Hi Steve
I thought the sound of the recordings wasn't that bad. OK, maybe it didn't sound like a good quality professional recording, but how are you trying to make them sound? I was recorded sometimes with a small portable device, even to mp3, and it sounded pretty good. I think the microphone and the placement are important, and also the acoustics of the room (maybe even more). I think all that and a lot more can cause things like your breathing, etc. to be heard. On many professional recordings you can hear the breathing too (especially some rock/pop singers).
I'm not sure your recordings are the best examples if you want to check your recording equipment. For example, and I hope you don't mind me being up front, why did you play the third movement so fast? It was so fast and messy that you barely notice the recording quality, which actually doesn't sound especially bad. I didn't even notice your breaths at first because of that. I would record it at least twice as slow if I were you.
If you are buying a better microphone, remember that some microphones will need phantom power, or won't be able to connect imediately to your computer (would need an audio card, or preamp, for example). If I remember right, a few years ago someone used this microphone
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-ECM-MS95...&s=musical-instruments&qid=1224592996&sr=1-10 to record a concert to minidisk and it sounded pretty good. Maybe it was a different mic but it was Sony anyway.
The location is important. You can listen to the last two tracks on
www.myspace.com/nitailevi The first one 'Improvisation' was recorded with a built in mic on a small recording device, about a meter away from me, on a chair. The last one 'BCSolo' was recorded with a much better small recording device, with a better microrphone, about five meters away, on a floor or a chair. Both recorded straight to mp3.
So what I would reocmmend is first of all, do you have a more open space in your house to record? Start there. Then try various positions of the microphones, from near you on the floor to meters away from you. Play something slow (I would start with something like several slow notes in different registers and a slow melody) and play it the best you can, with your best sound, articulation, etc. Consider buying a better microphone.
In your example recordings your sound is mostly good, but the recording is ruined by messy playing, less than great microphone (maybe) and a dead room (probably). I don't know the recordering device you use so I can't help with that. FWIW, my all time worst recording sound-wise was done in one of the (supposedly) best studios in the country, with a (supposedly) especially good sound engineer, with ridiculously expensive Neumann microphones. In that case, it was the room (dead) and position of the microphones (too close) that ruined it.
Nitai