Beat Detective Analysis

Beat Detective provides several analysis algorithms for beat detection appropriate to different types of audio material.

High Emphasis

Works well with high frequency, inharmonic material, such as cymbals and hi-hats, while avoiding low frequency material.

Low Emphasis

Works well with low frequency material, such as bass guitar and kick drum, as well as with most harmonic material, such as piano or rhythm guitar.

Enhanced Resolution

Works well with the broadest range of material, such as full mixes and loops.

Beat Detection Across Multiple Tracks

When analyzing a selection with multiple tracks, Beat Detective analyzes each independently. Transients that are detected in any track appear as Beat Triggers across all selected tracks regardless of whether or not the detected transient resides in any other track. However, for closely aligned events on multiple tracks, Beat Detective only identifies the first detected transient of a beat event.

For example, if you have four drum tracks—kick, snare, and a pair of overheads—transients in the overhead mics tracks occur a little later than the closely miked snare and kick tracks because it takes more time for the sound to travel from the source to the microphones. If you make a selection across all four tracks and analyze them using Beat Detective, only the transients in the kick and snare tracks will be identified as beat triggers because the transients on overheads will be recognized as being part of the same beat events (only a little bit late). For information on individually analyzing multiple tracks, see Using Collection Mode.