Not sure about this one.
This was written as part of the 2012 RPM Challenge. I had tried RPM five times prior to 2012 and had failed miserably every time. About a week into February that year I had actually decided to call RPM quits in general…
So, what do you think... could it use more wah-wah?
This was written for the 2014 RPM Challenge. The chromatic thing at the beginning had been rattling around in my head for years and years but had never found a home.
The lyrics here…
That plinky little sound in the verses is an organ with some distortion on it. I wanted Jon Lord to play the part but he wasn't available. It's playing eighth notes in the verses and a sustained pad in the chorus. If I remix this I might bring it up. I haven't decided yet.
The sound at the end is actually a grunt of frustration. This is the easiest song every written in all of the history of music and it took me 700 takes to get the rhythm guitars right. I was going to cut it out but when the time came I thought it was funny so I left it there.
So, what do you think... could it use more wah-wah?
This was written for the 2014 RPM Challenge. The chromatic thing at the beginning had been rattling around in my head for years and years but had never found a home.
The lyrics here…
So, what do you think... could it use more wah-wah?
This was written for the 2014 RPM Challenge. The chromatic thing at the beginning had been rattling around in my head for years and years but had never found a home.
The lyrics here…
So, what do you think... could it use more wah-wah?
This was written for the 2014 RPM Challenge. The chromatic thing at the beginning had been rattling around in my head for years and years but had never found a home.
The lyrics here…
And that "yeah" - it sounds like an expression of "NAILED it" at the end of a take... and I shall take it as that. But it could so easily be what I tend to capture a lot: a response to a call of "dinner's ready, I've called you three times already" lol
So, what do you think... could it use more wah-wah?
This was written for the 2014 RPM Challenge. The chromatic thing at the beginning had been rattling around in my head for years and years but had never found a home.
The lyrics here…
Or is it actually a keyboard? On second listen I'm wondering whether there's a also a keyboard pad of some sort tying the mix together. Could be guitars, though... anyways, very balanced mix that makes everything shine, especially the vocal.
So, what do you think... could it use more wah-wah?
This was written for the 2014 RPM Challenge. The chromatic thing at the beginning had been rattling around in my head for years and years but had never found a home.
The lyrics here…
Woah! That use of the wah is SO cool. The vocal is a goodie too. I like that guitar doing the plink plink plink kind of piano part thing. The guitars are huge. Love the "yeah!!" (is that what it is?) at the end. Digging this track big time.
The first song completed for the second round of re-recorded Quarantine Tunes. This one was written on the last day of the 2016 RPM Challenge. I had written a bunch of songs saying that people who think the Earth is flat are somehow defective…
The first song completed for the second round of re-recorded Quarantine Tunes. This one was written on the last day of the 2016 RPM Challenge. I had written a bunch of songs saying that people who think the Earth is flat are somehow defective…
It's not a cocked wah, all of those mids are coming from the Klon pedal. I was a scooped mids guy for 30 years before I finally figured out that if I just boost the mids a little the rest of the band can hear me without me cranking my amp until it hurts. Now I overdo it in the other direction. heh
The first song completed for the second round of re-recorded Quarantine Tunes. This one was written on the last day of the 2016 RPM Challenge. I had written a bunch of songs saying that people who think the Earth is flat are somehow defective…
GEETARS! :) Love the leads... Oh yeah... I think I'd like the rhythm ones louder, but they've got a lot of mids between them, so they probably could drown out the rest. I think we could take a spot more, though... Oh! Just reread the blurb - the rhythms are through a cocked wah? Ah, then you had the same problem as whoever had to mix Blizzard of Ozz, MSG, etc! LOL (I only tried that technique once - bear in mind this was a bluesrock band - my sound engineer went "wtf are you doing!?!? If you keep doing that I'm just turning your fader down..." lol)
This bouncy little groove brings the 2020 50/90 Challenge to a close. I end with 51 songs written in 88(?) days. I've only finished this challenge once before, in 2014. That year I stopped at 50 songs but I got there with a lot more time to…
WOW! What an achievement. A superb body of work. I've seen that you don't like some of it, but as a whole it really hangs together and is good to listen to all the way through. Then when you realise these 51 were created in 88 days... crumbs. Well done... FLIPPIN WELL DONE! :)
I think we have a winner here.
I already had 50 songs in process for the 50/90 challenge and I was starting to feel like I was going to finish with time to spare. Then my wife and I were having a Facetime call with my step daughter who is…
I think you're right ("I think we have a winner here"), I've been enjoying all of them playing (it's turned up quite loud, I'm kinda digging it) ... but this one made me come back to the window that's playing it, there's something about this one that commands attention. Nice one! (Back to work now!)
50/90 runs from July 4 through October 1. Three months. When I work on it I tend to break the project up into four pieces. Songs started and finished in each of the three months, and songs that cross between months. This is the only cross…
You've posted SO many songs since I was last listening, I'm just gonna pick up where I left off and let them play while I'm working. I can see you completed the challenge, 51 in 88... WOW! Congratulations :)
The lyrics were off the top of my head so if you're wondering how I really feel, or what I'm talking about... let's just say there's a lot of stupid out there right now and a lot of it has important jobs. Dig?
Kinda funky. Not bad. Maybe…
This is one of only two songs from this year's 50/90 that was started on guitar rather than bass. It's also one of three where the vocals were recorded on a day where I couldn't sing in tune to save my life. It's also one of three where the…
I managed to work on 16 songs for this year's 50/90 before I did something strummy in 6/8 time. I've started working on another 21 songs since and I've yet to do another one. That will likely change before today ends. Sorry, strummy songs in…
I like this one, even though there's not a lot to it musically. Mix wise, there's tons going on. Four rhythm guitar tracks, five vocal tracks, four lead guitar tracks, and (really) two drum tracks. Oh yeah, and one lonely bass guitar.
I…
I like this one, even though there's not a lot to it musically. Mix wise, there's tons going on. Four rhythm guitar tracks, five vocal tracks, four lead guitar tracks, and (really) two drum tracks. Oh yeah, and one lonely bass guitar.
I…
How's that for some word salad, eh? Throw a little Italian dressing on this one and you've got yourself a healthy meal!
I've been trying to challenge myself vocally with more complicated melodies and lots of lyrics and things like that, even…
This is another that benefited from a second listen. What I've got to do is STOP reading your blurb on the first listen! Anyways, that's actually a really clever vocal melody. Keep challenging, don't actually kill yerself, obviously, but falling down after the vocal take is a good sign!! (ish!) LOL
A couple of months ago I came up with a couple of things that used polyrhythms. The drums were in one time signature and everything else was in another. I had some fun with it then and tried it again and... well, I got pretty bored with it really…
I wasn't sure about this one on first listen (your stuff about polyrhythms was making me think too much... then I remembered I'd forgotten something with work, so I had to deal with that while the track carried on)... when I got back I couldn't think of anything to say... so I hit play again and, woah!, it really grabbed me... then I realised I wasn't counting trying to figure out the funny rhythm - I'd just accepted it and it sounds really cool. Sounds like the hand's recovered too?
So, what do you think... could it use more wah-wah?
This was written for the 2014 RPM Challenge. The chromatic thing at the beginning had been rattling around in my head for years and years but had never found a home.
The lyrics here…
That plinky little sound in the verses is an organ with some distortion on it. I wanted Jon Lord to play the part but he wasn't available. It's playing eighth notes in the verses and a sustained pad in the chorus. If I remix this I might bring it up. I haven't decided yet.
The sound at the end is actually a grunt of frustration. This is the easiest song every written in all of the history of music and it took me 700 takes to get the rhythm guitars right. I was going to cut it out but when the time came I thought it was funny so I left it there.
The first song completed for the second round of re-recorded Quarantine Tunes. This one was written on the last day of the 2016 RPM Challenge. I had written a bunch of songs saying that people who think the Earth is flat are somehow defective…
It's not a cocked wah, all of those mids are coming from the Klon pedal. I was a scooped mids guy for 30 years before I finally figured out that if I just boost the mids a little the rest of the band can hear me without me cranking my amp until it hurts. Now I overdo it in the other direction. heh
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
And here we go - Edith FINALLY gets it...
Actually, she's been getting it ever since I wrote it on the 29th May. I thought it would take a week or so, but it proved to be more of a fight than I was expecting.
On…
RPM 2k15
vocal by Gregg Todt
is it the medication
that makes her stare off into space?
those little pills in the bottle
grab your collar
smack you in the face
i want to make an appointment to see
that drug, so he will give her back to…
I thought going into 50/90 that I would need to do some quick recordings of really simple arrangements. Maybe just acoustic guitar and voice. Nope, not really.
This isn't meant as filler. This idea is something I noodle on almost every…
So 50/90 is an unnatural forcing of a crap ton of songs in a relatively short period of time. We're half way though and I've learned one thing. I've learned how easy it is to repeat something you've already done. This one sounds a LOT like…
I appreciate wanting to bring the vocals out in the mix more but that would mean someone might hear my awful voice and nonono we can't have that. Not to mention the terrible lyrics. Urgh. Bury those vocals!
I also like having the excuse that as I am a guitar player first and foremost, I naturally want the guitars to overpower everything else.
In all seriousness, I agree the vocals need to come up... I just can't bring myself to do it.
Opening song by Kent Good. We played pretty good in Feb. We are not "chops" players, but i think we rocked this one pretty good.This song will evolve a bit as we break it in live.
Apologies to Peter and the rest of Genesis - from back when they were good - 1974
And the lamb lies down on Broadway.
Early morning Manhattan,
Ocean winds blow on the land.
The Movie-Palace is now undone,
The all-night watchmen have had their…
"Stupid Punk Song" is... well... stupid. I woke up one morning and the entire song, lyrics and all, was stuck in my head. I let it rattle around for a few days before putting it down on my new 8-track. I played it for Break Even once but they…
This is a pre-release of a song from my new album. The song still needs some polish and rubbing. I will change it out once i get done with the final version. The lyric was written a long time ago, of what could or couldn't have been:) Thats the…
Comments on Robert James's stuff
Works for me, great sound ......
That plinky little sound in the verses is an organ with some distortion on it. I wanted Jon Lord to play the part but he wasn't available. It's playing eighth notes in the verses and a sustained pad in the chorus. If I remix this I might bring it up. I haven't decided yet. The sound at the end is actually a grunt of frustration. This is the easiest song every written in all of the history of music and it took me 700 takes to get the rhythm guitars right. I was going to cut it out but when the time came I thought it was funny so I left it there.
Love a bit of chromatics :) Very cool bluesy core to this - sounds super sweet to me.
I agree with Andrew that Wah is fab great song too
And that "yeah" - it sounds like an expression of "NAILED it" at the end of a take... and I shall take it as that. But it could so easily be what I tend to capture a lot: a response to a call of "dinner's ready, I've called you three times already" lol
Or is it actually a keyboard? On second listen I'm wondering whether there's a also a keyboard pad of some sort tying the mix together. Could be guitars, though... anyways, very balanced mix that makes everything shine, especially the vocal.
Woah! That use of the wah is SO cool. The vocal is a goodie too. I like that guitar doing the plink plink plink kind of piano part thing. The guitars are huge. Love the "yeah!!" (is that what it is?) at the end. Digging this track big time.
Ooh yeah!!
It's not a cocked wah, all of those mids are coming from the Klon pedal. I was a scooped mids guy for 30 years before I finally figured out that if I just boost the mids a little the rest of the band can hear me without me cranking my amp until it hurts. Now I overdo it in the other direction. heh
GEETARS! :) Love the leads... Oh yeah... I think I'd like the rhythm ones louder, but they've got a lot of mids between them, so they probably could drown out the rest. I think we could take a spot more, though... Oh! Just reread the blurb - the rhythms are through a cocked wah? Ah, then you had the same problem as whoever had to mix Blizzard of Ozz, MSG, etc! LOL (I only tried that technique once - bear in mind this was a bluesrock band - my sound engineer went "wtf are you doing!?!? If you keep doing that I'm just turning your fader down..." lol)
WOW! What an achievement. A superb body of work. I've seen that you don't like some of it, but as a whole it really hangs together and is good to listen to all the way through. Then when you realise these 51 were created in 88 days... crumbs. Well done... FLIPPIN WELL DONE! :)
I think you're right ("I think we have a winner here"), I've been enjoying all of them playing (it's turned up quite loud, I'm kinda digging it) ... but this one made me come back to the window that's playing it, there's something about this one that commands attention. Nice one! (Back to work now!)
You've posted SO many songs since I was last listening, I'm just gonna pick up where I left off and let them play while I'm working. I can see you completed the challenge, 51 in 88... WOW! Congratulations :)
That says it perfectly in a nutshell!
Amazing!!!!
6/8 is good :) ... cool set of songs in this batch. Keep going!!! :)
Oh yeah this one stands out big time. Love the build up. Love the space under the lead.
Very cool! I like the build up indeed.
This is another that benefited from a second listen. What I've got to do is STOP reading your blurb on the first listen! Anyways, that's actually a really clever vocal melody. Keep challenging, don't actually kill yerself, obviously, but falling down after the vocal take is a good sign!! (ish!) LOL
I wasn't sure about this one on first listen (your stuff about polyrhythms was making me think too much... then I remembered I'd forgotten something with work, so I had to deal with that while the track carried on)... when I got back I couldn't think of anything to say... so I hit play again and, woah!, it really grabbed me... then I realised I wasn't counting trying to figure out the funny rhythm - I'd just accepted it and it sounds really cool. Sounds like the hand's recovered too?
Comments made by Robert James
That plinky little sound in the verses is an organ with some distortion on it. I wanted Jon Lord to play the part but he wasn't available. It's playing eighth notes in the verses and a sustained pad in the chorus. If I remix this I might bring it up. I haven't decided yet. The sound at the end is actually a grunt of frustration. This is the easiest song every written in all of the history of music and it took me 700 takes to get the rhythm guitars right. I was going to cut it out but when the time came I thought it was funny so I left it there.
It's not a cocked wah, all of those mids are coming from the Klon pedal. I was a scooped mids guy for 30 years before I finally figured out that if I just boost the mids a little the rest of the band can hear me without me cranking my amp until it hurts. Now I overdo it in the other direction. heh
Love the slide! What a great song. No one warns us that vowel sounds matter when writing lyrics, but you nailed it.
Damn it man, each song is better than the one that came before. Nice work. Really loving it.
The acoustic bass sound comes from GarageBand. I haven't been using it much lately, but every once in a while I feel the need.
I appreciate wanting to bring the vocals out in the mix more but that would mean someone might hear my awful voice and nonono we can't have that. Not to mention the terrible lyrics. Urgh. Bury those vocals! I also like having the excuse that as I am a guitar player first and foremost, I naturally want the guitars to overpower everything else. In all seriousness, I agree the vocals need to come up... I just can't bring myself to do it.
I love everything about this song.
Live music! Sounds great.
Have I mentioned that this is the BEST! SONG! EVER!!!!? Because it clearly is the BEST SONG EVER!!!
BEST! SONG! EVER!!!!!
Syd would be proud. Thanks!
Put on a fox head mask and channel Peter Gabriel. Nice!
Hey Steve, I don't think you were there that night. I know i played it for at least Jeff and Dave and they both sort of looked at me funny.
I like both of these songs a lot. Thanks!
Great song! Here's to hoping you add some more.
Some excellent guitar playing! Thanks
I'm so impressed that I can't think of anything complementary to say. Thanks!
Wow!