If you use Ableton Live you know that when you load a track (or any sample
basically) you can 'warp' the track, meaning you detect the proper track,
mark where it starts, and as necessary, add 'warp' markers to keep the
tracks in time.
I've done this for the 174 files currently in Chris Tranter's AFX google
doc tree.
I've uploaded a Live project with JUST the ASD files (they tell Live what
the tempo is, where the warp markers are, etc etc).
http://www.cornwarning.com/xfer/AphexUnreleasedLiveProject.zip
Chris, feel free to add this to that AFX Google drive folder.
Observations after warping 174 files:
1. Tempos are almost all very consistent, making me think that he used
accurate clock sources & DAT recordings from very early on. There are a
very few with the telltale 'cassette stretch' tempo drift.
2. There are several with 'Sequencer Stop' pauses where he stops the master
clock device, allows the effects to decay, and then restarts the sequence
off beat. This blows Ableton Live's mind. I've fixed these as best I can,
basically pinning a warp marker on the last beat and then dragging the
point where the sequencer restarts to the next measure start.
3. Only a few had 'intergral' BPMs, i.e. 130, 140, etc. Meaning that the
tempo clock was only accidentally set to an intergral tempo. Or the
sequencer device and Ableton Live don't agree about intergral tempos.
4. A couple of them were unwarpable, and I gave up on those.
5. This set of songs was a torture test for Ableton Live's automatic
warping, and I wasn't impressed, even by the new 9.2 beta version which
supposedly improved automatic warping. It rarely found the downbeat
properly, was confused by beatless intros etc. Even though the tracks have
a very steady tempo.
This was an interesting project to undertake, and it allowed me to 'needle'
drop in every track. There's a lot of impressive tracks in this collection.
I also warmed up to the harsher industrial tracks. Some of those are
killer.