Audacity Basics
Repairing Audio Recordings
Audio Editing
Audio Analysis
Troubleshooting
Re-Recording a Section
Punch-in repair of recordings is an easy and fast way to fix short sections of a recording by re-recording it.
Fixing bad sections as they occur (Punch-and-roll recording)
Best Practice:
- Make sure that Overdubbing is turned on in Transport > Transport Options.
- Make sure that your latency settings are correct.
If your audio recording broke and you immediately noticed it (for example because you misspoke your script or had to cough), it is possible to stop the recording and immediately fix the mistake by using Punch-and-roll recording. To use it:
- 1.Record as normal until you make the mistake.
- 2.Stop the recording.
- 3.Choose a splicing point by clicking into the audio before the mistake happens. For spoken content, this should be between words so you can drop in easier. Note: All audio on the track after the splicing point will be deleted.
- 4.Start a Punch-and-roll recording with Transport > Recording > Punch and roll record (
Shift+D). This will playback a couple of seconds of your recording so you can find the right rhythm and tone as before, and at the splicing point you set in step 3, it will switch to recording mode and make a crossfade. - 5.From here on out you can continue recording as usual. If you make the same mistake again, you can stop the recording and undo (Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z) and try again. If you make another mistake later on, you can do another Punch and Roll recording by repeating the steps above.
Tip: You can change the amount of pre-roll audio and crossfade in the Preferences > Recording in the Punch and Roll recording section.
Fixing a bad section afterwards
If your audio recording broke at one specific point in time (for example because an ambulance drove by), but you only notice it after having recorded everything, it is possible to re-record this section using punch-in repair.
Best Practice:
- Make sure that Overdubbing is turned on and Software Playthrough is turned off. Both settings can be found in Transport > Transport Options
- Always create a backup of your project before editing it. For a continuous recording, this typically is best done by Exporting audio.
To use it:
- 1.Select the bad part of the recording and silence it. You can do this by clicking theSilence Audio Selection button (found next to the undo and cut/copy/paste buttons), or by pressing
Ctrl+L(Cmd+L) - 2.Select a couple of seconds of audio before and after the bad part. With overdubbing turned on, recording will playback the recording back to you and help you match the timing.
- 3.Do the re-recording on a new track. To do this, Shift-click the record button or press
Shift+R. It will automatically start recording from the beginning of your selection.
Related pages
- If your new take is slightly longer or shorter than the gap left in the original recording, you can split the clip: Splitting up clips
- You can use a similar technique to continuously fix mistakes as they occur during a recording session using Testing Latency
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