Program to learn the rhythm

S

serg_juv

New Member
Hi,

does anybody know a computer program that can help you to recognize the rhythm in songs? Basically, it would be great a program that you can feed with a song and it signals for you the rhythm somehow? (like when the dance teacher says: "one, two, one two").

Thanks in advance
 
i do not think that it is possibly to write such a program. how should a program recognize the first beat of a measure ?
 
I've never heard of such a program, but then there are a lot of neat learn-to-read or play music programs out there. Probably worth a look to see if anything fits your needs. Try J&R Music World -- they're in NY, but have a web site and a catalog with musical instruments and programs. Who knows?

When it comes to feeling rhythms for dancing, here's another approach that might work. Go to your local library or the web and borrow/download some dance music. Try ballroomdancers.com -- but there are many other places to download ballroom dance music. Then just close your eyes and listen. Try to clap along on the beats. Let yourself feel the music. It comes to you more quickly than you might think, if you let your body take over, rather than trying to process it with your mind.

Anybody else have other suggestions for learning to feel dance rhythms?
 
You are absolutely right on, Pygmalion. The only way to learn the rhythm is to "feel" it. Being the analytical type I am, I tried for months to "calculate" the beat but it was futile. It usually worked if you heard the first beat of the song but in any other situation it was useless.

Eventually I just began to listen and feel the music, feeling for the holes indicating the "4and" in the Rumba and the natural place for the chasse in the Cha Cha Cha. It's the only way to do it because then it doesn't matter where you are in the song.

I'm still far from perfect. Some songs are still quite difficult to read, but overall I'm accurate 90% of the time just be feeling the rhythm.
 
I know there are programs out there for music editing, with features that try to map the tempo of imported tracks.

The one I have used, Acid Pro, has a beat-mapping wizard, but it's not perfect, and I can only get it to work in 2/4 or 4/4 time, so that leaves waltz out.

Once the program assumes the tempo graphically with "peaks and valleys", you still have to tweak the measures, especially if there is a complicated or indistinct percussion.

Part of the beat-mapping process sets a metronome to the beat, making the beats more prominent, but alas, this is not recorded - it's only part of the preview/mapping process.

Keep in mind, the purpose of this application is to edit music; once tracks are mapped, you can merge in other loops and tracks - this is not a dance instructional tool.

I have found it useful for changing tempos of songs to regulation BPM, before I burn them to CD.

Good luck...

--Porfirio
 
Helmet Licht has a websight "ballroommusic.com" where he has made some CDs ..... ONE with just the percussion(basic beats) to several dances ....a SECOND where the percussion goes for about a minute then the other instruments start adding in. I have found this to be very helpful! it is the DRUM cd and the RYTHMUSIC cd. and of course he has composed several other cds you can buy on his site, some songs are cheesy, others are pretty good.
 
serg_juv said:
Hi,

does anybody know a computer program that can help you to recognize the rhythm in songs? Basically, it would be great a program that you can feed with a song and it signals for you the rhythm somehow? (like when the dance teacher says: "one, two, one two").

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Being both a computer programmer and a ballroom dancer, I can tell you this: it would be insanely difficult to write a program to do that. Programmers would only want to tackle something with that amount of difficulty if they realised there was a LARGE market for it.
 
Dance Time Deluxe is an app for ipad that counts out beats to a predetermined song by the app, but it does not add the counts to songs you already have. I think there is an app out there that does that... but I don't recall the name.
 
Having had huge problems with being on time as well, I can feel you.

I would recommend the book "Every man's survival guide to ballroom dancing".
The first couple of chapters aim exactly at this problem and I found them insanely helpful.
There are also some free chapters on the website if you're relunctant:
http:// ihatetodance . com/table-of-contents/

Music4Dancers from Don Baarns (he is also on this forum as far as I am aware) is also a great resource.
However, it goes into way more depth than the book I mentioned. So, I would recommend starting with the book or do them both alongside.
http:// youtube . com/playlist?list=PLcERHg50xqxvm9uzxS1Ed7iDlKtxG4_bz

In the end, what REALLY made the difference in being able to hear the beat, was LISTENING to songs ALL THE TIME. Do it at least half an hour every day.
 
I have an app on my phone that is like a ballroom metronome. There is a bunch of different dances on it and once you select one it gives you the basic rhythm of the dance. From there you can change the tempo and have it count for you or put it on a metronome type tick. It's called Dancetime. I have the lite version becuase it was free, but they have more advanced ones with the same name that you can pay for.
 
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