RECORDING LOW BACKGROUND MUSIC W/ VOICE

[cosmiclight22]

Hi there
I am still new here,
I still have not figured out how to be able to record voice with some very low background music
Is there anyone who could advise me?

Is it the OVERDUBBING feature that lets me do that? or is it the MIXING feature that allows that, ( by it mixing a music sound file saved in my hard drive with a recorded vocal)?

I tried the OVERDUBBING several times, but the music background is always so loud, as loud as the voice, even though I put the volume of the music file (playing it) at lowest and record my voice with the input volume much higher
Music should be barely audible

I am sure I am not doing it right?
What is that I am doing wrong?
And is there another way of how to reach this kind of recording?
Thanks
AL

[steve]

You can do it using the "Overdub" feature.

I presume that you are using Audacity 1.3.12, but if not, upgrade to Audacity 1.3.12 first.

Enable "Overdub" in the "Transport" menu. (Software Playthrough must be OFF)
Import or record your music track.
Use the Volume Slider in the Track Control Panel on the left side of the track to lower the playback volume of the track.
Record your vocal track.

The level of the music track may also be adjusted using the track volume slider after you have recorded the vocal track.

[cosmiclight22]

Ok thanks a lot
i will give it a try, hope to succeed this time!!!

Also, I have another question
Can Audacity record also not only through the mic --but also from live audio from the Internet,
or directly from a CD ?
I have been trying, trying different IN PUT options, like Line In, Line 2 or others, but I still have not been successful?
DO you have any advises on how to do it right? Do I have to disable my mic if I do that?
Do you want me to post this question in another topic?
Thanks
Al

[billw58]

Can Audacity record also not only through the mic --but also from live audio from the Internet

http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Mixer ... trol_Panel

-- Bill

[cosmiclight22]

hello there
Thanx for the answer about overdubbing
I am using Audacity Beta 1.3 and Windows XP
My microphone is Samson Q2U USB port, and my playback soundcard from my laptop is ESS Maestro 2E

I cannot figure out why, when I playback, the music is always louder than my voice,
When i record the music volume is lower, than when I play it back, and my voice sound a little louder, but it is still too loud, I would like to have the music barely audible
NOTICE : While recording, and play, I have the volume slider all the way down, both in Audacity and in my laptop volume control, and the mic volume slider all the way up in both Audacity and my mic control panel on my PC

The software playthrough is OFF

There must be another way, or I must be doing something wrong
Is it because the MP3 file I play while record, should previously been recorded already on a very low volume, instead than on a normal volume level?
How can I re-record it on a very low volume level using Audacity then? I have it saved it in my hard drive as a MP3 file
Is that the MIXER option I should use to record it?
There must be another way??
Alternative : I can play my music file with Media Player in the background while I record my voice using Audacity?
Is that a better alternative??
I appreciate advises

(ATTACHED is the pic of how my volume panel looks like, if that can help
I would attach the audio sample of my overdubbing, but it does not let me load it because file is too big)
AL

[Trebor]

... I would like to have the music barely audible

Turn down the level slider on the music track, which I've marked in red below, to make the music quieter ...

level slider control for track marked in red.png (4 KiB) Viewed 10164 times

The thing I've marked in red is what Steve was on about above ...

Use the Volume Slider in the Track Control Panel on the left side of the track to lower the playback volume of the track.

http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 11#p112911

[billw58]

You say you are recording your voice and music. Do you first record or import the music track into Audacity, then use the overdub setting to listen to the music while you record your voice? If you do that, you should end up with two tracks - the original music track and your voice track. At the left of each track is the Track Control Panel. On that panel is a button labelled "Solo" - clicking that button will allow you to listen to that track alone. Please try that with your voice track and tell us what you hear. If, with your voice track soloed, you can still hear the music, then there is something going on with your Windows sound control panel.

Or are you playing the music file through your computer at the same time as recording your voice, and recording the mix of the two onto one track in Audacity? If so, then you have no chance to later adjust the individual volumes of the music and speech.

Is it necessary to listen to the music while recording your voice? Do you time what you are saying to fit the ups and downs in the music? If not, then you do not need to overdub at all. Simply record your voice, stop, import the music track, then mix the two together, controlling the volume of each track as Trebor explained.

Here is a tutorial that shows one method of mixing a narration with background music:
http://manual.audacityteam.org/index.ph ... ound_Music

-- Bill

[cosmiclight22]

I just wanted to get back to you to thank you soo much for your reply and your support

I have not been able to do it yet, but I did quickly look at the link you posted, I think is awesome, it is exactly what I needed, so i am going to do the last option actually, is sounds the best for me

Also, you wanted to know if I can hear my voice only when I push on the SOLO, yes I can, so everything is working fine, i just did not know that that slider on the left, was connected to the music track only, thank you!!!

Then I had another question:
I do not know where to find royalty free sound tracks, like dolphin sounds or flute simple notes or anything simple, just notes to put in the background of my narrative
I did study music a bit when I still little and was in Italy, but I cannot remember much and it was in Italian with the notes languages
In the US everything is with number, I have tried to study the tutorial in Anvil studio, but I am not very successful in composing my own background sound tracks and most of all, i do not have enough time to dedicate to restudy all over again

So i was wondering if anybody here knows where online I could find legitimate royalty free sound files to download, and to use, I am not talking about famous sound track, but something original, that can be used without doing anything illegal
I am sure there must be something out there for this purpose,
or otherwise, could anybody suggest what is the easiest way how to compose your track and then record everything on Audacity?
Tanks a lot again I appreciate your help
Annalena

[billw58]

So i was wondering if anybody here knows where online I could find legitimate royalty free sound files to download, and to use, I am not talking about famous sound track, but something original, that can be used without doing anything illegal
I am sure there must be something out there for this purpose,
or otherwise, could anybody suggest what is the easiest way how to compose your track and then record everything on Audacity?
Tanks a lot again I appreciate your help
Annalena

Do a Google search for "creative commons music".

-- Bill

[Trebor]

So i was wondering if anybody here knows where online I could find legitimate royalty free sound files to download, and to use, I am not talking about famous sound track, but something original, that can be used without doing anything illegal

CCmixter* has some good quality original music and pastiches. (although a lot of what is on CCmixter is "experimental" music, i.e. weird) .

Freesound* has plenty of samples but they are typically short sounds, not pieces of music, but does include things like birdsong.


(* released under Creative Commons licenses),