BPM counting for the Mac

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BillBee · #1 Post by **BillBee** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 1:42 pm

Do any of you Mac users out there have any good tips for a BPM counter for iTunes 6? I used to use iTunes BPM Inspector (from blacktree.com) but it does not seem to be compatible with iTunes 6.

main_stem · #2 Post by **main_stem** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 2:43 pm

Are you using the most current version? I haven't had a problem with 6.

BillBee · #3 Post by **BillBee** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 3:06 pm

I'm using v. 1.0.1
Is there a more recent version?

What happens is while I tap on the box it doesn't register a new BPM.
I can manually adjust the counter, but that doesn't help.

lipi · #4 Post by **lipi** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 4:46 pm

a five second trip to blacktree.com revealed there is a 1.0.2.
http://blacktree.com/apps/detail-old.html

use the download link on that page (to a 1.0.2 zip archive), not the one on the bpm inspector info page -- that still links to a 1.0.1 dmg, it looks like.

BillBee · #5 Post by **BillBee** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 8:52 pm

I had already found it....
But thanks for your post.

Nando · #6 Post by **Nando** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 1:59 pm

I downloaded that app, but either I don't understand it that well or I have the older version.

When I click on it from the desktop, a floating window opens up. It already says 60 BPM and if I hit the + or - buttons, it raises or lowers the BPM, and if I hit the "Set" button it sets the BPM into my iTunes file.

That doesn't sound right? If I hit the + button 20 times on either a fast or slow song it'll still register 80? I must be missing something.

CafeSavoy · #7 Post by **CafeSavoy** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 7:03 pm

Nando wrote:I downloaded that app, but either I don't understand it that well or I have the older version.

When I click on it from the desktop, a floating window opens up. It already says 60 BPM and if I hit the + or - buttons, it raises or lowers the BPM, and if I hit the "Set" button it sets the BPM into my iTunes file.

That doesn't sound right? If I hit the + button 20 times on either a fast or slow song it'll still register 80? I must be missing something.

You have to click in the little rectangular window with the animation to get the bpm. When you are satisified with the results then you click on the set bottom. If you want to tweak the results you use the plus and minus bottoms.

trev · #8 Post by **trev** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 7:06 pm

You click your mouse in time with the music with the cursor on the little pulsing curves to get the correct bpm reading. The + and - are just to make any adjustments manually. When the bpm reading changes to a bright blue it means that you have a consistent bpm reading and you then apply it to the file by hitting "set"

Edit: damn, typed too slow. ^what he said.

Nando · #9 Post by **Nando** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 10:39 pm

Great! Thanks. I'm surprised I wasn't able to figure that out to begin with.

zzzzoom · #10 Post by **zzzzoom** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 12:15 pm

I really don't like clicking the mouse - but if you hold down the option key when you click the center rectangle, it will gets a blue outline and then you can use the space bar (or any key). Much easier.

Nando · #11 Post by **Nando** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 5:00 pm

Has anyone tried a new program called Tangerine? I haven't downloaded it yet, but apparently it goes thru your music collection (I suppose iTunes only) and marks BPMs for all your songs.

The only down side that I've heard is sometimes it doubles or halves the BPM for certain songs, so it's not perfect.

I'm a little hesitant to try it because it'll probably erase all my BPM levels for the songs I've already worked on.

la musette · #12 Post by **la musette** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 1:57 pm

I use the 'tap' widget bpm meter in my dashboard and just tap out on the space bar, then click on the itunes logo to insert it into the track info. I couldn't figure out the BPM inspector either.

Haydn · #13 Post by **Haydn** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 4:26 pm

I use a Behringer BC100 Beat Counter -

http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHBC100

lipi · #14 Post by **lipi** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 1:39 am

la musette wrote:I use the 'tap' widget bpm meter in my dashboard and just tap out on the space bar, then click on the itunes logo to insert it into the track info. I couldn't figure out the BPM inspector either.

omg, that's all sorts of awesome. i love the click-to-insert-in-meta-data-of-playing-track trick. link. i do wish it would calculate over longer interval.

sjl7678 · #15 Post by **sjl7678** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 1:07 pm

I looked for something to use to count BPM for a while on OS X. I used to use a small program called BPMcalc. I'd play the song, switch to the program, tap the tempo, look at the BPM, switch back to iTunes, get info on the song, enter the info, save it, and repeat. Not a fun process.

I eventually found this tempo widget: http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboar ... tempo.html

You click the button on each beat and double click on the numbers to save the tempo to the current track in iTunes. Not bad, but I wanted a bit more. I'm a nerdy computer science student so I opened it up and messed with the code a little bit. Now I can press any key to register a beat. I can also hit Command+S to save the BPM to the song in iTunes.

I use Quicksilver to set up hotkeys for changing songs too. Now my BPM tagging process is: play first song, go to Dashboard and click on the tempo widget. Then I tap the tempo, hit Command+S, then hit Ctrl+Option+Command+Right to move to the next song and continue. It's much faster and I never have to touch the mouse.

I emailed the developer of the widget about my changes but haven't heard back from them. I'd rather not post my changed version online without their permission but if anyone here wants it just email me at sjl7678@rit.edu and I'll send you a copy.