Separating tracks from an album

[andy22]

I've downloaded an album where the tracks arn't separated and want to edit them so they are separate. Is there any way to do this
Also i've got a few albums with hidden tracks that don't start for several minutes after the last song finishs. Is it possible to get rid of the "silent" bits?

[Sparkee]

The easiest fix is to rip the tracks from an audio CD and let the ripper do the work. Otherwise you will need to use audio editing software to split the tracks and cut out the silent parts. Mac users can use GarageBand which is included with the iLife suite to edit sound files.

A good free alternative for both Mac and Windows is Audacity, but like most free open source software it can be a little tough to figure out but is very powerful once you do. Audacity does have a fairly large learning curve.

On the Windows side I used Goldwave Audio Editor extensively to make mp3's out of my rare cassette tapes. I must admit there is a few songs ripped from 8 tracks as well. Although not perfect it is a little quicker to learn to clean up old tape recorded music than Audacity. For it's price Goldwave is worth every penny at $50 but if you only expect to use it for a few files it can be had for $20 for a 1 year licence. Professional software can cost hundreds of dollars.

However you choose to do it spend a weekend learning how to use the software. You will find these programs can make major changes to music, some good, some bad. Create copies of your files for editing keeping an original just incase. Even once you found a workflow that works for you keep the original files around for a while just incase you find one of the effects or EQ adjustments didn't turn out as well as you thought.

Have fun.

[rockmyplimsoul]

Actually, iTunes can do all of what you want, without having to burn or rip CDs, or use additional software.

For your downloaded album, I'm assuming that this is showing up in iTunes as one massive track? It will take a bit of effort, but jot down the following for each track you want to break out separately:

- Track Name and Track Number (based on what you know about the album)
- Track Start time within the massive single track
- Track End time within the massive single track

Then go to iTunes preferences and set your import format (for ripping) to your desired format (AAC or mp3) and bitrate (no sense setting the bitrate any larger than what the massive track is).

Then go to Get Info for the massive track, click on the Options tab, then set the Start and End time according to what you wrote down above. Close the Get Info window, then right-click on the massive track and select "Convert to ..." (whatever format you chose).

iTunes will now create a separate entry (and native file) based on your Start/ End times. For the new track iTunes created, go into Get Info and set the track name, number, artist, album, etc.

Now keep doing this procedure for each track of the massive entry, setting a different Start & End time according to each track. It's a bit of work, but not as bad as it sounds.

For your tracks with "dead-air" at the beginning (I hate that!) you can do the same process.

Now, the audiophile will say this is all not a good idea because you're transcoding lossy to lossy formats. Well, that's true but if your equipment and ears can't pick up the difference, what does it matter?

[andy22]

Thanks Rockmyplimsoul that sounds a good way to do it so will give it a try.

Andy22