Insert silence

Audacity 3 Help Forum Windows
1

Hi,

I know this sounds stupid, but I can not figure it out. I am a computer pro and I have worked with audacity in the past.

I have a few small wav files (for a phone system) and I need to edit them to insert silence. Not delete what is there, just to add a delay in the middle. Letters are spelt out and there needs to be a 1 second of pause.

Can you help me?

Thank you so much!

Stephan

WIndows 7, Audacity 2.1.0

2

The longhand way:

  1. Click on the waveform that you want to insert the silence,
  2. Generate menu > Silence
  3. Set the duration of silence required, and click “OK”
  4. Repeat steps 1 to 3 for each silence.


    The shorthand way:

Do this ONCE for the first silence:

  1. Click on the waveform that you want to insert the silence,
  2. Generate menu > Silence
  3. Set the duration of silence required, and click “OK”

Now the inserted silence is selected, so Ctrl+C to copy it.
4) Click on the waveform that you want to insert the next silence,
5) Ctrl+V to paste the silence
6) Repeat steps 4 and 5 as necessary.

3

Wow that was fast!

Yes, that is exactly what I thought I would do.

However, everything in the “Generate menu” is grey …

4

In Audacity 2.1.2 and earlier, playback must be “stopped” (not just “paused”).
To “stop” playback at the current cursor position, press Shift+A.

In the next version of Audacity (2.1.3), you can do what you want even when paused as Audacity will automatically switch from “Pause” mode to “Stop”.
Another improvement in Audacity 2.1.3 is that to stop playback at the current cursor position, you will only need to press the “X” key (“X marks the spot” :wink:)

5

Thank you for your fast help. Amazing!

Can’t wait to see Audacity 2.1.3 :wink: