact or just go by gut-feel until its "right" ?

I sit there at band practice and work through the songs in pro-tools playing each section til the tempo feels right.

 

[Skinny Viking]

^ That sounds rough

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

I never bother no. Bands have enough natural tempo changes as it is.

 

[greyskull]

^ That sounds rough

Totally worth it... EVENTUALLY