I kicked off September by adding two new song ideas. MIDI bass and drums are done. No guitars yet, but there is a MIDI guitar guide track. I also added the melody, with a MIDI piano track to use as a guide, and the lyrics for both songs.
September is here and it’s off to a good start.
I know it’s just the first day of September, but I already have enough music with melodies and lyrics to do a car music in the morning. I’ve written two songs today. Music and lyrics. I haven’t recorded anything that wasn’t a fake MIDI instrument, but that’s okay. I can add vocals and guitars tomorrow… I think.
Let’s enjoy this Monday holiday, even if it is the ceremonial end of summer and I never want summer to end. Yeah, it kinda sucks.
I just sent this in a text message and I need to share it with the wider universe….
“I’m so old that I heard that Indiana Jones was looking for me.“
Yeah, your humble narrator is old.
Really, an air fryer, an induction thingie, and a toaster oven. Who needs the big kitchen oven?
Jen does. She’s roasting veggies in the oven and cooking quinoa on the stove while I cook chicken in the air fryer and instant mashed potatoes (heaven’s gift, indeed) on the induction thingie on the other side of the kitchen.
We are kind of a team in this house.
I went outside and cooked lunch for me and my beloved wife on the grill. While I was out there I made a new friend. His name is Woody. As in Woody Woodpecker.
It’s a beautiful Sunday today. How is that possible?
It’s September 1st again. On the last five September 1sts I kicked off a new Photo a Day Challenge. This year is no different.
It just dawned on me that as I start the sixth consecutive year, I am technically half way through a Photo a Decade Challenge.
I am such a nerd.
Photo number 1/365
Just for luck, this was an alternate.
Day 59 had some good progress. One song got both rhythm and lead guitars and three others got lead guitars. Later on, all four of those songs were mixed and uploaded to alonetone.com and are officially finished.
With that, August comes to an end. Today is day 60 and the first of September and while we ignore the sad fact that September brings with it the end of summer which is utterly fucking depressing it gives us a chance to reflect on the progress made in August.
In August I started 14 new songs and I finished them all. Simple. That means that my mini challenge to write and record an album entirely within the month of August (by RPM Challenge rules, 10 songs or 35 minutes) is also a success.
To recap the 50/90 project as a whole (which I think I already did in a post last night), The Started and Finished in July bucket over on my Trello board has 20 songs in it. The Started and Finished in August bucket has 14 songs in it. The Started in One Month and Finished in Another bucket has five songs in it. The Lyrics and Melody Written and Ready for Vocal Tracking bucket has three songs in it, all started in July. All other buckets are empty.
Time to start coming up with new song ideas. Bring on September.
I mixed two more songs tonight. That brings the total up to 39. The 50 songs in 90 days challenge is 78% complete and we’re still 38 minutes away from the start of September. Crazy!
Speaking of crazy, at this point in time there are 42 songs in the pipeline and 39 are finished. That leaves only three unfinished songs. They were all started in July, which means every idea that started off after August 1st has been finished. There were 14 of them and I cranked them all out with nothing left over.
Here’s one of the two songs I finished tonight. I am liking this one a lot right now. I think it’s all due to the two pickup notes in the vocal leading into the chorus. I think that is literally the difference between a song I like and a song I am indifferent toward.
Again… weird.
After I finished recording guitars this morning I was left with four songs that were ready to mix down and mark as finished. I have mixed two of them.
Oddly, the two songs, which were kicked off within just a few days of each other are creepily similar. The tempos are different and one has a bunch of key changes that sort of mask some of the similarities but they are close. Particularly the outros. Those are nearly identical.
But you know, it’s an internet based song writing challenge and they don’t ask how they only ask how many so… yeah. I never claimed to be original. I also never claimed to be any good at this shit. I just do it because I enjoy it.
Here’s one. This is actually the second song that was written but the first of the two that was finished.
And here’s the other. Again, the tempos are different and the vibe is different but the riffs are oh so very similar.
Well, today is the big day. On September 1st of last year I kicked off my fifth consecutive photo a day for a year project. With today being the last day of August that means that taking some random pointless photo today will wrap up the current instance of the challenge. Success, again!
But what should the subject be? I’ve already posted pictures of one of my guitars today. Should that be the official project-completing snap? Naw.
I went out to run errands today and took one pic. Should that be the winner?
Naw, that’s not the one. What about cats? Most of this years photos have been of cats. How about this one I took of Robin?
That could be a good choice, especially since she slept through it the way she sleeps through almost everything. No…. I can do better, I think.
Yeah… that’s the winner. Miss Lily. Photo number 366 of 365. The winner. Success, yet again.
The sixth consecutive photo a day project will likely start tomorrow. I can see how excited you all are. Especially the cats… they are both asleep again.
