Ableton Forum

I want to change the tempo of an audio clip, which I find is extremely difficult in Ableton. The manual is, as expected, useless. Can someone lend a hand and point out what I am overlooking in the steps below?

1. Arangement view -> drag & drop
audio clip into an Audio track at
right. The track will be
automatically set to 120 BPM.

2. At top left, set "Time Signature"
and "Tempo" to target speed (e.g.
144 bpm). This tempo change will not
yet be applied to the clip, only to
the metronome.

3. Expand "Master" at lower right
of panel -> press "A" on keyboard.
Make sure "Song Tempo" appears in
the section.

4. On red line in "Master" track,
click at a point from which tempo
is to change -> drag up/down or
click in "Tempo" field at top left
and use Up/Down "Arrow" keys to
change the tempo.

When I drag a point on the red line up, the waveform lengthens: so increasing the BPM SLOWS the speed, and the clip plays back at 120 bpm, regardless of what figure is set in the Tempo box. So what is the trick to have Ableton play the clip at the tempo assigned in the Tempo field?

Do you have Warp turned on in the clip? It sounds like it should be on if you have a bpm set for one of the markers in the clip.

I have viewed at least 10 Youtube tutorials on how to "easily" change the tempo, and none of them use the Sample Editor, where the Warp control is accessible. But yes, I did try changing the tempo of an audio clip in the Editor, with Warp enabled. But this option is totally lame as INCREASING the BPM lengthens the waveform, which SLOWS the tempo. Ridiculous! So it is impossible to assign a specific tempo in the Sample Editor. I find logic a handicap when using Ableton...so unfriendly. The tempo of the metronome is easily changed, but has anyone actually changed the tempo of an audio clip? If so, please share.

Sounds normal to me. You don’t “set” the tempo, but rather indicate the original tempo.

I need the missing step 3 below.

1. Right-click in the Tempo field (top left)
-> select "Show Automation."

2. Click above the broken orange line in the
the Master track below and drag horizontally
to highlight a region.

3. ???

4. Hover mouse over the broken orange line,
until it turns blue -> click & drag the blue
line up or down -> release mouse button
when the desired BPM is displayed in box
that follows the "moving breakpoint." The
waveform in the audio track above should
NOT change in length.

Step 3 prevents the waveform from changing its duration when step 4 is performed. Otherwise, speeding up the BPM stretches the waveform, canceling the tempo change. Surely someone has had a need to change the tempo of an audio clip and has been successful in doing so. I need step 3.

Never mind. I figured it out. Disable long warp in Preferences or freeze the track, which will allow changing tempo, without changing its length. Truly, teaching is a lost art.

So is being courteous to people trying to help you apparently.

Ouch! If I have not been courteous to anyone, please point out where; so that I can apologize and learn from my mistakes.