Alternative to Playlist for mixing multiple songs together?

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Level 1

8 points

Alternative to Playlist for mixing multiple songs together?

I am making a soundtrack for my fireworks show this year, and as best I can figure, this is what I need to do to accomplish this within iTunes:

Place the multiple songs in a Playlist in the order I would like them to Play
Edit the Start/Stop time for each piece of music
Mess with the Cross-Fade time
Write the songs out as mp3

I am looking for A) confirmation, B) suggestions for improvement on these steps or C) an alternative.

My biggest issue is using the time as the Start/Stop. I don't believe I can be as accurate as I need to be without seeing the sound wave.

There are show creator software packages out there. Let's assume for purposes of this post that I've already spent my children's inheritance on product, and will not be purchasing any new software. I'd like to 'homegrow' a solution here.

Thank you,

ERK

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.4), iTunes 10.6.1

Posted on May 25, 2015 5:47 PM

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Answer 1

ed2345

Level 9

62,462 points

May 25, 2015 5:52 PM in response to Eric Kubera

Eric,

iTunes will not do what you are talking about. In fact, it will not even come close.

Please avail yourself of an audio editor. A good free one that I like is Audacity.

My biggest issue is using the time as the Start/Stop. I don't believe I can be as accurate as I need to be without seeing the sound wave.

That is exactly how Audacity works.

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Answer 2

Eric Kubera Author

Level 1

8 points

May 26, 2015 12:40 PM in response to ed2345

Thank you, ed2345. After reading the documentation, I believe you have almost completely solved my problem with Audacity.

However.

I downloaded the basic level of Audacity, and installed all recommended bits. App opens, but I cannot drag/drop, nor can I File/Import/Open from iTunes.

It keeps talking about FFmpeg format, and then it flashes to "Importing" quicktime files for a few seconds, then nothing.

I'll keep playing around with it, but does this sound like something's froggy to you? Or is it expected that I have to export the songs I want from iTunes as a different format, and import them that way?

Thanks again, you've got me headed in the right direction.

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Answer 3

Eric Kubera Author

Level 1

8 points

May 26, 2015 2:59 PM in response to Eric Kubera

Self update: More research has helped me realize that I need to burn an audio CD from an iTunes Playlist, and then import to Audacity.

I think this is going to git er done. Thanks for your time.

Now, off to read a crapload of Audacity manuals and forum posts.

Regards,

ERK

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Answer 4

ed2345

Level 9

62,462 points

May 26, 2015 3:55 PM in response to Eric Kubera

Eric Kubera wrote:

Self update: More research has helped me realize that I need to burn an audio CD from an iTunes Playlist, and then import to Audacity.

I think this is going to git er done. Thanks for your time.

Now, off to read a crapload of Audacity manuals and forum posts.

Regards,

ERK

Eric,

There is no need for a burn. The error message you got means that you tried to use an AAC file with Audacity. Instead, use iTunes to create a WAV (or MP3) version, and drag the WAV (or MP3) into Audacity:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204310

Once you have all the files in Audacity, you can trim, concatenate, and cross-fade to your liking, and then export the results as a single continuous MP3.

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