How to record 2 tracks from separate sources into 2 tracks?

[demolitiondan]

Hi,

I'm a new member to the forum but have been using Audacity for a long time.

I'm using version 2.0.5 and Windows 10.

I have a weekly (pre-recorded) radio show and want to record the music track and microphone track separately so I can tidy the mic track before broadcast.

Currently I can only record from a single source - even if I open 2 separate Audacity windows.

Could this be fixed with a more advanced soundcard or is it a limitation of audacity?

TIA

Dan

[kozikowski]

I have a weekly (pre-recorded) radio show

Those are fuzzy words. You are producing a radio show and submitting it for broadcast?

Are you playing the music live or using MP3 or other prepared music?

Is the music tightly bound to the voice or is it just intro, outro, stingers?

There was a forum poster who produced a music radio show from downloaded MP3s and live introduction at home, and then submitted it for broadcast later. Is that what you're doing? Desert Island Disks?

Koz

[demolitiondan]

Hi, it's an internet radio show.

The current format is I submit a radio show fully produced to the station.

Example:
https://www.mixcloud.com/demolitiondanh ... sco-house/

It's one hour of beat matched house music recorded from a Pioneer DDj setup.

I do an hour of talkover which is synchronised to the quiet sections (drops).

It's a professional station (Sister Bliss, Roger Sanchez, Graeme Park, Cevin Fisher are my contemporaries) so it's got to sound as good as I can make it.

If I mess up the talkover and it's all one track I have the risk of having to re-record the whole show over again so recording 2 separate tracks is essential. I started by recording the music and then recording the voiceover as a separate track. That's 2 hours for a 1 hour show and after post-processing can be 3 - 4 hours.

I want the Audio from my Pioneer into one Audacity channel and the voiceover into a second one, can it be done?

TIA

Dan

[demolitiondan]

Hi, it's an internet radio show.

The current format is I submit a radio show fully produced to the station.

Example:
https://www.mixcloud.com/demolitiondanh ... sco-house/

It's one hour of beat matched house music recorded from a Pioneer DDj setup.

I do an hour of talkover which is synchronised to the quiet sections (drops).

It's a professional station (Sister Bliss, Roger Sanchez, Graeme Park, Cevin Fisher are my contemporaries) so it's got to sound as good as I can make it.

If I mess up the talkover and it's all one track I have the risk of having to re-record the whole show over again so recording 2 separate tracks is essential. I started by recording the music and then recording the voiceover as a separate track. That's 2 hours for a 1 hour show and after post-processing can be 3 - 4 hours.

I want the Audio from my Pioneer into one Audacity channel and the voiceover into a second one, can it be done?

TIA

Dan

[steve]

I'm using version 2.0.5 and Windows 10.

That's an ancient version of Audacity. You should update to the current 2.3.2 version: https://www.audacityteam.org/download/windows/

I have a weekly (pre-recorded) radio show and want to record the music track and microphone track separately so I can tidy the mic track before broadcast.

Currently I can only record from a single source - even if I open 2 separate Audacity windows.

Record (or better to "Import" if possible) the music track first. Then record the microphone to a new track.
In Audacity 2.3.2, use "Shift + R" or "Shift + Record button" to record to a new track.

I want the Audio from my Pioneer into one Audacity channel and the voiceover into a second one, can it be done?

Yes, that can be done. Do you want your music to be mono or stereo?
Do you need to retain an archive copy that retains the separation of music and voice?

[demolitiondan]

Hi,

I've tried recording the music (stereo) and then doing the voice over (mono) separately but by the time I'm done it takes me 3 hours to record a one hour show.

What I really want to do is record both simultaneously to separate tracks and maintain the ability to edit separately - mainly to remove pops and amplify quiet bits on the voiceover track.

I can record onto separate devices (I recorded the music onto the laptop running Pioneer RekordBox this week but it dropped a load of the recording - the voiceover I recorded onto Audacity). This week has taken even longer!

I don't mind buying a new sound card if I need one but I'm pretty sure I have a SoundBlaster in a drawer which I could install as a second sound card in my PC.

Thanks

Dan

[steve]

Audacity only supports recording from one audio device at a time. If you need to record more than 2 channels, you need an audio device that supports more than 2 channels, AND, supports more than 2 channels with standard Windows drivers (Audacity cannot ship with ASIO support due to licensing restrictions.)

Unfortunately, on Windows, many multi-channel audio devices appear to Audacity as 2 or more stereo devices. This is bad because Audacity can only record from one at a time. Multi-channel support is generally better on macOS, Linux, or Windows with ASIO drivers (but as said already, Audacity does not ship with ASIO support).

[kozikowski]

I've tried recording the music (stereo) and then doing the voice over (mono) separately but by the time I'm done it takes me 3 hours to record a one hour show.

You're doing well. The rule for an edited show is 5X.

record both simultaneously

Right. You are talking yourself into two different recorders. You produce the music track on one machine and your voice on the other—all in real time. Export the voice track and import it into your mix. Obviously, they're separate tracks and you can do corrections and sweetening as you wish.

Screen Shot 2019-05-30 at 08.50.35.png (199.65 KiB) Viewed 182 times

That's my Zoom H4 recorder in a kitchen table studio. The paper towels are Piggly Wiggly. YMMV.


You will almost certainly have a start-stop timing problem the first time, but Effect > Change Speed and Time Shift Tool until you get everything to match. You will only have to experiment once to get the correction value. It will be the same value forever as long as you don't change recorders.

Koz

[kozikowski]

If you get another method to work, post back.

Koz

[kozikowski]

There are other methods, but probably not a button-push from where you are now.

Do you have a smartphone? They all have voice recorders.



You can probably get your computer to do everything, but maybe not with Audacity.

There is a list of multi-channel devices.

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=38626

There was a software package that allowed multi-channel in Audacity, but it smashed everything into one show. Not what you wanted.

Koz