What is nightcore?
Nightcore is a style of edit where a song is sped up and pitched up together. The name comes from a Norwegian duo who made these edits in the early 2000s. The sound is bright, fast and high, and it took off online with dance and pop songs.
The key detail is that speed and pitch go up together. That is what varispeed does. It works like speeding up a tape or a turntable, so the pitch rises naturally with the tempo.
How the nightcore maker works
This page opens with varispeed mode at 1.25×. That makes a song 25% faster and about 4 semitones higher. You hear it live, so you can nudge the speed until it sounds right, then export the whole track.
Because it is varispeed, there is no time-stretching involved. The audio is simply played faster, which keeps it clean and punchy.
Nightcore traditionally changes only speed and pitch, but you can add to it. A touch of Space gives the track a bigger, more polished sound, and a little Bass puts back some of the weight that pitching up takes away.
The export applies everything you hear. Choose MP3 for sharing, or WAV and FLAC if you plan to keep editing in a DAW or video editor.
Nightcore speed settings
Here is roughly how pitch changes with speed in varispeed mode.
| Speed | Pitch change | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1× | About +1.7 semitones | Light lift |
| 1.2× | About +3.2 semitones | Clear nightcore feel |
| 1.25× | About +3.9 semitones | Classic nightcore |
| 1.35× | About +5.2 semitones | Very high and fast |
| 1.5× | About +7 semitones | Extreme |
What to make nightcore from
Nightcore works best on some songs more than others:
- Dance and pop songs with a steady beat.
- Emotional ballads that gain energy when sped up.
- Anime and game soundtracks.
- Tracks with a clear female or high male vocal.
- Songs for short video edits that need to hit fast.
Tips for a better nightcore edit
Start at 1.25× and adjust by ear. Songs that are already fast may only need 1.15×.
Deep male voices can sound cartoonish at high speeds. That is part of the style, but you can go gentler if you want it to stay listenable.
Want the speed without the pitch jump? Switch to keep pitch mode, or use the speed up audio page.
Doing the opposite, slow and deep? The slowed and reverb page does the reverse with added space.
Check the whole track before exporting. A chorus that sounds great at 1.3× may make the verses feel rushed, so pick a speed that works for the full song, not just the best part.
Nightcore on iPhone, Android and desktop
The nightcore maker works in any modern browser. On a computer, drag the song in. On iPhone, open the page in Safari and pick the song from Files. On Android, use Chrome and pick from your downloads.
The varispeed effect is light work compared to AI stem separation, so it runs quickly on phones too. Export to MP3 or M4A for sharing, or WAV if you want to edit the nightcore version further.
Want to go further? A few extra ideas that work well with nightcore edits:
- Add a little reverb with the Space knob for a bigger sound.
- Boost the bass slightly, since pitching up thins the low end.
- Extract the vocal first and make a nightcore acapella.
- Combine with a key change to land in a specific key.
Free, private and quick
The nightcore maker runs in your browser. Your song is never uploaded, and there is no account, watermark or limit. It works on computers and phones alike. If you post a nightcore edit publicly, remember the original song still has rights attached.