Audacity Forum

Hi,

My First post and I have already been very much enjoying this excellent bit of code. I have managed to record a few of my very rare old school hip hop vinyl as well as creating CDs of these. Now I have a challenge that I cannot overcome thus far.

I cannot take a passage of music which has several songs in it and make it into one *continuous* mix, complete with Label data for the individual tracks. I can record the whole side of the record, but cannot do anything more than label then entire track (cannot insert individual song breaks and label info)

I can export these tracks as multiple files and then recompile the LP/Mix song listing so that the data is then there (having added labels). However then there is a small pause between each track, even though there are no gaps in the mix and the audio is continuous. So while this adds the data I need - from the labels and includes a track break (so I can move about within the file to different songs) the overall approach adds ANNOYING pauses in the mix.

The other approach - using the whole sound file - works fine. However the label data (and I presume track) markers don't export with the file when I convert it into a WAV.

Does this make sense what I am trying to do?

I'd really appreciate anyfeedback, having mucked about with the prg for a bit. Oh and thanks to the crew that made this program as it is excellent, but I wonder if a more flexible track labelling system might be the go?

Appreciate any answers from more experienced users than myself.

cheers

Steve

see this article in the Audacity Wiki: http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php? ... ate_tracks

You should normally be able to link to the Wiki directly from the forum - but the link has recently disappeared (they are working on restoring it). The Wiki is worth a good l;ook at - lots of useful info and tutorials.

WC

Thanks for this.

I have already read this article and it doesn't solve the problem (I can divide tracks, but I cannot make continuous constant mixes with track info and breaks coded in)

any ideas?

Steve

when you say one continuos mix - do I take that correctly to mean "without track brreaks"?

If so then the problem may well be with tour CD burning software, or the way you have it set up. I'm also assuming that in Audacity you've already fot it playing as the continuous mix that you require, right?

The Red Book standard for CDs long ago specifified a normal minimum gap of at least two seconds between tracks (and as a run-in) - so CD software is normally set up by default to add in these inter-track gaps. Most CD burner s/w will have a setting/flag to let you record the CD without the track breaks - all you need to do is read your manual or explore your burner s/w to find if you have this setting and where it is plenty of commercial CDs are recorded this way - Sgt. Pepper is an early example).

And aologies for not reading your original psoting more thoroughly thus missing the underlying problem.

WC

Many thanks for the reply Wax. Email ping pong eh?

I am getting slight (less than a second) gaps in playback when the selection of tracks (after exporting multiples and recompiling) cycles through - after compiled into a playlist (which is actually before a burn). This is the only way I can keep track info from the mix, but it breaks up with mix into parts. So I figured I needed to export it as one long song, but with the label information (and I assume track ident info - but NOT actual track breaks) included. However I cannot make this happen. . .the label info doesn't export, or I don't know how to do it.

With this in mind I need the playlist to be created not in parts, but in one whole, but with Label info. Does audacity not do this?

There seem to be label management plug ins. . . .

any ideas appreciated?

Does the more recent beta of the prg do this sort of stuff. I can see it would be mega useful.

cheers

Steve

You can't really guarantee *any* player will play *any* type of CD containing multiple tracks seamlessly. Some will, but it depends how they handle audio buffering. But if you play the CD on a computer, in a program which uses digital signal processing (DSP) to eliminate the gaps between tracks, then the CD should play seamlessly even if it has the standard two second gaps. iTunes can play different files and tracks seamlessly.

Did you read the Gapless Burning section of the "Splitting Recordings" tutorial, so that you are burning one WAV with a Cue Sheet to mark the track splits?

But If DAO isn't working properly in your burning software and/or drive, or if the player isn't handling buffering properly, you will hear gaps.

Do you need audio CDs? If you can live with playing the CDs on a computer, you can burn one WAV as a data CD - many more advanced software players (e.g. VLC) can then seek to a specific time, apart of course from the more imprecise way of dragging the seek bar.


Gale

Thanks for the reply Gale.

However I am not sure I made myself clear. I really want to be able to export a wav that is one track (continuous slab of music that I can then burn to a CD for the car), that actually has the Audacity label info and track end info so that the soundfile plays and denotes progression from one song to another while the DJ mixed music isn't interrupted.

Can Label and track location (for CD play searches) info be exported with the wav or attached afterwards?

If not I suppose I'll have to experiment with recompiling the mix and adjusting track breaks using burning software (Nero 8 any good?)

please let me know what you think?

Is it clear what I am trying to do?

cheers

Steve

Just a note. Red Book Music CDs have no provision for track or song information--MetaData. When you plunk your CD into a computer and all that information shows up, it's the computer going on-line and finding out the information based on the length of each song and the cut structure. It's not on the CD.

iTunes and Windows Media are so good at this you don't realize they're doing it. But they're not perfect. I submitted a home-produced CD and iTunes assured me it was produced by a country and western singer.

Red Book Music CD was a juggling act between quality of music and length of show versus the physical disk size. Even though the music on the CD is in 44100 sample rate and 16 bit stereo, it's not a proper WAV format because the developers stripped off anything that wasn't strictly necessary to play the music.

So unless your car is on-line as you drive down the road--or you stop using standard Red Book CD structure, you may not be able to get there from here.

As far as eliminating the gaps, that's a function of the authoring and burning software. The two second gap is a recommendation, not a law. Symphonies routinely change track structure in the middle of a note with nobody the wiser unless you happen to be paying attention. Please note that frequently, only the paid versions of the authoring software do this well. That's one of the carrots they dangle to get you away from the free version.

Don't like the two second gap? Please deposit $19.95 US PayPal.

Koz

To reiterate what Koz said, audio CDs have *no* way of moving from one specified point to another unless such points are separate tracks. Burning the CD from one WAV with DAO, using a cue sheet, is the best way to try what you want to do. The CD format can't understand Audacity label points, but all you are doing when writing a cue sheet is translating the Audacity label points into a format that audio CDs can understand.

You don't need to recompile the mix - File > Export from Audacity will export it correctly as one WAV if the mix is all on one track. The WAV can't store the label points. Do File > Export labels after the WAV export, and create the cue sheet from the exported txt file following the Wiki instructions.

I'm sure Nero 8 will do what you want - if your CD-RW drive supports DAO properly, and if your CD player can move seamlessly between tracks that have no gaps between them. Your best chance of getting it to work on a questionable CD-RW drive is to burn one WAV, not a dozen.

Gale

Thanks Koz

Replies below.

Just a note. Red Book Music CDs have no provision for track or song information--MetaData. When you plunk your CD into a computer and all that information shows up, it's the computer going on-line and finding out the information based on the length of each song and the cut structure. It's not on the CD.

And It won't be online as I am using vinyl records, very rare DJ mix ones at that (so I have to add my own track info)

iTunes and Windows Media are so good at this you don't realize they're doing it. But they're not perfect. I submitted a home-produced CD and iTunes assured me it was produced by a country and western singer.

I know, and thanks, but this isn't quite what I was talking about.

Red Book Music CD was a juggling act between quality of music and length of show versus the physical disk size. Even though the music on the CD is in 44100 sample rate and 16 bit stereo, it's not a proper WAV format because the developers stripped off anything that wasn't strictly necessary to play the music.

So unless your car is on-line as you drive down the road--or you stop using standard Red Book CD structure, you may not be able to get there from here.

Because the source is a custom made record this will never be possible, but again thanks for the insight.

As far as eliminating the gaps, that's a function of the authoring and burning software. The two second gap is a recommendation, not a law. Symphonies routinely change track structure in the middle of a note with nobody the wiser unless you happen to be paying attention. Please note that frequently, only the paid versions of the authoring software do this well. That's one of the carrots they dangle to get you away from the free version.

I may have to fiddle with this as track breaks are the only way I can navigate the CD, therefore I'll just need to make seperate tracks and go from there I suppose.

Don't like the two second gap? Please deposit $19.95 US PayPal.

Grabbing Nero 8. Should do the trick. I hope

Oh also thanks Gale. I understand now, which is a good start. I have been buringing continuous mixes with no prob, and I could try exporting the track info as you stated. Except this would still not give me functional breaks interms of the CD player reading the disc (this is right isn't it). So I'll have to re-author the content, putting individual track breaks in and buring track by track with a gapless setting. I think this may work. I'll let u know.

Appreciate the help of all.

Steve