Change Speed And Pitch: Guide To Audio Adjustments

Jan 20, 2026

Tero Potila

Whether you're a musician trying to match a backing track to your vocal range or a content creator adjusting audio for a video file, understanding how to change speed and pitch is a useful tool that opens up endless creative possibilities.

Modern tools now allow you to independently adjust both the tempo (speed) and pitch (key) of any music track without sacrificing high quality.

These capabilities are an essential part of my workflow as a producer, for everything from adjusting loops to match my Digital Audio Workstation’s (DAW) project tempo to lining up stems for a remix.

So why would you ever want to change speed and pitch separately?

Slowing down a song without dropping the pitch is a useful tool for learning complex musical passages, while shifting the key without changing the tempo lets you transpose music to match your vocal or instrumental range.

These adjustments were once only possible with expensive studio equipment, but they’re now accessible to anyone.

How to Change Speed and Pitch of Audio Files

These controls can, of course, be used on all types of audio files. But in my examples, I’ll mostly focus on the music aspect of changing speed and pitch.

When you adjust music audio files, you’re working with two distinct properties: tempo and pitch.

It is important to understand the differences between the two to know exactly how you are manipulating your audio.

Pitch

Pitch refers to how high or low a sound is, which is determined by its frequency. Think of it like a piano keyboard, where the lowest frequency keys are on the left, and the highest are on the right.

When you change pitch, you are adjusting the overall tonal range.

Audio pitch changers enable you raise or lower the pitch of a selected section of the audio, or of the entire track.

Playback Speed or BPM

Playback speed is how fast or slow a track plays back over time. Unlike pitch, this does not affect the tonal frequency; instead, it controls the BPM (beats per minute) of the music.

You can use a tempo setting to set an exact pace for your track, adjusting it up or down to control how fast the audio plays.

Modern time-stretch technology makes audio speed changes possible without affecting pitch.

Let’s say you’re studying a fast, complex guitar solo. You can use these tools to reduce its tempo by 50% for easier practice while maintaining the original pitch.

I’m a guitar player myself and have used this approach many times to learn more difficult guitar parts.

Most tools display a waveform view, which is extremely helpful for identifying specific audio sections and making precise editing decisions.

You can zoom in on the waveform to locate the exact section you want to edit.

Independent vs. Linked Speed and Pitch Changes

Independent Control

This separates tempo change from pitch adjustment, giving you complete flexibility.

You can slow down playback while preserving the original pitch, or use a pitch shifter without changing the clip’s playback speed.

I typically use independent controls, and they are definitely essential for modern music production workflow.

Linked Mode

This mimics vintage hardware, like a vinyl record. If you increase speed, the pitch rises. Most sped-up or slowed-down songs you hear on social media use a combination of both.

For example, if you want a track to play faster and have that chipmunk effect on the vocals, you should increase both the BPM and the pitch.

Lowering both parameters adds a dark, slurry effect to instruments and vocals.

This method was famously used to create the Chopped and Screwed sub-genre of hip-hop and remains a staple in modern Trap and Phonk music.

For better results, use a negative pitch adjustment of -1 or -2 semitones in addition to the linked adjustment.

There are a couple of crucial details I suggest you keep in mind when changing speed and pitch:

Time-stretched clips maintain audio quality better when you use formant correction, which preserves the natural character of vocals even when pitch shifting.
There are also limits on how much you can push these adjustments. Adjusting the tempo or pitch too far from the original can result in an unnatural, degraded sound.

The Rise of Sped-Up Songs on Social Media

The popularity of speeding up or slowing down a favorite song has exploded on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

Speed-remixed songs are a way for creators to tap into the recognition of famous tracks while creating unique content for their followers.

By manipulating the song tempo, you can make a version that stands out from the original recording. This has even helped old classics from the 70s and 80s climb the charts again for a new generation.

On Instagram, the trend is often more minimalistic, with musicians posting slowed-down covers that use reverb effects to create an atmospheric vibe.

A Note on Copyright

Important reminder: remixing a commercial song by adjusting the master file and releasing it publicly without consent constitutes copyright infringement.

You will need permission from the rightsholders and the owner of the master recording before releasing your remix to the world.

Adjusting by Percent, Semitone, and Multiplier

Most tools offer three primary methods for pitch control:

Percent Change: 75% is three-quarters speed; 150% is one-and-a-half times faster.
Speed Multiplier: 1.0 is the original speed. A 0.5 multiplier halves the speed.
Semitones: This is the musical standard. Moving a half step up or down allows you to tune to match different instruments or your specific vocal range.

I recommend using whichever method works best for your situation; however, semitones work best for most situations in music production.

Top Tools for Speed and Pitch Adjustment

Any Modern DAW

For the most precise control, a modern, professional-level DAW is the best tool for the job. DAWs enable real-time adjustments and audio processing without uploading your files anywhere or loading them into a separate application.

Desktop Software

If you don’t have access to a DAW, Audacity is a great option; it’s a free audio recorder and editor with speed and tempo change modes, though it does require some technical knowledge.

Mobile Applications

Audipo’s Music Speed Changer provides speed control from 0.25x to 4.0x without altering pitch, making it ideal for music transcription and easy practice.

AnyTune connects directly to Apple Music and Spotify, letting you adjust streaming tracks with visual waveforms.

Browser-Based Tools

If you need a browser-based tool, I highly recommend Soundtrap. But there are other options too.

123 Apps’ Change Speed and Change Pitch work across modern browsers. They support most file types, including MP3 and WAV.

Using Loops and Waveform View in Soundtrap

Soundtrap is a great platform for experimenting with speed and pitch edits if you don’t have access to a DAW and would like to experiment with these edits on some music.

It’s a DAW that runs entirely in your browser, and its intuitive interface features a waveform view that serves as your visual guide.

You can use the clip context menu or the edit menu to access pitch-shifting options for a single audio section or the entire project.

The waveform view shows your audio section as a visual graph, with louder parts appearing taller. You can zoom in for precise editing or zoom out to see the entire audio section.

Markers let you tag important positions in your music track. I highly recommend using markers for everything! As your project grows with more tracks and sections, it helps a lot to stay organized.

Being well organized also pays off in the long term; I’ve had many clients from the distant past call me up out of the blue, requesting a new type of stem or an updated mix for a project I worked on many years ago.

Without markers and good organization, you might end up burning a lot of hours relearning how everything was set up in the old project.

How to use the Music Looper

If you are working with a track or a specific loop, Soundtrap makes it easy:

Select your audio region in the audio section.
Click the loop icon in the top-right corner.
Drag the handle to the right to create repeating regions.
To change the pitch of a specific region, right-click the audio region and pick a pitch change.

Pitching the Entire Project

If you would like to change the pitch of the whole song project, it is sometimes easiest to export your project as a WAV file and then re-import it.

This creates a one-track master WAV of the whole song, allowing you to manipulate the pitch and speed of all instruments and vocals simultaneously.

If you need access to individual instrument or mix controls for elements in the project, I recommend pitching each instrument or track separately within your Soundtrap project.

Precision Control with Time Stretch

Soundtrap also allows you to change the tempo using time stretch. This offers more flexibility than a global BPM setting because you can stretch or contract the audio file freely without forcing the rest of the project to change.

Once you have the time-stretched clip where you want it, right-click to apply your final pitch adjustment.

Tips for Best Results

Start Small

Always work with small tweaks, as extreme pitch adjustments can introduce artifacts. For natural results, try to stay within 2 semitones of the original pitch.

When slowing down audiobooks or adjusting faster listening speeds for educational content, stay within 0.5x to 2x to minimize quality loss.

Check Your File Types

Always use the highest quality audio files you can for speed and pitch adjustments.

All of the tools can typically handle MP3 files, but I don’t recommend using them unless you don’t have access to high-quality audio. 24bit WAV or AIFF formats will yield the highest quality results.

Data Privacy

When using online tools, always check the security practices and data privacy policies to ensure your original recording remains your own.

This is especially important to consider if you might use the results in a commercial release.

Conclusion

The ability to change speed and pitch is an essential skill for any modern creator, whether you are a producer perfecting a music track or a creator making content for social media.

By using time-stretching technology and precise pitch control, you can achieve professional results right from your computer, tablet, or phone.

Mastering these tools early on in my career didn’t just help me fix technical issues; it completely changed how I approach sound design and remixing.

From finding the perfect pocket for a vocal to creating an otherworldly texture from a simple loop, having these controls at your fingertips is a game-changer.

About the author

Tero Potila is a professional music composer and producer. His career combining knowledge and experience from music, TV, film, ad, and game industries gives him a unique perspective that he shares through posts on teropotila.com.