Recording while playing back a song file in Audacity

Recording while playing back a song file in Audacity

I use Audacity for Windows v2.2.0, Windows 64 bit

Is it possible to play a song file (MP3) in Audacity and simultaneously record it at the same time? I know this may not make sense.

I played a song file in Audacity, opened a new page in Audacity (file, new) but the record button greys out.

Can someone tell me whether this is possible? If so, why is the record button greyed out? The pause button is not on.

If song file is not being played back via Audacity, I am able to record songs normally such as streaming music etc.

You don’t open a new Audacity page (new window), that won’t work.
You create a second track in the same Audacity page (window) as the backing track, see …

hello

thank u for your comments.

When I play back MP3 song in Audacity and push the “record” button, it does nothing as though the record button is not active (however it’s not greyed out).

sn

additional comments:

While playing back a MP3 song in Audacity, when I press “record” button, I do not have any mic attached. Is this the reason nothing happened even when “record” is pressed?

sn

You have to tell Audacity what you want device you want to record from, e.g. internal mic/ external USB mic / line-in / computer-speakers / etc, see … Tutorial - Selecting Your Recording Device - Audacity Manual

Are you trying to make a copy of the MP3 within the project or across projects? If so, then there’s no need to record at all; just use Edit → Duplicate (or Ctrl+D), or Edit → Copy (or Ctrl+C) followed by Edit → Paste (or Ctrl+V) in the desired window.

hello

Yes, i want make a copy of the MP3 within the project and I realize it does not make sense .

Is the reason the record button does not function is because i dont have mic attached?

snoma01

The record button will be greyed out while Audacity is playing. If you want to record, stop playback first, then click the record button and Audacity will begin recording.

What exactly are you trying to do? If you just want a copy of an MP3 file, you don’t need to use Audacity or any other software - just right click on the file in your computer’s file explorer and select “Copy”, then go to the folder where you want the duplicate and right click > Paste.

Yes, u are right. What I am trying to accomplish doesnt make sense, does it.

tk u for your advice.

snoma01

It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me :wink: but I do notice that your English language skills are very good. If you find Audacity to be a useful program, perhaps you would be interested in helping to translate it into Japanese, as that is one of the languages where the translation is very incomplete. There’s some information for translation volunteers here: Redirecting to: https://support.audacityteam.org/community/contributing/translating