Maggie Pope

Exciting! Can't wait to hear it! Just "pre-saved'! 🙌

that is the best!!! Wow!

This makes me realize I have so much more to do! Thanks for the thought-provoking quiz, John

Thanks so much, Dave! Tix are certainly set aside with your name on them That would be really cool if we ever went on tour!

So excited - I am now officially in a duo/band! People here have been so supportive and encouraging - I'm so grateful for that and hope that I've shown the same level of encouragement to others. This is indeed a special place I hope a few of you will take a minute to check out our songs on the website - http://www.undertheoakmusic.com/#!media/c12an. They are just rough edits of 2 songs that will appear on our EP but we decided to share them as a sneak peek to help promote our upcoming show in April. Thanks for checking us out and as always, thanks for all of the encouragement as well

That was an incredibly helpful post, David - thank you! I've been using the XY setting but am going to try the MS setting with the two side mics set to zero input and see how that sounds. I think that with a little work I might be able to just record directly to audacity, which would be nice, as long as I can limit the amount of background noise. One problem I'm having is that when I set the frequency to 48 kHz, as you suggested (this is with settings adjusted both in audacity and on the zoom), when the recording is played back, it is lower in frequency than when I recorded and it skips… any tips on this one? ETA: when I set everything to 41 kHz it sounds just the same as when I recorded and does not skip - something about moving up to 48 is not working..

TapperMike - could be any of those things! I have no idea… the sound is garbled a little bit and sounds sort of far-off? But I'm happy for now simply recording to the memory card and then importing… I'm sure part of it is the environment because it's a desktop located in an open, busy area of the house. When i record directly to the memory card, I record in a walk-in closet with no noise...

Thank you for your response! The H2n can be used as a stand alone recorder but can also be connected via USB to a computer so I can record directly to audacity. The quality recording via USB though is really bad - there must be something I'm doing wrong! But when I record to the memory card in the zoom, the quality seems really good. I think I've got some good settings to start with as well - I've been experimenting a bit So I think I'll just keep experimenting with recording to the memory card, and then importing to Audacity… this is such a learning experience for me! I also found a good audacity tutorial that is helping a great deal.. so we'll see what happens from here!!

I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to technology, but would really like to begin experimenting more with recording separate tracks for some of my songs, and using Audacity to put everything together. I have a Zoom H2n 'handy recorder' - I am lost as far as how to adjust the settings to get the best quality audio I can... Can anyone help me and give me a little bit of advice on how to get good recordings this way? It would mainly be vocals, acoustic guitar, maybe some piano or violin - but all recorded separately. It'd be great if someone had some specific advice as to the exact settings to try first… I know some adjustment will be necessary but I need a starting place! I don't even know what all the settings do and can't find the manual! I'm feeling so lost with all of this! But I'm guessing that the best way to record is to first get the separate tracks down (recorded in a room like a walk-in closet where there is no noise interference?) and then you can combine them in Audacity and add effects like reverb, right? I need a 'recording for dummies' book! Or a personal recording mentor;)

Michael, I just posted on your thread about the "Katie" music video… l'm relatively new here so haven't come across your work until now, but want to let you know how great I think it is! I had the intention of just looking around youtube for some more of your stuff, but now I own your album yay!

Well, I'm a bit late to the party here, as it's my first time exploring the 'musician's lounge'... but holy moly, Michael - what an incredibly beautiful song! I LOVE it. You are a very talented musician and your video is awesome - it is so real and honest… so, so good!!! Off to stalk your youtube channel and find some more of your music

Oh, well I can't wait to hear them when you get them recorded! I'm glad you were able to find an instructor that you liked - I'm sure those few words that have the letters A-Z are sounding wonderful now;) I'm in Pennsylvania - I think most of those trees you saw were actually Norway Maples and maybe a few Ash trees. I'm not the best at identifying trees, but I know we've got a lot of Norway Maples - invasive trees that are taking over everything!!! I wish they were oaks Thanks for your kind words and for checking out my stuff! I'm self-taught on the guitar - I actually learned a lot by watching and listening to musicians on youtube! The Avett Brothers, Townes Van Zandt, and Elizabeth Mitchell were my teachers, lol. I did play the violin for several years growing up though so do have a little bit of musical experience, although I don't remember much! Good luck with your recordings!! Can't wait to hear them...

Wish I could help you with some good information, but I just play for fun right now and unfortunately don't know much about how to make a profit in this business! But I wanted to post because I LOVE americana/folk/bluegrass and was wondering if you have a link to any of your work? I'd love to hear it. I just joined here a few days ago and would like to connect with people who share a similar taste in music and who create the same type of work that I'm interested in creating! Again, I wish I could be of more help in answering your question. Hope you don't mind my posting anyway!

1. Do you sing, play an instrument or instruments? Yes What instruments? Guitar mostly. I played piano and violin when I was a kid. When did you start playing? I started seriously trying to learn guitar maybe 3 years ago. But I've had my guitar since I was 16 - but never knew how to play it!! Did you teach yourself? Guitar - yes. Piano and violin - no. 2. Are you in a band or bands? nope. 3. Do you write songs? I've written two. Three if you count "I Love my Unicorn", which was composed when I was 6 Do you write lyrics, music or both? both Do you have a writing partner? no 4. Do you record your music? only with basic equipment (camera and external mic) - nothing fancy here! Here's the first real song I wrote (since we're not counting the one about unicorns, lol) I have about 5 videos or so on my channel - mostly doing little songs with my kids) 5. What other roles do you perform in the music business? none 6. Are you a tech head? what would be the opposite of a tech head? Because that would be me. 7. What country do you live in? US 8. What are your ambitions? hmmm.. I'd love to improve and gain more confidence. I haven't really set any serious goals at this point - I just enjoy creating music and singing with/for my kids (and some times my kids' school lets me sing to the kids there which is a lot of fun). 9. Do you draw/paint/write stories/computer art/dance or other creative pursuit? I do a little bit of painting and drawing. What are your pastimes? I love digging up my backyard and pretending that I can grow stuff! lol. 10. What would you like to get out of Songstuff? encouragement and feedback (which has happened with a vengeance already! This is a really great, friendly and helpful group of people!!), being able to 'talk' to people who have more experience and skill than I do and learn from them - I don't really know many musicians so it's nice to have access to a place like this where there is so much talent concentrated all in one place! Excited to be here!