How to Lock a Song to a Steady Tempo for Your DAW

Updated 15 October 2026

You drop a record into a session, line up the first kick and hit play. A few bars later, it is fighting the click. Here is how to get it to hold.

Not sure which number to use? Find the song's BPM and verify its grid first. For a downloaded generated track, see the Suno tempo-drift workflow.

A steady tempo, not any tempo you choose

BPM Lock detects the song's tempo and rounds it to the nearest whole BPM. It then stretches the audio between detected beats so those beats sit on a constant grid. You cannot type in a different target BPM.

For example, if BPM Lock shows 118 BPM, use 118 BPM in your session when checking the export. If your project needs 124 BPM instead, correct the drift first, then use your DAW to change the corrected file's playback tempo.

The stretching preserves pitch. It still changes the timing of the performance, so compare the original and corrected versions before keeping the result.

Check the beats before you export

1. Drop your song into BPM Lock. Let it analyse the file, then note the detected BPM.
2. Check the Original against the metronome. Listen near the start, through a busy section and near the end. If the grid follows the wrong pulse, try the additional tracker before editing.
3. Set the first bar deliberately. On desktop, double-click a beat marker to select it, then use Set bar 1 on selection. On a phone, press and hold a marker to select it. Choose a downbeat you can identify again in your DAW.
4. Check BPM locked playback. Listen through the same sections. Fix misplaced markers before rendering, particularly around fills and breaks.
5. Choose your start and format. Keep the intro for the full recording, or turn on crop the intro, start at bar 1. Choose WAV or AIFF for further editing, then render and download.

Line up the file in Ableton, Logic or another DAW

Set the session to the exported BPM. For the first timing check, avoid applying another automatic tempo correction to the file. In Ableton Live, check the clip's Warp setting; in Logic, check whether Flex or Smart Tempo is changing its timing.

If you cropped to bar 1: place the start of the file on a bar line. The first beat you chose should meet that line.

If you kept the intro: find the downbeat you chose and align that beat with a bar line. Silence, a pickup or a loose intro can come before it. A steady file can still start between beats.

Turn on the session click and check the first full phrase, the middle and the outro. Then bring in your drum loop. Once that holds, you can chop, loop or change the project tempo using your usual DAW workflow.

Still not sitting on the click?

Every beat is early or late by the same amount

Move the clip or adjust the first downbeat. The tempo may already be correct.

The mismatch grows as the song plays

Check that the session BPM matches the export and that the DAW is not applying a second tempo change. Then inspect the source grid for detection errors.

Only one section goes wrong

Check that section's markers in BPM Lock. A missed beat or a change of pulse can throw off the correction even when the rest sounds right.

For more detail, read how to diagnose beatgrid drift or the workflow for old records and live drums.

Working on a DJ library or a remix? Find the guide for your next track.