Audacity strictly for vocals with Roland synth

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

Hope someone out there is a synth player. I was hoping to get this software if it can help me with a simple need.
I have songs completed on a keyboard. What I don’t have is a way to get vocals on them. My digital 8 track recorder died :frowning:
So, if I have this simple 2-channel WAV file from the synth, can I load that into the Audacity, sing a lead and backup vocal, mix it together, then make that into an mp3 file that I will then email to the professional singer so that she can learn how the song goes.

I don’t need to split the tracks or use the Audacity for anything else. I need to keep it simple. Real simple. This is my first attempt at any recording software. Seriously, I am a dinosaur still clutching my cassette tapes :slight_smile:

I have the mic plus TC Helicon Voiceplusworks, if that can be used, great. Less chance of making her ears bleed!

Hope to hear back from someone, I am glad I found this resource! Thanks!

2

My digital 8 track recorder died

Life is about to get very complicated no matter what you do. Audacity will certainly do overdubbing/sound-on-sound, but it’s going to be nothing like pressing play and record in the right order on your multitrack recorder.

Most of the process is setting up Audacity to send the right audio to the right places at the right times and you just have to pay attention to what you’re doing. The classic shortcoming is you may not be able to hear yourself in real time while you perform. Computers are not Digital Audio Workstations.

You can start by filling out the information from that pink band above so we know where you are.

This is the wiki for overdubbing. It tends to be overwhelming because you have to plow through stuff that just doesn’t apply to you and never will. Have you ever made a recording in Audacity?

http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tutorial_recording_multi_track_overdubs.html

I don’t know that the tutorial starts with ground zero—making your first recording.

http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tutorial_your_first_recording.html

I’m going to go look up your model numbers. Were you able to get good recordings on your digital recorder? That’s what kills people—having a bad room to record. If you have that already licked, the rest is pushing the right buttons.

Koz

3

OK, there’s the first problem. You need to be perfectly accurate and to be obsessive with model numbers.

I have the mic plus TC Helicon Voiceplusworks,

It’s not. It’s a Voiceworks Plus. Which microphone? Model numbers.

We need to build your system in our imaginations and you can’t give us too much information.
Koz

4

Windows 8 laptop
Have not obtained any three section version of Audacity - not sure if it is what I need


The mic is a Shure BG 1.1
The keyboard is a Roland FA-08 synthesizer
It mixes my songs into a 2-channel WAV file that I convert to MP3 using the SD card in the back of the unit

I can certainly not use TC Helicon if this will help in the least.

5

That means that you have to open Help > About Audacity… and see if it says 2.0.6 which is the current version. If it does not say 2.0.6, update to 2.0.6 from Audacity ® | Download for Windows.


Gale

6

2.0.6 it is now on a laptop I am borrowing. It is downloaded and I have a desktop icon. So far so good.

7

Getting the microphone connected to the computer is precisely the point where several forum postings are stuck. There are quick and convenient USB microphone digitizers that tend not to work very well and full-on mixer systems that work terrifically, but are more complicated (and usually expensive) to use.

Which way would you like to go? The Helicon is not a microphone digitizer. It’s just a sound processor. It does have a S/PDIF digital connection, but chances are good your computer doesn’t.

How do you use your Helicon normally? With the Digital Recorder, right? Any chance of getting that recorder fixed?

Koz

8

I have had the digital recorder repaired once already…I fried the hard drive, and when they repaired it, they had to insert cardboard to keep certain wires from touching…long painful story…the other day I think it revolted for the last time, shorted out beyond help…

The Helicon was just used to keep me on-key. It was a purchase that I really didn’t need but I thought I could record my own vocals and live with the result. Wrong. I am horrible and cannot stand to hear myself sing.

USB microphone digitizers - let me know about that - I’m not that concerned about how well it comes across to the real vocalist, as long as I can record 1 lead vocal and 1 backup vocal, possibly 2…

Thanks Koz for your reply!

9

the other day I think it revolted for the last time, shorted out beyond help…

It went to that peaceful bit-bucket in the sky…

The Helicon was just used to keep me on-key.

I understand. I’m “pitch challenged” myself.

I am horrible and cannot stand to hear myself sing.

I can stand to hear myself sing. It’s everybody else…

I keep telling myself I wouldn’t recommend this to anybody, but it’s pretty much perfect for what you’re doing. The Shure X2U.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/X2u

Mine sits in a box because of low volume. It does everything else perfectly and it’s well made. But I use larger, formal sound mixers and would kill to have my X2U be louder.

I would also recommend the Samson G-Track USB microphone.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GTrackUSB

Past sonic performance, distortion, convenience, etc, I certified both of those devices for Overdubbing/Sound-On-Sound.

http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tutorial_recording_multi_track_overdubs.html

I borrowed the G-Track for the testing and I liked it. So right this second, I don’t own one of those.


The problem is you usually can’t listen to the computer while you’re overdubbing. Read that twice. Your live voice comes out late/delayed and makes you crazy. You need a sound device that will manage the headphone signals, and both of these will do that.

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So, no, given your specific job, not just any microphone digitizer will work. If you go searching yourself, pick something with the magic words “low latency monitoring.” Can you record OK without listening to yourself? That’s another solution.

If it really doesn’t make any difference what the quality is, have you tried your laptop microphone? You usually can’t sing into one of those because of vocal processing, but you can turn that off. I did a temporary track for a television commercial that way once on my Mac.

“We need this track by eleven o’clock. Jessie will perform it for you.”

Turn off Windows Enhanced Services if you try this.
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/faq_recording_troubleshooting.html#enhancements

Koz