Styled Bits » music

RPM 2008 is Over

Michael Gorsuch — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 15:05:22 +0000

While I do not have a finished album from RPM 2008, I did have the opportunity to rediscover my guitars and find inspiration. It has been far too long, and I had come to the conclusion that I no longer ‘had it’. Talk about limiting oneself.

It’s Not Like Clockwork

Michael Gorsuch — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:37:49 +0000

I have been trying to work out project music every morning upon waking. It’s just not happening. I get an occasional burst of inspiration, but I’m not able to develop it. I think the roadblock is the knowledge that I can’t take too much time, as I need to catch the train to work in short while.

The evidence suggests that weekend evenings are my most productive. I haven’t been able to turn out bad-ass-sure-things like Paul’s yet, but I am able to get a few workable structures laid down here or there.

I hope to throw the last of my ideas out this weekend, and then move on to refining our existing tracks.

In the end, no matter where these tracks go, this has been a great experience. Realizing that I haven’t lost the musical aspects of my personality has made me grin and adds some balance to my day-to-day life.

Inspiration on the Edge of Dreamland

Michael Gorsuch — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 20:59:46 +0000

I had one of those rough nights in which I couldn’t tell what was keeping me from sleeping more - pages from my network monitoring system or my old and cranky dog. By the time I had wrapped everything up, it was 6:15 AM, and I was wired with adrenalin.

Not being able to go back asleep, I decided to take the time before going into work to work on some music for our RPM 2008 contest. While none of it is great, you can catch my two favorites here and here. I also came up with a few other ideas, but didn’t have enough time to commit them. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

As Paul mentioned yesterday, our work is open to the public and even has an RSS feed if you want to contribute or keep up.

And the Games Begin

Michael Gorsuch — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 03:26:33 +0000

I launched a small Drupal site for our RPM 2008 submission, and the discussions are beginning. I’ve got invites out to musical prodigy Romio Y, supreme vocalist Brian C, and the madmen of The Sentient Beings Project. We’ll see if they take the bait. Suckers!

It’s super secret, but if you’d like to contribute just leave a comment here and include your email address in the appropriate field. We’ve settled on using Apple’s GarageBand as our default platform. If you don’t have it, you can download an mp3 mix and send us your additional track(s) for us to mix in.

A Not-So-Bluesy Monday

Michael Gorsuch — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:37:37 +0000

I took the day off today, and have been trying to get my musical muscles back in shape. Paul and I have decided to do a long distance collaboration for the 2008 RPM Challenge. This morning’s tasks included a reexamination of Garage Band. It has improved over the years, and this version works just fine. We’ve decided it will be our default platform. If you haven’t had the time to play with it, here is a sample of what I whipped up in just a few minutes.

Got the Blues

Keep in mind that the guitar is going straight in. I’m not putting a mic in front of an amp. To my ears, this is some of the best amp modeling I’ve heard.

Imagine what you could do if you had the time to do a full production…

I’ve sent emails to some of my old comrades, as I am trying to recruit them into our long distant band. Just a few more days until we have to start working our tails off.

I Can’t Feel My Fingers

Michael Gorsuch — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 04:00:22 +0000

I had a lot of maintenance to do last night, so I’ve been napping through most of the day. When I finally felt like going near a computer, I noticed that Paul was talking about this: a NanoWriMo for musicians. After a few moments of reading that, I pulled out my old beat up Martin, tuned it up, and started remembering. I’ve lost a lot, but I really want to do this. It may be 35 minutes of terribly boring and uninspired instrumentals, but it’ll have my name all over it ;-)

I’ve got a few days to get my gear in line. I’ve got my Martin and Les Paul. I had purchased a new copy of Logic with my new iMac. I have an old copy of Reason 2.5. Maybe all I’m lacking is a few cables that were probably misplaced or buried from the move.

Two Things

Michael Gorsuch — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:29:03 +0000

First, I caught the first episode of the Sarah Connor Chronicles tonight. It was pretty fun, and elaborates on the Terminator mythos.

Second, I rediscovered Ellis Paul. Check out his essentials on iTunes. It is just fantastic. I had the good fortune of seeing him live nearly ten years ago. He was an amazing entertainer, and extremely humble. He was nice enough to talk to us aspiring musicians and show us how he makes it happen. Again, check out his ‘essentials’ on iTunes. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.