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Here's the thing about those minor and blues scales...  If you can play major scales, you're already playing those minor scales as well.

Zurf, if you're playing C major across all the strings in the first position, do it starting on E.  So you'd be playing E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E F G, ending up on the 1st string, without ever taking your hand out of 1st position.  That's pretty simple to do.  It's also E phrygian.  Start it on the A string, and you're playing A minor.

The answer, like most things, is "It depends." 

If you are using the sound card to do the analog to digital (A/D) conversion from your mics then yes, you will get better results from a better card.   If you are doing the A/D conversion somewhere else like a USB mixing console (You use a Behringer 4 track, yes?), then a better sound card may give you more fidelity on playback, but won't help during recording as the digital signal is processed somewhere else.

For example, my mics all plug into either my TASCAM USB audio interface or my Behringer mixer.   When I record it is those devices that do the A/D handling so the recording quality is dependent on that portion of the signal chain.  The sound card never really sees it.   When I play back, if I play through the sound card, then the D/A function happens there.  If I route audio through the TASCAM or Behringer, that is where it will matter.

So what does your signal chain look like?  That will give you the answer you're looking for.

You can't take it with you!   Die with the most toys, and you win.

Where are you flying?  I'm leaving for Europe on Monday, too.  Flying into Amsterdam and then Dublin.

No guitars, though.

My daughter has been watching them all day.  I watched a bit of the opening and some of the soccer, but that's it.   My oldest is going to be in London in a few days just traveling.  I tried to warn her off of it, but she had to go.

I love Bobby McFerrin.  That guy is seventeen different shades of genius.

The frets aren't parallel to each other, but are splayed, like a fan's fingers.  It's supposed to help with intonation.

Here's a happy story that will make you feel better.

About three years ago I had some co-workers from Ireland come over to the states and they wanted to go hiking up on Mt. Rainier.   I took them to one of the remote entrances and we spent the day biking and hiking up to one of the glaciers.  When we got back, there was a cop in the parking lot with his notebook out.   When he asked if this was my vehicle I thought he was writing me a parking ticket or something.  But he wasn't.  He told me my car had been broken into.  Being a smart feller, I figured that leaving my wallet in my car at a remote entrance would be better than taking it up and losing it on the glacier.   I guessed wrong.   Wallet was gone, window was smashed, and I was miles away from civilization with no cell coverage to call my bank.  There was a ranger station right there at the parking lot, too, so the first thing I said to the cop was "Where was the Ranger?" 

He says "I'm the Ranger."  And sure enough, he was.  Then I put  my foot in my mouth just a bit deeper, because that's how I roll.

"When did they start arming you guys?"  because he had a side arm and a tazer, hence my confusion about the cop vs Ranger thing.

"In 1872 when they formed the Park Service."  OK, so I feel extra dumb now. 

I'm expecting the standard "File a report and call your insurance company and bank" response, but then this kid does something completely unexpected.  He walks to his truck, pulls out a crime scene kit, and starts dusting my car for prints.  He took pictures and took fiber samples.  I was amazed.  There was a small group of people in the lot that were watching this, and they were all amazed as well.  It was quite a spectacle.

The criminals that did it ran to the nearest Home Depot and spent about $500 on tools.  The Ranger called the next day and asked if I'd send him my bank details so "he wouldn't have to issue a subpoena for them, and that takes time."  No problem, happy to help!  And I was.  I was so happy I wrote a letter to the head of the Parks Department bragging on his guys and thanking them for at least giving a crap enough to try.  I actually said, and I quote, "He did a very thorough investigation, including dusting my car for prints, fiber samples, and other things that left me with the distinct impression that he actually cared about what had happened.  That alone did much to make me feel better about a bad situation.  I don't have any faith that we'll ever catch the clowns that broke into those cars, but it's nice to know that your man is at least trying."   We will come back to that.

So Ranger Dan (his last name is Dutch and unpronounceable) calls me about a month later, long after I'd forgotten about all this.  He had gone to the Home Depot, took their surveillance tapes into custody, worked with the local PD who helped ID the people, and did all that crime investigation that we all hope cops will do but they never seem to.   He says "Well, we have one guy in custody and are about to execute a warrant on the other.  I need to known we have the right address for you so we can send you the right court docs."  To say I was gobsmacked would be an understatement.   I couldn't believe it.  I had to write another letter to the Director of the Parks Service and correct myself. 

Now that's not even the good part.    The good part is this.  Because the the crime to place in a National Park, it is under federal jurisdiction.  That means it is prosecuted under federal laws in federal courts.  Two years went by and I got a letter from them saying that the following two people had been charged with various crimes including identity theft and using a false passkey (my ATM card), which carries a mandatory minimum two years in the poke.  One had plead guilty and the other not guilty, so he was going to trial.   I was so happy!   I got a subpoena to testify against the guy that didn't plead out, and just before I was supposed to go to court, got another letter that said he's plead guilty and is doing his two years, too.

So sometimes the stars line up and things work out.  Tell your son to be a federal cop. If he wants to be an awesome cop, tell him to be a National Park Ranger.  I love those guys.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/waw/press/2 … liams.html

This should be repeated to thieves, not victims.   Texas allows deadly force to protect property.  I'm all in favor of that.  If every degenerate thief thought "That guy's stuff isn't worth getting killed over" there would be a lot fewer degenerate thieves in the world.

Improving your vocals is a matter of practice. I always say vocals is 99% confidence and 1% talent.  If you've got talent, great.  If you don't, strut it. 

Improving your vocal recordings, though, is another ball of wax.  Rule 1 with any recording is get into the right space.  Vocals are best done in as dead a location as you can find.   Rule 2 is use a good mic.   That means a condenser with a pop filter in your as-dead-as-possible space.

Post production, two techniques do wonders for vocals.  "Doubling," or "singing it twice" as us normal folks like to call it.   Sing the vocal track, then go back and sing it again on another track in as much an identical manner as you can.  Play the doubled track in stereo.  Does wonders to provide a rich sound.

The other bit of magic is reverb.  Add just a little to the vocal mix.  If you can overtly notice it, it's too much.    Because you recorded in a super-dead space, you'll want to add in a little bit, but you can add in the verb in to match the rest of the mix.  And play with different reverb plugins, as they are not all created equal.  I have half a dozen on my rig, and am constantly looking at others.

Yes.  Modeling amps still can't produce the same tones as the real deal.  You can dial your POD to "Marshal stack" but the only thing that sounds like a Marshal stack is a a Marshal stack.  Same thing with guitars.  A Les Paul does not sound like a Telecaster does not sound like an SG.