Ive been thinking about which songs to rerecord, assuming I want to go through with that idea. I want to stick to songs that I don’t hate (there aren’t many) and maybe make some changes here and there.
I’m thinking of starting with this one from 2013’s RPM.
This is mostly okay, but I don’t like how it starts with the verse. It should also have a new ending.
So if I can embed Spotify urls into wordpress, then I can share things I’ve been listening to as part of my New Years Resolution to find new bands to listen to.
From Boston, MA we have Mean Creek whose Local Losers record is a current favorite.
The big winner so far is a Scottish band called The Twilight Sad. They are a little bit… what’s the word… gothier? Maybe? A little bit gothier than I usually go for, but the album Nobody Wants to be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave has wormed its way into my brain and it absolutely will not go away.
More to come later.
Today’s blogging 101 prompt is to identify your target audience, and write a post directed at them.
I’ve been struggling with this idea (well… not really struggling) since I started using Blogger a little more than six years ago. Who was I writing to? Who did I want to read what I wrote? Do I want to pick a specific topic and stick to it?
No. I wanted it to be a source for any stray idea that popped into my pea brain. No topic. If I wanted to post about photography, I would post about photography.
If I wanted to post about music, I would post about music.
(and hey, did anyone else know you could embed tracks from spotify into wordpress.com posts? I didn’t, but I do now. It’s possible an entire new world of goofiness may have just opened to me)
If I want to post about the Red Sox (I’m seeing a .500 team with an amazing offense and a mediocre pitching staff, and what do you mean Castillo is already injured?) or the Bruins (what do you mean Connolly is already injured?) I will. If I want to post millions of camera phone pictures of my cat acting like a lazy asshole, then I will.
What it comes down to is simple. I will write whatever I feel like, whenever I feel like it.
Does that mean I don’t have a target audience? Maybe, but no. It does not. There is a target audience. There is someone for whom each post is targeted.
Hi Jen. I love you with all my heart. I hope your having a good morning at work. Smoooooch.
I uploaded the new RPM music to bandcamp. Please don’t pay for this. If you want it you can get it at my alonetone site for nuttin. If you insist on shelling out some dough, I would ask you to donate it to rpmchallenge.com.
All of the music for the RPM Challenge is complete. I need to burn a cd. Do I have a cd? I need to find a cd, then burn a cd, and then print out the cover (front and back! Fancy!). This year my beloved wife, the love of my life and woman of my dreams (I will never get tired of calling her those things. Swooooon) and I are going to drive to headquarters in Portsmouth, NH and hand deliver.
That leads to the inevitable post February musical question: What next?
Well for starters, I’m not going to do an RPM a month for the rest of the year, like I did last year. I’m also probably not going to take part in 50/90 again, though the jury is still out on that. What I was thinking of doing next is a little more complicated. First and foremost, the band takes precedence from this point on. No more recording when I’m supposed to be practicing. That doesn’t mean I’m done recording, it just means I’ll do it after practicing is done.
Second, I think it’s time to upgrade from GarageBand to Logic Pro X. It’s expensive, but it just seems time for something new, and being a total Apple nerd, that’s where I want to go next.
Finally, is it time to collect the highlights from 8+ years of home recording and make a best of album? Maybe, but it has to be something different. I figure 15–20 songs. I’ll record them the way I normally do, with midi bass, drums, and keys, and simulated amplifiers, but those will be scratch tracks. After everything is arranged correctly I’d bring my Marshal amp home after practices and replace the guitars with actual amplified noise. Next, maybe it’s time to bring Mike the Bass Player into the fold and let him replace the midi bass parts with the real thing. Maybe I could do the same with Greg the Lizardfish Singer. That would leave drums. I’d like to have Kevin the Lizardfish drummer replace the midi parts, but recording real drums is an absolute bitch of a process, not to mention the overwhelming majority of drummers puke at the thought of overdubbing drums onto an existing track. Neil Peart does it all the time, but he’s part genius, part human metronome, and part god on Earth. He’s the exception to say the least. I’m not sure that I’m up to the challenge of live drums. Technologically I know I’m not right now because I don’t have enough microphones, and I’d probably need a bigger USB audio interface.
Anyway, that’s what I’m thinking about.
Originally published at robj2112.wordpress.com on February 28, 2015.
All of the music for RPM is complete (see the previous post). I need to burn a cd. Do I have a cd? I need to find a cd, then burn a cd, and then print out the cover (front and back! Fancy!). This year my beloved wife, the love of my life and woman of my dreams (I will never get tired of calling her those things. Swooooon) and I are going to drive to headquarters in Portsmouth, NH and hand deliver.
That leads to the inevitable post February question: What next?
Well for starters, I’m not going to do an RPM a month for the rest of the year. I’m also probably not going to take part in 50/90 again, though the jury is still out on that. What I was thinking of doing next is a little more complicated. First and foremost, the band takes precedence from this point on. No more recording when I’m supposed to be practicing. That doesn’t mean I’m done recording, it just means I’ll do it after practicing is done.
Second, I think it’s time to upgrade from GarageBand to Logic Pro X. It’s expensive, but it just seems time for something new, and being a total Apple nerd, that’s where I want to go next.
Finally, is it time to collect the highlights from 8+ years of home recording and make a best of album? Maybe, but it has to be something different. I figure 15-20 songs. I’ll record them the way I normally do, with midi bass, drums, and keys, and simulated amplifiers, but those will be scratch tracks. After everything is arranged correctly I’d bring my Marshal amp home after practices and replace the guitars with actual amplified noise. Next, maybe it’s time to bring Mike the Bass Player into the fold and let him replace the midi bass parts with the real thing. Maybe I could do the same with Greg the Lizardfish Singer. That would leave drums. I’d like to have Kevin the Lizardfish drummer replace the midi parts, but recording real drums is an absolute bitch of a process, not to mention the overwhelming majority of drummers puke at the thought of overdubbing drums onto an existing track. Neil Peart does it all the time, but he’s part genius, part human metronome, and part god on Earth. He’s the exception to say the least. I’m not sure that I’m up to the challenge of live drums. Technologically I know I’m not right now because I don’t have enough microphones, and I’d probably need a bigger USB audio interface.
Anyway, that’s what I’m thinking about.
PS, we aren’t driving to Portsmouth. I’m going to mail the cd like I always do.
Here’s a playlist with the whole shebang.
I’m going to combine the last two songs into one track and have them cross fade. That can wait until morning though. I’m freakin’ exhausted.
That’s it kiddos, I’m done with RPM for another year! The last song has been mixed, the cover art is done and the running order is set. All I have left to do is burn a CD, print the cover, and drop it off at headquarters.
I’ll share a playlist with the final running order soon. Probably tomorrow. For now? Sleep!
RPM ends tomorrow. What do I have left to do?
Mix one song.
Decide if I want to drop any songs from the playlist. I need 10, I have 15. There’s lots of wiggle room. One looks dropable, another is a gimmick so it’s probably dropable too. Plenty left to make up a decent running order.
Come up with a running order. There are four songs that suck less than the rest. Those will go first. After that? No idea.
Make up an insert. I used to use a make a cd cover website. I hope that’s still up. I also need to put my name on the picture I posted yesterday.
Either mail the thing out, or drive to Portsmouth and drop it off. I might drop it off this year. It depends on how my wife is feeling (she has a cold) and how much homework she has to do.
Then figure out what music project is next.
I mixed a song at lunch time today and it immediately went onto the cut list. I just don’t like it. So I am not posting it here. Then after playing karate chauffeur to the kids all evening I mixed this one. It also probably belongs on the cut list, but it isn’t so bad.
Inside the Red Head's Head 