Tag: Rpm Challenge

Guitars Tomorrow (I Hope)

I feel like I got a lot done on the RPM Challenge today but I didn’t record any guitar parts and I didn’t write or record any vocal parts. I did do at least some work on seven different songs though. I mixed one, and shared it in the previous post, changed the drummer on three, and came up with three new songs.

The new ones are just bass and drums so hopefully I’ll add guitars tomorrow as well as add some leads to the huge pile of songs that are waiting patiently for them. Then write some lyrics for the six songs that still don’t have lyrics, and prep myself for some epic car music during the week. I’m planning on going into the office on Monday so that’s out, but I am off work on Tuesday and Wednesday so hopefully I’ll get through everything.

I’m at 18 songs right now. I’d like to hit 20. I have nine days left. I’d say the chances of finishing February with a completed submission are 100%. Even if my arms fall off and I can’t play anymore, I can still mix the songs that have vocals but not leads and end up with 12 songs. The real question is, will I finish with two completed submissions. I’d put the chances of that at maybe 50% at best.

I can still pull it off. Just watch me, bro.

The First Song is Finished – #RPM2022

Does it have any of my planned gimmicks for this year’s challenge?

It has a tempo change, check.
It has a different guitar coming out of your left speaker than the one coming out of the right speaker, check.
It uses a longer reverb effect on all of the tracks.

There aren’t any time signature changes or games played with backwards tracks so it doesn’t hit on all of the themes, but it’s a good start.

The song is okay. Just okay. It doesn’t matter. I will not be shut out this year and that is the best gimmick of all!

Two More Songs – #RPM2022

Have I started doing nightly wrap ups of the day’s RPM Challenge progress? Not really, but here is exactly that.

I started two new songs today. One started with a bass line and is super simple, though it is in 7/8 time. The other song started on guitar. Both songs have all of the rhythm guitar tracks. One of them still needs a bass line, but I’ll get to that soon.

I’m thinking about changing my pedal chain a little. I’m using a Ryra The Klone for that mid range boosting Klon thing. I have an actual Klon, a KTR not a Centaur because I am not made of money ya know, on the board in the cellar and I can hear it talking to me. What’s it saying? It’s say, hey Rob… a Ryra? What the fuck?

The Ryra pedal is spectacular, but the KTR is maybe a smidgen spactacularer. I think I am going to swap them for the rest of the month. Once the band starts playing again the Klon will be back on the big board and will live over at Mike the Bass Player’s house.

For now though, pictures…

Did you notice the reflection of my computer screen? You can see GarageBand. Don’t steal my ideas though.

Looking Ahead

It’s the end of my lunch break on Friday. I’m looking ahead to the weekend. What’s going on?

We have a problem in our kitchen and someone is coming over to take a look and maybe give an estimate. We will all be masked and distanced and I really hate having people invade our Covid bubble but what can you do. After that I am going to bring some groceries over to my parents. Again, masks and distance. Outside of that?

One song needs rhythm guitars. 11 songs need lead guitars. One song is ready for vocals. At least six songs do not exist and need to start existing.

Other than that? I heard snow could be a thing this weekend. I choose to ignore that as even the slightest possibility. No thank you. The yard was covered with snow when I left the house yesterday morning. By the time I got home it was all gone. All of it. This morning I saw the temperature reach 60 degrees. It’s now 37 and dropping like a stone. Cold in February sucks, but it’s better than cold and snow. No snow. Pretty please with sugar on top.

Oh yeah, one other insignificant thing. The Walking Dead comes back on Sunday night. To paraphrase Adam Sandler (actually, more like steal a lyric from Adam Sandler), Zombies for me. Zombies for you. Like to kill zombies in an old brown shoe.

I am so ready for some weekend right now. So ready.

A Little More Progress – #RPM2022

I had a pretty busy day today. There was a lot going on at work and around the house and that didn’t leave a lot of time for music. I did manage to write lyrics and record vocals for three songs. Any day I get through a few vocal tracks without dying of embarrassment and shame is a productive day in my book.

12 songs have all of their vocal tracks down. Only one of those 12 has lead guitars and is ready to mix. Another one of the 12 might require some new rhythm guitar tracks. The more I work on the song the less I like what I have. I think I might do them again, but only if I have time.

There is only one song left that doesn’t have vocals. I’m at 13 total but I really want to add more. 20 is a nice number. 20 songs counts as two completed RPM albums and that’s always fun to do. At least it was fun the one time I did it. There was another time I had more than 20 songs, but a bunch of them were recorded twice so they don’t count.

Not sure what I will have time for tomorrow, but I’ll try to get through something. I need to add more songs to the pile. I don’t have any 12-bars yet. Maybe I should add a 12-bar.

The Guitar Was Played Tonight – #RPM2022

Oh glorious glory, the electric guitar was played tonight. Only for about an hour. Maybe an hour and 15 minutes. Progress on the RPM Challenge was made though.

I had three songs that needed rhythm guitar tracks. I got them all down. I had nine songs that needed lead guitar tracks. I got one of them.

There are 13 songs in progress. I would like to get to 20, but I’ll take 15. I need 10 for the final challenge submission and I want to have some options for which 10 to use. The more options the better because none of these songs are terribly good, even by my abysmally low standards.

Still, regardless of the final outcome at the end of the month, there was rock rolled tonight.

I used a clip on tuner in the bedroom setup (though not the band setup). You wanna make something of it?
That’s a B minor 7th if you’re playing along at home.

Superb Owl

So there’s a game or something tonight? I saw that the Buffalo Sabers were playing the Montreal Canadiens in what must have been the lamest match up of the century so far, but that was earlier. What game is everyone talking about?

Har har har.

Clearly I am not watching the Super Bowl, though my bass player let it drop yesterday that he’s in one of the two cities represented in the game. I wonder what the volume level in public spaces is like there. Hopefully they don’t go through what Boston used to go through with riots near Northeastern. Those were bad ends to great experiences.

It dawned on me today that by taking tomorrow off, my co-workers are going to assume I was planning for a Sunday full of drunken revelry. Dudes couldn’t be further off if they tried.

I worked on music quite a bit today, but not as much as I would have liked. I snuck some singing in when no one was looking and at the moment I have three songs with vocals complete and six more ready to go for a (weather permitting) car music in the morning. I seriously considered doing some car music during the super bowl but knowing my luck I would get t-boned by some drunk football fan trying to find his way to the next super bowl party. You know how it is.

Tomorrow I am meeting with the surgeon who, hopefully, will someday perform my weight loss surgery. I am pretty nervous but far from panicked. A little part of me is expecting her to tell me that I am not qualified and I should just go home and hurry up that inevitable heart attack. I guess that counts as nerves. You know how it is.

Okay. My exercise bike is calling me. I just wasted 61 minutes watching a cool YouTube video about Les Pauls. Time to go get some exercise minutes in.

Wish me luck.

Snow Ruins Everything

I got my fat ass out of bed early this morning so that I could do some singing in the car for RPM and it’s effin’ snowing out. Not a lot, a couple of inches of fluffy crap, but it’s ruined my morning plans. I could still go out do something, but every parking lot in the city is going to have plows all over it. I can’t have a magical, perfect, pristine vocal take ruined by the sound of a plow in the background. Gross. Now that I think of it though, magical, perfect, and pristine never happen so maybe the sound of a plow in the background will be in improvement. No. Even I’m not that desperate.

Looks like the plan for today is to write more lyrics, write more melodies, add more guitar parts where needed, and maybe try to start a new song or two.

On a different note, Jen and I watched the first two episodes of Only Murders in the Building on Hulu and I think I might be a little bit hooked. I must admit there was a tiny bit of culture shock watching two of the Three Amigos be less than cordial to each other. Also there was a bit of culture shock hearing the kid from Wizards of Waverley Place dropping f-bombs. I mean, talk about being out of touch, right?

Back to the weather, we may still go out today. We might possibly brave the snow to do a curbside pickup at a store (gasp in Covid horror). I think I might be ready to start working up the courage to go into stores and businesses again. I have to do it for work and I have to do it for doctors appointments. Any time I start feeling Covid-confident, which is almost never, my mind wanders over to the band. We had a chat going last night and we know it will be a month and a half before we can start thinking about getting together (one band member has major work commitments right now) so maybe… Maybe sometime in March we’ll play again? I should buy a new amp and a new guitar to celebrate.

Okay, Robert. Get to work on that RPM thing. Get some stuff done, you lazy asshole!

Wrote Some Tunes – #RPM2022

I wrote a few melodies today. Not nearly as many as I’d hoped, but enough to get me to the point where I have enough songs ready for vocals to make car music in the morning worthwhile.

I’ve 13 songs in the works right now. Nine have the full rhythm section recorded, and five of those are ready for vocals.

Here’s hoping I get a ton done tomorrow. I have a doctors appointment on Monday so I took the day off. Here’s hoping I get a ton done on Monday too.

RPM progress is happening. It’s slow, but it’s happening.

#RPM2022 Stalled

Over the last few days I’ve been dropping the RPM Challenge ball in a huge way. I have 10 songs but none are even remotely close to being done.

Tonight I did what we are supposed to do when we run out of gas. I forced myself to do something. It resulted in two new songs. I should try to push things a little more but I’m exhausted from the long day.

I’m going to bed, but I plan to keep forcing the issue tomorrow.

Progress, babie.