RPM Challenge! Make some noise for the rewind! ('Wildcard' April challenge)

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

happy birthday belatedly
old git.

Cheers, man!

[wagtunes]

Yes, it is ironic. But you are right. The more people don't care, the less I care, which leads to people caring even less. It's a vicious cycle.

Breaking it?

Well, it's unlikely the listeners will break it. It's not like people are going to suddenly say to themselves, "Hey, let's really listen to this guy's music. Maybe he'll really put some time and effort into it if we do." I think we both know that's not going to happen.

So the only one who has a chance to break it is me.

And this is where the fear of disappointment comes into play. And no mater who you are, no matter how confident you are, you're always afraid that your music won't be received well unless you have absolutely no feelings at all. I'm sure even the top artists fear rejection.

You probably didn't listen to the song, but I really worked hard on this month's KVR song contest. I think I did an amazing job on it. If you look at the voting, I'm near the bottom of the list on many ballots. A few people put me 2nd or so. But for the most part, the song will do poorly.

For the life of me, I can't understand how this is happening. Not when I truly put in so much effort into it. In fact, I'd be willing to bet my bank account that if we got a room of industry professionals to listen to the entries for this month and let THEM vote, my song would be up near the top if not number 1.

So then what is it? Is it that my taste in music is THAT much different from the majority of the people here? If that's the case, nothing I do will ever be good.

When I post a track, I get 1 or 2 listens at best. And of late, I have put in a lot of effort into many songs. I can't help it that I sing like shit. There is nothing I can do about the quality of my voice and I don't have anybody waiting in the wings to sing my songs. So I do the best I can there. But there is no question that my voice ruins most, if not all, of my songs. Several members here have even been honest enough to tell me that. Go get somebody to sing your stuff. Well, I can't. So that's that.

My mixes are greatly improved. Are they pro level yet? No, but that's going to take years to get there.

My playing? Well, I still can't keep a steady beat so have to play to a click and quantize. That's going to make my songs sound less human. Again, nothing I can do about that.

My arrangements have improved since Jon got a hold of me and shook some sense into me.

I don't know how many (if any) of my most recent songs you've listened to. But if you do, you will have to admit that I've improved. My song "Hold You Like There's No Tomorrow" I think would have been a hit in the mid 70s. "Just Like Jimmy Neutron" a hit in the 80s. You've probably not listened to either of them.

In short, I'm no longer cranking out a song a day like I used to.

So honestly, I don't know what you're hearing as far as "lack of effort" again, assuming you've even listened to any of my most recent songs.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Yes, it is ironic...

Gonna have to put some distance between this and my desire to put my best foot forward in the challenge.

I will definitely reply at some point, though, as it seems that you still don't understand what I'm trying to say. That may be my fault, but just in case there is some impenetrable barrier causing our communication to go awry, perhaps it'd be worth getting your Babel Fish serviced

[wagtunes]

Yes, it is ironic...

Gonna have to put some distance between this and my desire to put my best foot forward in the challenge.

I will definitely reply at some point, though, as it seems that you still don't understand what I'm trying to say. That may be my fault, but just in case there is some impenetrable barrier causing our communication to go awry, perhaps it'd be worth getting your Babel Fish serviced

I know exactly what you're saying. You're saying I don't put enough effort into my productions. The English is simple enough to comprehend. What I'm saying is, on occasion, I do put in a ton of effort and it doesn't seem to matter to the listening audience. All the time? No. On occasion? Yes.

Clear enough?

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Yes, it is ironic...

Gonna have to put some distance between this and my desire to put my best foot forward in the challenge.

I will definitely reply at some point, though, as it seems that you still don't understand what I'm trying to say. That may be my fault, but just in case there is some impenetrable barrier causing our communication to go awry, perhaps it'd be worth getting your Babel Fish serviced

I know exactly what you're saying.

From your last long reply, it's very clear that you don't

I'm prepared to share some of the blame. We've been here many times before, and so I mistakenly relied on certain assumptions in lieu of being more explicit.

Later!

[wagtunes]

Yes, it is ironic...

Gonna have to put some distance between this and my desire to put my best foot forward in the challenge.

I will definitely reply at some point, though, as it seems that you still don't understand what I'm trying to say. That may be my fault, but just in case there is some impenetrable barrier causing our communication to go awry, perhaps it'd be worth getting your Babel Fish serviced

I know exactly what you're saying.

From your last long reply, it's very clear that you don't

I'm prepared to share some of the blame. We've been here many times before, and so I mistakenly relied on certain assumptions in lieu of being more explicit.

Later!

Here are your exaxt words.

you are so slack/lackadaisical in the execution

I'd have to be a total moron not to understand what you meant.

Most of the time, yes, you're absolutely right. No argument from me there. I phone it in.

The times that I DO NOT PHONE IT IN (and yes, there are times I bust my ass on my productions) it does not matter. Those songs aren't received any better than the ones I phone in.

Listen to "Hold You Like There's No Tomorrow" and "Hold On To Your Guns" and tell me with a straight face that I phoned those songs in.

You can't unless you're just saying it to be contrary and need to PROVE me wrong.

And with that, it is pointless to continue this any further.

I should have learned by now.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

And with that, it is pointless to continue this any further.

It will probably be easier to say what I want to say, without you getting in the way...so thanks

[wagtunes]

To no one in particular. I am just putting this out there.

As you all know by now, I was approached to write songs for a group that I have since signed a contract with.

I was approached by them because of my CD "Still Out Of Sync" which is began in April of 2019 and finished in August of that same year. 5 months to do one album is highly unusual for me.

Some time frames of note:

"Still Out Of Sync" took 17 days to do (the song that got their attention)
"Doctor Doctor" took 10 days to do.
"Monyatta" took 9 days to do.
"Stained Glass Window" took 10 days to do.
"Super Mom" took 14 days to do.
"A Drop In The Bucket Of Time" took 11 days to do.
"As The Years Go By" took 15 days to do.

I think it's safe to say had I not put in so much time into each song to make sure each one was as good as could be, I probably would not have attracted the attention of this group and gotten signed.

The irony is, I don't really love any of these songs. Granted, a lot of that may have to do with how much I worked on each one to the point of being sick of hearing them. That's understandable when something actually becomes a "job" that you have to do well. Why I wanted this CD to sound as good as possible, I have no idea. Maybe it was to prove something. It's been so long since, I hardly remember doing. All I know is, after 5 months, I was glad it was over.

And I think therein lies the problem. When I really put time into something, it becomes work. And I hate work and ultimately end up hating what I did. Sure, it got me a gig but at the price of spending 5 months of my life that, quite honestly, were not that enjoyable. The writing of the song I enjoy, It's the work required to make it sound as professional as possible that I don't enjoy.

Fortunately, I can now concentrate on writing and let this group do the recording, which is all I ever wanted 43 years ago when I first started doing this.

TLDR - I am a writer. I am not a performer, mix engineer or producer.