I Overslept

Today is Sunday and I did what many of us do on random Sundays… I overslept. My alarm was set for 5:30am. I got out of bed a couple of minutes before 7:00am. I also had a minor hangup that kept me from getting the day started for about 20 minutes and both of those things together mean it’s way too late for me to tackle car music today.

My exercise is done for the day. Yesterday I bumped my four mile morning jog (pronounced “yog” with a soft j) to five miles. Mostly because there were many days over the last month or so where I was not reaching my move/calorie goal without doing extra exercise, so for now I am just going to build that into the morning routine. I am eating breakfast right now and when I am done I will take a Covid test. I have been symptom free since my two exposures on Monday and Tuesday so I am confident in another negative test, but I am still going to test for another couple of days. Just to be sure. I have to go into the office on Wednesday and I don’t want to risk passing anything on to anyone.

What does the no-car-music-today change mean for the music project? I still have five songs that need lyrics, so I can take care of some of those. I think I might also try to add another song or two. Yeah, it’s overkill but I am seeing guitar leads on the horizon and my playing is so incredibly rusty that I could really use an excuse to just play/practice a little. That would be a good thing.

I did something silly yesterday. I started watching the directors cut of Star Trek the Motion Picture. Shatner’s Star Trek V is often considered the worst of all of the Star Trek movies, and while that may be generally valid, that first movie is pretty awful. I’m only halfway through the director’s cut but I haven’t seen anything obviously different. The endless exterior establishing shots are still endless. Endlessly endless. The acting is often less than stellar in Star Trek movies with the original series cast, but this one… this one is bad. Overall though, the movie isn’t quite as awful as I remembered. Maybe #5 really is the worst of the bunch.

Okay, let’s get the ball moving. I need to get myself something for breakfast that is more substantial than the protein bar I just finished. I’ll probably post a film pic too before I really get the day rolling. For now, talk to you all later. Good Day.

I Want a Boogie Cali Tweed

Yeah, gear acquisition syndrome: amplifier edition.

I want a Mesa Boogie California Tweed in a big way. The original 40 watt version more than the newer 20 watt version, but whichever, you know?

More Guitars

My fingers are killing me.

I took the four songs that I had recorded on Wednesday using an amp sim and redid them using a real amp. Tube amps, babie. You can’t beat ’em.

I also played with my new camera. I used the self timer and continuous autofocus to see if I could get a selfie while playing… because I am a content whore, don’tcha know.

SG

If I manage to play the guitar tonight, I am planning on playing my SG.

Rewatch Sleep

I watched season one episode five of The Book of Boba Fett tonight. You know which episode that is? Damn right, it’s The Mandalorian season 2.5 baby. Episode five catches up with Mando, episode six catches up with Grogu, and then episode seven brings them together to help Boba Fett wrap up his shit.

When I started watching tonight I was on episode four. I was getting to the credits when it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen the ridiculously bad scooter bike chase scene. Apparently I fell asleep watching the end of episode three last night. After I finished the Mando episode I went back and watched the end of episode three. Was it a waste of time? Yes. Do I care? No, not really.

Did I mention I swapped a pedal off the pedal board tonight? I used the Keeley Super Phat Mod after the Klon KTR on the first six songs, but it rubbed me the wrong way on song number six so I removed it. I put my Bluesbreaker clone on in its place. It’s the Chicago Stompworks Blooze Maker. There’s a lot of talk about the kind folks at Marshall reissuing the original Bluesbreaker pedal. Is it real? Is it a hoax? Do I care? No, not really. I’m happy with the clone I already have, thanks.

Okay, time for bed. Maybe tomorrow I’ll re-record the four songs I recorded through the amp sim and use the Deluxe Reverb like I did tonight. I should probably write lyrics instead.

10 Songs

I recorded rhythm guitar tracks for four more songs tonight. I now have 10 songs ready for lyrics. The guitar gear all played nicely together, including my Deluxe Reverb, which was really wonky last time.

Of course, the MIDI bass decided to pitch shift itself on song number 10. Friggin prick.

2023 RPM Challenge – Day 16 of 28

I just posted the following on that stupid music project tumblr thing that I almost never post to…

It’s been a rough few weeks. My mother went into hospice and passed away on the 5th. We held her wake on the 13th and buried her on the 14th. As a result, RPM has been way in the back of my mind all month.

I haven’t blown it off though. It’s still a big enough deal for me that I have been making time where I can. I have 10 songs in progress. There’s a little noodle of an 11th idea too, but I don’t know if anything will become of that. All 10 songs have the full structure. About half have melodies already. Six have rhythm guitars. I ran a rig with two amps on the first two songs, but switched to an amp sim for the rest. I sort of expect to go the sims route for the rest of the project, but we’ll have to see.

I haven’t written any lyrics yet and there are no vocals, obviously. Twelve days left. Ironically, I haven’t failed an RPM Challenge since 2012. Fitting, eh? I don’t plan to fail this year, but I am sort of resigned to the possibility.

We’ll see how the next 12 days go.

Making Progress

I have rhythm guitars on six songs now. I had two done the other day using real amplifiers. I’ve done four today with amp sims. The Amplitube sim of a Fender Deluxe Reverb costs $30. The sim of the Mesa Boogie California Tweed costs $40. I don’t see me moving beyond the free app any time soon. Sorry.

My fingers are killing me so I am taking a break. I am going to finish season two of The Mandalorian, eat some lunch, maybe have a protein bar, go grocery shopping, and then come back for some more guitar.

Sound like a plan?

Amp Sim

I just put two tracks of rhythm guitar onto RPM song #3. I used a third party amp sim. Amplitube 5, the free version. I’ve used amplitube mobile apps before, but this is the first time I’ve used the Mac version, and the first time I’ve used a third party amp sim in GarageBand for Mac.

Amplitube has a Fender amp version that costs money. If I’m going back to sims for this year’s project I could really go for a 4×10 Tweed Bassman. The version I installed yesterday has a bunch of in-app purchase options for simulations of real amps. I saw a Mesa Boogie Cali Tweed and I really want to buy it. I really want to buy a real Cali Tweed but I don’t want to spend the small fortune that would require.

Amps are fun.

Mad and Annoyed and Frustrated and Mad

I finally did some real recording tonight and now I am pissed off.

I got through two songs without issue. Two amps, two mics, two tracks in GarageBand. No problems.

On the third song, the track from the mic on my Deluxe Reverb started getting all sorts of weird, staticy noise. When I took the headphones off it sounded fine to me. No issues. Put the headphones back on and horrible, awful, disgusting noise. I changed the channel on the interface, changed the mic cable, changed the mic. Nothing fixed it. I shut everything off and took a minor hissy fit and went back upstairs to watch TV with my beloved Jennifer.

I’ll try again tomorrow.