Removing (editing) commercials from soundtrack

[proteus459]

I have downloaded Audacity for the first time and spent about a half hour trying to figure out how to eliminate the commercials and PCAs from a 102 minute archived radio program soundtrack to shorten it enough that I can create a CD of the music the radio program played that night.

I noticed an icon in the tool bar that resembled a pair of scissors. I thought it should be easy to delimit the sections I want to remove as I listen to the broadcast and then use the scissors to cut them out. It has not been that simple.

I'm looking for some direction to help me with my project.

[billw58]

Please see:
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Audacity_Selection
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Tuto ... sting_File
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Edit_Menu

Also note that Audacity must be in Stop mode (not Pause mode) before you can edit the audio in the project.

-- Bill

[proteus459]

Thank you... I've bookmarked these 3 for reading this weekend. Now, another question...

While reading the User Manual I came across this statement in a section titled "Exporting an MP3 File":

In order to export files from Audacity in MP3 format you will need to download and install the optional LAME MP3 encoder. Instructions are here . Once you have downloaded and installed the LAME encoder you will be able to create MP3 files using Audacity.

My question is: is it necessary to install and employ the LAME encoder in order to return the edited file to its folder in the PC if the file was in MP3 format to start with?

[proteus459]

Thank you! I have bookmarked those 3 resources for weekend reading.

One added question:

In the user's manual regarding "Exporting MP3 Files" is a statement that something called a LAME must be downloaded and installed before an edited file can be exported as an MP3. Is it necessary to employ the LAME in order to return a files to its directory on the PC if the edited file was in MP3 format to begin with (ie. before being edited)?

[waxcylinder]

Yes you do need LAME - and that's because Audacity is working in its own Project File format, it is not directly editing your MP3.

And note carefully that this will add further MP3 compression damage and the way out via LAME.

But why is the original file in MP3 format? I thought that you were using Audacity to record a radio programme - and thus the project will already be in uncompressed Audacity Project format

WC

[proteus459]

Sorry for being unclear in my explanation...

The files I am working with are downloads from an archive website I belong to called Archive.org. It's a huge archive maintained in San Francisco that contains dozens of media types all made available to the public royalty-free.

The music comes from a variety of sources including concert performances, records, and recorded radio and TV broadcasts. The music archives are available in multiple formats including Ogg Vorbis, Windows Media Audio, 64 kbps MP3 and VBR MP3. Not all archives are available in all formats and the files I'm working with were available only in Ogg Vorbis and VBR MP3.

I have 4 files I want to transfer to CDs but the shortest of them is 97 minutes long. All are recordings of radio broadcasts from the 1960s and all contain content (commercials, PSAs) that can be edited out to shorten the presentations enough to fit them onto CDs.

That's my intent in trying to learn to use Audacity. Is the LAME operation complicated to perform?

[waxcylinder]

If all you are doing is cutting chunks out of existing MP3s thaen there are better tools than Audacity for that precise task which will operate directly on your MP3 file (so noe extra MP3 compression damage will occur.

Off the top of my head I can't remember the tools that have been recommended in the past. I will do a search of the forum and post back if I find them.

WC

[waxcylinder]

What I would probably do with such monstrous MP3s is to use "MP3directCut" or "MP3split" to split the MP3 into more manageable size chunks. Both of these programs are free, and both can split MP3s losslessly (no loss of sound quality).

These were the ones I was thinking of.

WC

[billw58]

proteus459: It may take a while for you to get your head around how Audacity works. Those MP3's and OGG's will be imported into an Audacity project. You don't need LAME to do that. When you are finished editing you will Export the edited version in WAV format for burning to CD. The original MP3's and OGG's will not be altered. If you want to Export to MP3 format then you do need LAME.

You may want to read:
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Audacity_Projects

Once you have edited out the bits you don't want, you may want to break up the Export into smaller files so that they will appear on the CD as separate tracks. So for example each show segment between the commercials could be its own track on the CD. It you are interested in doing that, see
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Spli ... ate_tracks

-- Bill

[proteus459]

proteus459: It may take a while for you to get your head around how Audacity works. Those MP3's and OGG's will be imported into an Audacity project. You don't need LAME to do that. When you are finished editing you will Export the edited version in WAV format for burning to CD. The original MP3's and OGG's will not be altered. If you want to Export to MP3 format then you do need LAME.

I'm realizing that this is not as easy as I expected it would be... this is no simple snip-snip project!

What would you expect the result to be if I exported the files as WAVs and then used an online convertor (eg. Media.io) to convert the WAVs to MP3

You may want to read:
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Audacity_Projects

I will do so.

Once you have edited out the bits you don't want, you may want to break up the Export into smaller files so that they will appear on the CD as separate tracks. So for example each show segment between the commercials could be its own track on the CD. It you are interested in doing that, see
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Spli ... ate_tracks

I'll read this as well although I don't immediately foresee the need to separate the tracks as the CDs will be used as ambient music in a cabin that has no radio, television or internet service. I am more encouraged by the two MP3 splitters, for which I thank you!