Tutorial - Multi-track Overdubbing
Ed 27Apr12: Should the intro be in an intro div?
Ed 27Apr12: checked spelling & grammar
Introduction
This tutorial describes a method of creating a multiple sound track overdubbing session using Audacity; you record one track then play it back and add a second track against it -- drums, guitar, voice etc.; repeat as needed.
This process can use your existing analog microphones, instruments, sound mixer or amp but these will need to be connected to the computer and Audacity through a USB sound card; alternately, you can use a USB microphone.
In this tutorial you will be able to hear a mix of your live recording and the previous tracks simultaneously in your headphones (also required). Live monitoring is often unavailable (or you hear yourself too late) without special purpose hardware.
If your USB microphone or USB sound card does not have a headphone output you should follow the advice in Tutorial - Overdubbing using your computer's on-board sound card using your USB microphone rather than your computer's built-in microphone.
Hardware
You will either need a USB microphone or a conventional analog microphone plugged into an external USB soundcard or USB adapter.
Almost any Windows®, Mac® or Linux® machine with fast enough USB and good storage can be used. Our example here uses Mac earbuds for listening, but generally any headphones or earbuds are OK. If you require cranium-crushing headphone volume, you may need a headphone amplifier. You must get the headphone sound from the USB soundcard or output on the USB mic, not from the computer sound card.
Ed 27Apr12: Now that there are no more pics showing these earbuds in use, I feel that the image and any specific reference to Mac earbuds might be redundent and should be removed.
Headphone monitoring is good; live microphones and speakers in the same room is a recipe for feedback.
An external USB soundcard or adapter has three jobs:
- It converts the mixer's stereo analog show to digital and sends it down the USB cable for recording.
- It converts the USB digital show from the computer back to stereo analog.
- It has an internal headphone mixer and mixes your existing track playback with your new, live performance so you can listen to both.
A USB microphone operates similarly; it is effectively a microphone with a built-USB adapter.
First recording
First, make a simple recording with no overdubbing or other fancy tricks; your system must work correctly for simple recording and playback before we go further.
This is not a tutorial on making a recording and playing it back, but you need to be able to do that before you do anything else. There are multiple tutorials and wikis on recording:
Configure your audio capture device so that playback from Audacity and monitoring of the input are both enabled and for the correct mode mono or stereo; this is device (and often platform) specific so it is hard to give specific advice here. For detailed specific configuations see Recording Multi-track Overdubs in the wiki.
Click once anywhere inside the recording meter (the one with the mic icon) to put the meter into monitor mode; this will display the microphone's sound level even when not recording. This may fail on certain Linux machines using Jack.
Set your device to monitor and adjust the gain controls.
Play a record, an instrument, or sing through the microphone; don't peak much over -10 to -6 on Audacity's recording meter. You can fix low levels later but you cannot fix overloading, smashing, and clipping (meters too far to the right). You should be able to hear your performance in the headphones. Adjust the headphone volume control as needed for comfortable listening.
Click ; Audacity will take a second to configure itself and start recording. The blue waves will start to crawl left to right as you perform. Play or sing a simple song that you can use for rhythm and timing tests later.
Click then press Home and then click to hear the track you have just made. You should hear the track in your headphones. While listening, if you tap or scratch the microphone, you can hear the scratching/tapping too.
This demonstrates what you will hear during the overdub sessions; any combination of existing tracks will play in your headphones, in addition to your live voice, allowing you to get a good mix.
Setting the recording latency
Latency refers to the delay between the time the audio enters the computer and the time Audacity is able to record it to a track. For example, if you are recording a keyboard track, latency is the delay between the time you strike a key and the time that note is recorded.
For instructions on how to adjust the latency see the Latency Test page in the manual.
Performance
(you don't need to save any of your tests); you are ready for your first overdubbing session.
The first recording can be whatever you're planning to use as a base, backing track, guide or rhythm track. It can be anything including a which can be adjusted with its control panel for rhythm and composition; it could be music from a rhythm and chord machine playing through a mixer.
You should record a lead-in—a non-musical rhythmical clue before the music starts which warns you of the imminent start. In a live band this would be the drummer or lead guitar count-in. You could use a synthesizer's rhythm stops or you can perform several rim shots into the microphone to establish the rhythm before the first note; tapping on the table with a pencil also works. You can sheer it off later in post-production so nobody else will hear it. Tick, tick, tick, tick, music; adjust as appropriate for music type and rhythm.
Click then press Home then click to record track two using your live performance and track playback in your headphone mix as a guide. Repeat for as many tracks as required. Repeat until bedtime. Lay in supplies. Once working, this is seriously addictive.
The and buttons to the left of each track are valuable in overdubbing. Solo causes only that track to play and Mute turns that track off. Solo has options that can be set in Preferences. The gain control in the Track Control Panel to the left of each waveform controls the playback volume of that track—it affects the headphone mix. When you get to a stopping point click and to save your project. As you progress, you should save a new Project periodically with a slightly different filename. A good recommendation is to use ISO date and time for the file names or the start of the file names; refrain from using slash marks or other punctuation marks in a file name.
ISO Date and time
201110011500.aup That's 3PM. 2011 October First, 1500hrs.
Then save a new version of the song about every twenty minutes:
201110011520.aup
201110011545.aup
201110011602.aup
Do not go weeks with one Project and file name, and never cover up or record over existing work. If anything happened to that one Project, your project would be ruined and could nullify weeks of work. Think of what would happen if the lights went out right now, the computer ground to a halt and you were forced to use the last known good version of the show.
Audacity Projects are not a good format for archive or playback outside Audacity and they do not save the UNDO history; therefore export to 32-bit WAV for archive and 16-bit WAV for Music CD, or MP3 for internet delivery and e-mail. Do not do production in MP3. You may need to adjust the volumes and levels of the show so the Export doesn't overload.
All of the Audacity editing, filtering, and effects tools are available for each track or any combination of tracks before or after you sing/play, but not during; Audacity will not apply filters and effects in real time.
Troubleshooting
- The headphones must be plugged into the USB device for overdubbing and not the computer. The computer sound will be late (off rhythm) and you can't easily change it.
- If the USB device does not appear in the Device Toolbar, check that the USB device is connected correctly and try applying .
- How much hard disk space do you have available? If your only experience with computer files is with spreadsheets, e-mail or Photoshop pictures, live audio (and video) production will stun you with the amount of disk space it consumes. With high quality overdubbing and UNDO, project files and folders get big in a hurry; with periodic saving, a project can get very seriously large.
- Communications features on newer Windows machines can cause unwanted changes in recorded volume or make the recording sound tinkly and/or hollow. See this FAQ.
- Always ensure that you are directly connected to a USB port on your computer. You can't send audio through a self-powered USB hub or share any hub, ever.
- Except in rare circumstances, you can't plug a Stereo analog sound mixer directly into a Windows laptop for recording. Mic-In (many times pink) is mono, not stereo, and too sensitive for the mixer. An external USB soundcard neatly gets around that problem even if you're not planning overdubbing or complex production.
Links
|< Tutorial: Recording Multi-track Overdubs
Ed 27Apr12: Did I miss something or is this a wiki convention...recently, in a few places, I have seen:
|< link-text
and wonder if the vertical-bar+left-angle-bracket is a Connie approved style for prefacing links?
