I NEed Some Recording Help!

Okay so I have a pretty cool sounding rhythm part, and I have a pretty cool sounding lead part that goes with it.

My problem is this:
I recorded my rhythm piece, and in order to get the lead over it I would rather play it like, do the rhythm, then play the lead, then play the rhythm. And I play it all along with the first recorded piece, which would be the rhythm guitar.

The thing is, I look at the static to know where to come in, but I always screw up. I don't come in at the right time. Either too early or too late. Then I get like doubles of each note.

How do I become better at doing this? I want a decent sounding song, not something that is just like noise.

Also, I know when the solo COMES IN, but when I am playing it I am not too sure about what to play when it's done, how can I find out by myself?

I know this is probably pretty confusing buy my mind is jumbled right now.

I think your right. most of it comes form experiance, playing and listening

wear headphones and listen to it, then sync the two files later?

does that work for you? I have never gotten it to be "right"

Try easy solos at first from scale. play it over and over again and when it sound good add more to it. If you are not sure what to play, then improvisate, or if it doesnt feel comfortable, try build your solo with thinking or humming it.

and do not worry for screwups or mistakes. Elvis band guitarist made one of his best solos on song called Hound Dog and that solo came out from his Frustration that he couldnt play good on recording session..

Are you giving yourself a count in for a couple of bars before playing? It helps you get into the groove.

when you record...always, always, always, use a click track.

Click track! That's the name I was trying to think of. Old age creeping in!

Unfortunately I don't have one that makes sounds : /
But I do have bars on the top that tells what time in the song

audacity has a click track

You've got a latency issue, mate.

On my PC, I have an audio driver installed that doesn't give me as much latency, but I don't know if you have it or not.

Okay so I figured something out. Coming in is not my problem. here is the real problem apparently:

I play one part at one speed, but them I end up playing at a different speed when I am doing the lead.

That is a very big problem, playing at different speeds all the time. how do I improve this?

Hmm, Latency problems usually appears for MIDI keyboard, virtual instruments and such. In audio tracks, I think its not a problem.

I have same problems many times. I used to tap my feet that i keep consentration on tempo and rythm, if you play without drums or any rythmic background, its really hard.

Btw. isnt "click track" = Metronome? :D

^^^lol i was just thinking the same thing, you could have one headphone on with a metronome playing, thats sure to keep you a bit better in time with the track

I personally hate metronome :D, when i hear that "click, click, click, click, click" on my head next 4:50 minutes... im ready to mental care... I prefer drums xD

@EMP

No, latency applies to this aswell. You know how latency works, right? It's basically a delay between what you play, and when it's recorded.

It's the time it take to process everything and send it out (output) that throws off the timing.

I don't think I have a latency problem at all.
My computer works perfectly with everything.

Good idea with the headphones. That might help me a bit.

@Empirism;
I hate hearing the clicking too. Very annoying. Especially if it is recorded with what you're playing >.

Ok, so your problem is that the tracks sound of of sync? If so, you've got latency!

No. It's not that lol
I said that when I play it. I play one too fast and the other too slow. Accidentally. It's always been a problem with me.

Hey GB what program are you using to record?

Sometimes you can choose what driver to use. I know there is usually a generic ASIO, but one for your speciifc sound card you might get better results.

consumer grade sound cards are not really designed for playback not really recording.

MixPad by NCH
I use Wavpad to cut and edit my song clips.

check some where for audio or properties or inputs and see if you can edit the drivers. I've never used mixpad.

other wise go buy your self a nice semi-pro audio sound card

Ohh, I must have misread what you said.

I use to always count to 4 before I started playing rhythm. That way, I knew EXACTLY when I would come in on lead.

^ I think I might start doing the same all the time.
I do it the odd time but I really need to start doing it more and more.

Yeah, it really helps. Plus, it adds a cool little something to Demos.

Yeah it seems like in demos you always hear the guitarist (especially) going "One, Two, Three Four." or "Uno, Deux, tres, Quattro" lol