As far as I can tell from reading the documentation, if you record on Audible you are always starting at the end of the file. Am I missing something? If I want to add material at the beginning or somewhere in the middle, is there any way of starting recording there?
If, for instance, I make a mistake in narration — I’m recording an audiobook — I would want to delete the bit with the mistake, then insert the correct reading. It looks as though the only way to do that with Audible is to record the correct reading at the end, then cut it and paste it in where I want it. Is that right?
Yes, but you have to do it on another audio track as Audacity does not allow you to record over existing audio.
To start recording from the start of a new track, simply hold down the shift key and click the Record button (or press “Shift + R”).
To record from some other time, add a new track (from the “Tracks” menu), click on the new track at which you want to start recording, and press R (or click the Record button).
You could do that in Audible, but this is Audacity. Audacity is the production editor and Audible (ACX) is the publisher.
That’s one way. What many people do is create an audio mark such as clap or whistle, or set a timeline label, announce the corrections as many times as needed and keep going. Go in after you finish the segment and delete the parts you don’t want. This has the theatrical advantage of keeping you in the rhythm and emphasis of the original sentence and paragraph.
You can Pause the recording with the “P” key while you make fresh coffee and then pick it up again in a bit.
You can use Punch and Roll about which I know very little because it’s really new.
One of our audiobook tools is a process to record a short sound test and post it on the forum. We can do a quick evaluation. There’s just nothing like reading a whole book and submitting it only to discover you need to start over.
Previously I used Sound Studio, which let me do what I described. Audacity has very nice tools for preparing files to be accepted by Audible (apologies for confusing “audible” with “audacity”), so I thought I might as well work entirely in it. But I’ll probably try recording in Sound Studio, which I already know how to use, then moving the file to Audacity and using it to get the RMS right, filter out the high frequency and low frequency noise, then check that it meets Audible’s requirements.
Thanks everyone for confirming that I really can’t do what I wanted on Audacity. Being used to Sound Studio, I thought it was the obvious way of dealing with the problem.
I’ll probably try recording in Sound Studio, which I already know how to use
Whatever works for you. That split technique has the advantage of preparing a perfect quality WAV file mid-process which is highly recommended against the time Audacity or the computer goes into the mud mid-edit and tries to take the show with it.
Resist strongly the urge to do everything in MP3. MP3 is an end-product format and can create irrecoverable sound damage when used during editing.
Also Export an Edit Master WAV just before you create the submitted MP3. Do Not use Audacity Projects as Edit Master.