Changing a Wikiloops drum track tempo in Presonus Studio One

Hi. I have been using a few Wikiloops drum tracks to work songs around for a few months now, using Pro Tools First. I am a pretty useless techie by the way. I can drop e.g. a complete drum track into PTF and the tracks will change tempo to the tempo already set for the song, which is really good. There are so many superb drum tracks here I often find it not just easier but really inspiring to work with these tracks rather than compile loops or finger tap drum beats.
I really like using PTF but there are restrictions and it clicks and pops despite having a purpose bought and pretty decent spec laptop. Opting for a paid version is just too expensive for my basic needs.
So, I am trialling Presonus Studio One 5 before I commit. One of the first things I can't do is what I have said I can do with PTF. I have looked at You Tube videos, read the manual (well a bit!!) and asked on a presonus forum. It seems I can change the track tempo to fit and I have tried to follow instructions but can someone here enlighten me as I just can't and it is winding me up and might scupper my DAW move. dragging loops from the onboard Studio One bundle works fine.
Several days and sleepless nights ago I dropped a crowded house track into the timeline just for the hell of it and the tempo changed, so I know it will work but god only knows what I did?
Anyone have any advice or instructions to follow? help appreciated.
Cheers
Spike

Hi Spike,

I'm not experienced in PreSonus Studio - I use Reaper - but you may find it's down to your project settings in PSS. By default, in Reaper, when you drop in waveforms the behaviour is to adjust the speed of the wav (whilst retaining pitch) when you adjust the tempo. I don't have Reaper to hand as I write this, but it's related to settings called 'Set project Timebase for tempo/time" You can set it to ignore tempo and not adjust or follow time signature and tempo changes. You can do this with individual wavs or the entire project.

A good starting point would be to right-click on your music stems and have a mooch through the context menu options. Alternatively, take a look in your overall projects settings and look for anything resembling time stretching behaviour there too.

Incidentally, it's possibly worth you looking into Reaper. It's not as shiny and intuitive as other DAWs but it's equally as powerful - just a little harder to get to know. It's also well worth the (less) money and is also very highly regarded for its time stretch algorithms and quality.

As you're testing out DAWs, I'd recommend at least having a look at it.

Good luck :)

---

Edited by mpointon on Mars 02 2021 16:45

---

Thanks for the info and advice, I'll have a rummage around. I will give Reaper a go as well. The only reason I have not tried the Reaper route is it being perceived to be a steeper learning curve, something that I know will put me off. I found PTF relatively easy to do basic stuff in an uncluttered and kind of old fashioned way. I might end up just putting up with it. Time will tell.

---

Reaper has themes that make it look and feel like pro tools. There wouldnt even be a further learning curve for you as all the buttons and menus would be the same if you wanted that.Whoever told you Reaper is a steeper curve is stretching the truth. Its a wildly popular DAW , a professional DAW and is respected by studio pros primarily because of its made by people who constantly improve it and dont milk you and rob you thru "subscriptions". It doesnt crash and burn like Protools either.

Reaper is the number #1 DAW ex protool people go when they run out of money and cant pay their insane monthly subscriptions.

I make music for fun not money so learning DAW tricks and techniques is always fun for me. So I kind of cant relate to it being a drag learning something.

1. Your clicks and pops are probably the sample rate. you probably are higher then 128.Your track will pop and crackle when you playback and it will get progressively worse until you close the software and come back in.that is the sample rate setting and try 128 for starters.

2.I use Reaper like Martin, hes right it is a project setting. You can set what happens tempo/speed wise when you drop a track into Reaper and have lots of options that wont "Stretch a track " to the tempo/time bars.

Having to pay a subscription every month to have fun making music seems rather "not fun" to me and very anti home recording musician. Reaper is worth 10 times the price they ask and they are constantly adding full features the protools and others offer.Having had protools and cakewalk i wont even look at another DAW as I found everything I could ever want and more in Reaper.

Just my humble opinion.

---

Edited by LittleWing on Mars 03 2021 07:38

Well you guys are doing a great job selling Reaper to me. Tbh, the fun bit for me these days is short bursts of writing/playing guitar based songs, recording, mixing, converting to wav or MP3, sending to a few friends/bandmates and going again. My brain and time is sadly engaged in managing not so good stuff for the most part, and as much as I used to enjoy the challenge and spend more time, simplicity works just fine going forward.
But I will definitely give it a go, seems daft not too. Tried cakewalk briefly, seemed muddled, a bit like Studio One. Tbh, I'm sure they are all brilliant, given patience and some help (hint).
I feel a download in the air.

---

Well, after a brief try out, I have no idea why I was so negligent in not trying Reaper sooner. Easy to set up with my interface and midi keyboard (well partly as ever with me) import a drum track from here and jam along. That it is stripped down to begin with suits me as I am not stairing at a bewildering array of goodies. I can add stuff as I hopefully progress. Thanks for the nudge. Appreciated. Now to try and get xpand2 to be recognised by Reaper. I really like that sometimes maligned tool.
Cheers Spike.

---