Delete Selection

Audacity 3 Help Forum macOS
1

Hello,

I am trying to clean up a podcast. There are bits of the conversation I need to delete, but I can’t figure out how to do it :frowning:.

Thanks!

2

First step, make a protection copy of the show on separate media like a USB stick. If the machine has troubles or Audacity freezes in the middle of production, you don’t want to permanently lose everything. Never save a corrected show as the same name as the original and don’t use MP3 anywhere until you have to actually post the show. Use WAV for everything.

Drag-select the portion that you want to remove and press the keyboard DEL key.

You can use the spacebar stop and start to play the selection and make sure it’s correct. If it’s a long selection, do it in steps. Take most of it out the first time and then play what you have left. Then remove more.

The zoom controls are handy.

http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/zooming.html

I usually use only three: Zoom into selection Command-E, Zoom out Full Command-F and Zoom out a little bit Command 3.

I don’t much like Audacity pulling the timeline view away from me automatically as I edit, so I turn that setting off.

Audacity > Preferences > Tracks > Update…

You probably want to turn that back on for recording.

You can use labels as reminders of where everything is. They’re sticky, too, so you can use them to accurately select a passage for deletion, effects or corrections…

http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/label_tracks.html

Koz

3

I am trying to clean up a podcast.

I note you didn’t say your podcast. Does the owner know you’re doing this?

Koz

4

It is my podcast.

5

Post back if you get stuck anywhere.
Koz