RPM Challenge Postscript

Okay, it’s March 9th which means this post is about nine days late. Here’s my final mention of the 2024 RPM Challenge.

Two playlists. One is the “album” I submitted to the RPM Challenge website. The album is called The Potato Situation, after something Jen said to me about making dinner that was really funny and I decided would live on forever in album title form. 10 songs. One or two might be better than crap. The rest are meh at best.

The second playlist is also 10 songs and officially qualifies as an RPM Challenge win in it’s own right, but I did not submit it to the website. Why? Because these are the 10 songs that weren’t good enough to make the final cut. As meh as the official album is, these are worse. There are some really boring stinkers in this pile, but the point of the challenge is to ignore your internal censor and just make stuff happen. In that respect, this playlist is a winner.

And there you have it, folks. Two, 10 song playlists representing two sides of the same project coin… or something like that. Another successful February. I wish the quality were a little better, but I’m happy with the win. I’ll take it.

Now I can get back to the Quarantine Tunes Volume Seven that I’ve been picking away at for a couple of years. Maybe I’ll mix a song or two this weekend. We’ll see.

All Done and Submitted

Well, the RPM Challenge is complete. I just submitted my “album” which is really just a collection of rough mixes of shitty demoes of shitty songs. It’s just not very good this year.

I don’t have a playlist to embed yet. I’ll put that together tomorrow sometime. I do have the “album” all uploaded and sequenced with cover art and all over at alonetone.

The Potato Situation

I feel good about being done even if I don’t feel terribly good about the results. I’ll figure out a sequence of the leftovers “album” tomorrow too. For now though… I’m spent.

Happy Leap Day

Happy Leap Day, everyone! February 29th! IF today’s your birthday then you’ve been waiting four years for this day. Congratulations and make the most of it!

Leap Day means it’s the last day of February which means the RPM Challenge ends today. I have mixed two of the remaining six songs this morning but I have to put off the rest of them until after work tonight. I also have to finish cleaning out the kitchen so that everything is ready for kitchen demolition day tomorrow. I also also need to setup a little kitchen-esque space in our bed room, just in case we decide we need to cook something.

The mixes have been very quick and dirty and rough at best this year so I am sort of plowing through them with the minimum amount of time and effort. I’ll get the last four in tonight without too much of a problem. The question is whether any of them will be good enough to use on the final album.

I have 20 songs. I need 10 to submit an album to the RPM Challenge website. I will pick the best 10 songs and bundle them into something that resembles an album. I will take the remaining 10 pieces of dog shit and bundle them into something that resembles an outtake album. I’ll submit the 10 good songs and not submit the dog shit. Unfortunately, there are probably only four or five songs that I think are good enough to submit… so some shit is going to make it’s way into the submitted album. Oh well. That’s normal for me. I just have to decide what songs to include.

Here’s one I just finished. It will probably be included, though in a better year it would not have been. Oh well.

Four songs left to mix, then I need a cover image and a sequence. That’s all that remains for this year’s RPM Challenge. Almost there, folks. Almost there.

Happy Leap Day.

RPM Challenge Update

Here’s a quick update on the RPM Challenge as the penultimate* day comes to an end.

I mixed three songs tonight. All three of the songs are pigs and should never be listened to again.

14 songs finished. Six more to go. One day left. Almost there.

---

*I am such a pretentious hack.

Eleven Songs Down, Up to Nine to Go

I just did a quick and terrible mix of song number 11 for this year’s RPM Challenge. We’re officially into the second album’s worth of music. This one might make the final submission. It might not. I can’t decide yet.

Nine more songs left to mix and not enough time to get to it all. I’m pretty sure I’ll finish them all, I just won’t have much time for anything else.

Quick RPM Challenge Update

The goal for the RPM Challenge is to record either 10 songs or 35 minutes of music all within the month of February. For me, personally, I don’t consider a song finished until I have a decently listenable mix down.

Earlier tonight I finished mixing my 10th song of the month. I checked the running time for those 10 songs and it’s a smidge more then 37 minutes.

By the terms of both RPM Challenge goals, I have successfully completed the project once again. I’ve completed the challenge every year since 2012.

Of course this year I am shooting for two albums. That means I still have 10 songs left to finish and only two days remaining in the month. I betcha I get it done by the skin of my teeth. I might try to sneak another mix in tonight before I sleep, but it’s almost 10:30 and I am exhausted after dealing with the inventory of the 70,000 IKEA boxes that were delivered tonight. That figure is a slight exaggeration, but it sure feels accurate to my back.

Anyway… another year, another February album in a month. Cheerio, me maties.

Tracking is Done!

Well, RPM Challenge fans, I hit a major milestone for this year’s project. As of about 8:30am today, tracking is done! I put lead guitars onto seven songs. SEVEN! My finger tips are chewed up messes right now and I could barely play at all by the time I was done, but all of my tracking for all 20 songs is new complete. Yikes!

Now I just have to mix 12 songs. Oh… there’s the reality of the situation coming in to ruin my buzz. Twelve (12) songs left to mix by the end of the day on Thursday, and tomorrow is both an in the office day and a drive halfway across New England to go to IKEA after work night. There won’t be much time for mixing tomorrow. I was hoping to finish four songs last night but I only did two. Tonight and Thursday are going to require a lot of RPM Challenge work.

Yikes, babie. Yikes.

180/365

Eight Songs Down

I have mixed two more songs so far tonight. I am hoping to get one more in, but my ears need a break.

This one is okay. I think it will make the final album even though I have probably written this exact song 100 times before. That’s sort of a theme with me these days.

Eight songs down and somewhere between two and 12 left to go. Three days left in this year’s RPM Challenge. Will I get all 20 songs in or will I run out of time? It’s anyone’s guess at this point.

What a Day

This morning has been the toughest month in years.

Tomorrow is going to be worse. A lot worse. Wednesday will be tough, though mostly after work. Same with Thursday. Friday and Saturday? Nuckin’ Futs!

I need a nap. I need to go to bed early tonight but we all know that won’t happen. I will get up ridiculously early tomorrow too. Same with the next day and the next day and the next day.

As crazy as it has been, and as crazy as it will continue to be in the near future, I am good with it. I am ready for all of it. It’s going to be rough, but it’s also going to be worth it.

Bring it on, babie! Bring it on!

Okay, Robert. Back to work with your bad self. You have stuff to do before the day ends!

Keep the Stress at Bay

I’m feeling the stress creeping in and trying to take over. Between work, the kitchen project, contractor schedules, a massively massive imminent delivery from IKEA (almost 200 boxes of stuff), and the RPM Challenge… yeah… it’s getting to me a little.

No! Keep the stressing out at bay! Say no to stress! You Will Not Pass! This Far, No Further!

Okay, I snuck in some guitar playing this morning. It was bad, but maybe better than some of the crap I recorded last week. I am down to just lead guitars being the only tracking left to do so those move pretty quickly. I got through four songs. That’s good.

I have six songs mixed and finished. I have seven songs ready to mix (yikes!). I have seven songs waiting for lead guitar tracks (Double Yikes!). After that all I need to do is pick out the songs that will make the final RPM Challenge album submission, set a running order, and make some cover art. I took some pictures to possibly use for the cover yesterday.

All of that on top of remodeling our kitchen. Yikes!