Sound Forge 11 and MultiTracking

Sound Forge can be used as a simplified multiTrack recording program, where you can record seperate channels one at a time. You can be recording one channel while you are listening back to the rest of the channels.
If you are doing lots of multiTrack work, you will be better served by a program like Audacity, Reaper, or Sonar. But, Sound Forge can do a rudimentary job of multitrack, with lots of limitations. And, sound forge does not appear to be able to handle very complex projects this way. Performance limitations seem to apply, and the need to increase sound card buffering may present itself. This has some disadvantages as described more below.

Other Limitations:

You can not record on a selected pair of channels. You either record on all channels at once, or on a single channel in mono mode. So, recording a stereo source onto selected channels is not possible.
When not recording, you can only hear the selected channel, unless you flip back to all channels mode. A hot key is provided for that, control+shift+A when focused int he data window.
you can not spontaneously add a new track. You must make that choice when you first create the file.
you can not create a nice stereo mix, panning each of the channels seperately. You would need to do that with an external mixer.

And those are just the restrictions that come to mind as of this writing. If those aren't enough to drive you elsewhere, and you still want to try it, here is how to get it going.

In Sound forge 11, activate the Record Options dialog with alt+control+5 on the numnbers row. In that dialog, use the jaws cursor to find a checkbox called "Play unselected channels when recording", and make sure it is checked. Also, make sure the "monitor" setting is set to Auto. If it is not, that line mightsay something like:
Monitor: on
Left click the word "on", which will allow you to edit that selection. Then return to PC cursor, and use the arrow keys to choose Auto, and press enter. Then, close the Record Options dialog.

Now, use control+n to create a new sound file, Be sure to tab across and choose the number of channels you want. Unlike in other multiTrack programs, where you can add a new channel on the fly, with Sound Forge, you must choose the channel count ahead of time, since the number of channels can not be modified after you start recording.

Now that the file exists, use the tab key to select a channel. JAWS will announce the selected channel number, which will cycle among the existing channels, including the case where all channels are selected. With each press, JAWS will speak the number of the selected channel, or will say, "all channels" to indicate that all are selected at once. Control+shift+A, while focused in the data window, will select all channels.

Tab to channel 1, and record some audio. You should be able to hear your voice being echoed out the outputs. If not, then the monitor setting is not correct. If you hear a long delay, you will need to shorten the buffer times on your audio settings in Options Preferences, and may benefit from using an audio interface with good performance, such as ASIO. The ability to use this feature depends on short delay times, also called "short latency". Long delays will cause timing problems with your performance, and be very distracting to work with.

Be sure to ask a question of the person who will be recording on channel 2. After you stop the recording, by pressing escape, you can listen to channel one, whether all channels are selected, or if only channel 1 is selected.

Press tab to move to channel 2. JAWS will say the number 2. Now, playback will result in silence, because only channel 2 is selected.
But, press control+r to start recording. You will hear the recorded audio from channel 1, and will be recording into channel 2. Dont' forget to answer channel one's provocative question.

Stop recording. If you play back, you will only hear channel 2, because that is the only channel selected. However, press control+shift+A, or repeatedly press tab to cycle back to all channels, and then play the file. You will hear both channels, and will hear the question, as well as the answer.

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