How do I record mulitple tracks??

cwt624 wrote on 12/16/2008, 10:19 PM

I recently downloaded the trial version of Samplitude Music Studio 14, and I know this sounds dumb, but I can't figure out how to record multiple tracks at a time! There's only two I'm trying to combine at the moment, but I just can't get it... I select the red "R" next to it, but when I try to select another, the first one deslects its self... Is this because I'm using the trial version? Or am I missing something?

Please enlighten me,

cwt624

Comments

ralftaro wrote on 12/17/2008, 4:51 AM

Hi,

Before you're able to arm the recording for several tracks, you need to make sure that you pick a different input for each of the tracks. Example: Select the first track, go to the track parameters on the left-hand side, open the "Audio" section and pick the first stereo input ("1+2") from the "In" drop-down list. Now select the the second track and pick "3+4" as input. Select the third track and pick "5+6" as your input and so on. Once that is done, you will be able to arm each of the tracks for recording. It's just not possible to arm several tracks for recording from the same input. I assume that was the initial problem.

P.S.: Before you carry out any of this, make sure that you have picked a suitable driver in the program settings of Music Studio. If your sound hardware supports the recording from multiple inputs, they will still only be available in the program after picking a sufficient driver.

ralftaro wrote on 12/18/2008, 4:24 AM

Hi again,

This is apparently a limitation of your sound hardware. If you're using the basic on-board sound hardware of a laptop, there is no way that it offers multiple input sockets and supports the simultaneous recording from them.

I think at this point, we might want to take a step back and look at what you're really trying to accomplish, as this whole thing might be a misunderstanding. I was operating on the assumption that your intention was to perform a simultaneous recording from several sources (i.e. microphoning several sources at the same time) and that you have a sound card that is up to this task. I thought that is why you're trying to arm several tracks for recording at once. If you're really just going to record multiple tracks from the same source (e.g. microphone socket) track by track, you don't need to arm them at the same time. Just arm the first track and perform your recording (e.g. guitar backing track). Then arm the next track and perform your recording (e.g. vocal track) with the guitar track playing in the background.

Generally, you should be using Music Studio (or any home recording software) in conjunction with a proper, dedicated sound hardware. Most basic on-board sound hardware is not really fit for this purpose. If we're talking about a laptop here, this somewhat limits your options, but there's enough good external sound hardware that connects to your laptop via USB or FireWire. Also, if your intention really is to perform a simultaneous recording from multiple inputs, you will even have to step it up a notch from here and go for a more ambitious external audio interface that actually supports this. The Echo Audio Fire 8 or Hercules 12/16 FW (both FireWire-based) might be options here.

I hope this info helps.