Ableton Forum

Im having a hard time syncing this accapella to my beat cause she supposed to start singing on the 1.2 (..1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2....) . Whats the best warp mode to use for accapellas Right now i have it set to beats. Thanks

I usually use complex mode and then simply listen for the downbeat. I don't think it gets any more simple than that.

Although sometimes it can be a little hard to figure out the downbeat even if you have the original "beat" in mind.

Sonic Supreme wrote:Im having a hard time syncing this accapella to my beat cause she supposed to start singing on the 1.2 (..1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2....) . Whats the best warp mode to use for accapellas Right now i have it set to beats. Thanks

I usually warp the original track then play them both and warp the acapella from it. When I used to to mash-ups a few years back this was the way to do it with some hiphop tracks.

I was already using "beats" mode and lining up the markers. It's a song originally at 128 bpm and im slowing it down to 124. when i switched to complex mode, it started drifting a lil. What exaxtly does complex mode do? why does is better for acapelas?

The warp mode has nothing to do with timing or drifting.

It's the algorithm Live uses to do the warping. Complex arguably gives the best results, with minimal artifacts, but uses the most CPU.

Yeah I noticed it sounded clearer in complex mode. Im gonna have to freeze almost all the other tracks though cause the whole system stars glitching like crazy. Thanks fellas

Hey Sonic,

Check it out, here's what I would do:
* Import the original song and warp it to get the correct bpms.
* Import the vocal (complex mode)
* change globle tempo to whatever the song is (just for now).
* set warp makrers at on the first beat of every bar at the original tempo so it lines up the the metronome (be careful of songs that have a pickup - a vocal that starts before thefirst beat)
* make a 2 or 4 bar loop of the vocal playing against the metronome or drum beat and adjust as needed.

You could even line it up the original track if you want

** Yes, warpping a a cappella track will take time, and it's not fun, so take your time. Maybe do it on a rainy day.

I hope this helps

Live 6 introduced 'multitrack warping', page 105 in the manual. You warp the original and subsequent clips like the acapella are warped at the same time. You can also copy warp markers from the original to the acapella, page 106 in the manual.

Find the "one" or "downbeat"......after that all the fun starts...

I struggled with this recently as well. I'll echo what others have said and add a few things that helped me:

1. Lets assume the track was at some point played to a steady metronome locked at a specific bpm--otherwise, if it's "live" and not locked to a click, have fun with warp markers

2. as others have said, import the original track with all the instruments into the arrangerview of Live.

3. tap tempo while listening to the original track (with warped turned off), to try and get close to the tempo by ear

4. Cut off the intro of the song (temporarily) and delete it. I usually go to the first solid drumbeat and cut right to the one.

5. Listen and count out sixteen measures worth of music in the song. Then cut the song at the beginning of the 17th measure and delete it (again, temporarily). Now you have a well trimmed 16 measure long piece of music.

6. With warp turned on for the clip, and the clipped dropped into the arrangerview of Live, adjust the master tempo until the clip is exactly 16 bars long relative to the grid. If your original song is tempo-locked and you do your trimming well, and you zoom in while fine-tuning the master tempo grid in arrangerview, I find that you can get the hundredth of a bpm accuracy that Live allows (ie 98.37 dB or whatever).

7. With the master tempo now set, drag either end of the original song clip to get the whole song back, not just 16 bars.

8. Line up the acapella to the original track by ear/eye. More often than not, the tempos won't match, and you have to stretch or squash the acapella to fit the original track. To do so, adjust the acapellas track's warp bpm in the clip view. I continue to adjust the alignment of the accapella vs. original tracks by ear and eye while fine tuning the acapella clip's bpm.

9. Now what you have is the acapella's original bpm in the clip view. Now it will warp properly--choose a warp mode that works best with the material, save, and done.

I always just put in the first marker and the last (doesn't hurt to know how long the track is in beats). If it is set to tempo originally, then all should fit quite nice and you just need to make some markers here and there where you feel.
My two cents...

jói

ahlstrominfo wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 08, 2007 9:49 am

Sonic Supreme wrote:Im having a hard time syncing this accapella to my beat cause she supposed to start singing on the 1.2 (..1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2....) . Whats the best warp mode to use for accapellas Right now i have it set to beats. Thanks

I usually warp the original track then play them both and warp the acapella from it. When I used to to mash-ups a few years back this was the way to do it with some hiphop tracks.

You deserve the sky bro

Sonic Supreme wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 08, 2007 3:49 am

Im having a hard time syncing this accapella to my beat cause she supposed to start singing on the 1.2 (..1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2....) . Whats the best warp mode to use for accapellas Right now i have it set to beats. Thanks

Finding either a downbeat or upbeat helps. it helps to try to find a hard consonant as those are easier to find a good transient in the singing to align. I did a rap remix a few months ago and it worked pretty nicely.

Tones, Complex, or Complex Pro would be the best for vocals.