Check it out, a new song.
Kinda like this one. It’s going on the A list for sure. (A list is songs that definitely make the final album, B list is songs that might make the final album, C list is songs that suck so bad I want to forget they exist)
I have four songs mixed, six songs ready to mix, 10 songs that only need lead guitar, and boy am I going to be brain fried by the end of the month.
Wheeeeeeeee!
One note from today’s RPM Challenge music haul.
I really over did it with the guitar playing yesterday. My finger tips were torn up nicely.
Today I learned that such guitar related injuries take more than one day to heal.
Ouch, babie. Ouch.
Ouch-town, population you (me), bro.
I took the day off from work today for my appointment with the dietician. I’ve done a few chores, and a few other things, but mostly I’ve worked on the RPM Challenge. I hope to get a lot more done before the day is over, but I told someone at work that I would pop in for a few minutes today and it’s almost time for that so I’m taking a musical break.
What have I done so far?
Car music. Yesterday I wrote lyrics for five songs and today I put vocals on all of them. I was lucky I finished the fifth and final song when I did (there are more songs to work on, but none had vocals parts written at the time… and that is foreshadowing). I told Jen when I left the house that I would stay out as long as my bladder would let me. As I was finishing up that fifth song my bladder declared in no uncertain terms that it was time to go home. Yup, lucky it worked out the way it did.
Once I got home I spent an hour and half or so freaking out about weight loss surgery, then I went to my appointment. After that I wrote the melody and lyrics for two songs. At the time, those were the only two songs left (foreshadowing again). They are all set for a repeat car music tomorrow.
At that point I thought I would start mixing one of the three songs that are ready to go. I haven’t touched them yet. Instead I added another song. I kept saying I wanted 20 and I was stuck on 19, so now I have 20. It has bass and drums and a MIDI guide for guitar. It also has a melody and lyrics. I hope to get some time after dinner tonight to add real guitars but if I don’t I should still be able to include it in the car music tomorrow.
So what’s left for today? First, pop into work for a bit. Then cook dinner for Jen. Also drink lots of water but not 15 minutes before or 60 minutes after eating. Then, I have three songs to mix. I have one song that needs rhythm guitars, and I have a whopping 13 that need lead guitar. Only five more days after today. I need to start picking those off. I also have to start mixing the songs that are ready. There’s a ton of work to choose from.
Jen just mentioned going to a store in Cambridge tonight. That cuts down on time but it won’t be a problem. I still have a weekend at my disposal too.
In closing, the view from my “studio” this morning…
I have spent maybe three hours working on guitar parts today. I put rhythm guitars on three songs (song numbers 16-18 if you’re keeping track, and I know you are not), started a new song (titled song number 19 for now), and put leads onto three songs (titled song number 2 through 4).
I did all of the rhythm tracks first, then the leads. I was okay when I started working on leads. The first song went well. While working on the second song I was thinking I might be needing a break. The third song was totally overdoing it.
After all of that time my hands and my ears and my brain all feel like a fuzzy mush. I definitely need a break. I think I’ll watch an episode or two of Disenchantment, then make dinner for the love of my life, then we’ll see what happens. I still have to do all of my exercise, and there is an episode of a certain zombie show airing at 9:00pm. I need to be ready for that.
(Insert the sound of a zombie hissing here. Unless you’re not a Walking Dead fan, in which case insert the sound of a more Romero style zombie moaning here instead)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Here we go again.
Welcome to February and the annual onslaught of RPM Challenge posts. Hurray for bad music! Well, a lot of the people who play the RPM game make excellent music. I just don’t feel you’re reading a post from one of those people right now.
The Trello board has been created and the first card has been added! The working title being “RPM 22 01 iPad” because it’s 2022, it’s the first idea, and the file was originally created on my iPad (only because the Logic Remote app isn’t playing nicely this morning, otherwise it would have been started on the Mac).
Does song number one contain a tempo change? Why yes, yes it does. Look at me being all musically thematic and shit.
Have fun, folks!
Inside the Red Head's Head 