The Waveform (or cursor) Jumps Around

[driver49]

I hope I’m posting this in the right place.

I have been using Audacity to record an Audiobook. Works great and I like the simplicity of the platform.

I have to do a lot of editing as I go along and one detail frustrates me: When I try to place the playhead/cursor on the wave form, too often one of two things happens: either the waveform / cursor jumps (usually to the left) or the waveform itself jumps under the cursor, and I have to keep putting the mark down. Is there anything I can do to keep this from happening?

One more question while I’m at it: sometimes I need to make a ‘mark’ at one end of a section so that I can come back to it when I have found the other end of that section. Is there any way to leave a ‘marker’ in the first spot?

Thanks,

–PS

[Trebor]

@driver49

When I try to place the playhead/cursor on the wave form, too often one of two things happens: either the waveform / cursor jumps

Possibly you have accidentally enabled “snap” to … Snapping Toolbar - Audacity Manual

@driver49

Is there any way to leave a ‘marker’ in the first spot?

Create label track ? …
https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/label_tracks.html

[driver49]

Thanks for that reply, but I don’t think the ‘snap’ feature is what’s causing the issue.

As you can see from this screenshot, the snap feature is not activated.

Thanks also for the tip about the ‘label’ tracks. That I think I can start using pronto.

–PS

[Trebor]

@driver49

the waveform itself jumps under the cursor

Possibly you have pinned the play-head: that makes the waveform scroll to the left
https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/timeline.html#pinned

[driver49]

No, the Playhead is not “Pinned,” so that ain’t it, neither.

Thanks,

–PS

[driver49]

I think I have an idea what might be causing this issue.

I use Apple’s “Magic Mouse” - the one where the mouse surface also serves as a trackpad and responds to swipes and other gestures.

I wonder if I should try a different mouse…?

–PS

[Trebor]

There is a playback glitch I occasionally get with Audacity 3 on Windows: but the audio momentarily stops playing though.

[driver49]

Trebor, are you still there?

I did solve my original problem, but now I’ve encountered a new one.

I got a new, more conventional mouse (a left-handed Logitech m650) and, indeed, nothing jumps when I place the cursor.

However, I’d gotten pretty accustomed to using the trackpad surface of the Magic Mouse to scroll the entire wave form across the screen. I seem to have lost the ability to do that with this new mouse.

Can somebody who uses a conventional mouse tell me how to scroll left/right through the entire waveform?

Thanks,

–PS

[driver49]

Never mind. I just found the scroll handle under the waveform.