basic audio editing....

I have recorded a series of sermons from my local pastor and need to edit portions of them out. I'm not attempting anything fancy, just the audio equivalent of deleting portions of the audio file out. Somehow, I'm having a lot more difficulty than I expected.

The files are given to me on a CD in an aiff audio file format. I can use Itunes to convert them to MP3 and store them on my hard drive. (That much I have figured out). Unfortunately, I can't get itunes to cut out the portions I want eliminated. Somehow I can't get GarageBand to recognize mp3 files and aiff files. Both formats are blanked or whited out when I try to select and open them.

Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance, Keefe

Try Audacity. I know it has the ability to cut tracks as you wish, though I have not personally tried, as I have no need. As it's free it may well be the solution.

Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder

neither iTunes or GarageBand is good for that kind of editing. Audacity is free and will do the job but I prefer Amadeus Pro. It's not free but not overly expensive and I prefer the interface. Amadeus Pro - Audio editor / sound and voice recorder for MacOS X If you are going to be doing this a lot check that one out.

BTW for best results you should probably work on the files in uncompressed format (aiff) and convert to other formats when editing is done.

WKB12 said:

Somehow I can't get GarageBand to recognize mp3 files and aiff files. Both formats are blanked or whited out when I try to select and open them.

Click to expand...

Have you tried dragging/dropping the MP3/AIFF files directly into GarageBand? That should do the trick, if I recall correctly.

Just for the record, I am not Slydude -- I just say exactly the same thing he said whenever this question comes up!

One more option I'll throw out there in addition to Slydude's excellent post is Rogue Amoeba's Fission. It's $32, and far from the fanciest audio editor out there, but what I love about it is that it works in a variety of formats (most are already compressed, like MP3) and can do simple edits and fades and save it all back WITH NO LOSS WHATSOEVER. Very nice!