Tag: Rpm Challenge

Ouch

I’m too old for this shit.

Shoveling, I mean. I felt okay when I first came back inside after shoveling, but now that a few hours have passed… Ouch town, population me, bro. Every inch of me is sore, and despite having two of the best nights sleep I’ve had in ages over the last two nights, I am completely exhausted.

I don’t know if I have the energy to do anything other than sit on the couch for the rest of the night. I think we were already planning on ordering out for dinner tonight. Maybe I’ll be able to crawl to the door to bring the delivery in.* I mean, really… that’s asking a lot.

It is a good thing I managed to put rhythm guitar tracks onto two RPM Challenge songs this morning before I shoveled. I don’t know if I will be able to do any more than that tonight, though I really need to. We’ll see how the pain goes. For now though, it’s just couch time. Much needed couch time, believe me.

Here’s a few guitar pictures to hold us over until next time.

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*Obviously I exaggerate. I mean, it’s still laundry day after all.

RPM Challenge Day 8/28

Okay, figuring out what I did yesterday might take a second. I did a lot and I didn’t keep the best notes. Let’s see….

I put rhythm guitars onto five songs. That’s the big deal of the day. Lots of guitar playing after a long time with almost no playing means my finger tips hurt like hell, but it’s okay because progress is good. I also added song number nine complete with MIDI bass and drums. I redid a MIDI drum part on one of the songs that got guitars but I don’t remember which one. I also just realized I have another song that needs the drums redone but I haven’t gotten to it yet. I also worked out the song form, and the bass and drums for two additional songs. Those were numbers seven and eight, I think.

I’ve already recorded some more guitar tracks this morning, but you’ll have to wait until the day nine recap to hear about all of that ultra fascinating shit. My finger tips need a break though, so it’s time to go shovel. Wish me luck.

It Was Just a Matter of Time

May 8, 2021. The musical nerd moment I lived today has been inevitable since May 8, 2021. On that day, my 50th birthday, my beloved bride bought me the best birthday present ever. A new guitar. A Gibson Les Paul Standard 50’s. Since that day I have been living the life of a glutton who owns two, that’s right, two Gibson Les Pauls. I’ve had a Les Paul Custom since 1990, and now I have two. From that day on it has been inevitable that I was going to be a total nerd and record some music with the guitar parts doubled using both Les Pauls together.

Today became that day, of course. I put rhythm guitars onto five RPM Challenge songs. In each case, the guitar coming out of the left speaker is my Les Paul Custom and the guitar coming out of the right speaker is my Les Paul Standard.

Yeah… nerd.

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RPM Challenge Day 7/28

I made a little bit of progress on day seven. I added two songs ideas. I don’t have the form set yet, just a few pieces. The good news is it puts me back over the one-idea-per-day pace as I am now up to eight songs in the pipeline.

More interesting news will come on day eight. It’s already started.

RPM Challenge Day 6/28

Day six was better than the previous two days, but still not good enough. I feel like I am light years behind schedule at this point. I am going to need a super productive weekend to fix the current situation.

Yesterday I took the song that I started overnight the night before (see my stupid little recap of day five) and added to it and fleshed out the song form and finished the MIDI bass and MIDI drums. I also added two more songs and got through the bass and drums on those as well.

So at the close of business on day six I have six songs with bass and drums tracked that are ready for rhythm guitars. On average, one new song per day. That’s not bad. It could be a whole ton of tons better, but it’s not bad. I expect there won’t be a whole lot of progress tonight, but tomorrow is Saturday and hopefully the weekend will see the pace pick up quite a bit.

RPM Challenge Day 5/28

The honest answer is nothing. Again. The second day in a row.

The squint a little answer is one new song idea. Or at least most of one new song. I woke up at 2:00am with stomach issues and needed to sit up for a little while. While I was riding things out I noodled out a couple of bass lines on my iPhone. Now at that particular moment the calendar date said it was day six. However, it was the middle of the night and I guess you can make an argument that day six actually starts when I get up for the day and that most definitely did not happen for a few more hours.

So is that bad little bass line technically from day six or subjectively from day five? I don’t know. Am I just making shit up to make me feel better about skipping two days in a row? Yeah, probably. Let’s just say that it’s been a tough couple of days for me and move on with our lives.

Here’s hoping for better news in tomorrow’s RPM Challenge recap post. Fingers crossed.

RPM Challenge Day 4/28

Nothing.

I had a really bad day and went to bed early, thinking I would get a good night’s sleep, but then I woke up super early and spoiled the whole plan. Shit.

I did get to wish my step son a Happy Birthday. I think I wished my nephew a Happy Birthday too. I sent him a text, discovered he has a new phone number, got his new phone number, sent another text, he didn’t respond. We called my sister’s phone to wish him a happy but he wasn’t home so we called his phone because my sister said his voicemail was setup but his voicemail wasn’t set up. I speak now directly to my nephew… I really hope you got that text. If not, Happy Birthday!!

That’s my whole day in a nutshell. Birthdays, back pain, stomach pain, first day back to work. Yippee. Today is an in the office day so it’s going to suck on so many levels.

Happy Merry and shit, everyone! WOOHOO!

A.I. Album Cover

During a conversation with my wife and my step daughter the other day I heard two phrases that immediately went into the running for this year’s RPM Challenge Album Title.

One potential title is, “Electric Heat is Crazy Expensive.”

The other potential title is, “Groundhogs Wear Top Hats.”

If I go for one of those titles, what would I do for the album cover art? The electric heat one… no clue. The groundhog one though… yeah, let’s ask A.I. to generate an image for us, shall we?

Maybe… maybe not. I don’t know.

RPM Challenge Day 3/28

Day three was similar to days one and two. One new song. This time it has bass and drums finished and a guide track for a sax part. It’s looking like it will be instrumental. I had this idea of having the album open with a short instrumental and this could be it. Unless it sucks, of course, or I can’t play the sax anymore, of course. The usual caveats.

RPM Challenge Day 2/28

Day two was mostly spent recovering from travel on day one (day three will be similar, I fear). I did add a second song idea and I worked out a full song form for both day 2’s song and day 1’s. So I now have two songs with full form done, including bass and drums. One of them may have a sax part already too, but it’s just a keyboard as a place holder for now.