The drums were all samples--both real and electronic.

Hey, Skytrias. Thanks for the feedback--you're right about the hi-hats on Feelin' Good and the claps on Take Me Away... sometimes I'll work on a different part for so long, some things get lost in the background, something I'm trying to improve on. And Let's Go, Let's Go is your favorite one? You're the first one to tell me that--usually everyone hates this one! And yeah, I separate the guitars purposely to give it a more realistic vibe on the performance aspect (not a sound aspect).

Thanks guys for the comments

For a while now, I've used a majority of Image-Line products which are very CPU-friendly and not very resource intensive (compared to using 3rd party stuff). But now that I'm expanding to use more instances of 3rd party plugins, they are eating up my CPU... or so I thought.

FL Studio's CPU meter will report that I am using 100%, and I will start to hear pops and clicks. Task Manager on the other hand will report only an 8% to 16% usage of my CPU. Now, I've seen Image-Line's video of saying that eventually, if continuously played, the Task Manager will report the accurate usage that FL Studio's CPU meter is reporting... but it is not happening.

I am not interested in merely changing the buffer size (it doesn't help much anyway). I have two CPU's, both quad-core. Eight cores in total, and all of them are in use (so it's not a parked/unparked issue). If there is a way for FL Studio to use up all my CPU (8%-16% is downright pathetic, let's be honest), I would like to know. If Image-Line's insistence that FL's CPU meter is more important, then I assume it's my Audio Interface.

...WELL THEN. I'm using Avid's MBox Pro 3 on Windows 10. It seems like they discontinued the drivers for Windows, which seems to be a problem because it continuously disrupts audio, shuts down, and gives me BSOD. Those bugs aside, it doesn't seem like the Soundcard is capable or powerful enough to maintain the new 3rd party plugins I'm having so much fun with.

So if it is a CPU issue, how would I let FL Studio use my CPU space to its full potential?
And if it's the MBox, which audio interfaces would you recommend? I would be looking more for the power of the soundcard of course, disregarding how many channels it has (I only really need two).

OR MAYBE IT'S BOTH. I don't know. HELP ME!

Also, if you're exporting 24-bit .wav's and you're going over 0db, it's going to clip. 32-bit will save the supposedly clipped information.

My best guess is that whatever playback software you are using (Windows Media Player, VLC, iTunes) is modifying the playback with their built-in 'enhancements.' Just turn those off.

In terms of books, I wouldn't recommend them. I've gone through a few and although they are packed with information, they seem inefficient. They are over-complicated and don't (can't) offer hands-on acoustic guidance (although some try to make up for it with CD's). There are better ways to learn how to mix that saves time and is far more efficient.

In my opinion, the books are more useful for referencing information.

Bridging is so resource intensive, and I only have 6gb of RAM... So I tend to use up more RAM for bridging 32-bit plugins into the 64-bit software. If I had more RAM, bridging wouldn't be an issue at all...

The connotations that come with 'presets' seem to be associated with 'selling out' by not making their own sounds. I don't particularly believe that--could be a contributing factor or not. I personally don't use presets, but I don't hold anything against those who exclusively do. They're just not sound designers.

I personally rarely ever do singles--I'm an album guy.

What I do is draw up a general concept for the entirety of the album--what styles, what feels, what grooves, what genres, and most importantly, what the album's theme is and how I will portray that. The same will be done for every single song, and although every song has its own story, they all relate in some way and paint a bigger picture.

Of course, this is just my way. A lot of other people have many different ways of doing it. Some albums don't pull together and are just a collection of works. Some albums are designed to tell a big story. How they are done is going to be all specific to every individual.