This is my version of Butterfly Lovers Concerto.

This was recorded in April 2006. Improvised from Maksim's album.

MInor mistakes can be detected...

If you love music, you've gotta visit Parisian 15's blog. He adds new songs to his blog everyday-check them out!

And if you read French, all the better! :D

1) Mu-Ge: finally completed. Will use my digicam to record it by the end of this week. Thank goodness its Good Friday this friday. :) Will send to my friend H for quality control before I release it (YouTube, don't let me down).

2) Lyphard Melody: Arranged new introductory music and the ending. Didn't like the fading effect at the end. Completed within 2 days. My fastest record so far. Managed to get it recorded on my digicam last night and has passed the QC test. Images are well, a bit "rocky".

3) Claudine (played by Maksim): Completed a while ago, but didn't bother recording it. Will get it done by the end of this week.

Upcoming arrangement:

1) Laputa main theme- am debating whether to improvise from the Child's Symphony or from the violin piece. Both are so beautiful. Ahh.

2) Butterfly Lovers violin concerto: Completed the basics a while back, but am not satisfied with some parts... still need to work on it. Made reference to Richard Clayderman's adaptation of the song and was dissappointed. Will have to rely on my trusty ear instead. Aduhai.

3) Pearl Harbour main theme (not to be confused with Faith Hill's song)-to record the song ASAP.

4) "Memory" from the musical "Cats"- once the introductory melody is sorted out I'll proceed to record it.

5) Main theme from the movie "Forrest Gump"-to record the song.

Now is that a handful or what, I wonder. And its not even my day job! hahaha

This post was meant to be posted a few weeks back, but I kind of forgot about it..

Last night, I had to be the instructor "impromptu" for the choir as my mom had something to attend to.

Teaching choir members with no music theory background can be quite a challenge. In my case, the sopranos were mostly karaoke kakis-in other words, the concept of singing is directly connected to an idiot box churning out ear blasting tunes to stimulate their vocal chords.

I've always been a bit of a physical person (no pun intended) and I tend to use a lot of body language when I speak. So last night, after repeated attempts to explain the concept of a syncopation in a song, I decided to go physical instead.

Using my hands as a tool, I showed them how the emphasis should be placed on the crochet, the second note in a bar, instead of the quaver, the first note. It involved quite a lot of animation-so I felt like I was teaching kindergarden kids. Geez.

But the results were satisfactory. I got them to emphasise on the notes I wanted them to. And of course, they got to laugh at my antics.

On a different note, both my mom and I agreed that despite the fact that the choir was not strictly professional, there is no reason why we should not aim for professional standards.. hence the choir members were "succumbed" to rigorous training during our practice sessions, repeating the same phrase if any mistakes were detected. :P

Partial excerpts translated from International Times, 11.4.2006

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has an upper hand in the United States political arena. However, what the general public sees is the diplomatic and political side of Rice. Not many people are aware that apart from her flair for politics, she is in fact also an accomplished pianist and has even performed together with the legendary cellist Yo-yo Ma. According to the New York Times, Rice was born into a family of music enthusiasts. Her mother came from a family who played the piano for 4 generations. Rice took piano lessons when she was three, and displayed high performance skills in her teens. She performed with Denver Philharmonic Orchestra in a piano concerto when she was only 15.

Currently, together with music enthusiasts of similar calibre, all of legal background, Rice engages in chamber music practice on a weekly basis. Brahms is her favourite composer. Immersing herself in the beauty of Brahm's compositions, Rice admits that it was more of a serious musical appreciation session as opposed to mere relaxation. It would not be exaggerating to say that she is one of the most musically accomplished politicians of her own time.

I have to say that I was somewhat inspired by this revelation (pardon me if I am the only person who doesn't know this side of Rice), and it somehow struck a chord in my heart--that just perhaps, I could also form a music group of sorts--featuring vocals, classical instruments, piano and the guitar. Just thinking about it makes my day. :)

And I've got to thank a certain friend of mine who was kind enough to give me songs which I had never heard before~inspiring me to arrange them for piano, much to the delight of my mom who thinks I spend too much time on the computer keyboard instead of the piano! :D Thanks H.