Torq 1.5 User Guide Chapter 1 18Torq 1.5 User Guide Chapter 3 18< BPM Display
Tempo is a measurement of the speed of a song and is normally expressed a s Beats Per Minute (BPM). As the
BPM increases, the speed of the song i ncreases. In order for two songs to be mixed toget her with their beats
aligned, the two songs will need to be pl aying at the same tempo. This is why Torq’s Decks are equipped with
Speed Sliders. In the event that you are tr ying to mix two songs with differen t tempos (which happens more
often than not), you will need to use the Spe ed Sliders to match the tempo of the new song t o the tempo of the
current song.
» Automatic BPM Detection
Any time you load a new track into
a Deck, Torq will analyze it and
attempt to determine the temp o
of the song. For most dance music,
Torq will be able to determine the
tempo accurately. Once scanned,
the tempo of the song will be shown
in the BPM display for the Deck,
which is located just to the left of
the Speed Adjust slider.
✓ Note: Determining the tempo
of a song is a complicated
process for a computer. While
Torq’s beat-detection system will
usually provide accurate results
when set to its default settings, s ome types of complex music can confuse the beat- detection system resulting
in incorrect tempos. To increase the accurac y of the beat-detection in these case s, you can specify the type
of music you’ll be using in the Preferences menu thu s limiting the tempo range used by the beat- detection
system. Be sure your selection mat ches the type of music you’re trying to analyze . If you have “Drum & Bass”
selected as your style and attempt t o analyze a trip-hop track, Torq will g ive you the wrong tempo. You can
then change the music type and re- analyze the song if needed.
The BPM shown here is a “living value”—it will change whe n you alter the speed of the song with the
Speed Adjuster. This is extremely helpful wh en trying to synchronize two songs since you’ll be ab le to
match the tempos of the two songs just by ma tching the BPM values shown in the displays .
» Double/Halve Button
When Torq incorrectly identifies the tempo of a song, it will of ten return a result that is a multiple of the
actual tempo. This occurs frequent ly when using Drum & Bass tracks wit h tempos in the neighborhood of
174 BPM. Torq may think that the tempo of the song is 87 BPM or 116 BPM. When this happens, you can
quickly adjust the tempo using the Dou ble/Halve button.
This button works by applying a multiplication f actor to the current BPM. The first tim e you press
this button, the up arrow will light and t he tempo of the current song will be multiplied by 1.5 (the
multiplication factor will be shown in t he Tooltip). If the song was detected as 116 BPM, it will now show
174 BPM (116 BPM x 1.5 = 174 BPM). The second tim e you press this button, the multiplicat ion factor will
increase to 2. If the song had been de tected as 87 BPM, it would now show 174 BPM (87 BPM x 2 = 174
BPM. The multiplication fact or will continue to increase in .5 steps ea ch time this button is pressed.
This button can also be used to divide the current B PM by the same amounts on the occasion that Torq
detects a BPM higher than it shou ld be. Simply hold the SHIFT but ton when pressing the Double/Halve
button to move downward through the sequence of f actors. If you decrease the factor t o a point where
the new BPM is less than the detect ed BPM, the down arrow will be lit on the butt on.