When they play songs at competitions, do they stick to a certain speed? I have heard songs I like and then downloaded them and could not dance well to them because what I downloaded was way faster. I probably just need to get better so I can dance at any speed but would love to have a practice CD that is similar in speed to what I might get at a competition.
standardized music speed
- Thread starter lemonade
- Start date
Thanks Laura,
I went to their sites and looked at them and each were slightly different though not much but I am just trying to learn this
...so my question is when it says the tempi does it mean that the higher the number the faster it is? Or the opposite?
etp777
Active Member
Heh, yeah, can definitely be annoyed when that happens jwlinson. But annoys me even more when a song that i know as a foxtrot (one particular sinatra song I'm thinking of, though name slips my mind) comes on as a foxtrot. And this relates to ssome of the comments in the DJ thread. But changing from 4 count to 3 just messes with my head (I think I've ranted about that one before, but new soundsystem we got at studio has this song as a waltz, and at least once a month it will catch me if I just hear words and ignore the count). Considering I normally ( before Kuwait at least), was known around studio as someone who was really good at picking out count, and knowing dance for the song, it's a little annoying. And humbling, which might not be a bad thing. 
etp777
Active Member
Anyway, BOT. Yes lemonade, if the number is higher, it's faster. Also, make sure you're aware (particularly important if you were a musicianbefore you were a dancer), that BPM in ballroom world means BARS per minute, not beats. Can make a significant differnece. About 4 times the speed, unless you're talking about waltz or VW.
BasicsFirst
New Member
Does anyone else get really peeved when a really good song is adjusted incorrectly just to make it the "exact" tempo, and it just sounds horrible?
Sort of almost off topic, but just wanted to jump in
Depends what you mean by "adjusted incorrectly" (or do you really mean "adjusted" period)? No (it doesn't bother me), if the song is just not close enough to be played as is and needs a little increase or slow-down you'd be surprised how few people will notice that. If the song is way off to begin with then yes it might, but I've never heard a DJ do that. I'm dying to my hands on a copy of 'Summer Wind' that's been slowed down a bit, the CD version is a bit too fast for Int'l foxtrot.
BTW, while they're supposed to stick to a certain speed, AND length for that matter (that doesn't mean they do). For example, while the rules for Int'l rumba state between 25 - 27 bpm, we probably only hear 24 - 25 (which is quite fine with us).
Josh
Active Member
Sometimes popular songs are edited by the person in charge of music at a competition to change the tempo and/or pitch and I have run into the same thing many times.
You can get CDs like this on the internet (not many on iTunes unfortunately), that have fixed tempo specifically for competitive dancing.
And it's not realistic that you should expect yourself to be able to dance any song at any tempo. Sure, the more skilled you are the more that will be possible. But the range is there for a reason--so that the character of the dance and figures will be danceable consistently by everyone. Just by adding a couple of measures per minute (or removing), it drastically changes what's possible to do within an appropriate character of the dance (say, dancing slowfox to american tempo, or american VW to int'l tempo, or dancing waltz at 34MPM instead of 30MPM).
Indiana_Jay
Active Member
Does anyone else get really peeved when a really good song is adjusted incorrectly just to make it the "exact" tempo, and it just sounds horrible?
Sort of almost off topic, but just wanted to jump in
:rocker: Me! Me! What's even worse is when they don't make the adjustment in "audition" but start playing the music for all the room to hear and then slow it down or speed it up! Drives me nuts almost as quickly as hearing a musician play out of tune!
If I adjust music, I do it ahead of time on the computer and maintain the pitch while adjusting the tempo. This allows small adjustments without ruining the sound of the music. If I can't make the needed adjustment without ruining the sound, I won't use that music.
Thanks Josh,
that makes me feel better, I thought I am going to hurt my knee if I keep trying to keep up with this song and then I remembered that songs can be slowed down. I will try to find a CD for competition then as I have no idea how to slow down a song from itunes which is unfortunate...unless Itunes has a secret way i don't know about.
No I did not know that!! I thought it was beats...ready for my question? what is a bar? I was definitely not ever a musician...and I guess I mean what is a bar vs. a beat?
Laura
Well-Known Member
Aside from that, there have been CD players on the market for about 10 years or so that allow real-time tempo adjustments of up to 10% faster or slower while maintaining the original pitch of the song. This feature is called "pitch lock." I'm surprised that more studios and ballroom dance clubs don't have these kinds of CD players. They have long been standard equipment in nightclubs where DJs beat mix the music and have to speed one piece of dance music up or slow it down so it can be matched exactly to a second piece that is playing simultaneously. I used to have a pair of these and would use them for DJing techno at parties.
Indiana_Jay
Active Member
In common (but not entirely technically correct) usage, "bar" and "measure" are synonymous (Technically, a "bar" is the line that separates "measures" in written music.). Knowing that won't be helpful, however, if you don't know what a musical measure is. The following Wikipedia entries might therefore be helpful to you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_(music)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_(music)
Indiana_Jay
Active Member
Having not shopped for audio gear in more than a decade, I was not aware of that. Are CD players with pitch lock expensive?
10% is a pretty good number, in my experience... beyond that, event good software cannot produce results that sound good enough for me.