I want to record a Bach Cello Suite. I want to be able to make several takes and edit as desired. The performances are not recorded to click in that each take is slightly different, and the performer uses rubato (give and take in the tempo as the piece goes on). Any suggestions as to the best way to go about this? The piece is for one instrument only. Again, each take is different. How should one set-up the session, and how should one go about the edits? Thanks, this is a challenging project. But, the music is well worth it if I can just learn how to do the above. Steven

Even though the tempo of the song is variable you would think that every take should have the same tempo though. So just record it once and beat match it so that the tempo track follows the tempo of the recording. Then record the rest with the metronome following the the tempo of the first.

I agree with kd7gkn, I'd setup a rough tempo (with tempo changes in the Global Tracks) and work around that... Then Beat match the specific parts if desired. Cheers Rounik

Thanks to both. Could you give me a few pointers in beat mapping or matching? The manual is ok, but if you can simplify to process verbally (if that is doable) that would be great. I completely understand if that is not possible. Thanks again. SG

Hi SG, Sure. There is a lot to beat mapping. I'd really really recommend Steve H's 201 tut - which covers Beat mapping in detail! [url]http://www.macprovideo.com/tutorial/logic201[/url] Anyways, - Turn on Beat mapping in the Global Tracks - Click on "Analyze". Logic will look at the audio waveform and try to detect beats. - Your job is to match the beats in Logic's grid with the white lines (beats) of your performance. Do this by dragging the beat/bar line from the top to match where it should be on one of the "beats" of the performance. - It's important to remember that when beat mapping you are mapping Logic's grid onto the performance... so you'll notice that Logic's tempo will shift. Hope that helps :) Rounik

Thank you so much. I will give Steven H.'s 201 series some thought. Might be a good one to get. Thanks for your thoughts on this. Much appreciated. SG

I've done orchestral recording similar to this in the past, and i've always found that the best way to work is just listen to all your takes, pick the best one, and then edit phrases in from your other takes (if necessary) by making cuts just before strong transients and crossfading into them so you don't get weird ambience changes. You'll need to carefully pick the spots where you slice to make the edits transparent. I rarely find deep editing to be necessary in classical recordings though, but this could just be more a credit to the performers i work with than anything else. You could definitely beat map the whole thing, but it would take a very very long time for a performer who uses a lot of rubato, and each take would need a separate beat map and i don't think logic's auto analyse will pick up the transients too well on a solo cello.

Thank you! Chamber music recording, or a Bach solo suite may be more prone to "deep edits" than orchestral recording. Oddly, the smaller the ensemble, the more apt one is to want edits; probably due to the usually more transparent nature of the music. Just a thought. Having said that, I think if I can get the performer to be fairly consistent with the various takes, than your method is probably the best. Classical music is virtually never recorded using click. But, the Bach suites really due lend themselves, at times, to lots of rubato. Thanks again. SG.