How to make a natural-sounding fade-out
Before you bounce a mix that you’re working on, you should make sure as a best practice that you have a fade-in and fade-out on the master.
The fade-in is easy; simply draw a very abrupt automation up from -∞ to 0 on your master fader, making sure to leave a little “air” before the first thing that makes sound. (If you put your fade-in too close to the first note, it may lose a bit of impact or definition.)
And here’s a simple way to make a nice natural-sounding fade-out!
Figure out where you want the fade to start, and figure out where you want the fade to end, and make a line from 0 down to -∞ to define those two points.
Find the midpoint horizontally halfway between those two points, and make a new point there at -6dB.
Find the 3/4-over point horizontally halfway between your midpoint and your endpoint, and make a new point there that loosely defines the beginnings of a curve.
Now back your cursor up a few bars, put on your headphones, turn the volume up, and have a listen. Isn’t that great? So smooth!
This works great for both short fade-outs (think reverb tails) and long fade-outs (think every other song from the 80s).
It’s really all about that first -6dB point halfway into the fade. And indeed sometimes that’s the only point I add, and my fade looks like the second picture. And then sometimes I need to finesse things more, and I’ll add more points. Every situation is a bit different, so use your ears.
Not fade away — jamie