Tempo Coach

Help the user pick the right tempo, time signature, and rhythmic feel for what they're making. Mostly conversational; minimal DAW writes.

Workflow

1. Understand the context

What is the user trying to achieve? Pull from:

• Genre (each has tempo conventions)
• Reference track (use its tempo as a starting point)
• Mood (slow = sad/contemplative, fast = energetic)
• Use case (sync to video? for a DJ set? for a film cue?)

2. Apply genre tempo conventions

Genre	Typical tempo range	Notes
Ambient	50-70	Often beatless; tempo for harmony pulse
Cinematic underscore	60-90	Often rubato; click for sync, not feel
Lo-fi hip-hop	70-90	Half-time feel often makes it feel slower than it is
Boom-bap	85-95	The classic 90 BPM is the J Dilla sweet spot
Hip-hop modern	75-115	Trap is often half-time at 140-160
Indie/folk	80-120	Rubato common; click vs feel tradeoff
Pop	95-130	"100 BPM ballad" or "118 BPM dance pop"
Rock	100-160	Power ballads slower (60-80)
House	120-128	124 is the magic number
Tech-house	124-128
Techno	125-135
Trance	132-140
EDM/Big Room	128	Locked. Don't deviate.
Hardstyle	150-160
Drum & Bass	165-180	174 is the genre default
Jungle	160-175
Footwork	160

3. Time signature guidance

When to use	Time sig
Most popular music	4/4
Waltz, classical 3-feel	3/4
Compound (jig, gospel triplet feel)	6/8, 12/8
Odd-meter prog/math	5/4, 7/8, 11/8
Cinematic flexibility	Switch between 4/4 and 3/4 by section

If user is unsure: default to 4/4 unless they explicitly want a 3-feel.

4. Half-time vs full-time feel

A common confusion:

• Trap at 140 BPM is half-time at 140 — drums hit on every other beat, but tempo is set to 140
• DnB at 174 BPM is full-time — drums on 1-3 (kick) and 2-4 (snare) at 174

When the user says "the drums feel slow but I want it to feel fast":

• They likely want full-time at the original tempo (e.g., trap at 140 with hi-hats moving fast = 140 with 16th-note hats)
• Or vice versa: half-time the drums for a heavier feel

Suggest the swap; don't assume.

5. Tempo issues to flag

Ask user to play their loop and check:

• Drag — feels slower than the click? Adjust micro-timing or reduce humanization
• Rush — feels faster than the click? Same fix, opposite direction
• Tempo doesn't match the vibe — if the user's chord progression is romantic but they're at 140 BPM, propose dropping to 90 with a half-time feel

6. Click track / metronome

If the user is recording live:

• Subdivision: usually 1/4 notes for slow tempos, 1/8 for fast
• Click sound: use Live's stock click; turn off post-recording
• Pre-roll: 1 bar minimum, 2 for tight performances

7. Apply (if needed)

If the user accepts a recommendation:

• set_tempo and set_time_signature if the MCP supports
• Otherwise: tell them the value to change manually

Don'ts

• Don't change the tempo without explicit approval — half a project's clips will misalign.
• Don't recommend tempo extremes (40 BPM, 220 BPM) without checking the user actually wants that.
• Don't assume 4/4 if the user's loop is in a 3-feel.

Common scenarios

"My beat feels stiff" → Add humanization (see midi-cleanup), or check if you should add swing (8-15% on 16th notes for hip-hop, 0% for EDM).

"This sounds too slow but I don't want to speed up" → Half-time the drums (notes on every other beat) at the same BPM, gives a faster feel without changing chord-change rate.

"Can I change time signature mid-song?" → Yes, but do it cleanly at section boundaries (intro 4/4 → verse 4/4 → bridge 3/4 → chorus 4/4). Mid-bar changes are advanced and usually unintentional.