I kept going back to a songwriting crutch for this year’s RPM Challenge. The idea is to use the same bass line for verses and choruses and have everything else change around it. This is an example of that. Rhythm guitar is a Les Paul direct…

This is the first time I’ve ever tried to write a song in 5/8 time. I like this one, but I think there’s too much going on in the mix. For the last couple of years I’ve been in the habit of double tracking all of my vocal parts. While recording…

This one is the keeper. Every year there is one song that works for me from the first moment the idea starts bubbling up right through the exporting of the final mix. This is it for this year. Another overtly political lyric over a repeating…

This is an RPM2018 outtake and boy is the album better off without it. The word that kept coming to mind while “mixing” this was turd. Rhythm guitars are ES335 to both the Fender Bassbreaker and Vox MV50 direct outs. The lead is the Strat through…

Technically this counts as an RPM2018 leftover, but only barely. It started life as one of three riffs that I recorded using the Music Memos app on my iPhone. When March 1st arrived that was all there was. Maybe two measures. But I figured that…

Another RPM2018 left over. This was supposed to be the quiet little album closer. It was going to have tons of reverb and delay going on all over the place. Too bad the song pretty much sucked. I dropped it about 3 seconds after I finished recording…

This one started out with really quiet verses and really heavy choruses. That was the whole idea for the song. Great big honkin’ chewy dynamics changes. In fact, the working title was actually “Dynamics”. Then, while recording vocals, I thought…

Probably the most ambitious idea I had for RPM2018 which is probably why it got dropped. That and the simple fact that it’s the worst vocal I’ve ever recorded. The idea was to write three short songs and stitch them together into one big song…

The last song to be cut from the 2018 RPM Challenge album is the first song finished for the 2018 RPM Challenge left overs album. Rhythm guitars are my Stratocaster to a Vox MV50 direct output. Leads are my ES 335 Pro to a Fender Bassbreaker…

Reddit’s Song a Week, week 13. The prompt? Syncopation. I think this counts. The rhythm under the solo is syncopated enough to have thrown me off every take. I kept losing the 1. Another song with utterly meaningless lyrics. Even more so than…

This came together in record time, but I feel like I could write 10000 pages on where it came from. First off, it’s for the Reddit Song a Week. Week 12, Harmony. It qualifies as most of the vocals are in two part harmony. It’s also done on…

Written for Reddit’s Song a Week subreddit for 2018 week 11. I don’t particularly care for this, but it was the first attempt I made that was actually finished by the Wednesday night deadline. Rhythm guitars are my strat through my 15 watt…

My first crack at Reddit’s Song a Week challenge. I didn’t finish on time. The prompt for 2018 week 9 was two minutes. The idea was to have the run time be less than two minutes. Mine was, except for the cymbal decay on the last note which…

I had this thought this year that maybe I will try and come up with drum parts that don't sound very traditional. Sort of like mid-80's Neil Peart kinda things. In the end there were only a few songs that I attempted something. This is one…

Part of the plan this year was to use a real amplifier and real effects pedals on all of the guitar parts. Recently I have been becoming obsessed with uni-vibe style pedals. I used one on this song, a cheap thing called a Shaky Jimi. I used…

I like this one, but at the same time... I don't. It's just not quite good enough. Not as good as I was hoping at least. I dropped it from the RPM album. The amp is a Fender Bassbreaker. The rhythm guitar is an ES-335. The lead is a…

I was a prog rock fan for years when suddenly in high school I got really into what would eventually be called Alternative. It was so weird to me that music so uncomplicated could be so good. Some songs were even made up of one phrase repeated…

I don't hate this one, which is high praise this year. It's okay. The rhythm guitar is an ES-335 through a Joyo Vintage Phase pedal. The lead is a Les Paul through an EHX Soul Food pedal. The amp is a Fender Bassbreaker. Don’t know what…

The slow to mid-tempo ideas came hot and heavy toward the end this year. All the up tempo stuff was started within the first week or so. After that it was all funeral marches. I'm on the fence on whether or not I like this one. I had planned…

If a Uni-Vibe pedal modulates the pitch, how do you double track with one? The answer? Very carefully. Actually, I just did it. I used the same settings on both guitar tracks and panned them both hard to one side. The effect was a kinda groovy…