I am so happy. Finally I have got myself an electric classical guitar. It is an Alhambra and I just love the sound of it so much. The guitar itself is a true beauty. Although it is 50% above my budget, it is well worth it. The pick-up sound is just fantastic especially played through my Still Water acoustic amplifer. When I first listen to the sound in my own amplier, it is orgasmic. No better words to describe.
LC introduced me to DJ Tiestos’s Close To You. And she is right. You can just keep playing this song again and again and keep on wanting more. It is true. For the entire day, I listen to nothing but Close To You. I grew so addict to the artist that I actually bought one of his latest album today.
The beauty of the song mainly comes from the tune and the very sexy lady voice. But the gem comes from the lyrics itself. LC asked me to listen to the lyrics of the song and see what I get out of it. I had so many interpretation ranging from a song sung by the ghost, to someone who is very depressed over the lack of love, to a song to be sung to a lover who is buried under the tombstone.
LC has a different perspective and it has completely blown my mind away. Why don’t you try to decipher and have it posted as a comment. I will post what LC thinks later on.
The lyrics of the song can be found in http://lyrics.trancestation.nl/79 and this song can be downloaded quite easily via the Internet.
The entire day has just gone and I wish that I could have done more. In fact, I could have done more had my day was not so unproductive. Can’t and don’t want to say much about work and by the time I got home, it was already late. Recording bass guitar for the two Christmas songs was not at all easy. It is so hard to correct bass guitar mistake (using punch-in) and I ended up recording the entire track again and again.
I still wanted to record the Jealousy song using my 12-string but don’t know why, I just can’t play well today. Perhaps I am tired. Perhaps I shall train my finger strength more …
CD therapy for such an unproductive day.
Hmmm … I have suddenly had an intention to keep track of when and what CDs I buy each day. All in the order of purchase. I will keep updating this page till it is too long.
Date: Before Apr 19, 2005
Will Smith – Lost and Found – Big time Will Smith fan … besides, the review is good too
Mai Kuraki – Wish You The Best – My friend bought for me in Japan … cost me S$50 …
Alison Krauss and Union Station – Lonely Runs Both Ways – Finally a local version … was waiting for the price to come down
Date: Before Mar 22, 2005
Moby – Hotel – It’s Moby … must get right?
Megadeth – The Sytem Has Failed – Heard Dave did this album on his own … respect
Stereophonics – Language, Sex, Violence, Other? – Reminded me of U2 while sampling the music at HMV
Depeche Mode – Remixes 81…04 – Always wanted to get this
Metallica – Some Kind Of Monster – Live version of some of the Metallica songs. Cynthia probably can appreciate this better than I do
Rachael Yamagata – Happenstance – Listened to this a while ago, too expensive so did not buy. I was with TK and we bought it together
BoA – Best Of Soul – Hottest Korean singer now … no idea why I bought it
Do As Infinity – Need Your Love – Big fan of DaI …
Love Psychedelic – The Early Days – Greatest hits with some new songs … how can I resist?
Date: Mar 3, 2005
Tori Amos – The Beekeeper – It’s Tori Amos! So I bought the CD without even listening to it
Donnas – Gold Medal – Caught Donnas’s video while Jason and I was in Cineleisure. All girls band and when I wanted to try their CD at HMV, the saleperson was so keen and he pinpointed which song I shall listen it. Loving it!
Sun 41 – Chuck – On MTV, I was surprised by one of their songs. I thought Sun 41 is all about punk pop but in that video, they sounded mature. So I tried in Tower Record the other day. Pleasantly surprised. At times not sure if they sound more like Linkin Park or Metallica. Doesn’t matter. I like both
Date: Mar 1, 2005
Stina Nordenstam – The World Is Saved – Not sure why I bought this one. Probably drawn to the darkness of the music and the girlie voice
KT Tunstall – Eye To The Telescope – I do like her middle voice a lot and the music with nice guitar strumming
Missy Higgins – The Sound Of White – Smoothing music with a very honey like voice. First listend in Tower Record couple of days ago
The Mars Volta – Frances The Mute – Very intense music. When I first listened to the album playing in HMV, I was with Jason and he could tell that I have immediately fallen in love with the music
Date: Feb 7, 2005
Erasure – Nightbird – I am a huge fan of Erasure. What can I say?
3 Doors Down – Seventeen Days – 3rd album from the group. I kind of like the acoustic stuffs
Good Charlotte – The Chronicles of Life and Death – New discovery. Very unique styles.
Date: Before Jan 30, 2005
Depeche Mode – Black Celebration – This album is 20 years old and it’s probably the best album by Depeche Mode. My ex-girlfriend has it. It’s good that I finally have one too.
Do As Infinity – Do The Best + DVD – Another J-pop album. A true rock album.
Date: Jan 8, 2005
Eriko Imai – Single Collection ~ Stairway ~ – I have to admit that the cover does look very good. Apparently she came from Speed and neither Speed nor Eriko was in my radar. But hey, I am constantly seeking to expand my radar range right? I tried out a couple of the songs and it sounded great. Fast beat and the recording company is avax trax. So it can’t be that wrong right?
Date: Jan 6, 2005
Bon Jovi – 1000,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong … – A box-set with 4 CDs and 1 DVD packed with their previously unreleased materials as well as demos. I was not that keen at first but people’s review from the Internet seems to mention that the quality is high. A closed to S$70 investment.
Date: Dec 22, 2004
Ayumi Hamasaki – My Story. I am a big Ayumi fan. Could I not have bought another album from the Queen of J-Pop?
DJ Tiesto – In My Memory. I love the song Close To You and my trip to HMV was very focused. I was getting this album.
DJ Tiesto – Just Be. I chanced upon this new (or relatively) piece from him. And I took a risk.
Date: Dec 16, 2004
P J Harvey – Rid Of Me. I have always wanted to get another P J Havey album because I draw so much inspiration from her. HMV either does not have it or it is too pricy. So I bought the CD at Gramophone instead.
Nirvana – Unplugged In New York. Didn’t know that this great album was realsed in the year of 1994. So long ago! Jason impressed upon me that there are some great recordings, especially some of the cover songs, and I just couldn’t resist getting one.
Tiesto – Parade Of The Athletes. I bought this trance album without even listening to it. Lyndis has introduced to one of the greatest song by Tiesto called Close To You. I am impressed with Tiesto’s talent and I gambled. I enjoyed the album so far.
Have you ever wondered why the movie Before Sunrise or Before Sunset is so beautifully made? Just two people talking through the entire show.
Have you ever experienced such an engaging conversation that time seems to fly? Have you ever met someone whom is so easy to connect to? And you just wish that there is a camera taking down all the wonderful moments?
Perhaps the beauty of it all is that you are never sure if the next conversation will take place or not. Circumstance changes. People change. It is the uncertainty that makes each conversation opportunity so precious. Something to treasure of.
And why all these hassles? Because it takes two to converse. It takes two to connect. It takes two to just make it happens.
The next time it happens, remember that it could be the last. That, is an engaging conversation.
First, it is the recording of the 12-string guitar. It is tough because playing a 12-string guitar by itself is very tough. It requires a lot of stamina from my fingers, mainly because instead of pressing 6 strings in a normal guitar, I have to press 12 instead. So painful to play and so frustrated when I need to rectify my mistakes. Hope the reward is there because 12-string guitar does give a very nice atmostpheric sound.
Next, it is the bass guitar. I am not a bass guitarist and so playing bass is never natural to me. I have to play the notes evenly and at the same volume and it is not easy. It is not as though I have been practicing all these while. Nevertheless, my music cannot live without the bass.
Playing the electric classical guitar is the easiest for me. But the challenge here is to follow the 12-string guitar because even the slightest out-of-sync would be very obvious. And I don’t want that. In fact, I shall innovative a different strumming pattern that complement the 12-string guitar. Tough … tough.
And the vocal recording. What more can I say? I have to love my own voice. I have to love my own voice. I have to …
Of course, we still have all the mixing and fine tweaking …
Passion is beyond all rationale …
Someone I know of and I dearly love just have a broken heart. It is sad. Closed to 9 years of love relationship. Vanish in the air in one night. What is love? Really, what is love?
It is never easy. So much memories. It is as though the entire foundation of one’s life is built from love itself. The future was supposed to be set and now crumpled to nothingness.
In fact, the best medicine is to keep one’s eyes forward and let the past be bygone. What is broken cannot be unbroken. People change and we just have to move on. What-could-have-been is just too pathetic.
All things happen for a reason. Always keep the bigger picture in mind. I pray for my love one to recover from this heartbreak and realise that there are many beautiful things in life that are worth looking at. A re-prioritisation of life …
Someone I know of and I dearly love just have a broken heart. It is sad. Closed to 9 years of love relationship. Vanish in the air in one night. What is love? Really, what is love?
It is never easy. So much memories. It is as though the entire foundation of one’s life is built from love itself. The future was supposed to be set and now crumpled to nothingness.
In fact, the best medicine is to keep one’s eyes forward and let the past be bygone. What is broken cannot be unbroken. People change and we just have to move on. What-could-have-been is just too pathetic.
All things happen for a reason. Always keep the bigger picture in mind. I pray for my love one to recover from this heartbreak and realise that there are many beautiful things in life that are worth looking at. A re-prioritisation of life …
Read the news from Reuters today that Singapore Senior Minister and Malaysia Prime Minister resume the path to improve relationship between the two countries. This is indeed good news. I still remember that some point in the past I was very much affected by the deterioration of our relationship with the Malaysian counterpart. There are so much at stake. And since I am rooted in Singapore, I do very much like to see that water still coming in together with many other things.
I seriously do like Badawi. Much better than that Dr. Who.
Have you ever wondered what recording is like? Have you ever wonder what are the basic ingredients of a home studio? Now, here is the chance to see how I record the songs.
As you can see, recording the 12-string guitars itself is not a trivial tasks. Welcome to my world of recording.
Recording the 12-string guitar is never easy. And I think that getting a bit drunk kind of take the pain out of the concious mind. Today, I have recorded 7 songs in one go. If I didn’t make a irrevisible mistake on the 8th song, I would have ended up with 8 songs. Well, I guess it is a long process. I have till Valentine day 2005 to get it done.
