audacity help?

n00b question about laying down multiple tracks with audacity.

Hi guys.

It seems when I create a new track and then try to record it alongside the existing track, that new track is always additive - it is the new thing I am doing, plus the old previous track.

I want to be able to hear stuff I have already done (in my headphones), but I want the new thing I am recording to be pure and clean, without the previous shit blended in. If I hit mute button on previous tracks I can't hear it at all, so that's no good. I don't think I understand how the solo button works.

I am using a basic headphones / mic setup. I know this is a dead simple thing that must be possible. Please speak slowly and use simple words?

Thanks in advance.

posted by Meatbomb (9 comments total)

Meatbomb, how are you baby?

I don't have audacity so I can't really help you do it, but I think you are looking to "overdub". I sounds like a setting in your preferences.

Maybe this helps?

If I hadn't drank that bottle of red wine an hour ago, maybe I could be more helpful.

peace
posted by chillmost at 11:30 AM on August 4, 2008

I think this is less a software question than a hardware question.

In order to be able to record and playback at the same time, you need a full-duplex sound card. Most sound cards that come with a computer are half-duplex. If you have the manual of your sound card handy, check the specifications to see if it's half-duplex or full-duplex. But judging from what you describe, you more than likely have a half-duplex sound card.
posted by NemesisVex at 11:40 AM on August 4, 2008

have you already gone throught preferences-device-set up excersize?

that's what it sounds like to me. even though I don't use audacity, every thing else seems to need to go through that set up to get full function. good luck!
posted by snsranch at 2:07 PM on August 4, 2008

Check the input device area on the toolbar to see that the input device selected is "microphone" (and not, say, "stereo mix"). Also check the Audio I/O tab in the preferences.

I use only Audacity, nothing else. Those two things seem to be the main areas that solve any input/output confusionation.
posted by not_on_display at 2:30 PM on August 4, 2008

Yeah it sounds like you are using Stereo mix to record your track.
posted by Drama Penguin at 7:23 PM on August 4, 2008

Thank you, n_o_d, muting the "stereo mix" on my input settings for my Realtek Audio Manager did the trick.

And as an added bonus you can now be the scapegoat for the monstrosity I will soon unleash upon the world.
posted by Meatbomb at 8:38 AM on August 5, 2008

Heh. I need to get a dog so I can start blaming my recordings on the dog.
posted by cortex at 9:24 AM on August 5, 2008

Meatbomb: "Thank you, n_o_d, muting the "stereo mix" on my input settings for my Realtek Audio Manager did the trick. And as an added bonus you can now be the scapegoat for the monstrosity I will soon unleash upon the world."

Still, check the drop-down box on the main Audacity Toolbar if it's showing; that way you can more accurately tell Audacity which signal to listen for, while leaving the system-wide settings as they are (if they're working fine with other apps). I've found that using the Stereo Mix via Audacity has netted me some great audio off the web I wouldn't otherwise have been able to download from other sources.

As far as being a scapegoat: as long as I get to wear the horns. Can't wait to hear said monstrosity.
posted by not_on_display at 11:36 AM on August 5, 2008

I do use Audacity but I can't see it where I am currently. If memory serves, there's a preferences menu off the File option, and a checkbox would allow you to decide whether or not the other tracks record while you make a new track. I find that sometimes even that isn't sufficient tho because if I'm recording and playing inside Audacity at the same time, the different tracks end up being out of sync. One plays slower than the other and I can't cue them. I think THAT is a hardware issue on my end.

If you're in a Windoze environment, usually the volume control in the OS allows a difference in recording between "Microphone" and "What You Hear" or something similar to that. The Microphone just records what you hook into the mic jack. Whereas What You Hear grabs everything including windows system sounds (i just turn them off). So (recording in Mic) I can play an audio track through Winamp, record myself in Audacity singing or talking over it while listening to headphones, and then take that same audio track from winamp and import it into Audacity. Then the two tracks sync, and they're separate and clean.
posted by ZachsMind at 4:30 PM on August 5, 2008