Shortened Edit 15, 30, 60s Endings

[Rhythmscott]

I recently read in another topic discussion regarding fade-out endings that some composers, when they have a button endning with a long effects trail, are fading out the effects trail to better fit a shorter edit, such as a 15s version. I understand this is done to spend as many of the seconds of a shortened edit on more active musical content and less on the tail of the ending.

On the contrary, I’ve also heard other composers say that it’s better to leave all tails and endning chord/note ring outs as natural as possible because it’s possible for the music supervisor/editor to fade out a long endning and make it shorter but not possible for them to make a shortened tail longer.

I’ve found myself torn when creating some endnings to 15 & 30s edits because I understand that part of our job is to make things as easy for a music supervisor as possible. It’d be the easiest for them to plop my 30s edit into a 30s commercial and have everything go smoothly, so I find myself fading longer button ring-outs to fit the exact 30s mark. I also imagine other situations, like reality TV, where they might use a shorter edit and want a long ring out to last through a scene change, so that makes me want to include the entire tail.

So, I have a few questions that will hopefully advise my future decision making:

1. Has anyone had shortened edits of a cue used in TV shows or film, or are shortened edits always used for advertising? I ask because I often hear cut-off endings in ads but not in TV or film.

2. Does anyone submit shortened edits with longer tails so that the music supervisor can fade it out as they see fit, e.g.; a 15s edit that’s actually 17s, or a 30s edit that’s actually 34s? If so, do these get placed???

3. Has anyone actually heard a long ring-out ending of theirs edited by a music supervisor? Or for the most part, are your cues and edits being heard just as you made them when placed in media?

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