Category: Music

The First Song is Finished – #RPM2022

Does it have any of my planned gimmicks for this year’s challenge?

It has a tempo change, check.
It has a different guitar coming out of your left speaker than the one coming out of the right speaker, check.
It uses a longer reverb effect on all of the tracks.

There aren’t any time signature changes or games played with backwards tracks so it doesn’t hit on all of the themes, but it’s a good start.

The song is okay. Just okay. It doesn’t matter. I will not be shut out this year and that is the best gimmick of all!

Which Klon/Klone is My Favorite

If you’d asked me a few weeks ago I’d have said the KTR without question, but the Ryra has been growing on me like crazy. I’m not sure anymore.

I just put the KTR on the bedroom board so everything RPM Challenge from here on will use it.

Which do I prefer? With a potential return to band practices coming someday (I hope), It’s a question that must be answered.

Two More Songs – #RPM2022

Have I started doing nightly wrap ups of the day’s RPM Challenge progress? Not really, but here is exactly that.

I started two new songs today. One started with a bass line and is super simple, though it is in 7/8 time. The other song started on guitar. Both songs have all of the rhythm guitar tracks. One of them still needs a bass line, but I’ll get to that soon.

I’m thinking about changing my pedal chain a little. I’m using a Ryra The Klone for that mid range boosting Klon thing. I have an actual Klon, a KTR not a Centaur because I am not made of money ya know, on the board in the cellar and I can hear it talking to me. What’s it saying? It’s say, hey Rob… a Ryra? What the fuck?

The Ryra pedal is spectacular, but the KTR is maybe a smidgen spactacularer. I think I am going to swap them for the rest of the month. Once the band starts playing again the Klon will be back on the big board and will live over at Mike the Bass Player’s house.

For now though, pictures…

Did you notice the reflection of my computer screen? You can see GarageBand. Don’t steal my ideas though.

Looking Ahead

It’s the end of my lunch break on Friday. I’m looking ahead to the weekend. What’s going on?

We have a problem in our kitchen and someone is coming over to take a look and maybe give an estimate. We will all be masked and distanced and I really hate having people invade our Covid bubble but what can you do. After that I am going to bring some groceries over to my parents. Again, masks and distance. Outside of that?

One song needs rhythm guitars. 11 songs need lead guitars. One song is ready for vocals. At least six songs do not exist and need to start existing.

Other than that? I heard snow could be a thing this weekend. I choose to ignore that as even the slightest possibility. No thank you. The yard was covered with snow when I left the house yesterday morning. By the time I got home it was all gone. All of it. This morning I saw the temperature reach 60 degrees. It’s now 37 and dropping like a stone. Cold in February sucks, but it’s better than cold and snow. No snow. Pretty please with sugar on top.

Oh yeah, one other insignificant thing. The Walking Dead comes back on Sunday night. To paraphrase Adam Sandler (actually, more like steal a lyric from Adam Sandler), Zombies for me. Zombies for you. Like to kill zombies in an old brown shoe.

I am so ready for some weekend right now. So ready.

A Little More Progress – #RPM2022

I had a pretty busy day today. There was a lot going on at work and around the house and that didn’t leave a lot of time for music. I did manage to write lyrics and record vocals for three songs. Any day I get through a few vocal tracks without dying of embarrassment and shame is a productive day in my book.

12 songs have all of their vocal tracks down. Only one of those 12 has lead guitars and is ready to mix. Another one of the 12 might require some new rhythm guitar tracks. The more I work on the song the less I like what I have. I think I might do them again, but only if I have time.

There is only one song left that doesn’t have vocals. I’m at 13 total but I really want to add more. 20 is a nice number. 20 songs counts as two completed RPM albums and that’s always fun to do. At least it was fun the one time I did it. There was another time I had more than 20 songs, but a bunch of them were recorded twice so they don’t count.

Not sure what I will have time for tomorrow, but I’ll try to get through something. I need to add more songs to the pile. I don’t have any 12-bars yet. Maybe I should add a 12-bar.

The Guitar Was Played Tonight – #RPM2022

Oh glorious glory, the electric guitar was played tonight. Only for about an hour. Maybe an hour and 15 minutes. Progress on the RPM Challenge was made though.

I had three songs that needed rhythm guitar tracks. I got them all down. I had nine songs that needed lead guitar tracks. I got one of them.

There are 13 songs in progress. I would like to get to 20, but I’ll take 15. I need 10 for the final challenge submission and I want to have some options for which 10 to use. The more options the better because none of these songs are terribly good, even by my abysmally low standards.

Still, regardless of the final outcome at the end of the month, there was rock rolled tonight.

I used a clip on tuner in the bedroom setup (though not the band setup). You wanna make something of it?
That’s a B minor 7th if you’re playing along at home.

Volume

I’m watching a YouTubes video where folks are talking about how happy they are to be going to concerts again post-Covid. Now we can debate whether or not we are actually post-Covid (we clearly are not) but that’s sort of beside the point. One of the things they are enjoying is the volume level. I have to admit that I miss that. I miss standing in front of my amplifier, slamming an Emin7 chord, and being able to feel the air moving around my legs. It’s a pretty magical thing.

Lizardfish doesn’t really play that loud, whether it’s rehearsals or gigs. We just don’t. We play loud, but not loud enough to quite “feel” it. The main reason for that is the drums. Whichever amp I choose to use on a given day can do it. Mike’s bass amp can do it. Greg’s PA system can do it. Kevin’s drums can’t. In most of the bands I’ve been in it’s been the opposite. The drums were so loud we had to crank the amps to compete. Now we have to keep them somewhat low. I don’t know if it’s because Kevin doesn’t play that loud or if his drums don’t project that well.

What I do know is that the first time we get back together will be the first time I will play through my Fender Deluxe Reverb since February 1, 2020 and I am going to want to run that little bastard as hot and as loud and as crunchy as local noise ordinances will allow. The drums as we know them would not be able to keep up with that. However, after the 2/1/20 gig but before the start of the lock down, Kevin bought new drums. He hasn’t had a chance to play them. If the volume limiter was his actual drums, then what if the new drums project out like crazy and he is suddenly 10 times louder than we’re used to.

That would be awesome. I seriously hope that happens because I am going to want to be stupid loud.

Hopefully the day is coming soon. Please, Covid, let us have our band back.

Superb Owl

So there’s a game or something tonight? I saw that the Buffalo Sabers were playing the Montreal Canadiens in what must have been the lamest match up of the century so far, but that was earlier. What game is everyone talking about?

Har har har.

Clearly I am not watching the Super Bowl, though my bass player let it drop yesterday that he’s in one of the two cities represented in the game. I wonder what the volume level in public spaces is like there. Hopefully they don’t go through what Boston used to go through with riots near Northeastern. Those were bad ends to great experiences.

It dawned on me today that by taking tomorrow off, my co-workers are going to assume I was planning for a Sunday full of drunken revelry. Dudes couldn’t be further off if they tried.

I worked on music quite a bit today, but not as much as I would have liked. I snuck some singing in when no one was looking and at the moment I have three songs with vocals complete and six more ready to go for a (weather permitting) car music in the morning. I seriously considered doing some car music during the super bowl but knowing my luck I would get t-boned by some drunk football fan trying to find his way to the next super bowl party. You know how it is.

Tomorrow I am meeting with the surgeon who, hopefully, will someday perform my weight loss surgery. I am pretty nervous but far from panicked. A little part of me is expecting her to tell me that I am not qualified and I should just go home and hurry up that inevitable heart attack. I guess that counts as nerves. You know how it is.

Okay. My exercise bike is calling me. I just wasted 61 minutes watching a cool YouTube video about Les Pauls. Time to go get some exercise minutes in.

Wish me luck.