Audacity Problem

[duhvoodooman***]

What the heck?? All of a sudden, as soon as I start to record, I can't hear the backing track anymore. I've been fooling around with settings in the program, but can't get it to come back. Probably something easy, but I'll be darned if I can figure it out. HELP!!

[Tim]

VooDoo - Are you talking about the channel with the backing track only or the channel with both the backing track and your solo? Check to see if you have muted that particular channel in Audacity. This would be the square box over at the left of the screen. I had the same problem but figured it out.

If else fails, close the program, then reopen it it. You will need to reload the backing track. I hope this helps.

[duhvoodooman***]

Thanks, Tim. I'll double check when I get home, but I'm quite sure I tried those things.

When I import the backing MP3's, Audacity shows me a "double-track". I assume these must be in stereo, hence the double track? Anyhow, if I then hit the "record" button, another track pops up beneath the original dual-background track and (up until last night!) I can hear the background track play while I record my guitar, either by mic or line in on my sound card.

What happens now is that the background track can't be heard while recording, but plays normally in regular playback mode. And the guitar records fine--I just can't hear what I'm playing to!

[Justaguyin_nc]

Check under Edit/Preference Audio I/O that there is a check mark by PLAY OTHER TRACKS WHILE RECORDING A NEW ONE might be it?

[duhvoodooman***]

Check under Edit/Preference Audio I/O that there is a check mark by PLAY OTHER TRACKS WHILE RECORDING A NEW ONE might be it?

That sure sounds promising!! Will check that one as soon as I get home. Thanks!

[Tim]

VooDoo – Ok! Justaguy to the rescue. From what I have learned, when you load a backing track, it is loaded in stereo. When you hit the record button a second track is produced. I believe the program thinks you also will record in stereo.

On the volume level make sure the volumes are set properly. Here is an older message posted by Justaguy:

... I would load in the backing track... leave the levels as they are.. (if it sounds to loud in the house just turn your speakers down some) .. Press record and start playing with the backing track... listen to both that way and adjust levels of the solo to match or be a bit louder then backing... when finished hold your shift down and left click the backing track and the solo you just added so they are both highlighted.. then go under PROJECT and press QuickMix... this will produce another track with both in it... you can now MUTE the backing track and the solo to hear the mix as one file... now with that track highlighted just export it as MP3.. and thats it…

I missed your question from a few days ago about where I got the baking track. I have down load over a hundred. Most of them are backing tracks form the more famous bands (Santana, ZZ Top, etc.) they can be found in a message I left in the following thread. Please see: http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=94.

I hope this helps. When closing down Audacity I never tell it to save the program. This way I always open it to the default setting. If you still have trouble with it, try to unzip it again.

[duhvoodooman***]

Thanks, Tim. Yes, I've been using Audacity pretty much as Justaguy's older posting describes, except that I generally just export the tracks directly to MP3 rather than going through the intermediary "quickmix" step. Worked great until last night. Somehow, I must have unchecked that setting under Preferences, assuming that's the problem. And I'll bet it is.

The other thing I thought of doing to reset the application was to go into the Audacity folder and see if there's an INI file for the app, then delete it. These files are commonly used to hold the settings between instances of running the application, though some apps do it differently, such as through Windows Registry settings. When you delete it, the app just recreates it the next time it's launched, using the default settings. A handy trick for situations like this.

Thanks also for the tip on background clips. Yes, I found that thread and used it to get a couple. Plan to poke around and get a few more this weekend.

Appreciate your help. Hope you're enjoying the Florida weather. A squall blew through here this morning and dumped an inch and a half of snow in about an hour....

[duhvoodooman***]

Justaguy--

UDAMAN!!

That did it. Don't know how I unchecked that setting, or missed finding it when I went through the Preference settings last night. But I'm back in business, so thanks, man!

[Justaguyin_nc]

Glad I could help... now let's hear some more clips when that Mic get's there...

[duhvoodooman***]

... now let's hear some more clips when that Mic get's there...

Absolutely! AAMOF, last night, I hooked up the mic from my daughter's old karaoke machine and tried recording through that. Still leaves a lot to be desired, but it was way better than that 10 cent telephony mini-mic I used the first time I tried this. Even with such a cheap mike, it was much better sound quality than the line-out method. The Behringer mic should help a lot....

[warren0728]

I hooked up the mic from my daughter's old karaoke machine and tried recording through that.

i didn't think about that...i have a mic with my kids karaoke machine....maybe i'll try it out!

ww