Warp issue

[Flange]

I haven't used ableton to create a dj studio mix before and the first track I imported I set my first warp marker on the beat and warped straight then I went to the end and adjusted a bit to get more accuracy but over the course of the track it is off in so many places that I have to use about 50 warp markers. Is this normal? Took me forever to get just one track right.

[yur2die4]

Instead of warping straight from a beginning point and jumping to the end with the assumption that it had never drifted,

It would be better to start at the beginning, align things every 32 bars or so to tighten things up for the first couple parts, then do warp from here.

Or skip the warp from here step, because the further down you go, the more precise it will become anyway.

Also, when you do align the clip to the grid, make sure there are no markers 'after' that spot. And do not add the marker until 'after' you have done the alignment. Otherwise all material after the marker will still be inaccurate.

With a little practice you will get quicker and be able to avoid time consuming mistakes.

[Flange]

Instead of warping straight from a beginning point and jumping to the end with the assumption that it had never drifted,

It would be better to start at the beginning, align things every 32 bars or so to tighten things up for the first couple parts, then do warp from here.

Or skip the warp from here step, because the further down you go, the more precise it will become anyway.

Also, when you do align the clip to the grid, make sure there are no markers 'after' that spot. And do not add the marker until 'after' you have done the alignment. Otherwise all material after the marker will still be inaccurate.

With a little practice you will get quicker and be able to avoid time consuming mistakes.

I think what you're saying is to align everything before placing markers and before doing a warp but I tried this. Every time you move one part all the rest moves at the same time though. So as I move one part into position other parts that I previously moved go back out of alignment. So not sure what you mean?

[yur2die4]

You begin by working from left to right. By doing that, anything in the left will remain untouched.

You start with only one marker, first beat. Then you move right a little ways, and make sure that as you scroll right you see that the transients are aligned favorably to the grid. If not, set them in place. After 16 or 32 bars or whatever, add a marker.

Anything between the first marker and the second marker will always stay in place unless you either move the first or last markers, or add an additional marker somewhere between them. If you go back and notice part of the beat drifts a little, then add a marker to a transient that is 'most far off from the grid' and push that transient in place.

Next, continue scrolling right and eventually add a new marker.

You should only add markers when you're positive that everything preceding that marker is good to go. It would mean that the number of beats or bars designated by the spot the marker is placed is the same number of beats or bars from the marker 1.1.1.

If you were not following the grid, if you just jump forward a whole bunch and only try to fix the region you see at that moment, you cannot be sure that it only appears to align after the beats preceding it have fallen out of phase either being too many or too few. In that case you would have a complete mess and would be best off removing the marker and going back to a point where you can guarantee that each beat is in line with the grid following after 1.1.1.

[Flange]

You begin by working from left to right. By doing that, anything in the left will remain untouched.

You start with only one marker, first beat. Then you move right a little ways, and make sure that as you scroll right you see that the transients are aligned favorably to the grid. If not, set them in place. After 16 or 32 bars or whatever, add a marker.

Anything between the first marker and the second marker will always stay in place unless you either move the first or last markers, or add an additional marker somewhere between them. If you go back and notice part of the beat drifts a little, then add a marker to a transient that is 'most far off from the grid' and push that transient in place.

Next, continue scrolling right and eventually add a new marker.

You should only add markers when you're positive that everything preceding that marker is good to go. It would mean that the number of beats or bars designated by the spot the marker is placed is the same number of beats or bars from the marker 1.1.1.

If you were not following the grid, if you just jump forward a whole bunch and only try to fix the region you see at that moment, you cannot be sure that it only appears to align after the beats preceding it have fallen out of phase either being too many or too few. In that case you would have a complete mess and would be best off removing the marker and going back to a point where you can guarantee that each beat is in line with the grid following after 1.1.1.

Ok will keep trying but it's a rather tedious process. Mixmeister did it all automatically. Can't understand why Ableton doesn't to be honest. But unfortunately mixmeister is the most unsupported software on the planet and my 250 dollar version became obsolete after one OSX update. Of course Mixmeisters way of dealing with angry customers who feel ripped off is to preten they don't exist. Lesson learned. I do love ableton though but yes didn't think the warping thing could be so long winded.

[yur2die4]

It isn't that bad after you get used to it.

You can get away with using 1 to 4 warp markers for most dance tracks. But if you aren't familiar with identifying what 'looks' good and sounds right when warping, those few markers could drastically screw things up.

Once you understand how it is working you can use very few.

But some tracks actually fluctuate in tempo either in tiny amounts or quite a bit. By understanding the theory, you'd be able to tackle warping those also.

[Flange]

It isn't that bad after you get used to it.

You can get away with using 1 to 4 warp markers for most dance tracks. But if you aren't familiar with identifying what 'looks' good and sounds right when warping, those few markers could drastically screw things up.

Once you understand how it is working you can use very few.

But some tracks actually fluctuate in tempo either in tiny amounts or quite a bit. By understanding the theory, you'd be able to tackle warping those also.

Im thinking that it makes a huge difference if its recorded from vinyl right? Because my most recent purchases which were mp3 seemed very easy to warp but older records I have transferred take a lot longer.

[yur2die4]

From my experience that is often the case. In a few rare instances you'll have a solid-tempo vinyl recording but generally not.

80's dance is amusing. For some artists you can tell it slows down from their midi being bogged down by busier sections.

For old rock songs you have to pretty much listen and watch and just place the markers approximately on the one of every 4 or 8 bars and then go back later and fix whatever is in between those.

Warping isn't so bad, gives you some things to think about haha

[Flange]

Does it matter where I put the warp marker? Does it have to be on a beat or on 1st beat of bar etc?

[yur2die4]

The marker itself can technically be anywhere. What you're using the markers for is to tell Live where each beat in the audio clip is. If Live doesn't know, it won't know how to compensate the audio to make it fit the metronome.

If you're more comfortable using a snare on the 2 and 4 or some other signature and clearly visible or audible sound for warping you can do that as long as the sound is appearing on the grid at the spot that it 'should' appear.

The problem is, most sounds in a piece can vary in their swing etc with the exception of the first hit of a phrase. This is why it is the most common indicator to use. It will usually also be the most precise. Claps and snares might be deliberately pressed ahead or behind the actual grid slightly. And it is almost most important to have the kick line up consistently for mixing reasons (although there can be a lot of energy when a dj has a it a little off on vinyl).

If you have something with high precision, you can look and listen to what the material is doing and make the judgement as to whether or not to use a different part. Just make sure it is placed appropriately (snare might be 33.2.1 or something where a kick might be 33.1.1). If the music is fluctuating anyway or has a human drummer, then precision is not really attainable so you use what you can as an indicator for counting and alighting the performance.

Some easy tests are to listen to a metronome or kick drum loop and hear it against your warped track. It should sound like they are tight together.

Good practice outside of conventional warping is creative warping where you deliberately experiment with how you can screw something up. Usually you would choose a section, put a marker before and after the part you want to mess with, and then add some markers and make the audio shorter or longer within that segment. If you did not have markers before and after the segment you'd get a mess. But understanding this concept is good for editing fills in old rock songs where there is a lot of rubato haha

[yur2die4]

A word of caution, sometimes breakdowns in songs are a random duration and if you warp clean the best comes back at an odd time.

Then you have to kind of decide how you'll make that work, either by letting it stay off beat and only using it for arrangement view mixes (it would be off in a session view live mix), or deciding if you even want to use the track at all. Or if you want to force it to work out by stretching or shortening the breakdown in creative ways.

[Flange]

A word of caution, sometimes breakdowns in songs are a random duration and if you warp clean the best comes back at an odd time.

Then you have to kind of decide how you'll make that work, either by letting it stay off beat and only using it for arrangement view mixes (it would be off in a session view live mix), or deciding if you even want to use the track at all. Or if you want to force it to work out by stretching or shortening the breakdown in creative ways.

You wouldn't happen to know the answer to my other unanswered question by any chance would you? The question about how to make the scroll indicator follow in the editor. Can do in the clip but haven't figured out if possible in the sample editor. Cheers