Category: Song Writing

50/90 Update as July Ends

Harry is out of the house right now. I’m exhausted like you wouldn’t believe but I really want to be awake when he gets in so I am trying to do stuff to keep my brain functioning.

July is going to end in 90 minutes. That seems like a good time to give a quick summary of the 50/90 project. Today is day 27. How am I doing?

I have 13 songs finished and listed on my account page. There are another 12 songs in progress. Three are ready for vocal tracking, and I am hoping to do some car music in the morning. Of the other nine, the only recording that has been done so far is bass and drums, which are done on the computer. Based on that you could make the argument that no actual recording has been done at all. Whatever. Six of those nine songs do have lyrics and a melody already written out. I usually don’t start working on that until the rhythm guitars are down, but with all of the trips to my parents house, I haven’t had as much guitar time as I would like and I have had to do things out of the normal order.

50/3=16.66666667. Fifty songs, three calendar months, that means 16 and 2/3 songs per month, right? I like to break it down to 16 in July (because the challenge starts on July 4th so it misses out on three days and is therefore shorter than the other two months), 17 in August, and 17 in September. I’m at 25 right now. I would say that I am ahead of the pace.

Not bad, Robert. Not bad at all. The question is, can I keep it up? We shall see, Robert. We shall see.

Car music in the morning. It’s a moral imperative.

Music… kinda stalled

I haven’t had a lot of time for music over the last few days. I’ve snuck in two new song ideas but that’s all. I have three songs ready for vocals so maybe if I get that done in the morning it will kick start things a bit.

I have 13 songs mixed and another 12 in progress. I’m so far ahead of the minimum pace that it’s nuts.

Rock and roll, eh?

Headphones

Why did I put two pairs of headphones into the bag of stuff I took to my parents house for my nana sitting shift?

On the left we have a pair of AirPods Max that Harry loaned to me. They sound awesome and are great for everything I use headphones for on my computer, iPad, or iPhone… with one glaring exception.

They are bluetooth and bluetooth has one huge drawback. It is slow. Incredibly slow. The lag is ridiculous. Watching video or listening to music is fine but actually recording music… no way. Too much lag. As the track is recording you are hearing and playing as much as a full beat after where the computer is actually playing. When you listen back everything is grotesquely out of time. Bluethooth headphones are absolutely useless for recording purposes. Hence the second pair, which actually plugs in.

So when I watch a video (like the episode of The Flash I just watched… Covid protocols are doing season seven no favors), or when I mix a song (like the one I posted last night) or when I’m listening to music or a podcast, I’m using Harry’s AirPods Max. When I am recording something, like the guide track for the melodies I added to two songs earlier, or the bass and drums I added to a new song idea, I am using the cheap little Sony things that I bought at the Orlando Airport a couple of years ago.

How’s that for a fascinating blog post, huh? You learn so much when you read my brain farts. You’re welcome.

5090 Song Number 12/50

Dig it, a new song!

My mother is still awake. It’s 11:40. She’s not in agony anymore, but she’s still in pain. It’s been almost four hours since her 12 hour pain pill. Shit. I really wanna go to sleep.

Better

It took a while but things are a little better now. She’s in her room but I don’t think she’s actually gotten into bed. I checked a few minutes ago and she was still sitting up, but she was dozing off. Here’s hoping when I check after I post this that she’s in bed and done for the night.

While I get up to check on the situation, you can enjoy this terrible song that is not as bad as I usually write. There’s a gimmick in the lyrics. Each section (stanza?) of the song is a haiku. Does that make me the lamest of all lame lames?

Probably.

Bluesy Song for a Monday

I promise I am not going to post every crappy song I write this summer. It’s just… Monday, and this is a 12-bar blues (in 3/4 time because I can’t help being weird leave me alone).

We’re back from the Cancer Center. As expected everything is fine. Good news. Now I have a little time before my brother comes to relieve me so I am going to sneak in a mix or two.

Three Down, 47 to Go

I actually kinda like this one. The bass and drums were noodled together on Friday. The rhythm guitars, melody and lyrics came yesterday. The vocals, leads, and mix came today.

Harry is letting me use a pair of AirPod Max. I mixed this song using them. I need to listen on different speakers to know for sure if they are accurate. I’m thinking they respond pretty well, especially when the volumes up too high.

Today’s Guitar Haul

Today’s guitar tracking haul for 50/90 is three lead parts and one rhythm part. For the leads I’m using my shiny new Les Paul Standard into a Ryra The Klone overdrive pedal (set with the gain really low) into a Wren and Cuff Super Russian (set with the gain anywhere from kinda lowish to melting the paint off the walls) into the Bassbreaker 15.

I’m really liking the sound. Really. I’m guessing once I listen back to all of this stuff months from now (assuming I ever listen back to all of this stuff) I’ll hate the way it sounds, but for now it feels pretty freakin’ good.