Audio Track Dropdown Menu

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Clicking here in the track will invoke this dropdown menuDisplays the "Track Name" dialog where you can give the track a new nameThis set of four commands let you move the track up or down in the project windowAn advanced, expert user, mode that shows both a Waveform and a Spectrogram view of your audio simultaneouslySelects the default linear Waveform view with a linear vertical scale running from -1.0 (negative values) to +1.0 (positive values), centered on zero (provided you have not changed Audacity's default for the display)Selects the Spectrogram View of an audio track which provides a visual indication of how the energy in different frequency bands changes over timeSelects the colorway to be used for the waveformUse this command on the upper of two adjacent, single channel, mono, tracks which you want to join into one stereo track, the upper track always becomes the left channel of the new stereo pair and the lower the right channelUse this command on a stereo track to swap the left and right channels without having to split the stereo trackSplits the two channels of a stereo pair into separately editable tracks for left and right channels, left above the rightSplits the two channels of a stereo pair into two separately editable mono tracksConverts the sample format of the current track state to 16-bit integer PCM, 24-bit integer PCM or 32-bit floating pointChange the sample rate of the track, which can be thought of as the concentration of audio samples in the track or the time distance between themAudio Track Waveform Dropdown Menu 2-4-0.png
Click, or hover, on any menu item in the image to read about that command.
The Audio Track Dropdown Menu is accessed by clicking in the Track Name, by the downward-pointing triangle TrackDropDown.png in the Track Control Panel.

Alternatively, you can access the Track Dropdown Menu on the currently focused audio track by pressing Shift + M.

Use the dropdown menu to manipulate individual mono or stereo tracks:

  • Rename a track
  • Move a track up or down in the project window
  • Set the current type of view for the track
  • Select the colorway to be used for the waveform display
  • Swap the channels of a stereo track
  • Make or split stereo tracks
  • Set the current Sample Rate and Sample Format for the track.
There is no need to select the track before accessing the dropdown menu.
Warning icon
  • To change the default type of track view with which a new project always starts, change "Default View Mode" in Tracks Preferences.
  • To change the default sample rate and sample format with which a new project always starts, go to Quality Preferences.

Name...

Displays the "Track Name" dialog where you can give the track a new name. Useful in multi-track projects to provide a visual indication of the content of each track.

The default name is "Audio Track" as seen in the image above.


Moving Tracks

Any individual track can be moved up or down using the menu items.

  • Move Track Up: Moves track up.
  • Move Track Down: Moves track down.
  • Move Track To Top: Move the track to the top of the project window.
  • Move Track To Bottom: Move the track to the bottom of the project window.
Bulb icon It is often more convenient to just click in the Track Control Panel on the left of the track and drag the track up or down.


Multi-view

Multi-view mono default 50-50.png

This is an advanced, expert user, mode that shows both a Waveform and a Spectrogram view of your audio simultaneously.

See Multi-view for details.


Waveform

SndAudacityWave.png

This first half of this waveform is a "Chirp" tone which stays at the same amplitude (loudness), as shown by the horizontal top and bottom. The linear scale on the left goes from +1 at the top (the maximum possible loudness without distortion when the signal is positive) to -1 at the bottom (the maximum when it is negative). The horizontal line centered on 0.0 is silence. What you cannot see without zooming much further in is that the pitch of this tone is gradually increasing. Zooming would show the individual cycles in the waveform (the positive and negative peaks) occurring much closer together at the end of the sound. The second half of the waveform is the word "Audacity" spoken by a male voice.


SndChirp.png

This image is a waveform view of an extremely short chirp, one tenth of a second, with only a few cycles, where the pitch increases very rapidly. As it is so short, we can zoom in to show the closer spacing of the cycles as the frequency (and hence the pitch) increases from left to right.

Visit the Audacity Waveform page for details and examples of the waveform views.

Spectrogram

SndAudacitySpectrogram.png

This view of the same chirp and word shows how the amount of energy in different frequency bands changes over time. Higher frequencies are at the top of the scale, lower frequencies at the bottom. The blue color is the least energy and the red and white are the most. The progressive increase of pitch in the chirp tone is vividly demonstrated by the upward sloping diagonal line. Spectrogram view also confirms that the "Audacity" word has most energy in the middle of the word.

  • Go to the Spectrograms Preferences to see the options for adjusting exactly how the spectrum is displayed and for the various styles of spectrogram display.
  • You can click in the Vertical Scale at any time to zoom in to a particular frequency range, or right-click to zoom out. Frequencies higher than half the sample rate of the track are not displayed because a given rate cannot contain higher frequencies than that.
  • See Spectrogram View for more details of the Spectrogram views.
  • This tutorial shows how the Spectrogram view can be used to help track down and eliminate hard to find clicks.

Spectrogram Settings

When you are in Spectrogram view rather than Waveform - the Wave Color menu entry is replaced with Spectrogram Settings.

These are the same settings that you find in Spectrograms Preferences but changes you make in Spectrogram Settings affect just the particular track on which you open the settings, and persist only while that track is open in the project. For details see Per track Spectrogram Settings.

Use Spectrograms Preferences to make permanent changes to the default spectrograms settings.


Wave Color

Selects from one of four colorways to be used for the waveform in the track.

Waveform colorways 2-3-2 translucent.png


Splitting and Joining Channels

The Track Control Panel Menu varies slightly between stereo and mono tracks. For a stereo track you only see commands applicable to a stereo track and similarly for a mono track. The image at the top of this page is of a stereo track.

Stereo Tracks

  • Split Stereo Track splits the two channels of a stereo pair into separately editable tracks for left and right channels, left above the right, with extreme settings of the pan controls.
  • Split Stereo to Mono splits the two channels of a stereo pair into two separately editable mono tracks.
  • Swap Stereo Channels Use this command on a stereo track to swap the left and right channels without having to split the stereo track (see below). The left channel and the right channel and will change places, so that the audible content of the left channel moves into the right and the audible content of the right channel moves into the left.

Mono Tracks

  • Make Stereo Track Use this command on the upper of two adjacent, single channel tracks which you want to join into one stereo track. The upper track always becomes the left channel of the new stereo pair and the lower the right channel, irrespective of whether each was mono, left or right before joining to stereo.
See Splitting and Joining Stereo Tracks for more details on using the Split Stereo Track, Split Stereo to Mono and Make Stereo Tracks commands.


Format

Converts the Sample Format of the current track state to 16-bit integer PCM, 24-bit integer PCM or 32-bit floating point. The number of computer bits representing each sample in the waveform will be recalculated for the changed precision. Further edits will be performed at the new bit depth, but audio data for any track states before the conversion remains at its previous bit depth. This means that undoing the format change is always lossless.


Rate

Change the Sample Rate of the track, which can be thought of as the concentration of audio samples in the track or the time distance between them. Increasing the rate squeezes the existing samples into a shorter length (so increasing playback speed and pitch), while decreasing the rate spreads them out over a greater length (so reducing playback speed and pitch). This is useful for example if you import a file that has the wrong rate and thus plays at the wrong speed.

Changing the sample rate of a track without changing the speed involves resampling. Resampling for export is always done by changing the Project Rate in Selection Toolbar. To resample a track for use in the project, choose Resample in the Tracks Menu.

Warning icon Changing the Sample rate of a track in a Sync-Locked Track Group lengthen or shorten that track, but currently Audacity does not observe the sync-locking and does not cause changes to any other Sync-Locked tracks in the group.