DP 4.5 First Look: Beat Detection Engine

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Chuck Butler
Composer/Producer
MONSTER TRACKS Original Music (Philadelphia)

There are so many important new features in Digital Performer 4.5 that I hardly know where to begin.

Speaking as a DAE user, this is the release we've been waiting for! Plug-in automation, Virtual Instruments, RTAS, Audiosuite; it's all there...virtually every capability you have within ProTools, but with the superior composing environment Digital Performer offers.

If you're a serious user and you're using Digidesign hardware, Digital Performer 4.5 is the release you MUST check out. Recent TV spots I scored for Bush/Cheney '04 incorporate Kontakt HTDM (using EastWest/Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra samples), MachFive HTDM, Stylus RTAS, in addition to many tracks of live orchestral players...all recorded and mixed on a Digidesign MIXplus system running Digital Performer 4.5.

As awesome as these new DAE features are, I have to talk about the new Beat Detection Engine as well. Commercial scoring is a fast-paced business, and MOTU has consistently delivered the kind of features that allow me to work better and faster to meet my deadlines.

I was scoring a series of Mercedes radio commercials recently, featuring a live jazz guitarist performing over a bed that I had programmed in MachFive and Trilogy. As the project evolved, the decision was made that the music needed to change from a triplet- to a straight-eighths feel. In the past I would have had to either (a) rerecord the guitar, which would have taken time (not to mention an additional session fee for the player), or (b) chop up the audio files into pieces and move everything by hand. Not any more! With Digital Performer's Beat Detection Engine I was simply able to quantize the performance into straight-eighths. No tedious editing, no nudging things around a few ticks at a time. After cleaning up a few beats in the Waveform Editor, I'd say the whole process took 5 minutes. I'm happy, the client's happy...problem solved.

The Beat Detection Engine makes my sessions with live musicians so much less stressful, because Digital Performer gives me the power to fix just about anything. We can concentrate on feel and performance, and let Digital Performer handle minor (or major!) rhythmic issues and last-minute changes.

Add to that some of the other workflow improvements, like being able to export directly to mp3, or the new Consolidated Window (no more bouncing around between open windows looking for the one you want). Digital Performer allows me to make better music (and more of it) in less time than ever before. And that means I get to spend more time with my family when I'm not working, and there's no way I can put a price tag on that.