Cubase Pro Tip: The Time Warp Tool. Map the tempo to any freely played song!

[@rizzleriz4457]

Steinberg should be paying you for marketing their Cubase. You're always in depth but on point with your videos...a true professor. Well done Sir. 🙌🙌🙏

[@supareelsmusic9415]

Very good instructional video, I especially like the fact that you chose a stem that didn't include a drum beat ! So many guys show you the easy route, using the drum track to adjust the tempo .. you took the hard way, which in my experience is the 'real world' scenario, where you often only get a guitar track to play with ... so well done and thanks

[@jefgibbons]

Glad it was helpful!

[@vinceclifton8987]

I've been using cubase for years, I recommend this video to anyone! I could use the refresher myself.

[@martinjohn2823]

Mind blown. Thank you for such a great video, this will save me so much time with different projects where I'm not familiar with the song.

[@dubmaverick69]

This video should have a million likes, Thank you, used to this in old Cubase vst, which was super hard, but things are better now.

[@jefgibbons]

Appreciate it!

[@JamesNorris9]

Fantastic video, just what I needed. Super clear and professional. Thanks!

[@chekadsarami4288]

Thank you so much, Jef. The most useful tip in Cubase. Thank you for sharing your secret weapon with us!

[@manfredmelcher7803]

Thanks Jeff! I’m finding your videos among the finest offered on-line. Your dedication to production and first-rate information are appreciated.

[@ale.mascia]

That's exactly what I was looking for. Fantastico. Thank you so much for your video!

[@peterhess-erdmann7833]

exactly what i was looking for … thx so very much for sharing this to us ❤❤❤

[@Caglarcomposes]

Thank you so much! I was really struggling to get into this tool, and finally it became really necessary and I was lucky enough that I needed it after you made this video. I wish you a happy new year:)

[@hangar4avs]

Hey Jef! Great as always! But I am confused on your process here. I was taught when establishing a tempo of a song in Cubase that you have to tell the project (or the actual audio at your discretion) that the tempo mapping you established for the song has to be "burned in" before deleting it by using the "set definition of tempo" option. You disregarded that last step entirely but said it was already "locked in" at that moment in time (each beat and/or bar). So with that said, any tempo changes you make afterwhich could not be followed without that map you initially made. I'm missing something here. lol At least that's how I've always done it with sucess. Maybe it's one difference between Cubase 11 and Cubase 12? idk Regardless, love your content! Hope you can continue to share your knowledge here on YT. :)

[@GomezEntertainment369]

I'm glad I found you dude! On point and very helpful!

[@SamSilk]

Huge! I knew how to do that with Logic but tons of Cubase videos didn't tell me how to do it with Cubase! Thanks bro.

[@DoctorJRx]

Great stuff Jeff !! this was actually my next step in learning Cubase. How to warp audio sorta like how Ableton does it. So glad i switched from Logic !!

[@jefgibbons]

Glad it helped you Steven! It’s such a great feature.

[@urssounds]

Logic has several ways to do this actually. Beat Mapping and the new Tempo Editor...

[@in2gadgets]

Jeff - thank you - this is a FANTASTIC help clip for me and what I'm trying to do right now. I'll keep a watch out for other stuff you do. Subscribed!

[@XanderGallois]

You, Jean Claude, are a real master. My favorite. Keep it going

[@yams900]

Awesome Jef, always so enjoyable to watch you. Love your retro stuff all over the room :)

[@JohnCervantesMusic]

this is what I was looking for, thanks for the video!

[@borregof]

This is like learning magic. Thank you, Jef, so very much for these great tutorials!

[@jefgibbons]

Most welcome! Yeah there's some great features in Cubase!

[@anthonystahl]

Excellent video, as always! Especially like those key commands for forward, rewind, and stop. Need to assign those!

[@jefgibbons]

Yeah, they’re great! I’m too lazy for the stock ones...

[@petevan]

Thanks, you’re the best tutor on the toob!

[@jefgibbons]

Thanks Peter!!

[@hansuleberg8743]

Very useful. Thanks for recording and showing this.

[@clone_enolc]

The only video on KZbin with zero dislikes. Nice Vid!

[@semantixsound427]

Just found your channel today. Looking forward to browsing through your vids. :)

[@jefgibbons]

Thanks! Hope it helps!

[@georgemickel6608]

Just awesome Jef!

[@Darren-wk4hp]

Exactly what I’ve been looking for. Thanks, Jef

[@chroniclejaws9926]

Best cubase tutorials out there! Keep em' coming! :)

[@Darchyism]

Amazingly clear and easy to follow. Thank you so much for this.

[@jefgibbons]

You are most welcome!

[@gohrev]

Thank you very much, Jeff -- this was a very useful tutorial, and I now really understand how to work with the Time Warp tool. It was a bit of black box to me before, with the markers going in all directions except for the right one :-) Cheers!

[@davebassP5]

Great video as always, but I’m a little confused. I’m probably missing something (not unusual). If you originally recorded with fluctuating BPM, wont using a strict one effect the feel of the music?

[@jochengrohe8619]

Nice work, Jef. Keep it up!

[@jefgibbons]

Will do, thanks Jochen!

[@MickyjoegmailcomMickyJoe]

great job jef you are so kind to take your time to free people like me may jah bless ya for your kindness merci.

[@mozizo11]

great tutorials and explanation. just one thing i would add (off topic or not ? ) is that after tempo mapping the audio material .you can embed the tempo you created to that audio file and then change the tempo to whatever you want and it will follow like the midi events.

[@jefgibbons]

Indeed! That’ll be another video... thanks for the comment!

[@LeeGee]

That was very helpful, thanks. Can't Cubase detect the transients and use those to set the tempo?

[@hotz730]

Thanks for sharing!!! Super useful... ( and clear!)

[@620pg]

Tks very much Jef. Very helpful.

[@lahattec]

I can see where key commands to set the processing to bar or beat would be very helpful as well.

[@jefgibbons]

For sure!

[@jackiez1012]

Dude!you are awesome!this video helped me alot! Thank you so much!

[@jefgibbons]

Glad to hear it, thanks Jackie!

[@aspsa6246]

Thank you for the video and your clear & concise presentation. The only part of this tempo mapping process that I question is wiping out the tempo track after having added parts to the original reference track in alignment with the constructed tempo map. I realize that the MIDI events are locked to specific points on the grid and that after wiping the tempo track one can set any desired tempo and expect the MIDI tracks to align to the same relative grid points. However, does not wiping the tempo map and setting it to a single tempo throughout a piece of music contradict the original intent of having a tempo map, which is to preserve a live performance's feel? Would not the live performance feel be eliminated when wiping the tempo map? As an alternative, maybe we can remove the reference track but keep the tempo map as a temporal reference for any additional live-recorded tracks. I think this has the added benefit of retaining the original feel of the music. Also, when added content & FX that are temporally dependent (e.g., loops, delay), they will precisely lock to the tempo changes. Your feedback is appreciated. Thank you.

[@deldridg]

Yes, I agree - being a pianist who has been known to use a little rubato in my playing! I keep the tempo track, disable it if needs be and then re-enable it when I want to hear the recording with feeling.🙂 Cheers from Sydney - Dave

[@claudius3124]

Great video! Very well explained! Thank you !!!!

[@ragingchimera8021]

This is a very helpful tip, thank you Jef!

[@jefgibbons]

You’re welcome! Thanks for the comment

[@hveenstra9841]

Hi Jef, thanks again for the great tutorial! I just don't get one thing right: I managed to set all the tempopoints with the warp grid (musical events follow) but when the track is finished and I want to ajust the length of a bar somewhere in the middle the notes on the miditracks after that bar don't follow. The click is where I want it to be but the following notes are still in the same position. Did I do something wrong? Is there a way to fix this?

[@DEADLINETV]

Very informative! This is gonna be a great help! Cheers! Subbed!

[@singerofthenigthsn3512]

Love your videos and the way you take to explain everything could you make a video how to extract and isolate vocals from a song it would be helpful Thanks for the videos I'm currently learning this stuff is so much fun

[@zackvan9884]

I wish you could do this with logic! Fantastic content as always by the way. Thank you!

[@jamesj9998]

I'm sure that I've done it before but if you wanted to take a freely recorded guitar part, create the tempo map, how would you then have the audio part follow a set temp. In other words, I want the acoustic guitar go from a varied, free tempo and burn in a set tempo of say 120 bpm. Thanks.

[@zakyraihannn]

I like this video, it's very educative for me.. But i don't understand why we should click "save new version" before we delete the wave track? what is the impact if we don't save that new version? because i think the VST/midi track exactly always following the tempo project whatever bpm that we want. Please help my question... Thank's a lot, GBU man!

[@ericdecock3687]

Thank you very much for your video, I keep on trying this, but I can not move the grid without the waveform also following. How can I move the grid WITHOUT changing the waveform? Sorry for my bad English and Grtz from Belgium

[@shivercanada]

Awesome thank you! Just make sure your project isn't in "Musical mode" or the warp tool won't work right

[@jessewarren817]

Is there a way to find an average tempo of a live recording and warp the audio into a stricter tempo? Thinking about this for edm remixes of live recordings

[@LorenzoVDH1996]

This is insanely helpful

[@shuhungwang1712]

Simply 'Thanks'!

[@menamaged_]

Perfect video!

[@robjones9367]

Been looking for a down to earth explanation, thanks Jef. Besides, tempo detection is very flaky at best and this way keeps the human feel. Took me all of 3 min to go through and set my entire project up.

[@papadopoulosprok]

Great job and thank you very much for your tutorials. I did Wrap to quantize my audio tracks. Is that wrong?

[@erikfox8471]

..its the only thing i miss from logic x...auto tempo, its just drag n drop, nothing else...it puts the tempo into a song tempo on the grid in 1 second...I wish cubase could do the same way, its amazing....regards

Very good video 👍

[@jefgibbons]

Thanks Nils!

[@jrholmes79]

Hey Jeff, thanks so much for your videos. I’m a songwriter and I noticed when I recorded my songs to a static beat, I was missing the nuances that made the music come alive with the push and pull rhythms, this looks like it will help a lot...once I figure it out. Your monitor is huge, what brand is it?

[@jefgibbons]

It will for sure Jim! It’s a Samsung 65” tv... Costco special! Go back a few videos in my list and you’ll see how I set it up!

[@Kontoven]

Great tutorial!

[@neilkendall5499]

Can you also use audio quantize for this?

[@BoosGunn]

Random question hopefully you see it! Is there a trim plugin that comes stock with maschine? Just learning about gain staging, and can’t seem to figure out how to do it in Maschine. Or is there a workaround/different way in Maschine? Hopefully, that makes any sense at all lol. Anyway, your videos are so awesome and helpful! Thanks!

[@jefgibbons]

Hey boosgunn! Do you want to reduce the gain on a group or sound in maschine or something? Let me know the specifics and I’ll see if I can help. If your last name is Gunn, I’m a son of a son of a Gunn! (For real)

[@BoosGunn]

Jef Gibbons thanks for the reply! So yes, I want to reduce the sound of a group when I move to the mixing stage of creating a beat. I read that -18 dB is a good starting point for most sounds/groups so there is a bunch of headroom for the mix. In other DAWs, I see a plugin that can reduce the gain without adjusting the fader, like Utility in Ableton or Gain in Logic, but I have no luck finding one in Maschine. I have the beat ready to go as far as creating the melody and drums, but now I just want to mix it correctly. I basically just want to figure out a way to get the groups loudness to -18 dB without changing the fader. Maybe it’s way easier than I think and I can’t quite put my finger on how to do it, or maybe I’m just confused and going about it the wrong way, and adjusting the faders down to -18 dB would just be fine. However, every video I watch about gain staging they all lower the loudness of the groups/sounds before even touching the faders. Also, yes, Gunn is my last name! What a coincidence lol! Thanks again!

[@mrt3870]

The Tempo Detection option may be a good first step. But I have found it not accurate enough in certain circumstances. So as step 2 the Time Warp tool, while time-consuming, allows accurate lining-up of every bar and even beat, so that even high-attack MIDI instruments like guitar, piano and percussion will fit in when programmed within the MIDI Bars and Beats set up by the above process. Btw I am watching the advert for a certain MIDI-Pack for about the 100th time as I write.

[@michaeltrenier]

What if you already HAVE the tempo, but Cubase won't match up? I'm taking my Maschine exports and running them in here from here on out before mastering. Thx!

[@georgeadel]

Thanks Jef, you always touching needed tips.! :)

[@jefgibbons]

Glad to hear it, thanks George!

[@TheAerovons]

I do this daily, as I get hired to do a lot of soundalike tracks. I've done it in Logic, PT, Reaper, and Cubase, and Cubase with the Warp tool is the easiest of all of them.

[@18CC]

Nice to know that. I cant do that on FLStudio So I am looking for a daw.

[@TheAerovons]

@@18CC Definitely download a free trial demo of Cubase and check it out. It will look overwhelming at first but it's actually pretty easy to get up and running. Reaper can literally do anything, but it's not for the faint of heart at first. Pro Tools still the simplest with a terrific set up for mixing and tracking. They all do great stuff, I think Cubase is the best overall balance for heavy midi users who also track a lot of audio. Plus easy on the eyes all day!

[@18CC]

@@TheAerovons I own Cubase LE. I just don't know if I would be more satisfied with Cubase, ProTools or Studio One. And I like Reaper already.

[@TheAerovons]

@@18CC Well like I said, Reaper can do anything, it does things no other DAW does (subprojects for one)...you can rig up a fairly quick way to do tempo maps in Reaper, Cubase is still faster with the Warp Tool though. Do you like LE? Pro Tools is a different thing. It isn't the best for loop based hip hop rap etc, but for more traditional music it's really hard to beat. The company sucks but I have used it for year and years, I finally wanted something new and went to Cubase for about two years. Then tried Reaper for about six months, and I still use it at times. But I have now gone back to PT since getting the Carbon interface, which is amazing. PT makes some things so easy that it's hard to forget once you have it done. If you need any help..advice, whatever, shoot me an email at [e-mail]. I do this for a living and have for a very long time. If I can help I will!

[@18CC]

@@TheAerovons I can buy protools (annual pass) for 99S before 30 june. It's a big tentation. But I don't like subscriptions. Do you think it's a good deal ? I am not a pro in audio. I like to learn mixing with cambridge-mt multitracks library and I dream to create Trance/Meditation musics. I use Native Instruments, Ik multimedia and Antelope Audio plugins. I am scared that protools isn't well supported for windows/amd cpu. On Avid website they say PT is optimised for Intel cpu. I am not Hurry to buy a nex daw. Like I said I am not a Pro. I can stop everything for months if I want.

[@tomlierman3582]

awesome lessons ! Thank you

[@jefgibbons]

Most welcome Tom!

[@simoneavery4417]

Once this is done can the audio be locked to the tempo track, so that any subsequent tempo adjustments made will follow through to the audio?

[@simoneavery4417]

using "Audio::Advanced::Set Definition from Tempo" !

[@tanmaymandal.2108]

does it have to be in musical mode? cuz my tempo track seems to do nothing when activated in transport panel

[@rich_in_paradise]

Hey, great tutorial, Jef! I've got Cubase Pro and didn't even know this tool existed :) I wonder is there a quick way to go from a setup where you've used the tempo track to adjust the midi to match the audio, to a flat tempo track and time-warped audio clips?

[@musicbydavidyoungs]

If I'm understanding what you want to do correctly, check out this superb tutorial at kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJ6oiWmqr8iaY9U&lc=z23evjjpboakiprgp04t1aokgai14u2sonc23f4o0ax0bk0h00410 - from 10:00 on, Brendan explains what I reckon you're after doing. Lightbulb moment for me in the same scenario. HTH.

[@EyesOfTruthmusic]

Great stuff!! Thanks!

[@alexomeltschenko2193]

wow ..... what a dude!!

[@mickstubbs5893]

Thanks Jef.

[@rosshumphries2669]

I don't understand how you recorded midi with the tempo changing, and why the midi parts are in time when you finalize the tempo. By the way you do the best cubase tuts!

[@DarthQueefious]

quantize

[@nickteslamusic]

So, is there not a way to use hit points to make it closer to automatic.. (aka) easier??? If not, then I would rather use the audio warp within the editor… I mean no negativity… but it seems like you’re teaching us the hard way…

[@svenisaksson3970]

Why don't you use the "Tempo Detection" feature? It can build the Tempo Track in a fraction of the time it takes to do it manually. I use this feature all the time.

[@musicmaniac1949]

Agree with you Sven. I use tempo detection for mapping the tempo of a song (such as this) that was not played to a click. But I use this time warp tool if I have to do an overdub to the tempo mapped track (or click) and my playing isn't following the map close enough. With that said, Jef is probably introducing a lot of Cubase users to a very powerful tool that many are not using. His explanation is very concise and easy to understand.

[@LeeGee]

Thanks, was wondering about that!

[@AndreasvanHaren]

Hi Jef! I have a project with 16 orchestral instruments audio files and received an audio recording from the solo cello player that has to mixed with the other files. His tempo is more freely played than the other instruments though. Is Time Warp what I would use to get them aligned?

[@jefgibbons]

Hi Andre, you’d want to use audiowarp to do that. Do a KZbin search of audiowarp Cubase and you should find something!

[@AndreasvanHaren]

@@jefgibbons great, thanks so much! I’ll have a search.

[@AndreasvanHaren]

Hi again, Jef. I tried it with Audio Warp, but the solo player becomes too much distorted because of the big tempo differences with the orchestra. I guess it's better to adjust the orchestra tracks' tempo to that of the solo player. I tried this with Warp Grid, but even though the tempo grid is changing to the correct solo player's tempo, the orchestra itself stays on their old tempo spots. How can I adjust their tempo changes to that of the solo player? Thanks for your help, Jef!

[@jimpurcell]

Thanks.

[@woytd6435]

Thank You Sir, You just saved buy a##!!!!

[@tomtomico]

Todd why not save even more time and use the Time Detection option first? ;-)

[@frankjunker743]

Right, I also wondered why he did it that complicated.

[@asmundma]

Yes, indeed. However, this function in Cubase is not the best. They should update it, and or expand the ARA implementation to get tempo and chords form Melodyne. Today you need to export midi out and in again to get a tempo from Melodyne.

[@rickypollock9100]

Perfect!!!

[@JulianFernandez]

so cool. thanks!

[@jefgibbons]

No prob! Such a great feature...

[@lorenzojuniormuscoso2547]

Hi, I have a Problem with cubase. Wen I record something and I bounce it for importing it to another project it speed up the tempo of the original recording, and I can't match it, for example with a back track. Can somebody help me please ?

[@trane43]

Are you using a Mac mini? what are the specs?

[@jefgibbons]

It’s a 2013 Mac Pro, still chugging along! 32gb ram, 1tb flash, 6core

[@PuRe_AdDicT]

Well explained, thank you! I find this method a lot faster than using Tempo Detection which can be a bit unpredictable.

[@erickstanza8782]

So is this setting the project tempo to the audio event? How do i use warp points to fix the timing of an audio event to the project? like when working with drum break samples for example...?

[@SOUNTH11composingdesign]

Here is the answer: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGmogmiLaN1qeLM

[@erickstanza8782]

@@SOUNTH11composingdesign thanks mate

[@SOUNTH11composingdesign]

@@erickstanza8782 You are welcome.

[@samgoldsberry3029]

Great video. Only if Maschine could be half as good. Cubase is looking sharp.

[@brunoprelli]

great!

[@jefgibbons]

Thanks Bruno!

[@Relaxicity]

Deleting the tempo information will kill the soul of the song. All those little tempo changes there are humanity, are expression, are artistry. They need to be there. It's good that you show the possibilities, and this could be used to re-express the song as well, but I think a little warning about turning human music into computermusic is much needed at that point.

[@chris5375]

It’s like the warp tool in Ableton :-)

[@ZoranRadovanovDrums]

now we need AI to do this automaticly

[@jefgibbons]

It looks like Ableton just got that feature! Assigns tempo automatically…

[@Tk5869]

Anna and Brandon fu..ing????? Is it what i think it is????

[@mostlyharmless88]

What's great about this is its relevant to MUSICIANS. Real instruments. 99% of the Cubase videos are for EDM garbage or if it's rock its modern-metal which is really just EDM with black lipstick. Unfortunately Pro Tools seems to have the lions share of proper recording/production. Thanks for this.