Garage Band figured out

OK, with a little help I can now use Garage Band. Wow, what an improvement! No mics to worry about, and much easier multitracking. This is the way to go from now on. Luckily I had an adaptor from the 90s or 80s so I could plug in the guitar to the laptop. So now I can make rhythm tracks and then put various leads over them. go to my youtube channel and take a listen!

2 track test with mime video

OK, here I tried out 2 track recording:

youtube video

I recorded the rhythm track using Audacity software on the little mac laptop and a cheap microphone. Then I put that file on the big mac laptop and ran it through the amp while playing the lead and recording it on the little mac. Finally, for visuals, I made a video of me faking it, using the photobooth app that comes with an apple. It's all crude, but an experiment. I need some real recording equipment!

new pick: Dunlop 88s

OK, so I'm trying the Dunlop .88 mm pick, the one just below the 1 mm. I tried the .73 mm, but it was too thin. One too thin, the other too thick, so the 88s should be just right, using Goldilocks logic. I'll work with them for a few days and let you know how they feel.

blues exercise on ootoob

OK, here's a sample of the blues piece I'm working on:

blues exercise in A

new recording method with external mic in front of the amp. it really picks up the great sound of the 339.

new mic set up for youtube vids

OK, I got tired of the poor audio quality in my youtube vids. Yes, the guitar is unplugged, but it's too much of a hassle to bring the amp over here or the laptop over there. I just wanna plunk out a few phrases for my licks library.

So I went upstairs and dug out the rocketfish external microphone I bought a few years ago. It took a few attemtps -- I had to max out the mic level on the youtube set up and change from built in mic to external mic, but this video shows the improvement. Not super great, and not as good as I hear it, but better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5rGmNhRE6Q

so now my audio notebook will be easier to listen to.

50 dollar gift certificate

OK, so I bought the 339 at a Guitar Center, and today I got a 50 dollar gift certificate from them, good for any purchase, one use only, no leftover dollars allowed. So what do I buy? a new amp? I've been looking at the fender g-dec 30 for 300 bucks. a tube amp?

Gibby is back!

on Tues. the 3 year old left with his mom, so the Gibson, Gibby, is back from its undisclosed location in my closet. Gibby is a GOOD guitar, by the way. Usually I don't even plug it in -- it sounds so good unplugged. The notes ring out clearly; it just sounds great. And it feels so good to play, as if it's easier to play and the strings are easier to work with. My epiphone Dot now sounds gritty and muddy.

Gibby! My guitar! I don't even want any others!

And I'm really loving this call/response blues thing I'm working on. It sounds like a full blues piece -- what I've been striving for.