Recording over tracks (Echoing?)

[blargh]

Ok I'm having this frustrating problem. I am recording some instrumentals and when I go to record say the lead over the rhythm i get a recording of the rhythm all over again. It's like Audacity is recording the original track all over again. At first I thought it was the speakers, which I had muted cause I had headphones in. Then realized that it had to be something in the settings causing it to select a different source of sound. Even if I play something in Itunes then click record Audacity starts to record what ever noise the computer is making, song, video what ever. How do I turn that off?

[blargh]

**Update**

If I turn the volumes down on Windows, Itunes and Audacity it causes Audacity not to pick up the noise. But I still can't hear the track to record over...

[steve]

You are the lucky one - many people struggle to achieve what you are doing by accident.

You are recording the "Stereo Mix" of your sound card - this is how you are able to record streaming audio and the like. However this is not your intention at the moment, so you need to change a setting.

The setting is not in Audacity, but in the Windows Sound system. You can often access this setting by bringing up the Windows Mixer from the loudspeaker icon near the system clock. Open the Windows Mixer and find the Record Settings section. De-select the "Stereo Mix" input (may be called "Mix" or "What U Hear") and select the actual input that you are using (for example the "Line" input, or "Mic" input).