nacoran
2985 posts
Oct 13, 2010
12:28 PM
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Hey, I seem to recall someone mentioning somewhere that they were having an issue with Audacity (I think one of my friends on Facebook was too...). I was having the same problem. When It started when I switched to a different computer. If I recorded a track and then tried to record another track, I couldn't hear the playback of the first track, so I was playing blindly (or rather deafly). I finally tracked down the issue. It seems a default may be different than it used to be.
To fix it, open Audacity, Click the Edit Button, then select Preferences, Audio I/O (I had a hard time finding it. Instead of the normal tabbed behavior for a menu box Audacity has a little scroll bar for more options. Audio I/O is all the way to the left.) Select 'Play other tracks while recording new one'. Hit OK.
It was that pesky scroll bar that threw me. I didn't notice it so I didn't find the Audio I/O at first!
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=recording&i=playthrough
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Nate
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bluemoose
344 posts
Oct 13, 2010
1:19 PM
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you have facebook friends? Cool.....
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nacoran
2991 posts
Oct 13, 2010
2:05 PM
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Yes, and they are both very loyal.
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Nate
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mikolune
48 posts
Oct 13, 2010
11:34 PM
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nacoran,
thanks - following your note I can now play and record at the same time with audacity.
The tracks are misaligned though, surely due to delays in the computer. May be my computer is slow and I just have to buy a new one, but wondering if anyone here suffers from the same thing. I know this can be remedied by aligning the tracks manually.
Am open to comments or advice.
cheers cheers
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JohnnieHarp
56 posts
Oct 14, 2010
6:40 AM
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>The tracks are misaligned though, surely due to delays in the computer...my computer is slow and I just have to buy a new one...
New computer may not help unless delays are huge ... here's what I do ...
I found the same ... to measure the delay I recorded my Korg metronome using Audacity then “tooted” along with it while recording this second harp track for several second ... then “zoomed in” on the tracks using the magnifying glass function within Audacity to determine what recording lag seemed to be ...
Below are the corrections I determined I need to make depending on the input and output devices I use ... to correct for the lags, I cut the first milliseconds of the second (accompanying harp track) as determined ... have done so hundreds of times and always works ... despite the small delays involved, is definitely noticeable ... after I've recorded the harp track, I'll often add a slight bit of delay using the delay function within Audacity for depth of sound (change delay time to 0.12 seconds and number of echoes to 10 ... played around with these settings over time and they seem to work best for me ...)
1. Main setup ... wireless logitech headset/microphone ... clip off first 0.15 seconds ...
2. Wireless headset BUT using wired PC mike for recording ... clip off first 0.10 seconds ...
3.PC wired speakers and wired PC mike .... clip off first 0.05 seconds ...
I generally use the wireless headset with microphone .... most convenient...
Incidentally, to practice will have a backing track playing ... copy the same backing track, end to end multiple times in Audacity ... while I'm reading MBH posts, I'll hold the harp with one hand, mouse with the other, read and play at the same time ... must use generally different parts of the brain ...
I record my practice so I can listen to what came out, more carefully, afterwards ... surprising the variations that naturally occur ... easy way to get in some practice time ... great for timing and improvisation ... still surprises me ... but it works for me ...
Last Edited by on Oct 14, 2010 6:47 AM
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mikolune
49 posts
Oct 14, 2010
7:06 AM
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JohnnieHarp,
Many thanks for your explanations! am glad nothing completely wrong with my setup then. It seems I had some time lag of around 0.1s. I currently use system speakers plus webcam microphone (i know - this is bad.)
I determined the delay similarly to you - recorded a first track of some playing with a metronome. I am using speakers, so recording the second track captures the metronome ticks of the first tracks. The delays can be exactly determined by looking at when the ticks occur in the waveform. I then simply delete by hand about 0.1s of the second track to have good alignment.
Yep, recording practice is a great practice. I started more almost 3 years ago - it's nice to hear the progress.
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JohnnieHarp
58 posts
Oct 14, 2010
7:31 AM
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>I am using speakers, so recording the second track captures the metronome ticks of the first tracks
Too smart ... should have thought of that ... gets rid of the problem with anticipating the "toot" to play ... power of the 'net ...
Now will try your way and see how they match up ... thanks!
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