diff --git a/synthetizer.cpp b/synthetizer.cpp
index e840732..0215f8e 100644
--- a/synthetizer.cpp
+++ b/synthetizer.cpp
@@ -37,17 +37,21 @@ struct Wave {
     std::vector<int16_t> sampleData;
 };
 
-bool loadWavFile(const std::string& path, std::vector<int16_t>& outSamples) {
+bool loadWavFile(const std::string& path, std::vector<int16_t>& outSamples, int& outDurationMs) {
     std::ifstream file(path, std::ios::binary);
     if (!file.is_open()) return false;
 
-    file.seekg(44); // skip header
+    file.seekg(44); // skip header (basic .wav, no format parsing)
     outSamples.clear();
 
     int16_t sample;
     while (file.read(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&sample), sizeof(sample))) {
         outSamples.push_back(sample);
     }
+
+    int sampleRate = 44100;  // hardcoded for now
+    outDurationMs = static_cast<int>((outSamples.size() * 1000.0) / sampleRate);
+
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -126,9 +130,8 @@ bool loadWaveParams(const std::string& filename, std::vector<Wave>& waves, int&
         }
 
         int start_ms, duration_ms;
-        ss >> start_ms >> duration_ms;
+        ss >> start_ms;
         wave.start_ms = start_ms;
-        wave.duration_ms = duration_ms;
 
         if (wave.type == DPCM) {
             std::string token;
@@ -160,14 +163,21 @@ bool loadWaveParams(const std::string& filename, std::vector<Wave>& waves, int&
             wave.sweepDepth = 0.0;
             wave.sweepRate = 0.0;
 
-            if (!loadWavFile(wave.samplePath, wave.sampleData)) {
+            int actualLength = 0;
+            if (!loadWavFile(wave.samplePath, wave.sampleData, actualLength)) {
                 std::cout << "Failed to load sample: " << wave.samplePath << std::endl;
             }
 
+            wave.duration_ms = actualLength;
+            wave.start_ms = start_ms;
+
             waves.push_back(wave);
             continue;
         }
 
+        ss >> duration_ms;
+        wave.duration_ms = duration_ms;
+
         // Standard wave parameters
         double volume = 1.0;
         double duty = 0.5;
diff --git a/waves.txt b/waves.txt
index ce9a135..d9cc3ba 100644
--- a/waves.txt
+++ b/waves.txt
@@ -4,4 +4,4 @@ SINE 0 500 440 1.0 0 3 5 0.05 0.3    // sine with slow vibrato and long decay
 TRIANGLE 1000 500 550 0.9 0.5 2 3 0.02 0.25  // triangle with sweep
 SQUARE 2000 500 330 0.7 0.25 6 4 0.01 0.2  // square with duty cycle and sweep
 NOISE 3000 300 0 0.8 0 0 0 0.02 0.1  // noise burst
-DPCM 3900 500 snare.wav 0.8 0.01 0.1 0.7 0.2  // with volume + ADSR
+DPCM 3900 snare.wav 0.8 0.01 0.1 0.7 0.2  // with volume + ADSR