Performance Technique Warping tunes for DJ sets

Warping tunes for DJ sets

If you’re a performing DJ, knowing how to warp audio will enable you to bring something new to your sets. Mo Volans shows you how...

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Live’s ability to warp audio has always been one of its strengths – while other DAWs have been playing catch-up in the area of traditional time-stretching, Ableton has brought real meaning to the phrase ‘elastic audio’. And

although Live 7 enables you to adjust the tempo and pitch of audio in real time (the processing is done in sections and uses granular re-synthesis), the artefacts are much less noticeable than those associated with other time-stretching algorithms. This transparency lends itself perfectly to processing entire tracks for DJ sets.

Some DAWs include a secondary application or rely on third-party products to create loops that can play back as elastic audio. Live 7 has this feature built-in, so there’s no need to use other software to make your loops. Live 7 even offers Auto Warping, with new algorithms to choose from.

Power Tip

When importing smaller files into Live 7 you will notice that they are automatically processed and a time grid is calculated. By default, Live will also do this for longer files such as full productions. If you want to play back productions at their original tempo without warp markers, simply turn off the AutoWarp Long Samples option in Live’s Preferences. Longer files will now play back at their original speed.

Think of audio as a piece of elastic that needs to be pinned across a board to fi t a desired length.

Learning how to use Live’s warping features is relatively easy, but, like any other production process, it’s worth taking some time getting to grips with the theory and mechanics behind the technique. Once you’ve learned how to do it, the same techniques can be applied in the vast majority of cases. However, occasionally, more attention to detail will be needed to attain the desired results. Warp factor Before you start warping your mp3 collection in preparation for your performance, let’s take a closer look at the way in which Live 7 implements its unique Elastic Audio technology. Knowing how it works will help you make important decisions later.

Think of your audio as a piece of elastic that needs to be pinned across a board to perfectly fi t a desired length. Ableton uses warp markers as these ‘pins’ and each pin

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