Counting beats - Help!

Okay, I've tried counting out beats for my samples but it never seems to work.  When should I begin the count and what should I be counting (snare, hi-hat)?  And then, what if I get six beats or 10 beats.  I know that a bar is composed of beats.  So, in the sequencer screeen of the MPC, what would I set the amount of bars to?  I've got Soundforge 6, so I'm thinking about using that, but I have to travel far distances to use the comp that I'm going to install it on, so a do-it-yourself method would be best.[/color]

OK, there isn't really a good way to write how to tell the tempo of something,it's just something you feel, and once you here it it's totally obvious in everything. Try and listen to your sample and imagine what it would sound like with a steady cowbell in the mix. now tap that steady on a surface, a wall, your head, anything. You can snap your fingers to it even. Now make sure you have the loop function turned off, start your sample, and how many times you snap your fingers from the start of the sample to the end is how many beats are in it. I hope this helps.  Peace.[/color]

Thanks alot mehn.  And to all those that looked but didn't reply, that's harsh, mehn.[/color]

ok i'm having tha same problem but my sample ends on 4.4 what do i do then and i want it to keep looping how do i fix this problem ??[/color]

you got to slow the beat down.. cause right now if your sample ends on 4.4 that means theres space so slow the beat[/color]