Help with creating looping audio
Hello,
When creating tracks using Musescore (for games, amongst other things), I always am irritated by the extra 2 or so measures of silence added to my audio (which I understand, it's so that the audio doesn't get abruptly cut at the end, because things ring out, like cymbal crashes.) However, this leads to an audio file that does not seamlessly loop. This leaves me with two options:
-Cut the dead space off myself using an outside editor (tricky, tedious and imprecise)
or,
-Make the audio file contain three loops, and cut out the middle section using the length of one loop's measures (adding together the reciprocals of each measure's bpm, but that is tedious at best, and it doesn't work properly when you consider accelerando/ritardando.)
Is there a better way to do this?
With hope,
radzo73
Comments
What I've done in the past is to copy-paste the first 2 or 3 measures to be tucked on at the end. This gives a nice enough overlap to auto-synch the track with itself.
In reply to What I've done in the past… by jeetee
The problem with that method, I assume, is that I would still have to trim the bit at the end, using either of the two methods I originally posted.
In reply to The problem with that method… by radzo73
Then you've got to get to know your audio editor, yes. But if you're into audio editing, then that seems like a "good thing"(tm) anyhow, doesn't it?
For example Audacity offers track sync if you place two tracks near their overlapping point. After the sync you can have one track being clipped of by the other and merge them.
In reply to Then you've got to get to… by jeetee
That's the methode I use too. But I have troubles to cut at the right place leading the loop to be a little weard. Is there a way to be a little more acurate?
Since you are generating audio (wav, mp3) files from MuseScore, the quick and easy way to make a loop is by using an audio editor like the free Audacity software.
Not only can Audacity trim audio with pinpoint accuracy, it can select zero point crossovers of the waveform. Cutting and pasting (along with looping) sections of an audio file at zero crossovers allows for seamless playback - preventing audible artifacts like "jumps", "skips", or "clicks" from occurring at the audio's looping points.