Pre-Entry and Post Exit

Music intended to be played in a loop must contain three sections:

A Pre-Entry is a brief anacrusis gesture that precedes the first beat of the first measure of the section intended to loop.
The duration of the Pre-Entry is generally one or two beats.
The Pre-Entry will eventually be played simultaneously with the end of the loop section. It is therefore preferable to compose the music while considering both of these aspects:
- Create a simple Pre-Entry without a distinct chord or harmonic content. This will prevent unwanted dissonance when the Pre-Entry overlaps with the end of the loop section.
- Ensure that the instruments playing during the Pre-Entry do not play during the end of the loop section. This will prevent instrument doubling when the Pre-Entry overlaps with the end of the loop section.
Here are examples of musical gestures that could work well as Pre-Entries:
- A quick crescendo snare drum roll
- A quick ascending scale run
In the case of a “Simple Loop without Wwise”, the Pre-Entry is not heard at the beginning of the audio file (it is only heard at the end, when the file loops).
Therefore, to avoid making the beginning of the file sound “cut off” during the first listen, it is preferable not to use a Pre-Entry (or to make it very subtle, such as a small snare drum roll).
However, in the case of a “Simple Loop with Wwise”, the Pre-Entry is desirable and can be more pronounced (e.g.: a large cymbal roll).

A Post-Exit is the resonance of the end of the loop section (e.g.: the reverb tail of the final measure).
The duration of the Post-Exit is generally one or two measures.
The Post-Exit will eventually be played simultaneously with the beginning of the loop section. Therefore, it is preferable to leave the Post-Exit section empty in the sequencer. e.g.: there should be no MIDI notes during this section. This will prevent unwanted dissonance when the Post-Exit overlaps with the beginning of the loop section.
In the case of a “Simple Loop without Wwise”, the Post-Exit is heard simultaneously with the beginning of the file from the very first listen.
Therefore, it is preferable that the end of the music is not too dense. e.g.: avoid a full orchestral tutti on the final beat. This way, the Post-Exit will remain subtle and will not create conflicts (e.g.: a polyharmonic effect) when heard simultaneously with the beginning of the music during the first playback.

Export the complete music file (the Pre-Entry, the loop section, and the Post-Exit) as a single audio file.
Name the audio file according to the guidelines described in the section regarding Audio File Naming Conventions.