Tag: Guitar

Old Music

Say hello to the first demo of 2015!  RPM starts in just under 13 days so it’s time to start blitzing you all with new demos of old songs.  This is a Prime Meridian song.  One of the last we wrote.  It comes from 1999 (or so) and was more or less forgotten about.

It’s kinda groovy, isn’t it?

What was I Thinking

I’ve been warming up for RPM by digging out old songs and recording new demos.  I have done this the last two years as well.  This year most of the focus has been on 1997-2000 when I was in a band called Prime Meridian with Mike and Maria (and John and Dave and Leah and Tracey all at varying times).  I’ve got six of those songs ready to mix and I think I might try and crank out two or three more as well.  I have three old RPM songs left over from last January, and both last March and April had songs that qualify as well so I’ll use those as well when the time comes to make a playlist out of this stuff.

I’ve also started digitizing old cassette tapes and I’ve found a few decent sounding songs there as well.  I started working on two of them today.  They were both written and recorded in the MIDI room at Northeast Broadcasting School, probably in 1994 or 95.  Those two along with another that was actually used by Prime Meridian (and might have been used by Break Even too if I’d been up for it) were things I’d written on a keyboard and pieced together with other random things to make songs.  Kinda like what I do now with RPM.  Actually, there were probably 20 such songs before I left that job, but only 3-5 or so are worth listening too.  Back then though I wasn’t thinking in terms of actual songs.  These were arranged many months after they were recorded in the sequencer.  I also had never really been a singer before.

One thing I learned a couple of years ago when I was messing with demoing songs from the band I played in back in high school is that we never took little things like breathing into account.  Well, that was still the case in the mid-90s too.  I just finished tracking one of those songs and OH MY GOD MY HEAD HURTS!  I have been doubling all of my vocal tracks this time (rhythm guitar too) and the vocal lines are so long that they all cram in together without any room for breathe.  I’ve been breaking things up so that I sing one line on one track and the next on another, and then I double everything.  I don’t know how I ever could have considered putting something like this together as a song.  It’s so ridiculously difficult to sing.  No one could ever do it live.  Ever.

All of the singing has literally given me a headache.

Ouch, babie.

It’s not February Yet

I’m ready to start the RPM Challenge. I’m ready to start writing bad music and recording bad demos. Ive taken December and January off, but I’m already looking at my guitar, and at GarageBand thinking I’ve got to get crackin’. I need to wait until next month though.

So I figured I’d record a couple of old songs. I started one tonight. Maybe do two or three just to keep the edge sharp? Sure. There will be a demo of a mostly forgotten Prime Meridian song coming soon.

Last Day

Two days off for the holiday, then one day working at home, then two days off for the weekend. All day yesterday I was convinced it was Sunday. I had to keep reminding myself it was only Saturday. You’d think today would feel like a happy bonus then, but it just feels like The End.

Two days ago I finally got around to watching The Worlds End. You know, the third Simon Pegg/Nick Frost/Edgar Wright movie (did I misspell any of those names? Sorry). I don’t know why I waited so long. I was laughing my tail off. I think I woke up the house a couple of times. Last night I celebrated the funny by watching Hot Fuzz, but it was too late at night and I couldn’t finish due to need for sleep. Still, sick funny. I love all three of their movies.

I got a pedal board for christmas but all of my pedals are at Mike’s house. If we practice today I’ll bring them all home so I can Velcro the bejeezus out of them and set up my new board. It’s going to be strange to have everything in the correct position waiting for me to plug in and stomp on them each time we practice. Strange but good.

I need to take the car out for an oil change today. Maybe I’ll bring the camera and the new lens along and test drive it out at some of the usual spots in town. Sounds like a good idea, even though the sun will be covered with clouds all day.

Happy Sunday, everyone.

Gig

My step son played his first recital on guitar and bass tonight. He was great! He played one song solo on guitar, and another on bass with a band. It was so cool!

On the home front, most of the wrapping is done. Not all, but most. We are closer to being ready for christmas but still have quite a ways to go.

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Best Thing Ever

I am pretty sure I’ve mentioned before that one of the main reasons I wanted to play in a band again was jealousy.

Both of my step kids have been playing piano for years. They’ve both dabbled in saxophone too, and my step daughter is very active in her school chorus, while my step son plays bells in his school band. He has also recently started taking guitar lessons. His teacher took a few of the students and formed them into a band. They rehearse on Saturdays and are going to play some Christmas music at an upcoming recital. Their big number is “Jingle Bell Rock”.

The first time I sat in the hallway listening to them play I decided it was time for me to get back into the game again. No more sitting on the bench for this fat boy.

Anyway, last night was my step daughter’s school chorus holiday concert. My wife, step son, and I were sitting together enjoying the show when the select chorus started singing “Jingle Bell Rock”.

That was the moment when the Best Thing Ever happened.

When the song began my step son smiled like he was going to split in half. He was getting a serious thrill out of hearing (what he probably thinks of as) his song. Then it happened. The little rocker dude started air guitaring. Like a Boss. Even better? With his left hand he was fingering the chord changes. He was air guitaring the actual chords!

Like I said, Best Thing Ever.