Warp full length tracks the easy way - includes movie

serotoninsteve · Post by **serotoninsteve** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 1:44 pm

I first check the BPM in Mixmeister BPM analyzer, then rename my tracks as ex. xxxxxxx_xxxxxx(xxxxRMX)_135.wav.
You can also tap the tempo while listening to the unwarped track.

Then import them in Live, set global tempo to 135 in this case, then push warp and loop.

Play your drumloop that you have choosen for warping from an other track.

Now create a one bar loop, adjust the 1st warpmarker that it fits (sometimes you need to move it until you hear the beat starts after the intro) now go to normalmarker 9 and look, hear and adjust (the BPM will slightly change) until it fits. jump to 17 (up and down arrows), check, jump to 25, check and so on.
You can jump through your song very fast while listening, and just put a warpmarker when you notice that it´s necessary (I set them before and after breaks usually).
It´s more work like this, but you are sure that the entire song matches the tempo and you ´ll not have a surprise while performing due to a badly recorded track.

But be aware to put and adjust a warpmarker every beat or so, some tracks don´t work anymore if you warp them to dead.

Greetings

AKutcher · Post by **AKutcher** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 4:46 pm

that's kule pup, it's all pure man.

i see you rockin' out!

you know like i said, i'm looking for what app i should use when i hit the edit button in the loop editor (like for cutting a song down to just a loop and slicing it up if so desired). i want to do basically what you did in the demos but then cut away the unused parts. anyone?

i hear you about the self-complication factor, and i like your k.i.s.s. approach.

also, what is the trick to "grain size" and beats/tones/texture/repitch settings?

i mean i like... reach what they are basically for, but
it seems like if i warp a loop AT ALL it is noticeably, i guess you say, "grainy sounding" (in other words, some type of artifacts or distruction is heard as a product of the warping).
what's the rundown on that, cause i KNOW you don't just hop up on stage with all that "wavyness", and we all know that ALL your loops can't be the same bpm.

sickpuppy, your warps were minimal when all was said and done, but i heard NO distortion in your tracks.

how do it know?

no setting i can come up with fix this.

hook me up!

p.s. i'd like to see you mix some breakbeats too, but i'd really like to see you mix some vintage rock or indigenous music up in there. you know, just totally off the wall on the bpms.

adhmzaiusz · Post by **adhmzaiusz** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 3:59 am

AKutcher wrote:
also, what is the trick to "grain size" and beats/tones/texture/repitch settings?

i mean i like... reach what they are basically for, but
it seems like if i warp a loop AT ALL it is noticeably, i guess you say, "grainy sounding" (in other words, some type of artifacts or distruction is heard as a product of the warping).
what's the rundown on that, cause i KNOW you don't just hop up on stage with all that "wavyness", and we all know that ALL your loops can't be the same bpm.

-beats: warps by cutting in chunks, rather than cross faded grains, best suited for the obvious.

-tones: best suited for sounds like vocals or solo instruments that have a simple timbral structure

-texture: for complex sounds that have high tonal structure

-repitch: no need to explain

if you're wanting to warp without grainy sound try and get loops that are within about 0-10 bpm of what you are working with. hope that helps

p.s. start a new thread next time, you'll get better advice at the compromise of looking like a noob lol

moostapha · Post by **moostapha** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 3:15 pm

Very cool advice. I started playing with it last night and those videos made it a lot easier.

I can't figure out how to decide where to move the warp markers using that method, so what I was doing was to start by warping the first measure or two and then play the track with the metronome followng the waveform zoomed in enough to see each beat. And when I hear it start to go off, ctrl-f and adjust...then ctrl-f again to go back and fix it again. Warping like this fixes things in real time much like beatmatching a turntable, so if you're fast enough you could start a new track in a live set and be able to mark it during a song or two previous, and then not have to worry about it again.

Thannks a lot for the video and all the discussion, I learned a lot.

rocdollar · Post by **rocdollar** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 4:16 pm

I am new to Ableton Live but I have used Traktor for a long time. I agree that warping (or beat gridding) visually is the way to go. Eventually, you do 'see' the music as you get so used to how different frequency sounds look as waveforms. Listening to it takes to much time. Time you dont have when you are constantly importing new tracks.

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 5:10 pm

I found another way to get a precise tempo that works especially well for constant-tempo tracks.

Get close to the tempo by tapping (hint: The Tapper at www.refusesoftware.com), type it in, then warp and loop measures 1-4. Drag the first warp marker to the first downbeat. Now change the tempo in the 'Orig BPM' until the marker on the first beat of measure 5 aligns with the downbeat of measure 5. You'll see the markers move as you type in a new tempo. You can often just visually type in the tempo change until you see the measure 5 marker falling on the downbeat. Sometimes this means typing in tenths of a BPM.

If you've done it accurately and the song doesn't change tempo, simply pop a warp marker at the end of the track, and you're done! And because you've used a precise tempo, warping artifacts should be minimal.

I'm sure someone else has already posted this. I'm too thick to have thought of it myself!

Tuur · Post by **Tuur** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 7:13 pm

supster · Post by **supster** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 5:31 pm

wanted to quote something that was posted by ralf ableton in the 5 beta testing forum:

or a lot of material, the perceived downbeat
really is not where you see the waveform start but a bit to the
right, despite the fact that some programs tell you it should
be there Cool. So the point where the markers are not
the "zero crossing points" of traditional loop cutting techniques.

this goes back to what some of us were saying earlier in the thread:

with some tracks setting the warp marker at the zero crossing just before the attack of the kick is *not* going to give the results you want.

you need to set it closer to the peak of the attack. not always. but the ears are the final judge.

honestly im not trying to win an 'internet opinion debate'

.. just trying to pass on accurate info that will help the common pool of knowledge with this program ...

imo the autowarper is not perfect but its 100x better than doing it al manually, its a huge timesaver and a new arsenal of tools that make the whole process way less painful.
.

TheAnimal · Post by **TheAnimal** » Sun Aug 07, 2005 6:47 pm

Thanks a lot, sickpuppy! Very nice movies.

Unlikely_theDJ · Post by **Unlikely_theDJ** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:34 am

Hey, n00b here... can someone pretty please rehost those vids if they are still around?... i'd *very* much like to see the easy way

derders · Post by **derders** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 8:27 am

yeah would be nice when you can host it again pls....

try at megaupload.com or rapidshare.de or .com

thank you

Tsebelis · Post by **Tsebelis** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:29 am

Would you please streamload it to me?
My MediaMax account name is Tsebelis

Thanks

Unlikely_theDJ · Post by **Unlikely_theDJ** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 2:53 am

talk about reviving a dead thread hehe

Bill_Lee · Post by **Bill_Lee** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:19 pm

yeah, as dead as this thread may be, i really wanna see those videos too...

sunrahrahrah · Post by **sunrahrahrah** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 1:05 am

I didnt bother to read through this thread ,but I saw someone mention warping 'visually' and thats definitely how I do it.

Set a 4 bar loop, find the first downbeat (bass kick whatever) of your song. place a warp marker on the waveform, zoomed in extremely close, making sure it is on beat with the metronome. Get used to using the metronome, it sounds fine.

Zoom out, then scroll through the track. If the track needs more work you will see the 'bass clump' begin to move to the left or right of your loop braces. If it doesn't move too much at all, then just place a warp marker at the end of the track, zooming in again to make sure its at the exact same spot in the waveform. If it jumped around alot then periodically place warp markers until you can scroll through the track without it moving. You may see it move to the left, then to the right, or vice versa...this happens most with vinyl rips because of the way the record sits on the platter.

Finally, its personal taste how locked you want the track to be. It makes most sense to warp heavily on the spots you intend to mix in and out of...some people argue that too much warping can destroy the feel of a track...not a problem with minmal techno but it might be with a rock track from the 70s.

Oh ya and you definitely do not need to learn the bpm of a track ahead of time. Just hit warp, and go through the process. Ive warped tracks that are 135 bpm, with live playing at 110 bpm out of laziness and when im done they still play and mix with everything else just fine.

Also a good method for me is to convert everything I want to spin to WAV, then save it in itunes in a new playlist called ableton. Once I warp a track, I edit the itunes file and add in the bpm. So all my warped tracks are at the top of the itunes playlist in order of bpm, and all the ones that need to be warped are underneath with no bpm listed.

Warp full length tracks the easy way - includes movie

re: setting markers at the visible transient