How to edit mp3 tracks from my itunes library

[RIB003]

OK, I think Audacity is supposed to be a great, easy-to-use program for basic editing of music files. But I'll be darned if I can figure out how to use it! I did read all of the tutorials, but ..... I'm still lost.

I have all of my music in my itunes library as mps files. I want to be use Audacity to edit some of those files -- e.g., edit out the first 5 seconds, or 50 seconds of a song. Is that doable? If so, how? Intuitively, I thought that there would be a straightforward way to import (?) a given track, edit it, then save it as an edited version and export it (?) back to itunes. But, so far, my "intuition" has gotten me nowhere...

Any guidance that anyone might be able to provide would be deeply appreciated!

Thanks so much,
Bob

[kozikowski]

<<<a great, easy-to-use program for basic editing of music files.>>>

Not quite. it's a great, easy-to-use program for basic editing of your music files. Files you made by performing a musical instrument. Not copyrighted music files you bought from the iTunes Store.

The traditional way to remove FairPlay copy protection is to make a PlayList of your music and burn a Music CD, and then rip the CD. Music CDs will not carry FairPlay. Change iTunes CD Import standards to Windows WAV. There may be other ways.

If your music was put into iTunes from a Music CD and now exists in Apple AAC format, you can create a WAV copy by changing the iTunes import standards from Apple AAC to Apple AIFF or Windows WAV. Control-Click the music and select "Make a WAV copy."

Koz

[billw58]

Carrying on from Koz's points, IF the problem is that your iTunes music is encoded with AAC, AND the tracks are NOT copy-protected with FairPlay (Apple's DRM), THEN you can convert them to a format Audacity understands from within iTunes.

In iTunes 9, go to Preferences, General panel, and beside "When you insert a CD" click the "Import Settings" button. In the Import Settings dialog that pops up, beside "Import Using" choose AIFF, WAV or MP3. Click OK in both dialogs. I'll assume you choose WAV.

Now, right click on the song you want. In the contextual menu that pops up there will be a choice that says "Create WAV version". This make a copy of the song with the new encoding.

I assume you know how to find the songs you want in your iTunes library.

-- Bill

[RIB003]

Thanks so much. I will take your suggestions and further explore my situation.

Bob

[waxcylinder]

I want to be use Audacity to edit some of those files -- e.g., edit out the first 5 seconds, or 50 seconds of a song.

If all you want to do is trim the beginning and ends of songs then you don't need to use Audacity at all.

In iTunes there is a setting (per song) whuch tells iTunes when to start playing a particular song - after 5 or 50 seconds say, as per your example. Right click on the song, select Get Info and then select the Options tab. Start Time and Stop Time are the fields you are looking for.

WC

[RIB003]

OK, upon further review ...

First, thanks very much for the helpful responses.

Second, to help clarify, and resolve, my situation:

All of my music is "mine" in that I have ripped all of the songs that are in my itunes library from music CD's etc. and converted them all to MPs's. That is, they are all identified as "MPEG Audio Files," and formatted as "MPEG-1, Layer 3."

I appreciate the insight from WC regarding how itunes allows for use of Start Time and Stop Time settings. But I want to be more exact -- I want to be able to edit out certain parts of songs in a precise way. An estimated Start Time won't cut it.

So, I'm back to my core question. Does Audacity allow me to grab (import?) a song from my itunes library, as an MP3, do some precise editing, save the edited version, and then send that (export?) edited version back to my itunes library? And, if so, how???

I look forward to hearing back from you!

Bob

[kozikowski]

<<<"MPEG-1, Layer 3.">>>

Also known as "MP3" yes. Every time you clarify this is gets foggier.

First a note: Apple ACC does a better job of audio compression than the million year old MP3 technology. So if you're after the most number of high quality songs on your iPod, AAC is the way to go. It's also possible to import Music CDs into iTunes in native format. WAV sound files, exact, perfect copy and no compression damage at all (but they're really big).


You can't just drag a song out of iTunes onto your desk top, Control Click > Open With > Audacity?

Koz

[billw58]

So, I'm back to my core question. Does Audacity allow me to grab (import?) a song from my itunes library, as an MP3, do some precise editing, save the edited version, and then send that (export?) edited version back to my itunes library? And, if so, how???

In a word, yes.

Do you know where on your computer your actual MP3 files are stored? Assuming you know this ...

Start Audacity - a new, empty project window opens. Click on Project > Import Audio (you really are using 1.2, right? Instructions will be different for 1.3). Navigate to your iTunes library, find the song you want and click "Open" - the song should be imported into Audacity. Now you can edit to your heart's content. Save your project. NOTE that you have not saved the MP3 file! You have saved an Audacity PROJECT. You still need to export the edited version before iTunes will be able to play it. Exporting creates an audio file that other programs - such as iTunes - can read.

Exporting to MP3 is trickier. Audacity does not have built-in support for exporting to MP3 due to licensing restrictions. You'll need to download and install the LAME mp3 library - detailed instructions are here: http://audacityteam.org/help/faq?s=inst ... m=lame-mp3

Alternatively, you could export to WAV, import the resulting WAV file into iTunes and let iTunes convert it to MP3. Note that Audacity does not export directly to iTunes. Audacity will "export" an audio file which you must then import into iTunes using whatever method works for you. You could drag and drop the resulting file onto iTunes, into the iTunes window, or use iTunes' Import command.

-- Bill

[RIB003]

Wow. I think I have figured things out. Thanks so much for all of your help.

Some comments:

I realize that by using MP3's, I'm sacrificing quality (which would not be the case with WAV files). But I don't think I have a choice. Here's why:

My editing needs are basically twofold:

1. I just obtained an ION Tape2PC unit, which I'm using to convert my (hundreds of) cassette tapes into digital format, so I'll be able to access and listen to the music on my ipod and through my computer. My understanding is that on Windows, ION only converts to mp3, and then adds them to my itunes library. So, I'm using Audacity to trim the beginnings and ends of the tracks, and I have now figured out how to do that, by pulling the tracks from my itunes library into Audacity, editing them, and then exporting them, as mp3's, back into my itunes libray.

2. I do a lot of DJing, and all of my music is in mp3's. There are many songs that need to be cued, to avoid the boring intros, and I'm planning to use Audacity to make edited versions so that I don't have to cue everytime. Again, I think I'm now clear on how to do that (as decribed above).

My take is that I'm going to get OK versions of the converted cassettes, but not perfect versions. I'll have to listen to them in converted form to see if the difference is noticeable. My other take is that the use of Audacity to edit the tracks that I already have as mp3's -- i.e., my entire digital music collection -- shouldn't impact the quality. I hope I'm right. If anyone has a different opinion, or any additional advice (on top of the already EXCELLENT advice that I've received through this forum), let me know.

Thanks!

Bob

[kozikowski]

<<<My other take is that the use of Audacity to edit the tracks that I already have as mp3's -- i.e., my entire digital music collection -- shouldn't impact the quality.>>>

Yes, it should. The second you finish your edit and Export As MP3, you're going to go through the whole MP3 compression and damage step again. Audacity always edits internally uncompressed. If you Export as WAV, then no, there is no additional damage.

You probably really want one of the direct MP3 editing programs out there. They're not as talented, but they're good for simple editing and they don't increase the damage.

Koz