RPM Challenge Pre-pre-planning
For those of you who don't know, the RPM challenge is like NaNoWriMo or a number of other "do something in a month" activities.
http://www.rpmchallenge.com/
In this case, the challenge is to compose and record an album's worth of music in the month of February. (An "album" defined as at least 10 songs or 35 minutes.)
I signed up for it last year, but never could find the extra time to make it work; plus, I over-thought my "album" concept and and wound up setting my sights too high for what time I had.
This year, I'm looking to simplify.
While the challenge urges folks to not use pre-existing material, it doesn't hurt to have a general idea of what you'll do in mind so that when February 1 rolls around you don't fire up your recording gear and then hold your hands, hovering, over the instrument, waiting blankly for inspiration.
I generally conceive of albums in terms of theme and connection, anyway - instead of just generating a handful of barely-related songs, I try to tie a project together in some way, whether that's by some aspect of the musical style, or some lyrical theme, or even more esoteric things.
This year's RPM Challenge, for me, will have the theme of my cheap-ass electric guitars.
I have two six-strings and one bass. The bass was a gift, I'm told it was about $200, while I paid $35 and $50 for my other guitars, respectively. I am not enough of a guitar connoisseur to know what the flaws of each instrument are, I have little refinement in the ways of sound and tone that virtuoso, nimble-fingered guitarists are prone to dissect. My guitars are tools for banging out sounds.
So instead of striving for cleanliness, I'm aiming for noise, buzz, grit and destruction. Punkish, pop, but ground into sand.
All this buildup may come to nothing - a lot can happen in a month - but I figure getting myself amped up for it now will keep my enthusiasm going, help me push on despite the obstacles.
http://www.rpmchallenge.com/
In this case, the challenge is to compose and record an album's worth of music in the month of February. (An "album" defined as at least 10 songs or 35 minutes.)
I signed up for it last year, but never could find the extra time to make it work; plus, I over-thought my "album" concept and and wound up setting my sights too high for what time I had.
This year, I'm looking to simplify.
While the challenge urges folks to not use pre-existing material, it doesn't hurt to have a general idea of what you'll do in mind so that when February 1 rolls around you don't fire up your recording gear and then hold your hands, hovering, over the instrument, waiting blankly for inspiration.
I generally conceive of albums in terms of theme and connection, anyway - instead of just generating a handful of barely-related songs, I try to tie a project together in some way, whether that's by some aspect of the musical style, or some lyrical theme, or even more esoteric things.
This year's RPM Challenge, for me, will have the theme of my cheap-ass electric guitars.
I have two six-strings and one bass. The bass was a gift, I'm told it was about $200, while I paid $35 and $50 for my other guitars, respectively. I am not enough of a guitar connoisseur to know what the flaws of each instrument are, I have little refinement in the ways of sound and tone that virtuoso, nimble-fingered guitarists are prone to dissect. My guitars are tools for banging out sounds.
So instead of striving for cleanliness, I'm aiming for noise, buzz, grit and destruction. Punkish, pop, but ground into sand.
All this buildup may come to nothing - a lot can happen in a month - but I figure getting myself amped up for it now will keep my enthusiasm going, help me push on despite the obstacles.