Downbeat detection in Traktor Pro 3?

mikehende · 2023-04-30T15:03:31+00:00

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Hey guys, I am seeing in this article that Traktor Pro version 2.6.1 comes with both Key and Downbeat detection.

https://djtechtools.com/amp/2013/02/20/traktor-pro-2-6-1-update-launched-key-and-downbeat-detection-traktor-dj-hints/

I have just installed Pro 3 and looked through the manual and especially the section [7] on Beatgrids but not seeing anything relating to Downbeat detection.

Can anyone please confirm if whether or not Pro 3 comes with this and if yes, how/where can I activate it as I am not seeing this in Options and if not, how might I get version 2.6.1? Thanks.

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Uwe303

Hello,

i think there is no need for an option it just works in the background as an enhanced analyzing tool and tries to detect the first mesure of four beats, if you count 1-2-3-4 over a song and 1 is the most pronounced beat it is the downbeat. It will not always work of course, that´s why preparation is key.

mikehende

Hmnn, I was thinking the downbeat detection would be a visual marker in the beat grid so seems I was wrong.

lord-carlos

Downbeat in a 4/4 song is "the one", right?

In that case the downbeat is marked visually, the line is thicker.

mikehende

If we take this tune as as an example, my arrow is pointing to the 1st downbeat, is this right please and if yes, then that thick white line labelled 1 is inaccurate?

lord-carlos

Looks like it's not even on beat.

Songs from the 80s might also have uneven bpm. Traktor can't handle dynamic beatgrid (yet). Might be coming in 4 - 8 month time though.

Is the 4th beat after the one also thicker?

Sûlherokhh

There is a setting in the Preferences to determine the appearance (or lack of appearance) of the beatgrid. There should also be a setting to determine the size of a single Phrase in beats and wether or not phrase markers should be shown to be a bit thicker.

mikehende

Well guys, since most of the music I play are 70s and 80s then this won't help. I just checked again with other tunes, the downbeat marker is off on most of my tunes.

lord-carlos

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/68148#Comment_68148

Compared to other DJ software Traktor is probably worst for that type of music.

I should still detect most of the downbeats though. But I would suspect the grid to be off sooner or later in a lot of songs.

mikehende

How can a person 'visually' detect a downbeat?

Uwe303

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/68231#Comment_68231

You can't! And if you prepare a song i would always check within the song, sone intros can fool you, and if the song really starts the downbeat is different to what you've expected from the start of the song. Not very often but it happens - at least to me

zephry

For anyone who might not use Sync this is no big deal. Although Traktor effects typically rely on the tracks being synced.

For the 80s or 70s or any live drummer type music, or music without a definite repeated and quantized pattern. Any music without a stable bpm throughout. Traktor is probably going to get the downbeat and possibly the Bpm wrong.

Even some tracks with basslines or snares that are produced in conflict with the kick for loudness might get the grid offset. I have had some Techno music that the grid lines up to the offset bassline.

This is off topic, but, for anyone using Beatport streaming (not sure about Beatsource), the start of all the tracks being streamed have a silence at the beginning that causes the initial Gridmarker to usually be set 4 measures into the track. A person can set another gridmarker at the start but never remove the first one or the grid will be incorrect.

There is also a setting in preferences for the bpm range. Most of the time, leaving this setting at Automatic works well. But it can be set to a range of bpm and get different results when tracks are analyzed. Definetely try adjusting this setting if there is a constant problem with tracks analyzed incorrectly.

My suggestion is to learn the controls for setting the grid, and make sure the tracks are correct bpm. If you are using 80s and 70s music with live drums, to get some stable mixes, this will require learning to Beatmatch without Snyc. That is until the much requested elastic grids is implemented. And even then extreme bpm ranges might sound a bit strange.

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