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Slow it down, record fast guitar part, then speed it up?


user390096

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Hi,

I'm trying to slow down the backing track (which is easy, CTRL+SHIFT at the end of the clip, then drag to the right). Then record a fast guitar part at the slower speed (that I can't play at the desired high speed), then speed the backing track back up to 100% and then the confusing part, do what with the recorded slower guitar part? For example, I have a song where I can play the guitar part easily if I slow the song down to 120%. So I drag the end of the backing track clip out until I see it says "120%". Then I record the guitar at a much slower and easier pace for my old hands. Then I return the backing track to it's original setting of 100%. But I can't find the "formula" to shorten the guitar part. I tried setting it to 80% thinking I recorded it 20% slower but it's not quite syncing up (83% actually sounds the best). Does anybody know the trick to get this to work?

Thanx, Frederick

PS I've tried practicing but it just ain't happening and it seems easier and at least, doable, if I slow it down.

Edited by user390096
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1) Make a marker where the audio should stop.

2) Stretch out the Back track as far as you need (if you very far it is going to sound odd)

3) Record Guitar Audio Track 

4) Click the end of both the Back and the new Guitar. Ctrl-Drag/Slide to the left till you reach the original time point marker

 

 

 

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OK Max, it worked fairly well but I think I needed to be a little more precise on where the guitar riff ended as I had to tweak it a bit. But, I was able to get it done and it sounds way better than before.

FYI I was trying to play the guitar riff to "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow, something I originally thought would be easy - not. Getting old here (61) with a bit of arthritis in both hands. Fortunately I was able to play the drums, bass, rhythm guitar, keys, egg (we need more egg!) and sing in original time (about 101 BPM), so all is not lost.

Thanx again.

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On 8/17/2020 at 1:46 PM, Jonathan Sasor said:

the percentages are based on the clip length. Make the 2 clips identical in length and they should compress size (speed up) at the same rate. 

Jonathan, your method is working best for me with one additional step (bouncing) and a few clarifications. I'm going to try to detail for others the method that works for me:

  1. Render a one track guide track to it's own file that doesn't include the part you want to record, in my case I left out the lead guitar,
  2. Then create a whole new project, call it something like "Guitar slow down" and the name of the song,
  3. Then drag the guide track into the new project and place it at the very beginning 0:00:00,
  4. Then make sure you are in Snap mode and put a marker where the imported section ends, call it "original clip %100" or such. You may need to turn off Snap mode for a moment to adjust the ending of the original guide track to have it match up on a snap line.
  5. Then go to the end of the guide track and hold down CTRL+SHIFT and the little icon will change to the "stretch icon" which looks like 2 arrows on each side of a vertical line,
  6. Then stretch to the right the entire track or just the section you need slowed down. Make sure you are in Snap mode and stretch it to the right to slow it down, about %125 works for me. If you are just doing a section in the middle of the song and you remove any of the beginning of the song, make sure you drag that section to the very beginning at time 0:00:00, and then do the strectching. Also give yourself a dew seconds of lead-in music so that you can find the place you need to start playing.
  7. Then create a new track and record your instrument in time with the slowed down track starting at time 0:00:00, and allow the recorded section to go until at least a little past the end of the guide track even if it's just silence.
  8. After recording, adjust the end of your recorded track back to be in line with the end of the guide track but don't hold the SHIFT+CTRL when you do this. Once the tracks line up at the end, hold down CTRL+SHIFT to select both tracks and slide them to the left to where the marker that says "original clip %100". This is where being in Snap mode helps out for getting things back to %100.
  9. Then highlight your new recorded clip which will say about %75 in my example,  and "bounce" it to get rid of the reduced percentage mark in the top of the clip so that it doesn't show any percentage which I assume means it's back to %100.
  10. Then close this "slowed down" project and re-open the original project
  11. Then go to the folder of the slowed down but sped up audio file you named "Guitar slow down" and find your perfectly played new modified clip in the Audio files folder and simply drag it back into your original project and place in the right spot.

NOTE: I just tried using the entire 3 minute guide track (stretched to about 3.5 minutes) and waited for a 15 second scratch guitar part I wanted to do in double time at about the 2 minute mark and I had to wait several minutes to get there and then after recording only 15 seconds allowed it to record silence to the end of the guide track. If you do this, you don't need to worry about placing lots of markers. I was hoping recording the entire track would allow the new track to more easily line up when I inserted back into the main project. However, when I dragged it into the project it still didn't match up perfectly and I had to move it just a hair. Anyway it works pretty well and no math to do!

I'm also going to try the method Blogospherianman detailed but I've never had luck using the Audio Snap, so I'll give that a try and see if it's any better/faster, etc.

Thanx to everyone for helping me out, and yesterday, I actually recorded the main formerly too fast, riff,  again, in real time and think it's an even better take.

 

OTHER NEWS My 30 years of gout arthritis seems to be fading as I had my 29th infusion of Krystexxa yesterday, the new miracle gout cure! Both hands had obvious lumps of gout tophi on them 2 years ago  which made playing guitar painful and I lost a lot of speed and dexterity and had completely stopped playing. But 6 months into my 1 year therapy so far, all the lumps were gone and I could resume playing music again. My Doc said I have it bad and set me up for another 6 months of treatment. So if you have out-of-control gout or know anyone who does,  look up Krystexxa. At the rate my gout is disappearing I may actually be able to play as fast as Van Halen!

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  • 4 months later...

apologies if someone has already answered this - it's just the maths that's wrong. Reducing from 120 to 100 is 100/120 = 83.333%. Since it's easier in CW with whole numbers, try increasing the track length to125%, then reducing the guitar part by 20% (i.e. down to 80%) to get you exactly back in time

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On 8/17/2020 at 2:31 PM, Neil Cummins said:

Lindsey Buckingham may have done something similar on the opening track on the 1987 Tango In The Night Album,not entirely sure though.

I swear Jeff Beck did it on one of his songs....years ago.  

But you can't do it live!

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