Fadeouts at the end of a track - how do you do them?

Automation

if not then Sonar's fade tools are not fit for purpose, which is a bit odd.

The 2 fade tools you mention, I use them for quick fade ins/outs for edited clips, not for end of song fades, in which I leave for the mastering stage. and even then I would use automation.


Tom

I fade the final stereo mix in Sound Forge

I like to fade the tracks so I have precise control of what instruments fade, when, and how fast. 

I do not necessarily want everything fading together,,,,, see the image below and note that some fade fast while others fade a bit slower.

I also use the time line "NOW" marker as a reference point for the fades.

Automation in the tracks will allow volume control of the instruments in the project as well as the fade at the end. 

twisted6s


I fade the final stereo mix in Sound Forge 

+1

If you fade on the master buss, and you have compressors/limiter there, the fade will constantly be fighting the limiting. Not a big deal but, Probably best to fade apres print.

I turn on write automation and move the fader.
 
Daryl, I use automation to fade individual tracks at the end of phrases sometimes to make them sound more natural (e.g., strings swelling in and out).  I never write face out endings for songs, but still use Master to fade out the sustains at the end of a song to make it smoother.  Otherwise, I get some instruments fading at different times, some chopping off, etc.  For me, only one out of a dozen songs works with a natural decay.  Bass, acoustic guitar, piano, etc. fading at different times may sound real, but it often sounds sloppy.
 
PS. I hate fade-out endings but understand them.  I think they were designed 1-to make it easier for old radio jocks to talk over them, and 2-to leave people mentally finishing the phrases and thus remembering the songs.  Now they are useful for dance DJs to mix and cross-fade.

I'd like to see "S" curves brought in to SONARs Autofade options.  I requested it a few times:

http://www.cakewalk.com/support/contact/featurerequest.aspx


But Sometimes I do struggle with smooth fade outs even with automation.  May sound like a simple job but the audio doesn't seem to correlate with the automation as you  might expect visually. 

If you fade from vol100 to vol000 then I notice that somewhere in the middle of the linear line (call it the bulk) there is slightly more actual attenuation going on.  You need more sophisticated edits (like an "s" curve) to actually get a hi rez pro fade.  Can be tricky if your not paying much attention to what might seem an easy task.

Anyone else find this?

Thanks guys, I'm on wavelength now.  I'd been labouring under the misapprehension that I should be using the fade tools and that I just wasn't using them right!
Automation is obviously the answer. Thanks again for all the tips.

I'd like to see "S" curves brought in to SONARs Autofade options.

Hi Steven.
What exactly is an 'S' curve?
This is the first I've heard of it.
Could you perhaps provide an example.


Thanks for the further education.
Mike

You can do this by adding three nodes to your otherwise flat envelope

Node 1 = earliest, node 3 = latest, node 2 in between.

Between nodes 1 & 2 you want a slow curve and between nodes 2 & 3 you want a fast curve (which brings the overall level down to 0)

ProMusic27


The clip fade in/out in Sonar is a very poor feature. It could give the user the possibility to define the fade as automation does. Then, we would have two levels of automation, one for individual clips and another for the entire track...

Other DAWs have it... Even Brandon Ryan states that havin this feature in Sonar could be very nice.

Peace. 

Hi Mauricio,


Can you clarify?  I thought we already have Automation of level at the clip and track level.  I use both automation envelopes.  What function am I missing?  


Don