Tools Toolbar

From Audacity Manual

Selection

Click to select a start point for audio playback, or click and drag to select a range of audio to play or edit. You can also create a selection area between two points by clicking at one point, then holding down SHIFT while clicking at the other point.

Envelope

Allows smooth volume changes to be made over the length of a track by means of embedded volume "control points". Click in the track to create a control point, then set the volume of that point by dragging one of its four vertically arranged "handles". When you create other control points at different levels, a smooth curve is interpolated between them. Dragging either the top or bottom handle ensures you can never distort the track by dragging outside its original volume envelope. Dragging an inner handle allows you to amplify a quiet piece of audio beyond the original volume envelope of the track.

Draw

When zoomed in to maximum level, lets you adjust the volume level of individual audio samples. It can be used to eliminate narrow clicks and pops in audio by smoothing out the contour of the samples, so that one sample is not at a very different vertical position to its neighbors.

• Click above or below a sample to move it to that point (holding down CTRL while clicking ensures only one sample is affected, even if you click near another sample). Remember, the closer the sample is to the horizontal line through the center of the track, the quieter the sample will be.
• Smooth a group of samples by holding down ALT, which changes the cursor symbol to a brush. Then click halfway along the group to progressively smooth out the samples.

Note: Draw Tool only works when using the default Waveform (dB) view (selectable on the Track Drop-Down Menu).

Zoom

Clicking once zooms in one step. Shift-click or right-click zooms out one step. If you have a middle button, middle-click zooms in or out to Audacity's default zoom level of about one inch per second. Otherwise, use View > Zoom Normal to do the same thing. You can zoom in without using Zoom Tool by using keyboard shortcuts, or the zoom buttons on the Edit Toolbar.

Time Shift

Selecting this tool lets you synchronize audio in a project by dragging individual or multiple tracks or clips left or right along the timeline. Also use this tool to drag individual tracks or clips up or down into another track. Note: dragged audio cannot paste into other audio, so the area being dragged into must have sufficient space to accommodate the drag.

To use Time Shift Tool, click in the audio you want to move, then drag in the required direction. To drag multiple tracks, click in the Track Panel of the first track you want to move, then hold down SHIFT and either:

• click in the Track Panel to select the other tracks you want to move
• use up or down arrow to select the other tracks you want to move

You can now click and drag in any track to move all the selected tracks, providing you drag with the cursor inside a selection region. Dragging with the cursor outside a region (or when there is no region at all) gives you a way to drag only that track even when other tracks are selected. Similarly, to move a group of adjacent clips without moving all the clips in that track, use Selection Tool to drag a selection region over them, then switch to Time Shift Tool and drag inside the region.

When a "Track Group" is created by having a linked label track underneath a group of tracks, dragging one of the linked tracks will drag all the tracks in that group, and the labels as well.

Multi

Combines all five tools in one. One tool is available at a time, according to the mouse position.