long length recordings

I am new to audacity using windows 10 and version 2.1.3. I am recording long length tapes originally from radio in the mid to late eighties thru the early nineties, typically 6 hours in length or longer to export in mp3 files. I found that I have to remove a range of music due to signal loss, but it is located in the middle of the file. Is there a way I can put the time to start and stop and erase in between. Also is there a way to put chapters in the file similar to CD chapters to fast forward after transfer to mp3 data discs for playing in my car. Thanks.

Is there a way I can put the time to start and stop and erase in between.

Audacity doesn’t have Articulated Recording. The best we can do is Timer Recording where you can set real-time Start and Stop, and a tool that only records when the volume goes up.

Transport > Record > Timer Record.

Transport > Transport Options > Sound Activation Level.

Audacity can bust up one long recording into individual, sequentially-named files. The goal is to dump these files into your CD Authoring and Burning software to make a CD, but it doesn’t matter what you do with them.

http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/splitting_a_recording_into_separate_tracks.html

Note there’s a way to do this automatically by sensing the gap between songs. That looks great on the tin, but has a lot of problems in real life. By the time you get done finding and correcting the mistakes, you could have just gone and cut the song intervals manually.

Where did you get a six-hour audiotape?

Koz

Also is there a way to put chapters in the file similar to CD chapters to fast forward after transfer to mp3 data discs for playing in my car. Thanks.

You’ll need to make a separate MP3 file for each song (or “chapter”). If you’ve ever purchased an MP3 album from Amazon, that’s what you get.

The track number can included in the embededed metadata (tags) and your player should play the tracks in order (unless you’re set-up for random/shuffled play). You can also prefix the file name with the track number.

sorry about the long delay but I have limited access to the internet at this time. I appreciate the comments and help suggestions and will try them out to see what may work. As to the question of where I got 6 hour audiotape, what I did was use my Hi-Fi Beta and VHS recorders for audio taping with the revolving head where slow speed has little effect on sound quality. I was then able to 4 to 8 hour recordings with near CD quality depending on the tape and the format. Now you see why the recordings are so old.

I did was use my Hi-Fi Beta and VHS recorders for audio taping with the revolving head where slow speed has little effect on sound quality.

Because the sound doesn’t only go on the sound track, it also goes on an FM subcarrier buried in the video. VHS HiFi was one of the best things to happen to the home audio people.

I should avoid trying to dump all six hours at once. Audacity makes a very high quality copy of the performance on import and then makes multiple copies of that for UNDO. So the data can outstrip your machine in short order.

Also, it’s highly recommended that you make WAV protection copies of any transfer before you mess with it. An unconditionally stable, perfect quality WAV at 44100, 16-bit, Stereo (CD Quality) runs out of steam at about three hours. Then you make another one.

Koz

You can retire the tapes, but I wouldn’t throw them out. Digital copies are more brittle than you think. I keep valuable work on two different storage systems. The tape can be one of the two.

Koz