How to Make a Bootleg Remix in Ableton Live (and Skip the First 15 Steps)
Most of a bootleg remix is not the remix. It is the prep: finding the right version of the song, working out its key and BPM, getting the parts apart, putting it on the grid and getting your project to agree with it. Then you start making music. This guide walks through that prep in order, so you can see where the time goes and which parts can be handed off.
A note first. A bootleg is an unofficial remix. Making one for practice or your own sets is one thing; releasing or selling it needs permission from the rights holders. Clear the sample before you release anything.
The prep, in order
1. Pick the right version
The album version, the radio edit, the extended mix and a live version can differ in length and even in tempo. Choose the one you actually want to work with, and prefer a clean, lossless or high-bitrate copy of it. A low-quality file makes stems sound worse later.
2. Find the BPM
Drop the audio onto an audio track in Ableton Live and turn Warp on. Live makes a guess at the tempo. Check it by listening: do the warp markers land on the kick? If Live says 70 and the song feels like 140, both can be right, so decide which one your remix needs. Our guide to finding the BPM of any song covers the tapping check.
3. Find the key
Live does not tell you a song''s key, so you need another tool or your ears. Play the bass note over the loop and find the one that sounds like home. The Camelot wheel gives you a code that makes it easy to see which other keys are close. Watch the relative major and minor: they use the same notes, so tools often swap them.
4. Split the stems
If you want the vocal on its own, or the drums without the bass, you need stems. Several DAWs and standalone tools can split a song into vocals, drums, bass and other. Quality varies, and a split is never perfect, so listen for bleed on the vocal before you build on it.
5. Warp it to the grid
Set the warp mode for each part. Complex Pro keeps vocals and bass sounding natural; Beats suits drums. Fix any warp markers that drift, especially in songs played without a click.
6. Match your project to the song
Either set your project''s tempo to the song''s, or warp the song to your tempo. Then deal with the key: transpose the song by the number of semitones to your key, or write your new parts in its key.
7. Name and colour things
Boring, and it saves time when you come back to the project in a week.
Where the time goes
Steps 1 to 7 are around fifteen small tasks if you count the saving, exporting, renaming and checking. None is hard. All of them stand between you and the first idea.
Premix is the plugin we built for exactly this stretch. You type a song and it finds the official audio instead of a music video, reads the key and BPM, can split the stems, and puts the song in your project on the grid. In Ableton Live 12 it lands on its own track and you choose whether the set follows the song''s tempo and key, or the song is warped to fit your set. In other DAWs you drag it to bar 1. You can also import a file of your own. It is $39 one-time, for Mac and Windows, with a 14-day money-back guarantee. It is for your own sessions and practice.
Watch the 3-minute walkthrough: https://youtu.be/ad3z2sjoR-4
When Premix is not the right tool
If you only need one number, a lookup site is faster. If you already own the stems from the artist, use those. And if the song is not a good candidate for a remix, no plugin fixes that.
A short checklist before you start writing
- The version is the one you want.
- BPM confirmed by ear, half or double time decided.
- Key confirmed, relative minor or major checked.
- Stems checked for bleed.
- Warp markers sit on the transients.
- Your project''s tempo and key agree with the song''s.
With that done, the first hour is music instead of housekeeping. If you want the key and BPM side in more depth, start with how to find the key of a song.