I Need Help!

H

Hunter2847

New member
Ok first off I'm as new to this & inexperienced as it gets so please take it easy. I'm trying to figure out how to record vocals properly when I do something is going wrong, very wrong & I need some advice. I'm using audacity (I know, I know) but when I try to stack vocals & mix them in with an instrumental the beat drowns way down & distorts, everything distorts for all I know. Heres a screenshot of some vocals that were recorded https://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p569/Hunter2847/null_zps538fdd70.jpg. & as you can see they're below the black like in the middle of the track, something tells me they're not supposed to be & at the end I hit fade out & it raised up as it was going out instead of down like it normally does & when I amplify it seems everything happens backwards (upside down) as well. Can someone point me in the right direction? Thank you
 
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This is exactly this issue (DC offset). In the article it is explained how it is removed.
I never experienced this thing while recording myself, so I don't know what may be the cause, probably your audio interface...
 
I've never seen such a waveform before. How did you produced it ?
Did engaged a phantom power ?
 
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^^ All I did was speak into the microphone, that's what I'm saying my pc (or maybe just that program?) is taking in the audio the wrong way. It's not right at all quite the opposite in fact. I have some masters of a never released Bizzy Bone album & here's a screenshot of a song I re created & it turned out great- https://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p569/Hunter2847/null_zps6119a338.jpg. With those masters i can stack 3 or 4,5 vocals & nothing distorts each other. They amplify fine & fade out/in like they should so I believe my problem is the recording of the vocals themselves, not what I'm doing with them. Thanks for the replies

---------- Post added at 12:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:07 PM ----------
DMTian said:
This is exactly this issue (DC offset). In the article it is explained how it is removed.
I never experienced this thing while recording myself, so I don't know what may be the cause, probably your audio interface...
Click to expand...

Im definetely checking further into this thanks for the insight

---------- Post added 06-11-2013 at 06:42 AM ---------- Previous post was 06-08-2013 at 12:15 PM ----------

Well this info has helped quite a bit. When I hit "Normalize" it makes the wave form the way it should be. Havent pinpointed what the cause is yet but at least I know the solution. The only other thing that's giving me a hard time is my mic is picking up a pretty loud hiss or static. Is this because it's a really cheap mic? Or I read maybe because it's not earthed, not sure what that means or maybe it's my sound card? Any suggestions? Thanks again to those who have helped me with this.
 
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I think the mic input of your PC is the culprit. Using a real audio interface should solve this issue.
 
Does look like a DC offset .
Look at the waveform at the end , the offset seems to decrease slowly ...... like a cap discharging .
 
I've never seen anything like this but I have a question about something in your pic. What is the icon between the I Beam and the pencil tool?
 
envelope tool - it's an hour glass (denotes something to do with time, which is what an envelope is) with a waveform through the center

note to the op: use the print screen button (usually above the arrow keys and near the page up/page down keys), open paint and paste the image into it and save the result as a file; you avoid the fisheye lens effect you achieved by taking it with your phone
 
I know what an envelope is, I'm not familiar with his program and that blue line that runs through it resembles the way his waveform looks so that's why I asked. It could also be a product of the way he took the picture.
 
tetchy much - I was explaining for anyone that read, not just you

Audacity is a useful tool to have for many reasons, not least of which is the ability to batch convert files from one file type to another (wav to mp3/ogg/aac/etc)

I do not think the issue we see is that of how the picture was taken

null_zps538fdd70.jpg
there is a center line that represents the 0V point and then two other lines at 1 and -1 showing absolute levels in terms of a percentage of maximum output voltage (+/- 100%) as well as tick marks for +/ 50%
 
bandcoach said:
tetchy much - I was explaining for anyone that read, not just you
Click to expand...

No, not at all. I asked the OP a question, you answered, I said I knew what an envelope was. Don't read too much into it, I didn't.

And I'm just looking at how the blue line in the envelope tool looks similar to the shape of his wave form. That's why I asked about it.

I'll check into audacity, I actually need a good batch converter.
 
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