I can’t say either way, but I generally don’t believe using backing tracks is cheating if you’re a band or artist. These computers are most likely either running a playback system or providing virtual instruments to be used by a MIDI controller (or a combination of the two). Have you ever been to a show and noticed one or two MacBook Pros on stage with the musicians? Many bands of the past have used MP3 players with a stereo audio splitter, but I find this is not as reliable anymore and you will be much better off by using a computer, specifically a MacBook Pro. You can set up a backing tracks player with just a laptop computer, a digital audio workstation, cable snake, and an audio interface. They’re relatively easy to integrate into a show and are much more affordable than hiring additional musicians.īacking tracks are different from karaoke versions of songs or drumless tracks. Simply put, backing tracks are pre-recorded pieces of music that a band or artist plays-along to in a live performance, video, or just for fun at home.īacking tracks are extremely common among today’s live artists for enhancing performances.
On Linux and Mac, you can use this command instead: cat file1.mp3 file2.mp3 file3.mp3 > newfile. The downside to this method is that it's a literal concatenation of files, so the ID3 tags for all source MP3s except the first will be lost somewhere in the middle of the resulting MP3. You can have as many source files as you want, as long as you separate them with a + sign, like so: copy /b file1.mp3 + file2.mp3 + file3.mp3 + file4.mp3 newfile.mp3 This takes the contents of file1.mp3 and file2.mp3 and combines them into a third file called newfile.mp3. Then, use the following command: copy /b file1.mp3 + file2.mp3 newfile.mp3
For this example, that would be the Downloads folder: cd C:\Users\Joel\Downloads In the Command Prompt, navigate to the directory where your MP3s are stored. You can do this by searching cmd in the Start Menu or by selecting Command Prompt in the Power Menu (keyboard shortcut Windows + X). Start by opening a Command Prompt window. The copy command, for example, can actually merge MP3s into one. One of the nifty things about Windows is that you can do a lot of cool stuff using the base command line utilities that come with the operating system.
How to Combine MP3 Files Without Audio Merger Software: Command Line!
Exported files can even have their ID3 tags edited.ĭownload: Mp3Splt for Windows and Mac (Free)ĥ. Auto-split using pause detection is available as well. If you have an entire album saved as a single audio file, Mp3Splt can auto-split your media by using CUE files that mark where each track begins and ends. You just pick a start and end time, then export that selection as a separate audio file. This audio file splitter is much simpler, though. Like mp3DirectCut, Mp3Splt can work on an audio file without decompressing it first, resulting in a faster workflow and no impact on audio quality. The GTK version's graphical interface makes for a much smoother experience, especially for a beginner. The latter is a command line tool that's a bit more painful to learn.
If you can get past the old-school vibe that the site is serving, MP3Splt is another great option when audio quality is a factor of consideration.įirst things first: make sure you download Mp3Splt-GTK rather than simply Mp3Splt. Related: How to Compress Large Audio Files
For a straightforward and no-nonsense app to combine audio files, mp3DirectCut is among our top picks.ĭownload: mp3DirectCut for Android | Windows (Free) Other notable features include ID3 tag editing, pause detection, batch file processing, auto-division of tracks by time value, and automatic filename and tag creation when splitting tracks. The file doesn't need to be re-compressed when the time comes to export your project, cutting out the middleman. Not only does this result in a faster workflow it also preserves the original audio quality.
What sets this MP3 merger software apart from most is the fact that it directly manipulates audio files without requiring you to decompress them first. You can't do much with it, but it's very good at its one true purpose in life: basic audio editing operations, including cutting, copying, pasting, and recording audio. Mp3DirectCut is a nifty little audio editor that's lightweight and bare-bones.