Audacity Forum

I'm using Audacity 2.0.6 via (great product from EXE.

I'm re-mastering some 1950's piano recordings. At the end of each take they start speaking over what would normally be the end or fade-out.

I'm therefore cutting it at the start of the speaking, and doing a 'studio fade out' effect, but it leaves an uncomfortable end, difficult to describe but ~ends half-way through a beat.

What's the best way of 'extending' the end note (by a second of more)? Then I could fade this out and end on beat.
Any other ideas, gratefully accepted.

It's very difficult to get this perfect because the timbre of the note changes as it decays and it's very difficult to create that timbre change convincingly.

A couple of things that you can try:

1) Select the tail end of the natural fade-out and use "Sliding Time scale / Pitch Shift" to stretch it. (http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/sl ... shift.html)
Then use the Envelope tool to carefully shape the amplitude into a natural decay (http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/envelope_tool.html) Tip: may be easier to switch to "Waveform (dB)" view so that you can see the quiet audio more easily (http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/au ... tml#wavedb)

2) Carefully select a section of the tail end of the waveform and use the "Repeat" effect to extend it (http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/repeat.html)
Tip: Ensure that your selection starts and ends at "Zero crossing points" file:///usr/local/share/audacity/help/manual/man/edit_menu_find_zero_crossings.html
Tip: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tu ... oping.html
Tip: The "Timeline Quick Play" feature can help to find good looping points, provided there is enough "trailing fade" to make a loop possible. http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/timeline.html#tqp

Whichever method is used, if the final note fades out too quickly, you may need to "fade up" the audio so that it remains at a reasonably constant level to achieve a smooth loop.

Adding "Reverb" to the final note can help to "smooth out" the final fade (http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/reverb.html)

Thanks VERY much Steve and so quick to reply.

The 'sliding Time scale' solved most of the (27!!) tracks - and was so easy to use (I hadn't noticed it before - thanks for making me aware)

PS - If you like old piano blues and there's a way of you sending me a personal msg with your address. I'll get them to send you a comp copy of the CD when it's done.

Gretch wrote:PS - If you like old piano blues and there's a way of you sending me a personal msg with your address. I'll get them to send you a comp copy of the CD when it's done.

Very kind of you. Perhaps you could upload it to a file sharing site such a dropbox or sendspace.com or mailbigfile.com, and send me the link via a PM (Private Message icon on the right hand side of this post). I have a dropbox account, but if you use a different file sharing service, please use one that does not require registration