Crossfading Tracks with Logic Pro

I’m sure that you’ve heard the saying “less is more.” This statement refers to moderation in all things, including music. Since today’s blog is about crossfading two tracks together, I would like to give my take on this subject with a way of thinking ranging from politics to cooking.

Politicians are well-known for a tactic called “bait and switch.” For those of you who aren’t familiar, bait and switch refers to conning or tricking someone into buying something. You see an ad with the product on sale, go in store to buy it, only to find out that what was advertised is not available.

how to crossfade in logic pro

Like with recorded audio, cooking requires careful planning and execution. If you don’t plan out your meals ahead of time, there’s a good chance that you’ll skip breakfast or eat at some place like Taco Bell. Having a plan helps cut down on food costs and enables the cook to get a more nutritious meal on the table.

The same can be said for music production. While inspiration and spontaneity are great, having a plan helps you achieve your goals faster and with fewer setbacks along the way.

What is crossfading?

Let’s take a look at how it works. The following screenshots are from Logic Pro, but similar techniques can be found in most DAWs.

To start off, I’m going to drag an mp3 into the arrangement window. This is just for effect purposes and will not actually go inside of Logic Pro.

How to create a crossfade in Logic Pro

Now we’ll drag another mp3 into the arrange window and place it right after the first one. Right click on either clip and select “Create Crossfade.”

Logic Pro creates a fade-in and fade-out using the waveform of each clip. It’s important to note that there is no actual crossfade created, but rather an effect on top of both songs.

Why use crossfades?

Like most actions, using crossfades has its benefits and drawbacks. For the sake of time, I’m going to focus on one advantage for now: space saving. If you have two songs that are both four minutes long you can cut out a total of eight minutes from your arrangement by crossfading them together instead of placing them side by side.

Logic Pro can create a crossfade from two separate regions within one clip. This is great if you want to fade out a verse and fade in a chorus, or vice versa. Just make sure that both clips have the same start and end point for this to work properly.

Examples of popular songs with crossfades

When the drums come in during Seal’s “Crazy,” they are played by a full band, not just drums. The initial drums are from the intro to the song while the second set have been crossfaded with the original. When using this technique, you can either fade out of one song into another or fade out of an instrumental into a song that has vocals. I chose the latter for this example.

What’s your favorite part of using crossfades? Let me know below! Thanks for reading and please subscribe to my email list (in the sidebar)!

Conclusion

Any way you look at it, using crossfades can save you time and effort. When starting out, I wouldn’t recommend worrying about them because mastering the basics is far more important to becoming a great producer. As you become more comfortable with your DAW of choice, start looking for ways to improve workflow by taking advantage of all of the hidden features. Crossfades are just one example of that.

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