How to Make Nightcore (Complete Guide)

What Is Nightcore?

Nightcore is a music style where you speed up a song (typically to 1.2×–1.35× the original tempo) and raise the pitch by 3–5 semitones. The result is a high-energy, anime-adjacent sound with faster beats and higher-pitched vocals that has become one of the most popular remix genres on YouTube and TikTok.

The name comes from a Norwegian DJ duo, Thomas S. Nilsen and Steffen Ojala Søderholm, who submitted sped-up trance tracks under the name "Nightcore" for a school project in 2001. Their work spread across early internet forums and eventually became a full remix genre — one that anyone can create with the right tools.

Unlike complex production techniques, nightcore is accessible to beginners. You don't need expensive software or musical training. All you need is an audio file and a tool that can adjust speed and pitch — which is exactly what this guide will teach you.

The Science Behind Nightcore: Speed vs. Pitch

Understanding the relationship between speed and pitch is key to making good nightcore. Here's how it works:

Speed (Tempo)

Speed controls how fast the song plays. Increasing speed from 1.0× to 1.25× makes a 4-minute song play in about 3 minutes 12 seconds. The BPM increases proportionally — a 120 BPM track becomes 150 BPM at 1.25×.

Pitch (Semitones)

Pitch determines how high or low the audio sounds. Raising pitch by +4 semitones shifts every note up by a major third interval. This is what gives nightcore vocals that distinctive bright, anime-like quality.

The Chipmunk Problem

Simply speeding up audio raises both tempo andpitch together — this is how old tape machines worked. At extreme speeds, you get a "chipmunk effect" where voices sound cartoonishly high. Proper nightcore uses independent control over speed and pitch so you can find the sweet spot where the energy increases without the vocals sounding unnatural.

Ideal Nightcore Settings by Genre

Not all songs respond the same way to nightcore. Here are recommended settings for different genres:

Classic Nightcore (Pop, J-Pop, Electronic)

• Speed: 1.25×
• Pitch: +4 semitones
• Bass Boost: Off
• Reverb: None

This is the original nightcore formula. It works beautifully with pop and electronic music where the vocals are front and center. The +4 semitone pitch shift pushes female vocals into a bright, ethereal range and gives male vocals an androgynous quality that's become iconic in the genre.

Anime Pop Nightcore

• Speed: 1.20×
• Pitch: +5 semitones
• Bass Boost: Off
• Reverb: Light

Optimized for Japanese music and anime openings. The slightly higher pitch (+5 semitones) combined with light reverb gives the track a dreamy, otherworldly quality that anime fans love. Works especially well with opening and ending themes from shows.

EDM Nightcore

• Speed: 1.30×
• Pitch: +3 semitones
• Bass Boost: On
• Reverb: None

Electronic tracks need a different approach. Higher speed (1.3×) amps up the energy, but you want less pitch shift to keep drops and basslines punchy. Bass boost compensates for any low-end loss from the speed increase.

Rock & Metal Nightcore

• Speed: 1.25×
• Pitch: +2 semitones
• Bass Boost: Off
• Reverb: None

Rock and metal tracks with distorted guitars can sound harsh at high pitch. Keep the shift minimal (+2 semitones) to maintain the edge of guitar tones. No reverb — you want the drums to stay tight and impactful.

Daycore (Anti-Nightcore)

• Speed: 0.80×
• Pitch: -4 semitones
• Bass Boost: Off
• Reverb: Heavy

Daycore is the opposite of nightcore — slow it down, lower the pitch, and add heavy reverb for a deep, atmospheric, moody version. This has become hugely popular on TikTok for creating emotional edits and aesthetic content.

How to Make Nightcore in Audacity (Free)

Audacity is a free, open-source audio editor. Here's how to create nightcore manually:

Step 1: Import Your Audio

Open Audacity and go to File → Import → Audio. Select your MP3, WAV, or FLAC file. The waveform appears in the editor.

Step 2: Speed Up the Track

Select all (Ctrl+A), then go to Effect → Change Speed. Set speed increase to +25% (for 1.25× playback). This raises both tempo and pitch together.

Important:Use "Change Speed", not "Change Tempo". Change Tempo preserves pitch, which defeats the purpose of nightcore.

Step 3: Fine-Tune Pitch (Optional)

If you want more control, first use Effect → Change Tempo to speed up without pitch change, then use Effect → Change Pitch to raise pitch by your desired semitones independently. This gives you true independent control.

Step 4: Add Reverb (Optional)

Go to Effect → Reverb. For nightcore, keep it subtle — Room Size 30–40%, Reverberance 20–30%. Most classic nightcore uses no reverb at all.

Step 5: Export

File → Export → Export as MP3 (or WAV). Use 320kbps for MP3 to preserve audio quality.

How to Make Nightcore in FL Studio

FL Studio gives you more precise control. Here's the method:

1. Import your audio — Drag your file into the Playlist or Channel Rack.
2. Set Stretch Mode to Resample— Right-click the audio clip, select "Resample" mode. This ensures pitch changes with tempo (essential for nightcore).
3. Increase the project BPM — Raise the master tempo by 20–30%. If the original is 120 BPM, set it to 150 BPM.
4. Fine-tune with Pitcher (optional)— For independent pitch control, use FL Studio's Pitcher or NewTone plugin to shift pitch by specific semitones.
5. Add effects — Use Fruity Reeverb 2 for light reverb, or Fruity Parametric EQ 2 for bass boost on the 80–150 Hz range.
6. Export — File → Export → WAV or MP3.

Ableton Live Method

1. Import audio into an Audio Track.
2. Set Warp Mode to Re-Pitch (links pitch to tempo).
3. Increase the master tempo by 20–30% (e.g., 120 BPM → 150 BPM).
4. Optionally add a Reverb effect. Keep Dry/Wet around 15–25%.
5. Export via File → Export Audio/Video.

Common Nightcore Mistakes to Avoid

1. Too much speed — Going above 1.4× makes most songs sound frantic and unnatural. Start at 1.25× and adjust from there.
2. Too much pitch — Above +6 semitones, vocals start sounding cartoonish. The sweet spot is +3 to +5 semitones for most genres.
3. Using "Change Tempo" instead of "Change Speed" — In Audacity, Change Tempo preserves pitch. That gives you faster music but without the pitch raise that defines nightcore.
4. Ignoring the genre — A rock song needs different settings than a pop ballad. Use less pitch shift for guitar-heavy tracks and more for vocal-focused music.
5. Over-processing — Adding heavy reverb, bass boost, and compression on top of nightcore can make the audio muddy. Classic nightcore is intentionally simple — speed + pitch, done.
6. Exporting at low quality — Use 320kbps for MP3 or export as WAV. High pitch content gets destroyed at low bitrates.

Nightcore vs. Daycore vs. Slowed & Reverb

These three remix styles are related but distinctly different:

• Nightcore — Speed up (1.2–1.35×), pitch up (+3–5 semitones). High energy, fast tempo, anime aesthetic.
• Daycore (Anti-Nightcore) — Speed down (0.75–0.85×), pitch down (-3 to -5 semitones). Atmospheric, moody, deeper sound. Popular on TikTok.
• Slowed & Reverb— Speed down (0.85–0.9×), pitch drops naturally, plus heavy reverb. Dreamy, nostalgic, underwater feel. Evolved from Houston's chopped and screwed culture.

All three can be created with the same tools — just different settings. Our Nightcore Maker handles all three styles with dedicated presets, and our Slowed & Reverb Generator is optimized specifically for slowed+reverb remixes.

The Fastest Way: Use an Online Nightcore Maker

The Audacity and DAW methods work, but they require software installation, learning the interface, and spending 10–20 minutes per track. If you want to create nightcore quickly — especially for social media or personal listening — an online tool is significantly faster.

SonicLab's free Nightcore Maker lets you upload any song, choose from six one-click presets (Classic, Anime Pop, EDM, Rock, Soft, Daycore), fine-tune speed and pitch independently, preview in real-time, and download as MP3 or WAV. No account required, no software to install, and everything processes privately in your browser.

Instead of configuring effect chains and rendering offline, you can make nightcore online in under 30 seconds. The built-in presets are tuned for each genre so you get great results immediately, with full manual control when you want to experiment.

Is Nightcore Legal? Copyright Considerations

Nightcore remixes exist in a legal gray area. The key points:

• The original song is copyrighted— Speeding up and pitching a copyrighted song still uses that song's composition and recording.
• YouTube Content ID— Most nightcore uploads on YouTube get Content ID claimed (the original rights holder monetizes the video) rather than taken down. This means the creator doesn't earn ad revenue, but the video stays up.
• Personal use is fine — Making nightcore for your own listening is not a legal issue. The gray area arises when you distribute it publicly.
• Fair use is debatable— Some argue nightcore is transformative enough to qualify as fair use, but this hasn't been tested in court for nightcore specifically.

Bottom line: Making nightcore for personal enjoyment is perfectly fine. Uploading to YouTube will likely result in a Content ID claim (not a takedown). For commercial use, stick to royalty-free music or your own original tracks.

Related Guides

• How to Make Slowed & Reverb Songs — The opposite technique: slow down and add atmosphere
• Slowed & Reverb Generator — Create dreamy slowed remixes online
• Bass Booster — Enhance low frequencies in any audio file
• BPM Finder — Detect the tempo of your tracks before remixing
• Pitch Shifter — Change pitch without affecting speed