Removing Dead Space at the End of Track

[Kerryman]

Two of my first three submissions (all rejected) had the following note from the screener: "the dead space at the end should be removed".

At least one of them had a tail on the last notes, and I deliberately had left space for that.

Can someone advise me on two points please...

1)If you know there's a tail (delay / reverb) on the last note, do you leave room for it or chop it off?

2) Is there an allowable area of dead space that can be left at the end of the track?

Thanks for any help.

[gitanosoy]

We can answer your question/concern better if you post the tracks.

Without listening to your tracks yes you should leave the reverb tails and not cut them off but with the automation tool you can smooth out/tame the length of the decay.

[Kerryman]

We can answer your question/concern better if you post the tracks.

Without listening to your tracks yes you should leave the reverb tails and not cut them off but with the automation tool you can smooth out/tame the length of the decay.

I'm a bit reluctant to post tracks just yet, as my confidence took a knock from early submissions - as you are aware from another thread. Maybe when I've had a forward or two, I might venture to let others hear something. Mind you, some of my work has been very well reviewed in music blogs in the US, France and UK and played at festivals - so it's out there! But, here, I need to 'find my feet'.

For now, your advice about the tail and decay is very helpful, thank you.

[cosmicdolphin]

Maybe you can post the last note ring out on the tracks if you don't want to play the whole thing.

[VanderBoegh]

Yeah, hearing the ending is really the only way we can help you on this one. Do as Mark suggested, and just post the last note & ending of the track if you want, but we really can't help you unless we hear it.

That said, it sounds like the screener's note is just more of an FYI thing rather than the sole reason for the return (I can't imagine a track being returned due to an overly long ring-out alone). A natural ring-out - like a guitarist holding the last note until it naturally decays, or a pianist holding the keys down until the sound disappears, or a cymbal ringing until fully decayed - is just fine.... as long as you cut the track at the end point and don't leave an unnecessary amount of silence afterward, which I'm assuming is what you might have done?

~~Matt

[Paulie]

I think the screeners can tell the difference between a reverb tail versus extra space at the end. However, I did get a return for a track that had 20 seconds of space at the end. However, the file on my hard drive did not have the space, nor did the file uploaded to my profile that was used to submit to a listing. I have no idea how 20 seconds of space got added to my track, perhaps there is an occasional glitch when files get transferred to the reviewing platform? I have no idea...