How do Youtubers turn single tracks into non-slowed but perfectly extended/looped tracks?
Caveat: its usually video game soundtrack items but can almost any track be basically looped in this way?
Probably helps that most music begins and ends on the tonic or maybe they slice the track in half and cross-fade or something?
How can it be (easily) replicated
3 replies
So, if you were to drop any audio recording into an editor, you’ll see what’s called a waveform. The waveform is very simply a graph of how your speaker cones actually move. Time on the X axis, amplitude on the Y (in the positive direction the speaker is moving towards you from its resting place in the middle, and in the negative it is moving away you) (put another way, the waveform is the groove that would be cut into a record. The movement of the needle up and down as it follows that groove is then amplified and mimicked on the speakers)
In order for a loop to be “perfect”, you need to create a continuous waveform. You can technically attempt to draw one with harsh breaks, but your speakers are made of physical material that cannot teleport or otherwise experience instantaneous changes in acceleration.
So, in attempting to follow such a messy signal, your speakers will try to move to the right position as fast as possible, creating an unpleasant popping sound.
So in essence, you need to find a moment near the end of a track that is identical to a moment near the beginning. Otherwise the sudden change will create an audible “seam” in the loop that may disturb listeners
Older game sound tracks have the distinct advantage of being synthesized or using samples. They are also often intentionally designed to be looped, since they loop while you are playing. So there are many, many points to choose from where the waveforms are the same.
For other music, the more “organic” it is the harder the task will be. One great place to try is moments of complete silence, if even for a fraction of a second, since the speaker will be at rest in both places. Another strategy is to try the opposite, and disguise the “seam” under a loud noise where it won’t be detectible. There are lots of other ways to create “imperfect” loops like that, by editing the adjoining ends with any method you can think of until it sounds good
Copy and paste at the right timestamps in an audio editor like Audacity. It's pretty easy even for a beginner.
Vibe on where you think a loop can happen. Line it up, do some smoothing, cut it to size, export.