Anyway, my #20time professor (@jheil65) recently lent me his fancy microphone with the suggestion that I create better audio files. So I did that, and really it's amazing how much a simple microphone can improve the sound quality. My first downloadable mp3, a cover of Soldier by Ingrid Michaelson, can be found on Tindeck, an audio hosting site that allows me to upload and allow other people to listen and download. I find this really cool. I have also embedded the song right here!
Edit: I'm learning about copyright right now. The song is currently not available for download because I don't know if it's allowed. If you have any ideas for how to make a song available to share without infringing on copyright, please let me know in the comments.
Apparently when you sit down with the intent to record something that sounds fairly professional, that's when you make every mistake you never thought you knew how to make.
So I had to record this around eight times before I felt like I had a song that was good enough to share like this. I haven't decided if I find this frustrating. I know it's part of the process, but it's less fun to sing a song over and over and over again than busting out the guitar in a group of friends for fun.
I think, if and when I get ambitious, I will try to record the guitar and the voice separately, using GarageBand to meld them. I know this is what usually happens, and could probably allow me to adjust the volume of my voice and my guitar individually, so they are a little more balanced. All things considered, though, I'm fairly happy with the outcome!