Four and Five of 50

I have mixed two songs this afternoon. They are the fourth and fifth songs completed for this year’s 50 songs in 90 days challenge and you know what that means, right? It means I am 10% finished! Math, babie! That’s how you do it!

Neither of these songs are terribly good, in terms of writing and recording and performance. This first one is probably the better of the two. I had some fun putting lead guitars on this, even if what I ended up with is brutally sloppy.

This second song is just a great big pile of meh.

Five songs down, 45 to go. No one said they had to be good, they just have to exist.

Good Progress

I feel like I have made good progress on a couple of fronts today. First, my stomach is still okay. I had a protein bar for lunch and I have some french fries in the air fryer right now. Not the Golden Crispers from the comfort food post from earlier this morning, but a different type of Ore-Ida frozen french fries. Not as good, but close. We’ll see how we feel after eating a little bit of actual food.

The second progress front is guitar! The 50/90 Challenge and all that stuff. I put rhythm guitars onto two songs, and lead guitars onto two different songs. I played my Les Paul. If I get a chance later I will do some more and play my SG. Variety is the spice of life, after all. I’m also hoping to mix a tune or two before the day comes to an end. We’ll see about that. For now, season five episode two of the new Doctor Who series. Hey, check it out! Prince Daemon Targaryen from House of the Dragon is The Doctor and Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy is the companion. This might end up being my favorite cast.

Guitar pictures!

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2023 50/90 Challenge Day 19/90

I didn’t record any guitar tracks today, but I did get a nice chunk of work done, which sets me up to record guitars tomorrow.

I had four songs that were just a couple of eight bar phrases done with MIDI instruments. I worked all four of them into full song forms. Now I have something to play guitar on tomorrow. Nice, eh?

I also mixed two songs. I posted one earlier. Here’s the other. This is in the running for my Record Every Month submission for July. I kinda like this one, even though there are slight timing issues literally everywhere. It’s short and sweet and the chorus isn’t bad, even if the guitar leads are.

That’s three songs mixed. Only 47 more to go. I am 6% of the way finished!

Two Down, 48 to Go

I mixed another song for the 50/90 challenge. I feel like being a better than crappy song was in this one’s grasp but it still fell short. The shitty mix and shittier lead guitars might be part of the reason.

Okay, time to go cook dinner. Wish me luck.

2023 50/90 Challenge Day 18/90

I failed to record guitars this morning, but I didn’t fail tonight. I know I wrote the wrap up post for last night today, so you’re getting a second wrap up post. Confusing? Maybe. Do I care? Not really.

I mixed a song this morning but you know that because I posted it even though it was crap. Tonight I put both rhythm and lead guitars onto two songs, and then put leads onto two more. Not the most impressive haul, but not bad given the total failure of my original plans.

Photos for fun.

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2023 50/90: One Down, 49 to Go

This stink burger (it really is a crappy song) is interesting for two reasons. One, it’s the first song mixed for the 2023 (faux) 50/90 challenge. Hooray, babie! Second, it’s the first time I’ve ever knowingly played anything in 13/8 time… and the timing issues are EVERYWHERE as a result (especially the guitar lead at the end).

It started out life as a GarageBand file called 2023 5090 01 Mac, and now it is the first completed song of the summer’s challenge. I have not been shut out this year! Call that a win!

2023 50/90 Challenge Day 17/90

Almost but not quite nothing. I started mixing song idea #1 but didn’t get terribly far. The drum track sounds okay, but that’s all I have. I wasn’t feeling terribly well last night so I went to bed early. I actually fell asleep while messing with the bass guitar track. Sorry.

To make matters slightly worse, I have once again failed to get any guitar playing in this morning. I worked on that first mix a little more though. Fortunately we’re one work day away from the weekend, and I took Monday and Tuesday off as well. There should be truck loads of music and photography over the next four days. Fingers crossed on that at least.

2023 50/90 Challenge Day 16/90

Not much to report today. I wrote lyrics and melody for two songs. They were song ideas number 7 and 20, to be precise.

I wanted to get more done but for the second night in a row I am having stomach issues from dinner. Last night was just a little uneasiness. It took a long, long time for it to pass but it wasn’t painful and I wasn’t nauseous. I was just… wrong. Tonight? Pain, nausea, the works. Damn it.

I hope to maybe get some guitar playing in tomorrow before work. I also think it might be time to start mixing a few of these things. I have three songs that are completely tracked right now and if things go well in the morning I might have one or two more. I should really start finishing these puppies off. The definition of a completed song is a decently mixed demo. I don’t have anything complete yet. Maybe tomorrow.

2023 50/90 Challenge Day 15/90

As we start week three of the 50/90 challenge, let’s sum up day 15.

I had hoped for more, but I cannot complain. I put vocals on three songs this morning. Later, at lunch time, I came up with song idea number 20 and worked out the song form. It is embarrassingly simple, but it will be okay. No melody yet, just bass and drums with a midi guitar track to act as a place holder until I can put a real guitar or two down.

I updated the works in progress playlist but you’ll have to scroll down to find the last time I posted it. I don’t want to repost it every time, just once in a while.

Not sure if I will have any time to work on anything tomorrow. We’ll see. Fingers crossed and all that.

More Car Music Fun

I snuck out for some more singing in the car this morning. I only had three songs ready to go and I finished all of them. That’s two days in a row. Can you believe it? Now I have to start writing lyrics again. Ugh.

The view from the “studio” today:

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Obligatory clock pic from the drive home:

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Finally, when I got home I saw this. The fire hydrant in our front yard is in a bag. There is writing on the bag that you can’t see here that says leak detection test, or something like that. Interesting? Maybe. Maybe not.

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