Is there a way to speed the tempo of a project?
 

I have a project where everything is recorded at 99 BPM. I would like to have the song play at 102 or 103 BPM. In Ableton this is a simple thing as Ableton can stretch everything in a project when the tempo is changed.

Is there a way to do this in Pro Tools? It seems to me that stretching all tracks in the mixing stage would yield better results that stretching the stereo mix.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

James
My latest song Ultraviolet

Re: Is there a way to speed the tempo of a project?
 

Use Elastic Audio.


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Re: Is there a way to speed the tempo of a project?
 

You can do it with Elastic Audio, but you'll lose some quality even with XFORM. I've done it plenty of times though. I wouldn't use it on drums - elastic audio kills the attack. What I do is to split up the entire drum track using Beat Detective, make the tempo change (with all tracks set to Tick base) and then apply crossfades. Best if you listen to the entire track carefully afterwards to make sure everything sounds ok - sometimes you may need to adjust some of the edits and crossfades.

Typically yes it's better to apply it to the individual tracks, though it takes longer when applying XFORM. Make sure you keep a backup of the original song.

Re: Is there a way to speed the tempo of a project?
 

Thanks guys - I am not familiar with Elastic Audio or XForm so I'll go research those.

The good news is I still have the original midi for the drums so I can just re-render them at the new tempo. Thanks for the warning on this!

Re: Is there a way to speed the tempo of a project?
 

Elastic Audio is bult in. X-form costs money - it's an extra algoritm for EA. Easiest way: Set all tracks to tick-based (midi tracks already are tickbased, audiotracks are sample based.) Then when you change the bpm of the session, EA will stretch or compress the audio.

Re: Is there a way to speed the tempo of a project?
 

X-Form is part of Elastic Audio. It’s one of the four algorithms. Only the Audiosuite plugin requires a purchase, but you don’t require that.

EA X-Form requires rendering so if you alter the length of a clip, it will need to redo the render again. This isn’t the case with the others. Something to keep in mind.

Also, play with the other algorithms. Contrary to most people’s opinions, I don’t find X-Form to be the best. Too much smearing and a somewhat chorusy sound. I prefer Polyphonic, but it does require finessing. I typically go in and lower the detection of transients and remove them on any sustained portions. That in combination with tweaking the algorithm settings yields (to me) the best results.

Also, because you’re going up in tempo, you’ll get better results. It’s removing time rather than adding it. Also, it’s quite a small change in tempo. I bet with a bit of fine tuning, you’ll get a very good result.


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Re: Is there a way to speed the tempo of a project?
 

Thanks for the additional info!

I will get a chance to experiment with this over the weekend. :)

Re: Is there a way to speed the tempo of a project?
 

I see you prefer to do this in Pro Tools. So, excuse me for asking a question that strays outside of the fence...

Have you thought of re-recording the tune at the preferred tempo...?

Seems much better to me than living with a reduction in quality. Years from now, when you play the "stretched" track back, you will always hear the weakness of the conversion.

Don't ask me how I know this.

Re: Is there a way to speed the tempo of a project?
 

I appreciate this question. I could probably go back to source instruments that are VSTs and re-render, but re-recording the analog stuff is not an option. With all the processing I've done to things at stages before this mixing stage - I just don't think it's practical.

Turns out X-Form is part of my subscription so I'm going to experiment with that. :)

Re: Is there a way to speed the tempo of a project?
 

X-form is a viable option, but for the small change you are going for, I have had very good results using The appropriate algorithm per track(in Ticks mode) and just changing the tempo. Also, UNDO is your friend here, so listen to the results before you commit. If you can't maintain the sound quality, you could download the free demo of Serato Pitch 'n Time Pro(use in Audiosuite format) as that plugin does this function better than anything else I have tried(but its pricey to buy:()