Topic: Copying parts of one channel to the other in Audacity?

[BradM]

After (successfully! thanks) using Audacity to swap the channels of a recording (made with the mics in the wrong channels), I'm ready to try something more advanced. There are portions of some of the tracks on one of my recordings with heavy distortion (probably due to a bad connection) on one channel only, so I'd like to copy a section (10s of seconds) of the other channel and replace the distorted bit with the copy, so it'll be mono, but undistorted.

Is this possible in Audacity? I tried some logical things, but can't figure out how to get the copied part dropped right on top of the part I want to replace (and didn't see any menu items that looked like they'd do this).

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Aloha,
Brad

[Brian Skalinder]

FWIW, I wouldn't do this unless the distortion is really nasty.  I find abruptly switching between stereo and mono more distracting while listening then a bit of distortion.  Anyway, two ways to do this:  simple and complicated.

SIMPLE

• split the Stereo track into Left and Right tracks
• select and copy the precise section of good L track, noting the start/end times of the selection
• highlight the exact same start/end times in the bad R channel
• paste the good L track section

As long as you don't change your view (e.g. by zooming), Audacity should allow you select the same precise sections of both the L and R channel.  This SIMPLE method will not provide a super-smooth transition between stereo and mono portions of the file, but at least will remove the nasties.

COMPLICATED

I don't have time to lay it out in great detail, but I'd take advantage of Audacity's multitrack capability.  I'd save the good L channel section as a new file, import it into the project and set it's properties to Right Channel , align it with the original bad R channel section, crossfade at the beginning and end of the area I patched, mute the bad R channel section, and mix down to a stereo file.  Basically, doing it this way with the crossfade makes for a smoother transition from the stereo portion of the file to the mono portion of the file, and vice versa.

[BradM]

Thanks. The distortion is horrible, really unlistenable. I took the cheezy'n'eazy approach, and just copied the entire right channel to the left channel (split tracks, delete left channel, create new channel, select all in right channel, copy/paste to the new channel, set new channel to be left, export as WAV), so the entire track is mono. I just played it through headphones, and you can hear a difference (I got good stereo separation, as the band wasn't using a PA, and I was about 10' from them, DFC, cardioid capsules, 90*, 30cm), but there are silent bits between songs, so that makes the transitions a bit easier to take. (And I also learned something about how Audacity handles tracks, with the whole "Move track up" and "Move track down" concepts.)

Aloha,
Brad

[aberg]

Thanks. The distortion is horrible, really unlistenable. I took the cheezy'n'eazy approach, and just copied the entire right channel to the left channel (split tracks, delete left channel, create new channel, select all in right channel, copy/paste to the new channel, set new channel to be left, export as WAV), so the entire track is mono. I just played it through headphones, and you can hear a difference (I got good stereo separation, as the band wasn't using a PA, and I was about 10' from them, DFC, cardioid capsules, 90*, 30cm), but there are silent bits between songs, so that makes the transitions a bit easier to take. (And I also learned something about how Audacity handles tracks, with the whole "Move track up" and "Move track down" concepts.)

Aloha,
Brad

Hey Brad, nice to see you posting around these parts!