Separating a long MP3 file

[DaveC]

I'm new to Audacity...I have a long MP3 of our band rehearsal (we start a digital recorder and let it run). I want to separate the MP3 into separate tracks so it's easier find and listen to each song.

I did the following: opened a new project and saved it. Opened the long MP3. Recorded the first song and gave it a name. Then closed the track. Repeated this for each song. Now when I open the project I don't see any tracks or songs. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks, Dave

[steve]

Audacity does not "Save" audio files. It saves Audacity projects.
When you open or import an MP3 into Audacity, Audacity will decode the file into uncompressed data. When you "Save" the project Audacity creates a small project files and a folder containing thousands of data fragments - both parts are required parts of the project - do not mess with them or the Audacity project will disintegrate.

To make an audio file from and Audacity project you must "Export" the audio file.

You would actually better using a program like Mp3DirectCut or MP3Split for chopping up a large MP3 so that it is not necessary to decode and re-encode the MP3.
http://mpesch3.de1.cc/mp3dc.html
http://mp3splt.sourceforge.net/mp3splt_ ... nloads.php (Windows installer at bottom of page).

[DaveC]

Steve, thanks so much I checked out Mp3DirectCut and it was just what I needed. It worked perfectly. Great little tool.

Dave