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The One Song One Month Challenge – Week 1 [Video]

Happy New Year's everyone! It's hard to believe a whole year has flown by...again! Well to celebrate and to kick 2010 into high gear right away, I've decided to give you a challenge. That's right. I want to challenge you (and me) to write/record/produce more songs this year than last. I want you to prove to yourself that you can and will make more music this year...BEFORE this year gets too busy. To do that I have created what I'm calling simply "The One Song One Month Challenge".

Here's what's going down: every Friday (starting today) I will post a tutorial video of me going from the beginning of producing a song in Pro Tools to finishing a mix...in one month! There are 5 Fridays in the month of January so there will be 5 videos. Your challenge is to watch them each week, then take the weekend and following week (whenever you have time) to move forward on the challenge. By the end of the month you will have written and created a new song and gotten a jump start on music making productivity in 2010!

Here are the categories for each week:

1. Starting Your Song - Creating a session, setting tempo, initial recording
2. Rhythm - Using loops and drum machines to fill out the track
3. Virtual Instruments - Using MIDI tracks to enhance your arrangement
4. Editing - Comping vocals and overall cleanup
5. Mixing - Basic mix and bounce for the web

I won't be able to go into great depth in these videos so consider them more of an outline and a jumping off point. My hope is that this challenge may be just the "boost" you need this year. So without any delay let's dive into the first week of the challenge. Enjoy the video below...and please don't hesitate to comment with any thoughts or questions. Here's to a productive and happy 2010!