Tears for Fears Remixing tips needed - how to sync time and getting right key?

Drag the file into Ableton. Make sure the warp type is set to "complex" (I think "beats" is default). You're done.

I know that's kind of a lame answer in a Sonar forum but Ableton is brilliant at this and Sonar kinda sucks at it. Different tools for different jobs. The simplest version of Ableton will do, and even a demo will work. If you prefer working in Sonar, export the audio and load it into Sonar. You can switch between Ableton's clip view and arrangement view by pressing TAB.

Review this for guidance:
 
http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation/default.aspx?Doc=SONAR%20X2&Lang=EN&Req=AudioSnap.06.html
 
In the above, look for the link to: "To sync the project tempo to an audio clip"
 
Bob Bone
 

Robert_E_bone..
I read the article and I am aware of most of it. Will try it out though
Dubdisciple... I know that Melodyne is great for a lot of stuff. Just have essential version so see how it work out.
 
Perhaps anyone would be so nice to download the stems and check them out?;) Its the first time to apply time stretching techniques from a whole song. Much easier with smaller chunks of loops.. 
http://play.beatport.com/contests/tears-for-fears-pale-shelter/
 
Thanks again guys:)

i may download stems later
 

Hm, sounds interesting.  Had a similar issue on a remix of a piece of classical music 
 
IMHO, although you can have the tempo of the project follow the stems, it really doesn't seem to help.  The major problem is if you drop in loops, the loops will not still be right (or not sound correct).
 
So, I believe it's better to quantize the whole thing to a locked-on 4/4 beat.
 
What I usually do is take the whole mix, determine an approximate tempo (by using Tap Tempo), then turn audiosnap on and have it do a first attempt at transient detection.  I then remove all the ones that are not on the 1st beat of a measure.  If it's missing them, then I add them manually.  You may not have to do that for the whole song, but if timing drifts much, you will probably want to do that.
 
Then I manually move the transients so they lock on first beat of a measure.   If you have the other stems loaded, their transients can be moved as well.  I then turn on the metronome and see if everything seems to be locked up.  You will also want to use Radius Mix for offline processing and freeze the track every now and then to check the quality. You also might have to try another offline processing algorithm if it seems to sound better. 
 
It's a bit time consuming, but what I've found is that most remixes will use only a few parts and even those parts get repeated.
 
I'd try it now, but I'm visiting my folks for the holidays, and a long way away from my DAW. :-)
 
It is true this is much easier in Ableton.  It's one feature that I would like to see improved in Sonar, along with easier chopping and sampling.  This would make Sonar more idea for remixing.

Thanks for all input guys.
I don't mind the competition, the more the merrier;)
 
Hopefully I get a remix uploaded...
 
Merry Christmas!

Sanderxpander
Sorry about Ableton Light, I didn't realize it didn't have the complex warping algorithm. If it helps and you're still interested you can use a fully functional demo of Live 9 for 30 days.
 
It sounds like the original track was simply recorded without click. You will always get tiny variations that way. 119 is probably just the "average" tempo, more or less. Ableton is pretty good at understanding this and locking the whole thing to a fixed tempo.

The headphone bleed in the vocal stem does appear to have a click but obviously other things are at work!

If anyone wants a proper tempo challenge have a go at tempo mapping Pink Floyd's "The Great Gig in the Sky". Huge fun .

Grum.

> The headphone bleed in the vocal stem does appear to have a click
 
The song was recorded at or around the birth of MIDI, and MIDI wasn't even standardised then.
I wonder if they attempted MIDI clock (which never worked that well back in the day, and indeed for the decade to come....).

Internet is slow whee I am at the moment so I may way to get home to download.  I think one of the downsides of software like Ableton is for some they become too reliant on the software to do too much for them.  Not knocking convenience.  I say use every tool at your disposal, but understanding how to do things without the instant gratification button has much value. I find that my favorite remixers tend to do a lot more things manually despite having tons of software at their disposal. For how I approach remixes, Ableton does not offer me much more. I'm sure for others that is different.