Simple Mp3 Processor

[TaoPhoenix]

I'm starting to like some minimalist versions of functional programs when I have small use cases that don't need the other 95 awesome features all wrapped into programs. Much like my shout out to Vladimir on the paint program, lately I'm itching for one for mp3's. My quick&dirty processing falls into only about 4-5 operations. Changes to Pitch, Tempo, Speed (both at once for convenience), Echo, and cuts of extra junk such as dead time and ads, or even what I consider bad intro/ends of songs. Then just play it to be sure, then save/export it. Undo is crucial because I'd do a series such as "tempo down 15%, Tempo down 25%, Tempo down 37%, Pitch Dn 25%, Echo 4ms by 4ms THEN PitchDn25%" and eventually I'd get tired of it all and exit. End result is some 3-7 files of an mp3, which then gets played by Skwire's Looper.

The problem with all the awesome programs is it's just too much overwhelming awesome noise. I just downloaded Renny's Guitar Drum Trainer Again, with the same dismayed feeling as last time: I'm-Not-Worthy of all the effort he put in there; I only do 5 things. Anyone want to take this on? Both Skwire and Renny have engines, (though anyone else can whack at it if they want) so I know it's never that easy, but I like to think "stripping down" code is easier than writing it.

[Renegade]

It sounds like you're looking for an editor. GDT is meant for live playback and live manipulation, so it's pretty far away from what you're looking for. (The next version has much better functionality for saving new audio files with FX, looping, etc.)

If you try Audacity (or another audio editor), you can probably do all of that pretty quickly.

Deleting silence in an editor is pretty much trivial to do manually.

My guess is that there are a few things out there to do this automatically. The problem cases are illustrated by some Pink Floyd songs where the silence at the beginning of the song really is a part of the song - they tend to fade in very slowly. I doubt very highly that it's worth programming silence deletion to take that into account unless you simply set the threshold to what would be audible levels - you'd still end up doing a best guess though as there's still the opportunity to do some signal gain amplification for "inaudible" sound.

I don't think it would matter much though - any minor loss would be acceptable. If you check in GDT, it sets the first loop point to the start of the song and ignores "silence" at the beginning - it's a 'close enough' approach with no practical down side - so it's very possible to do, and relatively easy. Here's "close enough":

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Mind you, that's for live playing, so you'd maybe want to roll that back a bit.

There's another Michael Jackson song - I forget which one - that has dead silence in the middle of the song. This happens to varying degrees in a fair number of songs out there. Those cases present problems.

Then there are voice activated mics... pauses between speakers, etc. etc. For this kind of thing I think the general type of audio needs to be known, otherwise it's getting into a lot of bin analysis and processing with more complex settings or presets.

To be sure - it actually sounds like a lot of fun to do~!

Deleting ads... well, you're not likely to find anything that can do that automatically. I leave it to people's imaginations to figure out why - tonnes of reasons there.

Anyways, I think something like Audacity is going to be your best bet. (I use Samplitude mostly, but they're both editors.) It's pretty easy to do, though it is a few clicks per operation - not nearly as exposed & simple as GDT - they do different things for different purposes.

[TaoPhoenix]

It sounds like you're looking for an editor. GDT is meant for live playback and live manipulation, so it's pretty far away from what you're looking for. (The next version has much better functionality for saving new audio files with FX, looping, etc.)

If you try Audacity (or another audio editor), you can probably do all of that pretty quickly.

Deleting silence in an editor is pretty much trivial to do manually.
...
Deleting ads... well, you're not likely to find anything that can do that automatically. I leave it to people's imaginations to figure out why - tonnes of reasons there.

Anyways, I think something like Audacity is going to be your best bet. (I use Samplitude mostly, but they're both editors.) It's pretty easy to do, though it is a few clicks per operation - not nearly as exposed & simple as GDT - they do different things for different purposes.

I already use Audacity - I was remarking upon something even simpler! And no, deleting ads and space didn't have to be automatic, just available. I just select the offending chunks and hit delete. It's just that it is there. It just makes me giggle that all of Audacity has to open, and you can't even directly "save" it, you have to "export" it etc. It just sounded like fun to have a mini app that just does 5 things, (possibly even in scripted sequence!)

--Tao, the birdie with ideas just barely too big for a snack.

[Renegade]

I think the scope there then is a bit too large. Well, for me anyways. The effects are simple, but the cutting takes a lot more effort. It would probably take me the better part of a week or a week.

[skwire]

I use mp3DirectCut for cutting MP3 files.

http://mpesch3.de1.cc/mp3dc.html