Remove commercials from a radio recording mp3

[jmiller29]

I record a 4 hour talk show and want to remove the commercials which happen from 0-10 and 30-40 minutes every hour. What free program will let me save a crop list and apply it to all my recordings? I've spent hours searching the internet and am getting quite frustrated.

[edDV]

Audacity + Lame can do it but I prefer Sony Soundforge Studio (aka Audio Studio) which you can find free if you play the rebates.

[jmiller29]

I'm trying Audacity now but can't find a way to save a cut list. Do you know how?

[Jim44]

Will mp3DirectCut save a crop/cut list? I don't know, but I use it to perform manual cuts/splits/etc on mp3 podcasts. What's nice is it does so without have to re-encode like Audacity (which I've also used).

Might be worth a look(?)

Jim

[Edit, P.S: I played with this a bit, and could set Cue points in an mp3, save as a cue sheet, load in a different mp3, and use the "Load cue sheet over current audio file..." command and get the same exact cue points. Then it's just a matter of selecting the appropriate section between cue point to cut. Seemed to work OK.]

[edDV]

I'm trying Audacity now but can't find a way to save a cut list. Do you know how?

No it won't do a cut list, nor will the consumer version of SoundForge.

[usually_quiet]

If you are willing to match your mp3 audio with a dummy m2v video file of the same length, Cuttermaran might do what you want. Unfortunately, you can't open an audio file without opening a video file first. Not a perfect solution, but perhaps it is worth a try.

I have used it to edit ac3 audio files from a DVD, and while I have never tried it, Cuttermaran apparently also accepts mp3 audio files. You can generate and save a cut list with this tool, and you can use the "Actions" to select "Cut audio only", to avoid generating an additional video file that is of no use to you.

[SingSing]

Ha, It was easier to remove commercial from video, than removing commercial from MP3.

[edDV]

Audio is usually easier than video because the waveform tips off where the compressed commercials are vs. music or voice.

[edDV]

For example

[usually_quiet]

I admit that my suggestion is a little strange. I have only done only a little pure audio editing, always using Audacity, except for one project. For that one I used Cuttermaran to edit a .ac3 file that I wanted to convert to .wav and put on a CD. I did this because it was easier for me to pick out the portions I wanted to exclude by scanning the video. Remembering that project made me think Cuttermaran could work for the OP, who apparently wants a fairly rough edit based on time.

I just don't have an .mp3 file handy to test how well it works. I'm an old fogey who still listens to CD's, never downloads music, and doesn't even own an Ipod.

I forgot to mention something in my previous post. The Cuttermaran project file (the saved cut list) automatically loads the audio and video files for you when you open it, so both the file to be edited and dummy video file need match what's in the project file. This means that each time an audio file is edited, it would have to be given the same name and put into the same folder as the one used to create the original project file. I've never tried editing the project file itself to change the filenames within it, but maybe that is possible too. Sorry about that.

EDIT: I created an .mp3 file using Clier's Ac3Tool, which I loaded into Cuttermaran along with a video file of the same length. I edited the audio file and saved the project file. I also successfully modified the project file to open a different audio file, using MSNotepad as an editor. I played the edited .mp3 audio file on my computer, and it seemed OK. Since I don't have an actual mp3 player, I can't be totally sure, but I think chances are pretty good Cuttermaran could work for the OP.

Something else I forgot, I have edited up to 5 audio files at once with Cuttermaran. I am not sure what the upper limit is.

[jmiller29]

Thanks for everyone's help. I found a way to do it using Audacity.

Create lables in the correct positions and save the labels as a file.
Then you can import the label over any audio file and cut them out using control-X.