29 second version of song help needed

[Soulow]

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

I watched the video you sent and found it very informative. Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge and information. I definitely have a better understanding of how to make a more effective snippet of the song that might be useful for the music libraries. It's all about the button ending for the snippets.

[VanderBoegh]

Everyone approaches cut-downs & edits differently. My method is to drag the final stereo file back into ProTools and cut up the final mix. Since I usually start every track with a lead-in (either a quick drum fill, or reverse note, or whoosh, or...), I use the opening bit of the track and then typically cut to the ending where the piece is really raging. Since I always end every track with a big sting ending, it makes for a great closer to the 30 second edit.

Some people get caught up on math and how BPM could easily translate into 30 second edits, but my advice is to not do that at all. There are too many variables, like how long the last note rings out for, and how long your little ramp-in intro is. The difference of even 2 seconds can throw those BPM calculations right out the window.

Just keep playing with where you splice the pieces together. It's not unheard of to wind up with a 6/4 bar in there somewhere. As long as it's not jarring and keeps the beat running, nobody will notice what you did. Just make sure you've hit silence by the 30 second mark (or 29.5, depending on the library's specifications).

Things get really interesting when you're asked to make a 5 second version, and you realize all it really turns out to be is a 1-beat "intro", one bar of the music, then your sting ending..... if that! It might even just be the sting ending all by itself, and that's it!

~~Matt

[JuanMacias]

Everyone approaches cut-downs & edits differently. My method is to drag the final stereo file back into ProTools and cut up the final mix. Since I usually start every track with a lead-in (either a quick drum fill, or reverse note, or whoosh, or...), I use the opening bit of the track and then typically cut to the ending where the piece is really raging. Since I always end every track with a big sting ending, it makes for a great closer to the 30 second edit.

Some people get caught up on math and how BPM could easily translate into 30 second edits, but my advice is to not do that at all. There are too many variables, like how long the last note rings out for, and how long your little ramp-in intro is. The difference of even 2 seconds can throw those BPM calculations right out the window.

Just keep playing with where you splice the pieces together. It's not unheard of to wind up with a 6/4 bar in there somewhere. As long as it's not jarring and keeps the beat running, nobody will notice what you did. Just make sure you've hit silence by the 30 second mark (or 29.5, depending on the library's specifications).

Things get really interesting when you're asked to make a 5 second version, and you realize all it really turns out to be is a 1-beat "intro", one bar of the music, then your sting ending..... if that! It might even just be the sting ending all by itself, and that's it!

~~Matt

Hey Matt

I know you are a very busy man but would it be possible for you to make a short video showing the process you just described so we can see how it is done the right way?

[Soulow]

Everyone approaches cut-downs & edits differently. My method is to drag the final stereo file back into ProTools and cut up the final mix. Since I usually start every track with a lead-in (either a quick drum fill, or reverse note, or whoosh, or...), I use the opening bit of the track and then typically cut to the ending where the piece is really raging. Since I always end every track with a big sting ending, it makes for a great closer to the 30 second edit.

Some people get caught up on math and how BPM could easily translate into 30 second edits, but my advice is to not do that at all. There are too many variables, like how long the last note rings out for, and how long your little ramp-in intro is. The difference of even 2 seconds can throw those BPM calculations right out the window.

Just keep playing with where you splice the pieces together. It's not unheard of to wind up with a 6/4 bar in there somewhere. As long as it's not jarring and keeps the beat running, nobody will notice what you did. Just make sure you've hit silence by the 30 second mark (or 29.5, depending on the library's specifications).

Things get really interesting when you're asked to make a 5 second version, and you realize all it really turns out to be is a 1-beat "intro", one bar of the music, then your sting ending..... if that! It might even just be the sting ending all by itself, and that's it!

~~Matt

Hey Matt

I know you are a very busy man but would it be possible for you to make a short video showing the process you just described so we can see how it is done the right way?

Thanks for the insightful post. Sounds like you have a lot of experience with this unique challenge in the sync world. I like the idea of taking the final stereo file back to the daw and cutting it up there. That seems like a good way to get creative to fix it up. I can't imagine doing a 5 second version though.

[Telefunkin]

I can't imagine doing a 5 second version though.

Better get used to that idea too . Many libraries ask for 'sting' versions of your tracks. Thankfully, they're usually less prescriptive about an exact length (e.g 5-12s), but everything varies from library to library.