Quick toggle between two vocal tracks (2.1.1 on HighSierra

[joedacity]

Hi all. I'm a long-time singer, and Audacity noob. Blown away by the power of this free app!

Since I'm new, I'm experimenting a lot with the impact of compression, EQ, and reverb. (Also the different sound of the two mics I own.)

Common situation is one backing/karaoke track, plus two vocal tracks-- one "dry," and one "Hey, let's see what this sounds like" On playback, I'd really like to be able to toggle between the two vocals tracks, while keeping the backing track audible.

Is it possible to do this with a single click or keyboard command? With these untrained ears, I really need quick jumps to understand the contrast.

I've read documentation on Track Preferences; Solo Button, and played with it, but it's still taking focus and a treacherous click dance to get the comparison I need.

Thanks much!

[Trebor]

I'd really like to be able to toggle between the two vocals tracks ...

The click dance is avoidable if you choose the "multi-track" option for the solo button in Audacity preferences.
Then press "Mute" on one track, then keep clicking on "Solo" to toggle ...

How to toggle tracks.gif (87.42 KiB) Viewed 366 times

[joedacity]

Trebor, thank you for the response. I tried this, and it does let me switch between vocal tracks quickly.

Unfortunately, the background music track also gets muted when I click mute button, and it's difficult to make the comparison without context.

So, if...

A = backing track
B = vocal track, variant 1
C= vocal track, variant 2

...what I'm looking for is

[play] hearing A+B
[click] hearing A+C
[click] hearing A+B again
[and repeat]

Do you know if this is possible?

Thanks again!

[Trebor]

Do you know if this is possible?

Not on Audacity, A workaround would be to make two tracks: (A+B) & (A+C) and toggle between those two.