Tap Tempo - doesn't change the speed of the song

Questions
1

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  • Device model: ipad air 3rd generation
  • Version of operating system: iPad OS 17
  • Version of djay: 5
  • Hardware/controllers used: DDJ SB3

When I hit the tap tempo button, I see the BPM number change in accordance with the rate at which I tap. But the song doesn’t get faster or slower. Am I doing something wrong or need to do something additional? It seems that once I tap the tempo, the song should adjust to that speed. Thanks!

2

Tap tempo is not for changing playback speed!

Change playback speed by using the pitch sliders next to each deck. Tap tempo is for making adjustments to the beat grid (which links to the BPM display).

I strongly suggest reading the manual and/or watching some beginner videos.

3

Thanks much, PKtheDJ!

I’m going to be playing songs with a live band. If I want to bring in music
that matches the tempo of the band, I was hoping tap tempo would allow for
that. Doesn’t seem that tap tempo is the right tool. Curious if there is a
good way to start a song that matches the tempo of a band. Any advice would
be helpful.

Thanks again!

4

Hi @neilsachs. @PKtheDJ is correct. You need to adjust the tempo of the song using the Tempo Faders not Tap.

Typically, a DJ will listen to the track in their headphones with the channel faders down and adjust the tempo of the song manually to match what they hear the band is playing at. There are lots of beginner YouTube videos explaining how to do this. There are also some apps out there like Beat Detect that can listen to a live audio signal and give you a rough idea of the BPM that the band is playing at. Just remember that live bands rarely maintain a perfect BPM so you will constantly need to make fine adjustments to the tempo and alignment of your song to stay on beat and in time.

6

What kind of a band is it? Is anyone using Ableton Live?

Live can follow tempo from incoming audio. It also has a sync option called Link, which can send a signal to DJay and tell DJay what the tempo is.

Because DJay has Link, it can sync to anything else that uses Link, so you might find another app that can send a tempo via Link to DJay.

7

Excellent suggestion regarding Ableton Link @PKtheDJ.

8

Thanks again, PKtheDJ. No Ableton Live. It’s a just a live band that will
be improvising / grooving. I I’ll provide some supplemental music as DJ. So
have to adjust tempo as needed. Any advice appreciated.

9

I use an app on my iPhone called liveBPM that displays a tempo based on what it hears via the mic.

2 Likes
10

Great recommendation!

11

You can’t run Link and Follower at the same time in Ableton so this wont work unfortunately.

12

No follower in, Link out? That’s unfortunate, but lucklily the band’s not using it anyway. :+1:

13

Nope, and there is no real concept of ‘Link Out’ only either which would be useful in some situations (thats what I’d want for DJPro to avoid it jumping to the Link BPM if you temporarily disable then re-enable sync).

14

Well let’s face it, Link wasn’t really designed for use by DJs. It’s great to have it integrated into DJ kit but you have to bear in mind how it works. If you’re doing a continuous mix, therefore sending out a constant tempo, then there shouldn’t be a problem.