TMO Quick Tip - iTunes: Trimming Tracks
by , 7:30 AM EDT, August 20th, 2008
You can't really edit songs in iTunes, but you can essentially trim off the beginning or end of tracks. The best part is that trimming songs in iTunes is non-destructive, so you can always bring back what you cut out later on.
To trim a track in iTunes, do this:
- Select the track you want to edit.
- Choose File > Get Info, or use the Command-I keyboard shortcut to open the track's information window.
- Select the Options tab.
- If you want to trim off the beginning of the track, check Start Time and enter the time in minutes and seconds where you want the track to begin. If you want to cut the end off, check Stop Time and enter the time where the track should stop.
- Click OK.
![]() Set the start and stop points for songs in iTunes. |
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Since iTunes is simply setting its start and end play points to the times you specify, moving the playhead beyond those time points will let you listen to anything that would otherwise have been cut off.
I use the start and stop time options to trim off extra dialog that is sometimes included to describe a classical piece I am listening to. If I really want to hear the description again, I just move the play point back to the beginning.
Jeff Gamet is TMO's Morning Editor and Reviews Editor. He lectures, teaches and speaks on Mac OS X and design-related topics, and is the author of The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X from Peachpit Press.
if you have tips or tricks to share, or Mac-related questions you want answered.
Jeff Gamet is TMO's Managing Editor and Reviews Editor. He lectures, teaches and speaks on Mac OS X and design-related topics, and is the author of The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X from Peachpit Press.
Observer Comments
This is great for live recordings. You can cut out the applause, often 30-60 seconds at the end, and sometimes at the beginning as well. I have one song that has applause at the end, and then the singer introduces the band. The last 2:00 of the cut is "this is x on drums <cheers and applause> this is x on keyboards <cheers and applause> etc. I was able to get rid of that.
It?s a nice feature.
Yes you can edit using iTunes!! I do this almost daily. I record audio programs for later listening. But of course, these programs have many commercial breaks. Say you have 1hr of recording, but there are 5 commercial breaks, Instead of keeping that one file, I copy the original file 5x or 6x, (so that each file copied will correspond to every 'live' segment. segment1=original audio file, segment2=copy2....etc).
Then I'll import then into iTunes, Edit the Start/Stop times for each segment, re-import them into iTunes by converting each to .WAV. Once I have the .WAV files, I join each segment using "QTSync" you can use whatever audio editor you'd like. QT Sync allows you to join 10files and sometimes I have 18 segments to join! Once you have the joined file, you I can leave in .WAV format (not disk space friendly) or encoded using the Podcast setting for AAC import (99% I do this).
Voila! Only 1 file remains in great listening format since all commercials have been stripped away.
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