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dzp111 · Sep 17, 2007, 02:55 PM

There's a game on another forum which I'm member of, called 'name that tune'. You know, you hear a few seconds of a tune then try to guess what it is? My problem is that I don't know how to go about uploading the first few seconds of an mp3 file. I did try and simply decrease the length of a tune (under Info) then duplicate it, but the song file remains the same amount of mb.

I tried Garage Band and Audacity but without any success.

Any tips? Please?

AKcrab · Sep 17, 2007, 03:08 PM

I just used Garage Band to do it, seemed easy enough.

All I did was drag the file I wanted (tested with a purchased song) into garage band, click the track to 'select' it, put the playhead where I wanted the snippet to stop, chose edit -> split.

Now you've got a break in the song where the playhead was. Simply select the end of the song and press delete. Now you've got a short clip.

Go to 'share' and choose export to disk or iTunes.

peeb · Sep 17, 2007, 03:09 PM

Or you could use Audacity.

Chuckit · Sep 17, 2007, 03:17 PM

I use good ol' Audion for this. I still find the UI and speed to be better than Audacity.

AKcrab · Sep 17, 2007, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by dzp111

I tried Audacity but without any success.

Any tips? Please?

Originally Posted by peeb

Or you could use Audacity.

dzp111 · Sep 17, 2007, 03:30 PM

Thanks for quick response!

Using Garage Band, I could only export .band file on disk. I didn't think of exporting to iTunes, maybe that'll convert to mp3 (?)

Using Audacity, I couldn't find sound input (or line in) directly from iTunes but had to use laptop mic from laptop speakers and that sounded crappy.

Will look into Audion.

Thanks again! Anymore tips or instructions are totally welcomed.

Chongo · Sep 17, 2007, 03:44 PM

or buy a Quicktime pro key

peeb · Sep 17, 2007, 04:16 PM

Drag the file from iTunes to the desktop, or export it as an MP3. Drag it into Audacity, and then use the slider to adjust the length.

analogika · Sep 17, 2007, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by dzp111

There's a game on another forum which I'm member of, called 'name that tune'. You know, you hear a few seconds of a tune then try to guess what it is? My problem is that I don't know how to go about uploading the first few seconds of an mp3 file. I did try and simply decrease the length of a tune (under Info) then duplicate it, but the song file remains the same amount of mb.

The ONLY mistake you're making is that you're *duplicating* the song. That duplicates the entire file, with the same ID3 info.

What you need to do is set the target format (mp3/aac/etc.) in the iTunes preferences, and then go to

"Advanced" --> "Convert selection to [your chosen format]"

This will RE-import the song into the newly chosen format, but it will only convert the part that's actually set to play in the Info settings.

NB: Transcoding this way will probably result in slightly audible sound degradation unless you convert to some lossless format, but that shouldn't be an issue for the type of usage you have in mind.