Finding the "Pocket"

I've always had a problem finding the right tempo...that "pocket" where the track sits just right...not too fast or slow. I notice that as it gets late in the evening, my beats start to sound too fast, so I bring them down a notch or two. Then when I listen in the morning, they sound too slow, so I raise them back up. It's driving me crazy and it prevents me from moving forward.

Is this all in the mind?...does it have to do with psychoacoustics?...can the effective use of delay and reverb create a sense of movement without altering the tempo? Any and all advice will really help.

First, the pocket and the tempo are 2 different things. The pocket is more about the groove... where individual musicians place there notes. For example, a bassist can play ahead of the beat, behind the beat, ect. Finding the perfect place to play those notes is considered the pocket.

However, the placement of notes, especially by drums or bass can make a track sound more relaxed or urgent. Playing behind the beat gives a more relaxed feel. Playing ahead does the opposite.

Certain grooves can make a song sound faster or slower. For example, a 16th not hi hat groove can make a 90 bpm track sound faster than an 8th not hi hat groove at the same tempo.

Reverb and delays give a sense of space and distance. Shorter reverbs and delays can make things sound bigger. I've never got a sense of tempo from them, but that's me. I guess if you put a delay on a drum or bass part that made it seem like it was playing behind the beat, it could make it sound more relaxed.


Now, if it's late, and your tired, a mid tempo track may sound faster to you because of its relativity.

I suggest settling on something and going with it. It sounds like you should stick with the tempos that sound good to you when your rested and allert. If it's not a fatigue issue, maybe keep the lighting the same. We're all effected by things differently. Create a consistent, comfortable environment and try to always work under those conditions.

Try dancing to it. You are the dj and the crowd will move to your beat think of the dancers when you making the beat. Tap your feets, shake your butt, and move, groove, and feel it. Then you will know. It`s not the head its the body.

if you cant shuffle to it, put it in your electronica folder.

use the swing function maybe?

theminsk420 wrote:use the swing function maybe?

It's not about the "feel". I have no problem getting the right groove going. It's the tempo. I keep going back and forth between two or three tempos. For example, 95bpm vs. 96 vs. 98. I'm starting to think it's just psychological and has a lot to do with mental exhaustion at the end of a long session.

Rythms are found everywhere in life....first in your mothers heartbeat in the womb and then yours when you are born. Your heart is beating at about 112bpm while you are at rest and can run at about 120bpm when you are agitated, or screwing or whatever. Your guess that it is psycological at some level is right on the money. I'm sure there is some music out there you love that you just can't handle before 9:00 in the AM or whenever it is you wake up. I had the good fortune to be involved in a musical project that used recorded womb sounds (a very cool pulsing, throbbing sound) in combination with soft music as a relaxation tool. A noted doctor and psyciatrist were involved with both the project and the endorsments. It ended up being sold (and still is) as a soother for infants. They also use it in some neo natal intensive care wards where it soothes premature babies to sleep...
On a side note try this: Take a 16th note hi hat beat and reduce it to 1/4 notes but add a multitap delay with decay to fill in the extra beats. Slow down the delay a bit...listen...speed it up some...listen again...Very different beats in relation to how it makes you feel. Throw some auto panning on that sucker...

I used to have the same problem. An engineer told me it's psychological and psychoacoustical.

Long hours of music-making can cause mental fatigue. As your body and mind become tired, the tempo of a track can sound slighty faster than it originally sounded when you began a session, mainly because your body is "slowing down". This probably explains why it sounds too slow the next morning after you've rested. The best thing to do is make several mixes of the track at different bpms and then listen to them at various times of the day, until you settle on one that feels right.

Also, sometimes a beat that has no signal processing can sound "flat", lacking ambience and dimension. This is why some people love samples because the reverb, delay, eq is already added, which gives the sample a sense of movement. You may want to read up on things like stereo spread, placement in the stereo field, enhancers, and using eq, delay and reverb to create a sense of space and movement. There are some great tricks that can give a track the illusion it is moving faster than it really is.