For several years I’ve been doing voice recordings in 2-channel stereo, both channels containing the same material. Now I’ve installed a Focusrite interface, which altered it to mono. I’ve managed to get back to 2-channel recording, which the program tells me is stereo, but it only records in one channel and I haven’t managed to activate the second one. Can anyone give me the key?
True-mono will play out of both speakers.
With “dual-mono” uncompressed audio your file will be twice the size for no good reason. (The compression algorithms are smart-enough not to duplicate the data, but the file will be 'tagged" as “stereo”.)
There MIGHT be some combination of Windows mono/stereo settings and Audacity mono/stereo settings that will give you dual mono. But it might depend on your drivers. Or does the Focusrite come with a configuration utility?
I assume your Focusrite interface is stereo? The two “normal” settings are stereo recording where you get two separate channels (one silent with only input being used) or mono, where both inputs are combined for mono.
If you record in mono in Audacity, but only use one input on your interface, the signal level will be cut in half (-6dB) to leave room for the other (unused) channel. You can still trust the clipping indicators on your interface.
So, one way you get a silent channel that you’ll have to delete for true-mono, or you can copy the audio from one channel to the other.
The other way, the volume will be reduced and you’ll have to amplify, but usually you’ll be leaving headroom and you’ll want to amplify anyway.
Thanks Doug, but nothing of what you’ve told me is useful for solving the problem, which is that I need stereo in 2 channels, and although the program indicates stereo and two tracks appear, it only records on one. I realize that with one mike it’s not true stereo, the point is that I need the same sound on both channels, but one is blank.
I don’t know how to get that automatically but Split Stereo Track will allow you to edit the channels independently so you delete the silent one or copy from one channel to the other.
If you don’t need stereo, if are not mixing with stereo music or something, I recommend just deleting the silent channel to get mono. (Click the ‘X’ to the left of the waveform.) Like I said, a mono file will play from both speakers.
Thanks Doug, I’ll try the Split Stereo Track approach. I’ve actually gone that route with no results, but I uninstalled and reinstalled Audacity, so maybe the newer version will work differently. What it’s all about is that my publisher of audiobooks requires that the files be all in either stereo or mono, and I have two projects on the go which so far I’ve recorded in stereo. If your suggestion doesn’t work, I’ll try to change the recorded material to mono and continue with it. Only thing is that I won’t be able to revise the previous audiobooks, which are in stereo. Perfection is hard to come by. Anyway, thanks again. Have a good day…week…month…life.
Have you in Audio setup… Recording channels… set this to either 1 or 2 channels…ie either…mono or stereo
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