Hi im using win 10 and the latest version of audacity also using a wharfedale connect 802 usb mixer connected to my pc im pretty new to this and have been trying my best to work it out for myself but a bit stumped any advice would be much appreicated
Im basically trying to record a drum kit using 2 mics and a bass line using a bass guitar I have succesfully laid down a drum track and got a bass line over that and thats fine,but what im trying to do
is I have a recorded bass line in audacity and im wanting to drum along to that and record it i have the bass line coming through headphones out of the mixer but when i play it back its really distorted also i can hear the bass line as well
which i shouldnt the drums come through here an there but quite distant and more prominent when theres a break in the bass.So recording bass over the drum track fine recording the drums along with the bassline no go.
thanks in advance
i have the bass line coming through headphones out of the mixer but when i play it back its really distorted also i can hear the bass line as well
Mixing is done by summation and if the sum exceeds 0dB (100%) you’ll get [u]clipping[/u] (distortion) when you export. Audacity uses floating-point internally so it won’t clip and if you’re not listening at full-volume and clipping your DAC you may not hear the clipping 'till you export.
If you’re mixing two tracks, -6dB is 50% so if you use the Amplify effect to set the peaks of each track at -6dB (or less) before mixing, you won’t get clipping when you mix.
which i shouldnt the drums come through here an there but quite distant and more prominent when theres a break in the bass.
Whichever is louder is going to sound the most prominent. 
But, you’ve got to go by ear…The peak dB level doesn’t correlate well with perceived loudness.
Thanks for the reply DVD Doug appreciate it. so i can go sit down a record a drum beat and its records perfect and then i can record a bit of bass over it thats magic i know how to reduce the clipping before exporting anything (hold that thought) now if i start another tune and lay down a bass line because basically i want to hear that so i get the feel of the tune while at the same time records drums alongside that bass the play back on the drums is crazy distorted (bass fine) so do you reacon its clipping more so in the USB mixer and maybe i should reduce some level and gain there.its just not happy recording over that bass but vice verse is fine.(scratches head)