但愿人长久, 千里共婵娟.
先诛少林,后灭武当.
狂妄.
有杀气!!!
天山童姥,威震武林.
脚踏实地.
吉他万岁!!!
曾经.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
听天由命
Writing this as I’m standing behind the piano at the Activity Room. It’s Tuesday’s practice. The group is running through Handel’s Concerto last movement. I can vividly understand why Hiong Gai Gai would walk out of the DT in despair of the soloist’s performance. The solo was rather raw I must say, with little regard for the orchestra coherence. Notes go haywire at times, some wrong, some out of tempo. There was even a passage Daren was counting for him(or for the orchestra???)!!!
Spectacularly weird.
Spectacularly weird.
Monday, February 27, 2006
往事如烟
I found photographic evidence of sectionals in the past!
Somewhat induces nostalgia, imagining to be one of such a session. Not forgetting of course, the forgotten Studio 4!!!
Somewhat induces nostalgia, imagining to be one of such a session. Not forgetting of course, the forgotten Studio 4!!!
That's a combined Alto sectional for you!!!
I'm inside too, and I almost couldn't find myself!!!
Fireworks in the Dance Theatre - RELOADED
This Saturday was most entertaining. Here’s the story:
A couple of us were scheduled to visit Mr. Alex at his place at around 1pm. It’s really been several attempts since last November we tried to meet Mr. Alex, and yes, we’ve finally succeeded this weekend. 7 of us went. (Jianqun, Yangyang, Shuhann. Alex, Adrian, Wai and me.) We were kindly treated to lunch at his condo’s clubhouse and we spent about an hour looking through some guitar materials and resources he shared with us.
Little did we know that back at CFA, Domy was throwing his little tantrums and making a fuss. Apparently, many Alto members were not present for the rehearsal. He asked Zhiqiang to call Alex and get everyone to come back. Seems like he knew of our whereabouts through somebody, which we speculate he’d be mightily jealous or envious about. So Domy decided to use the old-fashioned way of childish black-mailing, he would not start the rehearsal until the seniors came back to the rehearsal. Oh mi god, what a fool! 简直无聊透顶!
Shuhann and Alex returned to CFA while Wai, Jianqun, Moh and myself stayed a while longer at Mr. Alex’s place; once Alex took his instrument and settled in with the ensemble, Domy began the rehearsal. I really felt this was injustice to Alex. That stupid bird-brain made it seem everyone was waiting for Alex. Ridiculous! If he had any balls left in his shriveled up scrotum, look for the late-comers/absentees and trash it out. What a wimp! 欺善怕恶! 没种!
During rehearsal he gave hell to the players; citing that the members should already know their music stuff by now and not make mistakes; when he himself made a hideous amount of blunders on his stupid Handel Solo, which he did not practice diligently. What’s more, he even went NITRO and claimed to be trying to bring up the tempo when Michelle told him off. Hah! 强词夺理!
This scumbag is truly a sore loser.
1. He has a girl/auntie friend which I almost mistook for his paternal aunt. The striking resemblance between the two was annoyingly comical and reminds about incest.
2. He threatened to make things regimental in the ensemble, like anyone cares. Charge me lah!
3. He accused the committee of being unable to garner attendance. It must be a while since he used his bathroom. There’s so much shit in his gut, it’s oozing out of his mouth. And! He’s not been looking in the mirror often enough.
4. He frequently speaks in a condescending tone and hurls sarcasm at players during rehearsals. How uninspiring!
Blowning up at the entire ensemble just because you have some players unable/unwilling to come for practice is totally inappropriate and one of the worst things you can do when running a music group, especially when the group is made up of undergraduates and adults.
A couple of us were scheduled to visit Mr. Alex at his place at around 1pm. It’s really been several attempts since last November we tried to meet Mr. Alex, and yes, we’ve finally succeeded this weekend. 7 of us went. (Jianqun, Yangyang, Shuhann. Alex, Adrian, Wai and me.) We were kindly treated to lunch at his condo’s clubhouse and we spent about an hour looking through some guitar materials and resources he shared with us.
Little did we know that back at CFA, Domy was throwing his little tantrums and making a fuss. Apparently, many Alto members were not present for the rehearsal. He asked Zhiqiang to call Alex and get everyone to come back. Seems like he knew of our whereabouts through somebody, which we speculate he’d be mightily jealous or envious about. So Domy decided to use the old-fashioned way of childish black-mailing, he would not start the rehearsal until the seniors came back to the rehearsal. Oh mi god, what a fool! 简直无聊透顶!
Shuhann and Alex returned to CFA while Wai, Jianqun, Moh and myself stayed a while longer at Mr. Alex’s place; once Alex took his instrument and settled in with the ensemble, Domy began the rehearsal. I really felt this was injustice to Alex. That stupid bird-brain made it seem everyone was waiting for Alex. Ridiculous! If he had any balls left in his shriveled up scrotum, look for the late-comers/absentees and trash it out. What a wimp! 欺善怕恶! 没种!
During rehearsal he gave hell to the players; citing that the members should already know their music stuff by now and not make mistakes; when he himself made a hideous amount of blunders on his stupid Handel Solo, which he did not practice diligently. What’s more, he even went NITRO and claimed to be trying to bring up the tempo when Michelle told him off. Hah! 强词夺理!
This scumbag is truly a sore loser.
1. He has a girl/auntie friend which I almost mistook for his paternal aunt. The striking resemblance between the two was annoyingly comical and reminds about incest.
2. He threatened to make things regimental in the ensemble, like anyone cares. Charge me lah!
3. He accused the committee of being unable to garner attendance. It must be a while since he used his bathroom. There’s so much shit in his gut, it’s oozing out of his mouth. And! He’s not been looking in the mirror often enough.
4. He frequently speaks in a condescending tone and hurls sarcasm at players during rehearsals. How uninspiring!
Blowning up at the entire ensemble just because you have some players unable/unwilling to come for practice is totally inappropriate and one of the worst things you can do when running a music group, especially when the group is made up of undergraduates and adults.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
It's a hat trick!
Genus members were informed that if the ticket sales of the concert is not up to expectations, they will give away the remaining unsold tickets to charity!
HAHAHAHAHAH +)
Once again, UCC CFA has outdone themselves yet again!
HAHAHAHAHAH +)
Once again, UCC CFA has outdone themselves yet again!
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
How to get animated gifs to work
When I upload them, they always get converted to JPG format...
Anyone knows?
Anyone knows?
Monday, February 20, 2006
2 Sides of the same coin(Rebirth)
I recieved a SMS from Jingli asking me if I'm taking extra sectionals for Prime on Tuesday evening from 1730 to 2100. I was like "huh"??? Anyway, I took the initiative to check out the rehearsal time and got it settled.
(The text below shall be gentle, please do take much heed, if your name happens to be Zhiqiang. This is the divine chantings of Seraphic OWLS, read at your own pleasure.)
To my dearest Zhiqiang:
I need your help here. I'm doing you a favour since you asked me personally if I could help with the Prime juniors. So perhaps you could help to co-ordinate with the juniors and monitor their progress as well. Jingli is not from Prime so it may not be wise to let her do the liason. Perhaps you could take more ownership.
It is not a good sign that your comm meetings go into sectional time. It may be reflective that you are not scheduling well or the meetings aren't effective enough. With the upcoming concert, we really need you to attend the small ensemble practices. Time management is the key.
I do not see the purpose of a verbal introduction of a small group piece. If we could schedule groups to play for ensemble, just like what Guitaresque did, it will prove more beneficial and the ensemble members will get to listen to the music as well.
Yours sincerely,
Seraphic OWLS
(The text below shall be gentle, please do take much heed, if your name happens to be Zhiqiang. This is the divine chantings of Seraphic OWLS, read at your own pleasure.)
To my dearest Zhiqiang:
I need your help here. I'm doing you a favour since you asked me personally if I could help with the Prime juniors. So perhaps you could help to co-ordinate with the juniors and monitor their progress as well. Jingli is not from Prime so it may not be wise to let her do the liason. Perhaps you could take more ownership.
It is not a good sign that your comm meetings go into sectional time. It may be reflective that you are not scheduling well or the meetings aren't effective enough. With the upcoming concert, we really need you to attend the small ensemble practices. Time management is the key.
I do not see the purpose of a verbal introduction of a small group piece. If we could schedule groups to play for ensemble, just like what Guitaresque did, it will prove more beneficial and the ensemble members will get to listen to the music as well.
Yours sincerely,
Seraphic OWLS
2 Sides of the same coin(Death)
Grrr... out of nowhere I recieved a SMS from Jingli asking me if I'm taking extra sectionals for Prime on Tuesday evening from 1730 to 2100(huh???). How would I know?
(The text below shall be offensive, please do not take too much heed, if your name happens to be Zhiqiang. This is the unholy rantings of demonic OWLS, read at your own risk.)
To my dearest Zhiqiang:
Please get YOUR act together. In case you haven't noticed, I'm doing you, the small fry president a favour since you asked me personally if I could help with the Prime juniors. So the very least is you could do is fucking help to co-ordinate with the juniors and monitor their fucking progress as well. From where I'm fucking standing, it looks like you've pushed the liason to Jingli and that isn't really helping much. Hey fuck, you are from Prime section and you should take the initiative to do the co-ordination if you really have fucking balls.
And yes there's more shit, please don't ever drag your bloody little comm meeting into sectional time. It's already bad enough that you are fucking missing small ensemble rehearsals because you stubbornly insist on scheduling your silly comm meetings during the practice time. What the fuck! If you have some common sense, conduct your meetings outside rehearsal time and you can meet till the fucking cows come home!
And don't ever fucking ask people to give a verbal introduction to their small group piece at the end of practice. KNN, what on earth was that for??? Do you seriously think that verbal introduction is useful to any living creature!!?!!?!??!
Yours quite sincerely,
Demonic OWLS
(The text below shall be offensive, please do not take too much heed, if your name happens to be Zhiqiang. This is the unholy rantings of demonic OWLS, read at your own risk.)
To my dearest Zhiqiang:
Please get YOUR act together. In case you haven't noticed, I'm doing you, the small fry president a favour since you asked me personally if I could help with the Prime juniors. So the very least is you could do is fucking help to co-ordinate with the juniors and monitor their fucking progress as well. From where I'm fucking standing, it looks like you've pushed the liason to Jingli and that isn't really helping much. Hey fuck, you are from Prime section and you should take the initiative to do the co-ordination if you really have fucking balls.
And yes there's more shit, please don't ever drag your bloody little comm meeting into sectional time. It's already bad enough that you are fucking missing small ensemble rehearsals because you stubbornly insist on scheduling your silly comm meetings during the practice time. What the fuck! If you have some common sense, conduct your meetings outside rehearsal time and you can meet till the fucking cows come home!
And don't ever fucking ask people to give a verbal introduction to their small group piece at the end of practice. KNN, what on earth was that for??? Do you seriously think that verbal introduction is useful to any living creature!!?!!?!??!
Yours quite sincerely,
Demonic OWLS
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Fireworks in Dance Theatre
It's been a long time since GENUS felt like GENUS. Seriously, the vibes that I get when the ensemble plays Spring Overture is really different from Handel Concerto and Capriol Suite. Everyone is just more "into" the music. Perhaps it's just that the players have yet to appreciate the beauty of the latter two pieces? Anyway, it definitely feels good to hear a confident sound.
I have a collossial job of making sure my piccolo part is in tune, seemingly harder. Doesn't help when the guitars are non-sustaining instruments. 3 weeks to get it sorted out.
I have a collossial job of making sure my piccolo part is in tune, seemingly harder. Doesn't help when the guitars are non-sustaining instruments. 3 weeks to get it sorted out.
Friday, February 17, 2006
How to cure insomnia
Try going for an organ concert. That's what I did yesterday evening. The organ is really a fascinating instrument, I never knew there was such a wide spectrum of tones and timbre available on the instrument itself. The basic tone which I remember of, prior to attending the concert was the usual Dracula theme, Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Martin Setchell was the performer and he wizzed through the first half of Bach's pieces with ease and dexterity. Some of the chorale works really sounded nice, I was also inspired to arrange one of the pieces for small ensemble.
Pictures at an exhibition was presented at the second half. This is really the sound which present lots of the tonal colour the organ was capable of, though some of the timbre, in my opinion, was not very pleasing to hear. Also there was this lag that came with certain parts of the pieces; feels like the organ is responding slower than the organist. Junhao proposed that it may have been done purposely for style; though we agreed it kinda sounded strange.
Nonetheless, Esplanade's organ boasts a fantastic sound; I've wanted to come for this concert after attending an open rehearsal of SSO, Mendelssohn's Elijah. I love the bass notes; such embodying power!
I have been sleepy ever since I went for that concert last night. Yes, I slept almost immediately after I bathed(11:30p.m.); this morning I was still sleepy in the classroom(which usually isn't the case since I'd be perked up after delivering my lesson), and I'm still sleepy now as I'm typing this entry... So to those of you who haven't been sleeping well, try an organ concert.
*yawn*
Pictures at an exhibition was presented at the second half. This is really the sound which present lots of the tonal colour the organ was capable of, though some of the timbre, in my opinion, was not very pleasing to hear. Also there was this lag that came with certain parts of the pieces; feels like the organ is responding slower than the organist. Junhao proposed that it may have been done purposely for style; though we agreed it kinda sounded strange.
Nonetheless, Esplanade's organ boasts a fantastic sound; I've wanted to come for this concert after attending an open rehearsal of SSO, Mendelssohn's Elijah. I love the bass notes; such embodying power!
I have been sleepy ever since I went for that concert last night. Yes, I slept almost immediately after I bathed(11:30p.m.); this morning I was still sleepy in the classroom(which usually isn't the case since I'd be perked up after delivering my lesson), and I'm still sleepy now as I'm typing this entry... So to those of you who haven't been sleeping well, try an organ concert.
*yawn*
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Theory of Relativity
Tuesday is always my most gruelling day at school. I have endure 4.5 hours of guitar teaching to students, managing enthusiasm and indifference at the same time. I'm learning to focus on those teachable ones, the rest whom prefer not to pick up a life skill, I give up on them. Piang eh... too "xiong" to make sure everyone gets something out of the lesson. 吐血...
Which leads me to think that the only other one who's benefited(besides my very own patience) in this Tuesday crisis is none other than the participants of the weekly Tuesday GENUS extra sectionals. In this week's episode, I was honoured to have Chiok Yen solo for me. Armed with his wonderous idealogy that by not practising at home, he can learn to sight-read better during ensemble, he came and I sat through 1 hour plus with him, stopping and waiting for him to get his so-called sight-reading act together. Once again, Basse-Danse was quite impossible to flow through without him stopping at double notes, Bransles was probably half-plodded through at Andante. Seriously, he's another one who's gotta count his lucky stars in the year of the dog.
Which leads me to think that the only other one who's benefited(besides my very own patience) in this Tuesday crisis is none other than the participants of the weekly Tuesday GENUS extra sectionals. In this week's episode, I was honoured to have Chiok Yen solo for me. Armed with his wonderous idealogy that by not practising at home, he can learn to sight-read better during ensemble, he came and I sat through 1 hour plus with him, stopping and waiting for him to get his so-called sight-reading act together. Once again, Basse-Danse was quite impossible to flow through without him stopping at double notes, Bransles was probably half-plodded through at Andante. Seriously, he's another one who's gotta count his lucky stars in the year of the dog.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Fund Raising Recording
I was most disgusted that UCC sound crew has once again lagged in turning up the miking system. It's rather apparent that for the first 40 seconds of Haru ga Kita, the crew was either sleeping or talking to his ass. When will they ever learn? The recording turned out not to bad, except that I have to turn up my audio set's volume quite high to hear what's going on clearly. I sincerely hope that is not the volume the audience were served with that actual day.
Haru sounded a little over-enthusiastic, mainly due to the lower voices whacking their silly quavers before the beat. Nonetheless, the overall presentation was ok, we never did do that wierd piano at the last 4 bars, sounded more like a moment of instability. The tracks were so tightly recorded that it almost sounded like we modulated to the second piece "Get Back". I quite liked the recording of that piece, sounded like a VERY professional Sec/JC group. I have a hunch we'll be able to catch this piece at SAJC's next concert. HO HO HO =)
The tutor's trio was fine, some parts sounding a little under-rehearsed, which happens to be the truth to it all. My salutes to Shuhann and Raj, for enduring through everything. Concerto en Sol was a good attempt by the committee's group, yet again saluted! Personally I felt the best ensemble piece had to be America. Though short, and not totally clean, I felt it enamated an substantial amount of musical substance, a feel that every player was at the same dimension for some moments. I know very well that the recording does not represent the third and fourth row of players very well(blessing in disguise perhaps?), but at least, what was captured was somewhat good enough.
Guitaresque was up next after the interval, Capricho Catalan was not quite well-balanced in my opinion. The piece went on quite effortlessly, something which I quantify as easy-listening. No stress on the player nor the listener! Granada was our perennial favourite to rehearse, there was much virtuosity to hear but alas! Ivan had demonstrated a spray of South Indian elements in the very Spanish piece we vowed to excel in. Segovia would have our quartet named after him if he heard the "ultimate" version during a rehearsal 2 weeks back from now. For posterity's sake that was 2006 大年初四. (Ivan demonstrated supreme music nirvana then.) Nontheless, we went through the piece without much ailments. Oh yes, I still recall that Shuhann had his nail chipped off just before sound test! KNN!
I must commend whoever was playing the alto 1 in Part of your world(Melissa?). I must say it's really one of the better sounds/tone I 've heard in the entire recording. There was also plenty of musical direction in the voice which I believe comes from diligent practising. So to those EXPOSE people out there who are reading this, it's time to get your act together and practise. Really, the amount of musicality you can deliver is just so much more if practising is done instead of SIGHT-READING on the spot every week. Moliendo cafe was nice and easy to listen to, despite a certain nitro booster pack added just about after the melody came in.
La Partida is as per rehearsed. ELO Medley kinda lacks that groove at places. We shouldn't have played the encore though. Haha, didn't sound as good.
Haru sounded a little over-enthusiastic, mainly due to the lower voices whacking their silly quavers before the beat. Nonetheless, the overall presentation was ok, we never did do that wierd piano at the last 4 bars, sounded more like a moment of instability. The tracks were so tightly recorded that it almost sounded like we modulated to the second piece "Get Back". I quite liked the recording of that piece, sounded like a VERY professional Sec/JC group. I have a hunch we'll be able to catch this piece at SAJC's next concert. HO HO HO =)
The tutor's trio was fine, some parts sounding a little under-rehearsed, which happens to be the truth to it all. My salutes to Shuhann and Raj, for enduring through everything. Concerto en Sol was a good attempt by the committee's group, yet again saluted! Personally I felt the best ensemble piece had to be America. Though short, and not totally clean, I felt it enamated an substantial amount of musical substance, a feel that every player was at the same dimension for some moments. I know very well that the recording does not represent the third and fourth row of players very well(blessing in disguise perhaps?), but at least, what was captured was somewhat good enough.
Guitaresque was up next after the interval, Capricho Catalan was not quite well-balanced in my opinion. The piece went on quite effortlessly, something which I quantify as easy-listening. No stress on the player nor the listener! Granada was our perennial favourite to rehearse, there was much virtuosity to hear but alas! Ivan had demonstrated a spray of South Indian elements in the very Spanish piece we vowed to excel in. Segovia would have our quartet named after him if he heard the "ultimate" version during a rehearsal 2 weeks back from now. For posterity's sake that was 2006 大年初四. (Ivan demonstrated supreme music nirvana then.) Nontheless, we went through the piece without much ailments. Oh yes, I still recall that Shuhann had his nail chipped off just before sound test! KNN!
I must commend whoever was playing the alto 1 in Part of your world(Melissa?). I must say it's really one of the better sounds/tone I 've heard in the entire recording. There was also plenty of musical direction in the voice which I believe comes from diligent practising. So to those EXPOSE people out there who are reading this, it's time to get your act together and practise. Really, the amount of musicality you can deliver is just so much more if practising is done instead of SIGHT-READING on the spot every week. Moliendo cafe was nice and easy to listen to, despite a certain nitro booster pack added just about after the melody came in.
La Partida is as per rehearsed. ELO Medley kinda lacks that groove at places. We shouldn't have played the encore though. Haha, didn't sound as good.
Competitors!
I really like that "guitar smashes head" part. seems like more and more guitar orchestras are popping up online. +)
If we're to enter into a guitar competition with them, what's the odds of winning? Hmmm...
Are you ready for GENUS 2006?
I wonder how the audience is going to tahan more than 15 min of Handel... I have a string orchestra recording which is 17 min already...
It's always quite a tussle between audience's and player's taste. The concert grosso isn't lousy music but it may not be as palatable to general public, especially if someone's coming to a guitar concert thinking "La cumparsita", "Besame Mucho", "Sevilla" and the sorts. Well, I guess it's really up to the music groups to bring more awareness to the crowd then. Heh heh...
Matters are made less encouraging with an additional dosage of Capriol Suite from Peter Warlock. That's more than 10 min as well. Hmmm, perhaps Guitaresque should play Vivaldi RV 93 then? Hello Telemann?
Baroque fiesta!
It's always quite a tussle between audience's and player's taste. The concert grosso isn't lousy music but it may not be as palatable to general public, especially if someone's coming to a guitar concert thinking "La cumparsita", "Besame Mucho", "Sevilla" and the sorts. Well, I guess it's really up to the music groups to bring more awareness to the crowd then. Heh heh...
Matters are made less encouraging with an additional dosage of Capriol Suite from Peter Warlock. That's more than 10 min as well. Hmmm, perhaps Guitaresque should play Vivaldi RV 93 then? Hello Telemann?
Baroque fiesta!
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Pavane for a dead guitar
Yesterday, during rehearsal, Yang2, Mich and I went to Engine Mac for a tea break. We arrived back later than 4pm, only to realise that Mich's alto has been taken and used by Domy!
Imaginations run wild; perhaps he hasn't been bathing, he's just smoked cigarettes during break and all. Wai had to drop in the fact that he also put(gripped?) the guitar between his legs. Michelle was just hissing venomously about it, with a few helpless giggles about what possibly could become of the instrument after Domy has used it.
Detox is inevitable. I must say the instrument was rather oily when I offered to help him keep it at the end of the session. Looks like the not bathing part may be accurate.
Curiously, Domy's alto tone was better on Michelle's alto guitar. Hmmm... will he use that guitar for concert???
Fellow Alto players, start padlocking yours! Yikes!
Imaginations run wild; perhaps he hasn't been bathing, he's just smoked cigarettes during break and all. Wai had to drop in the fact that he also put(gripped?) the guitar between his legs. Michelle was just hissing venomously about it, with a few helpless giggles about what possibly could become of the instrument after Domy has used it.
Detox is inevitable. I must say the instrument was rather oily when I offered to help him keep it at the end of the session. Looks like the not bathing part may be accurate.
Curiously, Domy's alto tone was better on Michelle's alto guitar. Hmmm... will he use that guitar for concert???
Fellow Alto players, start padlocking yours! Yikes!
Thursday, February 09, 2006
教不严,师之惰
A student scolded a teacher "你去死!" during a lesson. He was brought to the Discipline master the subsequent day. The DM actually told the student that if the teacher involved is willing to forgive him, he'll let the matter rest.
I really don't agree with this.
I really don't agree with this.
Huh!!??!
Zhiqiang actually suggested to me over email to send out mails to co-ordinate the weekly extra sectionals which I'm helping with. Fortunately for him, I was in a good mood, so I gave him a rather civilised reply. He should count his lucky stars in the year of the Dog.
Ask and you shall recieve
Tuning was good today! Somehow after I've made some noise at it, the guitar strings decided to co-operate a little.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Tuning chaos
I really hate it when the guitars go out of tune, everyday! It's no joke when you have to tune 40 guitars in a lesson. It's already been 3 weeks and the tuning hasn't settled in yet. The first 3 strings keep going out. I really wondering when it's going to happen. And there'll be those mischievous ones who'll de-tune the guitars; hell they get it from me!
Comparatively, prime sectionals are totally angelic!
Comparatively, prime sectionals are totally angelic!
Cell Division
How to carry that out when you are still using instruments from the group?
Wouldn't that mean that you're still bound to the group? *wide-eyed gasp*
Might be a sticky issue to tackle.
Wouldn't that mean that you're still bound to the group? *wide-eyed gasp*
Might be a sticky issue to tackle.
Extra Sectionals
I had a session with a few of the Prime juniors just last evening. When I arrived at 1730 hours, there was only one who came. Tian Gang, I think. I knew there was two who couldn't come on time as they had lessons till six. I thought since it's really voluntary service on my part and voluntary participation on their part, I shan't be mean.
Bransles was a struggle for them. Think I went 4 times as slow and they just made it. I asked them if they had done some work on any of the Capriol movements. Some mentioned that they recieved the score quite recently and they only practised it during ensemble sessions! *What!* We plodded along slowly till House M, I decided it was too unbearable to continue, we moved on to Basse Danse and Pavane, which turned out slightly better.
The prime score is badly handwritten, seemingly done in a flurry. Some notes were difficult to read/decipher. Think juniors at the very least, deserves a well-notated score. One that is too messy may not aid in their quest to conquer reading all the notes.
Think it's really tough on them, especially when they have to prepare long pieces like Handel's Concerto and Capriol Suite for the annual concert.
Rehearsals came at 7pm. I wasn't too keen to play so I sat behind and chatted with Shuhann instead. We were commenting that number year 3s was a lot less than it was before, many have left or were too busy to attend rehearsals. Over the years it seems like the number of old/middle-aged/young are balancing out in equal numbers, unlike the usual horde of 15 to 20 juniors or the likes of it in the past.
Bransles was a struggle for them. Think I went 4 times as slow and they just made it. I asked them if they had done some work on any of the Capriol movements. Some mentioned that they recieved the score quite recently and they only practised it during ensemble sessions! *What!* We plodded along slowly till House M, I decided it was too unbearable to continue, we moved on to Basse Danse and Pavane, which turned out slightly better.
The prime score is badly handwritten, seemingly done in a flurry. Some notes were difficult to read/decipher. Think juniors at the very least, deserves a well-notated score. One that is too messy may not aid in their quest to conquer reading all the notes.
Think it's really tough on them, especially when they have to prepare long pieces like Handel's Concerto and Capriol Suite for the annual concert.
Rehearsals came at 7pm. I wasn't too keen to play so I sat behind and chatted with Shuhann instead. We were commenting that number year 3s was a lot less than it was before, many have left or were too busy to attend rehearsals. Over the years it seems like the number of old/middle-aged/young are balancing out in equal numbers, unlike the usual horde of 15 to 20 juniors or the likes of it in the past.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Organ Concert
Bach and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition!
Anyone interested?
http://www.sistic.com.sg/SOPApp/SOPPortal/portal_proxy?uri==U409!E=A@fsy1LqHMgtx=RP2IjmDk45OAwsJFM
Anyone interested?
http://www.sistic.com.sg/SOPApp/SOPPortal/portal_proxy?uri==U409!E=A@fsy1LqHMgtx=RP2IjmDk45OAwsJFM
Contemplation
I was actually getting ready to arrange Capriol Suite for EXPOSE actually; after hearing a nice orchestral version with guitar solo from Wai's mp3 player on our trip to Krakatau. Now it seems like many of the members wouldn't be too pleased to play Capriol Suite again in small ensemble practices. Perhaps I should put that on hold, though I'd like to do one arrangement of it myself since I don't think Dominic has done the piece right by just simply giving the violin scores to the altos and transposing the lower voices. Think there's much potential to be explored in the piece.
Anyway, Queen of Sheba is nearly done and I sure hope Sibelius wouldn't crash unto me once again while I attempt to click the save button.
So what's next on the menu?
Anyway, Queen of Sheba is nearly done and I sure hope Sibelius wouldn't crash unto me once again while I attempt to click the save button.
So what's next on the menu?
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Studio Recording
Finished a studio recording with Victoria this evening(Sunday). Vic is 10-year old yamaha student who has composed a flute and piano piece to send to Japan for competition, and I've been asked to help her with a recording of the piece.
Went to this place called Lions Studio, Commonwealth Drive, quite close to Holland V. They have quite a professional setup there, looks like a good place if Guitaresque or Masak decides to do a recording of some sort. *heh heh*
I was quite nervous about recording on flute, not exactly easy to keep everything in good intonation. Well, heck, I decided to just enjoy myself and play. Everything went quite smoothly, since both of us had rehearsed together on 3 separate occasions. Gelling up wasn't much of a problem, Vic had good listening sense and she read my cues/movements really well. I was pleasantly surprised actually on our rehearsals; there are some young pianists who are so used to listening to themselves play, they hardly do any co-ordinating when they're in a ensemble!
We didn't get to listen to the recorded work, I do hope they send me a copy.
Went to this place called Lions Studio, Commonwealth Drive, quite close to Holland V. They have quite a professional setup there, looks like a good place if Guitaresque or Masak decides to do a recording of some sort. *heh heh*
I was quite nervous about recording on flute, not exactly easy to keep everything in good intonation. Well, heck, I decided to just enjoy myself and play. Everything went quite smoothly, since both of us had rehearsed together on 3 separate occasions. Gelling up wasn't much of a problem, Vic had good listening sense and she read my cues/movements really well. I was pleasantly surprised actually on our rehearsals; there are some young pianists who are so used to listening to themselves play, they hardly do any co-ordinating when they're in a ensemble!
We didn't get to listen to the recorded work, I do hope they send me a copy.
Points for virtues?
It's really quite unbelievable how people come up with educational measures to quantify student's abilities and attitudes. Using points to assess ability is still rather acceptable for certain subjects, but attitude?!?!?!
So now we award points for students' greeting their elders? So should we also awards points to those who give teachers gifts on Teacher's day? Perhaps that would spark off a gift expenditure competition among students. I wouldn't mind recieving an air ticket to the Maldives.
I'm more impressed by those who take initiative, and those do the necessary without asking/reminding. It is display of bonding with the community, sense of belonging and proper social etiquette which of course is much much more valuable than 10 A1s or whatsoever. Unfortunately, schools are quite unable to give recognition to these students, since much of the hype is still with the academic paper chase. And as teachers, I must agree that academics does offer the students more choices in life especially when it comes to professional jobs to do with literacy and exclusive skills. Schools also offer a psuedo-community environment for students to operate in, a safety net for mistakes to be made and corrected, without which, could surface more social issues in adulthood.
Most of the teachers will agree with me that most students are a pleasant bunch to have around. Inevitably, problems come when there's a clash of ideas/priorities.
Scene 1
=========
Teacher = deliver lesson and make sure students learn and do well
Student = waiting for school to end and go out to play, disinterested in learning
Scene 2
=========
Teacher = finished teaching the harmful effects of smoking
Student = hiding in the toilet after recess, smoking
Kids will always be kids.
So now we award points for students' greeting their elders? So should we also awards points to those who give teachers gifts on Teacher's day? Perhaps that would spark off a gift expenditure competition among students. I wouldn't mind recieving an air ticket to the Maldives.
I'm more impressed by those who take initiative, and those do the necessary without asking/reminding. It is display of bonding with the community, sense of belonging and proper social etiquette which of course is much much more valuable than 10 A1s or whatsoever. Unfortunately, schools are quite unable to give recognition to these students, since much of the hype is still with the academic paper chase. And as teachers, I must agree that academics does offer the students more choices in life especially when it comes to professional jobs to do with literacy and exclusive skills. Schools also offer a psuedo-community environment for students to operate in, a safety net for mistakes to be made and corrected, without which, could surface more social issues in adulthood.
Most of the teachers will agree with me that most students are a pleasant bunch to have around. Inevitably, problems come when there's a clash of ideas/priorities.
Scene 1
=========
Teacher = deliver lesson and make sure students learn and do well
Student = waiting for school to end and go out to play, disinterested in learning
Scene 2
=========
Teacher = finished teaching the harmful effects of smoking
Student = hiding in the toilet after recess, smoking
Kids will always be kids.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Ya know some people always say the non-academically inclined kids tend to be better at Art, PE, Music or Technical, the sorts which require them to do more hands on work than memorising facts or applying concepts. But really, I find many of these kids whom I teach, neither gifted or talented or exceptional in any area. I think to some of them, Art is just as difficult as Math and Music is as greek to them as Science; they don't enjoy PE because they get all sweaty after it, and Technical is difficult since it's usually project-based and they can't last through the entire ordeal. They are really simple people with average or less than average abilities, but exhibiting humanistic virtues.
For instance, they can react to failure very positively. It's easy for them to pick up the pieces from where they have left off and start anew. Letting go is never quite difficult for them, and they are receptive towards a wide range of different characters. Many of them are late developers, a childish entity inhibiting the body of an average Sec. 3 lad but with the mindset of perhaps a Sec. 1 or less.
What I find sadly annoying is by the time they "wake up", they are already some distance behind most of their peers, in Singapore's context of course. To get to a university in Singapore, it'll take them to ace ITE and Poly academics, which of course is an uphill task since they are competing with a very large cohort and only equipped with N level foundations.
Some of them gladly stay away from academics, resigned or reconciled with the fact that they are not the "study type". Yes, I have students who clean my classroom fans with such enthusiasm but couldn't be bothered to pass his Math.
Can you imagine a Sec. school life not studying for tests/exams? No homework as well? It must be real fun!!!
For instance, they can react to failure very positively. It's easy for them to pick up the pieces from where they have left off and start anew. Letting go is never quite difficult for them, and they are receptive towards a wide range of different characters. Many of them are late developers, a childish entity inhibiting the body of an average Sec. 3 lad but with the mindset of perhaps a Sec. 1 or less.
What I find sadly annoying is by the time they "wake up", they are already some distance behind most of their peers, in Singapore's context of course. To get to a university in Singapore, it'll take them to ace ITE and Poly academics, which of course is an uphill task since they are competing with a very large cohort and only equipped with N level foundations.
Some of them gladly stay away from academics, resigned or reconciled with the fact that they are not the "study type". Yes, I have students who clean my classroom fans with such enthusiasm but couldn't be bothered to pass his Math.
Can you imagine a Sec. school life not studying for tests/exams? No homework as well? It must be real fun!!!
Possible future engagements for GENUS tutors
1. Arrange/source/recommend/provide ensemble materials for junior small groups
2. Meet up Weekly/fortnightly/monthly for guidance/review with concert small groups
3. Weekday sessions to help beginning members to cope with new ensemble scores
4. Weekday sessions to help improve on technique through playing simple solo pieces/etudes
I think it's a darn waste of resources to have them conduct sectionals.
1. Arrange/source/recommend/provide ensemble materials for junior small groups
2. Meet up Weekly/fortnightly/monthly for guidance/review with concert small groups
3. Weekday sessions to help beginning members to cope with new ensemble scores
4. Weekday sessions to help improve on technique through playing simple solo pieces/etudes
I think it's a darn waste of resources to have them conduct sectionals.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
愿者上钩
Shuhann mentioned yesterday that the low retention of juniors is due to many alumni members staying back in the ensemble. Hence, by not actively interacting with the juniors, they leave the ensemble within a short time.
I was quite puzzled by that remark. I found it rather a sweeping comment actually. What has low retention of juniors got to do with alumni seniors? There's only less than 10 of us seperated in 4 sections and we could cause such a drastic effect? weird. I find it rather lame to be pushing this blame all over the place. GENUS used to blame committee members, SLs and year 3s for not making the group homely to 1st year juniors hence leading to them quitting. I remember the poor committee members rushing down to stop juniors and lugged them to saturday dinners. Good attempt I must say. And now, this blame has shifted to alumni seniors? What a joke. Then why don't we say that the tutors and conductor are lousy? Their commitment has degressed over the years hence leading to juniors quitting? Or that the PO/SO system piloted by the tutors to answer CFA's cry for better standards had a hand in it as well? Similarly one-sided and biased opinions.
Juniors come and go. That's how it is. We have seen batches with high quality juniors playing for one or two years and leaving the group soon after, similarly, beginners who last many years and are still passionately engaged in guitar music making. No doubt the environment provides conditions, push and pull factors but eventually, we want juniors who stay in the group because of their love for music and the interaction with music-lovers. GENUS has many existing route plans which enhance bonding between members already, such as the music camp, mid-autumn celebrations, rehearsal teas, Xmas party, concerts, Welcome teas and such. These activities are sufficient. I'm in a wind band with no such enhancement features and many of the players there stay on to play for many years. We've never blamed the committee or the alumni bassoonist for not interacting and leading to people quitting.
Ultimately, we need to focus on the long run and make GENUS as nourishing and enjoyable as possible.
Shuhann mentioned yesterday that the low retention of juniors is due to many alumni members staying back in the ensemble. Hence, by not actively interacting with the juniors, they leave the ensemble within a short time.
I was quite puzzled by that remark. I found it rather a sweeping comment actually. What has low retention of juniors got to do with alumni seniors? There's only less than 10 of us seperated in 4 sections and we could cause such a drastic effect? weird. I find it rather lame to be pushing this blame all over the place. GENUS used to blame committee members, SLs and year 3s for not making the group homely to 1st year juniors hence leading to them quitting. I remember the poor committee members rushing down to stop juniors and lugged them to saturday dinners. Good attempt I must say. And now, this blame has shifted to alumni seniors? What a joke. Then why don't we say that the tutors and conductor are lousy? Their commitment has degressed over the years hence leading to juniors quitting? Or that the PO/SO system piloted by the tutors to answer CFA's cry for better standards had a hand in it as well? Similarly one-sided and biased opinions.
Juniors come and go. That's how it is. We have seen batches with high quality juniors playing for one or two years and leaving the group soon after, similarly, beginners who last many years and are still passionately engaged in guitar music making. No doubt the environment provides conditions, push and pull factors but eventually, we want juniors who stay in the group because of their love for music and the interaction with music-lovers. GENUS has many existing route plans which enhance bonding between members already, such as the music camp, mid-autumn celebrations, rehearsal teas, Xmas party, concerts, Welcome teas and such. These activities are sufficient. I'm in a wind band with no such enhancement features and many of the players there stay on to play for many years. We've never blamed the committee or the alumni bassoonist for not interacting and leading to people quitting.
Ultimately, we need to focus on the long run and make GENUS as nourishing and enjoyable as possible.
Separation Act
We chanced upon the idea of forming a separate entity(Kent Ridge Ensemble) a few months back. Of course, it would mean that the group would be segregated, somewhat like the PO/SO situation we had a year ago.
I have my reservations about doing this, not entirely the best plan, since we still do not know what opportunities are offered to any of the KR ensembles, not to mention the various repercussions on the original makeup of GENUS. From the way it looks, doesn't seem like the other KR ensembles are getting lots of opportunities to perform, and currently GENUS itself is not getting much either. Perhaps we should look into the expectations and prospects of a KR ensemble, before venturing into become one.
We chanced upon the idea of forming a separate entity(Kent Ridge Ensemble) a few months back. Of course, it would mean that the group would be segregated, somewhat like the PO/SO situation we had a year ago.
I have my reservations about doing this, not entirely the best plan, since we still do not know what opportunities are offered to any of the KR ensembles, not to mention the various repercussions on the original makeup of GENUS. From the way it looks, doesn't seem like the other KR ensembles are getting lots of opportunities to perform, and currently GENUS itself is not getting much either. Perhaps we should look into the expectations and prospects of a KR ensemble, before venturing into become one.
Slipped my mind
I've always wanted to write about the previous EXPOSE practice. Alto 1 was down to Junhao alone, Wai was on the Soprano. It's really a pleasant to hear how Junhao attempts the melody of the first piece in "Spirited Away medley". Such musical rendition. Perhaps the chance of playing the voice individually gave him the oppurtunity to bring forth his ideas more vividly, but I really applaud the way he phrased it. Very tasteful indeed.
I've always wanted to write about the previous EXPOSE practice. Alto 1 was down to Junhao alone, Wai was on the Soprano. It's really a pleasant to hear how Junhao attempts the melody of the first piece in "Spirited Away medley". Such musical rendition. Perhaps the chance of playing the voice individually gave him the oppurtunity to bring forth his ideas more vividly, but I really applaud the way he phrased it. Very tasteful indeed.
Title Field?
What title field? Anyway, Yet another Master of Arts has enlightened me(B. of Comp. Eng) that the inclusion of titles is vastly possible on blogspot. Dearest thanks missy. Yes Oct and Nov were lost in limbo as I hadn't really decided how I was going to go about it, nor was my dial-up modem which connects at about 14.4 kbps very condusive for lengthy uploads.
Anyway, do shed more light on the issue of the title field. As you can see, I am still not sure what you're talking about.
Schools back and I've just moved on to the G7 chord with my class. A chore it was, managing 40 over pairs of fingers, but they moving along slightly better. Seems like playing apoyando is more managable for them as well. Oh well, we'll see.
What title field? Anyway, Yet another Master of Arts has enlightened me(B. of Comp. Eng) that the inclusion of titles is vastly possible on blogspot. Dearest thanks missy. Yes Oct and Nov were lost in limbo as I hadn't really decided how I was going to go about it, nor was my dial-up modem which connects at about 14.4 kbps very condusive for lengthy uploads.
Anyway, do shed more light on the issue of the title field. As you can see, I am still not sure what you're talking about.
Schools back and I've just moved on to the G7 chord with my class. A chore it was, managing 40 over pairs of fingers, but they moving along slightly better. Seems like playing apoyando is more managable for them as well. Oh well, we'll see.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
天~~~啊!!!
6:30p.m. : I decided to save my finishing touches on my FF7 medley and clicked the save button.
6:30p.m.: Sibelius pops up a message, some sort of error somewhere.
6:31p.m.: I closed the software. Sibelius always has auto-backup.
6:32p.m.: tried to opened up the file, corrupted.
6:33p.m.: searched auto-save files, tried opening them, corrupted as well.
That's 400 bars of music down into the cyber sewerage. My sweat and blood!
6:50p.m.: finished grieving. resigned to blogging this as the only last memoir of the work.
Adios FF7!
6:30p.m. : I decided to save my finishing touches on my FF7 medley and clicked the save button.
6:30p.m.: Sibelius pops up a message, some sort of error somewhere.
6:31p.m.: I closed the software. Sibelius always has auto-backup.
6:32p.m.: tried to opened up the file, corrupted.
6:33p.m.: searched auto-save files, tried opening them, corrupted as well.
That's 400 bars of music down into the cyber sewerage. My sweat and blood!
6:50p.m.: finished grieving. resigned to blogging this as the only last memoir of the work.
Adios FF7!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Teaching guitar to 40 students
Yes. It is on hell of a task. I took a good 45 min just teaching them how to pluck on the open strings. Actually, it's not that they are dumb or what, but I realised that for one teacher to deliver guitar technique to 40 students is simply an uphill task, coupled with the fact that the participants are beginning adolescents.
The other 45 min was dedicated to the C chord, which triggered to students to complain and grumble that it's painful to stretch and press on the strings; co-ordination problems between plucking and pressing; and of course, the usual question, "Why no sound one?"
Apart from that, the transportation of the instruments is another hassle. Instruments are not stored in the music room but instead, at the AVA room which is 100m away and 2 floors down. The instrument soft cases are problematic, it's tight fitting on the guitar. Can't believe it. Hence, I've done away with keeping them in softcases and decided that they'll just leave them on the ground for the time being.
I think after this half a year, GENUS sectionals would become an absolute delight to me.
Yes. It is on hell of a task. I took a good 45 min just teaching them how to pluck on the open strings. Actually, it's not that they are dumb or what, but I realised that for one teacher to deliver guitar technique to 40 students is simply an uphill task, coupled with the fact that the participants are beginning adolescents.
The other 45 min was dedicated to the C chord, which triggered to students to complain and grumble that it's painful to stretch and press on the strings; co-ordination problems between plucking and pressing; and of course, the usual question, "Why no sound one?"
Apart from that, the transportation of the instruments is another hassle. Instruments are not stored in the music room but instead, at the AVA room which is 100m away and 2 floors down. The instrument soft cases are problematic, it's tight fitting on the guitar. Can't believe it. Hence, I've done away with keeping them in softcases and decided that they'll just leave them on the ground for the time being.
I think after this half a year, GENUS sectionals would become an absolute delight to me.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
"Career will be smooth for those born in the year of snake." - Eeping
Yesterday, I just had an argument with my VP. It happened that I decided to allow the class to do their revision/own work during my music lesson. She happened to pass and demanded that music must be the learning subject during a music period. (Perhaps I did not make it clear in my entry, she was also trying to convince me that the learning of music/guitar can be done without prior knowledge/skill to any instrument.)
What a nerve! Well, unable to convince me, this weakling then went to see the principal about it. So I'm due for "principal tea".
Yesterday, I just had an argument with my VP. It happened that I decided to allow the class to do their revision/own work during my music lesson. She happened to pass and demanded that music must be the learning subject during a music period. (Perhaps I did not make it clear in my entry, she was also trying to convince me that the learning of music/guitar can be done without prior knowledge/skill to any instrument.)
What a nerve! Well, unable to convince me, this weakling then went to see the principal about it. So I'm due for "principal tea".
Monday, January 23, 2006
"It didn't turn out as bad as I thought" - Domy
The first words spoken after the LPG 2006 concert. Perhaps in an attempt to say something intelligent, that was what he could come up with. What a wet blanket.
The concert turned out alright to me. With so many juniors participating inside, it was a pleasant surprise to have various groups presenting different genres of music. Pan Yu's group sounded well rehearsed with a balanced sound and relatively good tone. Priscilla and Marie's duet was impressed me. They managed to condense the Little Fugue into a duo version; Priscilla played confidently and Marie was following well too, with some occurrences of wrong notes here and there. JingTing's group played Capriccio Catalan, sounded a little bit chopped up, didn't flow very well, but nontheless plodded along and went through. The last group is a myth to me, none of them exists in the database of members' names I know. Carcassi piece, "Petite Romanze" or the other way round, played rather nicely except for some tuning problems.
Well, of course things wouldn't just end so smoothly with Domy around. He immediately transformed the session into a masterclass(He has a thing for masterclasses, perhaps he really yearns to feel like a master of some sort). One of the comments he made was that the groups could have their tone improved! If you've heard him on the Alto Solo for the Handel Concerto, you probably wouldn't think he had any right to comment about anyone's tone! It was unprecedentedly harsh and raw! I decided at that point that going to my granny's place early for the family gathering would be a better idea than to hear his nonsense, so I left.
The first words spoken after the LPG 2006 concert. Perhaps in an attempt to say something intelligent, that was what he could come up with. What a wet blanket.
The concert turned out alright to me. With so many juniors participating inside, it was a pleasant surprise to have various groups presenting different genres of music. Pan Yu's group sounded well rehearsed with a balanced sound and relatively good tone. Priscilla and Marie's duet was impressed me. They managed to condense the Little Fugue into a duo version; Priscilla played confidently and Marie was following well too, with some occurrences of wrong notes here and there. JingTing's group played Capriccio Catalan, sounded a little bit chopped up, didn't flow very well, but nontheless plodded along and went through. The last group is a myth to me, none of them exists in the database of members' names I know. Carcassi piece, "Petite Romanze" or the other way round, played rather nicely except for some tuning problems.
Well, of course things wouldn't just end so smoothly with Domy around. He immediately transformed the session into a masterclass(He has a thing for masterclasses, perhaps he really yearns to feel like a master of some sort). One of the comments he made was that the groups could have their tone improved! If you've heard him on the Alto Solo for the Handel Concerto, you probably wouldn't think he had any right to comment about anyone's tone! It was unprecedentedly harsh and raw! I decided at that point that going to my granny's place early for the family gathering would be a better idea than to hear his nonsense, so I left.
Friday, January 20, 2006
团团转
FFVII medley is probably the piece which I have used up the longest time to arrange and yet unable to complete it till now... Sheesh, beats Capriccio Espagnol and Pictures at an Exhibition hands down. Day after day, I would change this and that, re-arrange the parts; nastily time zapping. And behold, I've actually added 2 percussion parts. Kind of feel that it's rather endless... and to top this off, I've not written the ending yet!!! The only consolation is that it's roughly a 12 min piece, so it sorta justifies the time spent on it. The worst thing would be it doesn't sound right on a guitar ensemble.
I'm really looking forward to finishing it soon, so that I can move on to arrange another work.
FFVII medley is probably the piece which I have used up the longest time to arrange and yet unable to complete it till now... Sheesh, beats Capriccio Espagnol and Pictures at an Exhibition hands down. Day after day, I would change this and that, re-arrange the parts; nastily time zapping. And behold, I've actually added 2 percussion parts. Kind of feel that it's rather endless... and to top this off, I've not written the ending yet!!! The only consolation is that it's roughly a 12 min piece, so it sorta justifies the time spent on it. The worst thing would be it doesn't sound right on a guitar ensemble.
I'm really looking forward to finishing it soon, so that I can move on to arrange another work.
"Cirriculum time is meant for teaching and learning, nothing else."
That's what my VP said when she strutted into my Sec. 1 Music class today to confiscate a handphone from a student. The 1.5 hour lesson is not really rigorously planned, as the guitars have not arrived in school and I don't enjoy boring the students with all that music theory jargon. So I decided I'll get them some materials to read about the history of guitars and gave handouts of some guitar-like instruments. Mainly for enrichment, optional to the students.
Being students, they looked through the handouts, filed them and then went on to do their own "work". Some studied, some read books, some decorated the classroom for the upcoming CNY, others were engaged in the usual adolescence ranting, ever so energised to talk and laugh loudly at almost anything.
My VP is rather a conservative person. Not much fashion sense I guess, considering she has her pants pulled very high up, not waist level but perhaps "stomach level"? Anyway, she gave the class a good shelling about the purpose of education and the usual do's and don'ts. I was actually quite pleased to have someone scold the class on my behalf for all that ear damaging noise.
But I really thought what she said about cirriculum being all learning is absurd. Students are not machines and you can't expect them to behave like some DVD writer, spinning and storing data all day long. There's got to be times when you got to let them mingle, yell, yack, chat, else it's just not complete for their character development.
I believe my students have just found a new public enemy in school.
That's what my VP said when she strutted into my Sec. 1 Music class today to confiscate a handphone from a student. The 1.5 hour lesson is not really rigorously planned, as the guitars have not arrived in school and I don't enjoy boring the students with all that music theory jargon. So I decided I'll get them some materials to read about the history of guitars and gave handouts of some guitar-like instruments. Mainly for enrichment, optional to the students.
Being students, they looked through the handouts, filed them and then went on to do their own "work". Some studied, some read books, some decorated the classroom for the upcoming CNY, others were engaged in the usual adolescence ranting, ever so energised to talk and laugh loudly at almost anything.
My VP is rather a conservative person. Not much fashion sense I guess, considering she has her pants pulled very high up, not waist level but perhaps "stomach level"? Anyway, she gave the class a good shelling about the purpose of education and the usual do's and don'ts. I was actually quite pleased to have someone scold the class on my behalf for all that ear damaging noise.
But I really thought what she said about cirriculum being all learning is absurd. Students are not machines and you can't expect them to behave like some DVD writer, spinning and storing data all day long. There's got to be times when you got to let them mingle, yell, yack, chat, else it's just not complete for their character development.
I believe my students have just found a new public enemy in school.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Guitarstrophe
My goodness! What a pleasant surprise! There's actually a group claiming to be the 老大 of all large guitar ensembles. Their recordings are not bad actually, and they play difficult music so it really cuts them apart from the usual "Chang" and "Wang" of amatuer guitar groups. Not all the pieces they choose were suitable for large ensembles, some became really odd due to the inevitable chordabile, coined by Junhao and myself to describe the minute spatial/rhythm discrepancy audible yet unforgetable in untrained guitar ensembles.
Make no mistake, they are better than GENUS! It's time for EXPO to buck up and look forward and ahead!
My goodness! What a pleasant surprise! There's actually a group claiming to be the 老大 of all large guitar ensembles. Their recordings are not bad actually, and they play difficult music so it really cuts them apart from the usual "Chang" and "Wang" of amatuer guitar groups. Not all the pieces they choose were suitable for large ensembles, some became really odd due to the inevitable chordabile, coined by Junhao and myself to describe the minute spatial/rhythm discrepancy audible yet unforgetable in untrained guitar ensembles.
Make no mistake, they are better than GENUS! It's time for EXPO to buck up and look forward and ahead!
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Regression, Rebirth or Evolution?
Shuhann, I'm not missing the point. In fact, I concur with you that the player has the choice to stay/quit if he is discontented with the repertoire. And I have also mentioned that it is the conductor's responsibility and right to select the repertoire to be performed.
Thing is, if I may put frankly, we have 2 talented tutors who have been in GENUS longer than 5 Domys added together and they are going to sit by and watch Domy run his uninspiring routine on the group. Of course, we could wait till we have zero ticket sales or mass exodus of members to really start wondering what's happened. As it is, if I had the money to buy over the niibori instruments, I would have left the group already and hopefully brought EXPO along as well.
I think most of us would agree the tutors are definitely in a better position to talk to Domy, and of course they have a personal choice to make as to whether they wish to do so. We could also wait for the ultimate regression of the group before we could proudly justify that it's the conductor's fault for landing the group in a pathetic state. Either way, it mostly hinges on the paths which the leaders take, which is my point.
Perhaps it's really time to look for a community centre to set up something.
Shuhann, I'm not missing the point. In fact, I concur with you that the player has the choice to stay/quit if he is discontented with the repertoire. And I have also mentioned that it is the conductor's responsibility and right to select the repertoire to be performed.
Thing is, if I may put frankly, we have 2 talented tutors who have been in GENUS longer than 5 Domys added together and they are going to sit by and watch Domy run his uninspiring routine on the group. Of course, we could wait till we have zero ticket sales or mass exodus of members to really start wondering what's happened. As it is, if I had the money to buy over the niibori instruments, I would have left the group already and hopefully brought EXPO along as well.
I think most of us would agree the tutors are definitely in a better position to talk to Domy, and of course they have a personal choice to make as to whether they wish to do so. We could also wait for the ultimate regression of the group before we could proudly justify that it's the conductor's fault for landing the group in a pathetic state. Either way, it mostly hinges on the paths which the leaders take, which is my point.
Perhaps it's really time to look for a community centre to set up something.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
选择
If everything was up to the players, what's the role of the tutors and conductor?
I must make it clear that I do agree that the conductor should be the one planning the repertoire. If it so happens that the repertoire is not favourable to the player's taste, then it's just too bad I guess. So if Domy chooses to do Handel/Vivaldi/Warlock pieces, then so be it. I guess the player can then choose whether to be a part of the performance or not, or even quit for that matter.
Just like the issue on concert attire. Shuhann commented that the male attire should evolve together with the female attire. Currently, the females have gone all black, blouse and pants, or skirt and all, which perhaps is the attire we should adopt for the annual concert as well. Some females are flauting concert attire rules, e.g. Huifen, wearing short skirt to perform on stage and causing a clash in level of formality between the male and female outfit. Ya, perhaps the males could just put on a light colour long-sleeve shirt and black pants, and that'll do. When asked to bring this issue up to the committee, Shuhann again commented it's the player's choice.
Genus will have a hard time going far if the leaders do not take on a pro-active stride towards matters.
If everything was up to the players, what's the role of the tutors and conductor?
I must make it clear that I do agree that the conductor should be the one planning the repertoire. If it so happens that the repertoire is not favourable to the player's taste, then it's just too bad I guess. So if Domy chooses to do Handel/Vivaldi/Warlock pieces, then so be it. I guess the player can then choose whether to be a part of the performance or not, or even quit for that matter.
Just like the issue on concert attire. Shuhann commented that the male attire should evolve together with the female attire. Currently, the females have gone all black, blouse and pants, or skirt and all, which perhaps is the attire we should adopt for the annual concert as well. Some females are flauting concert attire rules, e.g. Huifen, wearing short skirt to perform on stage and causing a clash in level of formality between the male and female outfit. Ya, perhaps the males could just put on a light colour long-sleeve shirt and black pants, and that'll do. When asked to bring this issue up to the committee, Shuhann again commented it's the player's choice.
Genus will have a hard time going far if the leaders do not take on a pro-active stride towards matters.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Temptations
Went to Yudi's shop on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised by one his guitars there. Good sound and really well-balanced across the range. Priced at 11K, I consider it quite value for money, being first hand and all.
Initially there was an urge to squander 11K and once and for all, stop my fellow Guitaresque mates(spouses included) from bugging me to buy a guitar whenever they have the chance to. Now I'm just waiting for the impulse/urge to subside.
I should commit 20 min of my weekly life on 4D and TOTO from this week onwards....
Went to Yudi's shop on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised by one his guitars there. Good sound and really well-balanced across the range. Priced at 11K, I consider it quite value for money, being first hand and all.
Initially there was an urge to squander 11K and once and for all, stop my fellow Guitaresque mates(spouses included) from bugging me to buy a guitar whenever they have the chance to. Now I'm just waiting for the impulse/urge to subside.
I should commit 20 min of my weekly life on 4D and TOTO from this week onwards....
Friday, January 13, 2006
Parang's Point of View
Taking the tie issue up with a teacher is not going to help in any productive way. An opinion voiced and that's really about it. If the student is so irked by the attire, she should have headed straight to the principal's office, or worked out a student petition of some sort.
I'm not convinced that Physics is my most adored subject in my life. Neither is math. If possible, I would rather do less of both. But in teaching, the essence is really about imparting a skill/knowledge, a spark. And we need people to do that. You don't necessary have to possess 100% devotion towards the topic.
The students may not like the choices they have but they still have choices. Yes, they can choose to heck care and do what they want, they can choose to leave the school, choose not to come to the school, choose to run away from the teacher etc. Make the best of the one's available options yah? Part and parcel of life, and through it the youth will learn to cope with other challanges in life.
"no absolute, no good, no bad, no God, no sin", rather gospel-like, perfect for a RPG cult motto or creed of some sort. Nirvana?
Taking the tie issue up with a teacher is not going to help in any productive way. An opinion voiced and that's really about it. If the student is so irked by the attire, she should have headed straight to the principal's office, or worked out a student petition of some sort.
I'm not convinced that Physics is my most adored subject in my life. Neither is math. If possible, I would rather do less of both. But in teaching, the essence is really about imparting a skill/knowledge, a spark. And we need people to do that. You don't necessary have to possess 100% devotion towards the topic.
The students may not like the choices they have but they still have choices. Yes, they can choose to heck care and do what they want, they can choose to leave the school, choose not to come to the school, choose to run away from the teacher etc. Make the best of the one's available options yah? Part and parcel of life, and through it the youth will learn to cope with other challanges in life.
"no absolute, no good, no bad, no God, no sin", rather gospel-like, perfect for a RPG cult motto or creed of some sort. Nirvana?
Thursday, January 12, 2006
JC Student blog
As directed by one of Hansen's comments, I went to read this blog by a typical JC student complaining about school woes. An interesting read I must say, full of self-rightness and above all human desires that sort. Kids will always be kids.
As I reviewed the movie "Dangerous Minds" recently, I remember Michelle Pfiffer(care to correct ma spelling?) telling the classroom kids that "you do have a choice whether you want to come to school or not. You may not like any of the choices you have, but you do have a choice." Bottomline is, if you want ask why schools make students wear ties and why do we take O levels and A levels and stuff, might as well lament that your father is not the richest man on Earth. Whether or not, the school is trying to mass produce constructivist products of the Singapore Education, that's really not important. Just be yourself and make the best of life!
I'd really like to speak to such students, too bad mine are too naughty to engage in such wider perspection. But, they are cute in a simple way, defiant and stubborn. Bright side, it's some what tenacious and resilient, though most of their teachers think they are reculcitrant most of the time.
You do have a choice.
As directed by one of Hansen's comments, I went to read this blog by a typical JC student complaining about school woes. An interesting read I must say, full of self-rightness and above all human desires that sort. Kids will always be kids.
As I reviewed the movie "Dangerous Minds" recently, I remember Michelle Pfiffer(care to correct ma spelling?) telling the classroom kids that "you do have a choice whether you want to come to school or not. You may not like any of the choices you have, but you do have a choice." Bottomline is, if you want ask why schools make students wear ties and why do we take O levels and A levels and stuff, might as well lament that your father is not the richest man on Earth. Whether or not, the school is trying to mass produce constructivist products of the Singapore Education, that's really not important. Just be yourself and make the best of life!
I'd really like to speak to such students, too bad mine are too naughty to engage in such wider perspection. But, they are cute in a simple way, defiant and stubborn. Bright side, it's some what tenacious and resilient, though most of their teachers think they are reculcitrant most of the time.
You do have a choice.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
A Present Issue
I think Michelle passed a rather sweeping remark, something like "If I don't say/buy anything, you all won't get any present for *whoever*." I must agree that if I don't have a good idea of what to get for a person, it's very likely I would not get anything for that person's birthday. To me, perhaps a treat at Haagen Daaz or anywhere with nice food will do.
I think everyone has a different way/idea of celebrating birthdays or occasions, some prefer simpler ways, some prefer wine and dine, some chiong pubs and bars, picnics and others extravagant ones at good restaurants. Personally, I don't really mind not recieving presents, simply because I don't really want to inconvenience my friends to get me something. Of course if I do recieve any, they are very much appreciated.
Well, the idea I got from Michelle's tone seems to imply that if you DON'T give a present, hence forth you are undoubtly considered as thoroughly insincere. Irked me a bit, like my way of looking birthdays has been put down/disapproved. Felt that it was rather a narrow point of view. Presents should be given whenever the time/occasion is appropriate, the absence of them should also not mean any other if there's that basic trust and understanding between friends/individuals.
And for the record, I DO give presents to my friends! Like I said, it's when I feel like it!
I think Michelle passed a rather sweeping remark, something like "If I don't say/buy anything, you all won't get any present for *whoever*." I must agree that if I don't have a good idea of what to get for a person, it's very likely I would not get anything for that person's birthday. To me, perhaps a treat at Haagen Daaz or anywhere with nice food will do.
I think everyone has a different way/idea of celebrating birthdays or occasions, some prefer simpler ways, some prefer wine and dine, some chiong pubs and bars, picnics and others extravagant ones at good restaurants. Personally, I don't really mind not recieving presents, simply because I don't really want to inconvenience my friends to get me something. Of course if I do recieve any, they are very much appreciated.
Well, the idea I got from Michelle's tone seems to imply that if you DON'T give a present, hence forth you are undoubtly considered as thoroughly insincere. Irked me a bit, like my way of looking birthdays has been put down/disapproved. Felt that it was rather a narrow point of view. Presents should be given whenever the time/occasion is appropriate, the absence of them should also not mean any other if there's that basic trust and understanding between friends/individuals.
And for the record, I DO give presents to my friends! Like I said, it's when I feel like it!
Suteki worked out pretty well during the SG practice, though initially the balance was terrible. Probably due to everyone reading through the scores and not listening much. Shuhann hissed about his part being on Bass and all, so he'll get his part transposed onto a Prime then. Michelle and Hansen were quite contented with their parts, no hideously unplayable portions written I suppose. Alex plays really well on the Alto but when it comes to the guitaron, he sorta suddenly transforms into a junior, playing funny notes and counting bars faster and slower than us... Then again, on the contrabass, he's fine. *puzzled*
I find that the quintet seems to be a lot more balanced in pieces with 2 Alto parts, e.g. Au Bond, Triste, clayderman pieces and the likes... perhaps an arrangment issue. Suteki sort of falls into the same category as Reasons, with a single Alto part against 3 lower voices and a continuous voice. Well, it's quite a different ball game altogether.
Jamming Farandole was fun! We sounded quite good actually!
I find that the quintet seems to be a lot more balanced in pieces with 2 Alto parts, e.g. Au Bond, Triste, clayderman pieces and the likes... perhaps an arrangment issue. Suteki sort of falls into the same category as Reasons, with a single Alto part against 3 lower voices and a continuous voice. Well, it's quite a different ball game altogether.
Jamming Farandole was fun! We sounded quite good actually!
Meet less, Play more
Planned to have a small ensemble practice this Saturday, only to receive news from Zhiqiang that the ad hoc comm is having a meeting so I guess we’ll just make do with less players.
What do they meet for anyway? The trip is not confirmed, pieces for the trip are not chosen yet and to top it off, there’s no committee port folio at all. Who’s in charge of what?!?!?
Cut the stupid meetings and come for practice. Duh!
Planned to have a small ensemble practice this Saturday, only to receive news from Zhiqiang that the ad hoc comm is having a meeting so I guess we’ll just make do with less players.
What do they meet for anyway? The trip is not confirmed, pieces for the trip are not chosen yet and to top it off, there’s no committee port folio at all. Who’s in charge of what?!?!?
Cut the stupid meetings and come for practice. Duh!
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Suteki de Ne
2 hours to my SG practice and I'll still changing stuff on the arrangment... wondering if Hansen is at home to print the scores even... can't seem to straighten out some stuff in the arrangement. Well, I guess I could change it after today's read thru.
It's been a while since MASAK stopped practising due to Hansen's most unfortunate encounter on the flyover to Marymount Road. And yes, We're BACK! Fans out there, look out for our latest single!
2 hours to my SG practice and I'll still changing stuff on the arrangment... wondering if Hansen is at home to print the scores even... can't seem to straighten out some stuff in the arrangement. Well, I guess I could change it after today's read thru.
It's been a while since MASAK stopped practising due to Hansen's most unfortunate encounter on the flyover to Marymount Road. And yes, We're BACK! Fans out there, look out for our latest single!
Monday, January 09, 2006
"Alto 1 的声音很齐" - 俊豪
It’s 2 hours before performance, running short of time; I can’t understand why the conductor needs to go through the bloody pieces although he’s not conducting them later on. Told him to stand aside and do the listening while Alex conducts, yet he stubbornly refused. And the best part is that his rationale for doing that is to cue the ensemble in. HUH!!?!? What the hell are you talking about??!!
The other antics of Domy:
- ladder climbing on stage
- late for sound test
- changing the MC script on stage during the dry run
- pulled his ninja stunt on Jai just before La Partida
- urging the ensemble to look at him during performance (hahaha! Obviously no one bothered to look, except for Edwin who couldn’t make out what he wanted)
- Flaring up at Yong Kiat! That was the best one yet, he did it in the most high-pitched Auntie-ish tone, almost burst out laughing. I’m definitely nominating and seconding Yong Kiat to assume presidency next.
The concert went pretty well, though I’d say there’s a lack of differentiation in the playing. Haru was steady and perhaps too steady. America was unresolved rhythmically, Get Back and La Partida was the usual bull-dozing, ELO unsettled here and there.
I really want to thank the hardworking juniors for helping with the instruments. With UCC so close to CFA, I doubt they’d have much problems, which of course is my perfect excuse for being lazy. Long Live the PMs!
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Snare Drum?
Wondering if I should add a snare drum part into the FF VII Medley... Hmmm....
Couple of songs that could use some good percussion. I'm not so sure if guitar percussion works this time round. The feel is somewhat wierd...
If I use the snare, might as well write another percussion part... totalling to two... but then the piece would seem more appropriate if played by a large ensemble...
Wondering if I should add a snare drum part into the FF VII Medley... Hmmm....
Couple of songs that could use some good percussion. I'm not so sure if guitar percussion works this time round. The feel is somewhat wierd...
If I use the snare, might as well write another percussion part... totalling to two... but then the piece would seem more appropriate if played by a large ensemble...
喜出望外
Yesterday, Dad suddenly called me in the evening and asked me to choose the colour of my new car! HUH!?!?! What new car!?!?! I was very surprised, considering I was working on the FF VII medley, in school around 5 plus, packing up soon to go home. Nonetheless, decided to let him choose the colour instead, since I could sense over the phone he was all gleeful about the one in black, which in the catalogue was crowned nicely as Ebony.
依依不舍
Then felt a little moody about giving up my current Toyota Spacio, which I’ve been riding around since August 1998… even to the extent of wondering why Dad went to that decision without even consulting me.
二十四孝
Of course, senses came back, and I started to appreciate what a wonderful thing Dad has done. He’s been always so nice to me, even though on the surface he may seem really indifferent to what I do, where I go. I wondered if I could be as generous, caring and accomodating as him to my own children.
爸,真心感谢.
Yesterday, Dad suddenly called me in the evening and asked me to choose the colour of my new car! HUH!?!?! What new car!?!?! I was very surprised, considering I was working on the FF VII medley, in school around 5 plus, packing up soon to go home. Nonetheless, decided to let him choose the colour instead, since I could sense over the phone he was all gleeful about the one in black, which in the catalogue was crowned nicely as Ebony.
依依不舍
Then felt a little moody about giving up my current Toyota Spacio, which I’ve been riding around since August 1998… even to the extent of wondering why Dad went to that decision without even consulting me.
二十四孝
Of course, senses came back, and I started to appreciate what a wonderful thing Dad has done. He’s been always so nice to me, even though on the surface he may seem really indifferent to what I do, where I go. I wondered if I could be as generous, caring and accomodating as him to my own children.
爸,真心感谢.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Anak Krakatau
Scenic and a nice spot to really look around, though the boat ride was rather deadly if waters are bad. Managed to perform 2 merlion shows for my friends on board, to and fro, entertainment while commuting.
Carita("Cha-ree-ta") is quite a nice town despite the fact that the natives do like to 砍菜头, simply by difference in skin colour and tourist looks. The good thing is that S$ is pretty strong, so it withstood the fluctuations in pricing. The people there are not good at math either, do check your bills before paying. And, they have a thing about giving you OLD menu and then charging your food to the price on the NEW menu, which is obviously higher. Lodging was interesting, room with TV which has only ONE malay channel subjected to the fancies of the main cable TV at the lobby, dusty room as Wai complains about but I thought it was quite alright, faulty flushing device, attached bathroom that runs out of water once in a while, sticky bedsheets and so.
Scenic and a nice spot to really look around, though the boat ride was rather deadly if waters are bad. Managed to perform 2 merlion shows for my friends on board, to and fro, entertainment while commuting.
Carita("Cha-ree-ta") is quite a nice town despite the fact that the natives do like to 砍菜头, simply by difference in skin colour and tourist looks. The good thing is that S$ is pretty strong, so it withstood the fluctuations in pricing. The people there are not good at math either, do check your bills before paying. And, they have a thing about giving you OLD menu and then charging your food to the price on the NEW menu, which is obviously higher. Lodging was interesting, room with TV which has only ONE malay channel subjected to the fancies of the main cable TV at the lobby, dusty room as Wai complains about but I thought it was quite alright, faulty flushing device, attached bathroom that runs out of water once in a while, sticky bedsheets and so.
Wa cha lookin' at?
neat looking resort eh?
Goats outside our resort
lush forest around the town
Gantry set up to collect admission to waterfalls!!!
Some river crossing work...
Day after we visited the waterfall at Carita, we took a boat out to Anak Krakatau. Not much boat ride photos taken though, I was busily engaged in seasickness.
Black beach due to volcanic ash perhaps?
Pot Pourri of coniferous and deciduous plants
Wai plodding along...
Fantastic scenary
Greetings with Krakatau
Presenting Anak Krakatau
Farewell, we're off to snorkel!
Ferris wheel in a Indo night market
1. Inspiration from Karen's blog, 2. new slippers at S$3, 3. badly sun-burnt thigh
永别了!
开心的疯子们
->
Teh Susu, something which is uncommon in Indonesia
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Blabber
Just finished reading Hansen's work of poetry on his blog, must say it's rather good!
Looking back at my 2005 sure gives new inspirations for the future!
A student who's been absent from school for a year has finally came today to inquire about procedures on leaving school. Too bad he had to insult the school in front of me, chased him away. The thing I can't endure most is crude rudeness, which jolted my memories on that email exchange with Songyi. It was never resolved though, hmmm... perhaps I should try resolving it in the new year!?!?
Maybe it's just my karma for laughing at "Singapore Youth Harmonica Festival".
Oops forgot to check for competition results today...
Just finished reading Hansen's work of poetry on his blog, must say it's rather good!
Looking back at my 2005 sure gives new inspirations for the future!
A student who's been absent from school for a year has finally came today to inquire about procedures on leaving school. Too bad he had to insult the school in front of me, chased him away. The thing I can't endure most is crude rudeness, which jolted my memories on that email exchange with Songyi. It was never resolved though, hmmm... perhaps I should try resolving it in the new year!?!?
Maybe it's just my karma for laughing at "Singapore Youth Harmonica Festival".
Oops forgot to check for competition results today...
Masterclasses
One of the silliest things I've observed.
Do you go for consultation when you feel the need to? or when you're obliged/forced to?
Shouldn't masterclasses be carried out when the players request for them?
Scheduling a masterclass in the music camp because the conductor wants to have one is not going to be very helpful, when players try to coax each other to present something. It's not that the players are too proficient for the masterclass, nor is about the conductor's standard of musicianship. It's about both parties being ready to teach and learn. In our ensemble's case, we've went to sight-reading pieces in a masterclass.
Might as well call it a Sight-Reading Symposium.
One of the silliest things I've observed.
Do you go for consultation when you feel the need to? or when you're obliged/forced to?
Shouldn't masterclasses be carried out when the players request for them?
Scheduling a masterclass in the music camp because the conductor wants to have one is not going to be very helpful, when players try to coax each other to present something. It's not that the players are too proficient for the masterclass, nor is about the conductor's standard of musicianship. It's about both parties being ready to teach and learn. In our ensemble's case, we've went to sight-reading pieces in a masterclass.
Might as well call it a Sight-Reading Symposium.
Friday, December 30, 2005
This is not a publicity joke.
Colours of the Guitar
Colors of the Guitar
吉他的颜色
颜色 of the 吉他
A concert at UCC theatre by NUS Guitar ensemble. Boasts an evening of entertainment for the old and young. Concert includes:
1. The blockbuster "Electric Light Orchestra Medley", by Singapore's home grown guitarist/arranger/composer Mr. Balraj S/O Gopal.
2. La Partida, by Resident tutor and guitar appassionato Mr. Ng Shuhann, in collaboration with world renowned swedish representative Ian Olof Eriksson
3. Haru Ga Kita, classic Japanese Folk music in Baroque Style by Niibori Academy of Japan
4. America, reprise of yet another smashing hit in GENUS 2003, by Mr. Ng Shuhann, adapted from the "West Side Story"
5. Get Back, a cacophonic rendition of the retro genre by guitarist and recorder player Mr. Donimic Lan. Features chancellor's shield awardee Leonardo de Guzman on the electric guitar.
6. Concerto en Sol, by Telemann, featuring 4 of our young and talented musicians
7. Capricho Catalan, Granada by Albeniz, featuring the jurassic quartet, Guitaresque
8. Tango Pot Pourri, by Seiji Sekiya, featuring upcoming smash hit quintet, Quintessence
9. Streets of London, classic guitar duet, featuring honorary star-crossed duo.
10. and many more encores...
In the event that our music director falls sick or is late for concert, you will be entitled a bonus reward as the concert will then be conducted by our Assitant Conductor, Mr. Alex Lee, renowned guitarist/tutor of young Singapore guitar groups and arranger of billboard charts champions, 流光飞舞 and Overture to the Barber of Seville.
Still hesitating?!?!?! Click www.genus.com.sg and book your seats NOW!!!
Colours of the Guitar
Colors of the Guitar
吉他的颜色
颜色 of the 吉他
A concert at UCC theatre by NUS Guitar ensemble. Boasts an evening of entertainment for the old and young. Concert includes:
1. The blockbuster "Electric Light Orchestra Medley", by Singapore's home grown guitarist/arranger/composer Mr. Balraj S/O Gopal.
2. La Partida, by Resident tutor and guitar appassionato Mr. Ng Shuhann, in collaboration with world renowned swedish representative Ian Olof Eriksson
3. Haru Ga Kita, classic Japanese Folk music in Baroque Style by Niibori Academy of Japan
4. America, reprise of yet another smashing hit in GENUS 2003, by Mr. Ng Shuhann, adapted from the "West Side Story"
5. Get Back, a cacophonic rendition of the retro genre by guitarist and recorder player Mr. Donimic Lan. Features chancellor's shield awardee Leonardo de Guzman on the electric guitar.
6. Concerto en Sol, by Telemann, featuring 4 of our young and talented musicians
7. Capricho Catalan, Granada by Albeniz, featuring the jurassic quartet, Guitaresque
8. Tango Pot Pourri, by Seiji Sekiya, featuring upcoming smash hit quintet, Quintessence
9. Streets of London, classic guitar duet, featuring honorary star-crossed duo.
10. and many more encores...
In the event that our music director falls sick or is late for concert, you will be entitled a bonus reward as the concert will then be conducted by our Assitant Conductor, Mr. Alex Lee, renowned guitarist/tutor of young Singapore guitar groups and arranger of billboard charts champions, 流光飞舞 and Overture to the Barber of Seville.
Still hesitating?!?!?! Click www.genus.com.sg and book your seats NOW!!!
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Recordings
Just downloaded the recordings of the annual music camp for some listening. Must say it's quite ready for the upcoming Jan fund-raising concert, though there could some refinements to make the pieces more tasty.
America
Perhaps the starting speed could mildly resemble the ending tempo eh? 6/8 3/4 inequality prevalent. Prime chords are messy, though Basses help to delineate and clarify only. Overall a bit too harsh throughout for me.
Haru ga Kita
Not cohesive enough. Notes are there, ideas are not unified. Basses have to tone down, sticking out too much. May want to consider double up alto soloists, imbalanced with ensemble strength.
Get Back
Strums and off-beats could be tighter. Sounds melodically repetitive without the electric guitar.
ELO Medley
Some parts of the melody rhythmically unstable. Accompanying chords/bass stick out too much and too long at times. More volume changes perhaps?
Really I'm just being fussy. For the size of the ensemble and number of newbies, we are doing just fine. Anyway, I can't wait to listen to the small ensemble play in the new year 2006!!!
Just downloaded the recordings of the annual music camp for some listening. Must say it's quite ready for the upcoming Jan fund-raising concert, though there could some refinements to make the pieces more tasty.
America
Perhaps the starting speed could mildly resemble the ending tempo eh? 6/8 3/4 inequality prevalent. Prime chords are messy, though Basses help to delineate and clarify only. Overall a bit too harsh throughout for me.
Haru ga Kita
Not cohesive enough. Notes are there, ideas are not unified. Basses have to tone down, sticking out too much. May want to consider double up alto soloists, imbalanced with ensemble strength.
Get Back
Strums and off-beats could be tighter. Sounds melodically repetitive without the electric guitar.
ELO Medley
Some parts of the melody rhythmically unstable. Accompanying chords/bass stick out too much and too long at times. More volume changes perhaps?
Really I'm just being fussy. For the size of the ensemble and number of newbies, we are doing just fine. Anyway, I can't wait to listen to the small ensemble play in the new year 2006!!!
Impressions of China
I always didn’t have a good impression of the places in China, especially after my trip to 北京, 成都 and 天津 in 1993. Always felt that the culture there was odd and the environment not cosy nor authentic enough. Well in 深圳, you get to visit some 7 storey shopping mall with only 50% of the 1st floor shops still operational, barely. The rest have closed down. Seems like the shopping business here is difficult.
This place has newly lined up buildings and classy subways; yet with ladies eating food(rice) from rubbish bin. I saw her at 3p.m. and again at 8p.m. Wondering if it’s just a sympathy show.
Reasons why I should consider carefully before stepping foot onto 深圳 ever again.
1. People spit while walking
2. Hospitable people are hard to find
3. Irritating marketing techniques, inclusive of Sim Lim Square style showering of paper flyers and "follow you all the way" nagging/pestering
4. Roads don't have road signs/names, difficult to navigate
5. A booked car ride for 600 bucks for 3 eventually ends up squeezing party of 7.
6. Nothing to shop
7. Movie tickets are twice as expensive as Singapore's during weekends
8. Begging along roads
9. Queue-ing for food purchase is not in their education system
10. Polluted air
Just yesterday night, Seng Kiat suggested to us about going for a trip together next June, Alvin remarked that his perference is 北京. Gosh... Hopefully not, please. I wouldn't mind India even.
I always didn’t have a good impression of the places in China, especially after my trip to 北京, 成都 and 天津 in 1993. Always felt that the culture there was odd and the environment not cosy nor authentic enough. Well in 深圳, you get to visit some 7 storey shopping mall with only 50% of the 1st floor shops still operational, barely. The rest have closed down. Seems like the shopping business here is difficult.
This place has newly lined up buildings and classy subways; yet with ladies eating food(rice) from rubbish bin. I saw her at 3p.m. and again at 8p.m. Wondering if it’s just a sympathy show.
Reasons why I should consider carefully before stepping foot onto 深圳 ever again.
1. People spit while walking
2. Hospitable people are hard to find
3. Irritating marketing techniques, inclusive of Sim Lim Square style showering of paper flyers and "follow you all the way" nagging/pestering
4. Roads don't have road signs/names, difficult to navigate
5. A booked car ride for 600 bucks for 3 eventually ends up squeezing party of 7.
6. Nothing to shop
7. Movie tickets are twice as expensive as Singapore's during weekends
8. Begging along roads
9. Queue-ing for food purchase is not in their education system
10. Polluted air
Just yesterday night, Seng Kiat suggested to us about going for a trip together next June, Alvin remarked that his perference is 北京. Gosh... Hopefully not, please. I wouldn't mind India even.
梧桐山,好汉坡
We only visited one mountain in 深圳, ascending via 好汉坡. The "highlight" was the descend, most 45 degrees or more, accompanied by rocky and sandy terrain, minimal vegetation for hand holding... absolutely treacherous.
a 600 step stairway to the heavens
After-stairway-rocky-terrain, still acsending...
We only visited one mountain in 深圳, ascending via 好汉坡. The "highlight" was the descend, most 45 degrees or more, accompanied by rocky and sandy terrain, minimal vegetation for hand holding... absolutely treacherous.
a 600 step stairway to the heavens
After-stairway-rocky-terrain, still acsending...
麦理浩径
Staying in the city(旺角) and doing treks in the daytime is actually quite luxurious as you can totally forget about:
1. meal preparation
2. rationing water supply
3. tent(carrying + washing thereafter)
4. campsite location
5. and many other more...
So it gives me great pleasure to concentrate on taking pictures and of course enjoy the vast scenery laid before the eyes.
Stage 1 of the trail boasts some good scenery around their largest reservoir 万宜水库.
Some poetry found on rocks
Hong Kong is actually quite filled with highlands
Coastal view from Stage 2
On our rest day, we decided to take a break and found our way to 天檀大佛 and had some vegetarian meal at 宝莲寺
Check out the size of the statue
Some human intervention to prevent landslides
It can get pretty sunny and dry at certain areas. Not hot though. But people were warned of forest fires.
Some of the trails we've been to, notice the meandering trail up the summit?
Locals enjoy BBQ a lot... at 9.am in the morning! perhaps a winter season trend
met a few native bovines
Another relaxing night at 星光大道
colours of the maple
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Opening and Linking
The intro I've decided to use is the opening of FF VII. The one that goes along with showing Aerith, panning of Midgar and the train AVALANCHE was on.
Here's me trying to upload some pics from my 56.6 connection.
Works pretty well, except that they have to be less then 100KB... Oh well, I shan't complain.
Back to sing
It really looks like the guys have not decided to wage a war this every evening, I shall come home and send out invitation signals again a few hours later.
Yes my dear friends, if you'd like to yell "SEPHIROTH!!!" and sing latin/hebrew/german or whatever weird language the piece was sung in, I will consider dumping in that. Well anyway, an electric guit. part has been written in for JENOVA, hopefully Leo and Hansen can jam something out of it.
Having problems with Intro to the medley, and writing Chocobo's theme in 5/4. Yuffie's theme is a good possibility but it's very kiddish...
Yes, the mini-ensemble is not mini at all. It's a small ensemble. well, neither is it small. Actually the hidden agenda is a rebellion, against you-know-the-one-whose-name-cannot-be-spoken. So, who's on my side?
It really looks like the guys have not decided to wage a war this every evening, I shall come home and send out invitation signals again a few hours later.
Yes my dear friends, if you'd like to yell "SEPHIROTH!!!" and sing latin/hebrew/german or whatever weird language the piece was sung in, I will consider dumping in that. Well anyway, an electric guit. part has been written in for JENOVA, hopefully Leo and Hansen can jam something out of it.
Having problems with Intro to the medley, and writing Chocobo's theme in 5/4. Yuffie's theme is a good possibility but it's very kiddish...
Yes, the mini-ensemble is not mini at all. It's a small ensemble. well, neither is it small. Actually the hidden agenda is a rebellion, against you-know-the-one-whose-name-cannot-be-spoken. So, who's on my side?
Thursday, December 22, 2005
War this weekend?
I recieved a gallant SMS from Hansiang asking about war this weekend. Quite heart-warming/funny I must say, considering I was slowly consuming my hot soya drink breakfast, while experiencing a psuedo freezer morning. Yes, Hong Kong is about 10 to 12 degrees now.
I know my trusty pal Hansen will check on my blog to see if it has died a "slow and painful" death. I'll be back in Singapore in the afternoon. Warfare on Sunday night is definitely possible. Do convey this signal to the rest.
Daokui also just called me(12.pm.), but I rejected his call. Anyone help me find out what's up with him?
I'll be leaving Hong Kong for Shen Zhen today, hopefully there's net connection there.
I recieved a gallant SMS from Hansiang asking about war this weekend. Quite heart-warming/funny I must say, considering I was slowly consuming my hot soya drink breakfast, while experiencing a psuedo freezer morning. Yes, Hong Kong is about 10 to 12 degrees now.
I know my trusty pal Hansen will check on my blog to see if it has died a "slow and painful" death. I'll be back in Singapore in the afternoon. Warfare on Sunday night is definitely possible. Do convey this signal to the rest.
Daokui also just called me(12.pm.), but I rejected his call. Anyone help me find out what's up with him?
I'll be leaving Hong Kong for Shen Zhen today, hopefully there's net connection there.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Final fantasy VII medley
I'm working on a game medley even when I am painstakingly trying to complete as much of the remaining MacLeHost Trail as my knee will possibly allow. Really I gotta reserve some for the trip to Krakatoa. Anyway, Chengru told me that the ascend is probably gonna be only 200m, since the volcanoe blow up itself many years back.
I'm having doubts if some parts of the medley will turn out ok. Well, guitar is afterall not the best instrument to play game music, what's more I've included 2 pieces of boss fights. hmmm...
Discarded the idea of re-writing my original Capriccio Espagnol for small ensemble, quite a colossial piece to re-structure. I also think it's about Gelato's standard or higher, which means that there probably will be bloodbath at the reading sessions.
FF VII will probably be a 8 min (or more) piece, judging from the number of pieces I wanna throw in. (Have the guys even read Farandole yet?!?!) Maybe I'm a bit overly-enthusiastic about this small ensemble. Anyway, I'm glad some of the guys liked the pieces, makes my time spent worth the while at least.
I probably will convert Pictures at an Exhibition over to small ensemble as well. May cause even more bloodshed when they read Tuileries or Baba yaga...
I'm working on a game medley even when I am painstakingly trying to complete as much of the remaining MacLeHost Trail as my knee will possibly allow. Really I gotta reserve some for the trip to Krakatoa. Anyway, Chengru told me that the ascend is probably gonna be only 200m, since the volcanoe blow up itself many years back.
I'm having doubts if some parts of the medley will turn out ok. Well, guitar is afterall not the best instrument to play game music, what's more I've included 2 pieces of boss fights. hmmm...
Discarded the idea of re-writing my original Capriccio Espagnol for small ensemble, quite a colossial piece to re-structure. I also think it's about Gelato's standard or higher, which means that there probably will be bloodbath at the reading sessions.
FF VII will probably be a 8 min (or more) piece, judging from the number of pieces I wanna throw in. (Have the guys even read Farandole yet?!?!) Maybe I'm a bit overly-enthusiastic about this small ensemble. Anyway, I'm glad some of the guys liked the pieces, makes my time spent worth the while at least.
I probably will convert Pictures at an Exhibition over to small ensemble as well. May cause even more bloodshed when they read Tuileries or Baba yaga...
Monday, December 19, 2005
Miracles
Looks like the annual music camp has yet again created another wonder for us all. to have Shuhann actually comment that we're almost at performing level.
It was only last week that he hissed about the juniors unable to play the rhythm for America.
Well, my dear Hansen, spending over 1000 bucks, and choosing ELO or Get Back for encore does fit into my bill of having enough pieces. 1000 bucks should at least secure 2 years worth of repertoire, in my opinion. Besides, ELO is too long for an encore, unless they decided to just play one part, and Get Back is of course yet another best choice.
Collapsing the repertoire of Fund raising concert into R&R would of course mean that we've got a surplus of pieces. I sure hope the ensemble is not moving in that direction. *shivers*
Looks like the annual music camp has yet again created another wonder for us all. to have Shuhann actually comment that we're almost at performing level.
It was only last week that he hissed about the juniors unable to play the rhythm for America.
Well, my dear Hansen, spending over 1000 bucks, and choosing ELO or Get Back for encore does fit into my bill of having enough pieces. 1000 bucks should at least secure 2 years worth of repertoire, in my opinion. Besides, ELO is too long for an encore, unless they decided to just play one part, and Get Back is of course yet another best choice.
Collapsing the repertoire of Fund raising concert into R&R would of course mean that we've got a surplus of pieces. I sure hope the ensemble is not moving in that direction. *shivers*
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Everyone is to be in a small group!
Reading this in my mail reminds me of the impending danger coming up next week. yes, the once in a year "Let's play guitar" internal concert. I really wonder who still remembers that they are obligated to enter into a small group. I'll bet at least 50% of the people will heck it with this.
Which reminds me I should document how much the ensemble has spent on scores this year. over 1000 bucks! AND, we're still short of pieces for our annual concert.
The incompetence(or incontinence) of my music director has always been a good topic of tea/supper chats. Not to mention his ridiculous behaviour 3 years back; He actually threathened me over the phone that he'll use his relations with Thumboo to get into GENUS whether or not the student committee agrees to it. Hilarious. He must have been masquerading in Piper's shithole and Shitalla for too long to come up with such desperate measures. Anyway, I think this shows what kind of character he is or can become.
Reading this in my mail reminds me of the impending danger coming up next week. yes, the once in a year "Let's play guitar" internal concert. I really wonder who still remembers that they are obligated to enter into a small group. I'll bet at least 50% of the people will heck it with this.
Which reminds me I should document how much the ensemble has spent on scores this year. over 1000 bucks! AND, we're still short of pieces for our annual concert.
The incompetence(or incontinence) of my music director has always been a good topic of tea/supper chats. Not to mention his ridiculous behaviour 3 years back; He actually threathened me over the phone that he'll use his relations with Thumboo to get into GENUS whether or not the student committee agrees to it. Hilarious. He must have been masquerading in Piper's shithole and Shitalla for too long to come up with such desperate measures. Anyway, I think this shows what kind of character he is or can become.
MacLeHost Trail
yet another 20 over kilometres completed today. Seriously, I think I am out-doing myself in stamina. As reminded by the trail, Mt.Ophir was only horizontally 6km, and Kinabalu is only 8km.
My feet aches like as if it's walked since 7a.m. in the morning. My right knee threathens to give away whenever I head downslope. The highest peak in the trail is only 900m, yes, lower than Belumut or Ophir... but the horizontal traversing is really a test of endurance. not strength at all.
Well, good thing is that the trail boasts good scenic views and different vegetation/environment/experience in trekking. Walking on the ridges makes me feel that I'm sending a ring bearer to Mordor, although the scenery is not actually equal, but at least 70% in my opinion.
Bright side, I'm getting trained as a professional window shopper with all this leg work. Down side, I've managed to injure my knee for the first time in all these years of trekking.
yet another 20 over kilometres completed today. Seriously, I think I am out-doing myself in stamina. As reminded by the trail, Mt.Ophir was only horizontally 6km, and Kinabalu is only 8km.
My feet aches like as if it's walked since 7a.m. in the morning. My right knee threathens to give away whenever I head downslope. The highest peak in the trail is only 900m, yes, lower than Belumut or Ophir... but the horizontal traversing is really a test of endurance. not strength at all.
Well, good thing is that the trail boasts good scenic views and different vegetation/environment/experience in trekking. Walking on the ridges makes me feel that I'm sending a ring bearer to Mordor, although the scenery is not actually equal, but at least 70% in my opinion.
Bright side, I'm getting trained as a professional window shopper with all this leg work. Down side, I've managed to injure my knee for the first time in all these years of trekking.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Dragon Inn
I'm encased in a little hostel in Mong Kok(Wang Jiao). It's really a pity that the original acclaimed network access in the room has turned out to be confined to the hostel manager's main office. Hence, I am here watching Korean farmers wallop Hong kong police on TV while typing this.
The climate here resembles that of Taiwan in march, minus the rain. Well, the part I dread most is obviously bathing, no doubt the hostel has kindly provided a heater.
Trekking in Hong Kong is really quite different from tropical counterparts. most of the paths are all paved, some even with road lamps. You never need to grab any helpful twig or sturdy root to yank yourself up a 1.2 metre step, no bashing through plants as well. It's quite like a walk in a park. Except, this park is really huge and LONG.
On the 1st day, we did around 23km of hiking and my feet was badly petrified in shock, refusing to move faster when urged by its owner to rush for the door closing subway train. It's really quite weird since the highest point trekked on the first day is merely 300m in altitude. I commented to my hike mates that Ophir was SIGNIFICANTLY easier, even if it means heading to the summit in one go without stopping to camp.
Photos are not going to be up unless i find someway to connect my laptop to the internet. unfortunately i forgot to bring my thumbdrive here, else you guys will be able to look at some HK terrain, and my tiny dragon inn room. defintely beats Shuhann's hostel experience in Japan!
How's the music camp? I hope everyone's enjoying!
P.S. Tried to post in chinese, but the hostel comp hangs whenever i try to activate the chinese words...
I'm encased in a little hostel in Mong Kok(Wang Jiao). It's really a pity that the original acclaimed network access in the room has turned out to be confined to the hostel manager's main office. Hence, I am here watching Korean farmers wallop Hong kong police on TV while typing this.
The climate here resembles that of Taiwan in march, minus the rain. Well, the part I dread most is obviously bathing, no doubt the hostel has kindly provided a heater.
Trekking in Hong Kong is really quite different from tropical counterparts. most of the paths are all paved, some even with road lamps. You never need to grab any helpful twig or sturdy root to yank yourself up a 1.2 metre step, no bashing through plants as well. It's quite like a walk in a park. Except, this park is really huge and LONG.
On the 1st day, we did around 23km of hiking and my feet was badly petrified in shock, refusing to move faster when urged by its owner to rush for the door closing subway train. It's really quite weird since the highest point trekked on the first day is merely 300m in altitude. I commented to my hike mates that Ophir was SIGNIFICANTLY easier, even if it means heading to the summit in one go without stopping to camp.
Photos are not going to be up unless i find someway to connect my laptop to the internet. unfortunately i forgot to bring my thumbdrive here, else you guys will be able to look at some HK terrain, and my tiny dragon inn room. defintely beats Shuhann's hostel experience in Japan!
How's the music camp? I hope everyone's enjoying!
P.S. Tried to post in chinese, but the hostel comp hangs whenever i try to activate the chinese words...
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Setting off
Here I am at the airport waiting for my flight, after being introduced by my friend on how to notify MINDEF on my trip. Quite cool, the airport provides quite good internet connection. Do hope that I can update my blog once I get to Hong Kong and Shenzhen, esp. the photos and all.
The guys at Music Camp, have a great time. Kinda miss livin' under the same roof for the week but oh well, can't bear to rehearse Get Back for the entire camp as well.
Here I am at the airport waiting for my flight, after being introduced by my friend on how to notify MINDEF on my trip. Quite cool, the airport provides quite good internet connection. Do hope that I can update my blog once I get to Hong Kong and Shenzhen, esp. the photos and all.
The guys at Music Camp, have a great time. Kinda miss livin' under the same roof for the week but oh well, can't bear to rehearse Get Back for the entire camp as well.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Cock Eye!
It's really amazing how I can now sit in front of Sibelius and work 4 hours non-stop at my arrangements, till my eyes actually percieve the screen to look a little less bright(or they really are!). For a while, I actually have difficulty keeping my eyeballs straight after I stop looking at the computer screen.
Nontheless, I'm pretty pleased with my recent transcriptions with my newly explored software Sibelius 2.0 which I have recently realised is not exactly the newest of all things around.
In fact, now I'm contemplating on starting with another new found piece, Farandole by Bizet. Oh yes, I have finally braved through Suteki da Ne; that leaves Howl's Moving Castle howling in my drawers of the unfinished. Well, I will still have to complete shifting Capriccio Espagnol over to Sibelius from Noteworthy, easily 3 days on that.
Focus!!! you cock eye!
It's really amazing how I can now sit in front of Sibelius and work 4 hours non-stop at my arrangements, till my eyes actually percieve the screen to look a little less bright(or they really are!). For a while, I actually have difficulty keeping my eyeballs straight after I stop looking at the computer screen.
Nontheless, I'm pretty pleased with my recent transcriptions with my newly explored software Sibelius 2.0 which I have recently realised is not exactly the newest of all things around.
In fact, now I'm contemplating on starting with another new found piece, Farandole by Bizet. Oh yes, I have finally braved through Suteki da Ne; that leaves Howl's Moving Castle howling in my drawers of the unfinished. Well, I will still have to complete shifting Capriccio Espagnol over to Sibelius from Noteworthy, easily 3 days on that.
Focus!!! you cock eye!
Previous grumblings
I found this little textfile by my screen's corner that contained:
"After 2 months of pestering by the committee members, that conductor of mine has finally “finished” his arrangements for the fund-raising concert. Get this, he’s supposed to arrange three pieces, on Saturday he arrived LATE for ensemble rehearsal and gloriously presented us with 30 bars of the first piece. The Alto 1 score was highly decorated with mostly rests and some quavers, and the 1st string of the instrument was completely untouched in those measly bars."
Must be one of those saturdays.
I found this little textfile by my screen's corner that contained:
"After 2 months of pestering by the committee members, that conductor of mine has finally “finished” his arrangements for the fund-raising concert. Get this, he’s supposed to arrange three pieces, on Saturday he arrived LATE for ensemble rehearsal and gloriously presented us with 30 bars of the first piece. The Alto 1 score was highly decorated with mostly rests and some quavers, and the 1st string of the instrument was completely untouched in those measly bars."
Must be one of those saturdays.
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