Audacity Forum

Hi,

I've had a look round online and on this forum, but I couldn't find answers to the following:

• Is it possible to create linear keyframes with the envelope tool? I want to completely cut the volume to zero, with no fade, without removing the any of the Waveform

• Pretty simple one this, when I open a sound file, say.. a wav, is it possible to 'save as' or save over the original wav, without having to export using the same name

• When adding a waveform to a track, the waveform(s) after it shift along. Is it possible to turn this off? So that the position of the other waveforms are 'locked' somehow?

Thanks in advance

When adding a waveform to a track, the waveform(s) after it shift along.

In reverse order:
The official way to do this is import the second clip and it will appear on a second timeline. Use the Time Shift tool (sideways black arrows) to shove the clip into position under the real show. When use the envelope tool (white arrows and bent blue line) to duck or mix the two tracks as needed.

is it possible to 'save as' or save over the original wav

Audacity will not Save a sound file. You always have to Export to get one. It is totally possible to "step on" the original file and the developers went to some effort to make that work, however it makes my teeth hurt when people say they want that. You're the people we're going to see complaining that they made a horrible mistake and need the original file back right away. It may be convenient to blow away the older work, but it's very dangerous and no pro would ever damage original files.

Is it possible to create linear keyframes with the envelope tool? I want to completely cut the volume to zero, with no fade, without removing the any of the Waveform

If I read that like you wrote it, you can't do that. Do you want to Insert Silence and push the rest of the show later in time?

Koz

Thanks for your reply

kozikowski wrote: The official way to do this is import the second clip and it will appear on a second timeline. Use the Time Shift tool (sideways black arrows) to shove the clip into position under the real show. When use the envelope tool (white arrows and bent blue line) to duck or mix the two tracks as needed.

Yes this is how I do it at the moment. I just wondered if it was possible to have several sounds on the same track, that can be locked in position.

kozikowski wrote: Audacity will not Save a sound file. You always have to Export to get one. It is totally possible to "step on" the original file and the developers went to some effort to make that work, however it makes my teeth hurt when people say they want that. You're the people we're going to see complaining that they made a horrible mistake and need the original file back right away. It may be convenient to blow away the older work, but it's very dangerous and no pro would ever damage original files.

Ok no bother

kozikowski wrote: If I read that like you wrote it, you can't do that. Do you want to Insert Silence and push the rest of the show later in time?

I wanted to cut the sound ZERO with no fade, then bring it in again. I was hoping to copy and paste these keyframes onto other parts

I wanted to cut the sound ZERO with no fade, then bring it in again. I was hoping to copy and paste these keyframes onto other parts

I don't understand what you want. You can open a fresh track (Tracks > Add New), Generate > Silence and then copy and paste that into an existing show. Audacity will push the show out of the way so you will never lose blue waves. Did I hit it?

You can also drag-select a portion of show and silence it with Command-L. That actually destroys show.

Koz

friendlygiraffe wrote:Yes this is how I do it at the moment. I just wondered if it was possible to have several sounds on the same track, that can be locked in position.

Audio clips can be dragged onto other tracks with the Time Shift tool as well as dragging left/right (there must be enough empty space in the other track for the audio clip to fit.)

If you have multiple audio clips in the same track, they can be cemented in place by "joining" them so that they become one big audio clip. Select the track containing multiple clips then from the Edit menu select "Clip Boundaries > Join" (Crl + J).

friendlygiraffe wrote:I wanted to cut the sound ZERO with no fade, then bring it in again. I was hoping to copy and paste these keyframes onto other parts

Your question is confusing because Audacity does not have "keyframes".

To permanently silence a section, select the region then press Ctrl+L.
To non-destructively silence a section, use the Envelope tool and set the following envelope points:
Start of silence -> at amplitude 1.0
Immediately after the start of silence - at amplitude 0.0
At end of silence -> at amplitude 0.0
Immediately after the end of silence - at amplitude 1.0

Note that when you click with the Envelope tool to create an envelope point, while you hold down the mouse button you can move the position of the control point.