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November 9, 2009 11:00 AM PST
How to edit an MP3 audio file
Whether it's a two-hour Grateful Dead concert or a 45-minute DJ mix, we all have an MP3 in our music collection that gets skipped for being too long. Tragically, there's usually one or two great songs in these recordings that would otherwise be in heavy rotation if they weren't tied to such a tediously long file.
Well, today we're going to show you how to cut these songs loose by opening up and editing your MP3s in Audacity. The whole process is relatively painless, and if you set it up correctly, you can easily drag and drop files directly from iTunes, chop them up, and spit them back out.
We have a video and slideshow with all the details. If you have any other techniques to share, please suggest them in the comments section.
Donald Bell is CNET Reviews' senior editor for MP3 players and portable audio, and one half of the MP3 Insider blog and weekly podcast. He also likes getting his hands dirty with digital audio tools for musicians and DJs.
Donald Bell is an electronic musician, a veteran record store employee, and a fearless hardware hacker. He's also CNET's Senior Editor for MP3 and digital audio.
Jasmine France is CNET's resident digital audio doyenne, writing and editing product reviews, crave blogs, and feature stories on all things MP3. And if you need advice on headphones, she's your girl.
If I want to get just a piece of an .mp3, .wma, whatever file, I just open Total Recorder, open the file, easily find the piece I want and select the beginning and the end and click on "Save Selection As". I do not have to play the file, just find where to start and where to end, just as I would in Audacity.