Editing with music:Moving between two tracks in one video

A single track rarely suits a whole long video. A vlog might move from a travel montage to a sit-down chat to a cooking scene. Each part wants its own music, and the switches between them are where amateur edits show.

Switch on a scene change

The easiest place to change music is where the picture changes too: a new location, a new day, a new topic. The audience expects a change, so the new track feels natural.

Three ways to transition

• Hard cut. Stop one track and start another exactly on a picture cut. Works best when both tracks are at the end of a phrase, and when the change of mood is deliberate.
• Crossfade. Fade one out while the other fades in, over a bar or two. Smooth, but can sound muddy if the tracks are in clashing keys or tempos.
• Gap. End the first track on its own ending, have a moment of natural sound or speech, then start the second. The cleanest option, and the most underrated.

Use tracks from the same niche

Tracks from one niche tend to share instruments and energy, so transitions between them are less jarring.

• Wanderlust Whistle on the Travel & Vlog shelf
• Morning in the Kitchen on the Kitchen & Lifestyle shelf

A day-in-the-life vlog could use Wanderlust Whistle for the outdoor montage and Morning in the Kitchen for the cosy home segment. Different moods, but both acoustic and warm, so the change feels like part of the same day.

Alt mixes are the smoothest switch of all

If a track has an alt mix, you can move between them mid-scene with almost no seam. See Main mix or alt mix?.