Tag: 50/90

2024 50/90 Challenge Day 7/90

One week down. How did I do on day seven?

I only worked on two things. I started a new song, the 11th so far, that is just bass and drums and a full song form. I also put lyrics and melody onto another song, song number three.

That’s it.

So after one week, let’s sum up the state of the challenge.

There are 11 songs in the pipeline. According to my Trello board the assembly line looks like this:

Three songs are in the bass and drums with song form bucket. Five songs are in the rhythm guitars are done bucket. Three songs are in the lyrics are written and we’re ready for vocals bucket. Here’s hoping for a long weekend worth of serious musical motivation.

2024 50/90 Challenge Day 6/90

Not a lot of progress on day six, but I did start working on the piece of the process that is the most difficult for me.

I added lyrics and melodies to two songs.

That is all. Lyrics, melodies, and vocals are where I usually get bogged down and the whole project bottle necks. As little as I accomplished, it feels good to get those particular balls rolling at least.

2024 50/90 Challenge Day 5/90

I didn’t have a lot of time to spend on music on day five (yesterday) but I did manage to sneak in some work before bed. I added two new songs. Both are just MIDI bass and drums but they have the full song form. Basically the same progress that I made on day one. Not bad for an in-the-office day.

2024 50/90 Challenge Day 4/90

I started the day with two goals. Let’s call them goals A and B.

Goal A was to put rhythm guitars on all eight songs that are currently in progress. That goal was completed, though the guitar playing got sloppier and sloppier as the day rolled on.

Goal B was to add another song or two to the pipeline. That goal was not completed. I just didn’t have it in me last night.

Today is day five and I am working in the office. There will be a significant reduction in available time to get music done. We’ll see what happens.

More Guitar

I spent some more time this afternoon playing guitar. Just adding parts to some 50/90 Challenge songs, that’s all.

My finger tips hurt. Maybe I’ll have calluses again by the time the 50/90 challenge ends in October. That would be nice.

Laugh at the nerd!

Rhythm Guitars

I said I was hoping to get a little more than just MIDI tracking done for 50/90 today.

Four songs worth of rhythm guitars are done. Hopefully that’s more like four songs and counting for today, but we’ll see. My finger tips are hurting a little.

311/365
311/365

2024 50/90 Challenge Day 3/90

Day three’s update is identical to day two’s. Three new song ideas. All have MIDI bass and drums and a complete song form. That leaves me with eight songs in the pipeline, all in the same completeness bucket.

I am hoping there will be something more involved in tomorrow’s update. We’ll see. Maybe some guitar tracking?

2024 50/90 Challenge Day 2/90

Another day with no real instruments being played, but decent progress none the less.

I added three new song ideas. All three have a song form worked out. They are just MIDI bass and drums though two of them also have MIDI guitar guide tracks.

The pipeline now has five songs. All with song form and just MIDI instruments.

On to day three.

2024 50/90 Challenge Day 1/90

The annual goofiness is underway.

Yesterday I worked on two new ideas. I ended up with a full song form for both of them. The MIDI bass and drums are done, and they both have a MIDI guitar guide track.

That’s all. Not as much as I had hoped, but still a good start.

Things to Do Tomorrow

I talked it over with my boss and I am not going into the office this week. For the second week in a row Covid is making me work from home for the full week. Even if I test negative I am still working from home this week. Wednesday is the in the office day, and the rest of my staff (with the exception of the guy who is on vacation) is going in, but I am staying home. We’re all in agreement that it’s just not worth the risk and we’re all more comfortable with me staying away, even though the CDC tells me I am not contagious.

So that’s good.

What about music? I’m feeling better so I should get back to that, right? The 50 songs in 90 days challenge ended on October 1st, two days ago, and I was very far from finished. I have a bunch of unfinished songs in the works that I plan on finishing, but I am sort of thinking that 50/90 should become 66/121 this year and I should just keep going through October. Either that or I will just add a 10 songs or 35 minutes of music album in a month on top of finishing off what’s still in the works from 50/90. Something like that. I just watched a bunch of Mahavishnu Orchestra concert videos on YouTube and watching John McLaughlin tear a 12-string guitar a new asshole (figuratively speaking) is making me want to put the focus on any October songs onto my acoustic 12-string… which really would be as far removed from anything McLaughlin did on his electric 12-string as humanly possible, but really the idea of me and John McLaughlin being mentioned in the same paragraph is utterly absurd given that he is possibly the most talented guitarist in history and I am a complete and utter hack. Whatever.

I’m on season 16 of the original Doctor Who. That binge watch continues at a break neck pace. There is also a concurrent binge watch of Good Omens 2, Futurama, Archer, Daryl Dixon, and Ahsoka (which is going to be over before I sleep tonight) with binges of Severance, Silo, and Foundation all being finished within the last few days. There is so much TV out there that needs to be watched. Also, Jen and I are about to finish 90210, which is amazing given how many thousands of episodes of that show there are. Unfortunately, Amazon Prime Video’s license of the show is dreadfully incomplete and nearly half of the episodes of the last few seasons, including the series finale, are missing. Something to do with not being able to secure the music rights? I don’t know. All I know for sure is that the writers and actors strikes are going to push all new shows back for a long time which means we have to enjoy what we have while we have it. Oh yeah, and Loki season 2 kicks off later this week, so that’s yet another show to add to the list. There is so much TV!

Okay, time to hit publish and watch the last episode of Ahsoka. I bet I am going to love it. How can I not love an episode of a Star Wars show?

Right then, see you tomorrow while I work from home and dig my 12-string out of the cellar closet. Good night, friends and neighbors and kind readers.