Recording Computer Playback on Linux - questions about the tutorial

Audacity 3 Help Forum GNU/Linux
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1

I’m trying to follow the following tutorial, but I need some help doing so.

My first problem: Step 3 is not clear to me:

  1. Ensure that PulseAudio is running.

How can I do this? What exactly does it mean?

2

Which version of Linux do you use, ie which distro’?

3

I use MX Linux 23 xfce.

4

I use Mint 22.3 so I’ll tell you how I do it and maybe you can adapt it for your setup. I had to install a package called ‘pavucontrol’ (Pulse Audio Volume Control) via my package manager. With that done, I right-click on the volume icon in the task bar. Then I click ‘Sound Preferences’ and then click the ‘Input’ tab. The default is ‘Built-in Audio Analogue Stereo’ and I change it to ‘Monitor of Built-in Audio Analogue Stereo’ when I want to record audio that’s playing on the PC.
Change it back when you’re done recording.
I hope that helps.

5

Thank you. I tried similar steps, but they don’t work: There is nothing with “monitor” in the name to select from as input.

Therefore, I am trying to strictly follow the tutorial.

6

I asked ChatGPT and the result is in this link I’m sharing with you: Audio on MX Linux

1 Like
7

Thanks. Now it works, after some guesswork.

Here’s a quotation from your ChatGPT link:

    1. Set:

      • Audio Host: ALSA
      • Recording Device: pulse (or default if pulse isn’t listed)

    2. Click Record in Audacity.

    3. Open PulseAudio Volume Control (pavucontrol).

    4. Go to the Recording tab.

    5. Find Audacity and change Capture from to:

      Monitor of Built-in Audio Analog Stereo

      or whatever your output device is called (“Monitor of Speakers”, “Monitor of HDMI”, etc.).

Well, I couldn’t select “pulse” or “default” as “recording device”, because they aren’t there. I selected “default: Headset Mic:0” instead.

Then, I proceeded exactly as described in the quote, and it worked.

1 Like
8

Brilliant!

9

I can see now that the tutorial might have led to sucess, too. But it is difficult to understand:

  • “Ensure that PulseAudio is running.”: This sentence is hard to understand. Should be deleted or explained.
  • “set the Host to ALSA and the recording device to pulse. On systems where PulseAudio is the default sound system the recording device may be set to default.”: It should be clarified that the “pulse” or “default” entries can contain additional words, e.g. “default: Headset Mic:0”.
  • “Audacity’s playback device may be set to pulse or to any available audio interface in Audio Setup Toolbar.”: This is a confusing sentence: Why is “pulse” highlighted? The sentence should be omitted or shortened to “Select any available playback device in Audio Setup Toolbar.”.
  • “left-click on the Recording Meter to turn monitoring on.”: This is wrong, at least in my case. Right: I have to right-click on the recording meter, and then click on “Stille Überwachung aktivieren” (German for “Activate silent monitoring”) in the context menu.