Hi,
i’m using win 10 and have the same problem on my laptop and desktop computers.
i can record up to 4 tracks just fine. after that any new tracks also get the previous 4 tracks bounced onto it.
i am recording stereo tracks if that makes a difference.
any help would be much appreciated.
I am sure what you are doing must be very clear to you.
I have no idea what you are trying to say. Oh, wait… No - I still don’t have it.
So what are you trying to accomplish and what have you tried thus far?
i have recorded one track of acoustic guitar.
i then recorded a second track, of vocals, and a third track, of back-up vocals.
when i go to record a fourth track, of electronic drums in this case, Audacity records the drums as well as the first three tracks ALL onto the fourth track.
i have made no changes that i’m aware of since recording the first three tracks.
under edit>preferences>recording there is the option to play other tracks while recording. if i untick this it stops this happening but i also can’t hear the previous tracks while trying to record overdubs, so that’s no good.
I hope this explains it better.
With a microphone?
With a microphone?
With a microphone?
Much better, thanks. 
What steve says; also, it helps tremendously if you use headphones, particularly for the drummer.
I am using headphones.
acoustic guitar plugged direct to computer.
vocals through a microphone.
the electronic drums plug straight into the computer.
but it doesn’t matter if i am using a microphone or plugging direct into the computer with an instrument.
the first 3 tracks work as they should, the fourth track gets whatever i am recording plus the first 3 tracks.
BTW - the question has been asked before in the forum, but the answer made no sense to me.
i have checked FAQ’s - nothing there that i could find
this is the reply i mentioned, does it mean anything to you?
Re: Recording from previous tracks transfer to new automatic
Post by kozikowski » Tue Jun 21, 2016 2:13 pm
Audacity > Edit > Preferences > [X] Overdub… That should be the only thing selected.
Do you like to record YouTube or other on-line sound? Those sound settings can mess up overdubbing. Make sure you’re recording directly from your instrument or other digital interface, not a fold-back “fake” device such as Stereo-Mix or What-U-Hear. Set that with the Audacity Device Toolbar.
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/device_toolbar.html
This is the worst thing to correct because it’s basically open-ended. “Do you remember how you set up your computer to record YouTube sound? Don’t do that.”
In my case, I’m recording from “USB Audio CODEC” because that’s the digital name of the little USB sound adapter that connects the sound mixer I use for overdubbing.
Image
Windows has pages of settings that can confuse this process. See if that helps.
Koz
How is the mic connected to the computer?
Are you using the same settings in the Device Toolbar for all of those recordings? What are those settings?
the mic is connected directly to the mic input on the computer, i use the same input for instruments.
the settings from left to right are:
MME > Microphone (realtek high defini > 2 (stereo recording chann > microsoft sound mapper - output
i have also tried making the last option: speakers (realtek high defini
but it makes no difference
Please try this as a test:
Make a recording with 5 tracks using your microphone only.
What happens?
now its doing it on every track.
track 2 records track 1 and 2
track 3 records 1, 2 and 3
and so on
thanks for trying to help Steve, i really appreciate it
What happens if you record a 5 track project using only your guitar (plugged direct to computer)?
same thing
Please post your “Audio device info”. Perhaps that will give a clue as to what is going on.
(See: https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/help_menu_diagnostics.html)
==============================
Default recording device number: 1
Default playback device number: 3
==============================
Device ID: 0
Device name: Microsoft Sound Mapper - Input
Host name: MME
Recording channels: 2
Playback channels: 0
Low Recording Latency: 0.09
Low Playback Latency: 0.09
High Recording Latency: 0.18
High Playback Latency: 0.18
Supported Rates:
==============================
Device ID: 1
Device name: Microphone (Realtek High Defini
Host name: MME
Recording channels: 2
Playback channels: 0
Low Recording Latency: 0.09
Low Playback Latency: 0.09
High Recording Latency: 0.18
High Playback Latency: 0.18
Supported Rates:
==============================
Device ID: 2
Device name: Microsoft Sound Mapper - Output
Host name: MME
Recording channels: 0
Playback channels: 2
Low Recording Latency: 0.09
Low Playback Latency: 0.09
High Recording Latency: 0.18
High Playback Latency: 0.18
Supported Rates:
8000
9600
11025
12000
15000
16000
22050
24000
32000
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
352800
384000
==============================
Device ID: 3
Device name: Speakers (Realtek High Definiti
Host name: MME
Recording channels: 0
Playback channels: 2
Low Recording Latency: 0.09
Low Playback Latency: 0.09
High Recording Latency: 0.18
High Playback Latency: 0.18
Supported Rates:
8000
9600
11025
12000
15000
16000
22050
24000
32000
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
352800
384000
==============================
Device ID: 4
Device name: Primary Sound Capture Driver
Host name: Windows DirectSound
Recording channels: 2
Playback channels: 0
Low Recording Latency: 0.12
Low Playback Latency: 0
High Recording Latency: 0.24
High Playback Latency: 0
Supported Rates:
==============================
Device ID: 5
Device name: Microphone (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Host name: Windows DirectSound
Recording channels: 2
Playback channels: 0
Low Recording Latency: 0.12
Low Playback Latency: 0
High Recording Latency: 0.24
High Playback Latency: 0
Supported Rates:
==============================
Device ID: 6
Device name: Primary Sound Driver
Host name: Windows DirectSound
Recording channels: 0
Playback channels: 2
Low Recording Latency: 0
Low Playback Latency: 0.12
High Recording Latency: 0
High Playback Latency: 0.24
Supported Rates:
8000
9600
11025
12000
15000
16000
22050
24000
32000
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
==============================
Device ID: 7
Device name: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Host name: Windows DirectSound
Recording channels: 0
Playback channels: 2
Low Recording Latency: 0
Low Playback Latency: 0.12
High Recording Latency: 0
High Playback Latency: 0.24
Supported Rates:
8000
9600
11025
12000
15000
16000
22050
24000
32000
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
==============================
Device ID: 8
Device name: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Host name: Windows WASAPI
Recording channels: 0
Playback channels: 2
Low Recording Latency: 0
Low Playback Latency: 0.003
High Recording Latency: 0
High Playback Latency: 0.01
Supported Rates:
48000
==============================
Device ID: 9
Device name: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio) (loopback)
Host name: Windows WASAPI
Recording channels: 2
Playback channels: 0
Low Recording Latency: 0.003
Low Playback Latency: 0
High Recording Latency: 0.01
High Playback Latency: 0
Supported Rates:
==============================
Device ID: 10
Device name: Microphone (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Host name: Windows WASAPI
Recording channels: 2
Playback channels: 0
Low Recording Latency: 0.003
Low Playback Latency: 0
High Recording Latency: 0.01
High Playback Latency: 0
Supported Rates:
==============================
Selected recording device: 1 - Microphone (Realtek High Defini
Selected playback device: 2 - Microsoft Sound Mapper - Output
Supported Rates:
8000
9600
11025
12000
15000
16000
22050
24000
32000
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
352800
384000
==============================
Available mixers:
==============================
Available recording sources:
0 - Master
==============================
Available playback volumes:
0 - PCM
==============================
Recording volume is native
Playback volume is native
Thanks, that looks fine.
What make / model are your headphones?
Does your computer have separate sockets for headphones and microphone or are they combined in one socket?
the mic is a Voilamart BM-800
there are separate sockets for mic and headphones
sorry, i just realised you asked about headphones not the mic.
i have used Sennheiser wireless RS 110 II and i have used a generic set that came with my mobile phone - it is the same on both.
it must have something to do with my settings because no matter what i use as input or output the result is the same.
it also occurs on both my laptop and my desktop computers, which have never been hooked up together.
i assume somewhere in Audacity is the ability to “bounce” tracks. i don’t know if that term is still used today (sorry if you already know this) but it basically means;
in the time of 4-track recorders you were able to increase the number of tracks you had to 10 instead of 4.
this was done by recording your first 3 tracks and then while recording your 4th track, you could “bounce” the first 3 tracks onto the 4th track. giving you, in essence, 4 tracks on track 4 instead of just 1.
then you could do the same with the 3rd track etc. giving you a total of 10 tracks instead of 4.
if Audacity has the same option somewhere then i can’t find it to switch it off, but maybe its called something else. this seems the most likely to me
please don’t leave me Steve, I need you! 