How to make nightcore: the 5-minute method

The steps at a glance

1. Import the track. Electronic music, J-pop and pop make the best nightcore. Avoid tracks that are already fast.
2. Speed up to 1.20×. The classic zone for the genre. Pitch rises about 3 semitones, giving the characteristic vocal.
3. Replace the low end. Add 10 to 20 % bass boost. Skip this and the track sounds hollow and thin.
4. Keep reverb low. Stay between 0 and 8 %. At high tempo, long reverb stacks note tails and blurs the rhythm.
5. Check for clipping. Listen to the choruses. If you hear crackling, drop the output level by 1 to 2 dB.
6. Export. MP3 320 kbps works for publishing online.

The short answer

Nightcore is a track sped up by 15 to 30 %, with the pitch rising along with the speed. The result: high vocals, nervous rhythm, tense energy. The settings that work:

• Speed: 1.20× (20 % faster)
• Bass boost: 15 %
• Reverb: 5 % maximum

Picking the right speed

The speed multiplier directly sets how far the vocal rises. The relationship is logarithmic, which is why a small speed difference changes the result a lot.

A practical guide: aim for a final tempo between 140 and 175 BPM. A 90 BPM track therefore handles 1.30×, while one already at 140 BPM only takes 1.15× before becoming unreadable.

The step everyone skips

Speeding a track up does not just move the tempo: the whole spectrum rises, bass included. A kick fundamental at 55 Hz becomes 69 Hz at 1.25×. The track loses its foundation and sounds thin and light.

This is the main reason amateur nightcore consistently sounds weaker than the original on a phone speaker. The fix is simple: 10 to 20 % bass boost after speeding up. More than anything else, that step separates a clean result from a rushed one.

Avoiding the shrill vocal

Lower voices handle speeding up far better than high ones. A deep male vocal stays credible at 1.25×. An already-high female vocal at the same setting heads toward a very artificial timbre.

Two fixes: drop to 1.15×, or speed up normally then compensate the pitch down a few semitones separately. The second gives you the best of both — the energy of the fast tempo without the shrillness.

Nightcore or sped up?

Both terms describe speeding up, but not the same practice.

Nightcore lets pitch rise with speed and historically applies to electronic music and J-pop. It is a genre in its own right, with its own visual imagery.

Sped up, born on TikTok, applies mostly to pop and rap, stays more moderate (1.10× to 1.20×) and often tries to limit the pitch rise. The goal is not to create a genre object but to fit a chorus into short-form video.

If you are targeting social platforms, sped up generally fits better. If you are making content for the nightcore community, embrace the pitch rise — it is the signature.

Watch the running time

A detail that catches people out: a 4-minute track at 1.25× drops to 3 minutes 12. On short-form video that can push the chorus outside the window you were aiming for. Check where the peak moment lands after processing, not before.

For the genre's origins and its variants, see our complete nightcore guide.

Frequently asked questions