Okay, got your video, but could you please try to edit it down to the part with the actual issue? Thanks.
Also, as I already stated above, djay 5 has a new Fluid Beatgrid system. Please refer to that article for a better understand of how this new system works.
My recommendation remains the same.
- Edit the calculated BPM of your recorded acapella to match the BPM of the original song (103.3).
- Set BOTH the original song and recorded acapella to Straight BPM.
- Make sure SYNC is OFF on both tracks.
- Set the Tempo Faders on both tracks to the middle position so they are both playing at 103.3.
- Beat match the two tracks manually as you normally would.
- If after the steps above, things are still not behaving as expected, please record another video that clearly shows only the issue in question.
Thanks!
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Hello again, and a big thank you for your help.
Iāve tried following your instructions to the letter, and still canāt get it to work. I believe āBeatgridā is whatās causing the issue for me.
If I understand you correctly, itās a completely new feature that came with the reinstall of the DJ app?
Unfortunately, something that was straightforward before has become a bit of a maze. As I mentioned, Iāve used the DJ app exclusively to facilitate upcoming productions with various producers in different studios.
Being able to record things at home on ZOOM, cut and paste, and sync them with existing music has been an invaluable tool on the journey.
Itās worth mentioning that Iāve always synced everything 100% manually. That is, I always start by setting the music track from the beginning and fixing the other (acapella track) right where I start singing.
Then I start the app recording, play the music track, and then start the acapella with a simple manual count-in.
If thereās a ādiff,ā I stop the recording, and start over. Sometimes it takes 2-3 attempts, sometimes more.
But every time Iāve managed the acapella track in the right place, it has worked all the way to the end of the song.
In this way, Iāve created an overwhelming number of files that Iāve been able to use to learn from and progress in the projects
Just like this last simple demo which was the last one before the recent problems arose.
Unfortunately the āBeatgridā might be to hard for me to grasp, however I will record 1 more video so you can see that I followed all your other guidelines, and we take it from there, if you think itās worthwhile, and have the patience that is.
Wish you a nice weekend
Pat
As I perceive it all, it seems that no matter how I set the parameters and where in the track I start, the song starts lagging behind and drifting away further with each beat.
Iām genuinely curious about what enabled me to do this step so easily before reinstalling the appā¦
@Hertigen_Raitl What is this ZOOM that you keep mentioning?
Is this the web video conferencing system? Is it a hand held digital audio recorder?
When you record your vocal, presumably youāre singing whilst listening to the original track. How/where are you playing the original track?
I think that if your intended purpose is to record your own vocals to instrumental backing tracks, youād be better off using something designed for that purpose, rather than DJ software.
Sure, and thanks again!
Yes, Zoom is indeed a simple recorder that records vocals in full HD:
https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/handheld-recorders/
When I record my vocals, I have the original track in my headphones playing from my DJ app. So the timing on that part is always accurate.
Afterwards, I export the acapella to my Dropbox, and then to one turntable in the DJ app. Similar to how I add the original music to turntable 2.
The beauty is that this way, I can play around with both BPM and key, press record, and get a very clear picture of songs for upcoming productions.
Whatās fantastic is that I also recently discovered that with a simple button press, I can mute the lead vocals on an existing recording and replace them with my own newly recorded ātestā-vocals.
I understand, of course, that the DJ app is not primarily designed for that purpose, but as I mentioned, it has worked for me for years and been a loyal companion and invaluable aid.
Perhaps I invented a completely new area for this app?
As you can hear in the attached link, it has worked 100% seamlessly and been an invaluable tool for my work."
Hi @Hertigen_Raitl, thanks for the additional information. I suspect the issue here is that this particular song does not have a perfectly stable BPM and the tempo fluctuates slightly throughout the song. The new Fluid Beatgrid system dynamically correct songs like this in real-time to make them a stable BPM. Given that the acapella doesnāt have any clear beats for the system to work with, I suspect it is getting confused. However, Iām not 100% sure. Iām going to forward all of this to the engineering team for further review to see if they have any suggestions.
In the meantime, it would be helpful if you tried to repeat your workflow, but with an electronically produced song that you know has a perfectly consistent BPM throughout. I think in this scenario the Fluid Beatgrid system should work better. Thanks!
Hello and thanks again!
Well, even someone like me, who isnāt particularly tech-savvy, can relate to what youāre writing 
.
As I mentioned, my primary use for this app is somewhat unorthodox.
But tell me, when was the new āFluid Beatgrid systemā established in the app?
As Iāve told you before, Iāve managed to sync these two elements with an almost āSwissā precision and accuracy throughout the entire song, even though the acapellas never come close to a steady BPM.
If I start the acapella at the right point, it has stayed exactly in line with what Iāve sung. Even though my timing has never been 100%, and there is none 100% set BMP, Iām singing to a professionally recorded track with a steady beat/BPM from the DJ app.
The only thing I can think of is if there was an option to simply enable/disable the new āFluid Beatgrid system.ā
But maybe itās not technically possible if no one else has had similar issues.
Since my only ambition with the app is to continue working in the same way I have for several years, i.e., syncing my acapella singing with existing music, it becomes almost unusable for me.
I simply canāt ātry something else,ā like working with electronic or music with steady BPM.
Did so! Same link
Fluid Beatgrid was added to djay 5.0 back in December 2023. The Fluid Beatgrid system is built into djay and cannot be disabled. Like I mentioned above, you can force the system to use Straight BPM instead of Dynamic BPM which is the closest to the previous system.
Anyway, let me discuss this further with the engineering team and get back to you.
Hi @Hertigen_Raitl, I discussed this at length with the engineering team. After closer inspection of your recorded acapella and the original track we can see that your timing is off. This plus your timing being off when you press play seems to be the main reason for the songs drifting apart since you are not using Sync.
- I suggest that you re-record your acapella and try to keep your timing closer to the original trackās 103BPM.
- When you load the original song and your new acapella, do not edit the BPM value, do not change the BPM from Dynamic to Straight and do not edit beat grid. Just leave this all alone since you wonāt be using Sync.
- Make sure that your Tempo Faders for both songs are set in the middle/neutral position. This will ensure they both play at their normal speed (103BPM).
- Assuming that your timing is closer and you do not have SYNC enabled on either song, they should both play at the normal 103BPM.
- I recommend that you set a Hot Cue at the start of the same āHeyā vocal on both songs. Use this Hot Cue to get both songs perfectly aligned before you press Play.
- Now press Play on both songs at the exact same time.
- If your timing is a little off, you can use the +/- onscreen Nudge buttons to realign the vocals.
- From here, if the songs drift apart at all due to your recorded timing being a bit off, you can again use the +/- Nudge buttons to realign them.
- If you follow all of these settings, especially ensuring the SYNC is OFF, the new Fluid Beatgrid system will not affect either song and everything should work just the way youāre used to.
Ok! Iāll try that, but just to remind you, I recorded a perfect version the same evening it all started to get wrong, and I reinstalled the app.
That acapaella was recorded the same evening and itās basically 100% identical with all its imperfections in my timing.
Here is the result which in my ears is more or less flawless and perfect for its purpose. I started it manually and didnāt touch a thing before stopping the recording.
Hello again,
I have followed your kind instructions meticulously (if I havenāt missed anything) and documented everything in yet another video.
This time I also have isolated the vocals on the original Julio Iglesias recording.
To further clarify the issue, I used the same acapella as the one in the link I provided once again.
This unequivocally confirms that the problem lies neither in my poor timing, nor in starting the acapella track too late or too early.
In instances where I synced incorrectly, I immediately deleted the recording and repeated the process until the timing was āperfectā or as perfect it can be āliveā.
But I have been singing to the original recording an basically followed the original leadvocals more or less word by word.
However, even if I had continued the recording, the ādiffā would have remained consistent throughout the entire song, so to speak. The difference never grew exponentially.
In other words, this recording was made in exactly the same way, using the same acapella as the foundation, about a week ago.
Actually itās perfectly enjoyable, even without understanding the Swedish language
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