January 14, 2013

RPM Challenge - 2013

Everyone knows the annual RPM Challenge doesn't start until February. Well, I'm breaking the rules this year. My wife is out of the country for two weeks, so I'm taking advantage of this chance to monopolize the apartment for recording purposes. I still plan to only spend the allotted 28 days on this project, so I need to complete everything by noon on January 10th.

Not only is my schedule going to be different this year, I'm also trying a new plan of attack. My concept for the project is Wrestling Theme Music, I'm attempting to write and record entrance music for at least ten imaginary wrestlers. I've always been a fan of theme songs and jingles, and have included them on my last two RPM albums, so wrestling intros seems like a natural progression.

Why a whole album of it though? There are a number of reasons. First, I'm not able to record any substantial amount of vocal tracks because my usual location is out of commission. And fingers crossed, I'm hoping my save my lyric-writing energy for a reactivated Plowing Mud Forever.

Because my imaginary wrestlers are going to span several decades of activity, it will also force me to explore different amp and MIDI sounds. I used a few synth sounds last year, but I want them all over the place this time. And if any of them end up coming from other countries, I'll have to stray from the usual guitar, bass, and drums setups. In terms of style, I won't need to obsess over weird time signatures because theoretically, someone needs to march or strut down to the ring along with the track.

I know I say this year every year, but I'm again going to try emphasizing quantity over quality. These songs will be shorter and likely less complicated so I should be able to sit down and write as I record. In past years, I spent the first ten days just writing and arranging songs, so diving right in is a new challenge for me.

Right now I'm on day 2 and I've got most of two songs completed, and another halfway there. I'm just going to barrel through and get as many ideas recorded, then go back and sweeten them up. I already came up with a list of 20 imaginary wrestlers so I'll use that as my inspiration.

More updates in a few days.