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Audacity is one of, if not the only, best audio recording applications that are available for Windows and macOS. And that too without any cost. The application offers plenty of features to the users that come in handy during a number of situations. However, these can also produce quite a lot of confusion as well. And this is probably why a lot of people are asking how to split audio in audacity.
There are times when one forgets something while recording the audio and there seems to be no way of undoing it except repeating the whole process. However, it is not the case with audacity as by splitting the audio, you can easily add or move the part of the audio around. This would eliminate the need of redoing the entire set.
In this guide, we would let you know the simple steps you need to follow as an answer to how to split audio in audacity. In addition to editing the voice recording, you would also be able to edit entire tracks with the help of this audacity tutorial.
These steps are extremely easy and the pictures alongside them would make them even easier. The guide given below would let you know about how to splice the audio in audacity and how to split audio tracks in audacity as well.
So, without any further ado, let’s dive right into the audacity tutorial on how to split audio in audacity.
Steps To Be Followed- How to Split Audio in Audacity
The guide is based on the assumption that the people who ask how to split audio in audacity have already installed audacity in their PC. In case it is not, you would have to download the Audacity from their website in order to follow the guide on how to split the audio tracks in audacity.
The application is very light and also free which is why the installation would not take much of your time. Once you have downloaded the application you can proceed to the following steps of how to split an audio track in audacity.
Step 1- Selection of the Audio
The first thing that you need is how to split an audio track in audacity with the audio that you want to edit. It can either be the fresh recording or the old file in your hard drive.
To load the old file, you would have to click on open load and then select the desired file. This would open up the desired file in the application. The application supports a number of formats so the file type would not be an issue. And the audio editing in audacity is also really simple and easy.
Secondly, you can split the file that is being recorded. You would do that in case you forget to add some crucial part in that piece of recording, a thing that is common for voiceover artists. However, what you need to be mindful of is the fact that it will only work if you stop the recording. You would not be able to split the audio if you just pause the audio.
Step 2-Establish The Point Of Split
Once you have loaded the audio, the next step in how to split audio in audacity is to establish the point where you want to make the split. In order to do so, you would have to listen to the audio entirely and look for the missing points. Once it is done you need to note down that time and proceed onto the next step. Easy Peasy! It is really easy to edit audio in audacity.
Step 3- Selection Of The Right Tool
When you have established the point of split the next thing to do is to select the right tool from the tool box. You would see the toolbox in the interface right beneath the effect, analyze and help in the top bar. From the given tool you have to select the “selection tool”, which looks like “I”.
When you have selected this tool, you would have to bring it to the point where you want to make the edit. Look at the time that you noted down in the previous step and bring this tool to that point. This is a really crucial step in audio editing in audacity because the wrong cut can ruin your entire recording.
Step 4- Making the Split
After bringing the selection tool to the point where you want to make the cut, it is indeed the time to make the cut. In order to do so, you would have to click at the edit from the top bar. In the pop-up you would see a clip boundary option where you would need to click on the split.
You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + I to avoid all the hassle mentioned above. When you are done with this process, you should see a gap between the two audios at the point where you made the cut. This shows that the audacity split track has been made.
Step 5- Drag the Two Parts Apart
When the cut has been made you need to follow a couple of more steps to add the new recording into it. The first thing that you need is to drag the two split parts apart. This can be done by selecting the time shift tool from the toolbox.
When you have selected this tool, you can bring it down the activity bar and use it to move the two segments of the audio apart. The space between these two segments would allow you to add more recording into it. Pretty easy, isn’t it? Told you it is really simple to edit audio in audacity.
Step 6- Inserting the New Recording
This is the most arguably the trickiest part in the entire process. Once the gap between the two splits has been made some people might think that just selecting the gap and pressing record would get the job done. However, it is not the case. In fact, when you do that, you would see a separate audio recording right beneath the file you just split. So, what now?
Keep with us, it is really simple. You cannot add the new audio directly into the previous one. Thus, in order to do that, you have to copy the new recording and paste it in the previous track. Since, this section was just about to teach you how to split audio in audacity, the copy paste process is not within its spectrum.
Don’t worry we will get to that in a bit. As of How to split audio in audacity, that ends at this point.
How to Edit Audio in Audacity?
Now that you know how to split audio in audacity you would want to know how to add the new recording in the already recorded track. In this section of how to edit audio in audacity, we will let you know about that in as simple steps as mentioned earlier.
There are essentially three methods that you can use to insert the audio in the previously recorded track. The one of them can be used if you want to add something at the end of track. And it is really simple and easy. The other two, on the other hand, are used to add audios in the middle of the track.
We will discuss each of them, in this section of how to split in audacity.
Method 1- Used to Add Audio In The End
This method is used when one forgets to add something in the track and that thing can be added at the end of the track. In order to do so, you have to click the selection tool and click at the end of the audio, where you want to add the new audio.
Once you have selected that point, you would need to click on the “Transport” from the top bar and select the append audio. The moment you click on the append audio the audacity would record starting. Thus, you would have to speak right away in order to record the new segment into the previous recording. And once you are done, you just have to click on the stop and your recording will be saved.
Method 2- Adding The Audio In The Middle of Track
The above-mentioned method would not be of any help if you want to add something in the middle of the previous track. Thus, in order to do that, you would need to follow instructions given in this section of the how to split audio in audacity. There is another method as well which will be followed by this one and both of them are pretty effective. It is up to you to decide which one is most convenient for you.
In this method, you would have to make the audacity split tracks using the steps discussed earlier. Once the cut has been made, you would have to drag the two audios apart and create the space between them. Now when you press record a new track would start recording. This is where you would have to speak what you want to add into the previous track.
Once you are done, you want to grab this new piece of recording and place it right beneath the gap you just created in the previous audio. Now when you play the track you would find that the part you missed is present in the recording.
Now all that is left is to save the recording and you are good to go.
Method 3- Adding Audio Using Cut Paste Option
This is another method that you can use to add the audio in the middle of the previous track. This method uses the cut and paste option and merges both the new and old track. In order to do so, you would need to record the new audio that you want to add into the previous track.
Once you are done recording, you would see the two separate tracks one over another. Now you would have to click on the selection tool and select the newly recorded audio. Once all of the audio is highlighted, you would have to click on the cut option and the recording would disappear.
The next step is to insert this cut audio into the previously recorded track. You would again have to click on the selection tool and select the point where you want to paste the audio. Now that the point of pasting is established you can simply go and click on the paste button. This would put the new track in the middle of the previous one.
Now you can save the audio and you would find the two audios merged with each other. You can use either one of these mentioned methods in how to split in audacity as per your choice.
Furthermore, if you are looking for the answers to how to splice audio in audacity, the same steps are to be followed.
Conclusion – How to Split Audio in Audacity
This guide was a basic tutorial on how to split audio in audacity and some other things that you can do in applications. Audacity offers a number of other features which come in handy. We would get to those as well in our coming articles.
In the meantime, we hope that this article on how to split audio in audacity has solved your queries. In order to know more about the audacity tutorial, let us know in the given section. We would try to respond to your queries and would come up with more such articles to help you understand audacity.
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