# Music editing software? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-editing-software/217430 "2003-12-06T20:51:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-editing-software/217430/1 "2003-12-06T20:51:17Z")
I am trying to put together a mix of songs\* to burn for a CD. A few of the songs are “live” recordings, and I want to trim out the chatter at the beginning of them so that the CD flows better. What software is out there for me to be able to do this? I really don’t want to buy expensive editing software, because I don’t want to do anything fancier than trim off the beginnings of the songs. Thanks! _Note to mods: all songs legally obtained._ ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-editing-software/217430/2 "2003-12-06T20:55:47Z")
[Audacity](http://audacity.sourceforge.net/): free audio editor for Windows, Linux/Unix, and Mac. ---
**Author:** ![joro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@joro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joro)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-editing-software/217430/3 "2003-12-06T21:28:46Z")
N-traks is a shareware…free really… It will also normalize levels to get a consistent volume on your tunes… a decent digital recording software too… I use Cool Edit Pro 2 but, it cost me $499.00… good luck man, Joe ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-editing-software/217430/4 "2003-12-07T00:10:03Z")
Thanks for the suggestions! I’ve downloaded Audacity so far – it was pretty simple to do what I want to do, except for the fact that it freezes up/crashes every time I try to save. Tomorrow I’ll see what I can do to fix that. ---
**Author:** ![cletus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@cletus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cletus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-editing-software/217430/5 "2003-12-07T04:45:09Z")
[mp3Trim.](http://www.logiccell.com/~mp3trim/) Small. Simple. Free. It’s what I use and I haven’t had any problems with it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Gmork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@Gmork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gmork)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-editing-software/217430/6 "2003-12-07T06:25:10Z")
Don’t suppose anyone knows some free/share ware that can reduce background ‘noise’ (static) from an mp3? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-editing-software/217430/7 "2003-12-07T11:20:49Z")
The aforementioned Audacity has a Noise Removal filter. ---
**Author:** ![Gmork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@Gmork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gmork)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-editing-software/217430/8 "2003-12-07T12:00:23Z")
Oh, goodie. Thanks **Usram** , I’d better go install it then.