I got some music in today. Surprised? I am!
I recorded rhythm guitars for two songs, worked out the arrangement for the most recent iPad thingie that was just three separate riffs, and started another couple of riff ideas on the iPad. So there are 9 songs (about 30 minutes) that are actually underway recording wise. There are now three that are just in the rough idea stage.
Again, no way this gets done by April 1st, but all of this crap will get done.
I don’t see myself finishing my March music project by the end of the month. I’ve got nine songs in progress. Three have rhythm guitars and one has vocals. Hopefully I’ll be able to add one to each count by the end of the day.
My USB interface wouldn’t connect on the new MacBook today. Not sure what’s going on there. Hopefully I only need to reboot. I used the iMic thingie (which makes TONS of noise) while recording some guitars this morning. Hopefully I can get the Lexicon thing working again. We’ll see.
Just when you thought the March Music project goofiness was dead and buried…
I came up with something new last night. Just a few little riffs. I put them down on the iPad just before bed. This morning I added some guitars. That’s nine songs in progress and two more ideas that I haven’t made go anywhere yet. Tomorrow. More will be done tomorrow. Really. I promise.
Here it is kids, the (now) annual last official RPM Challenge post of the year. I have uploaded this year’s stuff to my official RPM jukebox page.
So there it is folks. That page has three little flash playlists that contain my three officially submitted RPM Challenge projects. This closes the book on February 2014. I had a good time, despite being less than pleased with the end results. There are a couple of decent moments. One of the songs that I was really disappointed with is actually getting some love on alonetone. I find that very weird. Oh well.
I will keep plugging on more album-in-a-month zaniness, but RPM itself is over until next year.
Here are the first seven of what I hope will be 10 new songs for this month. Actually the last two are from last month. I kept the bass, changed the drums, and deleted everything else. It’s sort of like starting over.
So Robbie, what’s the deal? When you finished off your February recording project you said you were just going to keep going and do another one in March. You even came up with a clever stupid name for it, RPMarch.
So where are the constant updates that make us, your loyal readers want to claw our own eyes out?
Well here’s one.
I have bass and drum tracks set for five songs. There are a total of nine songs in the plans at this point. I need to come up with at least one more. I have four songs left over from the kids’ Christmas vacation, when I tried to write a few songs for a goofy EP idea. I have one idea that I had during February that I never got around to. I also have two outtakes from Things and Stuff that I want to see if I can salvage. Then there is one song that I came up with a couple of nights ago, and the one Tempest Fero song I want to add to the TF Redux collection. That’s nine. My goal is 10. So far so good.
There you have it. The RPMarch Day Six update. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you are pleased that I haven’t quit on this idea yet.
Yet.
Something happened last night that sort of sums up this year’s challenge for me. I went to bed after finishing the lead guitars on the last two songs. While sleeping, I had a dream. I was digging around in my ear for ear wax. I found something else though. I was able to grab it and pull. What came out? Dust. A dust bunny about the size of a quarter. When I woke up my first thought was, so that’s why everything sounds like crap this year.
I mixed two more songs before work this morning. There are only two left. I will finish them both tonight if it kills me. Then I need to figure out a running order, burn a CD, and mail it off.
Here is one of this morning’s mixes. It’s the 7/8 rocker with the terrible leads.
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/bad-guy.mp3%20
The other song is in 6/8. It was an eighth note kinda morning. It was supposed to be the big quiet/loud/quiet thing but the loud parts are kinda pointless.
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/that-certain-someone.mp3%20
It is February 27th. The end is upon us.
Last night I mixed two more songs. Today I wrote lyrics and sang the vocals for three more songs. That leaves me with eight songs finished, and six songs that only require lead guitar before mixing. I’ve got four days left. I can still pull off all 14 songs.
The first of the two finished songs is this year’s 12-bar blues. The lyrics are based on a little bit of family history. My grandfather was a fisherman. On one trip out to sea his boat sank. He floated around on a lifeboat for a while before being picked up by a passing ship. The whole time he was missing no one let my grandmother know. She was kept away from newspapers and radios. When my grandfather finally got to shore in New York he called her to say that he was safe and she had no idea what he was talking about.
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/bridget-and-john.mp3%20The second newly finished song is one that I was planning on dropping early on, but it is growing on me a little.
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/ufo.mp3%20I don’t have anything else ready to mix at this point. I am going to try and pick off a guitar solo tomorrow before work. Tonight though, is all about last night’s episode of The Walking Dead.
I am about to leave to bring my step daughter to softball practice. 90 minutes later I will pick her up. The plan? Drop her off, find a parking spot as far away from civilization as humanly possible, crack out the MacBook and record at least two songs worth of vocals.
Think I can do it? I did it Thursday night when I dropped the kids off for karate, and I actually wrote the basics for songs #10 and 11 in the same parking lot two weeks ago.
Wish me luck!
I mixed two songs tonight. The first of the two is just a terrible song that I really hope I’ll be able to drop. I need lyrics for at least one more song in order to do that. I think I really must get at least one more done. This song just sucks.
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/forced.mp3%20The other song is okay, but it is really similar to another song that I’ve already finished. Big chunks of both songs were actually written in one sitting. That might explain it. Ya think?
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/not-if-i-see-you-first.mp3%20I hope to be able to record more vocals tomorrow. I’ve got two more ready to go. I’ve got another song ready to mix, and another song that only needs leads. It would be nice if I could get through all of them tomorrow. Then I would have telecommuting on Monday and Thursday to finish up any additional vocals I might get to before the deadline. The goal is still to record 14 songs. It’s getting near the end, and I have a lot left to do.
Inside the Red Head's Head 