what sucks is I sang and attempted to upload my recording TWICE last night, with my wife in the room. Poor girl :(. My upstairs neighbors probably hate me too.
Also does ANYONE have knowledge on how to fix my problem of recordings being too quiet? I turn my volume all the way up and the recordings still come out faint on soundcloud.
There are multiple points between your microphone and hard drive where the signal gets boosted.
The first one could be on your soundcard, if you happen to have a physical gain knob on the front of your computer like I do. If you have one, try turning that up before you record.
Secondly, (assuming you have Windows) if you doubleclick the little speaker icon in the bottom right hand corner of your screen, it'll open the Play/Recording Control. Options>>Properties>>Recording>>Okay will open the Recording Control. Whichever box is checked is the one you're using to record with (most likely "microphone"). You can boost the signal there by sliding the slider up before you record.
Finally, I don't know what program you're using to record, but most include at least one gain control of some type. My software (Magix) has several. Try boosting whatever gain controls you have, and re-saving it. This works before or after you record.
However, be careful not to boost your signal too much, as you'll clip and distort... unless you're into that.
Good luck!