[SOLVED] How to extract multiple segments from audio file?

[kozikowski]

I don't think there is any provision to do that. Delete "everything I don't want" is dangerous. One wrong move and your show goes away. Isn't there an "Invert Selection?" One of my editors can do that.

Labels became more important than you would think because particularly if you're used to a video editor, Audacity doesn't have edit markers. The only way to mark an action region is Labels.

Koz

[Shohreh]

It doesn't matter: That's what CTRL+Z is for.

Yes, I was looking for either a "Delete unselected parts", or "Invert Selection" followed by "Delete selected parts", but so far, nothing.

Surely, there must quite a few users like me who need to 1) select some parts they want to keep, and 2) have Audacity remove the rest of the audio.

[kozikowski]

I think the closest we get is File > Export Selection.

Koz

[Shohreh]

But File > Export selection would export each audio section, re-encoding the audio in the process, before having to re-combine the parts, and re-encoding them. Definitely not what I want.

Found a work-around:

1. Launch a second instance of Audacity
2. In the first instance, create regions for each segment you want to keep
3. For each region: Select it by clicking on its label in the Label Track, select Edit > Copy, switch to the other instance of Audacity, select Edit > Paste

Maybe there's a faster way, but it does the job.

Thank you.

[steve]

But File > Export selection would export each audio section, re-encoding the audio in the process,

It will only encode if you choose a format that requires encoding. If you choose 32-bit float WAV format then the exported file is identical to the original audio in Audacity.

Found a work-around:
1) Launch a second instance of Audacity

You can also do it in the same Audacity session. Just create a new track (Tracks menu) and then copy and paste parts from the first track into the second track. To listen to just one of the tracks, use the "Solo" button on the panel on the left end of the track (easiest if you set the solo button behaviour to "simple" (Edit menu > Preferences > Tracks).

If you want to crossfade the audio clips there are two effects that make this simple to do:
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/cr ... clips.html
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/cr ... racks.html

The reason that I initially suggested creating separate files for each part is that if you change your mind about which parts in which order, it can be much easier if you are working with discrete files. There are however many ways to do this type of work and some approaches are more efficient with some projects than others. The "multiple files" approach is nice because it provides lots of flexibility and safety.

[Shohreh]

Thanks much. A bit more involved than I expected this to be, but it does the job.

After adding a stereo audio track, I notice that hitting the End key jumps to the end of the imported audio track, even after making sure the focus is put on the new audio track: Is there a way to jump to the end of the new audio track instead?

[steve]

Is there a way to jump to the end of the new audio track instead?

"K" (Moves the cursor to the end of the selected track)
See: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/ke ... rence.html

[Gale Andrews]

Isn't there an "Invert Selection?"

If Edit > Labeled Audio had a Trim command, or if there was Tracks > Invert Labels, the task would have been much easier.


Gale

[Shohreh]

I'm stuck at how to crossfade the parts I copy/pasted from the full file above to the new audio tracks below:

Audacity.crossfade.tracks.jpg (107.15 KiB) Viewed 786 times

Effect > Crossfade Tracks says "Nyquist: Only 1 track selected. 'Crossfade Tracks' requires 2 tracks."

OTOH, although it looks like what I need, the Crossfade Clips article on the Audacity site contains no URL from which to download this plug-in.
---
Edit: clipfix.ny is listed in "c:\Program Files\Audacity\Plug-Ins\", but Edit > Preferences seems to show no way to enable/disable plug-ins: Why is Crossfade Clip not listed in the Effect menu?

[steve]

OTOH, although it looks like what I need, the Crossfade Clips article on the Audacity site contains no URL from which to download this plug-in.

It is included in Audacity 2.1.1