I've been doing some new stuff lately...mainly trying to get a new practice regimen going. I've been working with this one for several days now and it seems promising. I've tabbed out my exercises and organized them in a binder, and I log all of my practice time. I'm aiming slow...increasing target tempo by only 3 bpm per week. I may well be able to push it harder but I'd rather progress more slowly than go too fast and get discouraged. I've picked up some new ideas from a couple guys on Cyberjammin...I've been keeping things fresh by adding more exercises and mixing up the daily routine.

I've been discovering GarageBand as of late. It's quite cool. I've found several free loops packages and I've been playing with those. I never thought much of using its guitar abilities, however, until today. I was going to record a cyberjam submission. I had set up my normal recording rig (mic'ed amp, Cubase, etc.) but I discovered that my mic cable had taken a dump. I had the thought to try GarageBand's guitar features and I was pleasantly surprised. The amp simulations sound very good. I'd say their quality is up there with the Line 6 stuff in some cases, although they aren't specific amp models, only generalizations (British Overdrive, etc.).

I'll likely be picking up a keyboard within the next several days...probably an E-Mu Xboard 49. I'll get some instructional software with it; hopefully I'll pick it up pretty quickly.