Audio Clips

Pending deletion removed for now

Multiple clips per track

In Audacity 1.2, there is one audio 'clip' per track. There is no easy way to time-shift part of a track without moving the rest. In Audacity 1.3, you can split a single track into multiple clips. You can move these clips around between different tracks, making it easy to construct complex compositions out of hundreds of smaller audio samples.


 * Cut Split Cut Copy Paste Trim
 * Delete Split Delete Silence
 * Split Join Duplicate
 * Split Join Duplicate

The commands you will need to create and work with audio clips are found in the Edit menu. Some of these commands have the same name as in Audacity 1.2, but their behavior has either changed or has been extended to support new functionality.

There are five ways to end up with multiple clips in a single track:


 * 1) Split in the middle of an existing clip.
 * 2) Split Cut in the middle of an existing clip.
 * 3) Split Delete in the middle of an existing clip.
 * 4) Paste into an empty portion of an existing track.
 * 5) Drag a clip from a different track.

These commands, and other editing commands, are described in detail below. Alternatively, click on the item in the menu to the left to jump directly to that command.

=Cut=

Removes the selected audio and puts it on the clipboard, and shifts the following audio to the left.

=Split Cut=

Removes the selected audio and puts it on the clipboard, but does not shift the following audio. The preceding and following audio are now separate clips that can be moved independently.

=Copy=

Copies the selected audio to the clipboard.

=Trim=

Removes all audio from the current clip except the selected part. Does not affect other clips in the same track.

=Delete=

Removes the selected audio without placing it on the clipboard, and shifts following audio to the left.

=Split Delete=

Removes the selected audio without placing it on the clipboard, but does not shift the following audio. The preceding and following audio are now separate clips that can be moved independently.

=Silence=

Replaces the selection with silence

=Split=

Splits the current clip into up to three clips at the selection boundaries. The audio before, within, and after the selection can now all be shifted independently

=Duplicate=

Creates a new track containing only the current selection as a new clip

=Paste - into an existing clip=

When you select Paste and the cursor is inside a clip, the audio gets inserted into the middle of the clip and the following audio is shifted to the right to make room

=Paste - into the empty part of a track=

When you select Paste and the cursor is outside a clip, and there is enough room for the audio on the clipboard, the audio on the clipboard is inserted without any other clips being shifted over

=Join=

If you select a region that overlaps one or more clips, they are all joined into one large clip. Regions in-between clips are treated as silence.

=Moving clips between tracks=

The time-shift tool can now be used to move a single clip between tracks. Just click and drag.

=Moving multiple clips at once=

To time-shift multiple clips at once, select all of the clips you want to move using the normal selection tool, then use the time-shift tool to click and drag. If you click within the selection, all selected clips will move together. If you click outside the selection, only the clip under the mouse cursor will move.

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