I am recording via Focusrite Scarlett Solo which has 1 microphone input and 1 line/instrument input. Until now I directly recorded my voice through the microphone input on a single mono track which worked fine for me. But today I wanted to try out my microphone preamp/compressor and afterwards use the line/instrument input.
The problem is that this line/instrument input is panned to the right channel. So if I record mono in audacity nothing shows up. I woud have to record a stereo track and then mix it down to mono.
Now my question is: Is there a way to mix a stereo source down to mono in the moment of recording? Or is there a way to choose which channel will be recorded on a mono track? I have no option to do this with the scarlett solo, I think. Mic is always left, line always right.
Normally mono should give you a mix of both channels.
You may have to make sure Windows (or whatever operating system ) is also configured for mono. Or, does Focusrite have their own configuration utility?
But there is a “quirk” to be aware of… In mono, the levels are cut in half (-6dB) so you don’t exceed 0dB when both channels are mixed. (Mixing is done by summing.) If you are only using one input, the levels will be lower than expected.
No, you can’t choose. Channel 1 is left and channel 2 is right. If you Split Stereo Track you can edit the channels independently or delete the silent channel, or pan left-to-right, etc.
Thats exactly what I thought till this morning. But it seems that mono means that the left channel of a stereo source is recorded. It makes no difference if I configure windows to stereo or mono. The right channel of the scarlett only shows up if I record in stereo.
the “quirk” you mentioned was the key. Until a few months ago I had the problem that the level of my recordings could never exceed -6dB. So I could not use the “display Distortion”-function in audacity. I found the solution in changing the audiohost to “windows WASAPI”. Now I had full signal in audacity but I did not understand why. It worked fine for me because I always use the same channel.
Now it seems that WASAPI keeps the stereo signal seperated even if I record on a mono track whereas “windows direct sound” and “MME” merge the two signals to mono signal with the sideeffect of a level reduction of 6 dB.