Iron Maiden

Sepultura

Black Sabbath

Pantera

Metallica

Metallica is heavy baby!!!

Megadeth

Slayer

How can this be a fricking metal blog if there isn't any Slayer?

Apocalyptica

Amazing metal band from Finland

Machine Head

Songs I first heard as a student

These are the first few songs I heard and i got addicted to rock/metal.

Mike Campese

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Rock Opera at its Beast

Animations from Poland

Chen Lei 陈磊

Circus Maximus

Vinnie Moore

Francesco Fareri

Not really a big fan of his but incredible technique.

Hollyhell

Featuring two very great guitarist, Joe Stump and Tom Hess.

Rusty

What is the world of shred without some Rusty Cooley?

Not much vids on youtube but its better than nothing :p

Happy Bday Steve Vai

June 6, Mr. Steve Vai's Bday

Mr. Scary

Not a big fan of his music but he is after all a legend in the biz.

Jake E. Lee

Joe Stump

Violin Shredding from Steve Vai Band

Until It Sleeps

Singapore's very own Wonderwoman, Molly Lee passed away yesterday morning. She was battling cancer. She is a very well known blogger and provided much inspiration to other cancer victims.

This is a very special subject for me because my father is battling 4th stage lung cancer as well.

RIP Molly

With this let me end this post with Metallica's Until It Sleeps, written by James Hetfield. Jaymz's parents died of cancer as well.

Carina Alfie

Amazing Pianist

I usually dun post piano stuff but they are freaking amazing!!!

Im Alright

I recorded a small part of Neil Zaza's I'm Alright. This goes out to all the earthquake victims in China, Sichuan. Hope everyting is Alright!

Plz remember to donate some money to the earthquake victims in Sichuan

Phantom of the Opera

Theatre of Tragedy

Some European Goth rock for ya'll

Kiko Loureiro

I dun really dig is playing...technique wise, ya he is good but melodic wise...not my cup of tea

For the Earthquake and Cyclone victims

脫掉

我只在乎你

Shred Violin

Iron Man Is Here

Batio VS Guitar Hero

Thought this is really funny lol.

Cavalera Conspiracy - Sanctuary

Breadstick and Lost In A Dream

Great Stuff by Neil Zaza

He is Really ROCKING!!!

Come Together

Which one do you like?

Simple Mystery By Marty Friedman

Check out the new single by Marty Friedman



Marty Friedman playing Qi Li Xiang by Jay Chou

Deja Voodoo Spell

Clips of DVS playing. They are a really awesome band from Malaysia.

Rainforest by Michael Angelo Batio

Great technical skills and I like the riffs and the changes :)

Pull Me Under Remix 2007 by The Caveman

Rhino is offering you the chance to hear the new Pull Me Under Remix

Personally I think that it sounds alittle too dry especially the drums but its unfair though since this is streaming through the Net, I will be able to hear it more clearing after I get the CD

Watch SouthPark for FREE

Now you can watch Southpark for free legally!!!

OMFG They killed Kenny!!!!

I Just Wana Rock

Hear the new single from Joe Satriani's new album. I Just Wana Rock

Not a bad tune...didn't really make me go wow...but I dig the talkbox effects though

Ken Lee?

This is pretty funny

Jeff Healey RIP

I heard of this guitarist but however I"m not familiar with his works. Anyway below is a clip of this cover of While My Guitar Gently Weeps and press release on his death.

Gocie Guo Mei Mei

I think she is so freaking cute!!!

Refuse/Resist

Very nice cover of Refuse/Resist

Rick Miller

Funny Shit

More Travis Barker Vids

I like the intensity of his druming, the whole energy that is flowing out of him :)

Dream Theater Vids

If you have yet to watch some of the vids by Dream Theater, head on to their website to watch it

Dream Theater Vids

Ann Marie Calhoun - "The Pretender"

If ya wondering who she is, she plays violin for the Steve Vai Band

Feature on Joe Bonamassa

Can't say enough bout how good this guy is.

So check the feature out!!!

Forsaken on MTV

Dream Theater's new video, Forsaken is out.

You can check out the vid at Headbanger's Ball

Little Wing

I know I know ya'll probably be thinking, this song is like freaking overplayed but this is a really kool version

so Enjoy!

Ethan Winer

Concerts in Singapore

There are a lot of note worthy concerts to attend this year!

Tomorrow and thats, Jan 17, its gonna be Dream Theater Live in Singapore!!!!
We also have The Police Live in Singapore on Feb 4 2008
We also have the one and only Santana Live in Singapore on Feb 18, 2008
We also have the incredible Lee Ritenour Live in Singapore on Mar 8 2008
We also have one of my personal favorite Raul Midon Live in Singapore on Mar 11 2008

Most of ya'll probably won't be familiar with Raul Midon but he is an incredible guitarist and vocalist so here is a clip of him on Youtube

Dream Theater Live 17/01/08

If you did not get ur tix, get it now!!!! Dream Theater live at Fort Canning this Thursday, be there or be square!

Check out Constant Motion from RoadRunner!

Liquid Tension Experiment

Juz saw a vid of Mike Portnoy, he said that after the current Dream Theater tour, LTE is gonna reunite and do some shows together!

Mike said it might be possible that they will have a live DVD out!

Anyway here is some of their own shit to keep ya entertained! Btw most of their live clips are take with a viewcam and such so dun expect great quality

North Sea Jazzfest

Joe Bonamassa has a couple of vids from this live gig at North Sea Jazzfest.

Enjoy

PS. I juz wana add that I'm a freaking huge fan of Joe Bonamassa's tone/playing and I rate his tone right up there with Eric Johnson and Jeff Beck!

The Memphis Monster

Found this killer version of All Along The Watch Tower by The Memphis Monster Shawn Lane and Target

Enjoy

NIN Remix

For all of ya who dun know, you can get NIN's raw wav files for remix.

Go check it out and remix some shit!

Trio of Doom

Trio of Doom consists of John McLaughlin, Jaco Pastorius and Tony Williams. This is a jazz/rock album and the first five songs are live takes from 1979's Havana Jam in Cuba. the rest of the album are recorded in the studio.

For a album recored in the late 70's/early 80's everything sounded really nice and clean.

Listening to this album is like listening to three great masters playing individually but yet they compliment each other really well. Tony Williams ferocious hi hat and snare rolls combined with McLaughlin's violin like guitar and Jaco's fat and rounded bass tone seamlessly fits in.

The dynamics of this album is incredible. When listening to modern albums, you will hear a lot of heavy compression, everything is very much at one volume or a particular place in the mix. However Trio of Doom is different, you can hear the dynamics very succinctly and clearly for each player.

Anybody who is a jazz/rock fan should get this incredible album.

9/10

Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos 5.1

Systematic Chaos is ballsy and dark but dun be mistaken its not heavy like Train of Thought. The overall theme is like sadness, you have songs that talks about monsters, people dying and stuff.

As expected the longest song on this album clocks in at 16:38 and the shortest song is 5:35. Songs like Constant Motion and The Dark Eternal Night are extremely heavy and ballsy. The song Forsaken feels out of place, it sounds like something you will hear on the radio and not on a Dream Theater album.

For the 5.1 mix, you mainly have vocals and bass coming from the center speaker, front left/right contains the drums, guitars and keyboard. Back left/right is mainly backing vocals and some acoustic guitars/keys. One of the immediate difference of a 5.1 and a stereo mix is, 5.1 feels more spacious everything is spread out nicely.

8/10 for this great progressive rock album

Travis Barker

Travis Barker is the ex Blink 182 drummer and this is his version of Soulja Boy's Crank That. This is some intense drumming!

AC/DC Live

This is an old classic live album. I still remember back in 1992 when I bought the cassette version of this album...ya I'm that old :/

This is a new remastered 2 CD set. This album was remastered by mastering guru George Marino from Sterling Sound. If ya wondering whats mastering, well here is a pretty good article on mastering by The G-man.

For those who are unfamiliar with AC/DC they are a very well known rock band from Australia formed in 1973. Some of their well known hits include Thunderstruck, Shoot to Thrill, Hells Bell, Highway to Hell and For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

I dun particularly like the way Brian Johnson sings but however I really dig some of the guitar riffs by Malcolm and Angus Young. In alot of their songs, you can hear that they are very much influenced by the blues. High energy arse kicking riffs!

7/10 for this great album!

Opeth - The Roundhouse Tapes

I've never been a huge fan of these Swedish progressive metal masters, Opeth. Its probably because they down tune too much, it makes everything sound really bassy and dark, even the way the album was mixed, its really dark too, the cymbals are way in the background, at first I was like shit is my hearing gone? I can barely hear the highs.

By the way this is the first Opeth album I bought. I've had heard some of their stuff from friends and via the web. It didn't make me go wow but they definitely did not make me go yucks. In particular I like The Night and the Silent Water, Windowpane and Blackwater Park. Did I mention that this is a live album? But it does not feel like an live album. You dun hear the audience a lot.

This seems to be the current trend at the moment. You dun really hear the fans as much now, only at the intro, outro and when the band ain't playing. It feels too clean :(

Overall I would say the mix and feel of this live album fits Opeth. I'm very interested to get the 5.1 mix of Ghost Reveries I've never heard a 5.1 mix of a progressive death metal band, should be interesting to check them out.

6/10 for this album

Stunts

Oh man check out some of the stunts, crazy stuff.

Rain/Zouk

Man its been raining like crazy for the past couple of days in Singapore, a typical day for me...I leave my apartment, dry and reach my destination, wet.....

And I'm using an umbrella, the rain is juz too fucking overwhelming....

Anyway, I'll be doing FOH at Zouk this coming Thursday for the SAE party.

So be there or be deaf

Transformer Cosplay

I'm not a huge fan of cosplay but this is some serious shit!

Guitar Pickups and Snare Drum

Check that out...freaking kool :)

Face Book

Facebook addicts check it out its for ya'll

Art?

This is pretty kool so check it out!

Live Earth DVD + CD

Went to the record store today, Live Earth DVD + CD is out in Singapore, bought it straight away cuz its for a good cause!

Plus you get to listen to some really cool music and learn ways to save the earth too :)

Support Live Earth!

MDA Rap

MDA is Media Development Authority and they are in charge of censorship in Singapore.
I juz wana say this is pretty awkward but still pretty hip. I actually went through the whole clip.

World Community Grid

I've been involved with World Community Grid for over one year.

And quoted directly from their website:

"World Community Grid's mission is to create the largest public computing grid benefiting humanity. Our work is built on the belief that technological innovation combined with visionary scientific research and large-scale volunteerism can change our world for the better. Our success depends on individuals - like you - collectively contributing their unused computer time to this not-for-profit endeavor."

WCG is involved with several projects like Help Conquer Cancer, Fight AIDS @ Home Project.

I urged everybody to take part in this very meaningful projects :)

Radio mix/Stereo mix...handphone mix?

If ya not in the music industry, you probably won't know that, we have different audio engineers doing different mixes. Some audio engineers specialize in doing mix for radio, some for movies, some for CD...etc etc

When I was going home last night on the subway, some kid was blasting some song on his cellphone like real loud and it occurred to me, I should really be taking advantage of the technology, its no longer cool to juz use a iPod, dude its like back in the 80's, ur only kool if you carry a huge boom box around!(except you use ur cell phone now!)

Maybe I should start pitching myself as "Specialize in Cellphone mixing"

Catch ya all later!

Part time or Freelance?

I've been working in Singapore for a number of years and been to a lot of interview.
According to some reports, it takes an average of six months for someone to find a new job in Singapore.

Other than asking the typical questions like "Tell me more about yourself?", "Tell me why you are suitable for this job?" and my favorite question or sometimes they will tell you straight in the face, "You will most likely be required to work OT(overtime) and we don't pay OT, you MIGHT be given off in lieu, whats your opinion on this?" or more subtly "What do you think of working OT?"

I get the usual oh you mainly did part time work, in our company we don't count part time work as experience.....

Even though my part time work is directly related to job I've applied for....

I realize that when you say "Part time" in Singapore it roughly translate into something like working at Mcdonald's or waiter/ess. Basically it means, you work when you are free and you dun need any specific skill set.

A better way to term yourself is to use the word "freelance" Apparently by using "freelance" it gives you that "WoW" factor, I've people telling me, "I heard freelancing is really hard in Singapore you muz be really good to freelance!"

And NO, I'm not trying to LIE....I'm juz trying to get credit for my experience and I dun really like it when people tell me oh you dun have experience cuz you did work part time so we can only give you entry/basic pay......

Hence by using the word "freelance", it seems like its giving me a slight edge :)

Cheers

Largest Flying V?

Saw this on Youtube, check out this dude playing Pink Panther at Times Square.

Chinese Ghostbusters?

Man I dun know what to say, I'm not a believer of such stuff but ya we still have people believing in exorcism...career enhancement rituals...

Ghostbusters in Singapore

You believe in this kinda stuff?

Visual Sound Theories

I juz got this in the post yesterday. I really dig Steve Vai's arrangement of the songs.

For Your Info, this is not your typical, Live with an Orchestra album. Steve Vai rearranged his old songs for this project. For example, in the song For the Love of God, the harp was playing the chord progression. I think the new arrangements gave a very grand feeling to the overall sound.

Anybody who is a Vai fan should check out this DVD/CD!

Interview with Malaysia's Information Minister

Eh...this is pretty funny...check out the transcript from Kenny Sia if you have no idea when he is preaching.....

Singles?

I've been thinking about the industry and I think that it is inevitable that we will have more and more digital download. Judging from todays viewers/listeners, I think that instead of having a full length album, we should look back in the history. Release only singles and make that available for free or for a nominal amount of fees on the Internet.

Most viewers/listeners only buy a couple of songs per album, why not let us(musicians, producers) make that easier for the audience, eliminate the choices you(audience) get. (Kinda like how HD is evolving in Singapore, I didn't ask for it but it is being pushed into my life anyway....)

Isn't it better to have say, a few hundred thousands download of a few ( 1 - 3 songs) than to have a full length album which nobody listens to anyway....

We don't really need to make money from the songs anyway, we would potentially make more money from the advertisement sales from the the site than selling the single :/
or from selling the various merchandise (Tees, Caps, etc, etc)

US or Singaporean style education?

School Experiment that Failed

Read this article in one of the local papers today.

I for one is always very concerned about the education system in Singapore. I've been enrolled in a local Singaporean school from Primary 1 to Primary 6 (Grade 1 to Grade 6 for the peeps from US) and when my family moved to work in Malaysia I got enrolled in International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL)

I kinda never really enjoyed my time in the local school...you dun get to choose what classes you wana take, huge class typical ratio would be 1 (teacher):40 (students)

I personally feels that Singaporean education system seems to be cater to a specific style or direction. You will have a VERY strong foundation in Maths and Science and your Arts (music, drama, etc etc) would be left behind.

However in a international school setting, I get to choose the path I want to take, Music...Drama, Science...Foreign Language.

I also believes that parents play a very important role too. If you are brought up in the traditional local education system, you would probably believe that arts is like an extra thing, you dun need to pursue it to survive in this world, go be a doctor or lawyer or at least be a engineer. Thats what you should be in Singapore.

Look at the music/arts scene in Singapore now....fuck it is a failure. Why? because we have been taught in school that music is a dream...look at the TV right now...you have a drama series shown on prime time and the plot is about a composer who can't survive in the music industry and ends up beating his wife...gambling...drinking...and all that jazz...

Why not have a show like Coyote Ugly? Small town songwriter pursuing her dream of becoming a singer. Guess what? When I was in ISKL I have friends 15 or 16 years old gigging constantly at the local nightclubs in KL, they even released an album.

But at least the scene is getting better due to shows like American Idol and the different spin offs of it in Singapore. But are we really promoting music in Singapore or is it juz another way to rip people off their hard earn money?

You decide....

A world is like a pyramid?

I have always and probably will for a very long time to believe that the structure of the world is like a pyramid....

Its like how a company is structured, 1 CEO, a number of managers and a shit load of workers. Even a country is similar, 1 Prime Minister/President/King or Queen and a whole lot of citizens and many people in between.

So why the hell I'm I talking bout all this anyway? Cuz last week I was out with my friends and I was saying how some of my students(ex students rather :p) dun have a goal in life, they are like doing nothing...wasting their youth and one of my friend responded, if everybody is fucking hardworking, trying to get a head in life, than who the fuck is gonna be cleaning the streets?

We can only have so many CEOs, managers...somebody has to do the shit job.....

The harsh reality of life.....

Megadeth/Black Sabbath

Been really busy for the past 2 weeks with teaching and starting my degree course in Audio Engineering.

And I juz wana say, its been a fucking amazing weekend with Megadeth and Black Sabbath gracing our shores.

Man I'm telling ya, I've been to Fort Canning many times and I've never seen it packed so fucking full and for the Black Sabbath concert, the age group is like from maybe 15 to like 60, thats how fucking awesome they are.

Megadeth was awesome too. Real class act. Some really insane shredding :)

Its gonna be a pretty busy week for me (yet again) Juz taken up a assignment for a audio book recording, should be pretty kool, something brand new for me :)

Cya all soon!

How to say no?

I think one of my weakest skillz is not knowing how to say no.

Hence I kinda googled "how to say no" and I came up with some pretty interesting sites, thought I share it with ya'll.

www.getmoredone.com

www.onlineorganizing.com

www.realsimple.com

9/11

Gone (9/11/01) by Andy Timmons



Lost Without You by John Petrucci

Real Life Sux?

There are juz so many things goin on IRL...things I juz can't do...things dat I can't make them right...Sometimes I wish I'm still juz a kid, all innocent and shit, dat way I dun have to deal with reality and it is always time like this I would read up on a couple of people, Jason Becker Tori Amos People who have went against all odds

What is it that I do exactly?

I met up with some old friends and new ones too recently and usually the first question we ask is so what are you doing currently. Usually I would tell my friends I'm a sound/audio engineer.

Usually the reply I get would be along the line of, "Oh so ya like a DJ at a club?" or "Oh you specialize in DSP(Digital Signal Processor)?"

Well nope, I'm none of the above. So today I'll show you what I do exactly. A picture (or sound rather) is worth a thousand words rite?

Original and Unedited portion of a band I recorded

Mp3 of the original file

Same part edited

Mp3 of the edited file

I basically did a couple of things. First there are 2 vocal parts and they are not in sync nor are they in pitch. So I edited it until they are pretty much in time although I did not sync them perfectly cuz in real life it would be almost impossible to do it, gotta have some realism too :p

Next up I used a great software call Melodyne to tune the pitch. Notice how I used Melodyne to elongate the vocal at the very end of the clip!

Every time I do something like this, I will end up talking to some of my friends. I've a number of friends who are professional sessionist or gigging around the world, and a lot of them put in countless of hours and years of hard work to perfect their craft.

I'm a musician myself and I've never believed in using a software to make up for something you can't do, like in the above example, I feel that musicians now a days are not spending enough time to perfect their trade. I get people who would ask me questions like, "but you can fix it during mixdown stage rite? Lets move on to the next part..."

If you are a professional, shouldn't you be spending time perfecting your skillz and not relying on the engineer to perfect it for you?

Rick Rubin

"That's the magic of the business. It's all doom and gloom, but then you go to a Gossip show or hear Neil in the studio and you remember that too many people make and love music for it to ever die. It will never be over. The music will outlast us all."

-Rick Rubin

I've always been a big fan of Rick Rubin and the artist he has worked with. A real music Guru.

Do check out this article on him.

Tips and Tricks for Pro Tools

I'll be trying to give out a tip every week for mixing and editing in Pro Tools.
Check out the site here!

Music Scene in Singapore

I'm sad to say that bands dun understand that if you organize a concert someone gotta pay for the equipment...rental of the venue...ya da ya da ya da...the list goes on.

Yet bands in Singapore are asking why should they have to sell a certain amount of tix in order to perform?

Fuck man are you guys so fucking dumb dat you think everything is for free? Who the fuck is gonna organize this kinda shit if they can't even break even?

If you know someone who is kind enough to pay for everything and not giving a damn if they break even and dun care if they are losing money...if me a holler cuz I need to know this dude....

...

Another Song?

Almost done remixing another song I recorded a year ago. Should be up in a couple of days once I'm done with the mastering and stuff.

Song is not gonna be up...sorry folks, after talking to the band we decided that we will go back into the studio and record some parts...

Fly Me to the Moon

Went through some of the stuff I've recorded...decided its time to upload some of them.

Fly Me to the Moon, done in SAE Singapore, a very impromptu session saw a guitar and bass lying ard...found a drummer and vocalist, book a studio and recorded some shit...

Mixed and Edited by urs truly...

Performed by people whose name I can't remember


Fly me to the Moon

Fly me to the Moon Lo Fi Mix

Fly me to the Moon Chipmunks

Violin + Hip Hop?

Very Kool Vid

Mix of Hip Hop + Classical Violin!