The idea was simple: write one song every day. I had the idea last month to challenge myself to a “30 Day Music Challenge” which would have just three rules:

Photo by Flickr user Eyeliam

CREATE: Spend the first 14 days writing one song per day. Somehow record those songs for reference later. I chose to do this by literally recording a rough take of each song on my Tascam 24 track digital recording studio. I had considered simply writing down guitar tabs or chord charts instead of laying down the songs on tape, but found recording was actually faster and easier to do. Plus, I could listen to and critique them easier than if I was practicing them and trying to listen at the same time.

POLISH: Spend the next 14 days re-working the songs (one per day) so that they have a more finished feel, instead of the “rough first draft” kind of thing. Again, I chose to do this primarily through recording. I did more polished takes to replace my original scratch tracks, added instruments and vocal harmonies, and mixed the tracks together, to greater and lesser degrees of success.

SHARE: During the last 2 days, find some way to share your project with others. I had initially wanted to perform my songs live, but opted instead to post my recorded songs online, despite my lack of expertise mixing and mastering them by myself. This was mostly because the songs I had written weren’t simple “singer/songwriter” acoustic ballads like I thought they were going to be when I started. Most featured full bands that I had created through multiple takes, and I don’t have a band to play with, currently. Even if I did have a band to play with, it probably would have taken more than a few weeks to rehearse the volume of new material into a performable set.

The end result was 14 songs that were written, recorded, mixed, and posted online in one month, flat. Are they all great songs? No. Are they at least mixed perfectly to deliver the best experience of polyphonic sound to blast on your home stereo? Definitely not. Do they then showcase a musical aptitude and creativity of a virtuoso talent who was able to hack out perfectly polished takes from song after song of new material as comfortably as though he’d been playing those same songs for years, making up for the lack of recording quality? Nope.

So why would anyone who considers themselves a musician want to attempt something like this? Why would you want to go through all the toil and agony of writing, recording and sharing your music under such ridiculous time constrictions, releasing something that is less than your best to be heard by potentially tens (well, I’m a realist) of people?

For me, it was because at the end of the day I would have done something fresh, exciting, and challenging with my music. As noted earlier, I don’t play with other musicians at the moment. I love the feel and spontaneity of live jams, and I wanted to find some way of re-creating that by myself. I also had noticed that I had gotten into a bit of a rut, where when I did practice, it was always the same songs or riffs, and it was hard to break out of the cycle of playing rapidly stagnating songs that I had worked at for years and had practiced the life out of. Giving myself such a short time frame to create new music, and forcing myself to work at it every day was the simple answer.

The songs I ended up with are gritty, mistake-riddled, poorly mixed and utterly heartfelt. The 30 Day Music Challenge kick-started me and inspired me to try new things and break out of the mould, which is really what good art should be.

I’d encourage you, if you feel stuck, un-original, or just plain bored with music, to start your own 30 Day Challenge. Your music will thank you for it.

You can check out my 30 Day Music Challenge here.