I am finally trying to record myself. But I am having problems.
I am trying to record with Audacity. My thought is to do the instrument recording, and then record a separate track over it later for vocals. (so two takes)
Here is my stuff:
Guitar -> Behringer V-Amp2 -> Laptop (Audacity 1.3).
I thought that I should be able to run from the line out on the v-amp to the line in on my laptop. But I can't seem to get any signal at all. The laptop says line in is activated, and working. But even pushing the level to maximum, I get no signal. I can hear the sound find in my headphones, and if I unplug from the lapton, and into my practice amp, I get a good signal there as well.
The only way to get a signal was to run the line from the headset out on the v-amp to the mic-in on the laptop. That is really not how I would like to do it though. And it was very sensitive to volume. I had a hard time with clipping.
Does anyone have any insight about what I might be doing wrong?
Would it be worth it to look at the USB sound equipment, like a USB mixer?
There are two kinds of people in this world:
Those who think there are two kinds of people in this world, and those who don't
If you open up the sound properties for recording is the line in muted? Do you have line in selected as the source for recording in Audacity?
Double click the speaker icon in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Options/Properties/recording/ make sure line in is checked off in the options box and click ok. Now you should see The recording mixing panel. Make sure Line is selected and disable any other recording device. Click OK.
As far as gear: a decent interface is a good idea but remove "mixer" from your mind. Mixers are irrelevent since they are bound by the number of simultaneous inputs they are capable of and unless it is also a control surface, it is useless when it comes time to mix. A simple audio interface is all you need. M-Audio has several affordable ones.
Also, you may want to download Kristal Audio Engine and Asio4all. Both are freeware and will be way more useful to you than Audacity.
To elaborate a bit on Nick's suggestion:
First go to audio properties and make sure line in is not muted
Then go to audacity - edit - properties - and make sure that it uses the correct source for recording and playback.
Then sometimes you have to close Audacity and open it again. Sometimes for me, microsoft chooses to mute the sound again (to protect the general public? :roll: ) so you might have to un-mute it again.
good luck
...only thing I know how to do is to keep on keepin' on...
LARS kolberg http://www.facebook.com/sangerersomfolk
First thing to do (before starting Audacity) is to get Windows sound controls set up for Line - in recording.
When you can hear your guitar through PC speakers (or PC headphones) , then its time to start to use Audacity.
What type of cable are you using between V-Amp Line out R (1/4" mono) and L (1/4" mono) and Laptop Line-in(3.5 mm stereo) ?
You should use a "split" cable with one 3.5 mm mini stereo male connector in one end and two 1/4" mono male connectors in the other end. If you are using a mono cable from the V-Amp to the Laptop , you will shortcircuit one of the inputs(R or L) to ground and not get any sound. N.B. you will not destroy anything but will not get any sound.
Here is an example of a cable http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Hosa-Stereo-YCable-Mini-Male-2-14-Mono-Males?sku=333053 .
/Kalle
Tanglewood TW28STE (Shadow P7 EQ) acoustic
Yamaha RGX 320FZ electric guitar/Egnater Tweaker 15 amp.
Yamaha RBX 270 bass/Laney DB 150 amp.
http://www.soundclick.com/kalleinsweden
