trumpets.

2009-11-23T22:14:00.001+08:00

www.hittingtheblues.wordpress.com
bye blogger.com, and sungei gedong armour camp for now.

2009-09-21T19:29:00.000+08:00

i'm done with this.
ord loh!

2009-09-08T00:56:00.002+08:00

wow..so. its been a while here. real dusty place.

anyway now that army open house is finally over, that just means a couple of months to freedom. well, not that soldiers are all complaining so much that we seem to be in painful captivity the moment we leave for camps. its just..i suppose we can afford a different way to life than before, the moment we step out with the pink i/c. was reading about this guy's insistence on not leading a "planned" life, but instead how its more about how we react to opportunities and the turn of crossroads. and it does make sense. seems like what the year has been for myself.

ok and i had the flight of my life a few days back! everyone should go check out the flying fox attraction in sentosa. and the physically demanding obstacle course with an amazing view from the top. the crew there was just quite awesome in their own ways.. and not forgetting how my partner for the day faithfully fulfilled a demanding wish. haha how nice my friends all are. just like the day before at the little dance corner in vivo. *stage clear!*

anyway..post-ord. i'm gonna be part of the stage ensemble for the local musical, broadway beng. first couple of weeks of december at esplanade theatre. and it looks pretty good so that's two reasons to catch it friends:)

2009-07-06T20:47:00.002+08:00

watched this really good show last week..and no it isn't transformers, haha. can't believe i actually slept through part of the many robot-fighting scenes. its called "once", quite an indie-sorta film that came out a few years back. the music is really good. actually seemingly simple and good. ironic but i think its cause the music was heartfelt. anyway its abt these two musicians. love it when they harmonise so well on set. anyway one of the songs here..

Glen Hansard - Lies

I think it's time, we give it up
And figure out what's stopping us
From breathing easy, and talking straight
The way is clear if you're ready now
The volunteer is slowing down
And taking time to save himself

The little cracks they escalated
And before we knew it was too late
For making circles and telling lies

You're moving too fast for me
And I can't keep up with you
Maybe if you slowed down for meI could see you're only telling
Lies, lies, lies
Breaking us down with your
Lies, lies, lies
When will you learn

The little cracks they escalated
And before you know it is too late
For making circles and telling lies

You're moving too fast for me
And I can't keep up with you
Maybe if you'd slowed down for me
I could see you're only telling
Lies, lies, lies
Breaking us down with your
Lies, lies, lies
When will you learn

So plant the thought and watch it grow
Wind it up and let it go

2009-06-18T23:35:00.002+08:00

just to remind myself for the next few months, years or decades.
i need to stop playing like this. like tonight.
wonder how passing the exam was even possible.

2009-05-17T01:23:00.001+08:00

2009-04-19T22:36:00.001+08:00

when we're expecting too much from something or someone and it comes, it's more of a relief than anything. and not expecting much can just work against ourselves.

2009-03-29T01:32:00.004+08:00

i didn't really know how this year would turn out; still haven't, actually. and frankly i've been spending the past few months still thinking about why certain things that went wrong did go wrong. every single day. and night. all questions and no answers. but strange to say, 2009 has sort of been a picking-up-the-pieces kinda term for me. trying to get through things, try out different things along the same hopeful path, and at the same time trying to make sure i do so without having any regrets. sorting out the mess and getting things in place academically, musically etc. and its been turning out quite fine. perhaps there won't be such a thing as landing straight right into the deeper end of the pits, if we could actually change our perspective of things.

the year could've been hell worse.

i was so thankful and relieved to receive the phone call on friday. and i thought i'd get to rest after tmr's concert! and so i received a letter today informing me about the trumpet exam is in exactly a month's time apparently! good luck yingda, you'll need it. TONS. haha man.

2009-03-15T18:14:00.002+08:00

just ended a busily satisfying fortnight with the orchestra.
and chanced upon ennio morricone's the crisis in my nano..good stuff.

2009-01-25T17:43:00.002+08:00

it's a real struggle to be optimistic. this is turning out to be a trying year of embracing humility and being focussed.

2008-12-31T22:11:00.002+08:00

'seven pounds' is a film with underrated subtleness. really good show, not in the bedtime-stories way, though its probably one of those subjective shows around. and it nicely rounds up the crazy year..which truly had been longer and harder than expected.

2008-12-30T22:12:00.001+08:00

2008-12-14T20:52:00.004+08:00

had an early christmas dinner for the year last night, with na and tang, and it was just awesome. the company and the foooood. the self-bought ingredients and self-prepared dishes. and the doc helmed the kitchen. haha. looking forward to feb, or the next gathering, and a return visit in melbourne man. and cheers to four years and counting! ever since the three of us bumped into each other randomly in the very same ice-breaker games group at nco camp ages back.. okay maybe not too randomly that they both ended up in the same group, tsk. haha. merry christmas!

a little less than a year ago and the most recent picture i could find. so na owes many many photos, yes both the nice and bloody embarassing ones haha.

2008-12-08T21:30:00.002+08:00

six more working days for the year.
and glad i did the run on sunday. therapeutic.

2008-11-30T21:22:00.002+08:00

This is a crazy world
These can be lonely days
It's hard to know who's on your side
Most of the time

Who can you really trust
Who do you really know
Is there anybody out there
Who can make you feel less alone
Some times you just can't make it on your own

If you need a place where you can run
If you need a shoulder to cry on
I'll always be your friend

When you need some shelter from the rain
When you need a healer for your pain
I will be there time and time again
When you need someone to love you
Here I am, hmmm

If you have broken dreams
Just lay them all on me
I'll be the one who understands
So take my hand

If there is emptiness
You know I'll do my best
To fill you up with all the love
That I can show someone
I promise you you'll never walk alone

Well if you need a place where you can run
If you need a shoulder to cry on
I'll always be your friend

When you need some shelter from the rain
When you need a healer for your pain
I will be there time and time again
When you need someone to love you
Here I am, oooo

Everybody needs somebody who
They can pour their heart and soul into

Well if you need a place where you can run
If you need a shoulder to cry on
I'll always be your friend

When you need some shelter from the rain
When you need a healer for your pain
I will be there time and time again
When you need someone to love you
Here I am, Here I am

leona lewis

2008-11-22T00:17:00.002+08:00

i wonder whether people realise, when they take ridiculous ages to reply, or to get things done, or even to dismiss people from camps, the depth of how they affect others with their actions or inactions. i think my irritation stems from a recent spate of events..especially the amazing camp events regarding sweeping up the 'beach' in there thrice in two days. any amount of patience will eventually still run out man.

ahh. need some island creamery milk tea ice cream. or azabu.

2008-11-10T13:23:00.000+08:00

twelve months exactly to my pink identification card ;p

2008-11-02T01:04:00.001+08:00

the voice..and the broken lyrics.

2008-10-27T21:55:00.001+08:00

and aural therapy beats listening to the inner voice.

2008-09-14T15:07:00.001+08:00

2008-09-14T15:05:00.002+08:00

above is claude bolling's toot suite..found on youtube.
nothing can beat maurice andre on the trumpet and claude bolling on the keyboard though!

2008-08-26T21:04:00.002+08:00

victor borge, pure musical genius! and the art of improvising.

2008-08-12T05:42:00.003+08:00

bittersweet. a few more months till the end of the year. the most unpredictable one yet, with the highest highs and lowest lows. going back into camp in an hour after a good long stretch of being at home.

2008-08-03T19:01:00.004+08:00

2008-08-03T18:52:00.001+08:00

2008-08-03T17:39:00.002+08:00

it was quite an experience to attend the wedding ceremony and dinner yesterday. and to be part of it too. and to catch up with jacq and beng. though i guess i'd be remembered as the trumpeter who made this little boy stop and stare while he was walking down the aisle. haha. he's not even 2, looked so good in this suit, and he was actually walking in front of the bridesmaids and bride and dad down the aisle, when he just froze halfway through (where i was standing and playing away), looked at my trumpet and started wondering what in the world was that noisy golden thing! (i guess) haha. damn innocently cute. reminding everyone about the innocent little people we all actually start out as.anyway these moments were shown later on at the dinner at night, in this really unbelievably-made video about the events for those who missed the afternoon ceremony and to sum up the whole day for the couple. very, very amazingly done and i think it'd mean enough for them. and i thought the whole thing was quite nicely done, what with the really good live jazz band at the dinner. and a very interesting, if overused, quote that the emcee shared, "No man is truly married until he understands every word his wife is NOT saying." at least now i know what kinda music i'd want in the far, far future. darn i should've taken a photo with the little boy. haha.

2008-07-27T09:17:00.002+08:00

czech basking love. rounding up a hell of a week.

2008-07-13T10:56:00.001+08:00

i can't wait to get back to practising daily. the gradual losing of faith in my lips and the instrument is more partly of my own doing, besides the irregular scheduling. involvement in alumni and the wedding gig makes it all the more guilty.
keep me on track, please.

2008-07-12T05:05:00.004+08:00

i just woke up at 4.45am (20 mins ago), realizing that i'd just dreamt about a certain ms tang and a mr yeo with long hair. and then i was asking them, 'you guys are back so early?'
apparently, some dreams are just our imagination, and they truly are, but this time round the dream really meant something. an a appetiser to what happened next?

and two minutes later, i received a msg from switzerland at abt 10.47pm swiss time (they played at 7.30pm) frm ms tang.
acjcband. "gold. highest. score. 93. point. smth. omg."

dreams are really scary eh? haha.
i hate them too. now i wish even more that i was there.
congrats guys!

2008-06-16T21:26:00.002+08:00

today is tea-for-dinner day. right, haha. whatever it means.
second range this weekend, and 9-week course starts late next week.
exciting soldiering days ahead.

2008-06-14T21:23:00.001+08:00

the music we shared, and the attempts to rediscover the moments of magic on nano and friday nights.
the music we share, and the lyrics.

2008-06-10T20:34:00.010+08:00

i was flipping through various concert letters, photos and all. throughout the years, all the way from '05. bittersweet. the drifting friendships, and the ones that have stayed, or even gone stronger so fortunately. i guess i've always felt like a j1, somehow. probably because of how my seniors have genuinely been. alumni band, hmm. im hoping for the best for the current acband batch. and the mad but yet-to-be-inspired trumpettos. if only they had more faith in their abilities, the band itself also. samuel once reminded me to trust.

i haven't really been describing my bookouts and weekends or nights outs here, because amazing is such an understatement and its really more than words. wishing that mahjong sessions with zhiwen, tang and sa will be a regular pastime all the way past 40, when our little kids play around whoever's house while we're struggling to make one round under three hours, and all the way past 80++ when we complete the "east" round in just under three hours. =)

emo. by the way the pole is supposed to be artistic.. tsk.

2008-06-04T21:41:00.002+08:00

a week of many saturdays just makes things harder when i have to return to serve.

i've got much to say but i don't know where to begin.

perhaps another day.

2008-05-11T09:46:00.003+08:00

i realized why i'm feeling the blues. just a year ago exactly, it was this crazy day at SCH, a day that epitomized an even crazier mix of sectionals, combineds and music.
syf 2007, may eleventh, acjcband's music.

2008-05-11T09:19:00.002+08:00

it's getting harder to stay on track. when people are leaving, when the inconsistency in schedulings never seem to stop. time to be convinced that even when things are jeopardized, i just have to keep up and survive.

2008-05-01T11:45:00.000+08:00

"Do you also believe that what gives our lives their meaning is the passion that suddenly invades us heart, soul, and body, and burns in us forever no matter what else happens in our lives?"

2008-04-16T14:44:00.002+08:00

you gradually try to accept the fact that things won't eventually "fall into place" as many would say it would. you can give it your best shot to put things right, but when an external party starts fumbling with the controls and switches, it just takes a whole lot of effort and faith, to want to neutralize the upset in balance. or tilt in towards your side of the fence. maybe my train of thoughs wouldn't have ended up here if some decisions worked for instead of against me. but its always the journey through the real dry and sore patch, that reminds us of how much we've been sheltered.

in other news, carrie underwood's voice is therapeutic. haha.

2008-04-13T00:27:00.002+08:00

i wish everyday could be like today, somehow.

2008-03-30T20:41:00.002+08:00

this marks the end of a week of muse and unspendable funorama coupons. plus an unexpectedly relaxed re-enlistment. partly gotten over the postings, and appreciate the encouragement and words from a few peers, seniors.

i'm supposed to meet my ten other mechanised engineers-to-be in ten minutes time at, choa chu kang? which i think is quite near to the area where i'm at now haha. not that it helps that some of them travel all the way down from simei, but..yeah. cck to pasir ris wasn't very funny either.

live recording of the super mario galaxy orchestra soundtrack is addictive! youtube it if interested. courtesy of cheehao, whom i think is having fun playing with bombs in the explosives squad now haha.

2008-03-22T22:21:00.001+08:00

it actually is scary, how this whole interdependence thing works.

2008-03-22T11:02:00.003+08:00

rounded off a rough day yesterday at harry's at night, just in time to catch paul ponnudorai on guitar. two words, very distracting! not in a negative sense. although he was out of sight literally, haha no thanks to some dodobird's wise choice of seats, the music was engaging. i can't exactly rmb what i heard, but mostly his own unique renditions of the usual classics, a bit of august rush-esque acoustic sounds. oh yes and the 'happy birthday' song. interesting use of chord colours, reminded me of this hymn yibin played at his recital last year. "soaking in the atmosphere" ya.

hmm. monday will be interesting.

2008-03-14T20:58:00.002+08:00

out of tekong! nothing much to say though, except last night's oboe recital was really an eye-opener. and it makes the whole passion/practicality issue come running back again.

2008-03-09T12:36:00.000+08:00

so what's real and what matters most?

2008-03-02T11:02:00.002+08:00

eastman wind's festive overture..man.
wish me luck for band auditions in a couple of hours' time.
i need the music back. can't wait to be in the audience for acswo&muse and soak it all in.

2008-02-24T16:09:00.002+08:00

listening to this interpretation of gershwin's rhapsody in blue which i'm really hooked onto, but god knows which orchestra/pianist or when it was recorded because i got it from a burnt cd. amazingly unusually fast at some corners, with super heavy rubatos that accentuate the spirit somehow. talking about interpretations, i guess its what defines you and your style as a musician or conductor or performer or whatsoever, sort of the one thing that can make your music stand out from the rest. sadly not applicable for the amateur musicians like me yet, not just yet. craving to be involved in ensemble music.

"In my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person will still think the sun shines out your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with."
just caught 'juno'. its a refreshingly good show. lots of intelligent and/or funny lines, dashed with bits and pieces of humour.

happy birthday mr yeo!

2008-02-03T16:45:00.000+08:00

two hundred and twenty second post.
just back from another week in green, live firing and all.

guess things can head towards the positive even when you least expect it. its like how everyone has to be so occupied with the methodical events throughout the week, interrupted by the occasional lows and seldom highs. then the countdown toward the weekend. and we just gather to live for the moments and the few hours. so things somehow eventually fall into place. im just thankful for the company of the group of friends. for the good food more importantly haha. for the chance to lose even more money on the square table. for the music back at dover. for the reflections about life in the east. for the gossip updates. for the food. and things have kind of fallen into place at home also. guess time away from home really makes one appreciate family and the warmth.

i'm currently suffering from music withdrawal symptoms terribly. haha. listening to wagner's elsa's procession to the cathedral now and i love it. hopefully the band will sound amazing when i hear them on the 24th at esplanade. haha. oh oh, and definitely gonna sound better than the swedish national wind band version off youtube i hope. their intonation isn't exactly working haha.

two hours to getting my butt back to camp. i think the foster's high tea yesterday and dimsum today are enough for me to endure the camp food for the next three days hahaha.

2008-01-08T00:46:00.000+08:00

one final post before my hair's messed and missed.

the past days have been good. anyway. really really happy for chenyi and limtianwei for their amazing but expected ib scores, i mean, expected for the crazy work they put in. haha unlike me, at least. awesome. and i heard dr ong was jumping up and down or something when the results were out on saturday.

just came back from time with the "usual" people. this time round no longer at han's (haha!) which was way back before exams had even ended but relack/swing one corner at dempsey's b&j. gonna miss the two psychologists-to-be terribly. some good chats and bad jokes along the way for the past two years, and even more to come in singapore, london, australia etc!

goodnight.

2007-12-30T00:40:00.000+08:00

back. just returned from our last-saturday-of-the-year trumpet section bbq. i guess its one of those events that's meaningful enough to note down and remember, yet to not want to describe because no texts can actually describe perfectly the feel of being through it. you get the drift.. and we were talking about how fast time really really flies. and i was thinking how we were just madly trying to double tongue the last passages of 1812 overture and perfect the trumpet soli in barnes' fantasy variations; seemingly yesterday.

the past few weeks have been brimming with questions. and some answers.

anyway, copypasted photos of a night out at the dessert bar after xmas concert below-

oh and for some reason mr yeo is damn red. even without much wine yet haha.

2007-12-10T21:27:00.001+08:00

richard strauss: Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche!

2007-12-10T01:00:00.000+08:00

i'm feeling a sudden rush of russian music. i think i love russian music, haha it just gets your adrenaline running, and yes for other reasons too. running notes in my head currently are from the overtures festive and 1812, plus the philwinds-encored shostakovich piece at their penultimate concert. bravo tchaikovsky and shosty. stravinsky..well to a certain extent like his firebird. studying music has not exactly led me to appreciate his neoclassicism though.

2007-11-30T21:15:00.000+08:00

the song just came back again, and again, as if it were saying something.

anyway, forty plus more days before a holiday at tekong.
past few days were nothing short of treasured fun and moments.
something like endless waits, a mega food tour in a single day, biking and mahjonging for hours straight, sharing an unbrella in the most unimaginable fashion(haha!), camwhoring in the cinema, and making music.

yatta! time doesn't pause for no man though.

2007-11-04T23:27:00.000+08:00

if you're a fan of milhaud or brazillian rhythms.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3HfPEL2kNk
if you missed or miss the sounds of boston brass.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgRBXIHJPLA&NR=1
if you can't live without that trombone of yours.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5wH7yEDR7I
if you're just bored.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKyH8B1yOf8
oh, and for the improvisers! just watch this la. its the best. haha. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvUbrbFdJ8g

aye. at least my lips are..still dry.
enjoy!

2007-11-03T12:39:00.000+08:00

a couple of hours off from hitting the texts and scores, i was away watching the illusionist. haha.
all i can take away from the show (which is not unlike the prestige) was the film music by philip glass. its amazing how glass' supporting role can elaborate the plot so much further. i want to try something like that in the future. film music! no no, not exactly the type in jay chou's secrets..haha.

2007-11-01T22:25:00.001+08:00

alive and struggling, with the bittersweet aftertastes..
this will be over soon, or won't it?

2007-09-29T21:24:00.000+08:00

physical musical distractions will be gone finally in a few days' time.
i've had my fair share of problems with teachers personally. things fortunately go a full circle at times, which i'm very grateful for because, at least its not too late to make amends even after regretting the actions or lack thereof towards some particular teachers. before trying to put up a decent c minor beethoven recital again for the last time, there's a person who i'll try to do my best for. she's made me wake up from thinking that i'm a total goner at the piano; the countless repeated passages in the music room, the countless singing out of parts from her heart, and the teachings as well as forgivings. i'm not gonna dedicate any recitals to this teacher as it won't do her any justice (haha..), but i'll try my best.

had the chance to meet up with fats and yi a couple of evenings ago. and foong, greg and ip for lunch yesterday. i had seniors saying acj and acsi will just be a street apart when i was about to leave the acj experience for an ib one, of course before actually changing my mind at the last minute. physically yes, but the street did take much away which couldn't be replaced. at all. oh well. time's flying as fast as andy roddick's first serves or micah richards' pace.

i'm gonna stop listening to boston brass jazz and the charming walking bass, with the semi-emo semi-cantabile random muted trumpet/horn melodies. it makes you terribly lazy. haha.

listening to: the bostoners' autumn leaves and put it right here

2007-09-23T15:43:00.000+08:00

i've admittedly lost quite a bit of faith in most things these days.
its getting harder to start believing, especially in myself in this mad final lap towards the end.
just got the quintet recording sorted out yesterday, thankful for it and the guys' help.
and then there were the two "jose"s; one made my day and the other, not quite, this week. mr sibaja and friends at boston brass impressing with their industry, and the other's mr mourinho and russian sugardaddy at stamford bridge. haha.
a crazy few weeks impending.

listening to: jd shaw on unbelievable horn and jose sibaja on improvising trumpet.

2007-09-09T00:03:00.000+08:00

"i realise that when i look back i have found this apparent pull of solitary walks, of which i've continued to ignore with this inherent need for company. perhaps again my barest was for the wrong person, its led to jealousy and envy and i really don't like the way it always happens with the same two persons. but i have learnt, to keep distances despite being myself, that i can't commit to being with people i choose to be with when their level of commitance isn't the same. i suppose its called to love at an arm's length."

you know, tennis players, some of them have this weird habit of avoiding the courtlines while taking a walk to hit their serves or something along those lines. because it supposedly pays to be safe than to be sorry. having to avoid these lines all the time during games, is tiring. really, really tiring. having to consistently return good shots is no different too. gritting their teeth to put up a brave front in front of a tough arthur ashe crowd, not knowing what other weapons the opponent has in the bag, and it takes much to want to let go. i guess it isn't always about tennis. but then again, maybe the fault just lies with the tennis player. so just stop playing tennis and quit like tim henman when you know you can't take it anymore.

2007-09-08T00:32:00.000+08:00

it's hard to figure things out when expectations are higher.

2007-08-29T23:21:00.000+08:00

the ten minutes spent on the piano were sort of the hardest minutes throughout the practical paper and the whole exams. it was pretty much staring at all the pages, hoping to hit the right notes, hoping desperately. then the half-panting and sweating like mad thanks to the fifteen minutes on trumpet before that plus a disgusting rendition of arban. a desperate hope for the fingers to move along with the notes, but i was struggling like a cow. felt like giving up several hundred times, distracted by the many times thinking abt how the teacher went through note after note with me lingering somewhere at the back of my mind, distracted by how shitty this is, how i can forget about music as a career or passion which i can't even play music in. draining. i think when perfection starts looking unrealistic, passion will start to be doubted, heavily. things like toot suite or a small dose of 'can't take my eyes off you' or 'when the saints go marchin' in' are just a relegated consolation. hmm. just trying to be realistic. been letting my music teachers down.

things seem to be quite ironically funny when we attempt to want to care for others' lives, when we can't even handle our own; hoping to make a big difference in others' when we aren't ready to do so for ourselves.

okay tmr morning will be the start of a better day and few days or weeks. happy teachers' day!

2007-08-25T21:07:00.000+08:00

alison balsom on the trumpet sounds just heartachingly beautiful. her high, close to clarino range, and even some of her low notes. and she's so young unlike dear old arturo or ageing wynton. though the only thing about her new album that i'm not very fine with is its repertoire. some songs are too similar. there are the real good ones though like paganini's caprice and arban's casta diva.

haha so it gets me wonder when i'll even be able to record an album. i think around thirty years later! sigh. talking about going to universities over dinner yesterday, the distant future doesn't seem very far. gotta get serious with my 'wife' after the A's, and serious all the way till menopause.. after that, hmm. shall see.

oh! whatsoever things is hauntingly beautiful too. mark camphouse is a genius at horn parts. musical indulgence.

2007-08-14T15:54:00.000+08:00

seems like the hiatus is a goner.. haha. gp ended in a flash. although the aq and essay topics were quite interesting, plus the daily cnn.com feeds are coming in slightly handy for gp. tomorrow will be a long, long day. too many war dates to remember though..sigh. at least the train-station to station running/semi-walking madness destresses..

2007-08-02T22:03:00.000+08:00

reading through my two notepads trying to search for an answer to all that's happening.
and i found a couple of them. right there at the front but never once did i try to remind myself to read them for a long time. putting them there at the start of the year to remind myself, and today it did. funny how we seem to try to find excuses for this and that, for each other, for actions or inactions. i'm guilty as well.

to the kid whom i think won't even know who i'm referring to, i hope you can try to look things in the eye, face them with much more courage than i have done with things, and pull through. i wished i had understood more.

2007-07-02T07:33:00.000+08:00

before a hiatus of 19 weeks and 3 days till the end of A's,

a shot at a particular doctor's washroom.
and haha yeah, a picture paints a thousand words. arrivederci!

2007-06-14T01:47:00.000+08:00

scheherazade,
feste romane,
brass sextet.

2007-06-14T01:40:00.000+08:00

what if these guys were around?
syf soundcheck '07.

2007-06-14T01:17:00.000+08:00

i'm listening to the hunchback of notredame, the one we played about 12 months ago.
sigh.
too many questions, too little answers.
too many similar questions, too little heartfelt answers.
underpreparation repeats itself again, the cycle continues.

maybe we never asked ourselves whether why, rather than what we're fighting for, is right in the first place.

okay bandcamp!

2007-06-10T21:53:00.001+08:00

just for laughs!
http://mzard.livejournal.com/6429.html, my cousin's video of our super cute and talented two year old cousin; she's the next Peter Schmeichel, catching soccer balls and lining up thundering 70 yards long goalkicks......in ladies' shoes! haha.

2007-06-08T13:17:00.000+08:00

the thought of playing in an orchestra or band, without the same few people around, isn't a welcoming one. haha. berlinphil's scheherazade! gush.
anyway, sunday night at 'amirah's grill' with 5th godma, ra-ra amirah, and a sixth of the sextet,dom..

2007-05-30T08:58:00.000+08:00

time to stop running away.
for some, maybe not.

2007-05-21T22:37:00.000+08:00

random days.
fresh days. doing things you've never quite done before, for a long time.
maybe fresh is a good substitute, cause you realised situations are contrastingly different.

i can't control my stupid fingers when attempting to play something on the piano.
when the harmonic progressions don't sound the way they should, the way you want, its frustrating. when things that might have been in your control aren't.
the past few days have been spent re-discovering music.
rimsky-korsakov's genius thematic creations. scheherazade.
gershwin's drive. an american in paris. composers are really geniuses.
chopin's smooth churning-outs. c#minor. gminor.
craig armstrong. glasgow and portuguese.
as always, arturo's rendition of a night in tunisia.

okay okay. attempts shall be made to finish the couple of econs notes, a chinese essay, and to not be restricted by music now! goodnight.

random. there's not much point in playing music if we aren't enjoying playing it for each other.

2007-05-16T22:25:00.000+08:00

flashback.
two years back then, it was time after hearing tons of singapore rhapsodies with a fellow school ponner. haha anyway. it was time. the guys spoke. i won't forget turning to my right and seeing their reactions. then walking down. past the glass door, a respected senior with his head down staring blankly at what might be defeat in his eyes then. a sense of helplessness on my way home even though it was a gruelling a math paper the next day. nth much else was on my mind except their expressions that night.

two years ahead.
it came as a shock- how fast it was approaching. how it dawned on me the day before. it really is about only when we are put into certain situations then can we even think of looking at things in certain ways we never thought we will. or never thought that we will even feel like that. if there's one thing i've learnt, it's about not having any regrets. that's the bottom line. unfortunately i still have a few of those. but it doesn't matter as much now right?

syf '05 and '07 are unique in their own sense.
at the end of the day, no matter what we received or more importantly, felt that we should have received, i'll still go for the process. its funny when at times like this, we always have to try to talk about the positives than any negatives. the announcement was a relief. a relief to my playing, our playing, and the memories of those twenty four months back. getting back on track towards looking at a half-full glass, the announcement was a signal calling out for thrashing of technicality by musicality, intonation and intensity over intonation and nothing else much, and passion over perfection.

the sunday practices won't be forgotten and will be missed.
especially when i'm not even the crazy one initiating them.
the bunch of 5 girls and 3 guys practising/tuning and jumping around onstage itself.
the soprano sax, the jazzy alto sax, the man.
the guys who rocked ac after rocking SCH.
surviving on french vanilla coffee while writing away with each other at sam's.
acbandits elders who still return to lt4 to serve bubble teas etc.
the men and women who have no choice but to sign up for the 'perfection' school of thought, sectionals after sectionals.
the list goes on.

i'm really not sure where we go from here.
i don't have the balls to be sure, haha.
if only everything was as perfect as the tuning note eh?

2007-04-21T23:59:00.000+08:00

extended chords are dangerous, even when they seem the most likely to resemble hope.

listening to: the inn of sixth happinness, acsiband'07

2007-04-15T22:14:00.000+08:00

music therapy.

the inn of sixth happiness.
hustle-bustle of the chordal progressions can't exactly be described by words. or rather, by my very-duper-limited vocabulary. the harmonic progressions really brings us from one end to another, with a wee bit of tiny yet crucial climatic points. the little bit of jazz and extended chords too. i guess the most important ingredient was that its the acsiband who's performing it. if only every single one was genuinely playing through the progressions and enjoying the composer's ingenius musical language. heartfelt.

chopin's nocturnes,ballades,polonaises.
i think some of his music can really express something words can't. the scene in the pianist will be stuck to my memory for quite awhile for sure.. szpilman cutting a forlorn figure at the piano, telling his story as his fingers brush against the black and white keys. no wonder we hear people say that you can't play something well if you can't feel for it. cliche but its true. its like operas; even more heartfelt in the film because the story behind the music's the real deal. a good show. good music. but nobody ever learns.

try as we might, but music can never be a total escape. it's temporary, just like how you start thinking about how things could have been, should have been all of a sudden because its been a long week and some things or people seem to affect you so much. it's this tiny cycle, though vicious shouldn't be used to describe it. it's temporary, cause the music won't be there forever for every single second. every morning, the hope comes rushing back in; can this go on for another long period of time?

listening to: chopin, chopin and more chopin

2007-04-09T22:19:00.000+08:00

i've a niggling feeling that i've got so much more to catch up on now that i've missed the ih lesson today. anyhow, islamic fundamentalism does trump the other global economy et cetra stuff that we have to plonk through notes after notes about.

mark, i couldn't make it in the end; i know what you mean, though. haha, we still have to meet up okay. don't ask why but i suddenly remember the damn nice oboe melody of the set piece we all heard during our final warmup in the backstage tuning room at SCH less than 2 years and a week ago. the one, along with the best warmup we had, that revealed what was gonna happen in the next minutes/hours/days of that week.

chenyi, i viewed them already! haha so exciting. nice, nice little speech you had, most importantly about your reason for music-making. i knew you were gonna comment slightly about the other gender somehow haha. i don't think acjc's concert can be found anywhere on youtube..guess you aren't as lucky. lol. i only wished i was able to watch you perform there at the cpa physically. ahh.

2007-04-02T22:48:00.000+08:00

times with the acsi mates will stay all the way. thanks bros.

2007-04-02T22:40:00.000+08:00

i wish i can say how difficult things can get.
i wish i can tell you how much i want, or don't want, to say.
there's too many things to want to talk about,
and too many to not want to talk about.
silence is deafening. zero silence may make it worse.
i'm so sorry.

2007-04-02T22:29:00.000+08:00

i'm sorry.

2007-04-01T05:13:00.000+08:00

sleeping was supposed to help.
but i'm getting shocked by the increasingly number of dreams i'm having that are of the same setting..it's scary how much this is affecting me.

2007-03-31T20:45:00.000+08:00

no comments - a good thing, or bad?

2007-03-26T20:30:00.000+08:00

"send us some guidance from above,
'cause people got me, got me questioning.."

2007-03-25T10:59:00.001+08:00

tien commandment numero eight.

2007-03-16T20:45:00.000+08:00

never underestimate how mad the jayones can be. looney, physically unstable! and downright wacky.. hmm maybe it takes one to know one, hahaha. anyhow, to any j1 who's here, i know its damn tough to adapt to the band, but keep pushing ya. you'll get what you deserve on concert night.
trumpet exam's finally over.. oh weit, its not my paper, there's still like four more to go for the same songs over and over again.
terms. night.

2007-03-16T20:34:00.000+08:00

from bandfusion.com

hey you! :) come on down for an evening of intense, heart-felt music by the ACJC concert band at the Esplanade! catch the 5 bands at the price of 1; guest bands include bands from ACSI, ACSI(IB), ACSBR as well as the ACS Combined Band where we'll be belting out the Phantom Of The Opera in the spirit of unity, amongst a few of the ACS schools.more details below, hope to see you there at 7.30pm on April 1st, and no, it really isn't an April Fools' joke.. (in case you're still wondering..yes, it really isn't! support your fellow musicians!)

Anglo-Chinese Junior College's Annual Band Concert - Muse Esplanade Concert Hall
1st April, Sunday, 7.30pm
$17,$21,$25
under the batons of: Dr Lee Tian Tee, Mr Lim Tee Heong

ACJC Concert Band!
Festive Overture
Feste Romane (Roman Festivals)
Colonial Song
March from Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber
Tosca (from the Third Act)

ACS(I) Wind Ensemble!
Ghost Train
Second Suite In F

ACS(I) Symphonic Band!
Variations On A Korean Folk Song
Chorale and Shaker Dance

ACS(BR) Concert Band!
Prophesy

Anglo-Chinese School Combined Band!
Phantom Of The Opera (featuring organ & harps)

2007-03-11T14:12:00.000+08:00

its not about having too much to say;
its about not wanting to say too much.

its a period we have to get through together with, somehow.
and i want to understand myself more.

go acband. j1s,j2s,j3s,j4s,tchers,alumnis,drlee,acjc. the best is now.

2007-03-06T22:50:00.000+08:00

one, some questions will never leave any answers.
two, my eyes aren't feeling like that for not sleeping well the past few days.
three, i want fifth march to make a difference, really. really. strength inside you never knew.
four, four more weeks.

2007-03-04T21:51:00.000+08:00

emotional baggage, in excess.

2007-02-28T21:25:00.000+08:00

i just came across an article on lee wei kong, and its quite heartwarming.
i'll always remember him as the confeedently tall CKS house captain in acsi, and the ever-reliable rugby player, the non-typical rugger also. so the news two years back was hard to swallow. miracles can happen, and he's now embarking on an arts course in lasalle.
inspiring indeed.

2007-02-20T23:56:00.000+08:00

music, an escape for you?

2007-02-13T05:34:00.000+08:00

when all else fails.. take a seat and listen to tosca. mhmm.

2007-02-11T22:26:00.000+08:00

holding onto the kite, you struggle to control it against nature, the strong winds.
on the verge of being detached, you keep it hanging, pulling it back.
the weather gets better. you let it go slightly.
now its a matter of when to release or pullback. and how much.

then you pause. and take a step back.
and wonder if you should even be the one holding onto the kite in the first place.

2007-01-31T22:22:00.000+08:00

disgusting thais..

2007-01-28T11:16:00.000+08:00

why the vicious cycle.
looking at the positives, derailed by the negatives;
scream in silence, almost let go in one night, alone;
wake up the next, hope, resilience, pretence of resilience, encourage, en masse;
spur, calando, spur.

why? time passes so fast that we don't have the time to pause, think and realise how much hopes are we carrying on our own shoulders.

how much of other people's hopes we are carrying.

actually at times, it comes to a point where the mind starts wondering how much all these will affect us years later, decades later, or degrees/doctorates later. that's when i give up wondering.

2007-01-15T20:25:00.000+08:00

no right.

2007-01-02T14:32:00.000+08:00

in the middle of china's appropriation and rehabilitation policies blah blah..
pics are up; acjctrumpets @ flickr.com here http://www.flickr.com/photos/45054133@N00/
listening to, antonio carlos jobim, astrud gilberto.

2007-01-01T22:26:00.000+08:00

i'm scared of making decisions.
as i'm typing, i'm actually thinking of the things in the past year itself that i had no choice but to call the shots in, of the things that i just refuse to be involved in, wondering why i even refuse to in the first place. thinking of what'd even happen if i didn't had a hand in things, eventually having to decide because i had to, or because of what was said before. its actually because i was scared. scared. its quite funny, cause i shouldnt even be in this state unless i knew what i really wanted from the beginning.

confidence for this year will be hard to come by.
looking at my academics or lack thereof, i'm peeing litres in my pants already. people say academics is not that important after all, i seconded it once, maybe still now, but i'm damn scared now. i just don't bother showing it. maybe its just the overwhelming amount of free time i'm indulging myself in, to make me to pause and even think for a bit.

"Hope you will find your purpose for music and direction for life this year."
chenyi, if i can follow these words of yours as closely as my lips touch the 1 1/4C megatone mpiece, i'd salute myself for fighting like a cow come december 2007.
i had something like this last year round, but it didn't seem to happen too much in '06.
the people weren't exactly right, i kept shifting the blames from the teachers, to the classmates, to lack of time, lack of sleep. perhaps it is really time to wake up. this so isn't the way to reach the doctorate.
i'm not feeling the need for any direction or purpose right now, maybe its the ulcers.

maybe this post seems immature.
i don't know. haha i'd give up already. i hope i can.
see what happens in twelve months.
maybe you'd know what i'm even trying to paint here.

for now, let the star wars trilogy and harry potter s.s. recordings swarm my head,heart&soul.
quite touching to hear the tracks actually..

2006-12-28T08:39:00.000+08:00

what really makes up dreams?
mine are getting weirder, but even more realistic.
i'm talking night-sleep dreams.
yawn. i've been woken up by phone calls for the second day in a row.
three days of aloha loyang.
one year has passed real fast. i always get some kind of feeling when i think or talk about the previous chalet.

okay happy holidays...while it lasts.

2006-12-22T23:49:00.000+08:00

ulcers are coming up again, seven days/nights on the trot on my dear trumpet is fun but crazy.
been hitting the courts, whacking balls to rid of stress.
bandfest is over, company was great..
copacabana too, haha. audience was lovely during that piece.

okay i just can't wait to play in the cathedral. mhmm exciting.
take care everyone, yawns.

2006-12-14T00:59:00.000+08:00

arthur arthur! one last shot before you get packed into the forests with hundreds other bald clean-shaved guys. hope thow and jiawei are having fun in there too.. haha.
david, angie, vivienne.
a new definition of 'seniors' for me; i'm glad this final concert together ended off really well. 5th godma, you should've just played! haha alright.
taken right before we stepped in for superman. haha i think i'll never forget the minutes of music-making when we three "marched" and played all the way from acsi to acjc, past the stunned security guard, across the roads, past the dover blocks, kept playing even though we reached the VG.
full section photo, including matin. love the contrasting ties. one final shot. acjc trumpets 05/06, through muse, sydney, muse, jazzband, and pop concert.

2006-12-03T10:05:00.000+08:00

first things first, to whoever commented that there were "so many guest players" for the trumpets, please. haha. i guess that'd be a very nice compliment to take away with.

sorry sorry, give me some space to indulge in our section first okay. haha.
the two pieces on friday night were the most amazing i've experienced in a concert setting.
thanks.
david's love-hate relationship with the flugelhorn. horns looking back at him in awe.
luqman's fine-tuned relationship with the piccolo trpt, a damn hard thing to do.
weiting and vivienne's crazy-high duet in battle of the forest, her high high D.
hmm, do we need anyone else in particular to hit high high Ds anymore? haha inside joke.
jiawei and i using tpts for picc parts, madness for him to sightread, but he still hit the high ones.
double tonguing at movement 3. heh. lucky it's not flutter. inside joke again.
triple-tonguers.
princess leia, awww. beautiful high notes, running notes to her climax. i mean, the climax.
luke's high Fs. hail the new rubber lips.
section sound in yoda's theme at the melody part, music-making as one.
last four bars of the main theme. semiquaver triplets. concert C chord. organ sound.
weiting's happy potter manliness, support.
quidditch, the spirit was there. 1st tpt running notes.
weiting's solo again, david's goosebumps.
concert C chord at the end yet again.
jurassic park's trumpet trio! haha at least we succeeded during practice. heck la.
luke's melting superman showcase.

okay there's too much to say.
this concert was one which meant the most to me, grateful that it turned out well.
i really enjoyed the practices leading up to the two nights, the pain at first, throughout, then the increasingly productive sessions; the eccentric lightings during brass combined sectionals, which i really had fun in; seeing the seniors back was another thing that made a huge difference. thanks for sharing this final concert.

there's still much to work on, so much to usher in, maybe a bigger balding patch at the back of my head, let's just give our best for the last few months of music-making we can afford to indulge in. thanks luke and weiting for working so hard, i'm glad our seniors were here to see our efforts pay off handsomely. thanks mx for the words on thursday night; it was quite a terrible time for myself, for us. its a lesson, let's push more. thanks dr lee. thanks to the ones who came down to support; yi, fats, mark, doc, acsibandalumnis, j2s, j3s.

i swear the tagboard will be on soon, but i'll stop updating from now till a long,long time later.
pictures will be up though.
i've messed around enough with my life this year, too much confusion.
for now, it's simple, nothing complicated anymore - studies.

goodbye.

2006-12-01T09:40:00.000+08:00

beautiful beautiful arrangement for band...

Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves
(Everything I Do) I Do It For You

Look into my eyes - you will see
What you mean to me
Search your heart - search your soul
And when you find me there you'll search no more
Don't tell me it's not worth trying for
You can't tell me it's not worth dying for
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you

Look into my heart - you will find
There's nothing there to hide
Take me as I am - take my life
I would give it all I would sacrifice
Don't tell me it's not worth fighting for
I can't help it there's nothing I want more
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you

There's no love - like your love
And no other - could give more love
There's nowhere - unless you're there
All the time - all the way

Don't tell me it's not worth trying for
I can't help it there's nothing I want more
I would fight for you - I'd lie for you
Walk the wire for you - Yeah I'd die for you

You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you

nowadays it seems so different.
i don't know. stepping up, there's so much more we can do,
at least that's how a few months have changed our mindsets.
i still don't know which hit me more.