Hi
I want to do a mashup made up of different versions of the same song. I’ve downloaded and opened a track for each version of the song.
I’m not opposed to searching and learning how to accomplish my goal but I want to know how to structure it best.
Since this is probably a common request can anyone suggest a YouTube or specific post that discusses the best way to do this?
John msjk
It depends on exactly-what you want to do…
If you are going to “chop-up” the songs it might be best to make separate files for each selection/section (Export Selected Audio). Then you can “rebuild” the file they way you want.
When you cut, it’s best to cut on [u]zero-crossings[/u] and/or add a short fade-in & fade-out for “smooth” changes/transitions. The fades can be a few milliseconds so they are not heard as “fades” or they can be seconds-long, etc.
And when you join/splice, it’s also helpful to us a crossfade (fade-out, fade-in, and overlap). Again that can be short an unnoticeable of longer if you want to hear the crossfade.
Note that mixing (when two or more tracks play at once) is done by summation. That means you can get clipping (distortion) if you don’t reduce the levels.
Yo may also want to match the tempo and/or match the key. …It takes a “musical ear” and some skill to match the key. (I’m not a musician and that’s beyond my skills.)
Cutting up pieces in advance assumes you have some idea in advance. When using a real audio board there a way of leaving the whole track opened and just bring the individual tracks online when you want them can be brought in when the track is needed or when the fader is at the correct level and “punched in or out” when needed?
I notice that when you use amplify to bring the level down to 0 you cannot back up again.