Yeah, it’s literally just to keep your exhaled breath from bottoming out the microphone element. So you are correct, if you are not singing, you generally don’t need one.
On a related note: when I play fingerstyle, my posture is often terrible and I kind of lean over the guitar… I have ruined some good takes by breathing on the mic 
It took me a while to figure out where that low frequency rumble was coming from.
Haha! I’m not getting my face anywhere near a mic, I know better! 
I have a tendency to lean over my guitar from time to time too. I usually end up drooling on it though. 
Man I need to quit dipping snuff.
— Begin quote from "TNTaylor414"
I usually end up drooling on it though.
— End quote
Insert banjo joke here —>
I suspect you might enjoy this song:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu6_FlyQxm0[/video]
Back to talking about mics… I noticed in the Devil’s Dream vid it looks like Ben has a Shure SM7. That was one of the mics I was kind of thinking of at one point for a vocal mic. Anyone ever use one for vocals?
I haven’t heard that one Mike. Yeah, for some reason the ladies don’t like snuff, go figure. 
I thought at one point Ben used an AT2020 mic. I’m sure he has a ton of mics though.
I found both the cam and the mic at Best Buy and they did some price matching. Gotta love getting an item right when ya pay for it.
Very happy with both and I love the sound I’m getting from the mic. Just never figured I would get this much improvement in sound over my other recording setup.
The camera said it takes 720p vid, but on the menu you have an option for 690p or 1280p, don’t know whats up with that, but it exceeds what I was expecting. I recorded a one minute video just to see what it looked like and it comes up in 720p. Pics come out pretty good. I think I can get some better shots tinkering with it some in natural light without the flash or playing with the settings instead of using the auto focus deal. Again, blows away my old cam.
I hate to even post this video since it was just to see what it looked like and it is a song I’m just learning. Oh well. This is just the camera and not the new mic. I think the sound on this cam is waaay better than the old one, but nowhere close to what I’m getting from the AT2020.
The mic, I love the mic! Ha!
Tried to download the latest version of Audacity (2.3.0 or something) and everything looked good. When I tried to go into it, I get an error message saying that the application failed. So, I downloaded an older version (1.2.6 I think) and it works fine. Don’t know how many settings I’m missing with the older version, but this version is simple to use, and that’s right up my alley. I recorded some Red Haired Boy rhythm at a sane pace and played lead over it for a while. That was a blast, going to help my picking a bunch. Not sure how to download anything from Audacity to the forum, but I will try ( if I don’t get sidetracked again ).
I would love to record some video but use the mic for the sound. Can I do that type of editing with Audacity?
Cool! Glad you are digging your new toys.
Even though I’ve seen pictures of it before, I gotta say that is one pretty guitar. The new camera really shows off the grain.
Can’t wait to hear the guitar with the new mic. I don’t think your old mic was doing it justice.
I record videos with a separate mic all the time. Just turn off the mic on your camera and capture the audio with your AT2020 and Audacity like normal. Then you have to sync the audio and video. I just use the Windows Movie Maker that came with Windows 7 to do it.
Looks great and sounds good enough with the built in… with that said, I am looking forward to hearing the AT! I bet that will be awesome.
Tried to download a wav/mp3 file straight to the forum but it was just a little too big. I’ll have to figure out a better way to do all of that.
Anyways, here’s a little Black Mtn. hack job with the new mic!
Nice recording. A lot less noise than your Cuckoo’s Nest tracks. A clean signal like that makes mixing a lot easier.
Cool arrangement, too. I had a Black Mountain Rag break figured out a while back. Now, you got me itching to dust it off.
I have a lot to learn about mic placement and all the controls in Audacity, but I’m pretty happy with the sound so far.
That’s one of Ben’s Black Mtn. Rag breaks. I think he has two of 'em. That one (in C), seems to roll right off the fingers, for the most part. I just need to get my head out of the way of my fingers.
That sounds great.
Thanks Mike, and thanks for all the help you guys.
Cliff Notes: Cannon Powershot 130is and Audio-Technica AT2020usb = Good!