Q I have been asked to put together a small musical quiz using short fixed-length excerpts from various tracks, assembling them into a list that I can play conveniently on my Mac. What free or cheap software should I use?

A Perhaps the simplest way to play these is from an iTunes playlist, which will allow you to play them how you wish, and on almost any computer or iOS device.

However before you import the tracks into iTunes you may need to edit them. If you already have GarageBand you could use that, but an excellent free audio editor that should make light work of this task is Audacity.

There are also several specialist applications that are designed for DJs, which could prove suitable, but you would have to pay for those.

Updated from the original, which was first published in MacUser volume 27 issue 11, 2011.