The Calculus Affair's 2010 RPM Thread

[marz]

Hey, look! I'm still alive. I've just signed up for my fourth RPM challenge yesterday. As I noted in the forums there, I'm now the parent of a wee baby boy, so this will be an experiment in just how efficient I can be in the process of recording an album. Knowing that I won't be able to do as much in the actual month, I've been planning a more stripped-down album and trying to write as much of the material as I can beforehand. Here is what I have discovered so far: by the time the baby is fed and asleep and the adults have eaten dinner and watched a little tv, I am too tired to be creative. So perhaps that doesn't bode well. But I'm going to try anyway.

My current plan is to do something that references Revolver in ways I have not yet fully made concrete.

How is everybody else out there doing these days? Who's doing the challenge besides Chris?

[toots]

Ha! Such modest goals: reference Revolver in a stripped down way; should be easy (insert sarcasm emoticon here). I am thinking of signing up but haven't got a clue what I'd do and I'm thinking I might be sort of busy in February. That hasn't stopped me in the past. I'm very glad you are doing RPM though, and I'm sure you'll come up with something great. You did get a mention on NPR's All Songs Considered profile of RPM last year, didn't you? How's the wee baby? Did I congratulate you on your fatherhood? Well, congrats, either way!

[justatom]

Congrats on your new found parenthood! Your description of the daily routine brings back some vivid memories.
Do they still sell those wind-up baby swings? We found that the only way to keep our boy happy while we wolfed down a 5 minute dinner.
FOURTH RPM?!! I'm apprehensive about signing up for my first. I don't want to sign up unless I think I can do it. Was thinking about 'colours' as a theme. Will let you know if I do sign up. It might get me out of this music slump.
Good luck,
Tom

[chrooke]

Halfway through my first RPM, 2007, I suddenly had a 1 month old. I almost quit, but slogged on, anyway. I wrote one song during a late-night feeding. I had the hand of the arm holding the baby on my track ball, laying down beats and bass-line loops. Then, while I burped her, threw out some scat vocals over top. And the grumpy baby inspired a silly tune that I turned into a round for another song.

Moral of the story: Don't give up. Take what's going on in your life and work it in.

[marz]

I did indeed make it onto NPR's Second Stage podcast last year. It was as famous as I have ever been, I suddenly heard from all of these people I hadn't heard from in years, and it all kind of freaked me out. On the one hand, social networking: whoa. On the other, if I ever become an actual rock star I'll need to, I don't know, overcome my shyness or something.

My wife and I came to parenthood via adoption, so our son is 17 months old now and it's a lot easier than it might otherwise be. He goes down at 7:00 and sleeps until 7:00 the next morning, so I have a reasonable amount of hope that I'll produce...something. justatom, I highly recommend RPM as an exercise in music in general. It has lots of benefits, but getting yourself out of a musical rut is one of them, by force if nothing else. I myself like to make a rough musical plan and then try and execute it in the time allotted, but also you can Just Do It if you want.

Anyway, updates as events warrant.

[justatom]

justatom, I highly recommend RPM as an exercise in music in general. It has lots of benefits, but getting yourself out of a musical rut is one of them, by force if nothing else.

Thanks for the recommendation and support. I do think I'll give it a try.
Good luck with your RPM efforts!
Tom

[Tall J]

I've got a six-month-old little baby girl. I'm going to give RPM an honest try, but I also wonder if I'll be able to get it all done. It's part of why I joined forced with Steve. That way I only have to half as much.

But like Chris was saying, I have recorded midi parts with one arm while my daughter was asleep in the other arm.

[marz]

Well, it's the 18th, and I'm plugging along, but it's starting to look bleak. I'm still working through the instrumentation, and have yet to sing a note. I've also cut the album down to the bare minimum, which is still ten songs, but they're all two-and-a-half minutes or so, so this is going to be one short album.

Predictably, I'm exhausted by the time I have a chance to go down and work on it, and I haven't had any time on the weekends, my child having not yet learned to entertain himself while awake (we've tried learning the guitar with limited success so far). My current hope/plan is to spend next week singing and mail a rough cut of the album on 3/1, and then do some mixing in the next couple of weeks afterwards before I unleash it upon the world.

How's it going for everybody else?

[Tall J]

I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by everything that is going on...

[toots]

I wrote down a list of titles last night. That's it. I'm starting to think I won't get it done this time.

[marz]

I wrote down a list of titles last night. That's it. I'm starting to think I won't get it done this time.

Well, I'm farther along than that at least. Still, here's hoping I won't have to resort to an album with four rough songs and a 26 minute guitar solo.

[cStu]

Yep
Whatever you get is a bonus
especially if you manage to give your daughter guitar lessons, too


i'll be happy if i get some new songs out of this

hey wait - i've got some new songs - w00t!

if i get ten new songs demo'd i'm gonna call it a win