Hello, I am recording onto Audacity with my guitar routed through a PreSonsus audiobox USB interface. I import an mp3 into Audacity and then can record onto it. However I am getting 2 problems-
- During recording the speed of the mp3 slows down, plus there is some distortion and other unwanted background noise
- Once recording is completed, when I playback the guitar has recorded in a different key
Anyone have any idea as to why? Best wishes from Sebastian
Are you using your internal soundcard for any playback or monitoring, or are you using the PreSonus for everything?
Usually, this kind of problem is related to the clock (oscillator) in your “cheap consumer” soundcard being off. If you record with one device and playback with another device and the clocks don’t match, you’ll never get the pitch & timing to match.
plus there is some distortion and other unwanted background noise
Distortion is usually from clipping (too high of a signal). If you mix two full-volume sounds, you’ll need to reduce the volume before exporting. (The Amplify effect will scan your file and default for to whatever changes are needed (up or down) for 0dB normalized/maximized peaks.
Noise is coming-in on the analog side. It could be electrical hum/buzz/hiss or acoustical room noise picked-up by the microphone. (You didn’t say if you are recording with a mic or direct from an electric guitar.)
Also see our FAQ about this here: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/faq_recording_troubleshooting.html#sync .
The distortion could also be caused by the problem that is causing the pitch change. The pitch change is almost always due to some track or setting being at a different sample rate than all the other settings.
If you need more help, please give your version of Audacity and version of Windows (see the pink panel at the top of this page). Please tell us what output device you are choosing in Device Toolbar .
Gale