Owl Creek

I wrote this maybe four or five years ago. No words, just fingerpicked acoustic guitar. Minor, kind of moody.

(Get Flash to see the track player.)
posted by danb (11 comments total)

Sorry about the whine. I can't figure out where it's coming from. Expect an AskMe question in the near future looking for help with home recording...
posted by danb at 5:11 PM on June 4, 2007

That was pleasant.
posted by humannaire at 6:05 PM on June 4, 2007

danb! That was quite a ride. I love finger picking and love this.

I didn't hear any whine or squeal. Maybe it's a monitor/headphones near the mic during playback? Maybe I just didn't hear it.

This is my favorite or yours so far, although "punk rock Handel" was pretty damn good too.
posted by snsranch at 6:13 PM on June 4, 2007

Very nice indeed.
posted by micayetoca at 7:36 PM on June 4, 2007

Very atmospheric, nice!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:46 PM on June 4, 2007

very nice playing, and a nice progression.
i don't hear a whine, it sounds like a mic issue, but i don't know what you're using.
okay, now i hear the whine, just at the end. totally a mic/computer thing. can you give us a gear rundown?
nice job, though, regardless.
posted by chococat at 9:36 PM on June 4, 2007

just wanted to say "nice" one more time.
posted by chococat at 9:36 PM on June 4, 2007

Thanks for the kind words, everyone! I'm glad the whine wasn't distracting. Be assured that it's much quieter than it was; I dicked around with the EQ and compression for a good half hour trying to snuff it without making my guitar sound, well, underwater.

can you give us a gear rundown?

Gladly! Samson C02 condenser mic > M-Audio FireWire Solo > Logic Express on a MacBook Pro.

The thing is, I don't know how to troubleshoot the problem without being able to swap out the different components -- I don't have other microphones/preamps to test. All I know is that it's not caused by the XLR cable, as I have tried a couple of those.

If I had to guess I'd say the M-Audio thing is the problem; I got it used (and cheap) from eBay. The microphone is a friend's, and he says he never had trouble with it (but also hasn't used it in a while).

At the end of the summer I'll probably have some money to burn on new equipment, so recommendations are welcomed and appreciated.
posted by danb at 10:14 PM on June 4, 2007

This is lovely, sir.
posted by coolhappysteve at 10:58 PM on June 7, 2007

(In case anyone stumbles upon this song later, here's the related Ask MeFi question about recording help.)
posted by danb at 6:31 PM on July 10, 2007

I didn't stumble. I was tripped.
posted by Eideteker at 2:09 PM on February 13