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How to edit/alter a song's length?

Once in awhile I want to change the length of a certain song that's already in my iTunes archive(s). When I was a radio DJ spinning vinyl, I did it manually. How do I do it digitally with what's already on my iMac?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Aug 7, 2009 8:42 PM

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7 replies

Aug 7, 2009 8:53 PM in response to Lead Bass

In iTunes, selec the song, right click - get info.
Select the Options tab and set the Start/Stop time to what you want.
This does not permanently alter ths song length. You can reset the times whenever you want.
If you want to permanently chop the songs to those times, select the songs, right click *Create AAC version*. ( AAC will be whatever is seleced in iTunes prefs -> General - Importing).
Also you can use a program such as -> Rogue Amoeba - Fission to permanently & losslessly edit the files.

Aug 8, 2009 1:23 AM in response to Lead Bass

I took your question two ways.

1. You can shorten your music in iTunes as others have suggested by choosing Info (command-I) for that track and, under the Options tab, typing in a new beginning or end time (00:00.00).

You can do this with tracks on a CD as well. Either way, by re-importing that song into iTunes (in any format), iTunes will automatically start/stop the import at your new beginning/end points. I do this all the time to keep my AAC files at a minimum size (especially with CD tracks that have hidden songs).

You cannot make a track last longer by typing in a timeframe larger than the actual track's run time.

2. You can also edit a song's length in a third-party program. I edit a song's length by taking an AIFF version of the track (either re-imported from the CD or converted from the AAC/MP3) and, using Audacity (freeware from audacity.sourceforge.net), I will change the song's length. You can alter the song by slowing it down without changing pitch, slowing it down with pitch change, (and the same for speeding it up), and if you need to add silence at the beginning or end of the track for any reason, easy to do as well.

I use this technique to learn guitar parts for my favorite songs, by slowing down the tracks so they're manageable at first.

How to edit/alter a song's length?

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