How to edit music?

[Tiggerwoos]

I'm having a few problems trying to work out how to edit music and then stick it on a CD. I have a couple of ideas for music, that I've found on Youtube, which I'm supposed to be shrinking and bringing in to my lesson tomorrow, but after looking at the editing site "Audacity" discovered I need a headphone to headphone jack and I've been searching all day in the shops for one with no luck.

Any ideas on anything else I can do as I'm a bit clueless?! Thanks.

[sk8lady]

I'm having a few problems trying to work out how to edit music and then stick it on a CD. I have a couple of ideas for music, that I've found on Youtube, which I'm supposed to be shrinking and bringing in to my lesson tomorrow, but after looking at the editing site "Audacity" discovered I need a headphone to headphone jack and I've been searching all day in the shops for one with no luck.

Any ideas on anything else I can do as I'm a bit clueless?! Thanks.

Do you really need a headphone to headphone jack? Try setting Audacity on "what u hear", pulling up Youtube, and recording that way (only, of course, if it's a piece of music on which there is no copyright--otherwise you must go and purchase it somewhere!)

[techskater]

You don't need a headphone to headphone jack for Audacity. The other alternative is to download the music you are interested in to a .WAV or .MP3 file and then work with them.

[Tiggerwoos]

Thanks for that both of you. Will give that a go.:D

[Mrs Redboots]

Clever Rusty Blades has been able to make Audacity sing and dance, and has posted a page here (http://www.geocities.com/agedrinkrat/cuttingmusic/editingmusic1.html) on how to get the most out of it.

[looplover]

Clever Rusty Blades has been able to make Audacity sing and dance, and has posted a page here (http://www.geocities.com/agedrinkrat/cuttingmusic/editingmusic1.html) on how to get the most out of it.

That page is amazing, much thanks to Rusty Blades for that!

[littlekateskate]

you can also just do simple cuts on itunes. You go to music info and you can pick the start and stop times :)

[Rusty Blades]

You are welcome.

I hope to expand the page as I get time and get in to changing tempos and how to make passages louder, softer, or change the equalization.

Audacity is really an amazing program. I have been able to do things with it that could only be done in a professional studio 20 years ago.

[Tiggerwoos]

Thanks everyone. I will have a mess around this evening and see if I can work something out. At the moment, all I seem to be getting is a couple of seconds of scratchy noises when I try to play anything on Audacity, but will keep plugging away.

[Thin-Ice]

Wow! That's very cool Rusty Blades.. it ALMOST inspires me to want to learn to edit... of course, I suppose I should consider getting a computer of my own first. (HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!)

[singerskates]

If you really want to hear the sound quality of the piece you're working on it's bests to either have a pair of headphones to stick into your computer (portable CD player headphones work just fine) or speakers made for computers. Being that I've been doing stuff on the road it makes it easier to use headphones because they are easier to pack into my laptop case.

The first thing you want to do when getting ready to edit music is to decide which track(s) you want to use. Then you need to select the part(s) of the piece(s) you want to use from each track. Then you need to think about order of pieces. Then you go ahead a select the section(s) you wish to paste together in a whole new window(track) being careful to keep whole phrasing and rythme. You want to go(zoom) in as far as you can to make sure each cut is clean. Then of course there are effects that you can use. But that's a whole other subject and I have to run to the rink right now. See ya.

[Query]

I've never used Audacity, but if it's any good, you should be able to speed up or slow down the music by arbitrary factors without altering the pitch, and/or alter the pitch without altering the tempo, and/or arbitrary combinations of pitch and tempo changes. The idea is to seemlessly paste two pieces of music together, and to give yourself the tempo and/or routine length you seek.

Sometimes you can't get a piece of music off the web into a format you can play with, especially if it is copy protected. I've used the "Creative Zen" mp3 player, which has a built in "line input" plug, to download stuff from the "line output" jack of my computer. Line input adaptors exist for IPODs too.

There is a big legal difference between limited "fair use" of copyrighted material for your own use, and playing it for or giving it to someone else. Copyright could be a big deal, if you are going to play it before an audience. You may need permissions and/or to pay license fees. Not sure who you go to for that, but an experienced coach must know. I'm told that kind of thing even affects small scale orgs like nightclubs, aerobics clubs and ice rinks, because ASCAP representitives sometimes goes around and sues people and facilities.

[katz in boots]

I've never used Audacity, but if it's any good, you should be able to speed up or slow down the music by arbitrary factors without altering the pitch, and/or alter the pitch without altering the tempo, and/or arbitrary combinations of pitch and tempo changes.

Yes, you can do these on Audacity.

At the moment, all I seem to be getting is a couple of seconds of scratchy noises when I try to play anything on Audacity, but will keep plugging away.

usually that happens when you are importing data in incorrect format.
Always takes me a couple of goes to remember how to do it. You need to convert the data to a WAV file normally, though for some reason my most recent ones came across from iTunes as Import Audio.

[Rusty Blades]

You need to convert the data to a WAV file normally...

I prefer MP3 - the files are much smaller so I keep my entire library in MP3. Audacity will import and export MP3.

I purchased a utility called "Advanced WMA Workshop" that allows me to convert files between a vast array of different types.

[katz in boots]

I prefer MP3 - the files are much smaller so I keep my entire library in MP3. Audacity will import and export MP3.

I purchased a utility called "Advanced WMA Workshop" that allows me to convert files between a vast array of different types.

Do I need to do it differently to import as MP3, or can I just upload it to iTunes and access it from there?

[Rusty Blades]

I don't remember what format iTunes use, I think it's .cda. Just see if Audacity will import it. I think you need another Audacity accessory file but it will tell you. If that doesn't work, you will need a media converter. There are free converters but I bough WMA Workshop because it was more versatile.

[sk8pics]

If you have the track in iTunes and are having trouble getting it into any music editing package, burn a CD from iTunes and then import it from the CD into the other program.