sounds of a musician - part 1

Today the topic will be on volume, as a guitarist, the volume level we play upon shall inflict on the band itself in which it reflects the current position you are playing. How good your solo will be if your sound are drowned by the drummer's cymbals? How good will your vocalist be if it is drowned by the sound of the guitarist? And the worst mistake is a drowned bassist. Which ever situation i face during a peformance, i will not care on those petty factors such as the search for true tone anymore as our sound are all miked up to the mixer and released by the soundman. This ultimately means that if your sound man is good he will be able to balance it out quickly, if they are not good this in which most of the time we face, you're fucked. Simple as that.

But wait, then what does a musician need to do then you ask? Well, simple thing we need to do is to level the volume of every equipment, which is the case called sound check. playing a tune one by one is not going to cut it. You'll need to play at least an entire chorus to hear the full potential of it. it's the simple case of a jamming room, you'll need to be able to hear yourself and everyone else on the stage without being too loud or too soft, simple as that. Most bands i know who goes on stage to sound check are afraid to show their full song as they didn't want to expose their masterpiece too early, they would either play only a chorus or another song during sound check. I would say be careful because different songs requires different settings most of the time. Why do i say so? Not all songs use the same settings, some bands do and it's a bleessing but some versatile band doesn't and it's kind of a hassle to even it out at the end of the day.


Simple guide on guitar tone

A basic comparison between a solo tone and a rythm tone are that they are two different thing in this world, one is meant to jump out on specific time in the song and one is meant to be a supporting structure to the vocals and other instruments in the band. Different amplifiers have different tones, don't tell me your marshall sounds like an ibanez amplifier. It will definitely colour your guitar sound at the end of the day, you will need some time to level out the volume and eq the settings to match your favourite tone. Even if you are using a high end digital modeler such as the line6 pod series, boss gt series, or Digitech modelers. It's a different sound for each modelers and it will definitely affect the other instruments in the way it is presented. Sharper sounds will definitely be better for solo, boosted midrange are good but will be drowned if drummer goes high on cymbals, usually i will use boosted midrange and boosted low end for that low chuncky thick end sound of the chuga chuga chuga rythm. For a solo tone i will lower the bass and midrange and boost the treble massively, this way it doesn't mess the rythm part of the song while soloing, a bit of bass wont hurt though. Else I'll be drowning everyone when i play on solo. The best part about digital modelers are that they have a volume pedal built in, it is best used to lower or boost your sound at the stage, especially if you feel that your solo is drowning everyone on stage or it's too low. It's the same concept if you have a set of distortions and you fix a volume pedal to the front or the end of it. Part 2 coming up

final payCHECK fuckup

ladies and gentleman, introducing my ex-company

http://www.rmagroup.com.sg/

This is by far the worst experience i've had with Singapore. Work for em hard with all you've got, finally had to go back due to some restraining issues back home and guess what? They tell you they need to hold your final pay for less than a month which is about three weeks, now that's fine by me. Then they said they'll need to cut $200 off for not completing the one year contract, that's fine by me too. Since my final physical day on the 8th May 2008, they've hold up my pay from the previous month till today without a single news at all and it's 16th Jun 2008 already. I waited for a month and after that when i called or emailed the company, all they said was that they haven't receive the IR21 letter from IRAS which is the tax dept in Singapore. My question is that since Singapore is such an efficient country, why does processing my tax liabilities would take such a long time to digest? What the hell, i began to wonder if they really are scamming me for that lousy of a pay cheaque that i'm getting?

One big word : SCREW YOUR EFFICIENT POLICY

Without any information or attempts to contact me at all for one month after my resignation, how do you even describe your company's efficiency?

complications

Life, as we all know is never easy. A simple thing such as forming a band maybe tough sometimes, a lot goes into the process of achieving a fully satisfying band which meets every member's satisfaction. In my lifeline of playing the guitar and bass, I've been trying to make the best out of what I'm playing and prioterize my happiness of playing in a band as the benchmark for being in that particular band. So in short, i have joined and quited quite a number of bands in these short few years. Not a proud declaration of mine though. As a result of this, some people preferred to call me snobbish and to the others it's simply called arrogant, well up to a certain point i would have to agree with them but what the hell man, if you don't feel comfortable playing in that band anymore why stay??

My point is that if you can go to the studio and play your heart out with your band for that one hour or more without the feeling of restrained, that means you are playing in a band which suits you best. The magic would be for you play a thing and they would being something different to the table of music to complement, sort of like you bring the flour and they bring the sugar mix with some water you'll have a nice bread. However if you don't feel happy at all playing and at the end of the day you got this feeling like you're just being there for the sake of being there as a band member then i would say that there is really no point for you to waste your time right?? Well then there's too many factors going into the making of a band as well and this is just point number one.

Another point which is important in the making of a band are the attitudes of the members itself, even big time rock stars have problem coping with each other's strenuous behaviors, what more to say coming from bands who have yet to make at least something in their music? I have met a whole variety of snobbish posers along the way and most of the time you wont know they are posers until you get really close enough to know them personally, i'm not speaking about people those who really wears black mascara with a simple plan t-shirt on the street. That's a different issue, i'm talking about the core of a musician's believes. The true foundation of the music a person is writing upon.

Most of the time, they are really way out of their league when they start ranting on how lousy the other bands were in a gig. They would talk and laugh loudly against those who are making mistakes on stage, detest those who are better than them musically with a lousy reason and worst of all they think they are the best and nobody would listen to the incriminating things that they say. Too bad, everybody listens. :) The worst type are those who preaches of one thing and does another without realizing his own mistakes. They speak of high knowledge and skills musically but when it comes down to showing the real deal they would be looking for excuses to why they cant do it. I do agree that sometimes mistakes can be amended, behaviors can be changed and skills can be upgraded in time but only certain things can be foretold, for at the end of the day it all boils deep down to one's heart as a poser will always be a poser no matter what they try to do.

Most of the time when i face these kinda events, it's easy to know that i am depressed mentally. It's kinda like a self degrading moment for me as i will have no new fresh ideas for songs and i feel like a jailed bird in a cage with my kuku bird nailed on a wall so high. So there you go, a few points in a life of a rock and roll band. I admit i am slowly getting tired from all these irony bullshits in life lately, it's like going back to square one every time and you feel like you're having a huge stone on your shoulder. So i wonder in time.......

gear talk

As i am now working for about five months in singapore, the hard earned money has allowed me to slowly amasses a few gears which i never thought i could have owned during my younger years. The fact that i have been a single adult in Singapore for six months to date also does wonders for my collection as well. Let me see from top to bottom according to the date bought....



1) Behringer Acoustic Simulator

2) Digitech Metal Master

3) Some not so cheap semi accoustic guitar with mike up system.

4) Zoom GFX-5

5) Craftsman Black Les Paul Copy (fully setup and intonated which cost me a bomb)

6) Marshall MG10cdr

7) VOX Tonelab SE

8) Jackson Black RR5 with gold hardwares and EMG 81/85 installed

9) Line6 Toneport UX2 to record my sound ideas in real time

10) Ibanez RG270dx MIK

11) Fender Bullet Reverb 15 watt of destruction

12) Pod 2.0 with FB4 lineboard

13) Hughes and Kettner Warp Factor Distortion

14) A whole bunch of expensive cables + road ready pedalcase

15) Ibanez autowah

16) Another cheap ass flying V

17) NUX phaser

18) Lazer power supply

19) Samick Artist Series with gold hardwares and mother of pearl bindings.. (coming soon, on negotiation)

20) god knows what maybe a triamp of another jackson self built...

Thanks for reading this bullshit

honey my money

1) take a knife,
2) carve around the tree,
3) milk the tree dry,
4) take the sape and enjoy those carving marks you left on the tree while you take a sip off your fucking wine glass, MONEY TALKS!!

Whatever you may, think money does talk to me, in fact a 23 year old bitter relationship with your parents can be solved so easily when you start having a lot of money, your dad who hates your existence will start asking how are you doing, he who never cares to msg or call will start asking why you never visit them even though you just left them for a few days, those who expects special treats will start calling you boss or in chinese towkey, the hottest girl who doesn't even know you existed in university can suddenly can call you leng chai and hubby. What to do? Money talks...










It's really sad to know all these is true in life, though i tried so hard to forget it but sometimes MONEY DOES TALKS.... fuck democracy

blue window

It's a friday midnight, 1.50am to be exact. I can't sleep, I'm in partial insomnia after taking some prescribed medications from SG healthway clinic.

Dredging to work this saturday once again, i hate it when my boss is taking advantage of what i am capable of and subtle-ly forced me to work extra hours.

Life indeed has changed so much for me lately. It's been like what, 5 months of me dissapearing from this blog, from kuching, from the life i used to live in? I'm still thinking of how i come about the idea to work in Singapore in the first place. It was one of the toughest decision which i've to make in my life. My music, bandmates, tons of friends, my family, my entire life is in fact based here in Kuching. Why should i break the circle of my own comfort zone? The catch about Singapore is nothing greater than for the sole purpose of building my career, the reason is because every tom, dick and harry's future lies in a better looking portfolio. For me to get a foundation in IT by working my way up in Kuching would be like peanuts to ants. It's better for me to get ahead in Singapore and work my ass off while i still can instead here in the big city.

I agreed it was quite selfish of me to get ahead all by myself and leave my dear beloved hometown just like that, it was so sudden as i didnt even had the chance to say goodbye to most of the people that i loved the most in my life. The worst blow was my dad who just got to know in a haste when he saw me packing up my things into a bag to fly to Singapore that night itself. I cried in the airport upon leaving as i began deleting all the goodbye smses. All these thoughts keeps on ringing in my head every now and then. Shit, i'm emo..

I began to ponder about my life here in Singapore everyday as i sit alone smoking my life away to a cup of latte in the cafe after work. Maybe its time for me to sit and think hard about what i want to do in my life from here on. A rockstar dream, somehow after all that has happened i'm still bent of achieving what i came here to do. I suppose i was contended with my life here lately, until something urgent happened.



Oddly around 5am on a saturday i received a call from my cousin who just came over to visit me in Singapore before going to kl for his studies, i thought something must have happened to him in KL. I was shocked when i picked up the call and was dazed to find that his dad, our beloved uncle has just passed away around 2am that morning. I had to work that saturday morning, so after work my aunt from Singapore drove me, my uncle and his grandmother as we took a flight home to attend the funeral. I manage to apply for emergency leave this time and there in Kuching we were all sadden by the event.

I won't reveal further details of the funeral, however all i could stress is that the death of my uncle has a larger impact on everyone than it seems to have. I could only tell you that his death marked a history in my life as well as all those who knew him. We were all reduced to tears in disbeleive of what happened...


All these events shows me a sign, maybe its time for me to go home? Who knows, we'll just wait and see what happens next... Good night for now

fever-ish

My mom called me the other day,
[mom] : jerry you are in the newspaper today you know..
[me] : is it? wow, how did you know one?
[mom] : your sister tell me one la
[me] : hehe, so how do i look on papers ma?
[mom] : not bad, but why you all naked ar?

The cat accidentally killed the spirit of rock and roll this christmas.......... =.=""