Here’s a question

When a band plays live they start a song and finish a song. Obviously.

So why do bands fade out songs on albums? What gave rise to such practice? Was it to save space on vinyl back in the day? And why do they still do it?

Am curious.

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33 Responses to Here’s a question

  1. You know I have long wondered the same thing.

    I used to think it was because the didn’t know how to end a song… a bit like me trying to spell banana. I know how it starts but I’m fucked if I know how to end it.

    Bananananananananananananananana….

    Think Paul Brady singing “The Island”. Grand song… verse, chorus,verse, chorus… ummmmm… ummmm….

  2. ooops.. obviously didn’t like the end of that comment.

    Brady screeches “Freedom” a couple of times and that’s it. Clearly hadn’t a fucking breeze how to finish the track.

  3. Shebah says:

    It’s so DJs can segue onto the next one easily and we don’t notice the join when we’re throwing shapes.

  4. Matt says:

    Fading-out can serve as a recording solution for pieces of music that contain no obvious ending. There’s no real reason to have a fade-out or to not have one, it’s just a device used by musicians to end a track. Some also use a fade-in, like Radioheads’ “Black Star”, for one.

    For more information see the Wikipedia article on the subject, obviously.

  5. Fading-out can serve as a recording solution for pieces of music that contain no obvious ending.

    But they manage to find an ending for it when playing live?

  6. JL Pagano says:

    I always thought it was radio stations shortening the songs to fit their ad breaks started it all off, then producers started putting them on the tracks anyway to make them more radio-friendly.

    But I always think a lot of stuff that’s bollocks anyway, so don’t mind me.

  7. Barkmulch says:

    Blame it all on Steely Dan.

  8. Matt says:

    But they manage to find an ending for it when playing live?

    Yes, probably because they have to. I can’t remember ever being at a gig where the engineer faded out the band at the end of a song, anyway. In the studio they aren’t limited by any such constraints.

  9. Ibanez says:

    recordings in seventies were often very expensive affairs what with cocaine and all that. Producers ended up having to save money and often skimped on ‘loudness’ hoping that if they did it towards the end, no-one would notice.

    Hope this helps.

  10. MMN says:

    Get the fuck.

  11. Twenty Major says:

    All interesting info. I like the loudness theory though, heh.

  12. Ibanez says:

    it costs about $25000 to turn a mixing desk up ’1′.

  13. Twenty Major says:

    How many great albums could have been even greater if they were one louder?

  14. This was supposed to be the future.... says:

    four

  15. Barkmulch says:

    “it costs about $25000 to turn a mixing desk up ‘1′.”

    Where the fuck did you get that from? Spinal Tap?

  16. This was supposed to be the future.... says:

    Didnt they turn it up to 11 though?

  17. porridge says:

    time is the problem. as with most things in life, songs have lots of energy at the start, start to run out of steam and ideas half way through and then repeat ad nauseum until they fade out at the end. just like old people.

  18. Shebah says:

    …louder…One – Dark Side of the Moon. Waay!

  19. morgor says:

    I guess they fade out the ends of songs so we don’t have to hear the ridiculous comments that bands make in between songs.

    “OK >?, let me hear you say YEAH!!!,
    whooo, yeah.
    I am so excited to be here today, > is such an excellent country, and the > are such a friendly people, whooooo!!!!
    this song’s from our latest album >, i really think you’ll like it, so everyone clap your hands, yeahhh, wooohhhh!!!!”

    I think we could all do with cutting that kind of shit out between songs.

  20. morgor says:

    alternatively you can leave them in quick game of guess the song :

    “this is what not to do if a bird shits on you. >”

  21. morgor says:

    full stop after “in”.

  22. Groucho says:

    FASHION

  23. roosta says:

    when I was a kid i thought the band would just start to play really quiet towards the end of a song.

  24. Jason Prone says:

    It’s a bit like wearing ties, innit? A pointless anachronism perpetuated through habit and fashion.
    Fucking humbug.

  25. Twenty Major says:

    when I was a kid i thought the band would just start to play really quiet towards the end of a song.

    hahaha

  26. Loco Lobo says:

    It’s too bad that some of them don’t fade into obscurity.

  27. Crock says:

    It was a sneaky plan to piss Neil Young off and prove that it was not always better to burn out than to fade away.

    My, my..

  28. Monkey Balls says:

    It’s simply to create the illusion that your new favourite band are going away….
    …..slowly going away…
    …away…away…
    And then, BA-DAMMMMM !!!!!!
    They’re back again.
    HOORAAAAYYYY!!!!!! -Jump up and down!!
    Yeee-Haaaaa!!!!

  29. Pish Flaps says:

    Could any of you technically minded fuckers out there suggest a way of fading that sad old cunt Christy Moore out at the beginning of songs?.

  30. laughykate says:

    When putting music to pictures, we always go to the end of the song to see how it ends. If there’s fade out you will generally cries of,’Fucking cop out’, followed by a crash as the cd cover hits the wall.

  31. Bald Devil says:

    Have a look at this.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTjKWq9Gges

    Heres how to not fade out..

  32. cnut's Retard says:

    Iv’e tuned in to RTE radio on the web and Iv’e just heard the best Irish ventrilquist anywhere, he can even sing and eat porridge at the same time.

  33. georgiasam says:

    Blog comments should follow suit.

    Blog comments should follow…

    Blog comments…

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