Frans Absil

Film Music Tempo Calculation Tool - Version 2.1

In a film cue specify the set of Event Timing Markers (m:ss:dd)^[1] from the pull-down menus on the left, then calculate the best tempo [BPM] and beat fit (the matching error) by pressing the Find best tempo fit button at the bottom. Modify the Tempo Search Domain Parameters in the top panel. This GUI might be useful for composers working on a movie soundtrack. [More user guidelines >>]

Tempo Search Domain Parameters

Lower limit [BPM]: 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 84 88 92 96 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140 144 148 152 156 160 164 168 172 176 180  Upper limit [BPM]: 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 84 88 92 96 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140 144 148 152 156 160 164 168 172 176 180 200 204 208 212 216 220 224 228 232 236 240  Step [BPM]: 1 2 3 4 8 

Event Markers in Cue	Best tempo fit				2nd best alternative				3rd best option
Time [m:ss:dd]	Bt	4/4 m/b	3/4 m/b	Err [s]	Bt	4/4 m/b	3/4 m/b	Err [s]	Bt	4/4 m/b	3/4 m/b	Err [s]
0:00:00	1	1/1	1/1	0	1	1/1	1/1	0	1	1/1	1/1	0
0 12 34 5  : 00 0102 0304 0506 0708 0910 1112 1314 1516 1718 1920 2122 2324 2526 2728 2930 3132 3334 3536 3738 3940 4142 4344 4546 4748 4950 5152 5354 5556 5758 59  : 00 0510 1520 2530 3540 4550 5560 6570 7580 8590 95
0 12 34 5 : 00 0102 0304 0506 0708 0910 1112 1314 1516 1718 1920 2122 2324 2526 2728 2930 3132 3334 3536 3738 3940 4142 4344 4546 4748 4950 5152 5354 5556 5758 59 : 00 0510 1520 2530 3540 4550 5560 6570 7580 8590 95
0 12 34 5 : 00 0102 0304 0506 0708 0910 1112 1314 1516 1718 1920 2122 2324 2526 2728 2930 3132 3334 3536 3738 3940 4142 4344 4546 4748 4950 5152 5354 5556 5758 59 : 00 0510 1520 2530 3540 4550 5560 6570 7580 8590 95
0 12 34 5 : 00 0102 0304 0506 0708 0910 1112 1314 1516 1718 1920 2122 2324 2526 2728 2930 3132 3334 3536 3738 3940 4142 4344 4546 4748 4950 5152 5354 5556 5758 59 : 00 0510 1520 2530 3540 4550 5560 6570 7580 8590 95
0 12 34 5 : 00 0102 0304 0506 0708 0910 1112 1314 1516 1718 1920 2122 2324 2526 2728 2930 3132 3334 3536 3738 3940 4142 4344 4546 4748 4950 5152 5354 5556 5758 59 : 00 0510 1520 2530 3540 4550 5560 6570 7580 8590 95
0 12 34 5 : 00 0102 0304 0506 0708 0910 1112 1314 1516 1718 1920 2122 2324 2526 2728 2930 3132 3334 3536 3738 3940 4142 4344 4546 4748 4950 5152 5354 5556 5758 59 : 00 0510 1520 2530 3540 4550 5560 6570 7580 8590 95
0 12 34 5 : 00 0102 0304 0506 0708 0910 1112 1314 1516 1718 1920 2122 2324 2526 2728 2930 3132 3334 3536 3738 3940 4142 4344 4546 4748 4950 5152 5354 5556 5758 59 : 00 0510 1520 2530 3540 4550 5560 6570 7580 8590 95
0 12 34 5 : 00 0102 0304 0506 0708 0910 1112 1314 1516 1718 1920 2122 2324 2526 2728 2930 3132 3334 3536 3738 3940 4142 4344 4546 4748 4950 5152 5354 5556 5758 59 : 00 0510 1520 2530 3540 4550 5560 6570 7580 8590 95
0 12 34 5 : 00 0102 0304 0506 0708 0910 1112 1314 1516 1718 1920 2122 2324 2526 2728 2930 3132 3334 3536 3738 3940 4142 4344 4546 4748 4950 5152 5354 5556 5758 59 : 00 0510 1520 2530 3540 4550 5560 6570 7580 8590 95
Tempo values:		BPM	RMS			BPM	RMS			BPM	RMS

Control Buttons

Guidelines for the user

This JavaScript GUI provides a musical tempo calculator that best fits a number of event markers on a film cue timeline. Musical beats and timing errors are shown in the table cells. Use this GUI as follows:

• Select the Tempo Search Domain Parameters (the tempo range and step size), then specify the timing of events in the first column pull-down menus. Press the Find best tempo fit button and see the results in the table. The matching tempo values are shown on the table bottom row (the coloured cells to the left of the BPM label).
• Tempo search domain limits are specified as Metronome Markings in beats-per-minute (BPM) units. The tempo step size is also specified in BPM. With many closely spaced events the solution will result in impracticably high tempos. Specifying tempo search limits yields the best possible match within a predetermined range, appropriate for the mood of a film scene. When the three best tempo solutions only differ by 1 BPM tempo step, increase the tempo step size to obtain significantly different solutions.
• The timing event markers (see the pull-down menus in the first column) are specified in m:ss:dd (minutes, seconds and hundredths of seconds) units. The time resolution is 50 milliseconds. For working with film or television frame numbers, see the Frame number to time mapping chart >>
• Pressing the Find best tempo fit button will start the search over the tempo domain, finding the best match between musical beats and the event markers. The three best solutions are shown as beat numbers corresponding to the timing events (columns 2, 6 and 10, labeled Bt). The beats for each event are also shown as measure/beat pairs in both 4/4 and 3/4 metre.
• The absolute value of the timing error for each event is shown in [s] (see columns 5, 9 and 13, labeled Err). The overall error that was used for ranking the tempo solutions is shown in the bottom row, as is the resulting tempo in [BPM]. The overall timing error is the Root-Mean-Square Error (RMSE) value (see the table cells with label RMS).
• Pressing the Reset event list and tempo limits button will restore the default settings in the timing event series (to 0:00:00) and tempo search domain.
• The use of this GUI is appropriate when a fixed musical tempo must cover the maximum possible timing events in a film cue. The event markers are irregularly spaced on the timeline (shown as red arrows in the diagram on the right). The musical tempo will yield a regularly spaced set of beats (blue line with tickmarks), that should coincide with important events in the scene. The current GUI Tempo Tool covers up to 10 events (the first is assumed at t=0:00:00 s) over a duration of up to 6 minutes. This is beyond what is common practice in film music, where fixed timing is used for much shorter sequences only. Longer film cues would be covered with free timing (accelerando, fermata, etc) to guarantee the coincidence between the important events in the picture and the soundtrack.

Mapping frame numbers to timing in fractions of a second

For working with event markers at film/television frame numbers, use the mapping chart below (use the nearest time tickmark as input value in the Event Markers column in the GUI at the top).

Further reading

The following references discuss the aspects of timing and click tracks for film scoring:

• George Burt, The Art of Film Music. ISBN 1-55553-193-8, Northeastern University Press, Boston, 1994.
• Earle Hagen, Scoring for Films, Updated Edition. ISBN 0-88284-388-5, Alfred Publishing Co., Inc., Los Angeles, 1971.
• Milton Lustig, Music Editing for Motion Pictures. ISBN 0-8038-4729-7, Hastings House Publishers, New York, 1980.
• Roy M. Prendergast, Film Music, A Neglected Art. ISBN 0-393-00862-2, W.W. Norton and Company, New York, 1977.
• Norbert Jürgen Schneider, Komponieren für Film und Fernsehen, Ein Handbuch. Studienbuch Musik ED8708. ISBN 3-7957-8708-4, Schott Musik International, Mainz, 1997.

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