29 second version of song help needed

[Soulow]

Hello there. I am new to TAXI and the forum. Recently, I submitted a song and they wanted you to have a 29 second and 59 second version of the song ready to go if they picked your song to work with. I guess it has to be exactly that time frame to fit into promotional commercial material. My song was 2:37 originally. I was on the TAXI tv the other day and it was suggested to use the end of the song as a cut off point. I had asked a question if it was okay to have the song snippet just suddenly end. No matter where I choose to start and end the snippet of the song it will either start or end in an unnatural sounding way. So, I am asking for advice on how to give the customer what they want in a way that makes music sense.

[Cameloide]

I recently did an album for a company that also wanted 30 second versions. It can definitely be tricky. You just have to be creative and experiment with edits until you find something that works. In my case sometimes I had to come up with a new intro drum fill to make the length work. If I'm not mistaken your last note can hit between 27.5 - 29 secs and try to have the fade out by 31.

[Casey H]

Hello there. I am new to TAXI and the forum. Recently, I submitted a song and they wanted you to have a 29 second and 59 second version of the song ready to go if they picked your song to work with. I guess it has to be exactly that time frame to fit into promotional commercial material. My song was 2:37 originally. I was on the TAXI tv the other day and it was suggested to use the end of the song as a cut off point. I had asked a question if it was okay to have the song snippet just suddenly end. No matter where I choose to start and end the snippet of the song it will either start or end in an unnatural sounding way. So, I am asking for advice on how to give the customer what they want in a way that makes music sense.

Can you post a link to the song?
A few things without hearing it. Does it have a ring out ending? Is it all in the same key, starting and ending on the root chord? I assume it's an instrumental, not a vocal?

Best,
Casey

[Telefunkin]

Hi, most libraries will routinely ask for cut-down versions when you have songs accepted by them (although the specific lengths they want can vary), so its something you'll need to get used to creating. After a while you'll find strategies that work for you and it gets easier. Here's a few things that I might do, and this is in the DAW multi-track mix session (not the stereo mastering session)....

- Add a ruler in the DAW that's exactly 30s long (or whatever the max length needs to be, and start with the longest one), so you can clearly see the length you're aiming for.
- Slide that ruler until the right end is at the end point of your track (where the silence starts).
- Check where the left end lands. In an ideal world it might line up with the start of of a bar and musical phrase, but that hardly ever happens.
- Find the nearest acceptable start point to the left end of the ruler.
- If its close to the left of the ruler check whether you could slide the ruler until its exactly at the start point, then adjust the length of the fade-out on the ring-out at the right end (or perhaps shorten the final phrase to get a better fit).
- If not, find the nearest start point inside left end, then find a way to fill the gap between that left end and the start point. That filling might be a drum fill, or part of one, or a few solo musical notes (that might be there anyway), or even a backward cymbal or snare hit. Again, you might still need to slide the ruler around a bit to get the best fit then adjust the right end accordingly.
- If things get really messy because the chord sequences and/or phrases don't work, try copying in a phrase (or part phrase) from an earlier section that might work better.
- If all else fails, there might be a 30s (or whatever) section earlier in the track that might work as a stand-alone cut-down (but its very rare I've had to resort to that).
- Having found the section you want to work with, lock the ruler position.
- Be sure to mute all notes to the left of the ruler so you've got nothing hanging over into the start (easy with midi but audio can demand a bit more care).
- Once you're happy with everything, render the whole thing to the length of the ruler only,
- Check the rendered file length to make sure its correct and also ensure there's no hang-over or chopped notes at the start and the end.... DONE!
- Repeat the whole process again for the 15s version (or whatever the next shortest length is).

Ultimately, you might have to get creative to make your cut-downs sound natural, and some will be easier than others, but there's always a way. Actually, I quite enjoy making them, its a bit like solving puzzles .

[Soulow]

I recently did an album for a company that also wanted 30 second versions. It can definitely be tricky. You just have to be creative and experiment with edits until you find something that works. In my case sometimes I had to come up with a new intro drum fill to make the length work. If I'm not mistaken your last note can hit between 27.5 - 29 secs and try to have the fade out by 31.

Cool. Thanks for responding. A drum fill might do the trick. A couple of seconds of fade at the end might also be helpful.

[Casey H]

Cool. Thanks for responding. A drum fill might do the trick. A couple of seconds of fade at the end might also be helpful.

Don't do a fade. It has to be a ring out ending. Fades are generally non-appropriate for Film/TV placements, and an absolute no-no for ad spots. Did the original track have a ring out or a fade? If it has a fade, you would be best to record a new ending.

I was hoping you would post a link to the track so we could offer more specific suggestions.

Best,
Casey

[Soulow]

Hello there. I am new to TAXI and the forum. Recently, I submitted a song and they wanted you to have a 29 second and 59 second version of the song ready to go if they picked your song to work with. I guess it has to be exactly that time frame to fit into promotional commercial material. My song was 2:37 originally. I was on the TAXI tv the other day and it was suggested to use the end of the song as a cut off point. I had asked a question if it was okay to have the song snippet just suddenly end. No matter where I choose to start and end the snippet of the song it will either start or end in an unnatural sounding way. So, I am asking for advice on how to give the customer what they want in a way that makes music sense.

Can you post a link to the song?
A few things without hearing it. Does it have a ring out ending? Is it all in the same key, starting and ending on the root chord? I assume it's an instrumental, not a vocal?

Best,
Casey

https://soundcloud.com/user-240489241/freeway-dreamer
It is an instrumental. I believe it is all in the same key. Not sure what a root chord means. The ending echoes out for a few seconds. I am not sure if that qualifies for a ring out ending.

[Soulow]

Cool. Thanks for responding. A drum fill might do the trick. A couple of seconds of fade at the end might also be helpful.

Don't do a fade. It has to be a ring out ending. Fades are generally non-appropriate for Film/TV placements, and an absolute no-no for ad spots. Did the original track have a ring out or a fade? If it has a fade, you would be best to record a new ending.

I was hoping you would post a link to the track so we could offer more specific suggestions.

Best,
Casey

https://soundcloud.com/user-240489241/freeway-dreamer

[Soulow]

Hi, most libraries will routinely ask for cut-down versions when you have songs accepted by them (although the specific lengths they want can vary), so its something you'll need to get used to creating. After a while you'll find strategies that work for you and it gets easier. Here's a few things that I might do, and this is in the DAW multi-track mix session (not the stereo mastering session)....

- Add a ruler in the DAW that's exactly 30s long (or whatever the max length needs to be, and start with the longest one), so you can clearly see the length you're aiming for.
- Slide that ruler until the right end is at the end point of your track (where the silence starts).
- Check where the left end lands. In an ideal world it might line up with the start of of a bar and musical phrase, but that hardly ever happens.
- Find the nearest acceptable start point to the left end of the ruler.
- If its close to the left of the ruler check whether you could slide the ruler until its exactly at the start point, then adjust the length of the fade-out on the ring-out at the right end (or perhaps shorten the final phrase to get a better fit).
- If not, find the nearest start point inside left end, then find a way to fill the gap between that left end and the start point. That filling might be a drum fill, or part of one, or a few solo musical notes (that might be there anyway), or even a backward cymbal or snare hit. Again, you might still need to slide the ruler around a bit to get the best fit then adjust the right end accordingly.
- If things get really messy because the chord sequences and/or phrases don't work, try copying in a phrase (or part phrase) from an earlier section that might work better.
- If all else fails, there might be a 30s (or whatever) section earlier in the track that might work as a stand-alone cut-down (but its very rare I've had to resort to that).
- Having found the section you want to work with, lock the ruler position.
- Be sure to mute all notes to the left of the ruler so you've got nothing hanging over into the start (easy with midi but audio can demand a bit more care).
- Once you're happy with everything, render the whole thing to the length of the ruler only,
- Check the rendered file length to make sure its correct and also ensure there's no hang-over or chopped notes at the start and the end.... DONE!
- Repeat the whole process again for the 15s version (or whatever the next shortest length is).

Ultimately, you might have to get creative to make your cut-downs sound natural, and some will be easier than others, but there's always a way. Actually, I quite enjoy making them, its a bit like solving puzzles .

Wow! Thanks for so much for the detailed and thoughtful suggestions. A lot of good stuff in there and you gave me several approaches to consider. I guess I didn't think about adding some more music to help smooth out the clip. Not sure if my studio one daw has a ruler but I will look into that for sure.

https://soundcloud.com/user-240489241/freeway-dreamer

[Casey H]

Hello there. I am new to TAXI and the forum. Recently, I submitted a song and they wanted you to have a 29 second and 59 second version of the song ready to go if they picked your song to work with. I guess it has to be exactly that time frame to fit into promotional commercial material. My song was 2:37 originally. I was on the TAXI tv the other day and it was suggested to use the end of the song as a cut off point. I had asked a question if it was okay to have the song snippet just suddenly end. No matter where I choose to start and end the snippet of the song it will either start or end in an unnatural sounding way. So, I am asking for advice on how to give the customer what they want in a way that makes music sense.

Can you post a link to the song?
A few things without hearing it. Does it have a ring out ending? Is it all in the same key, starting and ending on the root chord? I assume it's an instrumental, not a vocal?

Best,
Casey

https://soundcloud.com/user-240489241/freeway-dreamer
It is an instrumental. I believe it is all in the same key. Not sure what a root chord means. The ending echoes out for a few seconds. I am not sure if that qualifies for a ring out ending.

It's also called a button ending. This video has some examples: https://youtu.be/vrb_uIfgJ4U?si=A-dgbztxja7nQG_x
I would try to create something like that instead of the kind of fade you have, which is close but not the best. Take one of your instruments and make it a chord or note with a decay.
After that, the concept is the same as what's been discussed here. Go to the end and back up 29 seconds.Try to make that 29 seconds work with what's there. You may have to do some creative stuff, copying/pasting, adding/deleting measures, maybe put some filler in the front to give it a natural start, etc.

Good luck!
Casey