Okay, this one is all about being a guitar gear nerd. Wet/Dry. You play through two amplifiers. One amplifier gets a dry signal and the other gets all of the effects. The idea is you can crank up the effects without having to worry about…

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…

If my song writing comfort zone lives at about 70 beats per minute, it's nice to double it now and then. This one is 144. A fun change of pace. I like this one. I don't love it. I doubled the voice in the chorus because I wanted to add…

Sometimes when I'm working on rhythm guitar parts I have to make sure I remember Robin Trower's third album (For Earth Below) where he put a ton of distinct rhythm guitar tracks on most of the songs and most of those rhythm guitar tracks are flooded…

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…

Generally speaking I like this one, but there are some catches. 1. The vocals for this song, along with two others, were recorded on a day when I just didn't have it. I couldn't hit a pitch if you painted a big target on it. 2. I recorded…

I almost like this one. I was into it while I was putting it together (percussion overload, babie!) and playing the rhythm guitar parts was kinda fun. I had a really hard time with the vocals. I just couldn't find the pitches anywhere. Singing…

I don't like the chorus in this one at all. Everything else is okay but the chorus... let's just file it under "it seemed like a good idea at the time" and forget all about it. Guitars are all Gibson ES-335 Pro. Amps on all guitar tracks…

I don't hate it outright... but I don't really like it either. The chorus is okay, the groove is okay... maybe I just need to re-record it and play better. Maybe just tone down the grunge a little. I don't know. It's not a complete loss, but…

Nothing special about this one except that it broke my one songwriting challenge rule: I rewrote part of it. The lyrics. I wrote the melody and a set of lyrics that fit late one night and even before I conked out for the night I knew it was…

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…

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 don't like this one. There are no redeeming qualities here at all. Except for the last three bars. There was one rhythm guitar here but it was played through two amplifiers. The right speaker is a Fender Bassbreaker 15. The left is…

I like the melody on this one, and the vocal harmonies work pretty well. It could have benefitted from a competent singer, but I didn't do too much harm. Back in February during the RPM Challenge/FAWM I did a lot of messing with GarageBand percussionists…

74 beats per minute. I don't consciously write music in the 70-75 bpm range, but somehow it just always... happens... to... me. It's like my binky. It's like my happy place. There's another personal cliche here too. Back in the early 90's…

The Great Quest to Write a Heavy Rocker in 3/4 Time Continues. Kinda generic, but I like the vibe and the vocal harmonies aren't terrible. I used a couple of different tones for the leads which was also neat. All of the guitar parts are a…

Okay, am I the only person who thinks it's delightfully goofy to play a 12-bar blues in 7/8 time? I think I might be. I keep doing it and I just giggle all the way through. This one isn't that good of an example as I was mentally done with…

I really enjoy working on these quiet little semi-trippy ballad type things, but then when I listen back a month or two later I can't figure out why I liked it and then I never listen to it again. I can see this song's future. I put delays…

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…

Not sure of the mix on this one. I thought about putting a flanger onto the bass when it's the only thing playing in the middle of the song. I still might go back and do it. The guitars are all Gibson ES-335 and the amps are all Fender Bassbreaker…