Audacity Forum

Hi -
I'm recording lengthy takes of audiobook narration. As I record, I need to leave a searchable mark where I've made a mistake, so I can go back later and edit it. Is that possible in Audacity? A mark or label I can insert on the fly, then GoTo during playback?
AND...
If so, will that mark or label be locked to the track or the timeline - for it work properly for me, it should be locked to the track - if to the timeline, then once I've made my first edit, all subsequent labels will be inaccurate, yes?

Thanks -

Donald

cosmoshopper wrote:As I record, I need to leave a searchable mark where I've made a mistake, so I can go back later and edit it. Is that possible in Audacity? A mark or label I can insert on the fly, then GoTo during playback?

Yes. The command is Tracks > Add Label at Playback Position. The trouble is that the default keyboard shortcut is command-M, which on Mac minimizes the window. I've just tried this, after changing the keyboard shortcut for that command to F8. Works like a charm.

http://manual.audacityteam.org/index.ph ... references

cosmoshopper wrote:If so, will that mark or label be locked to the track or the timeline - for it work properly for me, it should be locked to the track - if to the timeline, then once I've made my first edit, all subsequent labels will be inaccurate, yes?

Yes, the labels are stuck to the timeline, not the audio. There are at least two ways around this.
1) Do your edits from the end to the beginning of the track.
2) Before editing, click on each label in turn and select Edit > Split (command-I). This splits the track at the label position. The splits are stuck to the audio. After you've done editing you can select the entire track and do Edit > Join, which will join all the clips together.

-- Bill

Thanks, Bill - I just read your post. Apparently I hadn't set my preferences to notify me when receiving a reply to a post. I'm so glad I checked in - I'm starting a new book today, and your answer reallys helps.

Donald

You'll run into this eventually, too: Audacity doesn't have Edit Points. Cut In and Cut Out like a video editor. the best you can do is clever manipulation of Labels which become sticky during a drag-select.

Koz

If you're up for trying some "alpha" software, 1.3.13 has the "sync-lock" feature which sticks labels to the audio rather than the timeline. Thus as you make your edits, the labels will move and continue to correspond to the points you marked while recording.

You should do your recording in 1.3.12, save your work, then open the recording in 1.3.13 to do the editing.

I use 1.3.13 all the time, and - as of the Nov 7 build - it does not crash unless I use the Mixer Board in a very specific way. You can get the latest 1.3.13 nightly build here: http://www.audacity.homerow.net/index.php?dir=mac%2F . Scroll to the bottom of the list and click on the latest non-debug build, then download the .dmg file. Install it into a separate folder inside you Applications folder.

Remember, this is alpha software that is still under development. Although my experience has been positive, your milage may vary. Save often!

-- Bill

That's great - I will download the alpha and give it a try.

Here's another question: Once the labels are on the track, does Audacity have a "go to next label" command of some work around, so rather than having to scroll through the entire track (mine are very long), I can skip from label to label?

With focus on the label (i.e. the label is selected by clicking in the label) then the Tab key will take you to the next label.

WC

Great - thanks so much.

You should do your recording in 1.3.12, save your work, then open the recording in 1.3.13 to do the editing.

Are you recommending this because 1.3.13 is still alpha and not 100% dependable for original material, or because there's something better about recording in .12?

Audacity 1.3.12 is a solid product and most likely to result in a good Project and/or Exported sound file.

Other versions might do that.

Koz