BPM Controls, Tips, and FAQs

BPM (beats per minute) is a key concept within DJing. A huge amount of DJ skills revolve around controlling and mastering the tempo of tracks.

We added a range of methods for changing and interacting with track BPMs. This guide shows you how to control and edit BPM in DJ.Studio.

Tempo lane: Auto or Manual

The tempo lane in the Studio view of DJ.Studio with the orange line shows you the speed that the tracks will be played in your mix.

If you want to change the BPM of a sing by playing it slower or faster than it was created, you need to use the Tempo lane.

The Tempo lane has two options:

Auto: The Auto setting in the tempo lane by default each track will be played at the speed of the tempo of the track that you can see in the Track tab.
You can change the speed of 1 track by dragging the orange line up or down if you want the full track to be played faster or slower than it's original tempo.
Manual: With the Manual setting in the tempo lane, you can manually influence the speed of each part of the tracks using BPM automation points. You can even speed up or slow down individual parts of tracks.

Tempo lane : Auto Mode Settings

If you have the tempo lane set to Auto, you have the following options available:

Open the tempo lane at the bottom of the Studio timeline
Change the tempo of the song by dragging the orange line up or down.
> With Pitch mode on Repitch, the key of the track will stay the same
> With Pitch mode on Vinyl, the key will go up or down if you increased or decreased the tempo of the track

By setting the Tempo Lane setting to Auto and Right-Clicking on the orange BPM line, you can access more options:

Set the track BPM by typing in the desired BPM
Restore all tracks to orginal BPM if you want to undo all your manual changes in this project.

Tempo lane: Manual mode Settings

For more detailed control of the tempo, you can set the Tempo Lane to Manual mode to get a traditional value automation lane, where you draw and move points on the line to change the BPM speed wherever you want.

Click on the Manual button in front of the orange tempo lane.
Click on the line to create a new BPM automation point.
Click and drag points to change their position and BPM value.
Single-click on an BPM automation point to remove it.
Grab the line and move it up/down to change a large area of BPM.

By setting the Tempo Lane setting to Manual and Right-Clicking on the orange BPM line, you can access more options.

Add BPM Point - Creates a new BPM automation point. You can also add BPM automation points by clicking on the orange line.
Set Mix BPM - Opens a text box for entering the BPM of the entire mix. This will delete all BPM points and set the whole mix to a single speed. You can also specify a start and end speed, to create a consistent increase or decrease in speed throughout the whole set.
Set BPM range- Opens a text box for entering the range that you want to see in the tempo lane on the left side
Restore Mix BPM- Deletes all BPM automation and returns the values so tracks play at their original recorded speed.

BPM Transition window settings

In the transition window you can define how the music should transition from one track to the other. If there is a tempo difference between the two, you can define how DJ.Studio should handle the tempo difference.
For each transition, you can define when the tracks should speed up or slow down to match the next track's BPM or if the tempo of both tracks should stay untouched.

Open the Studio tab
Select a transition by clicking on the blue transition window header
Make sure the Transition tab is selected at the bottom
In the middle of the screen you see the middle bar. in the right side of the middle bar you see 4 BPM transition mode options:
- Off: If you want no beat synchronization at all, and want both tracks to play at their own speed during the transition and don't need to beat match. This setting will make the blue transition window red, so you can clearly see that beat syncing is disabled for this transition.
- Free: You can define yourself where you to want to start the tempo change in the transition. Grab the BPM automation point in the orange tempo lane and drag it to the left or right to the location you want.
- Half: Start the tempo change in the middle of the transition window.
- Full: Start the tempo change from the beginning and end at the end of the transition.

Find out more about these BPM modes in the following video.

Changing Track BPM Analysis

DJ.Studio Another system for interacting with the BPM is the track analysis BPM value,

Whenever a track is imported into DJ.Studio, its BPM is analyzed and added to the track's internal metadata. This tells DJ.Studio what BPM the track is, based on our algorithm's analysis.

However, sometimes tracks' BPMs can be hard to analyze, and the results may be incorrect. In this case, you will notice that tracks aren't beat-matched correctly.

You can access and change this value from the left panel of the Track Tab.

For example, if you know a track is 120bpm, but it's been analyzed as 125 - it won't beat match properly. Simply head over to the track tab and update the BPM to the correct value.

Beatgrid options

When you are in the Studio you can change the beat grid for this specific track on the Track tab:

Manual is selected when you manually make changes to the beat grid or the BPM of the track
Fixed is perfect for tracks with a consistent tempo. The beatgrid remains static, ensuring stability during mixing.
⁠AI adapts to tempo changes in tracks with a little groove, even during intros, outros, or breaks in dance music. Smooths out these sections for seamless transitions, avoiding unexpected tempo fluctuations. Best used for example disco songs..
⁠AI Flex precisely follows tempo changes, even in dynamic sections like breaks. Ideal for creating mashups or layering a break with elements like drum samples, as it preserves the track’s natural tempo variations.

Tempo Lane Explained

DJ.Studio uses smart analysis of tracks in your mix, to make a rough judgment of your average BPM range.

This is used on the Tempo lane, to make sure that the BPM range isn't too wide for you, which would be hard to edit smoothly.

You can easily change the boundaries of this range by going to Tempo Lane > Manual > Right click on the tempo lane and choose Set BPM range

Understanding the Tempo Lane and Beat gridding in DJ.Studio

When working with tempo changes in DJ.Studio, it's important to understand the difference between Auto and Manual modes in the Tempo Lane and how it interacts with DJ.Studio's AI-powered beatgrids. This can significantly affect how tracks are played and exported.

Auto Mode (AI Variable Beatgrid)

In Auto Mode, the Tempo Lane follows the natural rhythm and swing of a track, adjusting to tempo changes as they occur. This mode is ideal when you want to preserve the feel of the original song—perfect for re-drumming or layering samples on top of old tracks. The gray lines in the background represent the real tempo of the track.

For example, with tracks like "Come On Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners (which jumps from 107 BPM to 214 BPM), DJ.Studio will chop the track into individual beats and stretch or shrink those beats to align with the grid. The software ensures the swing and groove of the track is maintained.

Manual Mode (Fixed Tempo)

Switching the Tempo Lane to Manual Mode allows you to set a fixed tempo for the entire track. This mode forces all beats to play at the same speed, disregarding the natural tempo variations. It is ideal when you want to "straighten out" a track for mixing purposes, especially if the original song has drastic tempo changes.

For example, when you switch to Manual Mode and set the tempo to 107 BPM, the entire song—including tracks like "Come On Eileen"—will be adjusted to play at this consistent tempo. There will still be a slight swing within 1%, but it will be subtle enough for seamless mixing.

You can also get creative by drawing different tempos in the Manual Mode. DJ.Studio will follow whatever tempo pattern you create, whether it’s a steady increase, a reverse tempo change, or a random variation. This flexibility allows for unique and unexpected transitions in your mixes.

Important Notes:

Avoid using Manual Beatgridding with AI grids unless you're very familiar with the process. The AI algorithm is designed for flexible, variable tempos, which can clash with manual settings.
For modern dance music with breaks or tracks with significant tempo shifts, and old disco songs, we recommend using AI

Tips for Tempo Control:

Use Auto Mode for preserving the groove of tracks, especially for older songs with natural swings.
Switch to Manual Mode when you want to enforce a fixed tempo across the entire track.
Experiment with the Tempo Lane to create interesting effects, but be mindful of the results on both studio playback and exported files.

We hope this clears up any confusion around tempo control in DJ.Studio. For more advanced users, this functionality opens up a world of creative possibilities.

Frequently asked questions regarding BPM and tempo

How do I mix if the BPM change is very large?

Sometimes, you might want to mix two tracks with a large BPM difference - for example a 90bpm hip hop track into a 160bpm drum and bass beat.

Because of this huge difference, issues will arise when trying to beat match the drastic tempo change.

One of the main issues is that glitchy audio artifacts are created when you apply a large amount of speed increase/decrease to audio. This makes the music sound distorted.

Working out how to make a large BPM change is an advanced DJ technique, but here are some methods.

Create a super short transition, within a single bar.
Use an echo effect to transition out of the first song.
Make a 1 or 2 beat loop of the first track, then adjust the overall BPM.
'Meet in the middle' - change the BPM of both tracks so they meet half way between the two, then you can transition to the second track's speed after the first track has been silenced.
Mix the breakdown - some tracks have breakdown sections with no beats, these are a good place to bring in a new track without creating clashing tempos.

How do I beat-match when the original music wasn't quantized?

Not all music is perfectly aligned to a quantized metronome. Particularly in early, non-digital music, you can find songs where the beat isn't consistent, and it drifts in and out of time.

This can make it hard for DJs to beat match, as the beat isn't aligned to the grid.

At the moment DJ.Studio can't quantize individual beats, but you can try these solutions if you are having issues with wonky beats:

Use a DAW to quantize the wonky track. Software like Ableton Live makes it easy to snap the beats of tracks to a grid. It might take some time, but if you want to beat match the song, then this is the cleanest solution.
Use a loop - create a short loop of the first track, making sure it's aligned to the grid. You will now be able to beat-match a consistent tempo to this track.
Use a short, punchy transition - Rather than using a long crossfade, try a more instant cut, without overlapping beats. Adding an echo can help to make this smoother.
Mix tracks together in breakdowns - some tracks have 'breakdown' sections, where there are no percussive/beat elements. These sections present a good opportunity to mix in another track without having clashing beats.

How to remove beat sync / beat-match from a transition?
for example to mix old songs without beatmatching?

Sometimes you might want to disable sync for a transition. This is useful if you are mixing two songs, and don't want to change the speed of either one a.k.a. play at their own BPMs in DJ.Studio.

To disable beatsync for a transition:

Open the Studio tab
select a transtion by clicking on the blue transition window header
Make sure the Transition tab is selected at the bottom
On the right side of the middle bar you see 4 BPM transition mode options Off - Free- Half - Full. Click on Off to disable the beatsyncing.

How do I change the BPM on one track?

Click on the tempo lane at the bottom of the studio and grab the tempo line of the track. This changes the play speed of the track, not the BPM itself. The BPM is a fixed value. If you think it is incorrect, you could try AI beatgridding. If you did not set the tempo range correctly, you can double or halve the tempo of the track.

What if the BPM is doubled or halved after the import of the track?

If the track BPM is doubled of halved, you can always go to the Studio > Track tab and click the /2 button or the *2 button.

To prevent this for next track imports, you can also go to Settings > General > BPM range and set that to your range.

Can increase the tempo of all songs in my mix with one click?

We don't have an option to increase the tempo of ALL the songs in my mix with the same BPM with one click. Go to the orange tempo lane and drag the tempo lane for each track manually higher or lower.