kylepierce11, post: 386710 wrote: Anyways, my problem is this. I am trying to record over vocals over a guitar track, however the audio interface has two choices in monitoring. 1. It can be set to direct, where you can only hear what is being played into the microphone then, and not the pre-recorded tracks 2. It can be set to playback, in which you can hear only what is being played back to you, and this also causes the microphone to feedback. While it can be set in between the two settings, this makes the mic feed back and ruins all recording quality. My question is basically this. Is there a way to sing over a track while being able to hear both the vocals and the instruments that were already recorded, or do I need a new audio interface? Or is it something else entirely?

May try this:

Apparently, the Input Monitoring feature on the Alpha is directly from the analog inputs.

On a new track in Logic, assign the inputs to the Alpha to be recorded, and set their levels. If you need to hear the levels, go ahead and assign the outputs of the track(s) to be recorded to the Alpha, and adjust. But, once you get ready to record, unassign those outputs to the Alpha (or if the output 'only' on the track(s) can be muted, do that...I don't know anything about Logic). Could even be as simple as disabling something like "Input Monitoring" on a track, or something?

If there are any other settings in Logic that may send it back to the main bus to be played back through the Alpha while recording, disable. Now, the audio going in should get in, but not out. That means you should hear only what has already been recorded, and only the real time monitoring on the way in through the Alpha, with the mix knob set to somewhere near the middle. You don't NEED to hear what's being recorded, if you can hear the monitoring in real time. You'll find out what needs tweaking after you finish recording, go in and reassign the track(s) output(s) to the Alpha, or whatever needs to be done for it to play back, and start mixing.

Another thing. You say you are getting feedback from a mic? That might suggest you are trying to record through a mic with speakers blaring. May try headphones, if that's the case? If you are trying to record with speakers blasting, even after you get it to not feed the mic signal back through, you may end up with a muffled delayed second generation of the prerecorded tracks on your vocal tracks, making those tracks more difficult to deal with.

Good luck,

Kapt.Krunch

Hi, and welcome!

You should be able to find a position for the monitor balance so you hear the previously-recorded tracks and the vocal you are recording.
A couple of questions:
(1) Are you wearing closed-back headphones to listen to the already-recorded tracks when tracking the vocals?
(2) Do you have the latency compensation set in your DAW so that the new tracks are in sync with the previously-recorded tracks?

May be that you need to use headphone during tracking sessions. In a small studio I used to work with this happened a couple of times. After acquiring a decent headphone amp all the input and monitoring levels were balanced properly. Also, even if your monitoring real time recording in mono or stereo you should'nt be getting feedback or anything else. Good luck. Great forum people. Learning something new everyday. Thanks

sent from Mikey's Super Inspire 4G

Kapt.Krunch, post: 386726 wrote: Could even be as simple as disabling something like "Input Monitoring" on a track, or something?

Probably this.

I hate to sound patronising but.. when you use the option that gives you both.. I assume you are wearing headphones and the mic is in fact nowhere near the speakers ?