Multitracking mud, question

uke5417

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I record most of my songs using a Logitech Quickcam. I've tried to lay down an additional track by letting my first a/v track play back on Windows Media Player as I shoot a second Quickcam vid to lay down lead bits. Problem is, the first track's sound gets real muddy as it plays out on the computer speakers and is rerecorded as part of the second track.

My workaround to date has been to skin the audio track out of the first vid, dump it into Audacity and add the lead bits as a second track there (as I also record on the Quickcam just to get the visuals.) Then I dump the two video takes, along with the Audacity sound file, into Premiere Elements for final edit. What a time-intensive pain in the hiney.

Anyone know how I can eliminate that sound muddiness, using what I have and without resorting to Audacity? My guess is that my miking off of speakers from close range creates the mud. Thanks.
 
My guess is that you are actually compressing a file that has already been compressed. Check in the media player and see if you can disable file compression... if that is an option. Files will be huge, but the final result can then be compressed with better results.
 
All you have to do is wear headphones. Listen to your first track with headphones on while you record the second track, and there will be no audio bleed.
 
Thanks, guys.
Pippin, compression could be the issue even though the first vid sounds great playing on Windows Media Player through the speakers but like crap after being rerecorded along with the second layer of me playing lead? I couldn't find much in the way of settings on the media player other than volume, loop and screen size.

Seeso: How does the first track's sound get into the second track recording? Or do you mix them afterwards?

Thanks again
 
Thanks, guys.
Pippin, compression could be the issue even though the first vid sounds great playing on Windows Media Player through the speakers but like crap after being rerecorded along with the second layer of me playing lead? I couldn't find much in the way of settings on the media player other than volume, loop and screen size.

Seeso: How does the first track's sound get into the second track recording? Or do you mix them afterwards?

Thanks again

Yeah, you gotta mix them afterwards. It's really the best way to do it. Take the audio from both takes into Audacity and edit them together, then synch the combined audio to your video.
 
I used to record this way with the exception that I did not record the sound from the first track via the speaker when laying down the second track, I used the interal recording (record what you hear or something like that) option. Had to wear headphones though so I could hear what whe first track was without it being recorde through the mic.

You could also do the video with your camera and record the first track with audacity and subsecquent tracks with audacity and then cut them all togehter in moviemaker. Eliminates a couple of steps.
 
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