Audacity, recording help with condenser mics..

drabbag · #1 December 21st, 2006

My problem is that when Using my Tascam US122L and MXL 990 mic it wont record in stereo mode. I have stereo selected in preferences but with my mic plugged into the left side of my tascam interface, the audacity only records down the left channel.

Im actually not even sure what the best way to record two tracks is. I basically want to lay down the guitar first, then wear headphones and listen to the first while recording the vocals over. Ive done plenty of times in the past with my old cheap mic but this one for some reason wont record in stereo. Should I record in mono>?
If anyone could clear this up it would be great. Im still new to the whole recording thing and dont really know whether mono or stereo is the way to go.

Any insight would be great guys.

fly135 · #2 December 21st, 2006

It wouldn't record in stereo because it's mono. Mixers generally have the ability to distribute a mono signal to both channels of a stereo output. So the answer to your question is best addressed by checking the manual of the Tascam unit. There is a switch that allows you to select mono on the unit. If you record stereo with the switch set to mono, it may record the mono signal on both the left and right channel. Generally this is not what you'd want to do. I think you should record multiple mono tracks and then mix the final output.

drabbag · #3 December 21st, 2006

ok great, thanks for the reply. So basically record two mono tracks and mix them together at the end. How do you mix the tracks in audacity? I know that when I record a track for guitar and press record again it lets me record another track for the vocals and keeps them in time with each other. Then I usually convert the project to mp3 at the end and be done with it. Is this what you reccommend?

desman3000 · #4 December 22nd, 2006

Yes, This is exactly what I do. I record often with a really bad Microphone.

drabbag · #5 December 22nd, 2006

Last night I recorded both guitar and vocals at the same time with my pair of mics. It worked pretty well. I set up Audacity to record stereo, which left channel was my vocal mic and right channel was my guitar mic and then after I was finished I split the tracks and changed both to mono.

This new equip is fun!

fly135 · #6 December 22nd, 2006

Recording and mixing tracks in various applications would be a good thread of discussion. I've recorded stereo and split the tracks. Then adjusted the amplitude to balance the tracks, and put them back out as mono. I'm not sure what facilities Audacity has for mixing levels when outputting, so the original track is not modified. I'd have to look at the help file.

marinoFret · #7 December 22nd, 2006

Try Kristal, http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/.
It's free, and can mix up to 16 tracks, ....