Q: why are only certain drum sounds counted when determining tempo of a drum track? let me explain. Lets say you have a bass drum (B) and a hi hat(H). If it goes HHBHHHBHHHB and so on thats a slower tempo than if the drum track is just BBBBBBBBB. For some reason the hi hats are more seen as something between the actual tempo than the tempo itself. I dont know if im explaining it well. Hopefully you understand.
A: in general, i usually consider tempos from 60bpm to 120bpm. if it's outside that range you might double or halve it to get it within that range. but another thing usually considered is the snare, if there's a 'backbeat' you'd usually consider that 2 and 4, for example if you were at 110 bpm and your snare seems to be hitting on beat 3 only, you might re-consider the tempo to be 55, so that the snare is on 2 and 4. or if you're at 100bpm and your snare is happening on the "&" of every beat, then you might consider calling it 200 with the snare on 2 and 4. but it gets more confusing because many songs switch to half time or double time. which is where what i call the 'reasonability zone' of 60-120 comes into play. but it's more complicated still, for example in the last couple years i've been hearing a lot of songs with like a super halftime where the tempo is like 60, AND the snare is hitting on only 3. so if you went with the 2 and 4 theory then you'd be calling it 30bpm which is just not reasonable. it's just wherever you think the beat is. wherever you would tap your foot.