Beatgridding acapellas

One tip: play the acappella over the original tune for easy beatgridding.

I tend to just beatmatch by ear, so for me, no.

With Acapellas it is Paramount to find which Downbeat the First Part of the Vocal begins on; as it is Very Often ‘Not’ the First Downbeat it could be the the Third; Acapellas Often ‘Drift’; and this is Why I Rarely use the Whole Acapella; I find the Main Hook; the Chorus; or just a Repeating Sentence that ‘Fits’ Really Well with the ‘Remix’ we are Creating/Composing; (or Original Track we are ‘Layering’ the Acapella over);
If you don’t have the Original Instrumental (which is Often the case if we don’t have the Original CD); the Track ‘May’ be on YouTube which will give you the Opportunity to find out Where the Vocal comes in Relative to the Original Track;
I have been Working on a ‘Martin Solveig – Hello’ Remix; and it has been a Nightmare; as other than the First Verse; None of the Rest of the Acapella fits into a 4/8/16/32 Beat; and so I have had to Cut It Up (the Acapella); and Re-arrange it (with Great Difficulty) so that it Does Fit with the Track I have Composed;
And as Andrea said; we can ‘Tap’ out the Tempo (in our DAW – or with a Free ‘Tapper’ from the Web); which will give us the BPM (or at least a ‘Start’) as because as you have already mentioned (and I Agree) the Acapella will ‘Drift’

Padi_04, post: 2162 wrote: That’s odd, I remixed that track and found it pretty straight forward, no need for fancy cuts. Vocal is at 128.00BPM
http://soundcloud.com/deejaypaddy/martin-solveig-ft-dragonette

OT: google the BPM and listen to the song on youtube to find the vocals downbeat if you don’t own the original. I prefer doing it in ableton in case there are any bridges to fix or drifts to warp, then grid it.

Hello Paddy :);
Great Remix :);
However; you have Cut the Vocal Right Up; as I have had to do; you have done it Very Well; but you haven’t used the Full Acapella (I have all the Stems too); but I was Collaborating with a man in Miami; and I was trying to get everything to Fit with his Drum Track and Bassline; and it was Not actually Possible; I should have just continued and Wrote my Own Backing Track (as you did); and then Everything would have been Cool :cool:;

Phil Morse, post: 1733 wrote: I tend to just beatmatch by ear

This is the answer to mixing ‘pellas really isn’t it.

Emma Partnow, post: 2307 wrote: I have to say my Friend; that I have just listened to your Mash-Up; and although I just listened on my laptop speakers; I can’t hear anything Wrong with this Mash-Up and the Acapella at all !
I think you have done a Marvellous Job; and Many Congratulations to you 😎

Wow thank you! Seems like i’m in the right way ^___^

Benny Mackney, post: 2404 wrote: Just about, yeah. I did a remix of Chase & Status’ Time (see my soundcloud, link in sig) using Ableton Live, and figuring out how to fit the vocals into the music was a PAIN! I had to lay down the start point, listen to it, shuffle the start back a beat or two, listen to it, shuffle it forward half a beat… not a lot of fun. Still, once I got it done I spent hours live-remixing the track to myself. Hehehe :3 Worth it in the end.

Hello Benny :);
I have just listened to your ‘Chase & Status’ Remix; and the Hours you spent on it were Definitely Worth It; as it is Faultless 😎 😎

Thank You Benny :);
I couldn’t find the Stems (without Signing Up on their Site); but Luckily they are still Available on Soundcloud :);