How Do You Solve Latency Problems?

[chillowack]

Geissler: I don't yet have an audio interface, I'm recording directly into my laptop using Audacity (two factors which undoubtedly contribute to this latency issue--and in fact, I'm surprised the problem isn't worse, considering how rudimentary my setup is).

PPT: Thanks for the feedback. Your last suggestion is exactly what I've been doing: zooming in and adjusting the position of the track manually, by cutting or pasting space. Time-consuming, but it works.

I realize these kinds of manual work-arounds are necessary until I can upgrade to an actual interface, and that's cool: just as long as there is some interim solution (however primitive).

[Geissler]

You'll be fine - audacity is actually very good for this kind of thing. Have you tried the beta version, 1.3? It has some seriously important improvements for exactly what you're doing - you don't have to copy and paste silence any more, you can drag and drop individual parts of a single track without messing up the timing of what comes after. I strongly encourage you to try it out, it really makes things much easier!

[chillowack]

Originally Posted by Geissler

You'll be fine - audacity is actually very good for this kind of thing. Have you tried the beta version, 1.3? It has some seriously important improvements for exactly what you're doing - you don't have to copy and paste silence any more, you can drag and drop individual parts of a single track without messing up the timing of what comes after. I strongly encourage you to try it out, it really makes things much easier!

That sounds awesome! I've been wishing I could do exactly that: move parts of a track without affecting the rest. I'm psyched to hear the beta version has this functionality, and I'll check it out, thanks for this heads-up.

Hey Geissler, didn't you say you use Ableton? It sounds like you've got Audacity experience too though...did you switch from one to the other at some point? (Let me guess: Ableton came bundled with your audio interface.)

[Geissler]

Nope, the only thing that came with my audio interface was a couple of synths from native instruments! I wanted a bit more functionality than audacity has so I struggled to learn the ins and outs of several DAWs (FL studio, Reason and Cubase) and was so put off by their convoluted interfaces that I went back to audacity. I had heard great things about ableton but I assumed it was just for electronic musicians who play live, and neither of those criteria fit me. Boy, was I mistaken! I think it depends on the way your mind is arranged - you will naturally feel more at home in one DAW than the others. It's best to try as many as you can.
Until I make money off my music I won't pay for software. Call me dishonest if you will but I think it's absurd considering the easy and free availability of pretty much any piece of software out there.
I posted my thoughts on ableton here.

Audacity is a really great program though and I still use it a lot; for getting down and dirty with your hands right on the audio nothing beats it. You can edit individual peaks in the waveforms, for chrissakes...

[chillowack]

Originally Posted by Geissler

Nope, the only thing that came with my audio interface was a couple of synths from native instruments! I wanted a bit more functionality than audacity has so I struggled to learn the ins and outs of several DAWs (FL studio, Reason and Cubase) and was so put off by their convoluted interfaces that I went back to audacity. I had heard great things about ableton but I assumed it was just for electronic musicians who play live, and neither of those criteria fit me. Boy, was I mistaken! I think it depends on the way your mind is arranged - you will naturally feel more at home in one DAW than the others. It's best to try as many as you can.
Until I make money off my music I won't pay for software. Call me dishonest if you will but I think it's absurd considering the easy and free availability of pretty much any piece of software out there.
I posted my thoughts on ableton here.

Audacity is a really great program though and I still use it a lot; for getting down and dirty with your hands right on the audio nothing beats it. You can edit individual peaks in the waveforms, for chrissakes...

Another very illuminating post Geissler, thanks for sharing.

I totally empathize with your feelings re: high-priced recording software. At five hundred bucks and up for some of these programs, it's a hefty bite when you're on a budget. That's what attracted me about Audacity: it's free.

But down the line I will doubtless take your advice and experiment with some other programs. (See your PM box for more on this topic.)

[harcha24]

the whiskey tango way would be to snap you fingers at the beginning to use as a marker to line up your track. then delete the snap sound.