Tag: rpm

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RPM 2026

It’s that time of year again! The Ravens are out of the playoffs, and the RPM challenge approaches. As a reminder, the RPM challenge has musicians writing and recording a single/EP/album during the month of February.

I have a couple of loose ideas, and some found sound. I’m just going to go with it as see what happens.

UPDATE 3/1/2026

Alas. I did not finish. I have the makings of four songs – two of which I think are fairly strong. The other material needs a little more time.

I acquired an Arturia MicroFreak, and I really like it. I think it’s going to come in handy.

So, what happened? Life! We have a lot going on – February is usually a slow month, but not this year. I’m teaching a couple of classes, I had some other art related duties, and my mom’s estate is taking a great deal of my time.

I’ll keep plugging away at these songs – I think I can use them for two separate upcoming projects, in addition to the album. And, speaking of which, I made two other covers. Both were taken during my recent trip to NYC.

I hope (and believe) Leo Retrograde will be finished this year, and maybe before the end of the summer.

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Music

The Invisible Obvious

I just completed an album (soon to be on bandcamp) that I made in response to the RPM challenge. I did it!

As always, it didn’t turn out quite like I thought it would, and while I satisfied the requirements of the challenge (I have enough songs), I did not finish all the tracks.

There are two straight forward tracks that I am still developing, and several soundtrack items.

Of particular interest to me are the tracks with readings – I used AI to read some of my decommissioned prose. And my two favorite tracks are The Memory of Somewhere I Have Never Been and Ask for what you want.

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ART

Decommissioned Prose

A few months ago, I stated my intention to draw every day during 2025. How is it going? Really well! I don’t feel compelled to share much here other than it has been very rewarding. Drawing is one of my favorite things, and I’ve found that by doing it more frequently, I feel sharper and more comfortable with it. It’s more second nature, and this challenge is not a chore. Very satisfying.

I’ve also been working on a project concerning Asemic texts. Asemic writing is a wordless open semantic form of writing. The word asemic means “having no specific semantic content”, or “without the smallest unit of meaning”. It can be gestural, and often is.

I have been cutting up certain materials to reassemble them in new ways. It’s not exactly Asemic writing, but several expository efforts have made their way into my sketchbooks over/alongside my drawings. These feel connected to the Asemic project. I like them, and have, in turn, had a robot read them aloud for me. I then recorded these orations and added them to some of my instrumental RPM tracks, which ties several projects together this month.

I will likely make completely posts for each “writing,” but for now, I’ll share these WIPS as a sign of my enjoyment in these tasks.

I’m getting into assembling these! I’ll clean them up and share them more fully later.

ART
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Joie de Vivre

RPM 2025 and Frederick

It’s cold here today. The Ravens are set to play the Bills tomorrow in NY, and it’s going to be VERY cold there. Baltimore is supposed to get snow. It’s very nice – we’ve had so little these past few years.

I am throwing my card into the 2025 RPM challenge. I’m feeling inspired and good about this year – I am fairly certain I have an album in me (35 minutes or 10 songs). I am once again stating my intention here.

We visited the city of Frederick today. I took Beverly to Wonder Book and Video. I haven’t been in that place for over 21 years.

We walked around Market Street, visited some shops, and had dinner.

A couple of themes emerged for me, including (more) ESP, miniature portraits, and James Ensor.

It was a lovely day.

Joie de Vivre
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Music

The Shadow of My Doubt

I just dropped a new album on Bandcamp!

Jim Doran and the Shadow of his Doubt

All of this was recorded in 2024. Give it a listen.

This was what I had intended for this year’s RPM challenge, but couldn’t make it work in February. I love how this turned out.

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Music

RPM Challenge 2024

And so, with great anticipation, I return to the RPM challenge.

It’s a very cold night here in Baltimore – 18 degrees as I type this. We don’t get many of these anymore, so I’m kind of relishing this season. Maryland is wonderful for its diverse seasons.

https://www.rpmchallenge.com/ asks participants to accept the challenge of completing a musical project during the month of February. It can be a song, an Ep, and album, or even a boxed set.

I chose Ep this year, with the hopes of completing at least 4 songs – and I mean songs in the more traditional sense – and then some more experimental pieces.

I then read that it is acceptable to complete already started songs, which moves me a lot closer to the goal stated above, and quite possibly an entire album.

I’ve done this enough times to know that what I set out to do, and the material I end up with, usually are very different. We shall see.

Last year’s RPM album was A chop off the old block.

UPDATE 2/27/2024

Alas. It’s looking like 2024 is the year I won’t finish the RPM challenge. I did lay down drum tracks, and I came up with a new song that I like. I have ideas for others, but I did not spend the time getting the material worked out, nor recorded well.

I got Logic working, so that’s something.

I might finish some experimental things tonight, but I won’t release them on Bandcamp for the RPM challenge, because I told myself I didn’t want to do that this year.

Do I feel bad? Not at all. There’s always March!

At the very last moment, I joined a creative writing workshop at the University of Baltimore, and that has captured my attention. That’s not meant to be an excuse. Between that class, my own teaching, my wedding, and shinky dinks, I haven’t made time to record.

So, unless I pull out some miraculous tracks this evening, I’m throwing in the towel on RPM24.

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