I am running Real Band 2014 with Windows 10 and using a Behringer UMC204 Audio Interface. When I load a BIAB song I can hear sound on both sides of the headphones, but when I attempt to record a separate track only one side of the headphones has sound. I'm guessing this has to do with a setting but haven't found it yet. Anybody?

How is the UMC204 connected?
Via USB or the audio outs? Are the headphones connected to the UMC204 or the computer?

On many interfaces if you record only a MONO signal it is sent on one side or the other (Left or Right). Meaning if you have a Mic plugged into the interface on channel 1 you will hear it's output on the left side during recording (especially with headphones).
Could this be the cause? Or do you hear 'everything' (including existing tracks) only on one side?

After recording, does the resulting track play on both sides?
Have you tried the MONO button on the UMC204? It may center the channel for you while recording..

Does your interface have a mono/stereo switch?

If the interface has a software dashboard/control panel, go in and check the default settings. It sounds like you have it defaulted to stereo so that what comes in on a channel is normally panned hard to that channel for stereo.

IIRC, it's been a very long time since I have looked at my interface settings, I think I set mine to left/mono and that solved the one sided thing.

It may also be in how you choose the input option in BB/RB settings as well. Again, there are several options to choose from. Be sure you select the correct option for the input signal.

Thanks to all who reponded for your input. The problem turned out to be twofold. The most significant was the fact that I had the Mono/Stereo switch set to Stereo, which forced the input into one side of the headphone. Moving it to Mono solved the problem along with selecting the correct drivers for the Audio Interface. Thanks again.

Glad you got it solved.

Yup... using the proper drivers really makes a difference. Hopefully you are using ASIO.

Yesterday I did a vocal recording of my sister in RB and forgot to set the track to mono so it was hard panned left on a stereo track. Any way to simply copy that to a mono track or even another stereo track but panned right?

As it is, I couldn't figure out how to do it, was pressed for time so it was faster to have her redo the vocal on a mono track.

Bob

If you go to "Edit, Track" you should see a selection for "split stereo to 2 mono tracks".

I tried that but it didn't do anything. I was thinking it was due to audio only on the left side, so if it doesn't see L and R stereo it can't split it?

Bob

If it is indeed on the left channel, do as John said and split it to 2 tracks, then look at which one has the signal, center the panning for that track, and get rid of the rest of the resulting (empty or un-needed) tracks ..

It probably behaved as expected but the new mono track was still panned left so you may not have noticed it exists.
This is expected behavior for me, as many times when I split a stereo track to 2 MONO tracks I *want* to preserve the panning (and end up with 2 MONO tracks of a stereo image) .. if you don't, then check the new resulting MONO tracks' panning settings.

Not only should you listen to the mix in the cans... but you should ALWAYS do a RECORDING LEVEL test.

Start the recording and stop it after 10 seconds. You want to see a few things.

1. One is that you have your recording levels set properly. you should play it back and listen to be sure the levels are hot enough but not overloaded. Fix any level issues right at this point. Not later in the mix.

2 Number two is this will now show you if you are recording in stereo or mono and this should be evident on the screen before you ever listen.


A good DAW will be printing the wave in real time as you record it. So, as soon as I hit record, I will catch the fact that I neglected to switch the track from it's default Stereo mode to my preferred mono mode. I can see the left side printing and the right side is a flat line.

Stop, delete the clip, switch to mono, start again.

I get that Herb, I just missed it the first time.

One thing though. With digital audio you don't have to be too concerned with low levels. A good system does not have inherent noise in it like the old tape decks did. With tape, you needed it as close to saturation as you can get without going over but that's not a big deal with digital audio. In my case the overall vocals (not peaks) were showing 1-2 bars at the bottom of the VU meters which is enough to boost with no issues. Rharv made a good point in the other thread about how best to do that though which I will try out.

These are good discussions. I'm reminded of the music teachers mantra, don't practice mistakes. I've been doing mostly live remote recordings using an Akai DPS 16 for years but I'm not a pro so I still have a lot to learn.

Bob