I snuck in a little music this morning. Two lyrics/vocals and a rhythm guitar. Still have a ways to go to finish off both March and April, but March is a good deal closer than it was last night.
Tag: Garageband
Two Songs
I mixed two songs last night. Let’s start with the bad news. This song is from April. You’d think it would be bad enough that after finishing the recording I realized that it’s awfully similar to a 2013 RPM song, but I had to go and put together this crap fest of a mix. I expect to be doing this one again.
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/its-not-easy.mp3%20On a slightly better note, I also mixed one from March. This is the first of the RPMarch songs, and one of the Christmas vacation things. All that’s left from the original iPad file is the bass, and even that is using a different sound. I like this one… sort of. The vocals were sung in the car while sitting in a parking lot waiting for the kids to get out of karate. The lyrics are about how weird it is that so many people get so wound up about RPM, and about how dumb the idea of doing a second RPM right away felt.
I’ll probably end up remixing this one too. I have no confidence in any of the mixing I’ve done. I’ve already redone two of these things. I have been using more plug in effects and some how I just get bogged down with the individual tracks and I lose the sense of the complete song. When I go back and listen a few days later, everything is swimming in reverb, or the bass is buried, or the lead is buried, or the drums are too loud. It’s always something. I might end up remixing everything.
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/overkill-1.mp3%20Nerdus Extremus
I just made a list of all 20 March and April songs and color coded it based on the state of completion (or incompletion) in which each recording currently resides.
There are two that are ready to mix. Hopefully I’ll get one in tonight.
Rock & Roll, eh?
December/March/May Music
Here’s another song from the March 10. Back in December while the kids were on Christmas vacation I had a brief idea of writing and recording 4-5 songs as a Christmas Vacation project. It got as far as four Garageband files on my iPad consisting of bass and drums. When the dumb idea of continuing RPM into March came along I rolled those four ideas into RPMarch. Now we’re in May and here we have the first of those four to be mixed. This is actually #3. Not that it matters.
The lyrics are another @floridaman story. If I do 50/90, I might take the lyrics ideas for all 50 songs from that twitter account. It’s a gold mine.
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/i-just-explode.mp3%20While I was at it tonight, I also remixed the most recent April song. I brought up the lead guitar (duh) and reduced the sauce on the vocals. I don’t know if it made any difference, but here it is. It still doesn’t have the Highlander line. I guess I’ll have to remix this at least once more.
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/time-has-almost-caught-us-my-friend-remix.mp3%20March Music… In May
When I did RPM this year there were two songs that just came out ridiculously bad. I couldn’t stand them. Neither was that bad, but the recordings were pretty crummy. One of the songs was okay as it was, so I decided to just re-record it for March. It’s better than it was… I guess. I changed the key from E to D, swapped the acoustic guitars for heavier electric guitars, and just sort of rocked it up a bit.
Here is the February version:
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/jen-and-me.mp3%20
Here is the March/May version that I just finished mixing:
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/jen-me-version-2.mp3%20
March Music
Finished two March songs while watching the Bruins mount a huge come back.
Another Night, Another Song
Alonetone is having all sorts of trouble these days. I wonder if I am going to get this one posted.
On a thursday afternoon, I had a very short time for my lunch break. I decided to sneak in a lyrics and a vocal. The topic of deadlines came to mind and this stinker was born. It is meant to have a sound byte at the start of the song but I couldn’t get my mitts on it. Picture it: The movie Highlander. Connor and Castigere are on the bridge in Central Park. Castigere says, “Time has almost caught us, my friend” and then punches the railing five times.
That. That is what I want leading into this song. That is what became the title of this little suck fest of a crap dog.
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/time-has-almost-caught-us-my-friend.mp3%20Alonetone continues to shit the bed tonight. If the player above doesn’t work and you must, must, must here this awful song, click here.
Absent Minded Nitwit
I mentioned yesterday that I was hoping to mix two songs tonight.
Every other Friday I spend the evening hanging out with my mom at my folks’ house while my dad does volunteer work. I get there around quarter to seven and leave about quarter past 10. My mother is usually asleep not long after 8:00, so I usually bring my computer and mess around with music while I wait for Dad to come home. The plan tonight was to try to mix one or both of the two songs that are ready.
This morning before I left I put my computer into my backpack (MacBook Pro, beetches). I had my awesome new blue tooth Bose headphones in their case sitting right next to the computer. I also had my awesome Sennheiser cans, the ones I used to mix last February’s RPM, and last November’s NaSoAlMo, and every thing in between, sitting right there on the desk next to the Bose headphones and the computer.
I forgot to put either pair of headphones into the backpack. I have an old pair of ear buds. Urgh. One of the songs that’s ready to mix is far and away my favorite of this month’s batch (meaning on a scale from 1-10 it’s a 3) so I will mix the other one first. I don’t want to waste the time, and I don’t want to mix a potentially decent song using ear buds.
I am an absent minded nitwit.
Guitar Solo
I just put lead guitar onto a GarageBand file called April01. That’s two of 10 song finished. I hope to mix them tomorrow.
All of the guitars this month are using Amplitube apps. The leads are using the Jimi Hendrix app. Fuzz boxes and univibes for everyone!
Quick April Music Update
I just recorded the 10th vocal. I have part of one rhythm guitar part to redo because it’s a little out of tune. I then have nine leads to record. Why nine and not 10? Because I snuck one in a couple of nights ago. My playing is awful. Just brutal. I don’t care.
April’s music project is going to be 10 songs at a shade under 45 minutes. Time to get crackin’ on those leads!
Inside the Red Head's Head 