#thegreat2015rerecordingproject — Public Fediverse posts

New/Old Song

A new song from The Great 2015 Re-Recording Project, also known as Quarantine Tunes Volume Eight.

Volume eight is all songs written during the 2020 50/90 Challenge. I think. Volume five was all songs from the 2021 50/90, I think… those songs were better than the 2020 songs and it shows with this one. If this was one of the 50 songs that was good enough to consider re-recording then… we’re definitely scraping the bottom of the artistic barrel.

Oh well. It’s done.

New/Old song mixed and uploaded to alonetone.com.

#Guitar #Music #QuarantineTunes #QuarantineTunesVolume8 #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

Lunch Break

My lunch break is coming to an end. I was late to work today and had to take some personal time. I took my lunch break a little later than usual and who cares about any of this, right?

There is nothing going on today. There was this morning, but nothing is happening now. It’s turning into a quiet afternoon. I have to go to a store after work and then Jen (my beloved bride) and I are going to get some Japanese take out for dinner. Other than that? Nuttin’, honey.

I was thinking about tomorrow morning. I am working from home tomorrow so I have some time to do stuff before work (assuming I don’t oversleep). Should I take my new/old camera out and finally shoot a test roll or should I track some guitar parts for a song demo or two? I checked the weather. The forecast is calling for temps in the teens around sunrise tomorrow morning. I guess guitar tracking it is!

I have two songs ready for rhythm guitar parts. I just have to remember how to play them. Then I have to learn how to play them in a different key, because I changed my tuning for this round of recordings. I just tuned down a half step but that means I can’t just listen to the original demos and learn the parts. I have to tune back up or I have to change the key on the fly. We’ll see. I don’t think either song is particularly hard. I should be able to re-learn the parts easily enough.

Isn’t home recording fascinating? I can see by the bored, glazed over look in all of your eyes that you’re all just riveted. You’re welcome, really. Any time.

#Guitar #Music #newMusic #QuarantineTunesVolume8 #Recording #Rock #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

Finally

Finally… I played guitar today. Just for a little while (and pretty poorly), but I played. I used the new pedal board with the amp sim pedal (TC Combo Deluxe ’65) and for the first time… ever(?) I used a compressor pedal (MXR Dyna Comp mini).

I feel pretty good about the state of the world right now.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/54262699656/in/dateposted/

#es335 #es335Pro #Gibson #gibsonEs335Pro #gibsonday #gibsunday #Guitar #Music #Nikon #nikonZ5 #photography #QuarantineTunes #QuarantineTunesVolume8 #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject #z5

I mixed a song a couple of nights ago but didn’t get around to posting it to my alonetone or hearthis.at accounts so it just sat there on my laptop. Now it is out there for the whole wide world to ignore.

I think it kinda sounds like crap, but the song itself is okay, I think. You can probably hear the edits in the chorus because I wrote a melody without leaving any space for that pesky little breathing thing. Oops.

The lead guitar was through a nearly cranked amp. That was fun. Noisy as hell, but fun.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/05/23/new-mix/

#Guitar #Music #QuarantineTunes #QuarantineTunesVolume8 #QuarantineTunesVolumeEight #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

This is a to do list… read the title… it is a pun, my friends. Get it? I made a pun! It’s punny. It’s puntastic.

Ugh.

The current home recording music project is to take 10 songs from the 2020 Fifty Songs in 90 Days Challenge, edit them, rearrange them, rewrite them, and completely re-record them. When I punched out of work last night I had the 10 songs picked out. One is mixed and finished. Five are completely recorded but still need to be mixed. The other four hadn’t been touched.

Last night while sitting up in bed I took one of them and got as far as finishing the MIDI music bed. Bass, drums, arrangement, song form changes, all done. This morning after I finished today’s errands I cranked out the other three. Now I have four songs ready for rhythm guitars.

Best case scenario is that I track all of the rhythm guitars tomorrow. I work in the office on Monday so nothing is happening then. Tuesday morning before work should be car music where I track all of the vocals. Wednesday is back in the office. Thursday is lead guitars before work. At that point I will have all tracking done for all 10 songs before we leave for Florida.

Yeah. Let’s see if we can pull this off.

Note: It is 99% certain that I will not pull this off. When it comes to the musical planning stage, Robert is not terribly reliable.

Unrelated musical note… one of the reasons my band’s singer quit was because he moved to Maine. He told us yesterday that he’s moved back to the Merrimack Valley. He also mentioned getting “the itch.” Now is that an itch to just have one band practice just for fun, or is it an itch to get back into the band? I don’t know but I am thinking about maybe being hopeful that our singer search could be over. It’s probably not, but if I can’t be optimistic about the Bruins anymore this year, then I’ll be optimistic about this.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/05/18/musical-notes-for-this-week/

#CoverBand #Guitar #lizardfish #Music #newMusic #QuarantineTunes #QuarantineTunesVolume8 #QuarantineTunesVolumeEight #Recording #Rock #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

I said I was going to celebrate my 53rd birthday with a work-on-music day and that’s just what I’ve done.

I have worked on new recordings of five old songs. Two songs got lead guitar tracks. Two songs got rhythm guitar tracks and vocals. One final song got bass, drums, rhythm guitars, and vocals. I don’t know if the clock is going to cooperate or not, but the three songs that did not get lead guitars today might still get lead guitars today.

I was home alone for all of this guitar playing… so I played through my Fender Deluxe Reverb… the best amp I’ve ever owned… and I played loud. Very loud. The decibel meter on my Apple Watch topped 100 db once. Yeah. My ears are killing me. Oh glorious noise!

Robin seems pretty sad about the news about Steve Albini but she agrees that playing the guitar at a disturbing volume is as good a way to honor his memory as any.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/05/08/my-ears-are-killing-me/

#Cat #Guitar #iphoneography #Kitty #Music #musicNews #photography #QuarantineTunes #QuarantineTunesVolume8 #QuarantineTunesVolumeEight #Recording #robin #Rock #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

I got up super early this morning. I wasn’t planning on it, but I was up and at ’em a little before 5:00am. Yikes!

That let me get all of my exercise in, eat breakfast, water all of the plants, do a couple of little things to help Jen get ready for her in-the-office day, finish my normal morning routine, go to the grocery store and get dinner for tonight, and put vocals on two songs… all before punching into work at 8:45.

Wow… it’s been a long day. I need a nap. Doubly so, thanks to the crummy night’s sleep last night. Damn.

The current music recording project is Quarantine Tunes Volume 8. Four songs underway. One ready to mix, two ready for lead guitars, and one ready for rhythm guitars. How do you like that?

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/05/02/musical-morning-4/

#365 #365Challenge #iphoneography #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #QuarantineTunes #QuarantineTunesVolume8 #QuarantineTunesVolumeEight #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

Two days in a row. It is silly how sneaking in 20-30 minutes of guitar playing before work in the morning can just brighten up the whole day. Silly and a little weird, maybe.

I mentioned last night that I started working on a new song for the re-recording project thing. I put rhythm guitars on it this morning after I did my daily exercise and had a quick breakfast. Done and done. I used direct outs from two of my amps again. That’s the norm now. Oh well. It sounded pretty good today. It sounded pretty good yesterday too, I think.

Here’s the obligatory guitar pic. Let’s use it for today’s photo a day project as well. Day 243 of 365. Actually… 366, but we won’t worry about that until the end of the line.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/04/30/more-guitar-2/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #iphoneography #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #QuarantineTunes #QuarantineTunesVolume8 #QuarantineTunesVolumeEight #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

While sitting in the living room tonight being totally annoyed that there was neither a Bruins game nor a Red Sox game (WTF?) I took my frustrations out on another song for the re-recording project. Now I have a song that is ready to get some rhythm guitar tracks tomorrow… assuming I get up early enough and have time to play some guitar before work. We’ll see.

Stupid NHL and MLB both scheduling a night off for their Boston teams on the same night. Jerks. Also, for the record, I don’t care about the Celtics so if they are playing tonight don’t bother trying to cheer me up by mentioning them. If they are playing tonight it will probably annoy me even more.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/04/29/another-song-ready/

#Guitar #Music #quarantineTulesVolume8 #QuarantineTunes #QuarantineTunesVolumeEight #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

I mentioned last night that I was hoping to get some guitar playing in before work.

This morning? I got some guitar playing in before work.

I put rhythm guitars on the song I worked on last night, and lead guitars on the only other song I had in progress. I think I might have a little time to add vocals on Thursday morning, so I’m hoping to start another song tonight and put rhythm guitars onto it before work tomorrow. Wednesday is an in the office day so there’s no time for anything there. If I apply myself (HA! Fat chance of that!) I might be able to get to three songs ready to mix by early next week. That would be cool.

The current project is updating, editing, rewriting, and rerecording songs that were originally written for the 2021 Fifty Songs in Ninety Days challenge. I picked 10 songs to focus on. I might decide along the way that some of them are unworthy, but as of now we’re going with 10. Two songs in progress. Many more to mess around with.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/04/29/pre-work-guitars/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #iphoneography #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #QuarantineTunes #QuarantineTunesVolume8 #QuarantineTunesVolumeEight #Recording #Rock #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

I wanted to go to sleep around 10:00pm tonight. Instead at just about exactly that time I started working on MIDI tracks for a song that I want to re-record for Quarantine Tunes Volume Eight. The Great 2015 Re-Recording Project continues (at this rate it might continue for eternity, world without end and all that stuff).

Let’s see if I can sneak some guitar tracking in before work tomorrow. Volume eight now has two songs in progress. One is ready for lead guitars and the other is ready for rhythm guitars. Let’s do this!

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/04/28/music-night/

#Music #QuarantineTunes #QuarantineTunesVolume8 #QuarantineTunesVolumeEight #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

The Leafs came back to take game two of the best of seven first round series. If Swayman plays goal in game three and wins, will we have a full blown goalie controversy? We’ll see. Game three is Wednesday (I think… isn’t it?)

Anyway, let’s chase those hockey blues away by listening to a newly mixed crappy song. Quarantine Tunes Volume Seven is done save for figuring out the actual running order for the 11 songs. More on that to come in the future though. For now, here’s the last song.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/04/22/game-two-the-bruins-lose/

#BostonBruins #Bruins #Guitar #Hockey #Music #NHL #nhlPlayoffs #playoffs #postSeason #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolume7 #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #stanleyCupPlayoffs #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

A couple of years ago I was working on the Record Every Month Challenge and I had a couple of song ideas going at once. I didn’t realize until well into the recording process that the two songs had almost identical chord changes in their respective choruses. Ooops. I could have done the right thing and dropped one of them, but instead I leaned into my lack of creativity and used a line of lyric in both songs and turned them into parts one and two. Doofus, yes, but what do you expect?

Fast forward to the current re-recording project I’ve been torturing the universe with and I thought it would be further fun to sort of duct tape the two songs into one and record the whole shebang as if it were one longer song.

Done and done. I just finished mixing it. Here you go, universe. Enjoy my shitty song!

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/04/20/two-two-two-songs-in-one/

#Guitar #Music #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolume7 #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

To make up for not having a band practice today, I mixed the two songs that I had that were ready to mix. Both are for volume seven of The Great 2015 Re-Recording Project, aka Quarantine Tunes.

I pretty happy with this one:

I’m not very happy with this one:

I think I have two more songs to work on for volume seven, then it’s on to volume eight. I’ve actually already started one song for volume eight… so are volume seven and eight really just one big double sized volume? I don’t know, I am making up the rules for this stupid thing as I go.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/04/07/two-songs-5/

#Guitar #Music #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolume7 #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

Hey, I mixed one of the songs that I put the vocals onto yesterday and the lead guitars onto today. It’s a song from the RPM Challenge a few years ago that is now part of The Great 2015 Re-Recording Project, aka Quarantine Tunes Volume Seven.

I’m not sold on the mix, but when am I ever sold on something I’ve mixed?

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/03/24/how-about-a-new-mix/

#Guitar #Music #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolume7 #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

I finished recording all of the guitar tracks I wanted to do yesterday but didn’t end up having time for. Hooray!

I played through a speaker again, but unlike yesterday I had to lower the volume to a tolerable level. I had the house to myself yesterday so I could approach ear-bleeding volume. Today my wife, the love of my life Jen, is home so I had to tone it down a lot. That’s okay. It’s still more fun playing through a speaker than playing direct into the computer.

I put rhythm guitars onto one song for the Record Every Month Challenge, and lead guitars onto three songs for my re-recording old songs project, aka The Great 2015 Re-Recording Project, or also aka Quarantine Tunes.

My leads weren’t good, but they were better than most of the stuff I’ve recorded of late.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/03/24/more-recording/

#Guitar #Music #Nikon #nikonZ5 #photography #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolume7 #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #recordEveryMonth #recordEveryMonthChallenge #Recording #remChallenge #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject #z5

Okay, so how much music did I work on today? I already mentioned in a previous post that I put vocals onto three songs and bass guitar (MIDI) onto one. After posting that update, I added bass and drums (both MIDI) to one song and rhythm guitars to three.

That’s not even close to what I was hoping to get to today, but I’ll take it. The guitar tracks I recorded used my Fender Deluxe Reverb at a slightly, borderline absurd volume. It was louder than my usual gig volume… and it was awesome.

When I pick up where I left off I will have to go back to direct signal out of the amps into the USB interface. It’s still fun and it still sounds good, but it’s not as fun. It’s not as epic. It’s not as awesome.

Maybe more tomorrow? Maybe some car vocals? We’ll see.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/03/23/music-day-recap/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #Music #Nikon #nikonZ5 #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #QuarantineTunes #recordEveryMonth #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject #z5

I haven’t played guitar yet today but it’s still on the agenda. What I have done is sing… a lot. I have been working on The Great 2015 Re-Recording Project this morning.

Remember all of those posts over the last couple of weeks where I complained about having a really bad cold? I am more or less over it now but I learned that singing seems to amplify the symptoms.

Sing a line, cough like crazy, blow my nose, repeat ad nauseam. It’s crazy. I don’t feel sick at all but I can’t stop coughing and I can’t stop needing to blow my nose. It’s all singing’s fault. I have managed to put vocals on three songs this morning but I have to take a break. My throat is killing me. I put a bass part onto one song too but that didn’t cause me any physical pain. That’s good at least.

I am going to take a break for a bit and then go get my hair cut and get an oil change. Then I will come home, do one more vocal part and a couple more bass parts, then I will play some guitar, then I will do some more vocal tracks.

Crazy day, kids. Crazy, crazy day.

My wife, Jen, is at a conference today. I miss her a lot.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/03/23/musical-suffering/

#Music #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolume7 #QuarantineTunesVolume8 #QuarantineTunesVolumeEight #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

I woke up this morning with every intention of working in the office. Now it’s 9:07am though and I am sitting at my desk at home.

I woke up a touch later than I wanted to, and that was the first issue. By the time I finished my morning exercise (jogging [pronounced yogging] in place for 45 minutes) I just couldn’t bring myself to drive into the office. Instead of packing up my stuff I just ate breakfast and finished the episode of The X-Files that I was watching (the one where the baseball player in the ’40’s is an alien in disguise… not the best episode).

I am still planning on making tomorrow (Saturday) a major musical day. Jen is going to be at a conference all day so I am on my own. The to-do list includes getting a haircut (which I desperately need) and an oil change for one of the cars. Other than that, it’s music. The Record Every Month Challenge and Quarantine Tunes Volume Seven… and maybe a start on Volume Eight too.

I promise you, owe internets, that there will be guitar playing, song writing, and recording done on Saturday. Unless I change my mind and just sleep and watch TV all day, of course.

Anyway, here’s today’s photo a day challenge masterpiece.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/03/22/schedule-shuffle/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #Music #Nikon #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #plans #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolume7 #QuarantineTunesVolume8 #QuarantineTunesVolumeEight #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #recordEveryMonth #recordEveryMonthChallenge #Recording #remChallenge #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject #toDoList #weekendPlans

I am going to work in the office today and tomorrow. There won’t be any time for morning music. There isn’t even time to post this world-shattering blog entry.

Saturday… I will play guitar on Saturday. I’ll setup some GarageBand files tonight and tomorrow. Maybe a couple of re-recording things and an entry or two for the Record Every Month challenge that I haven’t even given a single thought to yet even though it’s March 21st.

I promise.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/03/21/saturday-i-promise/

#Guitar #iphoneography #Music #photography #QuarantineTunes #recordEveryMonth #recordEveryMonthChallenge #Recording #remChallenge #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

Check it out, I said I was going to mix a song and here I am with a second mix! It’s bonus song time!

This was the title song from an RPM Challenge a couple of years ago. It’s okay. It was probably borderline worthy of re-recording, but now that it’s done I am all right with it. It’s not a disaster, though the goofy panning tricks I did at the beginning and end are probably mistakes.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/03/16/surprise-another-song/

#Guitar #Music #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolume7 #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

I mixed a song for The Great 2015 Re-Recording Project, aka Quarantine Tunes (Volume Seven). I should really wait until tomorrow to share it anywhere because I am so freakin’ tired that I can’t tell if this sounds anywhere near decent or not.

I actually finished recording this song in June of 2022. Coming up on two years ago. Why did I wait so long to mix it? Because I fear that I actually freakin’ love this song. The chorus just slaps. Well, at least to my ears it does. The rest of the song is okay, but the chorus just makes me want to bang my head and scream. It is very rare for me to feel that way about one of my own songs. So rare that when it happens, the idea of screwing up a mix really scares the shit out of the tiny little creative portion of my tiny little brain.

I don’t want to screw up a good song, dig?

Anyway, here’s the good song that I probably screwed up. I’ll listen to it tomorrow after I’ve slept and see if I still find the mix acceptable. I doubt I will, and if I don’t then I’ll remix it.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/03/11/new-quarantine-tune/

#Guitar #Music #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolume7 #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

I’ve been talking about it all month, but finally we have a new recording all mixed and ready to share. This is a song that was written and originally recorded for the 2021 RPM Challenge and re-recorded here for Quarantine Tunes Volume Seven, aka The Great 2015 Re-Recording Project.

What do you think, should I have put some more reverb and echo on everything? This is the wettest mix I’ve ever done… maybe. It’s pretty much dripping wet.

Hopefully there will be more stuff coming in the next few days.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/26/new-old-song-3/

#Guitar #Music #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

Hey everyone, raise your hand if you were able to sneak some guitar playing in before work this morning.

Robert timidly raises his hand.

Yup, I recorded lead parts for two songs. I now officially have no songs in progress that are currently ready for any guitar tracks. I have to do some MIDI work tonight, and maybe some car vocals in the morning, and then I’ll have some stuff ready to work on.

The Great Guitar Pick Journey of 2024 continues as well. I tried another new one today. Much of my internet research pointed to Dunlop as the brand to go with. I tried Max Grip first (1.14mm) and those were okay, but no as good as the Fender picks I’d been using for ages. They have little grippy things on them that are supposed to keep them from spinning around between your fingers as you play, and that worked but it felt awkward. I am sure I could get used to it but I moved on to option two this morning (for now at least). 

Option two is Dunlop Tortex Jazz III. This one was much better than the Max Grip in all ways but one. The little guy is just tiny. I kept going into muscle memory mode and literally missed the strings. It’s just small. It feels really good in my hand, and the overwhelming majority of suggestions I’ve received in my online questioning said to try them. I’ll stick with it for a while, but I am wondering if they make the same pick only bigger. 

I have two other options that I want to try before I start looking outside of Dunlop, but I haven’t bought either of them yet. One of them is pretty expensive for a pic. We’ll see.

Anyway, here are the obligatory pictures from this morning’s lead guitar playing extravaganza.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/25/anyone-else-play-guitar-today/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #GuitarGear #guitarPicks #iphoneography #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #picks #quarantineTunesVolume7 #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject #theGreat2024GuitarPickJourney

Hey everyone, raise your hand if you were able to sneak some guitar playing in before work this morning.

Robert timidly raises his hand.

Yup, I recorded lead parts for two songs. I now officially have no songs in progress that are currently ready for any guitar tracks. I have to do some MIDI work tonight, and maybe some car vocals in the morning, and then I’ll have some stuff ready to work on.

The Great Guitar Pick Journey of 2024 continues as well. I tried another new one today. Much of my internet research pointed to Dunlop as the brand to go with. I tried Max Grip first (1.14mm) and those were okay, but no as good as the Fender picks I’d been using for ages. They have little grippy things on them that are supposed to keep them from spinning around between your fingers as you play, and that worked but it felt awkward. I am sure I could get used to it but I moved on to option two this morning (for now at least). 

Option two is Dunlop Tortex Jazz III. This one was much better than the Max Grip in all ways but one. The little guy is just tiny. I kept going into muscle memory mode and literally missed the strings. It’s just small. It feels really good in my hand, and the overwhelming majority of suggestions I’ve received in my online questioning said to try them. I’ll stick with it for a while, but I am wondering if they make the same pick only bigger. 

I have two other options that I want to try before I start looking outside of Dunlop, but I haven’t bought either of them yet. One of them is pretty expensive for a pic. We’ll see.

Anyway, here are the obligatory pictures from this morning’s lead guitar playing extravaganza.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/25/anyone-else-play-guitar-today/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #GuitarGear #guitarPicks #iphoneography #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #picks #quarantineTunesVolume7 #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject #theGreat2024GuitarPickJourney

Hey everyone, raise your hand if you were able to sneak some guitar playing in before work this morning.

Robert timidly raises his hand.

Yup, I recorded lead parts for two songs. I now officially have no songs in progress that are currently ready for any guitar tracks. I have to do some MIDI work tonight, and maybe some car vocals in the morning, and then I’ll have some stuff ready to work on.

The Great Guitar Pick Journey of 2024 continues as well. I tried another new one today. Much of my internet research pointed to Dunlop as the brand to go with. I tried Max Grip first (1.14mm) and those were okay, but no as good as the Fender picks I’d been using for ages. They have little grippy things on them that are supposed to keep them from spinning around between your fingers as you play, and that worked but it felt awkward. I am sure I could get used to it but I moved on to option two this morning (for now at least). 

Option two is Dunlop Tortex Jazz III. This one was much better than the Max Grip in all ways but one. The little guy is just tiny. I kept going into muscle memory mode and literally missed the strings. It’s just small. It feels really good in my hand, and the overwhelming majority of suggestions I’ve received in my online questioning said to try them. I’ll stick with it for a while, but I am wondering if they make the same pick only bigger. 

I have two other options that I want to try before I start looking outside of Dunlop, but I haven’t bought either of them yet. One of them is pretty expensive for a pic. We’ll see.

Anyway, here are the obligatory pictures from this morning’s lead guitar playing extravaganza.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/25/anyone-else-play-guitar-today/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #GuitarGear #guitarPicks #iphoneography #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #picks #quarantineTunesVolume7 #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject #theGreat2024GuitarPickJourney

Hey everyone, raise your hand if you were able to sneak some guitar playing in before work this morning.

Robert timidly raises his hand.

Yup, I recorded lead parts for two songs. I now officially have no songs in progress that are currently ready for any guitar tracks. I have to do some MIDI work tonight, and maybe some car vocals in the morning, and then I’ll have some stuff ready to work on.

The Great Guitar Pick Journey of 2024 continues as well. I tried another new one today. Much of my internet research pointed to Dunlop as the brand to go with. I tried Max Grip first (1.14mm) and those were okay, but no as good as the Fender picks I’d been using for ages. They have little grippy things on them that are supposed to keep them from spinning around between your fingers as you play, and that worked but it felt awkward. I am sure I could get used to it but I moved on to option two this morning (for now at least). 

Option two is Dunlop Tortex Jazz III. This one was much better than the Max Grip in all ways but one. The little guy is just tiny. I kept going into muscle memory mode and literally missed the strings. It’s just small. It feels really good in my hand, and the overwhelming majority of suggestions I’ve received in my online questioning said to try them. I’ll stick with it for a while, but I am wondering if they make the same pick only bigger. 

I have two other options that I want to try before I start looking outside of Dunlop, but I haven’t bought either of them yet. One of them is pretty expensive for a pic. We’ll see.

Anyway, here are the obligatory pictures from this morning’s lead guitar playing extravaganza.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/25/anyone-else-play-guitar-today/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #GuitarGear #guitarPicks #iphoneography #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #picks #quarantineTunesVolume7 #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject #theGreat2024GuitarPickJourney

Was today the first car music of 2024? I think so. 

I snuck out of the house a few minutes after 7:30, got to the movie theater parking log (which wasn’t quite as empty as I like it to be) by 7:40 and recorded vocals for two songs until 8:25. I didn’t have time for any more, and even if I did I might not have. It was a struggle today. My voice was very scratchy and I’m not terribly pleased with the results… then again I am never pleased with the results so what difference does it make?

The upside is I now have two songs that are ready for lead guitars. The downside is that I have no calluses on the fingers on my left hand so recording lead guitars is going to hurt a bit. I can hack it though. I’m practically a pro at this… not really… whatever.

Here’s the view of my “studio” today:

There was a truck parked right next to my usual spot so I had to move over a few rows.

In closing, here is the obligatory clock picture:

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/23/car-music-2024/

#365 #365Challenge #iphoneography #methuen #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolume7 #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

I didn’t play my guitar this morning. I had to punch in to work early to get some paperwork wrapped up before the start of the business day so I spent my time on that instead of music. A fair trade, I guess.

The plan for tomorrow is car vocals. Get up early, do my exercise, have breakfast, hop into the car and drive to an empty parking lot and sing like a deaf canary. Epic. I have six songs in the current volume of The Great 2015 Re-Recording Project that are ready for vocals. Maybe I can pick off two of them. If things go really well, maybe three. I spend more time on the re-recording stuff than on the usual demo projects. I want them to be better than usual, even though I am a crappy singer and they end up sounding equally as garbagey. 

Last night before bed I spent some time adding guide tracks to some of the songs. Just a MIDI piano playing (roughly) the vocal melody and harmony parts so that I can have a little help when I record the actual vocals. All of these songs have been recorded once before, but I tuned the guitar down a half step this time around so they are all in a different key and that’s just enough to screw up my memory of how to do things. My ear is good enough that it can usually rise above such mini-challenges, but why not give it a little help, right?

I already have two songs that are ready to mix. One of them has been ready to mix for about 18 months now and I just haven’t had the energy to get it done. I’d like to pick off one of them tonight, but as the haiku in the previous post hinted, I am freakin’ exhausted already today (it’s 2:46pm and I am ready for bed). I am not going to have the energy for anything tonight beyond making dinner, going grocery shopping, and then coming home and impersonating a vegetable in front of the TV.

I call that making plans.

Car vocals tomorrow! You heard it here first! (Now don’t let the public down, Robert!)

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/22/no-music-this-morning/

#Music #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

When I finished playing guitar yesterday morning I had run out of tracks that needed to be recorded. Last night I started another re-recording song so that I could have something to work on today. Now here we are again with nothing ready to work on because for the third day in a row I played guitar!

I now have six quarantine tunes ready for vocals. That’s what I call a backlog. It’s going to take me a while to get through all of that. I have one more song on my list for this round of re-recordings. I had two but I decided to drop one of them. If I can prep that one with bass and drum MIDI tracks today then I’ll have something to do tomorrow morning. Then we start doing car music on Tuesday? We’ll see how it shakes out.

Obligatory guitar pics, via Hipstamatic shake-to-shuffle….

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/21/officially-on-a-streak/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #Hipstamatic #iphoneography #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolume7 #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

I played guitar again this morning! Two days in a row!

I put rhythm guitars on a Quarantine tune, and lead guitar on another song. It was my first recorded lead on the new frets and the first recorded lead in months, meaning I have no calluses, meaning ouch town, population: me.

In other guitar playing news, the new pick journey officially began today as well.

I started with a Dunlop grippy model and amazingly dropped it within seconds of starting to play. WhatWhatWhat??

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/20/more-playing/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #guitarPicks #iphoneography #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject #theGuitarPickJourney

I played guitar again this morning! Two days in a row!

I put rhythm guitars on a Quarantine tune, and lead guitar on another song. It was my first recorded lead on the new frets and the first recorded lead in months, meaning I have no calluses, meaning ouch town, population: me.

In other guitar playing news, the new pick journey officially began today as well.

I started with a Dunlop grippy model and amazingly dropped it within seconds of starting to play. WhatWhatWhat??

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/20/more-playing/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #guitarPicks #iphoneography #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject #theGuitarPickJourney

I played guitar again this morning! Two days in a row!

I put rhythm guitars on a Quarantine tune, and lead guitar on another song. It was my first recorded lead on the new frets and the first recorded lead in months, meaning I have no calluses, meaning ouch town, population: me.

In other guitar playing news, the new pick journey officially began today as well.

I started with a Dunlop grippy model and amazingly dropped it within seconds of starting to play. WhatWhatWhat??

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/20/more-playing/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #guitarPicks #iphoneography #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject #theGuitarPickJourney

I played guitar again this morning! Two days in a row!

I put rhythm guitars on a Quarantine tune, and lead guitar on another song. It was my first recorded lead on the new frets and the first recorded lead in months, meaning I have no calluses, meaning ouch town, population: me.

In other guitar playing news, the new pick journey officially began today as well.

I started with a Dunlop grippy model and amazingly dropped it within seconds of starting to play. WhatWhatWhat??

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/20/more-playing/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #guitarPicks #iphoneography #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolumeSeven #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject #theGuitarPickJourney

I recorded some guitar tracks today! WOOHOO!

I put rhythm guitars on one Quarantine Tunes vol. Seven song. Lots of chunky wah-wah groove. Awesome. Here’s hoping I get to make some time to play a lot this weekend. I have a lot of stuff ready for car vocals too.

Get to work, Robert!

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/19/pre-work-day-guitar-playing/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #iphoneography #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolume7 #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

I have barely done anything musical in the past week. I told myself I was going to work on Quarantine Tunes Volume 7 this month, and I have done some work. I just haven’t done enough. 

I have one song ready to mix, but it’s been ready to mix for about a year. I have one song ready for lead guitars but, again, it’s been ready for about a year. I have three songs ready for vocals and I have been trying to get myself into a place where I can record them (meaning in the car in an empty parking lot at the crack of dawn) but I’ve failed to get it done all week. Tomorrow, maybe? I also have two songs ready for rhythm guitars but I just haven’t been able to make the time to record the tracks. I will, I just need to get myself motivated.

Motivation! Why do you vex me so? Get your ass in gear, Robert! Do something! Play the effin’ guitar, you bozo! Make some music!

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/11/make-music/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #iphoneography #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #QuarantineTunes #quarantineTunesVolume7 #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject