Pitch Control and Master Tempo on the S4: what's possible?

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Pitch Control and Master Tempo on the S4: what's possible?
Posted on: 09.03.2012 by Oretha Felux
I recently decided to scrap my CDJ's and move to a primarily digital setup (2 x Tech 1200's, S4, X1, TSP2), and have been primarily using the S4 out in most live situations where I am able.

Literally the only sticking point for me is how to manage pitch. While I understand full well how to adjust offset pitch faders on each deck, what I'd really, really like to be able to do is use either of the deck pitch faders to affect the master tempo only. For example:

1. The track master playing out is at 122BPM, and I'd like to keep that pitch constant for the next transition.
2. The incoming tracks normal BPM is 110BPM, which is no problem, because the sync button will get it there, regardless of the pitch fader.
3. Transition complete.
4. Now I have a track playing that is outside the range of the pitch faders, so any efforts to correct the offset pitch will always result in the pitch fader being pushed all the way down.

I'd like to be able to use a pitch fader in this situation to slowly adjust the output tempo, without having any sort of "tempo jumps."

tl;dr: I'd like for pitch faders to largely work how they do on track decks already, only I want them to affect the master tempo output only.

Anyone have any insights into this?

Cheers for any and all help.
Oretha Felux
10.03.2012
Originally Posted by padi_04
Haven't tried it with timecode tho.
That's OK. I'm not super concerned about it in terms of timecode. If I'm playing out on timecode vinyl, it's usually a bit of a different approach than with the S4 - much more of a old school tact.

Really what I was concerned about was just being able to ensure when I am only playing out on the S4, that I have as much control as I feel like I want out of a controller.
Oretha Felux
10.03.2012
Originally Posted by padi_04
You can use the pitch faders in relative mode. when you hold shift and move the fader to the other side once you hit the and release it to pick up where the soft fader was left. The advantge of this? you can have a low pitchrange for better resolution and "expand" the limits this way. The main disadvantage is that 0% isn't a static position in the hardware control.

It's a lot easier to understand if you have the controller next to you
Ha! And I even thought about bringing it into the office today to prep for the evenings gigs. I'll give it a shot once I'm back at the home base, thanks for the suggestion!
Oretha Felux
09.03.2012		I recently decided to scrap my CDJ's and move to a primarily digital setup (2 x Tech 1200's, S4, X1, TSP2), and have been primarily using the S4 out in most live situations where I am able.

Literally the only sticking point for me is how to manage pitch. While I understand full well how to adjust offset pitch faders on each deck, what I'd really, really like to be able to do is use either of the deck pitch faders to affect the master tempo only. For example:

1. The track master playing out is at 122BPM, and I'd like to keep that pitch constant for the next transition.
2. The incoming tracks normal BPM is 110BPM, which is no problem, because the sync button will get it there, regardless of the pitch fader.
3. Transition complete.
4. Now I have a track playing that is outside the range of the pitch faders, so any efforts to correct the offset pitch will always result in the pitch fader being pushed all the way down.

I'd like to be able to use a pitch fader in this situation to slowly adjust the output tempo, without having any sort of "tempo jumps."

tl;dr: I'd like for pitch faders to largely work how they do on track decks already, only I want them to affect the master tempo output only.

Anyone have any insights into this?

Cheers for any and all help.
Nedra Fresneda
11.03.2012		But you are giving up resolution by increasing the range.
Joselyn Supina
11.03.2012		Settings > Transport > Tempo..

I'm guessing your tempo range is currently set to 8%, I believe the is the default. Make it a higher percent and pitch faders will control a bigger distance.
Erica Charvet
12.03.2012		Yup, relative mode is the way to go.

If you use a lot of tempo changes, you may also want to consider mixing all decks using the Master clock. This lets you control all tempos at the same time using one knob infinite knob, much like you would in Ableton live. Pretty cool, although it really requires that all your tracks be beat gridded correctly before using them.
Oretha Felux
10.03.2012
Originally Posted by padi_04
Haven't tried it with timecode tho.
That's OK. I'm not super concerned about it in terms of timecode. If I'm playing out on timecode vinyl, it's usually a bit of a different approach than with the S4 - much more of a old school tact.

Really what I was concerned about was just being able to ensure when I am only playing out on the S4, that I have as much control as I feel like I want out of a controller.
Nedra Fresneda
10.03.2012		Haven't tried it with timecode tho.
Oretha Felux
10.03.2012
Originally Posted by padi_04
You can use the pitch faders in relative mode. when you hold shift and move the fader to the other side once you hit the and release it to pick up where the soft fader was left. The advantge of this? you can have a low pitchrange for better resolution and "expand" the limits this way. The main disadvantage is that 0% isn't a static position in the hardware control.

It's a lot easier to understand if you have the controller next to you
Ha! And I even thought about bringing it into the office today to prep for the evenings gigs. I'll give it a shot once I'm back at the home base, thanks for the suggestion!
Nedra Fresneda
10.03.2012		You can use the pitch faders in relative mode. when you hold shift and move the fader to the other side once you hit the and release it to pick up where the soft fader was left. The advantge of this? you can have a low pitchrange for better resolution and "expand" the limits this way. The main disadvantage is that 0% isn't a static position in the hardware control.

It's a lot easier to understand if you have the controller next to you

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