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iPod The problem of Hidden Tracks: Can you splice a single song in two?

kavika411

kavika411

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 8, 2006
617
3
Alabama
Thank you for reading this. I have several albums where a band, trying to be witty or annoying or whatever, put a "hidden" track at the end of the last song. So, the last song may only last three minutes but is actually fifteen minutes because there is a "hidden" song at the end. This means that the last official track ends and then there is silence for twelve minutes and then the "hidden" track plays. I would like to simply carve out that twelve minutes of silence and make the "hidden" track its own song.

Can this be done? Thank you for your thoughts.
 
OK, try this.
Open the song with Quicktime (Pro)
Use the markers to "trim" your song, and save(save as...) it. the saved part is now the original song, withouth the 12 min. delay. If you wanted to make the secret track a seperate track, just cut it where you want it, and save as..

This should do it.
 
If you have the patience, you should also be able to do this with apps such as Audacity, Fission, Sound Studio, etc, as long as they are not protected audio files. If they're protected audio files, the only ways you'll be able to do it are to find a DRM stripper (naughty!) or to burn it to a CD, rip it back, and then edited the ripped, non-DRM copy.
 
within itunes you should be able to copy the song and rename the copy as the hidden track etc. Then set new start and stop times. It means that the file sizes are longer than necessary but requires no additional sfotware.
 
Or simpler still. Select the offending track. Do 'Get info' from the file menu. Go to the options tab. Set the 'End time' to the end time of the track itself without the silence and extra bit. Voila - only plays the first bit.

If you want, you can export the track and re-import it to give yourself a duplicate, then set the start time of the duplicate just to play the hidden bit.

Make sense?
 
jimN said:
within itunes you should be able to copy the song and rename the copy as the hidden track etc. Then set new start and stop times. It means that the file sizes are longer than necessary but requires no additional sfotware.
Click to expand...

Doh, not quick enough.
 
Gee said:
Or simpler still. Select the offending track. Do 'Get info' from the file menu. Go to the options tab. Set the 'End time' to the end time of the track itself without the silence and extra bit. Voila - only plays the first bit.

If you want, you can export the track and re-import it to give yourself a duplicate, then set the start time of the duplicate just to play the hidden bit.
Click to expand...

you can select the start and end times and "convert selection to [aac, mp3, etc.]" to have a new file with just the portion you want. no extra file size necessary.
 
siurpeeman said:
you can select the start and end times and "convert selection to [aac, mp3, etc.]" to have a new file with just the portion you want. no extra file size necessary.
Click to expand...

Bingo. You beat me to it. But I can add, this is a great way to create custom ring-tones for your mobile phone.
 
audio hijack

should be able to use audio hijack. play the song in itunes (obviously set right before the start of the hidden track) and then record in hijack to whichever format you want.

protected files or not, this is how I do it :)
 
siurpeeman said:
you can select the start and end times and "convert selection to [aac, mp3, etc.]" to have a new file with just the portion you want. no extra file size necessary.
Click to expand...

But remember to convert the original AIFF-file that way. If you split a AAC-file like that it will reduce the quality.
 
Here's another way

All of the above methods will work. However, here's a free way to do it with an older Mac. The OP didn't mention what kind of Mac they're on. GarageBand will only work with G4 and up machines. G3 users are SOL with garageband.

1. Use iTunes to import the desired song in AIFF format.
2. Create a new iMovie project.
3. Import the AIFF song from iTunes into the new iMovie project.
4. Set the playhead at the desired cut points and "cut" out the silent parts.

You may have to do this twice as I'm unsure if the next step will generate one or two files.

5. Export the audio track to an AIFF file.
6. Import the new AIFF file into iTunes. You can convert to AAC/MP3 if you'd like.

If the iMovie export feature only generates one file, then what you could do is first cut out the silent and hidden parts of the track and export the "real" track to AIFF. Then in iMovie, undo a few times and cut out the "real" track and silent parts, leaving only the hidden track. Then export that.

You'll end up with 2 files.

The above methods are easier, but if you have an older Mac and want two distinct, and small files, this is a free way to do it.

ft
 
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