What do you actually use to record with.

[Tootler]

Not yet - but I did buy in a couple of cheap mics to try out - one of which was a 'lapel' type, the other was a 'standard' USB type.
(Neither was particularly good, so you get what you pay for.)

However, I did discover that my O/S sound system software, which had been upgraded, has now got a USB mixer, under sound cards.

Experimenting with that gave me better sound - but then I forgot about it when I recorded my last video.

I found out the hard way that you just waste you money getting cheap mics. Even more so than buying cheap ukuleles. It's worth paying the bit extra for a decent quality mic. If you want to record into your computer get a proper interface with low latency, especially if you want to multi track. I went along the road of standalone multi track recorders and haven't regretted it but that's a personal choice and isn't for everyone. The one thing that you can get for free or at least at low cost if you record into your computer is a decent DAW. Audacity makes a good start and is fairly basic but with a relatively shallow learning curve. There are other free and low cost DAWs available. A lot of people swear by Reaper which you can try for free and the free trial version has all the features, it just has a nag screen on start up. Buying it is relatively inexpensive, though.

[Croaky Keith]

Re the cheap mics, the usb one is pretty good for recording my 'harps, as it so happens, (I think it cost £27), so not a total loss money wise.

When recording videos, I was using guvcview, (it comes as part of my Linux distro), which does a pretty good job, when I remember to use the right input, as does audacity, when I record my 'harps, (which I am getting better at, but still a long way too go).

I can certainly get a lot more volume from my ukes if I use a pick, but not comfortable with using one yet, or if I really want to.

[Tootler]

USB mics tend to suffer from latency. Mine certainly does which is why I don't use and it's stored away. You are still better off with a separate mic and an audio interface. You can get pretty reasonable inexpensive mics from Samson or Behringer, though I would still recommend going for one from a "better" brand such as Shure or Sennheiser.

With a decent mic and proper interface you will get more volume as the interface input controls will give sufficient gain to supply a decent signal to the DAW. If you're using Audacity, you can use the Amplify Effect to get your volume up, though with a cheap mic, you are likely to have a noisier signal and when you amplify your recording, you will also amplify the noise. A decent mic and interface will give a much lower noise floor which then gives you more scope to amplify the signal without the noise being a problem. I've recorded from a USB mic into Audacity and the input signal was pretty noisy so trying to get the level up also increases the noise. You can use the noise reduction effect but that will degrade the signal and so degrade the output quality.

For my video, I use Open Shot video editor in Linux but I don't record into it directly from a webcam. In fact I've never used the webcam built into my computer, the record quality is generally crap on webcams. In fact you get better audio and video from a tablet or phone than you do from a webcam. I record on a video camera which records to SD card and copy the video into the computer from the SD card.

[Croaky Keith]

I guess the real problem is the way I play, as I mainly use the fleshy part of my thumb to pick out the melodies - which is loud enough for me at home, but not for recording.

Strumming, when I do, which is not often, I can get plenty of sound, which makes me think that ukes are actually crafted to be strummed rather than to pick individual strings, & that being the biggest difference between them & guitars.

(I used to use my camera to record, which gave quite good sound, but was a bit of a hassle, keeping on removing & re inserting the SDHC card wasn't a good idea though.)

That new I-rig may be what I need - but I'll persevere with what I have for the time being, I think.