Muting while recording

[Curious]

Is it possible to mute the sound somehow while I am recording? It seems like the only way it works if I have the sound on, i.e. the recording is made through the mike. I seem unable to change the mike to anything else. Thanks.

[kozikowski]

If you're on a Mac, this happens automatically when you select Audio Input in the Preferences Panel.

If you're on a PC, you need to open up the audio control panel. (in Windows 2000, double click on the speaker) Get into the record side (Options) and turn on or off the performance you want to record. Then back out to the play panel and mute everything until you're finished.

I've always thought whoever designed computer sound services never worked in sound in their lives--or knew anybody.

Koz

[Curious]

Koz, thanks for the reply but I am lost. I am using a PC. Windows XP. Double clicked on the speaker, options, properties. Get 2 chices for mixer device 1)Logitech Microphone (Pro 5000), 2) SigmaTelAudio. Then I have no idea what you mean by "Then back out to the play panel and mute everything until you're finished."
Thanks.

[kozikowski]

This is where I'm going to get a little fuzzy on you. I don't have XP.

In earlier versions of Windows, the audio control panels came as a pair, Record and Play. They were completely independent of each other and you could cause recording from one thing and monitor something else. That's what I meant by "back out" of the record panel and go forward into the playback panel.

They still should say something like that. They may be all on one panel now, but the labels should say clearly record and play.

Those panels are where you control what's going on during an Audacity recording. The Audacity recording level control affects the companion control in the Windows Record Panel. On some machines, you can move one and watch the other move.

Koz

[Curious]

I still have no idea what I am supposed to do. I have poked around in all the settings and nothing works. The only way Audacity records is through the attached mike picking up sound from the attached speakers - the web stream and all extraneous noises. Please have a look at the attachment showing the volume controls on my PC. Thanks.

[richardash1981]

What are you trying to record from? Your voice through the headset or some other source?

[Curious]

I am trying to record streaming audio from a web site. This is very frustrating. Seems like a pretty basic task - how do I record streaming audio from the internet and convert it to mp3 format without having to listen to the whole stream while I am recording it? That is why I am trying to mute it - I don't want to listen to it on my PC for 45 minutes while I am burning it - it's for later playback on an iPod. Thanks for your help.

[Curious]

Anyone? Anyone?

[richardash1981]

Be patient. As you are recording the streaming audio you want the audacity recording device set to SigmaTel audio. You then need to follow the FAQ on recording streaming audio:
http://audacityteam.org/help/faq?s=reco ... =streaming
to record what the computer is playing back. Because you are recording the computer's playback you can't do the job faster than real time, and the only way you can mute the sound is by turning the speakers off - anything else will also mute the sound audacity is recording.

This is the price of recording off the sound card - the alternative is to find another application that can save the stream directly to disk, which are rare.

[Curious]

The drop down menu in the Audacity Mixer Toolbar is grayed out and only the mike if show on the toolbar itlsef. How do I fix that?