Dragging/Nudging pasted selections along the timeline

I have searched and I can’t believe no one else wants to do this! I can’t select and drag a pasted selection in a track (NOT overlapping anything else) along the timeline? (To time-shift the selection?) I don’t want to lengthen or shorten it, or cut it. I want it as is, just to move it slightly LEFT or RIGHT (sooner or later) in the playback of the tracks. I’d assumed… I could select it and “DRAG” it, or select it (double-clicking does this JUST for the pasted section perfectly) and then using the arrow keys L & R to move it along the timeline. (“Nudging”) NOPE. And I can’t find anything anywhere in HELP ON or offline…

Do I really have to find the exact tenth of a second I want the sound to start and then… paste it in right there? And if its 2/10ths of a second off? I’m no programmer, but this should be simple to do.

More detail if you need it;
I’m a very versatile musician working on my first “at home” produced CD. I have Kristal and Ableton Live9 but… entirely too many bells and whilstles for me. I’m just starting in recording. I like Audacity’s simplicity. From handling a single audio file to mixing multiple tracks, and adding effects (VST) this little (freebie) sucker can do it (but still whining over -ASIO!) Here’s a more detailed explanation of WHY this is a problem;

I do add “ambient sounds” along separated tracks BY the SFX… to create “Timely” sound effects; crickets chirping, dogs barking in the background, wind… OK so I recorded my dog barking for about 2 minutes and then edited it (“cut” slices of silence out of it strategically to make the barking sound I wanted.) PERFECT! That selection takes about 13 seconds to “run” and works great during the intro. The song runs 4:32. I want it in three places in the song, on the same “Track” so that I can add effects, reduce sound volumes etc., across all the incidences of the dog bark track (3) which I copied and pasted the intro (13 seconds) into the track CLOSE to where I want them. and of course now that track runs LONGER than any other, so I have “room” to move selections as it were. Now…

HOW or WHY can/can’t I drag or “nudge” (arrow keys) that selection along the timeline???

Joe “Stymied?!??!??!?!”

Time Shift Tool only drags the entire track if it has not been split into separate clips.

So to solve the problem, make the selection then CTRL + I (as in “eye”) to “split” the selection into a separate clip. See: Audio Tracks and Clips - Audacity Manual .

Also see “Editing a clip can move other clips” in Tracks Preferences .


Gale

AHA!!!

THANK YOU GALE!!!

My “answer” then to this pesky problem is to create a separate track for each clip (and align all tracks across the timeline) until I have them exactly where I want them. One clip to a track, then I can “time-shift” away. This works for now. I will of course have to combine the tracks into one before using any VST effects overall.

I’m on it!