The Lowdown
For all you guys using iTunes and don’t want to bother opening DJ software just to get BPMs of songs, this might appeal to you, although I feel like it really is more for folks who need BPM detection but aren’t necessarily DJs such as fitness instructors and the like.
First Impressions / Setting up
Beatgauge is a Mac-only app, and is available exclusively on the App Store; sorry PC guys. Also, you’ll need to be on the latest version of OSX (Yosemite 10.10), so if you haven’t updated yet you can’t use this. Having jumped both hurdles, Beatgauge itself is pretty easy to set up and use.
In Use
After downloading, you just launch the app itself, which is presented as a small window. With iTunes open, you can just drag songs and entire playlists from your library over to Beatgauge and, after a few seconds, the BPM of those tracks are calculated. iTunes doesn’t show the BPM sort column by default, and you have to enable it first by right-clicking on the column type row and ticking “BPM”. Once it’s there, the tempo of your songs are displayed. And that’s about it!
Conclusion
For all you guys using iTunes and don’t want to bother opening DJ software just to get BPMs of songs (for example, you’re working on a remix or bootleg of a song in Ableton or other DAW), this might appeal to you, although I feel like it really is more for folks who need BPM detection but aren’t DJs such as fitness instructors and the like.
As a tool for getting track tempos, it does as its supposed to, plain and simple. However, DJs may consider this to be an unnecessary extra step in organising their libraries, especially since tempo analysis comes stock in practically any kind of pro DJ software available.
Again, Beatgauge seems to be more for the non-DJ type, or the DJ who likes to organise his library to the fullest possible without even reaching for a DJ app (if you’ve got separate libraries for casual listening and DJing, for instance). It’s also worth noting that Beatgauge writes tempo as iTunes metadata, and that’s something that DJ software doesn’t do yet.
If you’re a Mac user and you use iTunes to organise your entire music library and create playlists, Beatgauge may be a worthwhile add-on. Alternately, Mixmeister has a similar tool called BPM Analyser, and costs half the price of Beatgauge with the added perk of being Windows-compatible. If you’re a PC user, you may want to check that out instead.
