Ableton's audio warping is simply awful. Help?

[Dabrenn]

I've just sort of dealt with this problem in the past, but I've decided to really need to get to the bottom of it. It seems that no matter what I do, what settings I use, or what audio i put in, whenever Ableton attempts to warp it, it sounds god-awful. Little glitches, jumps, and static is everywhere; even if the track is within a measly 10 bpm or something.

I'm forced to use other programs to stretch a sample to the BPM I want it, then import it to Ableton and turn Warping off, because, even if its already at the correct BPM, it still manages to screw it up (albeit not a lot, but enough to bother me) and suck up my spare processing power.

I really don't want to keep warping off because it turns off some key features I'd love to utilize and make my life easier.

Is this a bug or what? My processor is a mid-range i5. Not great, but should be good enough to warp something when nothing else is playing at least. Especially when Traktor can stretch audio and keep the pitch perfectly on a live basis even at ridiculous BPM differences.

[the4thImpulse]

It's no bug, you just likely are doing some small thing wrong and ableton is making a big deal about it.

The different warping algorithms are there to change the fidelity of the sample depending on what you want too do with it and where it came from. Generally 'complex pro' is the all purpose warping method, it's works for everything and it does a good job keeping samples sounding right when you change BPM and pitch. 'Beats' mode is great for bass heavy sounds and when you will keep the sample within +/- 2 BPM of the original speed, outside that the repitching runs the sound but within it it will likely sound it's best. 'Repitch' mode is for drastically changing the samples speed to retain its fidelity although its not the best sounding in general.

There's many techniques to warping samples/songs that work great, i also dont let ableton auto warp stuff as i know i can do a better job easily. The way I usually do it: I find the start of the sample, create a warp marker there, tell it to set that warped maker to be the starting point of the sample, then I tell it to warp the song straight from there (warp straight option when you right click the warp maker). I then go though the sample/song and move the transient markers to line up with the grid to my liking, I don't create new warp markers I just move the transient markers.

Read up on the other warping options so you know which will work best for the desired effect. Ableton has my favorite warping engine from all the software I have used (Neundo, Pro Tools ect..).

[Dabrenn]

The different warping algorithms are there to change the fidelity of the sample depending on what you want too do with it and where it came from. Generally 'complex pro' is the all purpose warping method, it's works for everything and it does a good job keeping samples sounding right when you change BPM and pitch. 'Beats' mode is great for bass heavy sounds and when you will keep the sample within +/- 2 BPM of the original speed, outside that the repitching runs the sound but within it it will likely sound it's best. 'Repitch' mode is for drastically changing the samples speed to retain its fidelity although its not the best sounding in general.

Thank you for that. I finally have a basic grasp of the different modes, it all makes a iota of sense now.

warp the song straight from there

That in conjunction with keeping it at Complex Pro actually made a huge difference. Although clicking that option removes all the transient markers for me, that seems to be what makes it not jump. The auto-placed markers must have been doing something strange.

Thank you once again, for saving me from frustration.

[bartekko]

Do not use Complex warping modes unless this is the last possible option. They change the waveform even if the tempo is the same as the source and if the input signal is very close to clipping, very often it will end up clipping on the output. I recommend learning about different warping modes
1.) Beats - chops up the sound into large pieces based on their timing/transients. Good for Drum Loops and Melodic elements with clear spaces between notes.
Parameters: Granulation Resolution-Selects the size of sound chunks to be played straight;
Transient loop mode-Select what to do when run out of samples in a chunk;
Transient envelope - Helpful with Off Loop mode, this allows for a decay in chunk volume, getting smoother warping at the cost of losing some of the chunk tail
2.) Tones - Chops the sound into waveform-length pieces, adjusting length piece based on input pitch - Great for Evolving pads, wobbles, leads , Vocals, things washed in reverb
Parameter: Grain size - Selects the rough size of grains. Lower values - Less artifacts, Higher values - Works better with unclear pitch
3.) Texture - A variation of the tones mode, suited for non-harmonic signals like drums, percussion, noise sweeps. Doesn't adjust grain length to pitch
Parameters: Grain Size - Obvious
Flux - Adds random processing for better signal flow

4.) Repitch - Simplest warp mode that changes the signal pitch along with it's speed.

5.) Complex/Pro - Very CPU heavy mode that always changes the input signal even if it's at the same tempo, but is very useful for when you want to warp whole tracks for the sake of a DJ set or you have no time to find a better warping mode or all else fails.
I have no idea what these parameters do, but it appears like some form of resynthesis with other warp modes thrown in

[the4thImpulse]

That in conjunction with keeping it at Complex Pro actually made a huge difference. Although clicking that option removes all the transient markers for me, that seems to be what makes it not jump. The auto-placed markers must have been doing something strange.

Thank you once again, for saving me from frustration.

There is an option in Abletons preference window to tun off auto warping, I suggest doing that.

Go through all the warping modes and find the ones you like best. Unlike Barteko I wouldn't tell you what you should use for what sound, that takes away from the art of listening and choosing the sound you like best. Its why I use complex pro more often than not as it sounds best to my ears but I know some people who dislike it.

[bartekko]

There is an option in Abletons preference window to tun off auto warping, I suggest doing that.

Go through all the warping modes and find the ones you like best. Unlike Barteko I wouldn't tell you what you should use for what sound, that takes away from the art of listening and choosing the sound you like best. Its why I use complex pro more often than not as it sounds best to my ears but I know some people who dislike it.

i was specifying technical, not artistic reasons for using specific warp modes

[the4thImpulse]

i was specifying technical, not artistic reasons for using specific warp modes

I didn't mean to say you weren't, but technical information shouldn't be on the top of your mind when worrying about 'sound'. It helps to know, but at the same time it takes away from experimentation and can distract you from what really matters with creativity. I am not directing this at you but rather those out there who don't take the time to experiment and find out which they like best.

[Freewave]

Just another possibility, I've heard that with some programs when you shift tempos or warp it can suck from an mp3 but be ok from a WAV file. Check and see if that's not the problem as that could be an easy fix if that's the problem.

[bartekko]

Just another possibility, I've heard that with some programs when you shift tempos or warp it can suck from an mp3 but be ok from a WAV file. Check and see if that's not the problem as that could be an easy fix if that's the problem.

Ableton creates temporary lossless files when using lossy audio as source

[hottoast16]

Wow I've been having trouble with the warping too. I definitely have to try out some of this stuff. Thanks guys!