loops and markers

[anechoic]

I'm designing background ambiances
using a collection of location recordings I've made

so I need for them to loop without clicks, pops, obvious loop points, etc

my procedure:
import a stereo sound file in Audacity
select a section of the file
and shift-play for loop mode

now obviously I need to tweak the loop start & end points in order to find the optimal loop for my seamless background

but when I adjust/nudge the highlighted selection
the loop plays from the original selection and not the adjusted one
unless I stop and restart play back

then I created a label track
thinking this must be how loops are made in Audacity
so I created a label track
selected a portion of the sound file
and hit 'L' which created what seems to be loop markers:

O>---------------<O

since they have a start marker, an end marker and a line connecting them
hence forming an iconic representation of a loop

but when I adjust the start and end points on the connected markers
it also plays from the original highlighted selection
unless I stop and restart it

so far I find trying to work on loop points in Audacity a very frustrating procedure

can someone point me to a thread on the Audacity forum or a page in the manual that addresses making loops?!

[steve]

Audacity is not brilliant for working with loops, but there is still quite a lot of stuff that we can do:

Audacity will play the currently selected region provided that start "Play" from a condition of "Stop". If you "Pause" then adjust, or simply adjust the region while Play is in loop mode, Audacity will continue to use the start and end point that were set when you hit "Play".To make Audacity pick up the new start and end points you need to "Stop" then start "Play" (or "Loop Play") again.

A very useful keyboard shortcut for setting/adjusting loop points is the "B" key.
1) select a region
2) place the mouse pointer near to one end or the other of the selected region
3) Press "B" - Audacity will play the region between the mouse pointer and the nearest end of the selected region (try it - much easier than me trying to explain).

I created a label track
selected a portion of the sound file
and hit 'L' which created what seems to be loop markers:

"L" (or SHIFT+Play, or SHIFT+Spacebar) will "loop play" the selected region (not the label region, unless they are the same).

To select a marked region (the region defined by a label), click on the label name.

To shift "focus" from one track to another without loosing the selected area, hold the SHIFT key down and click below the track name (take care not to nudge the volume or pan sliders). This will toggle whether a track is selected or not.

[anechoic]

thanks steve!
you are correct in that Audacity leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to making loops
having to hit stop or pause so Audacity can 'pick up' the new loop start and/or stop markers makes crafting loops very painful
I might just switch to using Ardour for this task

[kozikowski]

<<<having to hit stop or pause so Audacity can 'pick up' the new loop start and/or stop markers makes working with loops in real-time very painful>>>

Exactly. Audacity is a post production program. It doesn't do anything in real time except record/capture and play back.

Koz

[anechoic]

what is a post production program?
I thought it was a sound editor

what I find interesting is how Audacity seems to be like the blind man and the elephant around here
everyone has their own idea of what it is and what it does

http://audacityteam.org/forum/viewtopic ... 20&t=10908

[kozikowski]

Audacity is an Editorial Production Environment Manager. A vast majority of the postings are from people trying to make it into a WAV editor or worse, a real-time WAV editor, which it's not.

We really, really, really wish there was a way to explain that to people before they start using it. Audacity will not Save a Sound File. Will Not. To get a single, stand-alone sound file, you have to leave the Audacity environment (Project) and Export one.

And no, that's not made particularly clear anywhere.

Koz

[anechoic]

@Koz
you are pulling my leg - right?
the Audacity page says in BIG TYPE:
'The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor'

and not

'The Free, Cross Platform Editorial Production Environment Manager'

whatever that is

also, who is 'we'? and what is your position on the development team?

[kozikowski]

Tester.

And it also says 1.2 is stable and 1.3 is unstable. On newer Macs, 1.3 is stable and 1.2 is unstable.

We're full of little tricks like that.

<<<'The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor'>>>

It makes good ad copy. Would you download an Editorial Production Environment Manager?

Koz

[kozikowski]

There are some slippery words in there. It is a sound editor, it's not a WAV editor. Count the number of people posting who "saved their AUP sound file" and tried to pull it into iTunes.

Koz

[steve]

Audacity® is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds.

http://audacityteam.org/

but at the end of the day these are only words. Audacity does a great number of things and can be used for many purposes. It is a tool, and as with all tools to get the most out of it requires learning how to use it, and what to use it for. Fortunately there are may resources to help new users become familiar with Audacity (including the Audacity wiki, tutorials, video tutorials, and the manual http://audacityteam.org/help/ )

Also, the capabilities of Audacity have been considerably expanded since the original release, and Audacity is under continuing development thanks to the enthusiasm and dedication of the many people that contribute to the project. Even if you are not a programmer, there are many other ways to get involved with the Audacity project: http://audacityteam.org/community/ (also people required to help with writing documentation and people to help out on this forum).