Ableton Forum

Ok Guys!

So, a lot of us still have problems or doubts in doing the “proper thing” concerning warping the audio tracks, for Djing, Production or…whatever!

Some say they spend minutes, others hours! Some use audio editors like Bias Peak or Wavelab, then analyse the audio, then discover the BPM…then put it on the wave info at Live and warp from there...others just do the whole thing from the "warp editor".

So my challenge is:

Forum members/Live users
Please post here your methods, so we can all learn from each other and share acknowledgment to make our lives easier, and we can spend our time having fun with Live and not serious headaches doing “monkey business” work!!!

POSTS WELLCOME!

CJ Vega

ps: Any new video available?

My method is very simple now with live 5. I DJ with all Mp3's so i dont mess around with recording anymore.

I bring the file into live and let it be analyzed. Every track I have used so far, live has guessed the bpm within about .05. I usually just round up or down as needed because its very doubtful that the artist released the track at 129.97 bpm. THen I usually have to drag the first marker back a tad. It is usually in the middle of the first beat, instead of the very beginning. Then I check a couple points throughtout the track. They all usually live up fine. If they dont, i usually will adjust the markers at the 8th beat mark, then halfway through the song, and then one towards the very end. Thats about it. I definetly dont spend more than 5 minutes on any song.

THis isnt just house tracks either. I dont have any problems with breaks for drum and bass. They only problem would be if the tempo drifts throughout the song. THen its tricky, and you get into a whole other world of adding warp markers, etc. I havnt found a song like this online ever, but it can definetly happen when recording vinyl. That is the only way I couever see it taking hours. And even then im not so sure.

peace

right click on the first downbeat, set 1.1.1 here, then right click again and "warp from here"




it's different each song... takes ears and practice.

How about the complex mode?

CJ Vega wrote:How about the complex mode?

its very good. it supposedly uses more CPU but i dont feel a significant difference. if youre drastically changing the tempo of a song, use complex mode.

yes big respect to the abletons with the new tempo guessing feature, i bet a lot of work went into that ? batch analyzed a progressive trance cd last night, it guessed all the tracks pretty good, went in afterwards and moved the first and last beat markers a bit on each track, set the play start marker and it was all done, a lot easier than in v4.

inis wrote: I usually just round up or down as needed because its very doubtful that the artist released the track at 129.97 bpm.

you may want to be careful with this. 130 bpm is different on different machines-- computers will all be pretty similar, but older gear (like drum machines, sequencers), is going to have a slightly different clock than your computer, so to your machine, it actually could be 129.7 bpm. also, older drum machines even drift a bit, so don't assume that you can always round them...

Complex mode uses a lot more cpu than any other warp mode but it produces the least audable artifacts. AFA warp methodology goes, I've seen people do it so many different ways. For me I always set 1.1.1 at the first downbeat and adjust the 5th bar marker to sit where it's supposed to, without making it a warp point. Live calculates the tempo from there. then I check every 32 bars or so against a click or a loop and add warp markers as necessary. A lot of artists sill edit tracks after recording them which may cause small shifts in tempo. some people think my method is overkill, but I like to keep mixes really tight, even when i'm using vinyl or cd's.

Does anyone know about an update video to help the good people of this forum?
Warping still a headache! :/

CJ Vega

If I need to warp I a whole track I do it in live 4 then import in to live 5. Isnt that strange

why don't you just hire lackeys to do that for you? I mean, you are dance music's most liscenced producer. Aren't you above that sort of work by now?


.lm.

yep - for most of my own mixdowns or online purchased music, usually just need one warped marker.


for me the trick was realizing if you dont "freeze" any more markers besides the initial first one, u can grab later markers and move them, but NOT double clicking them. that adjusts the tempo of the whole song, precisely.

zoom in and drag the 1.1.1 to where it belongs.
jump to the very end or near, and zoom way in. click and drag a marker there to where it belongs. even if the tempo was already right or suspected right, say, 127, u can still drag a later marker left or right and stay at 127.

in other words, there is a some leeway between 127 and 126.99, if youre zoomed all the way. do this as close to the end as possible.

if the song is a vinyl rip, then of course youll almost always need more, and it wont be as quick.

How about in a close future, the producers sell the songs already LIVE compatible?
This would be a major save in studio timE!

Imagine at beatport.com you could select "warp ready"!
I would pay more 10 ctns per song, no problemo!

CJ Vega

I warp a bar at a time, to make sure sampled drum loops don' go out of time. I just sent the metronome and makesure each bar fits with it exactly, and then go on to the next one.

CJ Vega wrote:How about in a close future, the producers sell the songs already LIVE compatible?
This would be a major save in studio timE!

Imagine at beatport.com you could select "warp ready"!
I would pay more 10 ctns per song, no problemo!

CJ Vega

ill warp everyone's tracks for a reasonable rate