Tag: Guitar

2026 50/90 Challenge Day 6/90

Today is day seven so I need to write up yesterday’s progress. Day six. Unfortunately the days are sort of running together. What the hell did I do yesterday?

When I got up yesterday morning I had a riff buzzing in my head. It was in an awkward sort of time. I think it was trying to be in 10/8. I picked up my iPhone and played it into GarageBand for iOS in 4/4 with an absurdly fast tempo. The program doesn’t give you the ability to work in wacky time signatures so that was the best I could do. There wasn’t much to it, but let’s call it song number eight.

About an hour or so later there was this:

I put rhythm guitars on the simple little thing I had come up with the night before, song number seven, and onto song number two. That’s all I had time for. I had a meeting at 9:00am and it was getting a little late. Not too late though, I finished my morning routine and logged in to work on time.

Later still, while sitting up in bed shortly before falling asleep for the night, I added some new things to the song I started when I woke up. I tried changing the time signature to 10/8 but that made the GarageBand drummer go super weird and I couldn’t follow what it was doing. I kept losing “the one”… if you’re a musician you know what that means. I switched it back to 4/4 with the tempo set to double time and then set the drummer function to play in half time. It all came out in the end.

When that was done and I was just about ready to fall asleep… I wrote a melody and lyrics for song number one. The first lyrics of the project. I’m hoping to get a couple more done tonight so that I can record some vocals early tomorrow morning. We’ll have to see about that though.

And that is what I accomplished on day six. I fear things are going to be light today and day seven’s update will be uneventful. I’ll let you know tomorrow.

2026 50/90 Challenge Day 5/90

Scroll back a few days and read about how day two was a bust and I only managed to noodle a couple of bass lines. Yesterday was day five and it was better than that, but only just.

I had a super busy work day that included time commuting to and from the office. There wasn’t really time for any music. Just before I went to sleep I managed to sneak in a little work sitting up in bed with my laptop and my little USB piano keyboard thingie.

Let’s call it song number seven. It is overly simple but it’s in 7/8 time so by definition it is cool. You may also call it groovy if you want, but groovy often implies dance-ability and 7/8 makes even the best dancers trip over their own feet (hey, where did that last eighth note go?). It has the bass and drums and the song form all finished and a guide for when I get around to recording the real guitar tracks (spoiler alert, I did that this morning).

So as of bed time last night we are up to seven songs in the production pipeline. No lyrics yet. I need to get cracking on those so I can track some vocals this weekend.

2026 50/90 Challenge Day 4/90

Day four was a busy day for real life stuff but I managed to sneak in two music breaks. First, before work, I put rhythm guitars onto two songs. One of which was the nightmare song that’s in 5/8 time. What the hell was I thinking? Later, shortly before bed, I started song idea number six on my MacBook. The song form is done and the MID Bass and Drums are done. That’s all. Weirdly, it is in 4/4 time. GarageBand for iOS only gives 4/4, 3/4, and 6/8 as options where the Mac version lets you use pretty much any time signature. Often when I work on the Mac I’ll try to use something that doesn’t work on the iPhone or iPad simply because I can. Not this time. This time it was plain old boring 4/4.

That’s all for day four. Right now there are six songs in progress. Three have rhythm guitars. One of those has a melody. Everything else just has bass and drums. That is the state of the challenge as of falling asleep last night.

Something I Did Today

I feel like I owe the universe a detailed post discussing all of the things I did today. Things like picking my step daughter up at the train station after she traveled home from Baltimore.

Instead, I will share a clue as to something that took up a little less than 1/24th of my calendar day:

Cool, eh?

2026 50/90 Challenge Day 3/90

When I was working on music yesterday, during the brief window of time when I was free to do so, I thought I ended up with a much more impressive amount of progress. Looking back on it now… meh. It was okay, given how busy I was otherwise, and it was WAY better than day two, but over all? Meh.

I took the two bass riffs that made up my entire haul from day two and added a few new bits and worked out the full song form. I then added two new songs. Both had a full song form and MIDI bass and drums along with a MIDI guitar to act as a guide for when I record the real guitars. Song four also has a melody track played on a MIDI electric piano. I didn’t have a chance to add any lyrics. Also, just to note, song number five is in 7/8 time (which is proggy and cool) but song number four is in 5/8 time which is just nuts. I originally had an idea that was in 7/8 but I fucked it up on my first pass at recording the bass line and my screw up worked in 5/8 and I just ran with it. It’s going to be an absolute nightmare to record the guitars and vocals… but watch me turn 5/8 into a theme this year.

Three days in and I am up to five songs in the production pipeline.

2026 50/90 Challenge Day 2/90

Day two was basically a bust. Home owner plumbing emergencies will do that to a guy. I started one idea, song number three, but it was just a couple of short bass riffs on my iPhone. That’s all.

Spoiler alert, day three will be a little bit better. Not much, but a little bit.

2026 50/90 Challenge Day 1/90

You know it is summer when that red haired doofus in Massachusetts starts talking about writing 50 songs in 90 days. Day one was yesterday, July 4th. How did I do?

I started work on two songs. The first one started ridiculously early in the morning and it started with guitar, while most songs (including song number two) start with MIDI bass and drums. So two songs with the complete song form and bass and drums and one of the two has the rhythm guitars. That’s it.

Record Every Month: June

I finished two songs by creating half assed mixes. The RPM Challenge’s Record Every Month challenge thing will have an entry this month. I just don’t know which of the two songs to submit. I think the second one might be a smidge better but I put some wobble on the rhythm guitars and I am starting to think I shouldn’t have. Also, the first song is in 7/8 time so… yeah.

This is the first one.

This is the second one.

Now I can go to sleep. Insert the sigh of relief here.

My Fingers Really Hurt

I am probably going to get my two songs finished for the month of June. File it under the RPM Challenge’s Record Every Month challenge. Yesterday I wasn’t sure if I would be able to finish a song or two, but I had a decent day music wise and now I am in good shape.

Last night before bed I wrote lyrics and melodies for the two songs that got guitar tracks earlier in the day (see the previous post). This morning I cut my exercise short and used the time to record vocals. Both songs were cranked out quickly and poorly. Tonight after dinner I was able to sneak back into the cellar and record lead guitars for both songs. I did so on a guitar with old and dead strings and with a left hand that is 100% free from calluses because I don’t play enough these days.

Oh my goodness, do my finger tips hurt right now. Oh the pain. Oh the horrible icky pain. Ouch-town, population: Me, bro. 

I’ll mix the two songs tomorrow night after work. Probably while sitting up in bed wishing I was asleep. You know how it is.

Enjoy tonight’s crappy photos that are basically the same as the crappy photos on last night’s post except I am wearing a work-appropriate collared shirt today where I was wearing an awesome Rush Snakes and Arrows Live t-shirt yesterday.

Les Paul Standard
A nerd playing a Les Paul Standard

Music Sunday

I told myself I was going to write and record an album’s worth of music this month. 10 songs or 35 minutes. That was the plan.

I have failed, epically.

I started working on seven songs. As of this morning they were only midi bass and drums tracks with a midi guitar track acting as a guide for when I record the actual guitars.

It has been two weeks since I did anything musical at all. Yeah, the 10 song plan isn’t happening and the seven songs are going to mostly fail as well. Last month I wrote and recorded two songs. That’s my new goal. Call it a single. One song for the A-side and another for the B-side.

I put rhythm guitars onto two of the songs today. That’s good. I’m still probably going to fail though because now I have to write lyrics and a melody for both songs, then I have to record the vocals, then I have to record the lead guitars, then I have to mix the two songs and I only have two days left in the month. Most of my recording time takes place in the morning before work, and one of the two remaining days is not only a work in the office day, but its a work in the Foxborough office day and Foxborough is super far away from home so I won’t have any before work time.

So before I sleep tonight I have to write the lyrics and the melodies, and then tomorrow before work I have to record the vocals. Then probably after work I will have to record the leads. Then I can mix after work tomorrow.

Before any of that happens though, I have to have a watch-a-movie-on-the-living-room-couch with my beautiful wife. We’re watching Project Hail Mary again. Know that it is a great movie that is made better by a series of t-shirts with science jokes on them. If you haven’t seen the movie, you should. Then once you’ve seen it you should write a song or two.

Les Paul Standard
A nerd playing a Les Paul Standard