I just recorded two songs worth of vocals…
While sitting in the front seat of my car, waiting to get the kids from karate class.
I think this is the theme of the remainder of the project.
Three songs complete, five songs with finished vocals, two songs with lyrics written but not recorded, four songs that still need lyrics.
I put rhythm guitars onto the three existing songs today. The first two got the 12-string, and the third got the ES-335 with lots and lots of wah-wah.
The playlist won’t embed for some reason, and the one I posted the other day won’t update (I’ve since deleted it) so you get a link today. Bad Music Found Here.
The second song doesn’t have any drums. I’m trying to decide if I want it to stay that way. I think I do. I’m not sure though. I tried using the GarageBand Drummer function again but I wasn’t pleased with the results. I think it’s better without the drums. I can’t decide.
Completely changing the subject, there were a bunch of deer in the woods this morning. They were all over to the side of the house. I saw one staring intently toward the street. Something out there spooked her because she bolted off in the opposite direction. All of the others followed. I counted six as they were running by. It was pretty cool.
One more before the RPM craziness begins. This one was written in 1998 during Spring Break. It was then recorded in 2007 when I first heard about RPM but was too late to try it officially so I recorded 10 songs in March before taking a real shot at the challenge in April and failing miserably.
How’s that for a run on sentence?
I’ve always liked this one but I’ve never really been able to pull it off. The lyrics are about a photo of my grandparents that I first saw at my grandmother’s wake. I never new my grandfather, but my grandmother had always been there. Then she was gone. At the wake there was a picture of the two of them together when they were young. I think it might have been taken while they were dating. They were standing on the street looking like too kids who were acting goofy. It was hard to reconcile the saint I knew with the goofball in the picture. A few months later I came up with this song. My brother, John wrote the drum part. I was playing the guitar part in our little practice room at home and he came running in and jumped on the drums and started playing along. Just one more reason to really dig this song.
Here’s the new version:
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/photograph-redux.mp3%20
Here’s the old version, for suffering’s sake:
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/photograph.mp3%20
Back when I recorded this little puppy I said it would be the first of a handful of pre-GarageBand RPM songs that I was going to do. I picked out 3-4 other songs to work on and then never did anything with them.
Until now.
I have three songs ready for guitars and vocals. I’m going to try and get them finished this week, but I want to use my amp for all of the electric guitar parts. That means I’ll be recording before work on Monday and Thursday. We shall see how they go.
All my old friends came over for a visit today.
Here’s that four song playlist I said I’d be putting up on bandcamp. I have no idea why it’s only pulling in the first song. I’m too frustrated and pissed off to figure it out now.
Oh wait, I think I figured it out. Duh. Robbie es Moron.
I finished another song today. This one was written in 1991. I can’t say for sure, but it might have been the first song I ever wrote from top to bottom all by my lonesome. At least I can’t remember anything older. There were actually two others that were written at about the same time that might have been my first solo effort. It doesn’t matter.
I think it was 1994 or 1995 that Mike, Dan, and I went into Northeast Broadcasting School’s 24 track studio after hours and recorded four songs. This was one of them. The other three have all been redone in GarageBand too. At first I wanted to record this one, and then make a playlist with all four. Then I thought I’d record the other three too. Then I thought I’d add a few new songs onto the end, just for fun. Then I thought I’d keep the three finished recordings and still add the new songs.
As of this moment, I’m going back to the original plan. Just the four old songs, using the already finished recordings. Yippee.
There is one cool thing about this demo, from my goofy point of view at least. Ever since I started playing the home recording game back in 2007, every song I’ve done (with one exception) has either used a headphone amp, or some kind of software amplifier simulator for all of the electric guitars. Not this one. This one is my actual, real life, physically there Marshall amp. Somehow that little fact made this one seem 100 times more fun.
Here it is:
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/drift-away.mp3%20
This was written at the same time as Laughing. The plan was to try writing songs that I could sing while playing the guitar. I think I played my first bedroom recording of this (with me playing my brother’s drums, gasp!) to Mike the bass player but he passed on it. This song should be brand new to everyone else on Earth. I always liked it, but never pushed anyone to play it. I don’t know why. As for the meaning of the lyrics? I have no idea at all.
I don’t remember a whole lot about this one. I wrote it along with two others in my bedroom at my parents’ house, probably in 1993 or 94. I know the idea was to write stuff that I might be able to sing and play at the same time. This was played by at least one of the short lived, unnamed bands I was in during the mid 90’s, but never to an audience. As for what the lyrics are about? I haven’t a clue.
I was hoping there would be three songs to post tonight, but I’m way too tired so you’ll have to settle for two.
These were both started in 2007 when I first tried and failed the RPM challenge. This makes five of those seven songs that have finally been finished. The lyrics to the first one are about nothing, hence the song title. I was trying to make a point in the lyrics to the second song, but I can’t figure out what that point was. Typical.
These two files will eventually be deleted, someday, when I finish recording all of the songs that I consider to be part of my leftover songs project. Once they are all done I’ll move the whole thing over to bandcamp. But I’ll put these here for now.
Inside the Red Head's Head 