Adding, editing tracks, like "sound on sound" used to be

[makemeupone]

hi. my goal is simple. i want to record a guitar track (rhythm), then add a bass track, then add a melody track, etc.
then, of course, mix down the tracks to stereo, blend them, and finish with a stereo song.

i am very new to doing music creation on a computer.
a tape deck to another tape deck mixdown is MY history.

yes. i am very old, thank you very much ! i actually used to be pretty good at using magnetic tape.

my problems trying to do this are twofold.

system setup is as follows–
windows 8.1
audacity 2.2.1
realtec audio
m-audio 192/6 interface (associated ASIO installed)

if i have a rhythm track recorded, and i try to record a second track, AND listen to the rhythm track as i play, and try to record a second track, i hear the first track, but cannot record anything to the second track.
no signal ever shows up in/on the second track.
so no melody plus rhythm so far.

also, i don’t know if the preferred monitoring pathway is listening through the headphone jack on the interface, or headphones connected to the computer headphone jack.

the interface headphone jack seems only to be one-way.
that is, that i only hear what is going into the interface to the computer.

the m-audio 192/6 has two input jacks labeled “guitar”. the SEEM to be dedicated as left and right inputting.
the audacity level meters show this to be the case.
no sound comes back from the computer through the interface headphone connection at all.

what this ends up being is that i seem to need two sets of headphones to even try to start doing this.

that can’t be right. i don’t see anyone in tutorial vids switching headphones to do what they do.

(BTW an m-audio representative is also stumped about what’s happening here.)

apologies if i was not supposed to submit questions about two different things in one post.
any thoughts on how these might be addressed ?

[makemeupone]

found my problem.
of three different sets of headphones–all sonys–two had incompatible plugs for my adapter.
the third set works.
different plugs, although the difference is not plainly visible.
as i don’t like/trust adapters for these applications, i will be getting a set of headphones that come with a 1/4" stereo plug which will fit the jack on my interface.

i cannot believe sony did this.

i am looking at Bounty Hunter Headphones for about forty bucks from various sellers.
but beware !
ads for headphones sometimes do not have the correct information.
an advertised 1/8" plug may not (as was my case) function with the adapter you may own.

a caveat—look folks, back in the day, for audio, there were 1/8" phone pin plugs (mono and stereo) 1/4" plugs (stereo, mono “guitar” plugs/jacks), RCA jacks, and later–6 pin DIN, mini 5 pin DIN *computer keyboards, and MIDI instruments, and that was pretty much it.
somewhere down the line, somebody decided different styles of connections were needed. maybe proprietary stuff, who knows ?

like plumbing fixtures, usually (you probably already know ) you cannot mix old stuff with new stuff. if you’re like me, and you started playing in the sixties, and you have vintage equipment, cables, and the like, there’s a good chance that stuff may not be compatible with new stuff.
and don’t just buy online, especially if there’s no one to ask about specs. go brick-and-mortar, and hope you can get things demonstrated live for yourself.

[Promiplast100]

can you please help me, how to change username Promiplast100 to promiplast.

[makemeupone]

i am probably newer to this than you even.
so i am not the person to ask. but i took a quick look.

if one can change the name, it doesn’t look easy to do, if at all.

i think you have to create a new account, and delete the old one.