Audacity Forum

Hi

I am new to Audacity and having some difficulties with recording a second track.

I downloaded 1.2.6. Have XP2 on an ACER notebook with inbuilt microphone and with RealTek audio.

Don't get the dropdown menu on the Mixer toolbar.

Can record first sound perfectly (I just play the piano and Audacity records well).

When I try to record the second track (voice), the sound is faint, and broken. ( I can still hear the first sound. If there are any gaps on the first sound, the second sound is then quite clear).

On preferences, I have tried all the options. I use the "play recording" while recording the second track.

Thanks for any suggestions.

I believe that you are recording both tracks using a microphone?
You may need to adjust the recording level before recording the second track. To set the level, click on the recording meter so that it comes to life, and look at how high it moves up while you play / sing. Ideally it should peak at around -6dB.

Tip. If you grab the meters with your mouse, you can pull them away from the docking position and stretch them the full width of the screen, making it much easier to see the recording level.

I'm a bit concerned by the description "broken" sound. If you mute the first track and amplify the second track so that you can hear it clearly, is the sound recorded continuously, or are there gaps in it?

I'm having this same problem. When I record through my mic port (using a 1/4" to 1/8" converte and coming straight from my acoustic OR using a mic), when I record a second track, about 40 seconds in it starts stuttering and having gaps in the recording. It's fine up to that point, but then it gets to the point it only plays a "bit" every half-second and the rest is just stuttering or silent. Same goes for third and fourth tracks.

Doesn't seem to happen when I turn off the playback while recording thing, which sucks because I like being able to use that to tell where I am as far as the background and other lead parts.

Any thing I can do to fix it?

Thanks. I tried the recording meter - usually gets to -12 but can get to -6.

I finally got something reasonable happening with the "Edit" - "Preferences" option:

1. Record track one with Logitech microphone (the inbuilt one for my computer), and Realtek Output.

2. Record track two with Realtek microphone and Realtek Output + use an inexpensive Verbatim Multimedia headset to record.

The resulting sound is not professional at all - but I am still learning how to use Audacity. A professional job is not so important for me.

If you have any ideas or thoughts about why I need to change the microphone settings, I would appreciate it.

Thank you very much for your help also.

I also would like to thanks to the creators of Audacity.

Have a look in the record settings for your sound card and see if there is a selector for the microphone to apply a +20dB boost (there often is).
I don't think that I'm going to be able to help you get really good recordings - Pigs ears and silk purses... So you will just have to try and coax the best performance that you can out of the equipment. (or upgrade the recording hardware).