Insert Silence at Start of Recording

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

Audacity 3.6.1 on a Windows 10.0.19054 laptop.

This question appears as far back as 2014 on the help forum, but I saw no resolution. To record directly from the internet on a computer without any background noise from microphones, you need to use Windows WASAPI as the host in Audio Settings. The problem is that recording doesn’t actually start until Audacity detects a signal. However, I sometimes want to have a few seconds of silence at the start of a recording that starts abruptly. I don’t see a way to add a few seconds of silence at the start of a recording. In 2014, someone suggested using “Generate Silence,” but this just seems to create a new track with a blank area at the beginning.

How can I insert a stretch of silence at the beginning of a recording in an existing project?

Thank you.

2
  1. Click on the track
  2. Press the “|<” button (Skip to Start)
  3. “Generate menu → Silence”

(At step 2, the keyboard shortcut for “skip to start” is the “Home” key.)

3

Thanks for responding, Steve. I think this would work if I did it before I began to record. With a preexisting recording, I had to create a new stereo track, generate the silence, then copy and paste the existing recording into the new tracks, then delete the original track.

Terry

4

It works for me the way that I described. If it does not work like that for you, then you may be using a bugged version.