Using the mouse for Editing

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

Hi

I’m running Audacity 2.0.2 on a Windows 10 Pro and I’m editing a large (more than 2 hours) audio file.

Ideally I’d like to use my mouse (wheel) to scroll forward and back through the file and use the left button to start and stop playback and the right button to add begin and end marks to allow extraction/export/deletion of sections.

Is this possible?

Brian

2

Ctrl + Mouse wheel to zoom in/out
Shift + Mouse wheel to scroll horizontally
Mouse wheel scrolls vertically if you have more tracks than fits on the screen

Mouse events are not currently customisable. Look in “Edit > Preferences > Mouse” for the full list.

Start/Stop is set to spacebar by default.
Keyboard shortcut keys may be customised. See: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/keyboard_preferences.html
The full list of default keyboard shortcuts is here: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/keyboard_shortcut_reference.html

3

Thanks Steve

That’s really helpful.

One last question. Say I’ve advanced to a point in the file perhaps 5 minutes into it and I want to select from there back to the beginning as a selection for export. At the moment I’m scrolling back and takes forever; is there a quicker way?

And, finally (sorry :slight_smile:, is there a way of adding markers to a long recording that Audacity can quickly skip to? Supposing I’m recording a singing session and there are songs interspersed with periods of chat etc. Is there a sort of audio clapperboard?

Brian

4

You’ve not said how you are “advancing”. If you are “playing” the track and there is no audio selection

  1. Shift + A (stop and set cursor)
  2. Shift + Home (extend selection to start).

Audacity has “labels” Audacity Manual

You can also play instantly from any position using the “Timeline Quick Play” feature (click on the Timeline: Audacity Manual)

5

Thanks again Steve

I scroll through till I’m where I want to be then I use the mouse to mark the position with a thin vertical black line then I drag that line back to he beginning to highlight the section I want to export.

I meant adding markers during the time the recording is being made like a film director uses a clapperboard to mark starts and not after in editing.

B

6

then “shift + Home”.

That’s on the page that I gave a link for: Audacity Manual

7

Hi Steve

I read that but it’s based on your being inside Audacity during recording time but that’s not my situation.

I set up a digital recorder (an Olympus LS10) and let it run through an entire session; some 2 hours or more. I then offload the recording to my PC where I get to work on it with Audacity.

If there was a means of recording start and stop points that Audacity could find that would be brilliant.

B

8

That is an Audacity “feature request”. The standard method would be for the recorder to add embedded cue points into the WAV file. Some audio editors can see those points, but Audacity cannot.


Gale

9

Thanks Gale

Wasn’t intending to be a nuisance and I definitely don’t want to be suggesting more work!

Audacity’s brilliant; I just don’t know it well enough.

Brian