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It is nice to have agreement, but in retrospect I do also have to give credit where it is due.  Southpaw has some very good points in his posting.... and the room is a huge variable in any recording environment.

  I tend to overlook the value of the acoustic properties of the recording "booth" as most of my vocal work has been recorded in such an environment.  You know the isolated glass window, convoluted foam baffles glued to all the hard surfaces and such.  One thing is though, we all bring our own microphones.... because not everybody's voices sound great on every mic.  Some have filters tuned to dampen certain frequencies and some are more responsive in others.  But then again, that is not a singing job.  It is narration, and volume is not as important as clarity, diction, and expression.

  I do really like the water tank analogy!  Truth is truth!

Doug

Howdy Micky,

  You know a little knowledge goes a long way in music.  I've been playing at this almost forty years, and still learning... and still wishing I had learned theory and the "proper" way first.  That said, it is never too late!  There are those to whom all this seems to come easily, but, I think it is the "understanding" of a few simple rules, and the "feeling" that you referred to that drives each of us to do what we can.

  Everybody does onething better than the rest musically within our individual skill sets.  We are here to learn how better to use the rest of those skills.

Hang in there, and Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Take Care;
Doug

Greetings All and a Happy Easter to Everyone!

  That said, it does seem that Chordie is an evolving forum.  Actually I see postings from brass blowers, drummers, and keyboard players in almost all of the forum's sub-catagories.  If I remember correctly the baby grand piano we moved all over Turkey when I was a kid had a bunch of strings on it's harp... 

  Chordie seems more and more about the music and less about what you use to make it.  To my thinking that is a good thing, and in keeping with the "open" feeling that is shared by a majority of the membership.  Kind of a community where the "only" requirement to participate is a love of music, and desire to share with like-minded people around the world.

  Around these parts, if you sweep the porch and put out the Welcome Mat, it's rude not to offer a cup of coffee to everyone who knocks....

Just my tuppence for what it's worth..

Take Care;
Doug

Hi Quarters,

  You should be able to go direct to the sound card via either the mic in or line in plug. Usually the line in works best if you have an on-board preamp, but if the pickup is passive the mic will do nicely.  Just remember to select the input type in the Audacity toolbar on the drop-down menu, and adjust the input volume to reduce clipping.

  For vocals and acoustic only inputs I use my stage mics through a small tube preamp with an output limiter to prevent overdriving the sound card.

Have fun with it!
Doug

PS:  I see you have been around here awhile, nice to see you posting.... hope to hear more from you.  DS

Hi again,

  Caught your other thread, first...

  Get your amp setup the way you want it first and start with the mic six feet or so away from the center of the amp.  Keep your mic input volume about where you would have it for vocals and play your guitar while monitoring the mic feed to your recorder (it's nice to have another body around to do this for you by the way).  Start moving the mic closer to the face of the amp until you just start to hear a low hum (indicating a trace of feedback) and back off a bit.  Do a test track to see if you are getting any distortion or clipping, and adjust the mic volume accordingly and/or the distance until you have a clean audio.  Make a note of your settings if you plan on doing a bunch of this from time to time it makes getting setup quicker.  Bear in mind that if you change locations (even in the same space) it will change the way the sound bounces off the walls and you will have to tweak everything again.

Have Fun!
Doug

120 Meters is a Loooonnnngg way for an arrow..... at least in this patch of woods!  Used to hunt regularly in me younger days and thought 60 to 80 was a long shot with a bow.  But then in the forests you cannot see game at much farther than that, and 150 yard rifle shot through brush can be questionable.  Rough country tracking can be so much like WORK!

Fine Bowmanship nonetheless!  And tell me what kind of "scope" mount do you use on a long bow?

Take Care;
Doug

Greetings Khazm,

  I'm going to assume that we are looking at a Kustom mod# 112 50Watt Defender amp here... so here goes my thoughts.  This amp uses two EL34 power tubes (or you can replace them with 6L6 tubes and change the bias switch position accordingly, but you would have to invest in a pair of them at around $35.00 each.... but I'm thinking that you lost one of the preamp tubes which should be 12AX7 type.  There are three of them in your amp, the one up next to the first EL34 is the phase inverter, and it should be fine.  The two at the bottom are preamps #s 1 & 2.  First I would try swapping those two preamp tubes and see if there is a change in the output, this might temporarily "cure " the problem, but I believe that only one half of the tube in preamp #2 position is used and if it is weak you might see some increase in the output.  You might take them both out and run down to your local tube amp repair joint and have them tested (you used to be able to test tubes at Radio Shack until they quit using them in TV sets), and replace the defective one.  Power tubes don't typically fail in a half way manner, and when they do the fuse most times will go with it.  But it sounds like you lost one of the preamps and the 12AX7s are my suspect.

  Part two I think is making a choice of what to put back in there....  Personally I tend to be fond of the Russian made tubes as they are good quality and durable.  We here in the west kind of got out of the tube business when transistors became vogue-ish and the Soviets still use tubes in the flight computers on the MIG29!  They know their tubes!  So having gathered the wrath of the "buy American" crowd, I would look for Sovtek or Svetlana replacements.  You might find GE or Sylvania tubes also and they are good, but tend to not be as forgiving to surges as the foreign counterparts.

Proceed with care as some things in there "bite".

Take Care;
Doug

Good Morning!

  Nine Servers and 3278 Workstations....  Including home PCs.....

  Pleased to report all quiet in the West!

Hope all is well with you;
Doug

Howdy Micky,

  Is it that the chords you have are in the wrong key? or are you having problems with the time signature getting your chord changes to fit with the tempo of the lyric as sung?

  A little more info about what you are trying to do will help us try to help you.

RSVP via e-mail if you want to write out what you have,  and I'll have a go... despite the fact I do not believe I have heard the tune.

Take Care;
Doug

Well God made Oregon for growing things...  we have about 3/4 of an acre of tillable pasturage which in the past has produced enough variety to not only feed two families but most of the wildlife hereabouts.  This year with the economy as it is, the old adage "waste not want not" will likely come forcefully into play.  The wildlife that fattens on my gardening efforts might well find itself in the food chain. LOL

It is still early for plowing as it has been wet and still freezing most nights.  The fruit trees are starting to bloom, which will hamper the yield again this season as the pollenators (bees) are not out in force.  Our little orchard has several varieties of apple, pear, cherry, and plums, some hazelnuts, a walnut, and more weeds than I can kill in a weekend.  Trimmed up the rose garden last weekend and some things are looking fine.... but a lot of effort yet to be made before the barbeque season starts.  It's been too rainy to mow effectively, so if it doesn't dry out a bit soon I will enlist the neighbors sheep to trim the overgrowth a little.... two weeks of suffocks and romneys saves several gallons of motor fuel!

Remember the Victory Gardens!?!

Take Care All;
Doug

Hi Doc,  haven't posted in your direction in awhile but you do come up with good ones....

  You know the first "Les Paul" was built out of a 2"X4" piece of framing timber, with some pickups and a fretboard.... through the magic of electronics an awful lot of cool sound are made.  But I tend to lean towards the acoustic, viewing the electronics as tools to enhance what is already there....

  There are hill people in Cambodia (or whatever it is called this week) that can make beautiful music with two strings and a piece of bamboo lashed to a dried Ox bladder, that beats the pants off anything I can hope to attain with six strings and a custom carved slab of bubinga.  So yeah, in some cases it does come down to the amps and effects.

  For my money, skill and practice wins over everything!

  Choose your guitar by it's sound, unplugged and plugged in... if it sings to your heart, and feels right in your hands, take it home and enjoy a long life together.

Take Care;
Doug