Changing Pitch without changing tempo

K · Post by K » Wed Jul 04, 2007 4:20 pm

Hi,

I'm new to live and just starting to learn it. I have an old song I made on some other program, that I would like to raise the pitch of without effecting the speed/tempo of the song. Is it possible to do this in live? and will it sound distorted, or have audio effects?

Thanks a lot

longjohns · Post by **longjohns** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 10:15 pm

yes, possible. very easy - just change the clip's transpose settings

yes, artifacts. will vary depend on the nature of the audio and how much you are trying to change it

K · Post by K » Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:20 pm

Thanks. I have another quick question. So what I want to do is load in the original song i made, keeping it at the exact same tempo I created it at, and just pitch it up a little.

The problem I'm having is that everytime I drag it into a new session to try and change the pitch, it's tempo is converted into whatever the tempo seems to be set to. I don't know the exact original tempo off hand, I just want to keep it the same as it is and change the pitch.

Any suggestions?

K · Post by K » Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:26 pm

also,

another quick question. So I loaded it in and tried to tap out the original tempo, and which was around 78...but for some reason the music is playing back way way to slow. 78 in Reason, would be the exact tempo. I'm a little confused.

vinkalmann · Post by **vinkalmann** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:38 pm

You'll want to bring in the track and warp it using a warp mode OTHER than complex or repitch. Once you have it warped correctly, set the master tempo to exactly what the clip tempo is. On the clip view, set "HI-Q" to ON as this will use a better algorythm when transposing. The key here to minimize artifacts is to have the clip tempo being the same as the master tempo.

In case you haven't found it, the transpose control is on the clip view.

For help with warping check out my warping guide at www.vinkalmann.com.

bendybones · Post by **bendybones** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:45 pm

To prevent tempo changing when audio is imported into Live,
go to the preferences (Options>Preferences or CTRL+,)
then to the tab on the left marked "Record Warp launch".
Go to Warp section.
Beside "Loop/Warp Short Samples" select "Unwarped One Shot"
Beside "Auto Warp Long Samples" select "Off"
Now your audio will remain at the same tempo when imported.

If the original audio was played to a click (or just extremely well played) it well have a specific tempo and it would be good to set your project to correspond before importing the audio
(to give u more options when working with it).
To find the tempo of the original piece go to this link and download BPM Analyser. Its very accurate, even on fairly ambient stuff.
When BPM Analyser is installed, open it, drag and drop the audio into it and wait for it to calculate the BPM.
TaDa

K · Post by K » Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:21 pm

Thanks so much guys.

Okay, so I figured out the tempo of the song. loaded it in. Downloaded vinkalmann's manual on warping and followed the directions. so now I think it is warped correctly, however when I went to then transpose it, I change the transpose and it is not affecting the audio.

Am i doing something wrong?

K · Post by K » Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:31 pm

it seems like when I have it warped I can change the pitch, and when I unclick warp, I can change the pitch but then it speeds the track up. ?

vinkalmann · Post by **vinkalmann** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:35 pm

K wrote:it seems like when I have it warped I can change the pitch, and when I unclick warp, I can change the pitch but then it speeds the track up. ?

That's right, warp = can change the pitch, no warp = can't change the pitch. You also cannot change the pitch if you are warping in re-pitch mode.

K · Post by K » Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:39 pm

okay. so I'm confused.

is there a way to change the pitch without affecting the tempo?

For some reason I thought that warping was the key.

K · Post by K » Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:39 pm

okay I got you. I warped in re-pitch mode.

What mode would you suggest I use?

K · Post by K » Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:41 pm

I want to keep out as many artifacts as I can. I'm not change the pitch that drastically and I still want the track to sound crisp and professional