Using Audacity to change the tempo of a track?

[mute]

I've got a couple of tunes which I love, but are a touch below the workable tempo range of which I usually play.

Using Audacity, I can raise the tempo (but not the pitch), using EFFECT > CHANGE TEMPO - in this instance from 131 to 140 - not a massive, difference - but enough to make it sound a bit diff, but playable with my other stuff.

Is their any reason I should not so this? (artifacts, sonic degradation) Or, is there a better method?

Thanks for any helpful advice in advance, and yes, I do expect some sort of sledging from the audiophiles for even suggesting this sort of thing...but please be constructive!

Cheers!

:D

[seth111]

:what: Why do you want to do that, what genre's of music are you talking about?

[j_hunter]

140?

/end thread

[Fledz]

That's a bit of a big jump, why can't you just pitch up when DJing?
I don't think Audacity has the best warping algorithm anyway. Probably best to do it with Ableton if you really have to.

Thanks for any helpful advice in advance, and yes, I do expect some sort of sledging from the audiophiles for even suggesting this sort of thing...but please be constructive!

Generally yea you should get your ass chewed out but there are sometimes half decent reasons. Something like having a track with 131BPM but you always play it at 134BPM. Then you may have reason to warp it.

[DavidTjin]

140?

/end thread

:lol:

[dazthedominant]

just do it, if it sounds like shit when you play it then you'll know. if it only has slight defects, then nobody in the crowd is really going to know (assuming you arent playing for some type of audio specialists event haha). but from experience, it'll probaly render some of the kicks in the track void..

[trouble hifire]

sounds like someone wants to pre-pitch their cd's to cover for their lack of talent (im looking at your TC)

edit- lol i just realised it looked like i was saying TC as in thread creator, i was actually referring to the dj :P

[richcur]

To the OP: What's your issue with letting the pitch alter as well as the tempo?

I sometimes edit tunes that are too slow for my usual bpm range (eg. deep house at 121 edited up to 127 or "fast" techno at 133 edited down to 127), but it would only be about 1 in every 30 songs so it's not regular by any means.

ps. Adjusting the tempo of tunes in the 120-130bpm range by 6% usually changes the pitch of the tune by very close to one semitone so you can still be certain that it's ready for harmonic mixing

[dazthedominant]

sounds like someone wants to pre-pitch their cd's to cover for their lack of talent (im looking at your TC)

edit- lol i just realised it looked like i was saying TC as in thread creator, i was actually referring to the dj :P

were you referring to myself? i think we're all djs here..

[Spinning Half]

do it in wavelab 6 if you can. their time stretch algorithms with the DIRAC option are some of the best out there.

[djaudiophile]

I do expect some sort of sledging from the audiophiles for even suggesting this sort of thing...but please be constructive!

Time to get deconstructive!
http://www.made-in-china.com/image/2f0j00QvStChylZDciM/Sledge-Hammer-5-4kg-TSH0061-.jpg

[trouble hifire]

were you referring to myself? i think we're all djs here..

nah mate i was refering to the dj TC (dnb dj), he pre-pitches all his cd's so that he never has to match beats.

[dazthedominant]

nah mate i was refering to the dj TC (dnb dj), he pre-pitches all his cd's so that he never has to match beats.

haha my bad. well isnt that some shit, thats a pretty bad habit.. the day that he has to match beats is doomsday :~(

[mute]

140?

/end thread


Glad to see that you have the ability to make valid assessments about the quality of a style of music sheerly through knowing the tempo. :thumb:

Clearly you are the arbiter of good taste...I bow to your inherent magnificence. Further to this, what tempo range do you suggest that I play in, so that I may adhere to your stringent guidelines of optimal tempo?

Once I have this information, I can then proceed to adjust the speed of my entire collection - thus ensuring musical excellence forevermore.

[dazthedominant]

dr dre knows the answer "slow is better.. trust me, im a doctor". 80bpm

[mute]

sounds like someone wants to pre-pitch their cd's to cover for their lack of talent (im looking at your TC)



Thanks for making that assumption.

Of course, a dj's "talent" is based wholly on beatmatching. Things like selection, flow and progression are all minor details in the scheme of things, right? No one actually listens to that stuff.

:stroke:


But seriously folks...as per the original post, I just want to change the tempo of the track so its closer to the middle of my playable range.

Heres why: I currently (mostly) play a range of music that falls somewhere between as low as 128, the bulk of my tunes are 135-140, and I have a few odd tunes that clock in at 145.

Stylistically, there is enough common ground for me to weave these tunes together - yes, sometimes I even manage to beatmatch them, too! :rock:

HOWEVER, it does result in some situations where the pitch slider is uncomfortably close to one end - hence, as I prefer to ride the pitch, rather than touch the platter, I can sometimes find that I don't have the space on the slider to ride it back and forth until I've nailed the beats together.

The other problem is sometimes I find myself in a situation where I simply just can't match the beats because the tempo diff is too much.

Yes, some tracks sound terrible when pitched that much, some however dont' suffer quite as badly - especially tracks that are less overtly melodic.


So yeah, thats why. Thanks for few serious responses so far, I appreciate it.

[mute]

dr dre knows the answer "slow is better.. trust me, im a doctor". 80bpm

Yeah, I love dre too, but try slotting "Let it Ride" into a set of dubstep, techno and broken beat and tell me it ain't 'ard!

:lol:

[trouble hifire]

lol touchy much mute :P

[mute]

^^^

Comparisons to TC do that to a fella.

;)

[dazthedominant]

type in "dr. dre dr. pepper commercial" in youtube and you'll see that you dont even need to play electronica anymore ;) hahaha

[j_hunter]

hot tip:

hardstyle is horrible

[seannash]

Thanks for making that assumption.

Of course, a dj's "talent" is based wholly on beatmatching. Things like selection, flow and progression are all minor details in the scheme of things, right? No one actually listens to that stuff.

:stroke:


But seriously folks...as per the original post, I just want to change the tempo of the track so its closer to the middle of my playable range.

Heres why: I currently (mostly) play a range of music that falls somewhere between as low as 128, the bulk of my tunes are 135-140, and I have a few odd tunes that clock in at 145.

Stylistically, there is enough common ground for me to weave these tunes together - yes, sometimes I even manage to beatmatch them, too! :rock:

HOWEVER, it does result in some situations where the pitch slider is uncomfortably close to one end - hence, as I prefer to ride the pitch, rather than touch the platter, I can sometimes find that I don't have the space on the slider to ride it back and forth until I've nailed the beats together.

The other problem is sometimes I find myself in a situation where I simply just can't match the beats because the tempo diff is too much.

Yes, some tracks sound terrible when pitched that much, some however dont' suffer quite as badly - especially tracks that are less overtly melodic.


So yeah, thats why. Thanks for few serious responses so far, I appreciate it.
dangerously close to the one end,why not just set the pitch range to be higher (presuming your using cdjs)

[Bracko]

pitch :?

[louislogic]

hah. well I reckon it would sound pretty retarded.. you don't even need to necessarily know a track to know when it is playing too fast. i generally don't pitch bend anything further than 4%, and that's only when I really have to. you can get away with pitching it up more than down though it will still thin out your kicks and chit. i kinda feel like whoever made that track made it that BPM for a reason though.

you could also just pitch it on your cdj-1000 mk3 and record the whole track. that seems like something you fucks would do.

[kieren]

nah mate i was refering to the dj TC (dnb dj), he pre-pitches all his cd's so that he never has to match beats.
Fuck thats lame, what a lazy c*$t.....:lol:

[mute]

hot tip:

hardstyle is horrible

Granted.

Hot tip: I don't play hardstyle.

[mute]

dangerously close to the one end,why not just set the pitch range to be higher (presuming your using cdjs)

A good point - although I keep it old school at home with CDJ-100s - ie. no adjustable pitch range options.