Chapter 15 Song Recording
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64 Setting the BPM (tempo) for your new Song
In addition to the Patterns, a variety of other settings can be programmed into your Song. One of these is
BPM. It lets you set the playback speed or tempo — for each and every measure, if you want.
Normally, you’ll use this at the start of the Song (see Tip 63, Steps 3 - 5) to make sure the entire Song plays
back at the proper tempo. However, it can also be used to change tempo in middle of the a Song as well.
Work through these steps, and master the procedure. You’ll be using the same method in Tip 65 to program
other settings, too.

1 Enter the Song Edit mode.

Hold down [SHIFT] and press the [SONG] button.

2 Select the desired measure.

Hold down [SHIFT] and use the [OCT <<]/[OCT >>] buttons.

3 Play back the Pattern.

Press the Start/Stop button to loop the Pattern at the selected measure.

4 Call up the BPM setting.

Hold down [SHIFT] and press [BPM] ([TAP]).

5 Set the desired BPM value with the DATA knob.

6 Repeat Steps 2 - 5 above as often as you want, for as

many measures as needed.

In most cases, you’ll want to keep the same BPM setting over several measures, or even over the entire
Song. To do this, enter the “----” setting for as many measures as needed. Or, if you’re programming
the Song from scratch, just skip over the measures that you want to stay the same — the DX200 automati-
cally maintains the last setting, until the next new entry.
• Fine tempo changes
The BPM value has an extremely fine resolution of 1/10 beats per minute — for precise con-
trol over the tempo. Use this to set up very gradual speed changes.
• Speed up, slow down
If your Song fits the conventional verse/chorus structure, you might want to play around with
changing the BPM at the beginning of each section. For example, some artists make their
choruses slightly faster than the verses, to generate more excitement each time the chorus
comes. Other songs might benefit from the completely opposite approach — slowing down
the chorus to make it sound more dramatic.
Whichever approach you take, make sure to keep the changes consistent from section to sec-
tion, and keep them small — you want your listeners to FEEL the changes, not consciously
HEAR them.
Song Edit — BPM (Tempo)
Determines the speed of Pattern playback (in
beats per minute, or bpm), for the selected
measure. First, select the measure by hold-
ing down [SHIFT] and using the [OCT <<]/
[OCT >>] buttons. Then, hold down [SHIFT]
and press [BPM] ([TAP]), and use the DATA
knob to set the value.
Range
20.0 — 300.0 bpm
A setting of “----” maintains the pre-
vious measure’s value (no change).