Category: Recording

And One More Makes 11

Song #11. I started this one last night, after I had already sketched out song #14, with 14 songs being the goal. So this is sort of overkill, but I like it more than most of the other songs so it’s a keeper.

RPM Song #9

Let’s take stock of the ol’ RPM Challenge, shall we?

The goal is 10 songs or 35 minutes of music. Right.

I currently stand at 9 songs and 34:41.

SONOFA!! 19 seconds short!

I have four more songs in progress. None of which have lyrics yet. That’s the sticking point right there now isn’t it.

I’ll have before work time on Tuesday. On Wednesday I took a vacation day, but the kids are on school vacation so I will only have a couple of hours in the morning before I go get them at their dads. Thursday is telecommute day, but the kids will be home. If I can’t get the rest of the songs tracked (including one more that hasn’t even been started yet) by the early afternoon on Wednesday then FAWM is a bust. I need 14 songs to finish that one. RPM looks good. One more lyric/vocal and it’s done, and I can do that Tuesday morning. After getting the kids on Wednesday the plan will be to mix whatever is left. I suppose if I’m close to 14 I could always sit in the car and sing. Maybe drive to some empty parking lot somewhere.

Song Number Eight

Eight down, six to go. One of those six is ready to mix (I think) and two don’t exist at all yet. Things ain’t looking good for FAWM, but the RPM Challenge is looking nice and rosy.

Song Number Seven

I started noodling out this little rocker this morning after going grocery shopping. The lyrics were recorded while sitting in the car outside of my step son’s guitar lesson. Later, after going to my nephew’s 4th birthday party, I recorded the guitars. Then after a break for some TV time I mixed it.

Not that good, but it’s there.

RPM Song #5

So if you take a four bar segment of GarageBand’s drummer, cut it into four individual pieces, and set the fill to maximum, you can almost trick garageband into giving you a drum solo. Almost.

A song about being depressed about winter. Sort of the anthem for all Bostonians these days.

Song #4

Four songs done. Six to go. (10 if I haven’t given up on FAWM, which I might have done)

I made it all the way to the fourth song before writing a lyric about worrying whether I could finish RPM on time or not. It’s like an annual thing now.

Two Songs Down

I mixed my second RPM song tonight. I liked it a lot more before I realized that the guitar part was stolen from Tanya Donelly’s song “The River” from the absolutely Earth shatteringly brilliant Throwing Muses album House Tornado. I feel like a tool now.

An Unusual Thursday

Today has been a weird telecommute day.

I came home from dropping the kids off before school and put on a load of laundry and filled up the dishwasher.  I made myself a little breakfast and sat at my computer looking into blogging options (svbtle isn’t a free service?  It used to be free, wasn’t it?).  I read a news story about Pixies front man Black Francis.  I read up on the Orion launch situation.  At about quarter to nine I logged into work for the morning.

At lunchtime I made myself a half cup of quinoa and a bowl full of green grapes.  I also took a shower.  I usually sacrifice my morning shower time slot to my step daughter on telecommute days.  I then told a Comcast door to door salesman that I wasn’t interested in switching off of FiOS and folded that morning’s load of laundry.  Now I am writing this in the last few minutes of my break before getting back to work for the afternoon.

Now you may be asking yourself, what’s so weird about all of that?

Well, I’ll tell you.

I haven’t tried to write or record even a single note of music.  Since February 1st all of my free time at home on telecommute days was spent working on a music project.  It’s December 4th now and I haven’t started a new project.  December has been free of original music so far.  I don’t know if it’s going to stay that way or not, but it might.  I have a left over song from November, another from October, and that big 20 minute sucker from September.  Maybe I’ll finish those this month.  Maybe not.  I’ve thought about re-recording a couple of songs from the distant past.  I’ve also been thinking about covering a Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd song.  Maybe I’ll do it.  Maybe I won’t.

Maybe I’ll take December and January off from writing projects and stick to learning songs for the band.  We’ll see.

Another Song

Just a few minutes after I told myself I was done with bluesy songs this month I came up with this thing. It’s like I don’t even pay attention to my own ideas. What a jerk.

Just a note, alonetone seems to be lagging like crazy tonight. I’m not sure if this one is going to be playable. Good luck. You’re gonna need it.