A general question/problem with recording with mac

pyramidman · Post by **pyramidman** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:29 am

hi

i got live the other day, and ive been playing around with it all day and i love it. i know how to do some basic stuff but im having this same problem i have with every music recording program i've ever used (audacity, garage band, etc). its probably something really simple and basic but i've never been able to solve it, even reading help guides and stuff. whenever i record a new audio track with an external instrument (my synthesizer), it records every other track (drum beats, for example) onto my audio track. it doesn't happen if i don't play the other tracks along while i record, but i need to hear them to get the timing right. this doesn't happen when i use the built in instruments. i thought it was just a matter of using headphones but that doesnt work either.

this problem is probaby really obvious but i'm stumped. maybe its the device i'm recording with? its an ivoice by macally. i'm also using a mac ibook g4 if that's any help.

thanks so much.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:42 am

so you go to record a synth while you play to a backing track and everything gets recorded?

could be that the soundcard is mixing everything together. make sure you can get just the synth into the track, IOW get everything playing but the synth and that track should so no activity until you hit a synth key.

arm the track (hit record on it)
set monitor to IN on the track (auto for playback)
launch the clip or scene
play
stop
set monitor to auto
hit play

pyramidman · Post by **pyramidman** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:50 am

alright, i tried this and only got a weird echoy version of the drum beat along with the synth track. i think it is a problem with my sound card indeed, that's what other people have told me but is it possible to fix with this?

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:54 am

you're recording with a microphone? you're getting the sound from your speakers as well as the synth. wear headphones and turn off your speakers when you record. and definitely get a proper sound card.

pyramidman · Post by **pyramidman** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:58 am

im recording with a usb mic that plugs into my synth and into the computer, and i am wearing headphones so it shouldn't be recording extra tracks by that...at least not that i know of. what kind of soundcard would you recommend?

this is what i'm using to record : http://www.macally.com.au/images/ivoice_button.jpg

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 4:08 am

I have no clue about that box but it's probably the problem. I'm a PC guy.

pick a price range and start shopping, I don't think you can get quality for under $150, haven't shopped for a while. avoid M Audio if you can, some people find them problematic, some don't, but they have a questionable reputation, YMMV.

figure out how many ins/outs you want and just start shopping on the web, in half an hour or so you'll see all that's out there and how the companies copy each other. USB or firewire doesn't really matter.

pyramidman · Post by **pyramidman** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 4:11 am

hmmm, so you think my sound card really is the problem? and the only solution would be to buy a new one?

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 4:14 am

no clue about it. if you hit EDIT on your first post you can change the thread title to something more appropriate like "help using iVoice with Live" or just start a new one.

you need help from an iFanboy. but really, using a bad sound card is like putting crap tires on a sportscar, it's fundamental to the whole setup.

djwesley · Post by **djwesley** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 4:19 am

pyramidman wrote:hmmm, so you think my sound card really is the problem? and the only solution would be to buy a new one?

I might have missed it, but what are you using for a sound card? What's on the computer, or do you already have a decent multichannel audio interface?

My best guess is that you don't have a multichannel sound card, so you're hamstrung by not enough available ins and outs or any ability to route everything where you need it. That's really a must for any serious audio work, with Live or anything else.

pyramidman · Post by **pyramidman** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 4:32 am

im not sure what kind of soundcard i have. i was looking under my system profiler but i didnt see anything about sounds cards. that's for the tips though guys, i really suspect that's it. i slowly learning more about recording seriously, it was something i kinda did on the side and now i'm getting more into it, so i probably should invest in a nice sound card.

djwesley · Post by **djwesley** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 4:44 am

pyramidman wrote:im not sure what kind of soundcard i have. i was looking under my system profiler but i didnt see anything about sounds cards. that's for the tips though guys, i really suspect that's it. i slowly learning more about recording seriously, it was something i kinda did on the side and now i'm getting more into it, so i probably should invest in a nice sound card.

Hopefully without sounding condescending, if you don't know what sound card you have, then you definitely don't have a multichannel interface, or necessarily anything even semi-pro grade.

Any particularly serious audio work requires a multichannel audio interface, ideally with decent specs. With it, you'll generally have multiple physical ins and outs to connect your gear, multiple virtual ins and outs to route stuff internally and otherwise play with things and give you flexibility. There's also usually some sort of software mixer applet on the computer that gives you control over what gets routed where, signal levels, etc.

In my own set-up (going from memory here), to record in Live, I first make sure that all the existing tracks have their outputs routed to the monitor channel (headphones) using the soft mixer, make sure the proper input is mapped to the track I'm recording to, deactivate that track (so it's not playing into itself), arm that track, and record. The playback goes to the headphones, whatever input I set-up (usually a vocal recording mic for me) goes to the recording track, and all is well. I also make sure that the soft mixer (the applet) routes the mic back into my headphones so I can hear myself sing while the Live tracks are playing (although that's totally outside of Live).

Again, I have no advice for you on your Mac. I personally have E-mu audio interfaces here, but they don't work for Macs. Still, there's something comparable out there for you, and you can probably expect to pay a minimum of US$500, maybe a bit less, for something worth owning (in my opinion anyway).

pyramidman · Post by **pyramidman** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 5:11 am

thanks that's very helpful to know. 500 dollars though, yeesh. maybe i'll get more into this once i'm done with school and actually making a little money. this hobby of mine has already sucked enough money out of me in the meantime..but i do not intend to give up just because of the money thing.

djwesley · Post by **djwesley** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 5:25 am

pyramidman wrote:thanks that's very helpful to know. 500 dollars though, yeesh. maybe i'll get more into this once i'm done with school and actually making a little money. this hobby of mine has already sucked enough money out of me in the meantime..but i do not intend to give up just because of the money thing.

LOL, yeah, this is a money sink for all of us. You might poke around for bargains, used gear, and other cheaper sources. Honestly, if you've been making do with a stock system sound card, anything is probably going to be an improvement.

Hopefully some Mac guys (or gals) in the group will have some better advice on ways to get you going with something decent on a budget.

Good luck in any case.

chrysalis33rpm · Post by **chrysalis33rpm** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 5:52 pm

Pyramidman- in the next few months I'll be moving on from my old soundcard (an Maudio FW410). If you PM me I'll give it to you when I'm done with it. Don't get too excited, I wouldn't sell it to anybody because it's quality is questionable at best. But if you need a basic soundcard and you are strapped for cash it will get you through...it has worked for me for years (it just has this annoying tendancy to randomly quit working once in a while...but only every few months...) Anyway like I said I am still using it but will be upgrading soon so drop me your email and I'll let you know when the time comes around.

pyramidman · Post by **pyramidman** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:04 pm

wow that would be amazing!!! i would pay for any shipping or anything of course...it's compatible with macs? i'll pm you my email right now.