Beginner Question?
 

Let's say I do drum and bass tracks in Band In a Box, convert it to mp3 and open it in Audacity. I want to, then, add acoustic guitar parts using a pair of condenser mics into the Scarlett 2i2. Now, I know I can monitor what I'm playing with headphones in the 2i2 but how do I hear the drum and bass tracks so I can play to them and not have the mics pick that signal up?

You should be hearing both the live instrument(s) and the playback through the headphones. Only thing I don't see is a way to adjust the level of live vs playback volume.

You just need to import them into the same session/project (whatever Audacity calls it) Then when you record arm the new tracks you are going to be recording and when you hit play to record it, should play back everything in the session
Also I would not convert them if Band in box records WAV files just keep them as WAV

I am not familiar with Audacity but you should have volume controls on all tracks so you should be able to set the record volume on those tracks and then adjust the volume of the other tracks. So everything is coming through the HP's and will not bleed into the mics

Now that I think about it, I could just unplug the speaker system from the computer. Would that solve the problem?

You don't have to unplug anything. Just turn down the big monitor knob. That will stop sound from coming out your speakers. The headphones have a separate volume control.

Both playback from Audacity and live guitar signal will come through the headphones.

Many systems shut down audio output to the speakers when you plug in the headphones anyway, so you may be worrying about nothing. You can also set the playback and recording device in Audacity. I have used it to record audio from Youtube when I cannot download audio directly. The Audacity Forums are very informative on most subjects/.

Your speakers should be plugged into the Scarlett, not directly into the computer.

The Focusrite only has left and right line out - you need a power amp or powered cabinets to do this. My speaker system is a Fostex monitor set with a pair of desktop speakers and a separate sub woofer, all of which come out of my desktop computer with a single cable. If I'm not mistaken, the power amp is in the sub with a crossover and powers it AND the desktop speakers. The problem is: I don't want to hear the already recorded tracks through the speakers as it will pick up in the mic that I'm using to record the acoustic guitar track. I'm new to this, I want to monitor the existing tracks in the headphones along with the acoustic track that I'm recording. Do the already recorded tracks play back through the headphones when I'm recording? If not, how would I do it? I know that the interface manual will probably explain this but I don't have it yet.

Hi Skip,

Sounds like you are using the built-in audio of the PC for playback.

If you can you need to set the audio output device in Audacity to be the Focusrite device, not the built-in audio.

Ah this explains the situation a bit better, so in reverse order.

Yes the pre recorded tracks will play back through the HP' out on the Focusrite , along with the track you are recording (as per my previous post #3 ) . BUT as paulp 1960, stated . If you are using the computer as the output device, you will have to instead make the focusrite the audio output device ("Playback Device" in Audacity "Device Toolbar" ) . You can then change the "Playback Device" back and forth, for checking the mix on the speakers or when recording with the HP's .

The 'single line' out of the computer is 3-conductor stereo (L, R, common), you just need an adapter to go from the Focusrite's two outputs to a stereo jack to plug in that monitor system.

Good point Mike no doubt the converters in the focusrite are better than the ones in the computer

Yes once I've added a decent USB audio interface to a machine I stop using the built-in sound. If you want to do this just get the right cables or cable adaptors to be able to use your existing powered speakers with the Focusrite.

I would recommend something better than Audacity for multi-track recording.

Audacity works just fine for my simple needs and I know how to make it do what I need it to do - anything else is superfluous to me - don't need a bunch of plug-ins, etc. I will look into bypassing the internal sound card and just using the interface.

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