I saw someone talking about a new guitar repair shop* on Facebook today that just happens to be in the same town my in-laws live in. I have both reached out for a cost estimate and written a haiku. I think I have earned a nap after all of that.
Old guitars need love.
Frets and wiring harness.
Haven’t forgotten.
*I don’t know if it’s actually a new shop, but it’s new to me.
I think I have zero chance of pulling off an album in a day today. I might be able to pull off an album in two days, or maybe even an album in a day and a half. I have two songs finished apart from a mix down and two songs that will be finished this afternoon. I don’t know the full running time but I think it’s about 16-17 minutes.
I wrote three songs last night including MIDI guide tracks and melodies and lyrics. I did a car music this morning and recorded the vocals for all four. Since then I have put lead and rhythm guitars onto two of them and came up with a chord change for a fifth song.
Obligatory Hipstamatic pictures……
Last night, just before I fell asleep, I added a new song idea to the 50 songs in 90 days thing. It is song number 47 and I made it all that way before I worked on a 12-bar blues. Usually the first 12-bar pops up way earlier in the project than this.
This morning I got up early and added guitar tracks to three songs, including the shiny new 12-bar. If I don’t start cranking out lyrics like a lyric writing factory, then this whole challenge is going to seriously crash and burn. I still have a mountain of stuff to do and not a lot of time left to do it in.
For now though, Hipstamatic guitar pics. Shake to Shuffle.
Do as I say, not as I do (or in this case don’t do what I didn’t do). Back up your files. Always back up your damn files.
Yeah, you know that car music I did yesterday? The one where I put vocals on four songs? Yeah, I just accidentally deleted the vocal track from one of those songs. I didn’t notice until after I was past the point where undo could bring it back. Also, with all the travelin’ fun yesterday I never got around to backing up the work I did in the car and now that vocal take is gone forever and I have to do it again.
On the up side though, I did manage to put rhythm guitars onto four songs today and lead guitars onto three. It should have been leads on four, but one of them needs to have the vocals redone because I am a friggin’ idiot.
Back up your files. Always.
Note: Today’s work has already been backed up. That doesn’t fix what I didn’t back up yesterday though. Moron.
Car music happened this morning. I drove to the movie theater parking lot and put vocals on four songs. Three of them were written beforehand, one was written on mic. I don’t do that very often anymore, but I had run out of tracks to sing and wasn’t quite ready to stop so I threw it together on the spot. Sweet.
I was originally thinking of spending some time playing guitar today but I don’t think I will have quite enough time, what with our plans to go to Vermont to visit the kids this afternoon. Instead the goal is to write some more lyrics so I can have another successful car music tomorrow, and set up some song forms so that I can have a lot of songs ready for rhythm guitars tomorrow as well.
The goal is 50 songs by October 1st. 27 songs are done, 46 are in progress. It doesn’t look good, but it’s still doable. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I over slept a little today, and then took longer than usual to get my act together. That means I didn’t have a lot of time for music. I did get to spend about 45 minutes working on one song. Yesterday I started… I think… four new song ideas? One got guitars, one got a full song form, and then one song I started a few days ago (the only song I touched in the first six days of September) got a full song form. That last one was the one I put guitars on today.
Tonight I have to write lyrics. I need to do singing in the car both days this weekend. I need to have songs ready to mix by the time our Florida trip starts so that I can have something to do while we’re away and I can’t sleep at night because I am not in my own bed. You know how that goes, right? Although, I do expect to be physically wrecked after full days in the Disney World parks. You know how that goes, right?
Anyway, some photos.
Yesterday I wrote a post trying to guilt myself into working on new music today.
It worked.
One new song, complete with double tracked rhythm guitars.
Also, today’s photo a day is done. All before starting the work day. Not bad for a guilt trip.
I have mixed a bunch of songs tonight. I’ve lost count. Four? Maybe? I keep thinking that once I get one that doesn’t suck I’ll post it. I give up so I’ll just post this dog just to share something.
I checked blog posts from August 30th in the three years that I finished 50/90 to see if maybe I mentioned something about how far along I was. 2020 didn’t say anything. 2021 had a post saying I finished mixing song #31. 2014 had one too and I think it was song #34.
Here in 2023, this is song #22. I feel like I am eons behind the pace. Probably because I took a little more than two weeks off in the beginning of August. Dumb ass.
Anyway, I actually like this song. It makes me wonder if anyone’s ever had a hit single in 7/8 time before. Could this be the first?*
*No. No it cannot be the first.
I mentioned I used Harry’s guitar on one 50/90 Challenge song. Here it is. I wish I had used it on a better song, but there really haven’t been any better songs this year.
Inside the Red Head's Head 