What a big week. Today I feel apprehensive, I'm jumping into things I've never tried before. It's scary, but exciting.
I'm very probably following Flo Lee to Nepal for a mission trip at the end of this year, part of it is to conduct a music workshop. Guitar!
I'm so happy.
Happy.
Happy.
Secondly, meeting new people. I'm going for the annual Bon Odori festival in Shah Alam this year, (ponteng evening service) and meeting up with fellow YL-ers, whom I've never seen in person.
Although in Japan , this festival is a buddhist celebration commemorating the dead, in Malaysia it's more a cultural festival with dances, performances, food and exhibitions.
Here's a video of last year's Bon Odori. Apparently it has been going on for 30+ years already. Wooh!
Thirdly, Lake and Mel have agreed to slot me in for one or two singspiration sessions for the upcoming Alpha course.
Yay!
Oh, by the way, I chanced upon this really great guitarist comedian, Roy Paravonian.
Here he live at Penn State University:
Poor Pachelbel!
Note: 1)Pachelbel's full name really is Johann Pachelbel
2) Yes, the cello part really is just 8 notes played over and over again. These 8 note/chord
progression (I /V /VI/ III/ IV/ I/ IV/ V) is known as a canon, and can be played in any
key. Pachelbel made it in D major. The other modern musicians simply followed the
canon chord progression, that's why it fit.
(My fav part is " Punk music is a joke, it's really just Baroque, Haha!)
Currently listening to: Make Her Mine,Sing Sing Sing and Mexican Flyer as performed by the Swing Girls
Yes, that's the amazing Ueno Juri. This film is from 2004. Loved it. All that jazz. The story's a bit like sister Act.All the actors/actresses performed their own music. This style of jazz is called big band.
It's really hard to catch the jazz beat if the ears are so used to conventional music.
Struggling with: It's only love by Hikki
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Free to Fall in Love
Hah..I know what you're thinking..no, it's nothing like that.( Time out, here's where the post really starts)..
Hello all friends, Romans and Countrymen suffering from the sudden fuel price hike. It's summer everywhere else in the world, but here , it's the rainy season. Must buy an umbrella.Soon.
I love the current weather. Unpredictable and yet, soothing.
All of us, we've messed up and regretted our actions before. This week itself, happens several times:
1) When Wei Xin came by our place to get some stuff from Yune (Welcome to Jalan Perlak 6,Yune), thought I'd ask some guitar question(how do you do pull-offs and hammering? Ans: He doesn't know). I let my ugly side rear its head when he corrected me and snapped "Hey, I'm a trained classical pianist, you know, I'm not that stupid".
Mistake.
Because he was right. My 2 guitars were out of tune.With each other and with the real pitch.(Ehh..!? I just tuned it 3 weeks ago)
*Embarassingly runs up to computer's virtual tuner to tune both Ibanez and Furu*
Confirmation that my ears aren't good at all. Plus I need to eat more humble pie.Or else, how to learn?
*Practice ,practice*
Anyway, I really enjoyed the(very) short guitar jamming session, bro.
2) Was at dinner with the family yesterday(Nyonya food, yea I'm in Melaka typing this), and mum said " You took Dad's guitar, and never inform us also. Your brother had to check and tell me"
Mistake.*Must inform*
I just realized that Ibanez is a victim of kidnapping. Only that I didn't ask for ransom money.
Maybe I should've, given that petrol prices are up.
3) There's this internet troll on YUI's new summer song on Youtube, and I informed the other members at YL, wanting to get rid of him.
Mistake*Don't feed the troll*
My post really unleashed a lot of anger.*guilty*But,Finally, everyone calmed down and agreed that we should just ignore him.Good.Well met.
Attention sucker.Still can't believe that there are these type of ppl in the world.
All of the things in life we regret, big, small, insignificant to others, we must continue to stand up, and get on with life.
*In lower 6 Beta, I was last in class, for final exam, and was pushed to 6 Gamma*
Continue to believe,
*Some friends think that anime promotes immorality and is crap*
Be free to fall in love with the things you love.(Cambodia, Fungi, the smell of detergent on freshly laundered clothes)
Have courage to be yourself
*You and your Yui again, hmh(cynical smirk)*
What is life, if you're not unique?
Currently listening to: "Passion" by Hikki
Currently struggling with: "Snowflight" by Andrew York
Hello all friends, Romans and Countrymen suffering from the sudden fuel price hike. It's summer everywhere else in the world, but here , it's the rainy season. Must buy an umbrella.Soon.
I love the current weather. Unpredictable and yet, soothing.
All of us, we've messed up and regretted our actions before. This week itself, happens several times:
1) When Wei Xin came by our place to get some stuff from Yune (Welcome to Jalan Perlak 6,Yune), thought I'd ask some guitar question(how do you do pull-offs and hammering? Ans: He doesn't know). I let my ugly side rear its head when he corrected me and snapped "Hey, I'm a trained classical pianist, you know, I'm not that stupid".
Mistake.
Because he was right. My 2 guitars were out of tune.With each other and with the real pitch.(Ehh..!? I just tuned it 3 weeks ago)
*Embarassingly runs up to computer's virtual tuner to tune both Ibanez and Furu*
Confirmation that my ears aren't good at all. Plus I need to eat more humble pie.Or else, how to learn?
*Practice ,practice*
Anyway, I really enjoyed the(very) short guitar jamming session, bro.
2) Was at dinner with the family yesterday(Nyonya food, yea I'm in Melaka typing this), and mum said " You took Dad's guitar, and never inform us also. Your brother had to check and tell me"
Mistake.*Must inform*
I just realized that Ibanez is a victim of kidnapping. Only that I didn't ask for ransom money.
Maybe I should've, given that petrol prices are up.
3) There's this internet troll on YUI's new summer song on Youtube, and I informed the other members at YL, wanting to get rid of him.
Mistake*Don't feed the troll*
My post really unleashed a lot of anger.*guilty*But,Finally, everyone calmed down and agreed that we should just ignore him.Good.Well met.
Attention sucker.Still can't believe that there are these type of ppl in the world.
All of the things in life we regret, big, small, insignificant to others, we must continue to stand up, and get on with life.
*In lower 6 Beta, I was last in class, for final exam, and was pushed to 6 Gamma*
Continue to believe,
*Some friends think that anime promotes immorality and is crap*
Be free to fall in love with the things you love.(Cambodia, Fungi, the smell of detergent on freshly laundered clothes)
Have courage to be yourself
*You and your Yui again, hmh(cynical smirk)*
What is life, if you're not unique?
Currently listening to: "Passion" by Hikki
Currently struggling with: "Snowflight" by Andrew York
Monday, June 02, 2008
Summer Song
This is crazy...She just released her album in April, And now she's releasing another single. One word: Workaholic !
YUI's new single,Summer song, is set to be released in early July. Here's a high quality preview (I'm hoping Youtube leaves it on for some time)
Lovely covers. I was initially uncomfortable at her wearing heels.Now I'm okay with it.It's slowly sinking in. YUI in heels. OMG..!
In recent months I've been rediscovering my musical roots, ( Was a classically trained pianist for about 13 years, reached Grade 5)However, this time it's guitar.
I tend to stay away from keyboards nowadays, brings back a lot of painful memories.When I was 4 or 5, my first piano teacher used to sit beside me with a wooden ruler, and if one mistake is made-WHAM! on the knuckles.
Ever since then, piano lessons were heart wrenching pain, endured for 12 years because of threats of punishment from both parents, not because I loved it.
Now it's a whole different story. I learn at my own pace, playing songs that I'm into. Learning to appreciate the guitars themselves, (all guitars sound different from one another, even if they're the same model)acoustic, electric, pick-ups, vibrato, sliding.This is so exciting....
So lets meets the guitars.......
Firstly, the Ibanez V300, locally assembled. It used to belong to my Dad, who got it from one of his church friends back in the 1980's. The original owner was posted to east Malaysia, so my Dad sorta 'inherited' this guitar. Fortunate fella my Dad. It has a really rich sound that resonates through the room when played.Everything a guitar player dreams of when holding an acoustic. When I first played this guitar I was 16, and didn't know how to appreciate the sound.If you look closer,the body has countless scratches and dents, showing how heavily used it was. But then,last March I sent this Ibanez for restoration at Daniel's in Melaka, and Uncle Daniel lowered the string suspension, changed the nut and re-patched a hole at side of the body(together with a whole lot of other stuff)Now It's better than ever. It has a sharper sound than my other guitar, and louder too, but altogether older, more mature, more experienced, braver. Like a bearded old sage sitting by the beach at sunset. That's the image that comes to mind when I play it.
This Morrison 2000D is my own, bought early this year. It has a more mellow sound, softer, more timid and colder than the Ibanez, but I love both of them, for different reasons and depending on my mood. She has a name, Furu no Musume (Winter's daughter) because it just sounds like a shy girl walking through a snow-covered landscape when playing her.
Some guys jokingly refer to their guitars as their wives/girfriends/mistresses, my feelings towards both my guitars are like maternal. They are my children. Ya..it's just a feeling-lah.
Currently listening to: Beautiful world,Prisoner of Love and Take 5 by Utada Hikaru (no I'm not a Hikki fan. I just think the songs are nice. Irish new-age influenced techno sounds.Reminds me of Moire Brennan)
Currently Struggling with: F/Fsharp position. Always the buzzing sound.
YUI's new single,Summer song, is set to be released in early July. Here's a high quality preview (I'm hoping Youtube leaves it on for some time)
Lovely covers. I was initially uncomfortable at her wearing heels.Now I'm okay with it.It's slowly sinking in. YUI in heels. OMG..!
In recent months I've been rediscovering my musical roots, ( Was a classically trained pianist for about 13 years, reached Grade 5)However, this time it's guitar.
I tend to stay away from keyboards nowadays, brings back a lot of painful memories.When I was 4 or 5, my first piano teacher used to sit beside me with a wooden ruler, and if one mistake is made-WHAM! on the knuckles.
Ever since then, piano lessons were heart wrenching pain, endured for 12 years because of threats of punishment from both parents, not because I loved it.
Now it's a whole different story. I learn at my own pace, playing songs that I'm into. Learning to appreciate the guitars themselves, (all guitars sound different from one another, even if they're the same model)acoustic, electric, pick-ups, vibrato, sliding.This is so exciting....
So lets meets the guitars.......
Firstly, the Ibanez V300, locally assembled. It used to belong to my Dad, who got it from one of his church friends back in the 1980's. The original owner was posted to east Malaysia, so my Dad sorta 'inherited' this guitar. Fortunate fella my Dad. It has a really rich sound that resonates through the room when played.Everything a guitar player dreams of when holding an acoustic. When I first played this guitar I was 16, and didn't know how to appreciate the sound.If you look closer,the body has countless scratches and dents, showing how heavily used it was. But then,last March I sent this Ibanez for restoration at Daniel's in Melaka, and Uncle Daniel lowered the string suspension, changed the nut and re-patched a hole at side of the body(together with a whole lot of other stuff)Now It's better than ever. It has a sharper sound than my other guitar, and louder too, but altogether older, more mature, more experienced, braver. Like a bearded old sage sitting by the beach at sunset. That's the image that comes to mind when I play it.
This Morrison 2000D is my own, bought early this year. It has a more mellow sound, softer, more timid and colder than the Ibanez, but I love both of them, for different reasons and depending on my mood. She has a name, Furu no Musume (Winter's daughter) because it just sounds like a shy girl walking through a snow-covered landscape when playing her.
Some guys jokingly refer to their guitars as their wives/girfriends/mistresses, my feelings towards both my guitars are like maternal. They are my children. Ya..it's just a feeling-lah.
Currently listening to: Beautiful world,Prisoner of Love and Take 5 by Utada Hikaru (no I'm not a Hikki fan. I just think the songs are nice. Irish new-age influenced techno sounds.Reminds me of Moire Brennan)
Currently Struggling with: F/Fsharp position. Always the buzzing sound.
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