A little sloppy but it was more of an experiment than anything else. Wasn't trying to be perfect by any means.
I recorded the guitar track first and then recorded the bass track -- both while listening to the original song on MP3. I mixed them, edited out the original track, and this is what was left.
Not sure where all the static is coming from. I'm not clipping on either track individually but I am when they're both played. Maybe one of the Audacity or recording gurus here can explain it to me.
Re:AncientMariner plays bass...and guitar! - teegeeJuly 23rd 2008 1:37 Another great dance tune for the girlies way back in the 60s back when we had a garage band. \"Gimme gimme some Lovin\'... everyday.\" Dude, that brings back soooo many memories. The bass line through the song is a real hit... and you did it justice.
As to the static you are hearing, unless I\'m really becoming totally tone deaf (I\'m partially now), I couldn\'t hear anything remarkable even wearing my Funyun fones. I do visually see errant clipping signals (on the graphic display) in the \"dead\" or silent areas of my tracks whenever I overdub multiple trax. You can hear them sometimes using phones too. I simply select those areas and \"silence\" them with the edit menu.
However with respect to the \"peaks\" you see illustrated graphically in Audacity, sometimes I apply a little filtered compression to individual channels or apply compression to the rendered mix before converting to an mp3. The compression helps even out the spikes if you use it properly.
I hope this helps. Keep \'em coming.
Re: AncientMariner plays bass...and guitar! - vaxwellJuly 23rd 2008 6:11 I'm not sure what's causing your static issues either... it's probably not static though. Computers are really sensitive to line level inputs, so whilst you may not hear something on your amp, the computer mic input will amplify that tenfold... for example, I didn't really think my (volume) pots and jack on my guitar were that bad, until i pluged into my computer and I could hear it 'shooooshing' and crackling. It didn't do that noticably on the amp, so i didn't think much of it... The difference is incredible, when I installed the new higher quality parts though.
Maybe that might be your issue? Are you running the bass straight into your computer, or through an amp first (in which case, are you micing the amp, or running the signal through the amps line out, and if so, does that line out have an automatic 'speaker simulator' or DI) or are you using a passive/active DI box in front of your computer? That's something to take into consideration. A lot of bass players don't actually mic their bass cabs, but rather connect straight to the house mix or recording machine through a DI box.
But, you prolly know that. hehehehe... Awesome playing Rick. Seriously... It sounded great!
Re: AncientMariner plays bass...and guitar! - AncientMarinerJuly 24th 2008 6:23 I played both the bass and guitar through my VOX DA5 using the line-out to my computer. Like I said, neither individual track seems to have the static -- it's only when I mix the tracks that I get it. It's weird.
Re:AncientMariner plays bass...and guitar! - MusiccaJuly 24th 2008 7:11 When you hear the static does it peek (red light) your levels ??? Try bringing your recording levels down some. I had a problem like this b4, where each track seemed to be levelled out nicely, but when you added them together they would cause intermittent havock on the recording. Its kinda like your trying to jamm to much into one space and somethings got to give. I find this to be especially true when it comes to recording bass. Most Pros also use a compressor when recording bass guitar, to kepp the beast reigned in a bit.
Re:AncientMariner plays bass...and guitar! - teegeeJuly 24th 2008 8:43 Tim:
You might try the settings I generally use in Audacity for compressing sound. I use this whenever the graphic display is peaking or nearly filling the entire bandwidth of a track. Perhaps this will help keep your tune from sounding too overamplified. As you render (or combine) multiple trax, there is an additive process that can cause a composition to overamplify and/or become muddy. Compressing sometimes helps bring the sound back to a moderate range.
After I record a track, or after I render a complete composition (regardless of how many tracks there are total) I follow this protocol in Audacity:
Effect ---> Compressor (Dynamic Range Compressor).
I set the dialog sliders like this:
Threshold -12dB
Ratio 2:1
Attack time 0.2 sec.
Delay time 1.0 sec.
Check the box: Normalize to 0dB after compressing.
You can try different setting and find what works best for you. These setting generally work well for most of my mp3 recordings.
I hope this helps.
Re: Troy\'s response
I almost forgot. I set my input signal (volume) in Audacity to 0.7 on the microphone slider. I input sound directly from my RP150 to the mic input on my \'puter.
Re:AncientMariner plays bass...and guitar! - MusiccaJuly 25th 2008 11:04 Cool TeeGee, sounds like a safe starting point. Within reason as long as you can bring up the levels if necessary, then I find it easier than having to bring them down later on. I dont use audacity very often, but it surely seems like a great program for multitracking and also to learn \'how to\' and \'when to\' use certain types of effects.
A lot of bass players don't actually mic their bass cabs, but rather connect straight to the house mix or recording machine through a DI box. 
