Project Window

From Audacity Manual

The Project Window is Audacity's interface between the user and the sound. It contains the visual representation of the sound and the tools that you will use to work with the sound.

The Project Window contains

The Menu Bar (except on Mac where the menu bar is separate from the project window)
The Toolbars
The Timeline
The Tracks

The first time you start Audacity the Project Window will open in its default size and location; the Device Toolbar is turned off, all other toolbars are visible and docked. Here is a view of the Project Window showing the menu bar, toolbars, timeline and an empty track panel - no audio has been added yet.

In the picture above the Device Toolbar has been turned on and docked in its default location.

Each Project Window shows one Audacity Project.

Timeline

The ruler above the tracks measures time. Depending on zooming the ruler may span minutes of audio or give a 'close up view' of a few seconds.

Tracks

Anything that is added to your project will be placed inside a track container, underneath the timeline of the project. Empty new tracks can be added using the Tracks Menu. These are the different types of track:

Audio Tracks

Audio tracks contain digitally sampled sounds. The tracks can be stereo (with either joined or split left and right channels), or single channel (mono, left or right).

There is no limit imposed by Audacity on the number of audio tracks in a project, though a fast, modern computer is needed to edit and play back more than three or four long tracks.

Label Tracks

These tracks contain labels which mark specific points or selection areas in the project. They can be very useful to annotate projects, transcribe song lyrics or to name multiple-exported files.

Time Tracks

This special track allows you to gradually speed up or slow down playback of all audio tracks in the project over time. An initial lower and upper speed is set, and the time contour can be further edited with the same Envelope Tool used for making gradual changes in volume.

Note Tracks

Note Tracks display data from MIDI files - these can be imported with the File > Import MIDI... command. Note Tracks are not currently editable or playable, but can be useful to visually compare a given MIDI file with a sampled audio file (such as WAV) of the same music.