Well, I haven't done much on the album since the last journal entry, but I think I've got something going for the songs I haven't made, and once I get those going it shouldn't take long!

Since Christmas, I got about $250 worth and went on a spending spree at Guitar Center, everything from new strings and picks to a Mixer (Behringer Xenyx 502 [link]) to an effects pedal (Hardwire Valve Distortion [link]), making a total of about 15 new knobs and switches.

However, my limited knowledge of audio engineering and sound quality once again has got the best of me. Plugging in my guitar to the Mic line I find the sound quality fuzzy, distorted and awful. Looking into it later I find that with a generic sound card, this was bound to happen. (Sound cards are typically better for output, not input) In other words I'll probably have to shovel out another $50 on some M-Audio device to get quality sound.

Speaking of M-Audio, I managed to get the MIDI-to-USB line I bought a year ago to work! I thought you could record directly off the keyboard, but what it actually does is make the keyboard a MIDI controller, my limited audio knowledge be damned! So now I can use my keyboard in FL Studio, which might make songmaking a bit more fun.

I can't wait til I finish this album. By then, I ideally should have everything I need and if I don't, my 30-day Emergency Plan is to get others to do the instrumental work. But once it's complete, everything ahead should be smooth sailing, and prgress should go much quicker.