Backwards

I just kicked off song number 10 for RPM. I made it the simplest, easiest thing imaginable. Rhythm guitars, bass, and drums are all done. I made it simple because I had a gimmick. A sick, doofus, goofy gimmick.

The guitars are backwards in every other measure. It’s not clean. I recorded the whole song in a couple of sections and then edited the track so I could swap the direction of every other bar. In almost every measure I came in a teeny tiny bit early so there’s just barely the sound of the pick touching the low E string that gets moved from the end of each bar to the beginning, so there’s noise at the start of each backward bar where it should be quiet.

I don’t care. It’s a gimmick and it was fun to do.

More importantly, it let me make some progress today without actually having to write any lyrics.

I Have Run Out of Songs (for Today)

I started the day with eight songs, only three of which had guitar parts recorded. I am now up to nine songs, all of which have guitar parts recorded. I have literally (temporarily) run out of songs! I guess it’s time to both add more songs and write some lyrics. Yikes!

I did the two different guitars thing on the first few songs today, but got tired of switching so I just stuck with the Les Paul for the last few.

Tracking Guitars – #RPM2022

One of my gimmicky ideas for this year’s RPM Challenge is to double the rhythm guitar tracks with two different guitars. I thought of that a few weeks ago but figured I probably wouldn’t go through with it. Tonight? The first time I sat down to record guitars? I did it. One guitar part panned hard left, another panned hard right. I always do that. This time, instead of using the same guitar on both tracks…

You’ll hear the Les Paul coming out of your left speaker:

and the SG coming out of your right speaker:

Fun, huh? I only got through three songs, but that’s a good start.

Caffeine Free

I am going to start this today. Oh shit.

During my weight loss surgery appointment yesterday I was told that my future includes a permanent ban on both caffeine and carbonated drinks. People who know me know that caffeine and carbonation are literally two of my personal four food groups. The whole process is going to suck and be really difficult, but as of this moment I am thinking that caffeine and carbonation are going to be the biggest, most difficult change. I mean, we literally have four 12-packs of diet pepsi in the house at this moment.

I also had a pretty crappy night’s sleep last night and I am guessing ’round about 2:00pm I am going to be seriously wishing I could have some caffeine.

Nope.

This is what my future looks like.