Tag: Songwriting

RPM Challenge – Day Eight (Continued)

Hey, check out the playlist I posted earlier today. It’s up to 10 songs at 39:59. That clears both requirements for the RPM Challenge. Four more songs to sketch out and I’ll have enough to complete FAWM. OF course, then I just have to finish writing and recording everything. I am feeling good about this though. (even though all my songs sound exactly the same)

RPM Challenge – Day 3

I put rhythm guitars onto the three existing songs today. The first two got the 12-string, and the third got the ES-335 with lots and lots of wah-wah.

The playlist won’t embed for some reason, and the one I posted the other day won’t update (I’ve since deleted it) so you get a link today. Bad Music Found Here.

The second song doesn’t have any drums. I’m trying to decide if I want it to stay that way. I think I do. I’m not sure though. I tried using the GarageBand Drummer function again but I wasn’t pleased with the results. I think it’s better without the drums. I can’t decide.

Completely changing the subject, there were a bunch of deer in the woods this morning. They were all over to the side of the house. I saw one staring intently toward the street. Something out there spooked her because she bolted off in the opposite direction. All of the others followed. I counted six as they were running by. It was pretty cool.

RPM Challenge – Day 2

I didn’t do nearly as much as I’d hoped today, but I did get a third song kicked off. Again, not the riff I’d planned for the second song, but something new. Jen was in the kitchen making dinner. I was helping, but she gave me a few minutes off. I picked up my iPad and, using a piano sound, played the first couple of things that came into my head. Tonight, while sitting in bed, I changed the piano to a bass, and then gave the new GarageBand’s “drummer” mode a whirl. It inserted a drum part into each of my three bits. I messed with the settings a little and came up with something that I would not have thought off, that was also clearly better than what I had in mind. I don’t know if I’ll use it again, but it was cool to play with it tonight.

RPM Day #1 So Far

Song idea #1 is underway! I am bending my RPM rule of working all songs from scratch. During November’s NaSoAlMo silliness I bought a new 12-string guitar. When I took it home I opened up garageband on my phone and recorded the first thing that popped into my head. It was just a little 2 bar thingie in A minor. Yippee. I meant to use it for that project, but I didn’t. Now it makes up one little bit of RPM song #1. I think I’ll bend the rule again for what will be song #2. I’ve had a silly little idea for a riff that couldn’t really work as anything other than a bridge that’s been in my head since the mid 90’s. It keeps coming back to me for some reason. I’ll use it in the next song, if I can.

New (Old) Song

I finished another song today. This one was written in 1991. I can’t say for sure, but it might have been the first song I ever wrote from top to bottom all by my lonesome. At least I can’t remember anything older. There were actually two others that were written at about the same time that might have been my first solo effort. It doesn’t matter.

I think it was 1994 or 1995 that Mike, Dan, and I went into Northeast Broadcasting School’s 24 track studio after hours and recorded four songs. This was one of them. The other three have all been redone in GarageBand too. At first I wanted to record this one, and then make a playlist with all four. Then I thought I’d record the other three too. Then I thought I’d add a few new songs onto the end, just for fun. Then I thought I’d keep the three finished recordings and still add the new songs.

As of this moment, I’m going back to the original plan. Just the four old songs, using the already finished recordings. Yippee.

There is one cool thing about this demo, from my goofy point of view at least. Ever since I started playing the home recording game back in 2007, every song I’ve done (with one exception) has either used a headphone amp, or some kind of software amplifier simulator for all of the electric guitars. Not this one. This one is my actual, real life, physically there Marshall amp. Somehow that little fact made this one seem 100 times more fun.

Here it is:
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/drift-away.mp3%20

RPM is Coming – Continued

I was sitting in the basement with my step son last night, watching Mythbusters, playing a little wii u, flying his remote controlled helicopter (which he got for his birthday [I think] a couple of years ago and completely forgot about it without even ever opening the box… the downside of living in two houses, methinks) when I took out my new 12-string and noodled for a bit before snapping a couple of camera+ pics. When I posted them here I wrote that RPM is coming soon. 32 days.

I have also said not long ago that I was going to make a mini project out of four old songs. I have expanded that a little. Three nights ago, my step son was in bed and my step daughter was enjoying the 30 minutes she gets to stay up after he went to bed. I was exhausted. I couldn’t keep my eyes open, but I wanted to make sure she got to bed at the right time so I forced myself to stay awake.

How did I do it?

Garageband for iPad. I came up with a bass riff and a drum groove. Just like I’m going to be doing ad nauseum come February. So I decided to make a project out of it. This was Friday night, so there were five days left in 2013. I decided I would come up with a riff or two (or three) a day for the last five days of the year, and then while working on the four old songs during the month of January, I would also finish off the five new songs. the difference is that the old songs need to be 100% Garageband for Mac, while the five new songs will be 100% Garageband for iPad.

What do you think the chances of me finishing any of this are?

0%? Sounds plausible.

NaSoAlMo Day 11 Update

Today is November 11. The day we honor those who fought for our country. For me, it’s also been a NaSoAlMo day. I have all the “songs” I am going to need. Right now the count is at seven songs and 33 minutes. That’ll do. All of the songs have the full arrangement spec’d out, all of the rhythm guitars, bass, and drums finished, and a random keyboard here and there. All that remains is lyrics, melodies, vocals, and lead guitar.

The mess that is the new version of GarageBand has taken 90% of the fun out of this for me. There are little things that are just infuriating. When in measure display mode, you used to be able to click on a beat within a bar and the play head would snap to that spot. Now, it snaps to the spot until you let go of the mouse button, then it moves a fraction of a beat to one side or another. Sometimes it would take four or five clicks to get it into place.

Other changes are gigantic. Where are all the effects? What do you mean I can’t add anything other than compression and EQ? And while we’re on the topic of compression and EQ, where the hell are all of those incredible presets that the old GarageBand had? This alone has pretty much destroyed any chance I had of ever being happy with a recording again.

Anyway. Seven songs. Lots of padding, I’m afraid. None of the songs are under three minutes. Very proggie of me, if I don’t say so myself. I have an idea of how to tie everything together into one big suite. I bought some sound effect tracks from iTunes last night. I think I am going to try and make the full 33 minutes sound like a listener flipping around a radio dial. Silly. Stupid, even. It’s just my sort of stupid silliness though.

19 days to go. Really, I don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of finishing this one on time. I don’t care though.

National Solo Album Month

If you don’t like music, specifically bad music, then I owe you an apology in advance… Because if I can keep motivated, we’re looking at a months worth of bad music on this little page. November is National Solo Album Month, or NaSoAlMo for the cool kids. I’ve tried this many times, but never saw my interest last beyond the first few days. I’m hoping this year will be different. The plan is to do all the same stuff I do for RPM In February, but focus more on acoustic guitar (for rhythm parts at least) and to try and use different drum and bass sounds in GarageBand. I started piecing together an idea tonight. Just like Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, it’s just a primary rhythm thing… And that is the last time you’ll ever hear me speak of my music in the same breathe as Jimi’s.

Let’s hope I stay motivated. I want to have some kind of creative (noisy) output to offset my slowly losing my mind at work.

Rock on, brothers and sisters.

A New/Old Song Called Thoughts

This was written at the same time as Laughing. The plan was to try writing songs that I could sing while playing the guitar. I think I played my first bedroom recording of this (with me playing my brother’s drums, gasp!) to Mike the bass player but he passed on it. This song should be brand new to everyone else on Earth. I always liked it, but never pushed anyone to play it. I don’t know why. As for the meaning of the lyrics? I have no idea at all.