This really should have been branched off, since it's off-topic. This is how we learn. I actually really like this feature. It's like, it lets conversations grow into infinitely many separate, organized conversations.

Yeah. It prevents the dreaded "WHAT IS THIS CONVERSATION EVEN ABOUT" horrors.

Exactly.

Oh! So since this is apparently a branch about music learnin' (if the name is anything to go on) I thought I should mention that I'm gonna be writing a concept album for NaNoWriMo but have no idea what concept to explore! *smiles and then cries*

Oh that sounds cool. I suggest that it just be 20 tracks of people typing increasingly furiously.

...........nahhhhhhh........

I was about to record something but then my sister came over and brought her kids... ;____; So much for that idea...

Surely we'd get so much done if it weren't for all these people.

Yeah. I'd certainly be able to write more if there were not children in my house at any point in time. And able to learn music faster, too, for choir and stuff. u_u

What's your recording set-up like? I'm an audio kid so I'm super curious. Also, sorry about the family, AKA, spoilers of projects.

Just an acoustic guitar and a microphone. I can take a picture and show you once I get home today. (so, in like an hour) Also, I mostly record either in my bedroom or living room, since that's just where there's space and opportunity to do things.

24.media.tumblr.com There's a picture of the microphone in question.

Ooh. I've heard good things about that mic. What's the floor noise/electrical interference like for that one?

I feel really lame for asking that, but can you use less technical language...? I'm not sure exactly what you mean.

It does work pretty well, though. Overall good sound quality, it can take lots of volume before overloading, etc.

Sorry--less verbiage, more value!--

There's two big things I'm aware of in regards to the "quality" of a mic. The first is how the mic captures the sound, and the second is how the mic "colors" the sound. It's the capturing that I'm talking about here.

The range of quiet to loud sounds that a mic can capture is called the dynamic range. You mentioned the upper end of the dynamic range just now when you said that it can get to a high volume without overloading. (BTW: that's great!) My initial question relates to the low end of the dynamic rage--how the mic sounds and acts when things are very quiet. When I've worked with PCs and mics before I've had very bad experiences of there being a low buzz/rumble beneath everything.

Ah! Right, okay. It doesn't make any buzzing or feedback noises in the absence of input at all. It's a really nice, quiet microphone that picks sounds up very well.

Awesome! Would you mind giving me the model name? I'd like to amend it to one of my recording process recommendation posts.

It's the Yeti Blue: bluemic.com

Awesome! Just added to the article from earlier this year, which, come to think of it, might be relevant to the whole music-gear conversation:

t.karashae.com

Aaaaa! Wow, thanks. I write a bunch of music but never know how to properly record it, so this is actually really helpful...

Everyone, I give you: Branch.
<Achievement Unlocked: Prove Your Worth!>

what

Discussion has been fostered, ideas have been shared, helpfulness was enabled. Branch has won me over.

Okay, so I feel terrible about how poorly I linked these articles, so I just Tumblr'd a linked list of all of the Recording and Mixing articles. I hope this helps!
t.karashae.com

It does. Wow. What a useful post. I'm definitely bookmarking this post. (And since I want to write a concept album for NaNoWriMo, I'll try and record as well, so I can maybe do something with my music for once)

Definitely keep me informed as to the progress of your NNWM project; I have a particular love for concept albums (heck, I'm writing one now). I'll be excited to hear what you make!

Thanks! I'm actually still deciding what I want to write it about... I'm working on a song right now that's not going to be on it, and it's been distracting all of my lyrics-writing capabilities as of right now... :/

Oh god the song I was writing is on stanza 14 and it doesn't have a chorus and I'm going to cry I have no idea how to cut it off...

See here and then feel my sympathies:
music.karashae.com

By the way, for what instruments are you writing and recording?

I finally finished it and am now going to figure out what to do about next month's album. I just composed it with a guitar and voice, but I might make an arrangement for full band at some point. It was the lyrics that were giving me the most trouble. Here's a link to the lyrics I just finished: sheenasaintjames.deviantart.com

aldskfjdaslfkjasdfads wow your voice is really great and reminds me of Colin Meloy's except more teal than green and now I feel really inadequate... ;__; (I didn't record yet, btw)

Um...are you referring to the video that I deleted a few hours after uploading?...this is kind of awkward.

I hope you accept a substitute discussion of DAWs, music, and vlogging nervousness as penance:
youtube.com

What? No, the song you linked on the branch. I was feeling lame because you're a really great musician and I'm just sitting here with my acoustic guitar and awful mossy green choir tenor voice....

Hey Jacke, quick question: I've hooked up my electric guitar to a DAK preamp and although the computer hears and can record the guitar, there's a horrible feedback noise. It's a combination of fuzz and a rumbling hum and I can't get rid of it. How do I get rid of something like that so I can actually hear what I'm playing?

Do you have it doing through distortion or overdrive, or is that just the "clean" signal that has all that noise?

It's plugged directly into the preamp without pedals or anything.

Huh. Can you snap some pics of how you have the preamp configured, front and back? I want to get an idea of how it's hooked up to see where the problem might be.

youtube.com I couldn't get a good picture because I don't own a real camera so I made a video. :/

Okay, so five or six things to try here:

1. Check your cable arrangement. Make sure your instrument and output cables CROSS your power cables rather than running parallel to them (i.e. make them perpendicular). This should cut out some of the 60hz low rumble.
2 Rotate your guitar
2. Change the power arrangement.

ah shoot. It posted the comment incomplete! One sec while I type the rest of it.

2. Rotate the guitar so that the neck is perpendicular to the computer, monitor, pedals, etc. the pickups act really funky with electronics...learned from experience.
3. Mess with your power arrangement, The way you have your computer, preamp, etc plugged in can affect the amount of noise you get. If you can do two power trees, split the preamp off into a different power outlet/tree. If you can actually get it to reach a different circuit in your home, that'd be the best.
4. Turn off any and all unnecessary electronic or mechanical devices.

I'll post some more ideas later after I can research your particular preamp...until then, I hope this helps!

Yeah, I'll try that out... as of now my desk is kind of a tangle of cords and cables, and I'll have to take some time just to sort out what's where. :/
Thanks so much, though!

Okay, the humming is gone! :D (There's still some really loud white noise-ish stuff going on, but I can get over that)

And... the static is gone, too! Thank you for helping me. (:

Another question: I'm trying to find a good torrent of Finale 2012 and the only ones I've found either give me 37 ISO files or some random file that requires an unspecified program to open. Do you guys have any suggestions on how to fix this problem? Or, alternately, what good music notation programs are out there that I can use instead if need be?

Well, hey there!

This is all pretty interesting. Thanks for the update on your recording set-up! I've been curious about those blue USB microphones so it's neat to hear from someone who's actually using one.

Also, the whole audio interference thing is neat as well, I'm currently in a class at Columbia Chicago that discusses topics based around EMI in electrical systems. Not that I could pinpoint what was going on, but it's cool just to see the stuff applied ^_^