Cutting up long tracks - a few simple questions

[annealex]

I am trying to create tracks and found the instructions but cannot understand a few parts of them.

Important: The selection format for the track that contains the audio clip to be split has to be : cdda min:sec:frames 75fps (from ruler) [CAN YOU TELL ME KNOW HOW TO DO THIS?]

Also, "Set Snap-To Mode" to "On (for ruler based formats)" [I AM NOT SURE WHERE TO DO THIS - DO I JUST CHECK THE SNAP-TO BOX THAT'S AT THE BOTTOM?]

The goal is to split the long audio track in to several smaller tracks, so that for each track we want to have on the audio CD, there is one track in Audacity, which is easy to export.

1. Check and make sure that the right ruler format and Snap-To On is selected(see above) for track you're working on.
2. Place the cursor where you'd like the current track to end and the new one to start.
3. Go to the Edit menu and pick Select Cursor To End.[I AM USING Audacity 1.3.12-beta (with Windows 7, 64 bit) AND UNDER EDIT IT HAS A "MOVE CURSOR" OPTION AND THEN "TO SELECTION END" - IS THIS WHAT I AM SUPPOSED TO DO?]
4. Go to the Edit menu and pick Split.
5. Repeat steps 1 to 4 as necessary.

HUGE THANKS TO ANYONE WHO CAN HELP ME!
Anne

[kozikowski]

I think some of the instructions can be a little too extreme.

You have one long track that you want to break up into songs, right?

Put a label at the beginning of each song. Select or click on the start of each song in the blue waves time line and press Control-B.

When you're done, File > Export Multiple > Microsoft 16-bit WAV. That should give you a pile of individual WAV files that should drop right into Windows Media or the Music CD authoring and burning program of your choice. Arrange as needed and burn.

Koz

[annealex]

Yes, I have one long track I want to break into, not songs, but tracks for a voice recording, so people who are listening on an old fashioned CD player can back track easily every 3 minutes, rather than having it all on one 45 minute track.

I will give your technique a try!

Thanks, Koz!!

[kozikowski]

See, now if you were in Auadcity 1.3.12, they have a tool called Analyze > Regular Interval Labels. It will place them every three minutes for you.

Koz

[annealex]

I DO have that and it WORKS! Thank you, Koz!!!!!!!
Anne

[annealex]

Hey Koz, I am hoping you can help me with this related to my track question.

1) Is the only way to move an 800 MB file (1 hour 20 min recording for CD) from one computer to another with an external hard drive? I think so, but before I go get one, I thought I'd ask. (I only have a 500 MB external drive at the moment).

2) The recording I am trying to split into 3 minute tracks has a second blank audio track (which I believe you are supposed to put on there for a CD recording) and a third track with some intro and end music, so when I use the analyze-> regular interval labels, it is creating 3 labels per track and then when I export to the microsoft 16 bit WAV I am getting 81 files, 2/3 of the files are 1 KB each (the blank and music tracks, I assume) and the others at 31,539 KB. Can I put those into my CD burning software and will it burn correctly? Or is there something else I need to do so I only get 27 tracks/ 27 files?

Thanks you SO MUCH!!
Anne

[steve]

1) Do you have a DVD writer?

By the way - 1 hour and 20 minutes is too long for a CD, so I presume that you intend to edit it down.

2) could you zoom out to show the entire project then take a screen shot and upload it to the forum.
(in Audacity 1.3.12 there is a "Screenshot tool" that will help you make the screenshot - resize the Audacity window so that it is not too big to fit on the forum web page).

[annealex]

Please see if the attached screenshot is helpful.

I don't have a dvd writer on the computer where the files are. I need to move it to the computer which does have the cd/dvd burner. Althouhgh if i were brave enough, I could move a dvd burner from an old computer not in use to this computer!! I had not thought of that - to burn it to a dvd.

How long can the audio be for a CD? I thought it could go up to 80 minutes.

Thanks!

[annealex]

oh shoot - NOW i see you asked to see the whole project. I attached it to this one. It doesn't show all the tracks because it had to get so squished to show the whole project.

[steve]

How long can the audio be for a CD? I thought it could go up to 80 minutes.

The maximum length of a pressed CD (red book standard) is 79.8 minutes.
For CDRs (recordable CDs made on computers) the reliability generally drops off rapidly when you go much over an hour. There is some variation depending on the CDR and the CD drive, but it's generally recommended to keep within about 72 minutes.

If you export the file in FLAC format the file size will be substantially smaller than a WAV file (probably 50 to 60% of the size) but unlike MP3 there is no loss of sound quality due to the FLAC encoding.

When applying "regular interval labels", ensure that you only have one track selected.

The second (collapsed) audio track appears to be empty. If it is then you can delete that track (click on the [X] to the left of the track name).

The other two tracks can be mixed into a single (stereo) track by selecting all (Ctrl+A) then "Mix and Render" from the "Track" menu.