Q: I compose acoustic music for public service announcements mostly, but also sometimes for radio spots and TV commercials. However, it’s often hard fitting the music into the exact 30 seconds of time I have available. I’m sure there are lots of expensive software that can tweak the timing on my music, but I do most of the work for free or very little money. Are there any options that won’t put me in the poor house, but that let me adjust my timing?
A: You’re in luck! Many DAWs offer time-compression and expansion features built-in or as plug-ins. Check your program, you may already have what you need! There are also some standalone shareware and freeware applications that will slow down or speed up audio.