Windows 10, Audacity Version 3.1.3: So, Time Shift is gone, and Clip Handles are in…OK, but how does one actually use a clip handle? The Audacity Manual explains what a clip handle is, but not really how to use it (??). I often record old LP’s to digital, and sometimes need to add additional space between song tracks within the recording. Too often, online posts say to add silence, but what I need is space; I can always turn the space to silence, but if I don’t have the space…can’t do that. I’ve been attempting Edit/Clip Boundaries/Split, but when I then move the curser to the clip handle and attempt to move it along the timeline, it simply “covers” up the audio, and there doesn’t seem to be any way to “finish” the process. And again, it’s not moving the audio but covering it up. What am I missing?
OK; this has been a confusing point for a number of Audacity users. There are now (at least) three (3) ways to click and drag a clip:
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Drag clip. Move the cursor over the white bar sitting on top of your clip. The cursor will change to a hand. Now you can click and drag the entire clip to left or right - as long a nothing is in the way. You can also drag the clip up or down into an adjacent track, as long as there is room for it there. You could reverse the order of two clips by creating a new empty track, dragging the first clip down and around the second clip, then back up again.
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Trim clip. If you want to temporarily remove audio from the beginning or end of a clip. Move the cursor along the side but near the top of a clip. The cursor will change into the left-right double-pointing arrow that we used to associate with moving a clip. This clip trimming “feature” allows you to shorten a clip. Later on if for some reason you change your mind, you can un-trim this audio. I suspect this is what you meant above by “covers up the audio”.
3)Trim off clip. You can still trim off the ends of the clip as you did in earlier versions of Audacity. To do this, move the cursor along the side but near the bottom of a clip. The “I-beam” cursor will remain unchanged, but the yellow snap guide-line will appear. Click and drag towards the center of the clip. This allows you to select a portion of audio beginning or ending at the clip edge. Press delete to trim this audio permanently. (As always, press Ctrl+Z to undo the action.)
Note that the behavior in step three is no different in principle than selecting and deleting audio from the center of a clip. I only point this out as some people still want their edge trimming to remain permanent.
Thanks for the info. It does in fact work. I came to realize (after reading your description) that once I got the “hand” cursor, I’d been attempting to then drag the tracks, not the white ribbon. Thanks again. dogears