First track recording in the background of a new track

[egonsmith]

Hi, my band is in the middle of trying to record a 4 song demo. We're not complete idiots when it comes to recording but we're far from really knowing what we're doing. We're going into a mixer and then out into a laptop and using Cool Edit.
The problem we're having is that when we go to record a new track, the existing track is somehow being recorded in the background on the new track as well as the new stuff we want. We've tried removing the mic and simply hitting record to make sure the mics aren't somehow picking up any sound from the headphones and still the first track ends up recording slightly in the new track. Any ideas at all as to what the solution is? We're operating on Windows XP and have 'microphone' selected in the "Recording Control" in volume properties, so I can't imagine how Cool Edit is picking up anything from the sound card other than the mic.

Any help would be much appretiated.

 

[Strryder]

This is from the help files in Cool Edit Pro 2.1 (troubleshooting section)...

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Q: Why does track 1 get recorded on track 2 when I try to listen and record at the same time in Cool Edit Pro?

A: This can happen when your sound card is set up to record everything that it is playing back, along with new audio. Cool Edit Pro does not choose the device to record from for you. You must do change this setting in Windows. To change your hardware configuration so this will not happen anymore, do the following:

In any version of Windows :

Double-click on the speaker icon located on the lower right hand corner of your screen (near the clock).

Select Options, Properties.

In the Adjust Volume for area, select Recording.

All of the devices you can record from will be displayed in the Show the following volume controls:

Make sure all the devices have a check mark in them.

Click on OK.

At the bottom of each recording device, there is a check box with Select to the right of it. Use this to select the recording device that you want.

Make sure the recording Volume is at least half way up.

Close the Recording Control window.

You are ready to record.

Most sound cards have a device labeled Stereo Mix or something similar. When that device is selected, the sound card will record everything that is being played back, which will cause tracks that are playing back to be recorded on new tracks. Make sure that only the device you want to record from (such as line in or microphone) is the only device selected, and that the Stereo Mix option is not selected.
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[egonsmith]

hey thanks for the reply. the trouble is that the microphone is the only thing selected. when track 2 records, we're only getting a low-volume(yet definitely present) and somewhat distorted recording of track 1. i'm wondering if it isn't a hardware issue...

 

[Strryder]

How do you have the computer's output routed, and what hardware mixer are you using?

Is the monitor mix routed thru the hardware mixer before going to your monitor speakers?

 

[egonsmith]

How do you have the computer's output routed, and what hardware mixer are you using?

Is the monitor mix routed thru the hardware mixer before going to your monitor speakers?

It's real low-tech. We're just plugging in studio headphones into the laptop. We're using a BEHRINGER (sp? something like that) mixer that has about 10 channels.

But that can't be the problem because we unplugged everything from the laptop and recorded a new track and sure enough there was still a small amount of the first track in the new track.

So to rememdy this, we've put all the scratch tracks on an ipod and are all playing to that. The only problem is that now everything we record has to be synched up by hand in Cool Edit, and that's just ridicolously tedious.