Please PLEASE help me; I am going CRAZY!

[gjdagis]

I would SO sincerely appreciate someone's help. I just got a Roland VT-4 voice transformer to add some effects to my vocals. Let me tell you what I already have and what I do, and have done for many years with no problems. First I boot up my M-Audio interface, the Fast Track Pro. It has a simple pre-amp. I then choose it under preferences in Sonar and route my MIDI tracks to the basic Cakewalk soft synth. While listening to the music I lay down the vocals on some audio tracks. Then I shut off the M-Audio and go back to preferences. I choose ASIO. At THIS point I can mix the vocals on the recorded track(s) and the audio that was generated by the MIDI tracks onto a brand new audio track which forms the completed song.

I have tried everything I know to do something similar with the Roland VT-4. It also has a pre-amp in it. When I try to lay down a VOCAL track while listening to the MIDI generated audio as illustrated previously, the new track (which I only want the VOCALS on) is a COMPOSITE of the vocals AND the MIDI generated music. If I shut the connection between the Cakewalk soft Synth then I only get the vocals laid down but obviously cannot hear the music! I have tried connecting the VT-4 to the M-Audio via dual 1/4 inch plugs but no dice (they just came today and I thought this would solve the problem) PLEASE tell me HOW I can listen to the MIDI generated music via the Cakewalk soft synth while recording a CLEAN vocal and NOT recording the output from the Cakewalk synth while STILL being able to LISTEN to it while I lay down the vocal. It seems like the ONLY solution is to use TWO computers, one t listen to the MIDI audio and one to record the vocal track! LOL PLEASE help me!

Thank you so much!

Sincerely,

George

 

[Larry Jones]

I'm going to have to defer to someone smarter than I to figure out your issue here, but while we wait for that person you should maybe ask yourself what are you doing differently from the good old days when it always worked? And why are you turning off your audio interface?

[SteveC]

Yeah, the steps in the first instance are a bit unclear....

- ...I then choose it under preferences in Sonar: Which driver mode,  what bit depth and sample rate?

-  ...route my MIDI tracks to the basic Cakewalk soft synth: You are routing existing MIDI tracks to. TTS1?   If so, was that output routed to the Fast Track?

- ...I lay down the vocals on some audio tracks: Are the audio track outputs routed to the Fast Track?

- ...Then I shut off the M-Audio and go back to preferences. I choose ASIO:  I don't understand this one.  Shutting off the Fast Track and using what instead for playback?  Is that something else using ASIO where the Fast Track wasn't?   

For the second case:

- Does the VT-4 serve as an audio I/O interface?   I understand it has a preamp (input) but what about its ability to route audio from the PC to some type of physical output?

- ...If I shut the connection between the Cakewalk soft Synth: How exactly are you doing this?

 

If you could better describe how your softsynth and audio tracks are routed it would be easier to troubleshoot.

[gjdagis]

Than you both for your kind replies; I sincerely appreciate them. I'm sorry that I seemed to have muddled the issue quite a bit. Please allow me to put it all into a much simpler format.

I own the M-Audio and I WAS able to record a PURE vocal audio track while simultaneously listening to the MIDI file generated music after just plugging my mike into the unit. NOW, when I use the same exact method BUT with the VT-4 I can only produce an audio track that ALSO contains the audio from the MUSIC tracks.

[57Gregy]

It appears that the Roland is also an audio interface. Are you using the USB cord instead of audio outs to the M-Audio? If so, the Roland probably has some software setting or switch to select what audio is sent to the recording program, sort of like the old Stereo Mix or What You Hear setting in older sound cards and interfaces. That would send everything you hear to the recorder instead of just the vocal take.

[JoseC]

I have been having a look at the user manual, and while Roland states that the VT-4 can function as an audio interface, it does not look like it can really monitor a signal from your PC while you record. The Block diagram of the signal flow shows that the input signal (your voice) and the signal coming from your PC are always mixed, if I am reading it correctly. 

I believe that you need to keep the Fast Track as your audio interface, and use the VT 4 just as effects unit. You should be able to connect the VT-4 line outs to the Fast Track inputs and record while you monitor the backing track fron the PC.   I do not understand why that option failed, as you state in your opening post. This should be pretty straightforward.