How do I split two synced tracks?

Audacity 3 Help Forum GNU/Linux
1

This seems basic, but I have looked through the manual and on the web, but can’t get a definitive answer.

I have two tracks, and I need to keep them synced. I recently learned I can use “sync lock”, and that works as far as keeping both tracks lined up when I delete sections of audio. My recordings are generally of people talking, one person in each track, and most of what I do is just delete out when people stutter or say “umm…”

What I want to do sometimes is splice the audio so that I can create space to make way for the sound in a third track, which is audio of the thing the two people are talking about. In other words, the two people are talking about a performance, and then I want to cut away from that conversation and include a clip of that performance, and then come back to the people talking.

I know I can use [CTRL]+i to split the audio of a track and then move it around with the move tool. However, even when two tracks are sync locked,as far as I’ve been able to do, the slice tool only works on one track.

In order to achieve what I’m trying to do, I need to remove the sync lock, split track 1, and then carefully try and split track 2 in the same place, then re-apply the sync lock, and then I can move the audio on either side of the slice point. But, this seems like a lot of steps, and I just can’t believe there isn’t a way to slice two tracks at once in the same splace at the same time. Although the cursor snapping helps, the way I’m doing it now also carries the risk that I might not slice in the same point, and the two tracks will go out of sync.

How can I slice two sync lock tracks in the same place in one go so that I don’t have to turn sync lock on and off, and, more importantly, I can be sure the slice is in the exact same spot on both tracks?

Thank you for any help.

2

To split multiple tracks in the same place, ensure that all of the tracks that you want to split are selected.
To select all audio in all tracks: Ctrl+A

To select/deselect (toggle the selection) of individual tracks, use the up/down cursor keys to move from one track to the next and press ENTER.

To select the same selection in all tracks, make the selection in one track then Ctrl+shift+K

You can also select multiple adjacent tracks by click and dragging the mouse across them.

To move multiple tracks/audio clips at the same time, ensure that all of the audio clips that you want to move are selected (and not those that you don’t want to move).

The above all work whether Sync-Lock is on or off.

3

Steve,

Thank you for the quick response!

[CTRL]+[SHIFT]+k seems very close to what I want to do. However, I notice that when I press [CTRL]+[SHIFT]+k, it makes the cursor span the same time point in all tracks available. So if I want to make a split only in my two sync locked tracks, but not in a third, this will have the undesired effect of having included the third track when I make the split by pressing [CTRL}+i.

I know that I can click and drag the mouse downward to select the same area in multiple tracks, but the issue with this is that it is prone to human error. Often I want to make a split at a precise point, but if I click and drag, it’s too easy to accidentally span a distance horizontally. It might be a very tiny span of time, but sometimes I need precision splitting.

Sorry my original question was not specific enough, because I had not anticipated all the possibilities. I guess what I’m asking is not merely if I can split on multiple tracks, but if I can also constrain the split to only certain tracks, and do it precisely with a particular key shortcut or menu command. I want to make the split at a precise point on the sync locked tracks 1 and 2, but not on track 3 (I have a label track between tracks 2 and 3, which is a way I’ve learned to constrain the sync lock to not include track 3).

Is that possible?

4

Make the selection on track one, then Down cursor arrow, then Enter.
or
Make the selection on track two, then Up cursor arrow, then Enter.

5

If you are able and willing to use a mouse, make the selection in one of the required tracks, then hold SHIFT and click in the track info (where it says “Hz”) in the other required track.

Audacity Manual.


Gale