Vocal and Piano Alignment

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

Please forgive me if this has already been answered. I am visually impaired and I need help. I recorded a vocal track along with a piano track. Unfortunately, they don’t “line up.” I need to “shift” the vocal track just a smidgen to the right. How can I align these tracks so that the vocals are on the downbeat? My sound card drivers are updated, as well as my Windows 10 Pro (21H1).

Windows 10 Pro 21H1 (update)
Audacity 3.0.2

Thanks for any help,

B2sing4you

2

Generally, the way this is done is to first record the piano track without vocals, then record the vocals to a second track while listening the the first track while wearing headphones. See: Tutorial - Multi-track Overdubbing

See, especially, the Synchronizing Tracks tip at the end.

3

There is a numerical value (now) called “latency compensation” in Audacity preferences (devices).
https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/devices_preferences.html#Latency
“latency compensation” is a time-shift in milliseconds applied to the track you’re recording to keep it in-sync with the backing track.

There is a “latency test” which can be done to find out the latency compensation required for a specific computer, but it’s visual a thing: comparing waveforms … https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/latency_test.html

In the absence of the latency test, trial & error will be required.
IIRC the default “latency compensation” in Audacity is minus one hundred (-100) milliseconds.
To shift a smidgen right, try changing “latency compensation” to zero instead.
If that’s too far right, try -10, -20, -30 , -40, etc until it sounds in-sync.

4

If you’re not already aware, there is an excellent mailing list for blind Audacity users. They have some very knowledgable people and are super helpful. It is called “audacity4blind”. Subscription information can be found here: https://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Audacity_for_blind_users#Documentation_and_mailing_lists

5

Excellent! Changing the latency worked. I had to mess with it, but I got vocal in sync with the piano. Yes, thank you! I’ll check out the Audacity for the blind!!

B2sing4you