Arts >> Music >> Recording Music

How to Line Up Vocals With Mixcraft

Mixcraft is a digital audio workstation for the PC. With it you can record, edit, mix and master your own music using your computer. One notable benefit of working with a digital audio workstation like Mixcraft is that you can import and export audio files from different sessions. For example, if you recorded one vocal take on location and one in your home studio, you can put them both in the same session as if they were recorded together. For best results when doing this, invest a little time lining them up with Mixcraft's edit tools so they are in sync.

Things You'll Need

  • PC with minimum 2GB RAM
  • Mixcraft
Show More

Instructions

    • 1
      If you don't line up the different tracks, they'll be out of sync.

      Open Mixcraft. Either double-click the desktop icon or click "Start," "Programs" and select Mixcraft from there. It may take a few seconds for Mixcraft to fully load. The last saved session automatically opens. If this isn't the session that you require, click "File" and select "Open Recent."

    • 2

      Click "File" and select "New Audio." This opens a new audio channel in the arrangement interface. Click on it and rename it to something more suitable, for example "Vocals 3." Click the channel to highlight it. This assigns future actions to this channel.

    • 3

      Click "File" and select "Import." Browse for the vocal files that you want to include in your session. When you click on the file that you require, it will automatically open in the highlighted audio channel.

    • 4

      Click "View" and click "Zoom In." This expands your view of the audio wave forms. These are the peaks and dips that represent the various volume levels in the audio track. Use these as a visual guide when aligning the vocal files.

    • 5

      Hover your mouse over the left edge of the first vocal track. This brings up a trim tool. Drag the tool right as far as the first sound wave peak. This trims off the silence from the beginning, making it easier to place the sound at the start of a beat. Do the same for all other vocal audio tracks.

    • 6

      Click "Snap Bar" and select "Measure (Bar)" from the drop-down menu. This configures Mixcraft to "snap" moved audio to the nearest measure.

    • 7

      Click on the first vocal audio and press the "+" to move the audio right and "-" to move it left. As soon as the nearest bar line changes, the audio will snap to that bar. Repeat for all other vocal audio tracks.

Recording Music

Related Categories