do you actually want to play with folks you consider "jerkhead rednecks"? oh. that sounds like a swell time. if you're lucky, maybe one of them will be those @^!**$^! guitar types you hold in such high regards.
i'm not sure what type of equipment you have to work with to make this video. me? i would play the bt on itunes and record using my imovie program.
Audacity will work. You'll need to do a couple things to configure it right.
First, you'll need to calibrate for latency (older versions did this automatically, but I guess the newer, more complicated version does it better). This is so the tracks line up.
Don't try to open the backing track in Audacity. Instead you need to use the import option under 'Project'. I can't remember if you need to import audio or import raw data. I think it's just audio.
You'll need one more feature enabled. Go to Edit-Preferences-Audio/IO. There will be two little tick boxes at the bottom. You'll want to click 'play other tracks while recording new one'. I'd highly recommend using headphones and not speakers. You'll have much better control of the tracks afterwards, but you can just play it through speakers and try to play everything at the right mix volume. If you do it that way you'll probably want to delete the original track from the project before you export it.
Now, because it has to be complicated (and for some copyright reasons) Audacity makes you go and download something called 'Lame'. It's a little piece of software that adds the ability to export files as mp3's. It's a bit of a pain, but they have instructions on the site. You just download it and stick it in the folder they tell you to. It should take about five minutes. Then you have all you need to export it.
Then, use whatever program you want to make the video.
One more piece of almost necessary advice, and one tip. Audacity saves it's project files as a group of files. It can make a mess of the desktop in a hurry. What's worse, when you go to clean up your desktop if you miss any of those files and they end up in different folder you won't be able to open up the project until they are all back in the same folder. The simple solution to this is to make a folder, name it, and open it to save everything into. You can either use one big Audacity folder, or do what I do, make a little folder for each project. It may not seem like much, but down the road you'll thank me! The final trick involves that other tick box under edit-preferences-audio/io. You can tick it if you want to hear the audio of what you are playing in your headphones. Or not. It depends on which way you prefer, but if you have the backing track up loud in your headphones you may not hear the harp in the mic. Of course, the louder the headphones the more bleed you'll get into the mic. If you are getting a lot of bleed from the headphones into the mic, you can either turn the headphones down, adjust the mic sensitivity, or, my personal favorite, get a roll of duct tape and foam and make an acoustically sound-tight chamber out of your head. This is actually a favorite trick of harmonica players, since most of us are bald anyway so the duck tape doesn't rip out hair! (Bonus points if you make a video of yourself making this sound proof chamber!)
I know it sounds like a lot, but you should be up and recording pretty quick, as long as you have a microphone that plugs into the computer and optionally (although its a good option) some headphones. Aside from the mic and headphones the rest is free.
If you have garage band and a small mixer its no problem. Headphone jack from computer to mixer. Mic in to mixer. Adjust levels, mixer out to line in on computer. Backing track on itunes, quicktime or whatever, record on Garage band. ---------- Lucky Lester
eharp, I don't think Billy was trying to get personal. Your comment, however, was. Please reread the forum creed. If you've got an issue with a post, please let us know instead of responding in kind.
Billy, I'm saying this with my admin hat off, just one poster to another poster. I think you've got a peculiar sense of humor that sometimes rubs people a little rough. Rednecks, at least from what I've seen on History Channel, comes from a union movement (as in organized labor, not a North/South thing.) It get's used as a derogatory term a lot, but some people identify with it as just a sign of being from the country. You make a lot of good posts, but I think sometimes you cause friction when with your throwaway lines. Could you please, as a favor to what hair is left on my head, dial it back down from 11. (7 would be about right).
Well, humor is an art form. As in other forms of art, not all interpretations are favorable. When Michelangelo was painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the Pope took exception to one of the renderings. Michelangelo said, "Fuck you, Pope. It's art." And that's all I have to say about that.
P.S. I would NEVER buck an admin. But I understand the hat is off.....for now.
Billy, you can get it set up in under 20 minutes and it really does work well.
eharp, I'd noticed someone going off on Billy in another thread a couple days ago and wanted to nip it in the bud. I didn't catch that in his second post. Fair enough. I should have tracked down the other thread but I was in a hurry. What do the cops say here? Move along, nothing to see here.
Billy, I know a self-identifying redneck who was the only straight guy in his schools woman's studies department. They are a diverse group. Heck, I ran around naked in a trailer park before so I've got nothing to say on the subject (in my defense I was three at the time.)
It's all good. I usually really like your posts. You bring some energy to the boards. We've learned to be a little twitchy and not to trust things when the board doesn't seem to be having any problems.
