Random Update

So, dearest blog readers, I know we haven't been posting so much lately. There hasn't been that much news. Here's a brief synopsis of recent events.

1. On Recording: Well, Kristy and I have both had a bunch of allergy problems. I had a tenacious sinus infection, which was largely unpleasant. Anyway, this means that I have done very little with the microphone lately because my head has been full of snot. I will probably mess around with it in spurts...I have a lot of hobbies so I rotate focus on them continually.
   
2. On Babies: Our baby has been beating my wife. From the inside. She kicks hard enough that you can see Kristy's shirt move. If you've never felt a baby kick I guess I could best describe it as feeling like a cat, moving around inside a beach ball full of jello. I have never put a cat inside a beach ball full of jello. You are sick to have assumed that. I'm not sure you could even get jello inside a beach ball.
   
3. On Nerd Activities: Our town has a pretty unreliable power source. Every time there are power fluctuations it really screws up my computer and server systems. So, I got an Uninterrupted Power Supply and have the core components plugged into that. It has already gone on battery backup twice (in half a week) due to power flux. The power seems to hit 130+ volts (120 is normal) pretty regularly, which is probably not good for sensitive electronics.
   
4. On Family: The family met last Sunday to hear my grandparents tell about how they met our friends years ago and other interesting stories about folks we've known for years became friends.
5. On April: Well, the ol' April Fool's joke post kinda backfired. I was going to do a followup post but there were enough comments that mentioned it was a joke that I decided not to. I forgot that comments don't show up on the post in list view and a week later (after it was no longer April Fools) the joke played out in force. Sorry to the folks who were seriously concerned that we're moving.
6. On Spring Break: Wifey went to IA to visit family for her spring break. They threw her a nice baby shower out there and she had a good time. I have a picture of wifey on my coffee mug at work, she's all skinny and holding a fishing pole up in the mountains. Sometimes it slips my mind that she's currently pregnant, fat and sassy (and obviously doesn't read everything I post on this blog, heh heh). Anyway, I asked her if she was playing paintball with her cousins, which we did last time we were out there. I think she thought I had lost my mind but in retrospect, it was darn funny to imagine my pregnant wife stomping around with a paintball gun.
7. On Virginia Tech: Sometimes I think our country is really, really screwed up. Then I remember that some countries live with these events every day. I hope that somehow, our activities in Iraq and other places around the world are doing some good.
8. On Drugs: I was just required to attend a Meth Awareness Class at work to help us determine if our employees or interviewees are potential Meth users. It was interesting, Meth is a disturbing drug. The ironic thing is that pro-drug magazines, such as High Times and some others, actually warn their readers against Meth. So, even the "drug industry" thinks Meth is a bad drug (I don't read pro-drug magazines, they told us that in the class). When a coke dealer says "That's some bad stuff" you know you shouldn't be putting it in your body!
9. On Physical Fitness: This guy at work is a pretty hardcore marathon and triathlon athlete. It's kinda inspiring. He was telling me about this event called the Muddy Buddy that's toward the end of the summer (Aug 19th) in Boulder. It sounds kinda fun but I am in terrible shape. I keep feeling sort of motivated to run but thankfully I keep quashing that ambition. Basically, the Muddy Buddy is two buddies with one mountain bike. You take turns running and riding on and off over a 6-7 mile course with several obstacles. Oh, and it ends with a crawl through a mud pit. I was going to the gym pretty regular but that has sorta dived off lately. I truly detest running but I do love to bike. It's hard to imagine myself as one of those fitness wackos...I like donuts and computers too much.

Welp, that's the summary. Have a good week homeys.

When You Come Back Down

So, I recorded a version of "When You Come Back Down" on a $5 mic I got from a pawn shop several years ago. I used an electric guitar, piped into the computer and the cheapo mic for vocals. I knew even less about recording then and it turned out pretty awful. Mostly due to the mic recording sound quite terribly. I sound like David Allan Coe with a head cold.

Since then, I've wanted to take another shot at that song. I recorded a quick version last Friday night and then did some refining on it on Saturday morning but it came out very plain with just a guitar line, vocals and faint "shaker" in the background.

When my Great Grandfather (mom's mom's dad) passed away, his well-used mandolin went to my Grandma (mom's mom). Before she passed away last year I asked for the mandolin and claimed it after she was gone. In the months that have passed since then it has primarily been holding our piano down (that sucker is always trying to float away). I wanted to play it but it appeared to have significant structural damage and I was afraid it wouldn't take the strain of being tuned properly. I inquired with a few luthiers about repairs but they basically told me that it wasn't a very valuable (sentimentality excluded) instrument and not worth the considerable expense of fixing. I examined it more carefully and the main damage appears to be more cosmetic than structural.

So, I tuned up the ol' zither and looked up a the chords from "Come Back Down" in a mando book. I recorded some ham-fisted, mando strumming that was supposed to be very subtle in the background and quit working on it for the day. I intended to go back and adjust the volume and such (Wifey didn't like the mandolin so present in the song, especially since I can't really play it very well) but when I opened back up the source file it was corrupted and half the song was gone. Fortunately I had exported it as an mp3 but I can't go back and edit individual volume levels or other things now.

Being a geek, I did save the project in stages (meaning I have a v1, v2, v3...) but I would have to do about an hour's worth of tweaking to get back to where I was and re-record the mandolin parts if I still want them in the song. I'm already bored with this project so that ain't happening. You get the product as is, too-loud mandolin and all.

Oh, and there is also about 5 seconds of silence before the song starts. And the tempo is too slow. This is an amateur production folks, what did you expect? That dude from Nickel Creek, the one that sang this originally, would cry if he heard me butcher this tune.

Listen to the new AKoustic47's When You Come Back Down cover.

and just for kicks:

Listen to the old $5 mic version from several years back.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure the new version is any better. I like the harmony on the old version better but the audio quality is terrible.

AKoustic47

Okay! My rear is now numb from sitting on this little wooden stool toying with sound waves. Here is my latest effort at recording something to earitate the masses. It's short because I got sick of working on it. It's crappily crackily, ludicrously low fidelity, got more gold than Greg Louganis, more gain than Gloria Gaynor and more chorus than Deep Forest. It's called Blues on Glue, recorded in G flat-ish because I like G and I felt like playing flat. I hope you think it's sharp...

Download AKoustic47's Blues on Glue

New: Infernal Racket in High Fidelity!

I ordered a Large-Diaphram, multi-pattern, condenser USB microphone (Samson CO3U) from Sweetwater.com last Saturday. Large-Diaphram means that it can pick up a fairly wide range of frequencies. Multi-pattern means that it can record from a single direction or a few different configurations (so you can record a single instrument or multiple people at once). USB means that it plugs into my laptop. I don't know what the hooey "condenser" means but I've got my fingers crossed for "makes you sound awesome."

To my great delight the microphone was waiting at the door when I got home. I went and played ping pong again so I didn't get to experiment with it right away. But you can bet that after I got home the first thing I was doing was plugging it in and testing it out. The mic lived up to my expectations: which means it captures every flat note I hit and every buzzing string on my guitar in high-fidelity. Or at least, it records pretty good for the price. Good microphones can get extremely expensive. This one strikes a balance between performance and price.

The last mic I tried to record something with was a $5 piece of junk I picked up from a pawn shop back in college. The results were pathetic at best.

Anyway, I downloaded Audacity, a free sound recording and manipulation program and began fiddling. I don't know anything about recording, sound manipulation or much of anything else short of how to play the guitar. The result of my efforts is still pretty sad but at least you can tell that the mic records nicely for amateur stuff. Now if I could sing better, add some other instruments so it's not so bland, and actually learn to use the music software to take out the pops, crackles and other imperfections I will eventually achieve mediocrity! Now if Wifey ever gets over her cold, I can coerce her into laying down some vocal tracks. Yeah!

If you care to torture your ears you can download the mess here:
my first recording effort