audio-slicer

A tool for slicing an audio file into individual parts based on specific times, e.g. a music album audio file into individual songs based on specific song start times.

Requirements

This tool requires an external Python module pydub and FFmpeg. FFmpeg can be installed with the help of this article. The tool was tested with Python 3.11.0, pydub 0.25.1 and FFmpeg 5.1.

How to slice

1. Input directory

To slice an audio file, paste it into the input directory. If you want the newly created audio parts to have a cover art, also paste this cover art image into the input directory.

2. Definition of audio parts

Next, open songs.txt. Each audio part must occupy exactly one line. The line can include the audio part's number and must include its name and the time at which it begins in the original large audio file (in the standard MM:SS or HH:MM:SS format).

The audio part definitions in the songs.txt file should look like this (with your own custom names and times):

1 - Lorem Ipsum 00:00
2 - Dolor Sit 07:32
3 - Amet Consectetur 58:17
4 - Adipiscing 02:03:21

or

00:00 Lorem Ipsum
07:32 Dolor Sit
58:17 Amet Consectetur
02:03:21 Adipiscing

3. Config

Now, open config.txt, where you will define how the tool will interpret and save the audio parts.

By default, the config.txt file looks like this:

Audio Filename: "audio.mp3"
Song Pattern: "song_number - song_name start_time"
Album Artist(s): "artist"
Album Title: "title"
Cover Art Filename: "image.png"

On each line, replace only the text between the quotation marks.

• The Audio Filename value tells the tool which audio file it should load. Do not include the path to the file, only its name and extension (the file must be located in the input directory).

• The Song Pattern value tells the tool how the audio parts in the songs.txt file are defined. For example, if we were to define an audio part in the songs.txt file like this:

  1 - Lorem Ipsum 00:00
  

  then, the Song Pattern value would have to look this:

  song_number - song_name start_time
  

  If the audio part definition looked like this:

  00:00 Lorem Ipsum
  

  then, the Song Pattern value would have to look this:

  start_time song_name
  

  When defining a custom pattern, use the keyword song_number for the audio part's number (optional), song_name for its name and start_time for its start time (both required).

  All audio parts in the songs.txt file must be defined with the same pattern.

  Note: You can use words and symbols in the audio parts definitions and patterns, e.g. like this: Audio part definition:

  Song #1. Lorem Ipsum, starting at 00:00!
  

  Pattern:

  Song #song_number. song_name, starting at start_time!
  

• The Album Artist(s) value tells the tool which artists it should write into the audio parts' metadata. This value can be empty.

• The Album Title value tells the tool which album the audio parts come from. The album name is written into the audio parts' metadata. This value can be empty.

• The Cover Art Filename value tells the tool which image it should use in the audio parts' metadata. Do not include the path to the file, only its name and extension (the file must be located in the input directory). This value can be empty.

4. Run the tool

Run the tool with python main.py. Then, wait for the tool to announce a successful finish.

5. Output directory

The audio parts created by the tool will be located in the output directory (if value for Album Title was given, they will be located in a new sub-directory with the same name).

Footnote

Thank you for using my tool.

If you find a bug, feel free to create a pull request. If you'd like help, feel free to contact me.