How to Transpose MIDI in Ableton Live: Change the Key of your Track (Beginner Tutorial)
How is it going, producer? Thales here for another beginner tutorial on a specific feature of Ableton Live that I use every single time I make a song, but it also works if you're remixing someone else's music — maybe you downloaded a MIDI file and want to change the song to a different key.
So I'll show you two different ways to transpose MIDI and tell you which one is my favorite and why. Come in!
Here's how most people do it. I have this MIDI clip with a melody that sounds like this:
But I want to transpose it a whole step up and change the key from A minor to B minor.
So double click the MIDI clip, which will open the piano roll, then select all the notes and use the arrow keys to move them Up or Down by a half step each time.
Or even hold the Shift button and press the arrow keys to move them a whole octave up or down.
This method works just fine, but it can be very time consuming if you have lots of clips to transpose.
So here's how I like to do it:
Instead of moving notes around, I can load a stock MIDI Effect called Pitch on the MIDI Channel, at the beginning of the chain, before the virtual instrument, then use this knob to increase or decrease semitones.
If you have more than one instrument to transpose, you can then copy and paste the altered MIDI effect on each channel.
This is how I do it most times because it helps me have a better workflow, since I always start composing in the key of C major, then when I'm done composing and ready to start recording vocals, I change the key of the song to whatever fits the vocalist's range better. And I'll talk more about this on the next video.
And since we're here already, a quick bonus. You can not only transpose MIDI, but also Audio files, using the warp feature — maybe you got a nice loop from a sample pack and you want to change it to match the key of your song, so here's how:
Select your audio clip, that will open the clip view, where you'll find the warp button. Make sure to activate warping so your audio doesn't get time stretched, or else it would end up out of sync.
Now, use the knob, just like the MIDI effect, to increase or decrease the pitch.
Also, make sure to pick a warping mode that is convenient for the content you're transposing. If it's a drum loop like this, select Beats. If it's a melody or chords, use Complex or Complex Pro. Don't forget to compare them, listen to both, because they sound different most times.
Later we will have a more in depth video on this feature specifically but this is it for now.
Sound good? Let me know if this video was helpful in the comments below and subscribe to the channel so you don't miss the next ones. Thank you for hanging out, I'm Thales, and I'll see you later.
#ThalesMatos #MusicProducer #PopMusic
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