How to Use Multitools in Audacity

Multi-Top in Audacity ^{[1] X Research Source} allows you to access all 5 separate tools on this toolbar at the same time, depending on mouse position and editing keys you hold on the keyboard.

Table of Contents

Introducing Multi-Top

Introducing Multi-Top. This is one of the six tools on the Tops Topbar toolbar (see Understanding Audacity’s Toolbars).

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Select Multi-Top mode. To select Multi-Top mode, press the Multi-Top button on the Tops Topbar or press the F6 key on the keyboard.

Uses of Multi-Top

Multi-Top has the ability to replace all 5 remaining tools on the Tops Topbar. Multi-Top mode automatically selects one of the 5 tools on the Tops Topbar , depending on mouse movement and keystrokes on the keyboard. The mouse pointer changes to indicate which function is currently in use (the cursor will appear similarly to the corresponding tool button selected in the toolbar).

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Selection Top (Selection Tool). Selection Top is being used when the mouse is in an area that does not have Envelop Top (the amplitude tool) or Time Shift Top (the time shift tool) (see Understanding Audacity’s toolbars)). The cursor will appear as the image of the selection pointer. See Selecting Audio with the Mouse ^{[2] X Research Source} (Select Audio with the Mouse) for more details.

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Envelope Top (Amplification Tool). Envelope Top is selected by dragging the mouse pointer over the waveform either on the horizontal boundary or between the distance of the boundary contour and the center line. The cursor then changes to the pointer shape of Envelope Top . Click and drag and then use Envelope Top as you would use that tool alone.

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Draw Top (Drawing Tool). Draw Top is selected by zooming in until you can see the individual patterns then bringing the mouse pointer close to the line connecting those patterns. The pointer then changes to a drawing tool and you can use it as you wish with Draw Top alone.

Zoom Top (Zoom Tool).

To zoom horizontally, right-click a point to zoom out by a certain amount with the center at the point that is clicked. Alternating with right-click, drag and release to zoom in to the selected drag area while keeping the right mouse button pressed.
If you start dragging horizontally or vertically to zoom and encounter an error, you can always press the ESC key before releasing the mouse button to postpone the zoom action.
The illustration below just zooms in by right-clicking and then dragging.

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Vertical zooming works normally with any selected tool.

Time Shift Top (Time Shift Tool).

Timeshift a separate file. To time-shift a single file, hold Ctrl while placing your mouse over one of the files. The cursor will change to Time Shift Top . Then drag left or right with the mouse. You can also drag a file completely below the drag bar by placing your mouse over the bar, and then dragging when the Time Shift Top cursor appears.

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Full channel time translation. To translate the entire channel, place the pointer over one of the drag bars on the left or right waveform. The cursor will change the time translator image. Then drag left or right with the mouse.

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Note : If the audio on a channel isn’t completely below the drag bar, or if the bar has multiple files, you must hold down Shift while dragging from the drag bar to shift the entire sound of that channel.

Recommendation

Audacity is free, open-source, platform-independent software, dedicated to recording and editing audio. So it is a very good tool for creating audio digital resources, used for open access, open licensed and open educational resources.

Steps

Introducing Multi-Top

Uses of Multi-Top

Recommendation

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