Crossfading Loops

Tools Menu

The Crossfade Loop dialog helps you to create loops in material that otherwise might not loop well. Mixing sound occurring before the loop start point into the end of the loop can make the transition from the end to the beginning of the loop much smoother.

To display this dialog, choose Crossfade Loop from the Tools menu.

Most musicians agree that the Crossfade Loop command is a last resort. Use the Loop Tuner before applying the Crossfade Loop command to match the loop ends as well as possible.

Item

Description

Loop to crossfade:
  Sustaining
  Release

Click the appropriate radio button to select the sample loop that will be affected by the crossfade. Most samples only have one loop: the sustaining loop. If a sample contains two loops, the second loop is called the release loop.

Loop graph

The graph shows you where the crossfade will occur. The three areas (from left to right) represent the sound before, inside, and following the loop points, and are displayed with different sloped lines.

For example, when performing a Sustaining loop crossfade with no Post-Loop, you can see the loop data fade out as data from the Pre-Loop is mixed in to form a crossfade.

Loop

Select the check box and drag the slider to determine how much of the selected sample loop will be crossfaded. The end of the sample loop is crossfaded with the end of the region before the loop start to make the end of the loop blend smoothly with the beginning of the loop.

Post-Loop

Select the check box and drag the slider to determine how much of the region following the loop end is crossfaded. The region following the sample loop is blended with the beginning of the sample loop to make the transition from the end of the loop to the rest of the sample following the loop smoother.

Post-Loop crossfading is only necessary if the sampler will play beyond the loop points.

Preview mode

Choose a mode from the drop-down list to determine how the Preview button will work:

Loop the Loop
Plays the loop area only.

Play Loop through Post-Loop
Plays the loop once and then the Post-Loop.

Play as One Shot
Plays from the beginning of the file and uses the loop settings to determine how many times to loop each loop.

For more information about using processing dialog controls, click here.