Tag: Recording

April 2020 RPM

You thought this was over for a while.  No way, dude.  No way.

The RPM Challenge has a website and a Facebook group.  There’s a subreddit and a discord chat too but I don’t use those too often.  Every February the 300 or so of us pop over to the website and sign up for the year.  Lots of people post on the forums and some people write blogs.  On Facebook people usually just post links to their music including links to live streams and gigs and things.  Normally both places are nice and busy from late-January through mid-March.  Outside of that little time frame both are pretty dead.

A couple of weeks ago there was a post to the Facebook group suggesting doing a second RPM Challenge in April.  If we’re all going to be stuck at home anyway, why not write some music.  I responded by saying I was already planning on it so I was in.  I then went over to the website and checked the forum.  There was something about doing a mini-challenge but nothing much.

This weekend, as March was winding down, I went to both places to see if anything was going to come of that little discussion.  There was nothing on Facebook.  The forum had one little mention stating that something was in the works.  Cool.  Yesterday I took another look at the website.  There it was.

The whole front page had been redesigned.  That usually happens in January.  This time there was a link to a Google Form where you could sign up for April.  This time there are more options for goals.  Instead of just 10 songs or 35 minutes, you can alternately sign up to make a sing, one song or five minutes, an EP, five songs or 20 minutes, and a box set, 30 songs or 100 minutes.  I signed up for the usual 10 songs or 35 minutes.

There were a couple of posts on Facebook from the admins announcing that sign ups were open again.  I haven’t seen much from actual participants.  There are a couple of little comments.  My favorite being someone who was happy that he got a second opportunity to ask himself why he’s putting himself through it.

Like I said, I was going to do this anyway.  It still feels nice to think that at least some of us who are regular participants are going to use it as a motivator for social distance.  That’s a good thing.  We’re all going to stay at home anyway, so why not make some music while we’re stuck.

Now the question is, how many April 2020 RPM Challenge albums are going to have titles that include Social Distance, or Shelter in Place, or Quarantine, or COVID-19, or Coronavirus?  All of them?

RPMarch is Finished!

March 2020 did what March 2014 failed to do.  It followed February’s RPM Challenge rules album-in-a-month with another RPM Challenge rules album-in-a-month.  In 2014 the March music wasn’t finished until May.  In 2020 it was finished with two days to spare, babie!  Got it in early!

Today I recorded three vocals, six lead guitars, and I mixed six songs.  I am so tired I can’t function.  Enjoy!

Tracking is Done

All of the tracking for all 10 songs is done!  Sweet.

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It just occurred to me that if I mix the last six songs tonight I will have finished March in the same amount of time as February.  Yeah, I am losing it a little.

March is Almost Over

I know that no one else on Earth gives even the slightest fuck about yet another stupid song writing project.  We all have much bigger fish to fry.  I don’t care.  You’re getting another March Music post and that’s all there is to it.

I’ve got three days left.  Tonight while watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, I wrote the lyrics and the melody to the last three songs.  I now have three vocal parts to record, and six lead guitars to record.  I am hopeful that I can get them all done tomorrow, though that will require another trip to an empty parking lot for the three vocals.  No problem.

That will leave me with Sunday night, and Monday and Tuesday before and after work to mix the six remaining songs.  Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy.

Once that’s done all I will need to worry about is the global pandemic and the news stories detailing a growing sense of panic in some parts of the world… some of which are not too terribly far from me.

Until April 1st that is, when I start another month long writing challenge.

March Music

I finished two songs.  One last night and another just a few minutes ago.  I’d post them both here but hearthis.at is being a pain in the ass and not uploading the second song.  I couldn’t get the first one to upload last night either, but it worked this morning.

Both songs are crap, but they exist so there’s that.  If the second song ever uploads I’ll share it.  Until then, you’ll just have to settle for one stink burger.

 

Risky Behavior

I did two crazy things this morning and it’s still not even time to punch in to work.

  1. I left the house
  2. I recorded myself singing

It was risky behavior, not because I left the house.  Sure, I left the house but I never left the car.  I never even cracked the windows.  No, it was risky behavior because the security guard working at the strip mall whose parking lot I was hiding in buzzed me twice in his mall security mobile.  If he had come over to me I would have had to explain what I was doing and boy would that have been embarrassing.  I’m glad I avoided that hassle.

My mobile studio:

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Thursday Night Music

The March 2020 Music Album in a Month RPMarch thing whatever it’s called made progress tonight.  Two of the four rhythm guitar free songs now have rhythm guitar.  I played my SG tonight instead of my Les Paul.  I don’t know why.  It means I have SG Hipstamatic pics to post though.

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Shake to Shuffle rides again.

Music and Money

I’ve mentioned that at the start of March I decided to curb my post-RPM Challenge blues by doing another RPM Challenge.  I’m still working on it though it is very easy to be distracted by other things right now.  I’ve got two songs done, six more partially done, and I still need two more.

This morning there was a post on the RPM Challenge Facebook group (I didn’t check the actual RPM Challenge website, it might be there too) suggesting we all take advantage of being stuck at home indefinitely and do another RPM Challenge in April.  Good idea!  I mean, I was already planning on it, but I don’t have to do it alone.  Why not?  Why not use our stay-at-home time to do something creative?  I’m all for it… but I would have been without a global pandemic to lock me in the house so I guess I’m not the target audience there.

Turning to politics, remember when Andrew Yang was running for president and proposed giving everyone in the USA a $1,000 stipend every month?  I thought it was a good idea.  A creative way to help those in need as well as to stimulate the economy.  I also loved the implied, “you think Sanders is a socialist?  Wait till you get a load of this” vibe.

Yesterday Mittens Romney threw out a similar proposal.  Today Joe Kennedy did as well, though he provided some actual details with his idea.  Now it sounds like the fucking white house is jumping on the wagon.  They may be considering a plan similar to Yang’s.

First off, let me get it out of the way… if the dickless president really wants to make being anti-socialist a platform in his campaign, then giving away money isn’t a good way to do it.  I expect that anyone who ever said a negative word about socialism should refuse that money, right?  Just like they refuse public schools and public fire departments, and trash pick up, and police, and snow plows, and highways, and all of those other socialist things.

Second, can we just make Andrew Yang president now?  Like, let’s all vote today and just give him the job.  The proposal he made that everyone laughed at could very well be law within days.  Good work, Mr Yang.  Smart leadership is what we need and it is literally the furthest thing away from what we have.

So as for the social distancing, today is my second day working from home.  Yesterday felt like a normal telecommute day.  All day long I had this idea in the back of my mind that I would be back in the office tomorrow, same as any other telecommuting day.  It really wasn’t until I got up this morning and didn’t drive to work (I drove to the super market instead) that it really started sinking in.  Things are different.

There is a little sense of stir craziness, sure, but mostly what I am feeling today is the sense that this is going to be really hard to do.  Some how removing the commute and the office from the work day equation is going to make things more difficult?  I don’t get it, but that feels like where this is heading.  I wish I could explain it, but I can’t.

There is so much wrong with the world right now, and I’m not even talking about that textbook nazi prick in the white house.  There is so much out of wack that I can’t figure out what to focus my worries on.  I’m trying to only worry about things I can control like stocking the pantry and working from home and making sure everyone has what they need to do their work/school work without driving each other to drink (wink).  I don’t want to worry about all the other shit.  I don’t want to worry about the projections or the infection rates, or the mortality rates, or the stock market, or layoffs or closings, or the fact that I am weeks overdue for a haircut and now can’t get one (anyone want to lend me their flowbee?).

Positivity used to be the hardest thing in the world for me before I met Jen.  It’s still not easy, but it is closer to my normal mindset.  I am trying real hard to stay positive through all of this.  I may need to bash my guitar around in order to pull it off, but I owe it to everyone to do my best to keep the ship upright.  (I typo’d ship as shit and somehow that sounds better to me, hehe)

So keep your shit together, planet Earth.  I have faith in you.  You can do it.  Now let’s all celebrate St Patrick’s Day in our self imposed isolation by listening to some Irish music.  No, not U2.  No, not Makem and Clancy…

Rory Gallagher (I wanted the Irish Tour album but those pukes at Spotify don’t have it)