Question on BPM Sources

[Cdnbob]

Don't know if this is the right section of the board to post this, but I was wondering if anyone knows of a great source on the web that list song BPM's? I've tried looking, but could only find a few personal sites that maybe list 100 or songs and BPM info.

If there isn't a good source for this on the web, do you think this might be something that would be of value/use to have?

Thanks.

[needlefingers]

I think the old Billboard dance charts printed the BPM's.

Can anyone confirm this?

[tmob]

Just checked some Billboards for '76, '77, '78 and '84. No BPMs. The more specialized publications like Discothekin' or DMR may have included BPMs in their listings.

I've never found a good source for BPMs, particularly for old stuff...that's why I still use my trusty Disco Bible!

[Ysl]

I use this great and accurate software for checking the bpm of my records

Cubic Carrot Software - Homepage

[eddieo]

count, count, count. (sorry to be repetitive: 10 character minimum)

[QUINNY]

The late James Hamilton (from late '78/early '79 on) was THE king of BPMs. He did the Disco columns in Record Mirror in the UK and was fastidious, especially once he'd got into the swing of it.

This web site has a fairly good chunk of records BPM'd in the top 700 chart.

Otherwise D.J. Rhythms has done a lot of the hard work on BPMs (albeit rather like with an electronic beat counter) which, like all of 'em [sorry to disappoint YSL] only gives an average BPM over the whole track. Apparently he has divided up the BPMs of different sections on the older Disco records, but never got round to publishing them.

[Lance Andersen]

The late James Hamilton (from late '78/early '79 on) was THE king of BPMs. He did the Disco columns in Record Mirror in the UK and was fastidious, especially once he'd got into the swing of it.

This web site has a fairly good chunk of records BPM'd in the top 700 chart.

Otherwise D.J. Rhythms has done a lot of the hard work on BPMs (albeit rather like with an electronic beat counter) which, like all of 'em [sorry to disappoint YSL] only gives an average BPM over the whole track. Apparently he has divided up the BPMs of different sections on the older Disco records, but never got round to publishing them.

I have a Java Based application, which I can work with Bernie to host on this site if he wants. I have about 2500 songs and their BPM.

[Mixmachine]

What ever happened to doing it the old fashion way??

Since you have to listen to the record anyways, why not take 30 seconds to count the beats using a regular Stop watch (digital now!!) multiply that by 2 and you're done.

Then either write it in your 'Black BPM book' or this days in you favorite software.

There is no need to be so accurate with bpms, at least not for me in all my years, for me the main reason for bpms was to get me in the 'ball park' and to give me a quick idea of how much adjustment was going to be required ahead of time before pulling the record (out of the sleeve) or cuing up, Bpms were also handy to help you remember old hit songs that you may want to insert among your current set now..

Sometimes I wrote the BPMs on the labels, but mainly used masking tape on the sleeves to write in big letters the song's name and bpms , with this method it was easy to see/read in the dark and easy to glance at the records while still in the bins without lifting them out.

Just the other day I visited a local Disco, and my old friend spinning now uses CDs only, I noticed he keeps the cds in a big , fat folder and needs to check with his "Note book" before every mix to find where the cds are located in the folder, or I supposed what songs are contained in each CD and/or BPMs. (if multiples tracks??)

What a pain in the butt that looks like, he even had to hold a flash light to be able to read his own notes.(yes, he had a small light in the booth, apparently not enough):icon_rolleyes:

[Lance Andersen]

What ever happened to doing it the old fashion way??

Since you have to listen to the record anyways, why not take 30 seconds to count the beats using a regular Stop watch (digital now!!) multiply that by 2 and you're done.

Then either write it in your 'Black BPM book' or this days in you favorite software.

There is no need to be so accurate with bpms, at least not for me in all my years, for me the main reason for bpms was to get me in the 'ball park' and to give me a quick idea of how much adjustment was going to be required ahead of time before pulling the record (out of the sleeve) or cuing up, Bpms were also handy to help you remember old hit songs that you may want to insert among your current set now..

Sometimes I wrote the BPMs on the labels, but mainly used masking tape on the sleeves to write in big letters the song's name and bpms , with this method it was easy to see/read in the dark and easy to glance at the records while still in the bins without lifting them out.

Just the other day I visited a local Disco, and my old friend spinning now uses CDs only, I noticed he keeps the cds in a big , fat folder and needs to check with his "Note book" before every mix to find where the cds are located in the folder, or I supposed what songs are contained in each CD and/or BPMs. (if multiples tracks??)

What a pain in the butt that looks like, he even had to hold a flash light to be able to read his own notes.(yes, he had a small light in the booth, apparently not enough):icon_rolleyes:

Well having a database you can quickly search by bpm, artist is a handy thing regardless, especially if there is a decent number of songs there already. Certainly handy when you are trying to put together a playlist.

As i said, i am happy to donate what i have done to the site. It has a simple UI and we can make it read-only or make the entire bit downloadable so folks can use it on their home systems.

[Bernie]

Almost forgot that I collected quite a bit of BPMs for the second edition of the Top 500 Disco Songs Chart at
http://www.discomusic.com/charts-more/1689_0_8_0_C/
Enjoy!

PS: Lance and I are discussing his project and hope to have something up soon.

[canadiantire]

As i said, i am happy to donate what i have done to the site. It has a simple UI and we can make it read-only or make the entire bit downloadable so folks can use it on their home systems.

Hello?

Is there anyone who could "facilitate" the offer?

For once that something is free...:icon_lol::icon_lol:

[Bernie]

Hello?

Is there anyone who could "facilitate" the offer?

For once that something is free...:icon_lol::icon_lol:

You just missed my last post where I said I'm working with Lance on this. Stay tuned later this week or next.

[Cdnbob]

Almost forgot that I collected quite a bit of BPMs for the second edition of the Top 500 Disco Songs Chart at
http://www.discomusic.com/charts-more/1689_0_8_0_C/
Enjoy!

PS: Lance and I are discussing his project and hope to have something up soon.

Ah okay. That sounds like a great idea Bernie. If you want any help, or info, I'd be happy to help out.

My main point re my post was because I don't have access to any publications that contain this info and would find such info handy if it was available on the net. I had wanted to know if anyone else would feel the same way as I had thought of starting up a site that listed BPM's for old dance/disco music as I find there are virtually no sources on the net for this. My idea was to create an online database that would be free to access and would be a pooling of info from multiple sources into one large database. I've always felt the net would be an appropriate place to share this info on a free basis for everyone. I don't think one should have to pay a fee from some specialized service for this info.

And btw, I managed to find a freeware software package that automatically calculates the BPM of any song down to a tenth of a beat (eg. 136.5, 136.6, etc).

B

[Ian Rose]

I remember seeing a picture in one of the disco books (probably, Love Saves) of an old Disco zine that had lists of all the new records BPMs (some even at the start and finish).. They were talking about when people started Djing off BPMs only and not mood. Someone must have some of those zines somewhere.

-Ian

[eddieo]

Since you have to listen to the record anyways, why not take 30 seconds to count the beats using a regular Stop watch (digital now!!) multiply that by 2 and you're done.

that's what I'm talkin' about; plus, YOUR count is what's important, from WHERE you count it. Who cares what the average BPM is, if you're blending in an out of specific breaks?

There is no need to be so accurate with bpms, at least not for me in all my years, for me the main reason for bpms was to get me in the 'ball park' and to give me a quick idea of how much adjustment was going to be required ahead of time before pulling the record (out of the sleeve) or cuing up, Bpms were also handy to help you remember old hit songs that you may want to insert among your current set now..

good points all; over the years, I (and everyone else I knew) often resorted my records, choosing different sorting methods (e.g. alphabetical by artist or by title, by label, or, by BPM). BPM was an effective way to arrange the crates, though, truth be told, we were always changing it up.

Just the other day I visited a local Disco, and my old friend spinning now uses CDs only, I noticed he keeps the cds in a big , fat folder and needs to check with his "Note book" before every mix to find where the cds are located in the folder, or I supposed what songs are contained in each CD and/or BPMs. (if multiples tracks??)
What a pain in the butt that looks like, he even had to hold a flash light to be able to read his own notes....

That IS ludicrous! It reminds me of when those digital quartz Technic turntables (SL-150?) came out, I knew a jock who used a disco bible and a calculator. He was actually awesome, but he looked like an accountant (shout out to Cosmo)!