How to fix the end of a fadeout that ends abruptly

[Huertaaj]

Hello all:
I need to fix the ending of a song that was recorded OK but the ending that should fade out over about 4 seconds ends abruptly at about 1 second. Basically, the .WAV file was cut off early. The sound is simple, like a soft bell so it's not complicated. I need to extend the end of the .WAV file to accommodate the longer fadeout but more than that I need to somehow grab that ending and extend it so that I can properly fade it out. I tried copying the last piece of the existing fadeout, duplicating it, grouping it with the previous part but I get a yukky little "thump" where that joint happens. I tried reducing the volume of the "thump" area but can't get a smooth transition. I don't think this i the best way to do it. Is there a better way that anyone could recommend?

Thanks!

 

[Housemus]

Bend markers at the end and timestretch the last few seconds. Some volume attenuation and some reverb maybe.

 

[Huertaaj]

Thanks for the tip Housemus. However, I tried that but since the "blunt" fade-out in the .WAV file is exactly at the end of the file I can't stretch it since there is no space to stretch it in. I tried adding new piece of track to the end of that file and grouping it so it would become part of the original file but then the Bend markers don't work. They only work until you reach the end of the original unmodified track, not the track with a piece of empty sound added to the end. I tried Bouncing the track but Bend markers don't work on Bounced tracks. I think I might have to export that track as a .WAV file and then import it to do this. That seems cumbersome but doable. Any ideas?

 

[Craig Anderton]

Try this: Slice just before the part you want to stretch. Alt+click on the right edge of the clip (the cursor will show a little clock), and drag to the right. Let me know if you need more info.

 

[Huertaaj]

Actually I was wrong, I had not realized that one has to right click and check the "Bend Marker" button to active it each time you want to use it. I had not done that so now it seems to work

 

[Huertaaj]

Hello Craig, Thanks for the info. I tried that and there is always a little tiny thump right where I extended the audio, no matter what I try

 

[Huertaaj]

Well, I guess I wasn't wrong after all. Bend markers are a tricky thing. I did verify that if I add a blank piece to the end of an audio track, and then group it, there is no way I can get Bend markers to work on that track.

 

[Craig Anderton]

I tried that and there is always a little tiny thump right where I extended the audio, no matter what I try

Do you mean at the beginning, the end, or in the middle? If it's in the middle, one issue with stretching is that it can extend something until it becomes an artifact. When that happens, I can often solve the issue by removing the "bump," then crossfading over the missing section. That doesn't always work, but it does most of the time.

 

[SwitchBack]

Well, I guess I wasn't wrong after all. Bend markers are a tricky thing. I did verify that if I add a blank piece to the end of an audio track, and then group it, there is no way I can get Bend markers to work on that track.

You can try this:
On the track without bend markers place the playhead where you want the stretch to start. Insert a bend marker (Alt-`) and then (without moving the playhead) Alt-drag the end of the event out for those 3-4 seconds you need. Then select the Bend Tool (7) and move the bend marker you inserted before back to where the playhead is. That should restore timing before the bend marker and give you some stretched out room to play after, without splitting the event. Also experiment with the time stretch algorithm for that track: try 'sound' instead of 'drums'.

 

[Huertaaj]

Hi Switchback: The problem is that when you Alt-drag an audio event it stretches the whole track, not just the end. That results in a longer audio file which then won't fit with the rest of the tracks.

 

[SwitchBack]

Not if you do exactly as I wrote. Yes, Alt-dragging will stretch out the entire event, but then moving that bend marker back to where it was (on an event without any other bend markers) will restore timing before the bend marker to a tee.

NB. A track which already has a few bend markers on it you can duplicate with content, and use that as a guide to move all bend markers back to where they were on the object track, after time-stretching it.

 

[Huertaaj]

SwitchBack: OK, my bad. I was not following your instructions correctly. I did exactly what you suggested and I see that now it works as you say. Unfortunately, instead of getting a small thump or "crack" at the end point, I can here a noticeable change of audio quality. I understand that the audio is stretched starting at the point where I had my Bend marker using the last portion of the original audio that was left after the Bend marker to make the stretch sound. It's that stretched audio at the new ending that results in a jump in audio quality. If I can't fix this problem I will just have to go with the blunt ending.

 

[Huertaaj]

So, after stretching the end as suggested by SwitchBack I ended up splitting the audio at the point where the change in audio occurs, then dragged the end part to slightly overlap the first part, added a cross-fade, lowered the volume of the last part, added a fade out, and I would say it's good enough. I can still there the change if I pay close attention but it's not worth worrying about any more. Thanks for everyone's help and advice. As I said before, I LOVE this group. What would I do without such great souls ready to help me out when needed? I would be rather lost. Thanks again!!!

 

[SwitchBack]

Did you experiment with the time stretch algorithm? That's what might have helped you with that 'bump'.

 

[Huertaaj]

Wow, I had not experimented with that but now I did and changing the crossfade from drums to sound made a huge difference. The fadeout sounds great now without dealing with cross-fades, etc. Thanks so much!!!!!!!!!