#rpmchallenge — Public Fediverse posts

@oluOnline
Doing things with deadlines is good for this sometimes! I make music, so things like #Songfight or #RPMChallenge have helped me see a project to completion when I do them on occasion. Currently I’m contributing to #DisquietJunto. The trade off is that you have to be more spontaneous and not be so precious or perfect about the result. Other than that, yeah, most of my stuff languishes away unfinished on a hard drive indefinitely.

I took a 14 year break from the RPM Challenge... but I'm back!

https://rasterweb.net/raster/2026/02/28/the-return-of-rpm/

#music #rpmChallenge #noise #synth #korg #blogpost

I wanted to make some album cover art that would represent my #rpmChallenge project well, and to learn some more features of Krita along the way. It was maybe a bit ambitious of a concept, but I think it came together okay. I was having trouble getting the text-to-path to work, but it turned out it was a beta feature, so I updated and got that going. I learned to use layer styles, transparency masks, and to create and edit bezier shapes and combined shapes.

#WindsweptInfinity #ProceduralArt

Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys – HEXPHONES
#RPM #RPMchallenge #RPM2019 #Rock #Steamcrunk #Steampunk #WalterSickert #edrie #thesquidkid #Boston
CC BY-NC-ND (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives) #ccmusic
https://armyoftoys.bandcamp.com/album/hexphones

Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys – THE CUTTING HORSE
#Country #RPM #RPMChallenge #RPM2020 #Rock #Steamcrunk #Steampunk #altcountry #rpmchallenge #walteralicesickert #waltersickert #Boston
CC BY-NC-ND (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives) #ccmusic
https://armyoftoys.bandcamp.com/album/the-cutting-horse

Another Screwy Day

Today is Thursday and much like yesterday and the day before it is turning out to be a screwy day. Fun.

I overslept this morning. I had a bunch of things I wanted to do before the work day started and then I overslept and screwed up all of my plans. I did get the big things in, my day’s worth of goofy exercise, breakfast, routine stuff like that, and I managed to sneak in a little bit of guitar playing. I put rhythm guitars onto one RPM Challenge song. Not much but better than nothing.

We got a little snow last night. Probably less than an inch. The snow turned into rain and now we have a driveway covered in a nightmare of slush. At some point later today the temperature is going to drop and that nightmare of slush is going to turn into a nightmare of ice and I don’t know if I am going to have time to clear any of it before it freezes. I am super happy about that. Really. There’s not an ounce of sarcasm here. I am thrilled to the teeth by this potential outcome*.

It’s not even noon yet and the work day has been just as crazy as yesterday. Not bad, but a weird combination of hectic and frustrating. It’s looking like tomorrow will be similar, but after that things should settle again. Here’s hoping at least.

In closing, here’s a few guitar pictures from this morning because I am insane.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54324874621/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54325281160/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54325099104/in/datetaken/

*Contrary to the above statement, I was in fact being sarcastic. Extremely sarcastic. My words were dripping with venomous sarcasm. Just call me a sarcasm machine.

#365 #365Challenge #365Project #dailySchedule #Guitar #Music #Nikon #nikonZ5 #oversleep #overslept #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photoADayProject #photography #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #schedule #Sleep #SongWriting #work #z5

Another Screwy Day

Today is Thursday and much like yesterday and the day before it is turning out to be a screwy day. Fun.

I overslept this morning. I had a bunch of things I wanted to do before the work day started and then I overslept and screwed up all of my plans. I did get the big things in, my day’s worth of goofy exercise, breakfast, routine stuff like that, and I managed to sneak in a little bit of guitar playing. I put rhythm guitars onto one RPM Challenge song. Not much but better than nothing.

We got a little snow last night. Probably less than an inch. The snow turned into rain and now we have a driveway covered in a nightmare of slush. At some point later today the temperature is going to drop and that nightmare of slush is going to turn into a nightmare of ice and I don’t know if I am going to have time to clear any of it before it freezes. I am super happy about that. Really. There’s not an ounce of sarcasm here. I am thrilled to the teeth by this potential outcome*.

It’s not even noon yet and the work day has been just as crazy as yesterday. Not bad, but a weird combination of hectic and frustrating. It’s looking like tomorrow will be similar, but after that things should settle again. Here’s hoping at least.

In closing, here’s a few guitar pictures from this morning because I am insane.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54324874621/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54325281160/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54325099104/in/datetaken/

*Contrary to the above statement, I was in fact being sarcastic. Extremely sarcastic. My words were dripping with venomous sarcasm. Just call me a sarcasm machine.

#365 #365Challenge #365Project #dailySchedule #Guitar #Music #Nikon #nikonZ5 #oversleep #overslept #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photoADayProject #photography #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #schedule #Sleep #SongWriting #work #z5

Another Screwy Day

Today is Thursday and much like yesterday and the day before it is turning out to be a screwy day. Fun.

I overslept this morning. I had a bunch of things I wanted to do before the work day started and then I overslept and screwed up all of my plans. I did get the big things in, my day’s worth of goofy exercise, breakfast, routine stuff like that, and I managed to sneak in a little bit of guitar playing. I put rhythm guitars onto one RPM Challenge song. Not much but better than nothing.

We got a little snow last night. Probably less than an inch. The snow turned into rain and now we have a driveway covered in a nightmare of slush. At some point later today the temperature is going to drop and that nightmare of slush is going to turn into a nightmare of ice and I don’t know if I am going to have time to clear any of it before it freezes. I am super happy about that. Really. There’s not an ounce of sarcasm here. I am thrilled to the teeth by this potential outcome*.

It’s not even noon yet and the work day has been just as crazy as yesterday. Not bad, but a weird combination of hectic and frustrating. It’s looking like tomorrow will be similar, but after that things should settle again. Here’s hoping at least.

In closing, here’s a few guitar pictures from this morning because I am insane.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54324874621/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54325281160/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54325099104/in/datetaken/

*Contrary to the above statement, I was in fact being sarcastic. Extremely sarcastic. My words were dripping with venomous sarcasm. Just call me a sarcasm machine.

#365 #365Challenge #365Project #dailySchedule #Guitar #Music #Nikon #nikonZ5 #oversleep #overslept #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photoADayProject #photography #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #schedule #Sleep #SongWriting #work #z5

Another Screwy Day

Today is Thursday and much like yesterday and the day before it is turning out to be a screwy day. Fun.

I overslept this morning. I had a bunch of things I wanted to do before the work day started and then I overslept and screwed up all of my plans. I did get the big things in, my day’s worth of goofy exercise, breakfast, routine stuff like that, and I managed to sneak in a little bit of guitar playing. I put rhythm guitars onto one RPM Challenge song. Not much but better than nothing.

We got a little snow last night. Probably less than an inch. The snow turned into rain and now we have a driveway covered in a nightmare of slush. At some point later today the temperature is going to drop and that nightmare of slush is going to turn into a nightmare of ice and I don’t know if I am going to have time to clear any of it before it freezes. I am super happy about that. Really. There’s not an ounce of sarcasm here. I am thrilled to the teeth by this potential outcome*.

It’s not even noon yet and the work day has been just as crazy as yesterday. Not bad, but a weird combination of hectic and frustrating. It’s looking like tomorrow will be similar, but after that things should settle again. Here’s hoping at least.

In closing, here’s a few guitar pictures from this morning because I am insane.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54324874621/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54325281160/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54325099104/in/datetaken/

*Contrary to the above statement, I was in fact being sarcastic. Extremely sarcastic. My words were dripping with venomous sarcasm. Just call me a sarcasm machine.

#365 #365Challenge #365Project #dailySchedule #Guitar #Music #Nikon #nikonZ5 #oversleep #overslept #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photoADayProject #photography #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #schedule #Sleep #SongWriting #work #z5

Another Screwy Day

Today is Thursday and much like yesterday and the day before it is turning out to be a screwy day. Fun.

I overslept this morning. I had a bunch of things I wanted to do before the work day started and then I overslept and screwed up all of my plans. I did get the big things in, my day’s worth of goofy exercise, breakfast, routine stuff like that, and I managed to sneak in a little bit of guitar playing. I put rhythm guitars onto one RPM Challenge song. Not much but better than nothing.

We got a little snow last night. Probably less than an inch. The snow turned into rain and now we have a driveway covered in a nightmare of slush. At some point later today the temperature is going to drop and that nightmare of slush is going to turn into a nightmare of ice and I don’t know if I am going to have time to clear any of it before it freezes. I am super happy about that. Really. There’s not an ounce of sarcasm here. I am thrilled to the teeth by this potential outcome*.

It’s not even noon yet and the work day has been just as crazy as yesterday. Not bad, but a weird combination of hectic and frustrating. It’s looking like tomorrow will be similar, but after that things should settle again. Here’s hoping at least.

In closing, here’s a few guitar pictures from this morning because I am insane.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54324874621/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54325281160/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54325099104/in/datetaken/

*Contrary to the above statement, I was in fact being sarcastic. Extremely sarcastic. My words were dripping with venomous sarcasm. Just call me a sarcasm machine.

#365 #365Challenge #365Project #dailySchedule #Guitar #Music #Nikon #nikonZ5 #oversleep #overslept #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photoADayProject #photography #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #schedule #Sleep #SongWriting #work #z5

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.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316576981/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316806444/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316994390/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316805879/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316805869/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54315686237/in/datetaken/

#365 #365Challenge #365Project #exhaustion #Gibson #GibsonGuitars #GibsonLesPaul #gibsonday #gibsunday #Guitar #health #LesPaul #Music #Nikon #nikonZ5 #pain #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #shoveling #shovelingSnow #Sleep #Snow #snowShoveling #SongWriting #sore #soreness #Weather #winter #z5

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.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316576981/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316806444/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316994390/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316805879/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316805869/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54315686237/in/datetaken/

#365 #365Challenge #365Project #exhaustion #Gibson #GibsonGuitars #GibsonLesPaul #gibsonday #gibsunday #Guitar #health #LesPaul #Music #Nikon #nikonZ5 #pain #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #shoveling #shovelingSnow #Sleep #Snow #snowShoveling #SongWriting #sore #soreness #Weather #winter #z5

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.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316576981/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316806444/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316994390/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316805879/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316805869/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54315686237/in/datetaken/

#365 #365Challenge #365Project #exhaustion #Gibson #GibsonGuitars #GibsonLesPaul #gibsonday #gibsunday #Guitar #health #LesPaul #Music #Nikon #nikonZ5 #pain #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #shoveling #shovelingSnow #Sleep #Snow #snowShoveling #SongWriting #sore #soreness #Weather #winter #z5

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.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316576981/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316806444/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316994390/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316805879/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316805869/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54315686237/in/datetaken/

#365 #365Challenge #365Project #exhaustion #Gibson #GibsonGuitars #GibsonLesPaul #gibsonday #gibsunday #Guitar #health #LesPaul #Music #Nikon #nikonZ5 #pain #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #shoveling #shovelingSnow #Sleep #Snow #snowShoveling #SongWriting #sore #soreness #Weather #winter #z5

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.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316576981/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316806444/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316994390/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316805879/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54316805869/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54315686237/in/datetaken/

#365 #365Challenge #365Project #exhaustion #Gibson #GibsonGuitars #GibsonLesPaul #gibsonday #gibsunday #Guitar #health #LesPaul #Music #Nikon #nikonZ5 #pain #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #shoveling #shovelingSnow #Sleep #Snow #snowShoveling #SongWriting #sore #soreness #Weather #winter #z5

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.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54314748814/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54314762328/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54315308744/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54314195197/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54315307919/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54314195117/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54315319038/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54315308629/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54315319728/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54315504755/in/datetaken/

#Gibson #GibsonLesPaul #Guitar #LesPaul #Music #Nikon #nikonZ5 #photography #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #SongWriting #z5

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!

#birthdays #collegeKids #Family #Guitar #Kids #Music #nephew #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #SongWriting #StepKids #textMessages #voicemail

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.

#aI_ #aIImages #artificialIntelligence #groundhogsWearTopHats #Music #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #squareFormat

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.

#aI_ #aIImages #artificialIntelligence #groundhogsWearTopHats #Music #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #squareFormat

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.

#aI_ #aIImages #artificialIntelligence #groundhogsWearTopHats #Music #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #squareFormat

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.

#aI_ #aIImages #artificialIntelligence #groundhogsWearTopHats #Music #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #squareFormat

Saxophone?

Do do do, just whistling past the american graveyard again… still… do do do…

I’ve been listening to King Crimson’s Red album quite a bit over the last few days. Crimson, in their original incarnation, had a sax player. First it was Ian McDonald, then it was Mel Collins. When band leader Robert Fripp shook things up and hired a whole new band with a drastically new sound in 1972 the saxophones went away. For a while, at least. By 1974, when they were recording the Red album, they were down to three band members, Fripp (guitar/mellotron), John Wetton (bass/vocals), and Bill Bruford (drums/percussion). Fripp was the only soloist in the lineup… sort of… the other two guys could have cranked out leads with the best of them (because they pretty much were the best of them) but instead they brought in a bunch of session musicians to help fill in the gaps. Among those session musicians were two sax players; Ian McDonald (alto) and Mel Collins (soprano).

Collins plays on the album’s centerpiece, “Starless” and his playing is wonderful (as always). McDonald also plays on “Starless” as well as “One More Red Nightmare”. His playing is out of the fucking world amazing. He wails, especially on “Starless”.

Listening to this record quite a bit lately has me thinking… is the sax playing inspiring me a little? The RPM Challenge is less than two weeks away and it’s coming up on time for me to start recording some new music. Do I suddenly find myself wanting to play the saxophone again? I haven’t taken my alto sax out of its case since I finished the 2020 RPM Challenge. Five years. Is it time to break it out again? I think it might be. I know I can still play even if I am only about 1% of the sax player I was when I was a music major from 1989-1991 and sax was my primary instrument in school. Guitar was a hobby I played on the side, even though I spent nearly infinitely more time playing guitar than sax… which contributed to me leaving school before I graduated.

So I guess what I am trying to say is, if throughout the month of February you start hearing about me writing songs in the key of E flat or B flat instead of E and A, and you start hearing me complain about severe pain in my lips and jaw (due to not having practiced at all in the last five years), then we can probably go ahead and blame Mel Collins and the late Ian McDonald. Just saying.

#altoSax #altoSaxophone #ianMcdonoald #KingCrimson #melCollins #Music #musicSchool #musicSchoolDropout #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #saxophone #starless

Saxophone?

Do do do, just whistling past the american graveyard again… still… do do do…

I’ve been listening to King Crimson’s Red album quite a bit over the last few days. Crimson, in their original incarnation, had a sax player. First it was Ian McDonald, then it was Mel Collins. When band leader Robert Fripp shook things up and hired a whole new band with a drastically new sound in 1972 the saxophones went away. For a while, at least. By 1974, when they were recording the Red album, they were down to three band members, Fripp (guitar/mellotron), John Wetton (bass/vocals), and Bill Bruford (drums/percussion). Fripp was the only soloist in the lineup… sort of… the other two guys could have cranked out leads with the best of them (because they pretty much were the best of them) but instead they brought in a bunch of session musicians to help fill in the gaps. Among those session musicians were two sax players; Ian McDonald (alto) and Mel Collins (soprano).

Collins plays on the album’s centerpiece, “Starless” and his playing is wonderful (as always). McDonald also plays on “Starless” as well as “One More Red Nightmare”. His playing is out of the fucking world amazing. He wails, especially on “Starless”.

Listening to this record quite a bit lately has me thinking… is the sax playing inspiring me a little? The RPM Challenge is less than two weeks away and it’s coming up on time for me to start recording some new music. Do I suddenly find myself wanting to play the saxophone again? I haven’t taken my alto sax out of its case since I finished the 2020 RPM Challenge. Five years. Is it time to break it out again? I think it might be. I know I can still play even if I am only about 1% of the sax player I was when I was a music major from 1989-1991 and sax was my primary instrument in school. Guitar was a hobby I played on the side, even though I spent nearly infinitely more time playing guitar than sax… which contributed to me leaving school before I graduated.

So I guess what I am trying to say is, if throughout the month of February you start hearing about me writing songs in the key of E flat or B flat instead of E and A, and you start hearing me complain about severe pain in my lips and jaw (due to not having practiced at all in the last five years), then we can probably go ahead and blame Mel Collins and the late Ian McDonald. Just saying.

#altoSax #altoSaxophone #ianMcdonoald #KingCrimson #melCollins #Music #musicSchool #musicSchoolDropout #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #saxophone #starless

Saxophone?

Do do do, just whistling past the american graveyard again… still… do do do…

I’ve been listening to King Crimson’s Red album quite a bit over the last few days. Crimson, in their original incarnation, had a sax player. First it was Ian McDonald, then it was Mel Collins. When band leader Robert Fripp shook things up and hired a whole new band with a drastically new sound in 1972 the saxophones went away. For a while, at least. By 1974, when they were recording the Red album, they were down to three band members, Fripp (guitar/mellotron), John Wetton (bass/vocals), and Bill Bruford (drums/percussion). Fripp was the only soloist in the lineup… sort of… the other two guys could have cranked out leads with the best of them (because they pretty much were the best of them) but instead they brought in a bunch of session musicians to help fill in the gaps. Among those session musicians were two sax players; Ian McDonald (alto) and Mel Collins (soprano).

Collins plays on the album’s centerpiece, “Starless” and his playing is wonderful (as always). McDonald also plays on “Starless” as well as “One More Red Nightmare”. His playing is out of the fucking world amazing. He wails, especially on “Starless”.

Listening to this record quite a bit lately has me thinking… is the sax playing inspiring me a little? The RPM Challenge is less than two weeks away and it’s coming up on time for me to start recording some new music. Do I suddenly find myself wanting to play the saxophone again? I haven’t taken my alto sax out of its case since I finished the 2020 RPM Challenge. Five years. Is it time to break it out again? I think it might be. I know I can still play even if I am only about 1% of the sax player I was when I was a music major from 1989-1991 and sax was my primary instrument in school. Guitar was a hobby I played on the side, even though I spent nearly infinitely more time playing guitar than sax… which contributed to me leaving school before I graduated.

So I guess what I am trying to say is, if throughout the month of February you start hearing about me writing songs in the key of E flat or B flat instead of E and A, and you start hearing me complain about severe pain in my lips and jaw (due to not having practiced at all in the last five years), then we can probably go ahead and blame Mel Collins and the late Ian McDonald. Just saying.

#altoSax #altoSaxophone #ianMcdonoald #KingCrimson #melCollins #Music #musicSchool #musicSchoolDropout #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #saxophone #starless

Saxophone?

Do do do, just whistling past the american graveyard again… still… do do do…

I’ve been listening to King Crimson’s Red album quite a bit over the last few days. Crimson, in their original incarnation, had a sax player. First it was Ian McDonald, then it was Mel Collins. When band leader Robert Fripp shook things up and hired a whole new band with a drastically new sound in 1972 the saxophones went away. For a while, at least. By 1974, when they were recording the Red album, they were down to three band members, Fripp (guitar/mellotron), John Wetton (bass/vocals), and Bill Bruford (drums/percussion). Fripp was the only soloist in the lineup… sort of… the other two guys could have cranked out leads with the best of them (because they pretty much were the best of them) but instead they brought in a bunch of session musicians to help fill in the gaps. Among those session musicians were two sax players; Ian McDonald (alto) and Mel Collins (soprano).

Collins plays on the album’s centerpiece, “Starless” and his playing is wonderful (as always). McDonald also plays on “Starless” as well as “Fallen Angel”. His playing is out of the fucking world amazing. He wails, especially on “Starless”.

Listening to this record quite a bit lately has me thinking… is the sax playing inspiring me a little? The RPM Challenge is less than two weeks away and it’s coming up on time for me to start recording some new music. Do I suddenly find myself wanting to play the saxophone again? I haven’t taken my alto sax out of its case since I finished the 2020 RPM Challenge. Five years. Is it time to break it out again? I think it might be. I know I can still play even if I am only about 1% of the sax player I was when I was a music major from 1989-1991 and sax was my primary instrument in school. Guitar was a hobby I played on the side, even though I spent nearly infinitely more time playing guitar than sax… which contributed to me leaving school before I graduated.

So I guess what I am trying to say is, if throughout the month of February you start hearing about me writing songs in the key of E flat or B flat instead of E and A, and you start hearing me complain about severe pain in my lips and jaw (do to not having practices at all in the last five years), then we can probably go ahead and blame Mel Collins and the late Ian McDonald. Just saying.

#altoSax #altoSaxophone #ianMcdonoald #KingCrimson #melCollins #Music #musicSchool #musicSchoolDropout #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #saxophone #starless

Saxophone?

Do do do, just whistling past the american graveyard again… still… do do do…

I’ve been listening to King Crimson’s Red album quite a bit over the last few days. Crimson, in their original incarnation, had a sax player. First it was Ian McDonald, then it was Mel Collins. When band leader Robert Fripp shook things up and hired a whole new band with a drastically new sound in 1972 the saxophones went away. For a while, at least. By 1974, when they were recording the Red album, they were down to three band members, Fripp (guitar/mellotron), John Wetton (bass/vocals), and Bill Bruford (drums/percussion). Fripp was the only soloist in the lineup… sort of… the other two guys could have cranked out leads with the best of them (because they pretty much were the best of them) but instead they brought in a bunch of session musicians to help fill in the gaps. Among those session musicians were two sax players; Ian McDonald (alto) and Mel Collins (soprano).

Collins plays on the album’s centerpiece, “Starless” and his playing is wonderful (as always). McDonald also plays on “Starless” as well as “One More Red Nightmare”. His playing is out of the fucking world amazing. He wails, especially on “Starless”.

Listening to this record quite a bit lately has me thinking… is the sax playing inspiring me a little? The RPM Challenge is less than two weeks away and it’s coming up on time for me to start recording some new music. Do I suddenly find myself wanting to play the saxophone again? I haven’t taken my alto sax out of its case since I finished the 2020 RPM Challenge. Five years. Is it time to break it out again? I think it might be. I know I can still play even if I am only about 1% of the sax player I was when I was a music major from 1989-1991 and sax was my primary instrument in school. Guitar was a hobby I played on the side, even though I spent nearly infinitely more time playing guitar than sax… which contributed to me leaving school before I graduated.

So I guess what I am trying to say is, if throughout the month of February you start hearing about me writing songs in the key of E flat or B flat instead of E and A, and you start hearing me complain about severe pain in my lips and jaw (due to not having practiced at all in the last five years), then we can probably go ahead and blame Mel Collins and the late Ian McDonald. Just saying.

#altoSax #altoSaxophone #ianMcdonoald #KingCrimson #melCollins #Music #musicSchool #musicSchoolDropout #RpmChallenge #rpm2025 #saxophone #starless

Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys – CORRUPTION CASTLE
#RPMChallenge #Rock #Steamcrunk #Steampunk #Thewire #TheWire #TheWireNH #ThesquidKid #music #rpm2016 #waltersickert #waltersickert #Boston
CC BY-NC-ND (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives)
https://armyoftoys.bandcamp.com/album/corruption-castle

The IKEA kitchen deliveries are happening on Monday and Tuesday. A few boxes on Monday and almost 200 on Tuesday. The plumber is coming to disconnect everything on Monday. Demolition of the current kitchen is Friday and installation of the new kitchen is Saturday. They are telling us they only need one day to install but that seems crazy to me. The plumbing hookups, electrical work, and the addition of the backsplash all happen at some point after the install. When? We don’t know yet.

Both of my step kids are going on trips over spring break. They are coming home the week after the kitchen install. I have to take a day off to drive them both to the airport. We have Harry’s flight information already but not Bellana’s. Not yet at least. The following week we’ll pick them back up at the airport but as of now it doesn’t look like I’ll need to take time off from work for that.

I also have five days to finish the RPM Challenge. I have three songs finished, six ready to mix, six ready for lead guitars, and five waiting for vocals. Two of those five have lyrics and a melody written. I did those earlier today. I am hoping to get to the other three before I sleep tonight so I can get them all recorded tomorrow morning. If I can’t get through it all tomorrow I’ll have to finish up before work on Monday. Then I just have a ton of lead guitars to record and multiple tons of mixing to do. I can get to it all, but it’s going to be tough. I have some late nights and early mornings in my near future.

There are so many things to do in the coming weeks. So very, very many things. It’s going to be pretty crazy around these parts. I’ll post lots of pictures as things progress.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/02/24/upcoming-stuff/

#Guitar #homeImprovement #homeOwner #IKEA #kitchen #kitchenRenovation #Music #Recording #renovations #RpmChallenge #rpm2024 #SongWriting #upgrades

I don’t think I’ve ever used Flickr to host a video here. Does it work? I had this idea of a post about me driving somewhere for some early morning car music today but then I didn’t post it until I got home after finishing the car music. Oh well.

I put vocals on four songs today. That means there are only five songs left to write and record the vocal parts for. 15 songs have their vocal tracks finished. Excellent!

No pics of the clock downtown today. I didn’t take the long way home, I took the fastest route possible. There are tons of things going on today and I didn’t want to delay my return home for even a minute or two.

Things unrelated to music projects that were in the planning, semi-hypothetical stage 24 hours ago have ramped up to the imminent and stressful stage. Bring it on! Roll with the changes, as the song goes.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/02/21/driving-out-to-car-music/

#carMusic #carVocals #iphoneography #Music #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2024 #SongWriting #super8

Two days in a row. I’ve played guitar two days in a row. It feels good, except for my very sore, callus-free fingers. Ouch, babie.

I worked on four songs. I put rhythm tracks onto two songs and leads onto two others. All of that plus the four vocals this morning makes it a pretty good day, RPM Challenge wise. I have a lot more that I need to get to today though. With tomorrow being a vacation day for me, I want to do more vocals in the car in the morning. I don’t have any songs that are ready for that yet, so I want to try and write lyrics for 3-4 songs before bed.

In closing, the obligatory pics. This time with Hipstamatic and shake-to-shuffle.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/02/18/my-finger-tips-hurt-again/

#Guitar #Hipstamatic #iphoneography #Music #photography #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2024 #shakeToShuffle #SongWriting

I did some RPM Challenge work this morning after finishing my exercise and my breakfast and my daily writing prompt. What did I do? Vocals. I drove off to an empty parking lot in town and recorded the vocal tracks for four songs while sitting out in the cold. I really wish I wasn’t so shy about recording myself singing. It would be so much easier to just do this at home. The negative then would be all the noise I make and how annoying it would be to my wife, rather than me just being a wimp who is too shy to sing when other people can hear me. I’m fine singing with the band, but in those cases there is enough noise that I can trick myself into thinking I am hiding behind it. Also, I am playing guitar at the same time and for some illogical reason that makes a difference. Why? Who knows.

The only interesting thing about today’s car music is that I only had three songs prepared with a melody and lyrics. After I cranked out the vocal tracks for those three songs I wrote the lyrics and melody to the fourth song while I was recording. I wouldn’t say I improvised the vocal parts, but they are lame enough that you might think they were improvised. Who cares. I sure don’t. This means I have 11 songs with vocals, and the RPM Challenge definition of an album is 10 songs or 35 minutes… which means that even if I don’t record another vocal track for the rest of the month, I can still finish a full album. Nice.

Here are some pics from my “studio” for today.

Can you guess where the snowplows dump the snow when they clear the mall parking lot? I can.

Also, here’s the obligatory down town clock, because reasons…

Also, because I can’t resist, I happened to catch the cats sitting together on the old cat tree just before I left the house, so you get that picture too.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/02/18/like-some-kind-of-lame-canary/

#365 #365Challenge #carMusic #carVocals #Cat #Family #iphoneography #Kitty #lily #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #Recording #robin #RpmChallenge #rpm2024 #SongWriting

I promised myself I was going to do it on Thursday and then failed to do it. I did not fail on Friday though. I played guitar this morning. I put rhythm guitars onto three songs. Breath that sigh of relief!

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/02/16/friday-morning-guitars/

#365 #365Challenge #GibsonLesPaul #GibsonLesPaulCustom #Guitar #LesPaul #lesPaulCustom #Music #Nikon #nikonZ5 #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #Recording #RpmChallenge #rpm2024 #SongWriting #z5

Well… I sent a message to the guitar shop that put new frets on my 1978 Les Paul. I said I have a 1979 ES-335 that probably needs new frets as well but also might need new wiring and maybe kinda might need to have the neck joint re-glued.

Yesterday I was excited about this. Now I’m terrified again. Uh oh.

Note on the photo, I already replaced the missing knob. In fact, I replaced all four knobs. That’s about the extent of what I am willing to do myself as far as mods or repairs to any of my guitars.

Unrelated musical note… The RPM Challenge starts in eight hours and 14 minutes. My goal is to write and record either 10 new songs or 35 minutes of music entirely during the month of February. Actually, I am going to shoot for 20 songs or 70 minutes because double albums are fun (looking at you, The White Album and you, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway) so why not go for it?

It’s almost time to start. Will I start at midnight tonight? Don’t be silly, I will start tomorrow morning. I am way too old and feeble to stay up until after midnight on a school night. What do you think I am, young?

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/31/it-begins-5/

#Guitar #guitarMods #guitarRepairs #guitarShop #luthier #Music #Nikon #photography #RpmChallenge #rpm2024

I've managed projects of up to a year before! But that seemed a bit excessive for an album. My two proper albums (meaning they were created together time wise with the intention of being an album) were both done for prior #RPMChallenge so they were done in 28 days. That was exhilarating and both times I think the results were excellent+ for the time constraints, but that some more time would be better.

#PsychedelicGhostStories #ProductionDiary #Planning #PreProduction #ProductionPhilosophy

My fellow #RPMChallenge friends! How's your #album coming? I am documenting my own, after a fashion, in my #PatchAWeek coverage. This year I'm building a new performance patch in #modular every week, performing it a few times, and recording the final version and releasing them. First #patch went great, got two good #performances and excited to get going on the second one.

Here's the blog if you want to follow along https://www.etherdiver.com/ships-log/

#ModularSynthesizer #MusiciansOfMastodon #ModularMusic

I'm currently listening to the final #patch for this week's #PatchAWeek entry, which is also the basis for my first #RPMChallenge piece this year, and goddamn is it sounding SWEET. Eager to get this out tomorrow and jam on it for a while to get my final performance for the #RPMAlbum out of it.

#ModularSynth #ModularMusic #ModularSynthesizer #EurorackModular #Eurorack #PatchOfTheWeek

This #FridayThe13th enjoy a musical reminiscence about a #chaos magician named Gary, and the secrets he shared with me in a .txt file on a floppy disk.

https://etherdiver.bandcamp.com/track/manifestation-of-will-ritual-magick-on-floppy-disk

#Bandcamp #mymusic #EtherDiver #OneirogenCodex #modularmusic #modular #DAWless #RPMChallenge #RPM2021 #psychedelia #kosmische #plunderphonics #weirdmusic