Edit Menu: Labeled Audio

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Items in the Labeled Audio submenu provide Cut, Silence Audio and other editing steps applied to audio defined by multiple selected region labels.
  • To use, first select the labels (or select around the labels), then apply.
  • The edit will be applied to all fully selected region labels, any partially selected region labels will be ignored.
The Edit Menu provides standard edit commands (Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete) plus many other commands specific to editing audio or labelsSelect Menu has commands that enable you make selections of tracks or parts of the tracks in your projectView Menu has commands that determine the amount of detail you see in all the tracks in the project window. It also lets you show or hide Toolbars and some additional windows such as Undo HistoryTransport Menu commands let you play or stop, loop play, scrub play or record (including timed and sound activated recordings)Tracks Menu provides commands for creating and removing tracks, applying operations to selected tracks such as mixing, resampling or converting from stereo to mono, and lets you add or edit labelsGenerate Menu lets you create audio containing tones, noise or silenceAudacity includes many built-in effects and also lets you use a wide range of plug-in effectsThe Analyze Menu contains tools for finding out about the characteristics of your audio, or labeling key featureThe Tools Menu contains customisable toolsThe Extra menu provides access to additional Commands that are not available in the normal default Audacity menusThe Help Menu lets you find out more about the Audacity application and how to use it. It also includes some diagnostic tools.Undoes the most recent editing actionRedoes the most recently undone editing actionRemoves the selected audio data and/or labels and places these on the Audacity clipboardRemoves the selected audio data and/or labels without copying these to the Audacity clipboardCopies the selected audio data to the Audacity clipboard without removing it from the projectInserts whatever is on the Audacity clipboard at the position of the selection cursor in the project, replacing whatever audio data is currently selected, if anyCreates a new track containing only the current selection as a new clipFor more "advanced" removal of audioCreate or remove separate clips in the audio trackThese commands are to add and edit labelsLabeled Audio commands apply standard Edit Menu commands to the audio of one or more regions that are labeledThe Metadata Editor modifies information about a track, such as the artist and genrePreferences let you change most of the default behaviors and settings of AudacitySame as the Cut command, but operates on labeled audio regionsSame as the Delete command, but operates on labeled audio regionsSame as the Split Cut command, but operates on labeled audio regionsSame as the Split Delete command, but operates on labeled audio regionsSame as the Silence Audio command, but operates on labeled audio regionsSame as the Copy command, but operates on labeled audio regionsSame as the Split command, but operates on labeled audio regions or pointsSame as the Join command, but operates on labeled audio regions or pointsSame as the Detach at Silences command, but operates on labeled audio regionsThe MenusEdit-Labeled AudioMenu.png
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Mac users: Alt = Option. So, for example, Alt + Shift + X = Option + Shift + X
Warning icon Note carefully: By default with Sync-Lock turned "Off", only the audio is operated on by most items in this submenu. The labels themselves and the Label Track are not affected by most of the commands.

In particular this means:

  • By default, with Sync-Lock set "Off", using Labeled Audio > Cut or Labeled Audio > Delete will lose the synchronization between your audio and your label track.
  • If you have Sync-Lock turned "On", then synchronization will be retained between the labels and audio in your Sync-Locked Track Group when using Labeled Audio > Cut or Labeled Audio > Delete.


Labeled Audio Submenu

The commands apply to all labeled audio regions that are fully inside a selection drawn in a label track. The selection may extend beyond the label boundaries, but audio that is not labeled and audio whose region label is only partly within the selection will not be acted on.

  • Region labels that touch each other without overlapping are treated as separate labeled regions.
  • If two or more region labels overlap, they are treated as one labeled region.
  • Labeled Audio Split can mark audio splits at point labels as well as at region labels.

To enable the Labeled Audio commands in the Edit menu, the selection must be made in the Label Track and must fully include (or extend beyond) at least one region label, or must touch (or extend beyond) at least one point label.

If none of the audio tracks are included in the selection, the Labeled Audio commands apply to all audio tracks in the project. However if you include only certain audio tracks in the selection, the Labeled Audio commands will only affect those selected audio tracks. See the examples below for a demonstration of the difference between selecting in the label track only versus selecting in the label track and one or more audio tracks.


Cut Alt + X   Extra

Removes the selected labeled audio data and puts it on the Audacity clipboard. Any audio data to the right of the selected labeled audio regions is shifted to the left. Only one item can be on the clipboard at a time, but it may include multiple audio tracks and multiple audio clips.

EditMenuLabeledAudio InitialSelection.png
EditMenuLabeledAudio Cut 2.png
Note that the audio associated with "Label 2" and "Label 3" has been cut, but the audio associated with "Label 1" and "Label 4" remains because Labels 1 and 4 were not fully inside the selection.


Delete Alt + K   Extra

Removes the selected labeled audio data but does not put it on the Audacity clipboard. Any audio data to the right of the selected labeled audio regions is shifted to the left.

Bulb icon If you have used Analyze > Label Sounds... to label all very loud sounds in a piece of audio (such as unwanted beeps or advertisements in a radio broadcast) you can use this Labeled Audio > Delete command to remove all those sounds in one go.


Split Cut Shift + Alt + X

Same as Cut, but none of the audio data to the right of the selected labeled audio regions is shifted. Gaps are thus left behind in the audio track which split the existing audio clip into multiple clips that can be moved independently using Time Shift Tool.

EditMenuLabeledAudio InitialSelection.png
EditMenuLabeledAudio SplitCut 2.png


Split Delete Shift + Alt + K

Same as Split Cut, but the audio is not copied to the Audacity clipboard.


Silence Audio Alt + L   Extra

The selected labeled audio regions are replaced with silence.

EditMenuLabeledAudio InitialSelection.png
EditMenuLabeledAudio Silence 2.png


Copy Shift + Alt + C

The selected labeled audio is copied to the Audacity clipboard.
If we start with the selection as shown below and select Edit > Labelled Audio > Copy ...

EditMenuLabeledAudio InitialSelection.png

... then create a new audio track, press the Skip to Start button and paste, the two audio regions associated with Labels 2 and 3 are pasted starting from the start of the new track, separated by blank space.

EditMenuLabeledAudio Copy 2.png


Split Alt + I   Extra

The audio track is split into multiple clips; a split is created at the boundaries of every fully-selected label.

EditMenuLabeledAudio InitialSelection.png
EditMenuLabeledAudio Split 2.png


Join Alt + J   Extra

Clips within the selected labeled audio regions are joined into one clip by removing the split lines.

EditMenuLabeledAudio Join 1.png
EditMenuLabeledAudio Join 2.png


Detach At Silences Shift + Alt + J

In a labeled audio region that includes absolute silence and other audio, creates individual non-silent clips between the regions of silence. The silence in the region becomes blank space between the clips.

EditMenuLabeledAudio Detach 1.png
EditMenuLabeledAudio Detach 2.png

If the labeled audio region is entirely silence, it becomes blank space between the audio either side of the region.


Examples

Example 1 - selection in the Label Track only

EditMenuLabeledAudio Ex1 Before.png
The selection shown above was created by clicking and dragging in the label track. Applying the Edit > Labels > Split Cut command results in this:
EditMenuLabeledAudio Ex1 After.png
Result: Audio has been cut only in the regions where the labels are fully inside the selection. Part of the first label is outside the selection so its audio is not affected by the Split Cut operation. The final two labels overlap each other, so are treated as one label.

Example 2 - selection in the Label Track and some Audio Tracks

If instead the selection is made in the bottom two audio tracks and the label track, applying the Edit > Labels > Split Cut command results in this:
EditMenuLabeledAudio Ex2 After.png
Result: Audio has been cut only in the selected tracks and in the regions where the labels are fully inside the selection.

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