Cannot record from music program

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

I used to have Windows XP, and Audacity 1.2.x and could happily record from a very simple and basic music writing programme called Music Time Deluxe 4.0.3. (.mus extension). The output is MIDI, and the MIDI Out options are MIDI Mapper or Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth, with the option of ‘Transmit sync’.

I just had to play the result of my composition an Music Time and press the Record button in Audacity.

I’ve since ‘upgraded’ to Windows 7 and am now running Audacity 2.0.5 - but I can no longer record the output from Music Time.

I realise that you are probably not familiar with Music Time, but should I be making any special settings in Audacity to enable it to record from a MIDI source from within the same PC?

I’d be grateful for any help with this.

Thanks
Bob Jury

2

Audacity does not support MIDI. You were set up for Self Recording which is much easier on WinXP. It may still be possible in Win7 with a little work.

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

Self Recording is a dance between the Operating System, the Sound Card and the Software Drivers. If any of them drops the ball, that’s the end of the game.

Koz

3

While a Windows 7 computer may not have sound card stereo mix, you can record playback if you use the Windows WASAPI host in Audacity.

  1. Open Device Toolbar .
  2. In the first (Host) box of Device Toolbar, choose “Windows WASAPI”.
  3. In the second (Output device) box in Device Toolbar, choose the Speakers or Headphones that you are using for listening.
  4. In the third (Input device) box in Device Toolbar, choose the (loopback) input for the same device you chose in step 3. For example, if you chose “Speakers” in Step 3, choose “Speakers (loopback)” in this step.
  5. In the fourth (Input Channels) box in Device Toolbar, choose mono or stereo.
  6. Start playing the audio you want to record.
  7. Press the big red Record button in Audacity.

Gale

4

Thanks Gale.
I followed your instructions ok, but in order to make it work I had to download the Max sound drivers for W7. Once installed, and after ignoring their warning that there was a compatibility issue, I find that I can now play from one source and record in Audacity.
So thanks again,
Bob.

5

Do you mean your built-in audio device is SoundMax?

Audio drivers are important. You should not necessarily ignore warnings. Is that warning just when you play a MIDI file?

Audio drivers should be matched with your sound device. Drivers should be obtained from the computer manufacturer if you have a branded computer like Dell or Lenovo. See http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Updating_Sound_Device_Drivers for more.


Gale