Monitoring while recording? How?

[psr635]

Hi,

i started using Audacity last week and I'm not to familiar with all the technicalities of it. But i'm having a similar problem to the one mentioned.

I've been able to record songs and then put the vocals over them, whilst being able to hear the guitaring from the first the first recording. However, yesterday when I was using the software it stopped letting me hear the original recordings whilst adding vocals. I can still do playback and all the levels seem about right, so i'm not sure how I can turn this feature back on if i've switched it off by accident??

[steve]

I've been able to record songs and then put the vocals over them, whilst being able to hear the guitaring from the first the first recording. However, yesterday when I was using the software it stopped letting me hear the original recordings whilst adding vocals.

"Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O"
select "Play other tracks while recording new one"

[psr635]

Brilliant thanks, working fine now

[OhYouSupply]

am I even using a sound card at all?

No you're not. With a USB headset you bypass the sound card. If there is a control panel for the headset, you may be able to make the adjustments, bu I guess this headset is designed for Skype or some similar application, and may not allow you to do that.

Well I figured out my problem. I had "software playthrough" enabled in the preferences and when I unchecked the box it started working the way I wanted it.

[steve]

Well I figured out my problem. I had "software playthrough" enabled in the preferences and when I unchecked the box it started working the way I wanted it.

Doh !
That's why it's switched off by default
(glad you've got it working).

[dave_atx]

A follow-up to anyone who might be following this thread with the same or similar problem - I determined that my problem was directly related to the integrated SigmaTel sound card on my Dell laptop. It did not allow monitoring of an input signal, at least not in any way that I could figure out. I ended up connecting an external sound device (an m-audio mobile pre USB) to my laptop and was finally able hear myself in my headphones as I recorded tracks in Audacity.

Thanks to all who tried to help,

Dave

[dave_atx]

The best way is to record everything dry, then add effects later. If you want to use outboard hardware effects, simply play a track back, with the output plugged into your effects unit, then the output from the effects unit into the input of your sound card and record. This will produce a "wet" track which you can mix with your dry track to get the desired result. This method allows you to change your mind as often as you like without having to re-record.

steve, i know that's the "best way," but for those of us who are home studio musicians, we don't want the best way...we want the easy way. And the easy way is to be able to hear oneself with the appropriate effects added in real time. I hope a future upgrade of Audacity will include the ability to hear (monitor) the signal with the appropriate effects added in real time...like you can in garage band, sonar, cakewalk, pro tools, etc.

[steve]

Using a wet track and a dry track you are half way to being able to hear the results in real time - LADSPA plug-ins include a "Preview" feature that helps you to create the wet track, then using the track volume sliders, you can adjust the levels of the two tracks while they play. Full real-time effects support would probably require a complete rewrite of the Audacity code, so I can't see it happening in the near future (though it is one of the most requested features).

There are a couple of ways to achieve real-time effects with Audacity, but they are either hardware or operating system dependent. With appropriate hardware it is possible to play a track, route the output through a stand alone effect, then re-record it into Audacity. A similar method is possible using virtual patching (Linux with JACK audio), but support for this is very limited at present. I believe that there is some development work under way for JACK for Windows, but this is in very early stages at the moment. JACK has the potential to provide an open source alternative to ASIO and will open up many exciting possibilities.