problem recording guitar

[darren66]

I have imported a drum track which plays fine, but when i came to record a guitar track along with it the sound of the guitar coming from the speakers is breaking up and delayed. When i play the track back, the delay and break up is not there and the guitar track is fine, but hearing the break up/delay while recording causes much distraction. Is there a way to fix this?

[kozikowski]

Can I assume you're playing an acoustic guitar and you're playing the drum track recording so you can call where you are? It's not clear from the post exactly what you're doing.

People who capture live performances need to use headphones in order to avoid feedback and distortion.

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/wynonna2.jpg

Koz

[darren66]

I am recording electric guitar, and the drum track, which was recorded previously, is to be part of the same song.

[steve]

I am recording electric guitar,

How are you doing that? Are you using a microphone plugged into the computer sound card? What sort/spec computer/sound card?
Too much detail is better than not enough (at the moment there is not enough).

[darren66]

Sorry for the lack of specific information, computer recording is new to me so i am just learning terminology etc as i progress.
The drum track i mentioned is not part of the problem, so ignore that.
I am recording guitar using an Alesis guitar link cable which connects the instrument to the usb port on the computer. When i hit the record button, what i am playing is not coming back through the speakers in real time, it is delayed and broken up. However, when i play the recording back it is in fact recorded as it should be. The easy solution is to record with the speaker volume off, this would eliminate the distraction of hearing the sound break up/delay, but by doing this i can not then hear the pre recorded drum track which i need for timing purposes.
I am unsure of the spec of the computer or the soundcard, it is only a low priced system but i was told the Alesis guitar link would work with even the most basic computer system.

[steve]

I've not got Audacity 1.2.6 on this computer but you need to find the option "Software Playthrough" in Preferences and switch it off (deselect).
Try looking in "Edit menu > Preferences > Audio I/O"