Home Linux Graphical Tools How to Join/Merge Multiple Audio Files into One in Linux

How to Join/Merge Multiple Audio Files into One in Linux

There are several reasons why a Linux user will give in to the urge of concatenating or joining several mp3 files into a single audio file. On one hand, you could be dealing with a single project presentation that exists in different audio files.

On the other hand, you might be dealing with a single mp3 audio file that has multiple audio distortions in-between its track. Therefore, the best move here will be to strip out the bad audio sections leaving behind several segments of the good audio section that need to be joined into a single audio file.

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There are several Linux solutions that support joining multiple mp3 files into a single audio file. Some of these Linux solutions are terminal-based while others are GUI-based.

It is important to go after an audio-joining solution that preserves the original quality of your audio files and joins them to their full length without altering the files’ timestamp or having compatibility issues with some audio players.

Using Audacity Audio Editor

Audacity is a free and open-source audio editing software is supported across all Linux operating system distributions. Its prominent audio editing features include:

  • Audio files trimming and/or joining.
  • Audio recording.
  • Noise/distortion reduction and cancellation to enhance audio file quality.
  • Additional sound effects support.
  • Sound spectrum analysis.
  • Multi-track mixing.

Install Audacity Audio Editor in Linux

The modern and recommended approach of installing audacity on any Linux distribution is through the default package manager as it also caters to the targeted app’s dependencies.

$ sudo apt-get install audacity         [On Debian, Ubuntu and Mint]
$ sudo yum install audacity             [On RHEL/CentOS/Fedora and Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux]
$ sudo emerge -a media-sound/audacity   [On Gentoo Linux]
$ sudo pacman -S audacity               [On Arch Linux]
$ sudo zypper install audacity          [On OpenSUSE]    

Using Audacity to Join Multiple MP3 Files in Linux

Launch the audacity audio editor.

$ audacity

Access the audio files you wish to merge.

Access Audio Files
Access Audio Files

Select all the audio files that need merging and open them.

Add Audio Files
Add Audio Files

The above action will open the three audio files in three different Audacity windows.

Three Audio Files
Three Audio Files

Choose the audio file that should precede the other two.

Choose Audio File
Choose Audio File

Copy the audio file.

Copy Audio File
Copy Audio File

Go to the audio2 window and click paste.

Paste Audio File
Paste Audio File

The above approach ensures the audio1 file precedes the audio2 file.

Two Audio Files
Two Audio Files

To merge the two files, export them to a single mp3 audio file.

Merge Audio Files
Merge Audio Files

Save the file:

Save Audio Files
Save Audio Files

Add audio metadata tags and click okay.

Metadata Audio Files
Metadata Audio Files

The audio joining process should take a few minutes to complete.

Joining Audio Files
Joining Audio Files

Your joined audio file should be easily accessible and playable from its saved location.

Joined Audio File
Joined Audio File

As expected, the resulting merged file should have a longer playable duration on your audio player.

Playing Audio File
Playing Audio File

Using audacity not only ensures your merged audio files retain their audio qualities but also enables you to improve on them. Its interface allows you to merge/join as many audio files as you like.

While copying multiple audio files to a selected audacity window, the file to be copied last is the one that will be playable first.

Ravi Saive
I am an Experienced GNU/Linux expert and a full-stack software developer with over a decade in the field of Linux and Open Source technologies. Founder of TecMint.com, LinuxShellTips.com, and Fossmint.com. Over 150+ million people visited my websites.

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