Second Track records over 1st track

[PhyllisJ]

I am new to Audacity. I am trying to transfer tracks from my cassetts to the computer for burning to a CD. I have read the tutorial and think I am doing everything right. I can record one track, export it, play it and it is OK. When I record a 2nd track, it records over the first one. If I shut the computer off and come back the next day, I can again record one track OK but when I do a 2nd one, the same thing happens. What am I doing wrong??
Thanks

[steve]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean, so starting from the beginning:

You are using which version of Audacity?
You are recording onto a Mac / PC / laptop?
You have connected a tape player to the Line-in / microphone socket / USB interface?

And then you do what exactly?

[PhyllisJ]

I am using windows XP on a PC, Turtle Beach Santa Cruz sound card, audacity 1.2.6, with the headphone jack on the cassette player connected to the line input on the sound card. I record a track. It records OK, it plays back OK, I export it as a wav file to My music, I play it with Windows Media Player all is OK. I now record a new track. It sounds normal as it is being recorded but when I play it back, it has recorded over the first track and they are playing together. What am I doing wrong??
Thanks

[steve]

I am using windows XP on a PC, Turtle Beach Santa Cruz sound card, audacity 1.2.6, with the headphone jack on the cassette player connected to the line input on the sound card. I record a track. It records OK, it plays back OK, I export it as a wav file to My music, I play it with Windows Media Player all is OK.

That's brilliant, I can picture it in front of me

I now record a new track.

Woah ! Now you've lost me.
So you just played the first recorded track, exported it, then pressed "play" on your tape player and "Record" on Audacity and it starts recording a second track?
So now you have two tracks in Audacity - one above the other?

but when I play it back, it has recorded over the first track and they are playing together.

Over the first track? It doesn't create a second track?

[PhyllisJ]

When I am recording the next track, the screen I am seeing looks perfectly normal. The red bars on the record side and the green bars on the play side and the blue pattern on the sound visualization line and the pointer showing the time elapsed are all referring to the track I am recording, in time with the music I am hearing. When I stop recording and press play, I get the two songs playing simultaneously.

[waxcylinder]

Phyllis,

Either close the Audacity project and start a new one (best way) - or if you do insist in doing it all in one audacity project, when you have finished with the track and exported it as WAV.Mp3 whatever - then just delete the track by clicking in the little x at the top left hand corner of the track control block.

Then start your next recording.

This is totally expected behaviour in Audacity - as it is designed as a recorder/editor for musicians to lay down multiple tracks and then mix them - just like a multi-track recording deck. For your use (and mine) with LP/tape transcription you normally only need the one, stereo, track at a time.

WC

[PhyllisJ]

Thank You!!! I was just beginning to come to that conclusion but you confirmed it. I guess I thought that when I exported the track, it was "gone" so I wasn't bothering to go to file---new before starting the next one. That solved my problem. I will keep this forum book marked in case I run into any more problems. Thanks again.