We’ve reached mid-month, and close to 2,000 RPM Challenge participants from around the globe continue to labor toward the March 1 finish line. Fatigue has set in, but the creative drive remains strong, and many RPMers are taking inspiration from fellow musicians as they work on their new CDs. What follows is a sampling of unedited excerpts from comments posted on the RPM blog at www.rpmchallenge.com. And remember—it’s still not too late to sign up.

Day 7 : Thanks be to Andy Samford & the Emergency Broadcast System: I put my son to bed before nine and collapsed in a tired heap beside him, the result of many four hours of sleep nights and “burning the candle at all times” as it says in my lazy slacker song “Tight Wad.” I was facing my first non productive RPM Challenge night until I woke up at about 11:30, checked my e-mail and saw that fellow RPM Challenger Andy Samford, who I enlisted after his kind comment about another track and remembering his Electrolite recording of last year, sent me his lead parts for “Tight Wad.” This is the perfect song to work on real late at night—it’s lethargic and wasted sounding by design! —Serene Dominic, Phoenix, Ariz.

Full Steam Ahead!: The dam finally busted literally and figuratively. Jon and I now have 6 songs between us. Three of them are demoed. I’m finding my ideas come best first thing in the morning when I roll out bed. The last two came quick. In this case...a good thing. —Meadowlark, Methuen, Mass.

Week two: Wow, week one went by quickly! But so far, so good (I hope)...I’ve done the majority of tracking for nine songs, but then again, this where the real work begins! Time to take these loops and begin arranging them...find some sort of compelling narrative among the individual instruments. I started arranging the first track last night, and found that thinking in terms of “scenes” rather than verse/chorus/verse helps me greatly. Most importantly...well, it just feels really good to take these older songs and to hear them in new ways. I think my real goal this year is to become enthusiastic about making music again, after a year of setbacks and disappointments. Yeah! So far, so good! —Previously Rejected, Los Angeles, Calif.

Day two—Nova Scotia: Mark and I are driving from St. John’s to Calgary in approximately ten days, and we’re hoping to do a song a day....we are currently making our way through Cape Breton and we’re working on Song 2. Our goal? Record everything inside the van...Hilarious. —the Real Michael Boone, St. John’s, Newfoundland

The Crab With The Golden Claws: Went to a much needed yoga class tonight, so I’ve only done about an hour’s worth of work. I also had a long treatise about the nature of making music and how it’s frequently painful, but then Mick posted a video from Symphony of Science in the forums, and I got caught up in all of those and I remembered how music is just the awesomest thing in the universe. Maybe tomorrow night I’ll write about how making music is like being addicted to heroin. —The Calculus Affair, Seattle, Wa.

first week of splurging: Going solo with RPM this year; first set of solo recordings I’ve done since Crooked Roots. AEB will be missed dearly (people on pause was a sick ol’ go). One week in and I’ve got 5 songs recorded, all of which still need a lot of work. The last one I did is about dry humping....I hope my mom never hears this. —Justin Guzzwell, St. John’s, Newfoundland

Tinnitus: My ringing ears are bothering me a great deal. Anybody else have that problem? It bothers me most when I am trying to master a track. I played live, loud music for many years, and that’s where my tinnitus comes from. It went away for a few years, then came back. Terrible at night when I am trying to sleep......oh well. —albinoSQUIRREL, Atlanta, Ga. 

So it begins: So, instead of taking 2 years to put an EP out, we’re going to try and put a 35 minute album out in less than a month. Wish us liuck. —Veluxe, Rochester, N.Y.

Um...Song #0.85?: Well, here we are on day 9 of the challenge and I have a whopping nearly one song to show for it! Problem is, I’m more concerned right now with fine-tuning the current song than just barreling through to ten ideas. And I know I need to pick up the pace, hard-core. —Paskey, Chicago, Ill.

Sum of my Work: Holy she-it! It is the 10th and I have zero, as in zilch, nada, nothing, rien, ingenting, ei mitään, hичего, niente, tίποτα, niets, khe chaina, nichts, wala, awan, kuch nahin, nashi, nai, ekkert, nihil, لا شيء ,нищо, ništa, nic, intet, דבר, nimic, zilchola... aka “jack shit” —Michelangelo, Plano, Texas

Going all New Wave: I find the best way to snap out of any creative troughs during RPM is to just involve myself in other’s work. I seem to be listening to a worrying amount of german techno and new wave though. Two artists I’ve been enjoying recently are Mind.In.A.Box and De/Vision; both german-based, downtempo electronica acts. Both of them have rubbed off in my own work in the past few days and I’m really happy with the results. My main concern is just how popular this sort of stuff is in 2011. Ah well, I never expected the aim of RPM was to create music in the most popular styles anyway. —Graduate, Guildford, U.K.

All Hell: I woke up on the piano at 4:00 this morning, with a big dent in my forehead and 30 minutes of snoring on tape. I proceeded to bed for 3 hours then got up and went to work. I had to visit the bank during my lunch break, and didn’t get to eat anything. At afternoon tea I had two strong cups of coffee to keep me going, but all I got was the jitters. —Powerlounge, Christchurch, New Zealand

1st song pretty much done.: Wow, I sat down, wrote and recorded a song in 3 hours. And it’s a pretty good one! Even if I totally fail to write any other song this month, at least I managed to coax one song out of this trial. Will mix and post it after I get some sleep. —OJ Law, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Just Big Talkers: So excited about my latest demo “Cock Rockers.” Seriously, I just listened to it again this morning and I am stoked! —Electrik Emily, Seattle, Wa.

fun with the FutureRetro Revolution: Made some obscenely sick synth tracks today for a new song (that’s #3 for the album)... Found out a new method to basically create extreme feedback loops and self-oscillation and filter modulation and tons of insanely excellent stuff. New song = ultra heavy industrial noise, sure to scare the hell out of anyone not prepared for its sonic onslaught. Stoked. —Matecha, Vancouver, B.C.