Fri. 4/18/08: Fade In, Fade Out

AIM: How do we make a track fade in or fade out in Audacity?

Pretend you work for iTunes and they want you to make a 30-second "sound bite" preview song so shoppers can preview the track to see if they want to download it. Here's how to do it.

1. Pick an MP3 and import it into Audacity.
2. Pick a 30-second part of the song that you like. It should ONLY be 30 seconds! Cut that part out and get rid of the rest. HINT: You can do this really easily by using the "Trim" button after selecting your part.
3. Highlight the part of the song that you want to fade in. I would recommend the first five seconds or so. In order to zoom in to see your smaller piece of song better, use the picture of the magnifying glass with the plus sign (+) on it. This will zoom you in.
4. Go to the "Effects" menu bar, and click "Fade In."
5. Now go to the end of the track and highlight the last five seconds or so. Go to the "Effects" menu again and click "Fade Out."
6. Listen to the whole thing. It should fade in, play for about 20 seconds, and then smoothly fade out.
7. Edit the ID tag (see yesterday's post) so that YOU are the artist. Keep the title of the song, but add "30-second preview" at the end of it.
8. Save it as an MP3 (export it) and make sure to title it correctly (see the post of two days ago). This project should be called the "30 sec fade song."
9. Find the saved MP3 in your documents folder, and double-click on it to listen to it in Windows Media Player. Call Mr. Power over to listen to it. Done!