Re: ARMADA.

Truly an unexpected performance. ^^,

The night we performed at Ahoy! There in Timog was outrageous. I had a lot of fun with the band, one which i haven't felt for a while. I just hope there were some images floating around so i could have something as a remembrance.

Armada played 6CM's "I" as a starter. It didn't looked like the usual "Pogi Rock" because of the different output [thanks to Erl's distortion provided by Ian's 506, and Dennis' MT-2 that i'm currently using]. I got a lot of mistakes with my lead for that song, but i managed to put up some pinch harmonics through the chorus part. I just don't know if it fitted or if it was heard. But from that song's ending, Matt celebrated due to the band's "unexpected adlibs" which... well, fitted nicely.

For the second is my proposed Rock version of To Destination's Eden. It went out pretty well, except for my lead. I haven't re-practiced my part before the event because i needed to study for my school activities, so i kind of forgot the lines. But i managed to back with Adz for the vocs, i just didn't know if my voice blended through. But my job was the lead, so... i generally sucked. =[

And here's my fave... the last song. We performed a different rendition of "Zombie" which sounded like... i dunno... but i can pretty well say that it's a type of the "fusion" that i wanted to propose with RevEp. I can say it's a practice for Ian and me. Anyway, there's a major part of something like "Jazz" [Chi said it was Acid] and with a short, but mood-changing heavy part. To change the Zombie's concept from "scary" to "fun" [i say you'd be doing something like Michael Jackson's thriller dance by the time you hear it] was something odd but interesting to do. And to the fact that we've made a successful output, i loved it. I think it had a different impact with the audience as well.

To sum it all up, it was one hell of a night. Other bands were also great, although i haven't watched the others play because i went outside for a while. But those which i have heard were great.

So this is Ongaku Society. ^^,


* From that point, i got inspired and got different ideas that i could probably use. Yesterday, i accidentally made something for RevEp when i was about to teach Ian about plucking. ^^,

REVIEW.

Okay, i should be studying Trigonometry right now.

I'm trying to prepare for the Ongaku Fest this coming 21. It will be held at Ahoy! in Timog, i think that's near Klownz. Okay, i already plugged for the event, but anyway... as usual, it's the Anime community so i'll be playing for Armada. I think the band will be a little bit different for the performance, i mean the band's at a different level for that performance. Even if Kat [the young keyboardist] will be absent for the event due to legal issues [underaged and parent-wise], Armada managed to shift a gear up.

We will be covering three songs, each individually-assigned by language/race/country/whatever. The event's required outline was to play a J-Rock/Jpop song, a western-based and finally, OPM. Although i really disagree of playing our chosen OPM due to my personal issues [one by 6CM entitled "I"], we'll be pushing it. I decided to make a different approach in its original structure, i hate the way it usually sounds.

There would be two surprises in store for Armada's audiences: our J-Rock and western song will definitely have a different twist. So be sure to watch us.

But we're going to perform at approximately 11:45PM.

Asides from that, i'm trying to get serious with studying. There's been alot of issues before, but i should manage to ignore them and put some time for my studies. I'm kinda rusted with my programming skills right now... i forgot the syntax. ^^,


* Anyway, this was short... i'm still sleepy. I only slept for 1 hour. And i noticed something... lumubog lalo panga ko.

RECALL.

Has it been that long already?

I never have thought to use my learnt skills to something i began to love along the way. Now, what were my reasons back then and what is my sole reason right now why i continued playing... starting from acoustic, and a long path leading to the different world of electric guitar?

Here begins my brag-... er, story.

===
NOTE: this post is intended not to brag, but to share something.
===

My interests with a guitar started when i was still at grade 5... where every single man in the batch seem to know AND want to learn how to play the acoustic guitar. It was the era where you'd usually hear some songs that you still hear with guitar starters; the songs of the former OPM rock bands mostly from Eraserheads. Most of them have basic reasons why they chose to play the guitar, and they vary from the following:

1. They want to play 'coz they want to play.
2. Because they want to be with the trend, which is cool in a way.
3. Because it'll be easy to court girls if you know how to play a guitar... most girls easily fall with the guitar guys.

... and others not mentioned.

Now, i forced my sister to teach me how to play a guitar... and FAST. I remembered her asking me, "why all of a sudden?"

That made me think... really.

I do admit that i don't have enough good reasons to defend my interest by that time. And all of a sudden, i got this simple, and stupid reason: "I want to play 'coz it seems like everyone's playing and i can't... like i am the only one who can't play it." That's the most of it. Nothing more.

The irony is... my sister taught me knowing that i may be not prepared to learn right that time. And, sadly... she taught me REALLY quick.

Quick as in a single day.

I got through a lot that day, thinking that my sister is forcing out what i can't really do. Well, it was my wish for her to teach me so i can't babble about it. She did the usual "old-school" way of learning fast that would really stick into your brain; a punishment in every wrong move. She'd hit my hands with a ruler if i got things wrong. Sadistic... yet effective, i learned all the basic chords in a single day. Although i can't do the power chords yet [the B and F, she taught me the G shortcut].

After everything, i was on my own. Without enough reason, i tried to learn by myself with the basics... plucking, picking, powerchording, and copying chords from certain songs. I even bought my own acoustic guitar on my 12th birthday. I was satisfied at one point, for i have achieved my goal: to play a guitar.

And so i stopped... for a long time.

Maybe from time-to-time i do play the guitar, especially when we have music class. And sometimes i do bring my guitar when my friends tell me to so we could play during breaktime. Asides from that, i didn't make guitar a serious career. I wasn't even serious of playing it.

My interests really doesn't concern with music, i was not a music guy to begin with. What i love to do that time was to draw and make comic strips and show them to my classmates.

Then this certain time came...

By the mid-time i retook my 4th year in high school [which makes it my 5th], Vic told me about his band. He asked me if i wanted to join. That time was the peak of Parokya ni Edgar, and other unsigned bands pop out as well [but not like now where humongous amount of UG bands swarm out]. I don't know if he's recruiting me because he knew i can play a guitar OR if he's recruiting me because it's just simply fun. But i left him with an answer: "wait 'till i graduate and i'll think about it." But there was a time when i went out with Vic, but with a different band composed of some of my former batchmates [specifically Gid and Jeffrey Carbonel] and some of their current schoolmates. I held the bass, and i sucked playing it. ^^, That was my first time, 'ne?

And so a major coincidence happened.

I successfully graduated my highschool at last. I was looking for a college that would apply with my scholarship plan. My course of choice was ComSci. I had an option: FEU-FERN. I applied to that school and passed the entrance examination, but knowing my mother she always have backup plans. She looked for other schools that supports the scholarship plan, and my sister suggested East Asia [she was a nursing student of FEU, BTW].

Luckily, it supports my scholarship plan. So i took the entrance test for free and i passed it. Not knowing that Vic is actually studying at the same school. I remembered the description he told me about his school but i forgot the name he mentioned.

By the time i got enrolled, he asked me about the offer. I thought it wouldn't actually hurt me if i accept his offer, so i took it. Then he asked me what instrument would i lke to play. He gave me 2 choices: Rhythms or Bass. I asked him what's the easiest, he told me that the bass should be easy [remembering the first time i played the bass, it was difficult]. I told him that i'll go for the rhythms since i'm much fond of chordplaying. But he told me that he's currently on rhythms and his bass was actually heavy [literally, not musically] so he doesn't want to play the bass. But he keeps on encouraging me to play the bass. So i willingly accept it.

He introduced me with new faces, including his band. There i knew the people, and at first they were intimidating. And i was officially recruited to their band.

The first week of classes came. That very first week we had a practice. As usual, i sucked with the bass since i am still not familiar playing it. They understood, since i was new with the band. K2 and Tristan taught me some basics and familiarizing the bass. Knowing Vic, he then encouraged me telling this: "pag gumaling ka ang gusto ko maging style mo katulad ng ke Buhawi."

Yes. The excellent bassist of PnE. So i was inspired thanks to Vic. But at first it was difficult to catch the basslines in songs [usually they sound faint if you don't listen attentively] and i was way off Buhawi's level [even right now]... there's possibly no chance that i could reach that level. Yet i didn't stop. Along the way i got familiarized with the bass basics and i was actually hearing the bass in songs much clearer. I tried recalling some concepts from our music class regarding the fretboard knowledge and used it.

And by this time i began to have a second reason: "i wanted to improve."

I learned so much while i was playing with the band, until the time it got baptized with the name SuspenDead. The time came that i could actually ride with their playing and tempo using basic techniques. The time also came that i used some learnt techniques thanks to certain songs that i have listened. We were in full-synch when playing [except for the times that we were drunk].

Then a third reason came out: "i'll play for myself and i wanted the music to sound different, yet good."

I used everything of what i know to SuspenDead's music, and i even borrowed some tutorials and asked for some concepts from my uncle Jimmy. Time by time i tried to change my absslines to something that would fit with our music... and sometimes i even do it during gigs. I wasn't scared of doing my share, i thought of it as a type of "samurai training" which in the long run became a habit to me. It was the experimental stage where i try this and that, if it would be compatible with this or not. If not, i'll shift to basic then think of something while i'm playing and thus producing a cycle. Jeremiah stated this as "standing in your toes, huh."

And when the time came that i was satisfied with what basslines i've done to the song, i'll use it as the basic structure of my lines... meaning that it's the pattern, but i'll still try to add something up in random. There's a lot of room so why not maximize it, i thought to myself.

I also began to get interested with other instruments... having a reason: "i want to get familiar with the other instruments so i could produce good music concepts." I tried out the drums, since it's the biggest instrument related to bassplaying. Thanks to K2's influence of Percussion Freaks, Dennis' moral support and suggestions, and Kat's recruitment of me for Leche's Plan which was soon called BH.

My interest never stopped there. I began playing the electric guitars and applied some of the basslining to it, though it was a bit difficult because i got used with wide frets. Many times i did jam with Edsel at his house and ask my uncle for some concepts, especially on how to make pinch harmonics.

Usually, i ask for concepts and i'll do the rest. That's the way it goes, and i liked it that way. I thought of it as a game like "discover something beyond what you currently do and what you can still do". It will be difficult at first, but it's like a puzzle. Once you're familiarized with it you'll get used to it, thus making the job easy. I've accepted 3 band offers to session with so i could expand my learnt musical concepts freely.

Many times i was forcing myself to learn something that's off my level... and luckily some of it i learned in due time. I believed in the concept "never stop until your finger bleeds..." a concept i learned from my sister. =]

After the biggest event SuspenDead has ever been [Summer Sault of WLSFM], i began to realize something. It wasn't really enough to play for yourself. You should be able to please your audience if you really want to se if you've made a good music. From here on, it was a bigger reason. A reason i never thought that i'll be thinking.

I wanted to make a different music that would please the musical ear. Not mine, not within the band, but reaching out to the "real, attentive" audiences [there are "dead" audiences, most of the time just came to the bar to get drunk or wait for their band-friend to play and leave, not even paying attention to others playing]. I think you'd consider your music to be good when they're not familiar with it but they jived with it for some reason you just can't explain. That was a reason so high to reach, but i think was possible. One event was SuspenDead's first gig with Creed of Rock Productions.

From the time i left the band, i carried out this reason. My mind was still filled with ideas for SuspenDead's music, honestly. Their songs were still circulating within my mind. That wouldn't be so obvious, i've been in SuspenDead for more than 4 years. It's just that i loved the band so much i can't forget the music [that's why i'm having a hard time clearing out the fact that they're currently in a massive damage and possibly because it was my fault]. I was thinking what to do with the reason and accomplishment i've done so far. I'm trying to teach everything to my only disciple Ian so someone could actually hold up and continue my urge while i'm on the bass. But i guess my music life ends there... or did it?

Just when i thought that i was out of the music devil's grasp, i was tempted with Dennis' new band and what they could do. The first time RevEp practiced and while i was watching them, i saw something different. Something that made me jump onto music's side again. It was something i couldn't explain at first not until i became a part of it. So i decided that i'd finish my job in RevEp and see if i'll be asking for more reasons to play after i accomplish my current reason/goal.

So right now i got some serious interest of playing. I know my fingers still aren't sleak and fast like others, but i have a single thing that i'm proud of. My ears can do much better now than my fingers.

Ending this post, i am not trying to brag. I'm just trying to share what i've been through and that things are possible if you just put your whole [ok, not whole but maybe a big part] heart onto it. It is never a career, it's just having a reason to play. If you have a serious reason to play, you got yourself a goal to reach. Reasons aren't really required, but it could help you a lot with improving and raising your interests to the maximum. And never stop not unless if you already lost a lot of blood. Remember, if you're really interested at something you can't resist getting along with it. Remember: you should develop your ear as early as possible, it's one of the most important factors of playing.

Of course, don't forget to rest for a while. Too much exertion would tire you a lot.
[Now what the hell am i trying to talk about?! Kidding aside, the concept still applies.]


* I'd like to thank my mom [for not forcing me too much to stop playing], my sister Elaine [who showed me the physical concept of "pains and gains" ^^], Kat [for recruiting me to BH], Edsel [my guitar buddy], Jason [for some concepts], uncle Jimmy [for a lot of concepts], and the whole SuspenDead [including the former original line-up]...

... if it has not been for you guys, i won't get interested with music at all.

REMORSE...

It shouldn't have gone this far...

When i just have thought that everything went as planned, something unexpected, rather, something just went wrong along the way... which destroyed the very foundation of the one i was once part of.

It was September 29, a Friday. The first time that i will see them as an audience, and sadly... the last time that i will see them of who they once were.

This will be defined as SuspenDead's mortality. About who we were, what they were when i left the band, and what they have been afterwards.

I have full respects on the band since i started as their bassist. They became the igniter of my talents... and thanks to them, i learned some concepts and got interested to learn other instruments. As i was always saying, ever since we started with the original lineup, the potentials were already present.

I should stress out that i have had high hopes for the band... and along the way i built many ideas for the band's music [just ideas, not applied]. The music was good to begin with, but then i begin to realize that it was lacking a major ingredient after Tristan left/we removed him from the band.

And there came a time that they suggested a keyboardist. Not being mean, but i guess this was the start of SuspenDead's disease [i will become the initiator of the greatest wound later]. The music underwent a major renovation and the keyboards [JB] had a hard time to adjust for a long time, especially for the punk songs. Although afterwards it went out with style, transforming our heavy songs to semi-goth and the punk songs to somewhat punkpop, the keyboards became dominant... so dominant, that the guitar powers went down greatly. This is just an observation, though.

This topic was opened up in one of our meetings. Though the suggestion was "to keep the keyboards volume down and balance the guitar volumes," i realized sooner that it wasn't enough. I thought that even if we filtered it, it would still be dominant and will outstand the other instruments due to the levels. If there was something that the band should do, i thought it should be something like "balance". Though i admit that it was my error, i suggested the "balance" thing as the "volume" thing. I wanted to mean that the balance should be with the "levels" or the skill. Not that highly-expected, but even just at the standard levels should do.

Skill was one of the most important ingredient of a band. The first thing should be "chemistry"... and that chemistry wasn't that strong in terms of music. Yes, our chemistry explodes a lot, as friends... so i thought it would add up to the band's chemistry. But after RevEp's practice last saturday, i realized something important. RevEp have done something that SuspenDead has rarely done: "freestyling". The "thought of Jazz". Not the literal "offbeat, 4-way coordinated" Jazz [i'd snap a finger doing things like Greg Howe does so not now], but the one that is known to be the "meat and potatoes" of Jazz: the "feeling" and "improvisation".

Though we didn't bother to save what we played for more than 10 minutes, i realized that the band already have a strong chemistry and that there's a lot of things we could do with what we've just did. Then i discovered that Dennis' planned "fusion" was possible.

In terms of music, SuspenDead rarely does this kind of thing [except for Dennis and me who usually starts up something when nobody's playing]. But i do remember one time when this idea was implemented: during the making of "Feel no Pain" in the early days of the band.

The original plan was making a fusion, thus the name SentiMetalHardTernativePopCore as the band's theme. But the literal meaning was implemented, not the idea. We have had most of them in each individual songs, though mostly we're playing the heavy songs.

I always thought that "playing for myself and for the band's music" was enough and satisfactory, but now i realized that the people should be able to accept your music in order to be satisfied. I realized this from the biggest event we've been into: 97.1's Summer Sault. We looked like sitting ducks [no offense guys] in that event, seeing the finalists' levels were much more higher that ours. I then realized that our levels wasn't supposed to be for that kind of event yet, and that our supposed-to-be chemistry didn't take effect. I'll say it was "pure luck and influence" which made us reach the finals. Luck, because i always thought we weren't really ready with our current music output... and influence, that's a lot of thanks to DJ Braggy.

It's not that i ain't proud of the music, in fact i really am. It's just that during the finals, everything got obvious: we already lost even before we played. We were, in fact, musically-incompetent during that time. No offense meant, guys.

Then it came into my mind that i already used up four years in the band... and we improved only an inch of the ruler within that timeframe.

I was asking myself what was wrong. What happened to the potentials? As for Science's definition of Potential Energy, it was defined as "stored energy". If it were to be released or used it would be called "Kinetic Energy". I realized that we got stuck knowing we had potentials and have no idea how to release those potentials. I already made MIDIs before for basis, but those weren't enough to wake the potentials.

So i decided to do a "suicide"... which sadly became the time limit of SuspenDead.

"There are times that you should lose some to gain some..." this is what i thought. If i really love the band then i should do whatever it takes to make the band better, even if it requires my expulsion just to wake the potentials up. I did everything that i could do for the music, so i think i already did all that i could do... and there's one last thing i haven't done: kill myself. If i leave the band, to the least they'll get tense and do whatever it takes to use their potentials. And i tried to anticipate everything that might happen after i leave; from Dos' entry and 3ple's transfer to the bass [and another thing that i tried to prevent from happening]. I even suggested these to K2 but i guess it just happened naturally and not because i suggested the new lineup.

Though K2 said the only thing that happened was: there came a reshuffling and there was really no effect of my absence, i think of it otherwise. The good thing is the band's progress went up and they tried to make some major improvements. That last gig i could say it improved a little and was catchy [the audience were reacting to it especially on the song "In Control"], but i can't say their full progress. [Vic was absent during SuspenDead's final gig so i can't really say how much they have improved completely] If they were complete maybe i could see the music's progress. Yes, i did see them play this last gig, but i still consider having Vic around if i was to observe their progress.

Seeing them play is one thing, seeing them play together and complete is another.

Going a bit off-topic, but a bit related. I remembered posting on my Tabulas with the topic: "What is a True Friend?" [i forgot the title]. Are those the friends you can count on? A person whose always concerned? The friends who will support you until the end? Those who ease your pain? If i were to look back, having those qualities ain't good enough to be considered a "true" friend. For me, it's called "true" friend because of the word included in it: TRUE.

If you were to have a true friend, it's a kind of friend who'll tell you everything ranging from your rightfulness up to your wrongdoings. It's something like: "If you're right, you have my support... if you're wrong, i'll tell you that you're wrong even if you get mad at me." It's a kind of friend that doesn't spoil you. In one point i was proud of the band, because it has that kind of quality... thus we never had problems in SuspenDead before. I've always told Kat and Edsel this during the BH days. I guess it faded away for some reason.

I guess the biggest mistake was due to a "major misunderstanding". I thought that everything was over after my "suicide" issue, but it so happened that Dennis' "criticism" was misunderstated as "insult" or "discrimination". I should agree that Dennis shouldn't be using harsh words if you're just criticizing due to the effects it may do to the soft-hearted, but i do agree at one point that if SuspenDead cannot handle a bandmate's point of [lemme say this] "painful" criticism then you're never ready for the music industry. There are lots of the worst sharks out there that can say worse, much worse that you might punch that guy whose criticizing with harsh words... you might even want to kill him.

From this point, it was all over. SuspenDead went with a decision to stand alone and leave Dennis behind, having the reverse with Dennis [which is leaving SuspenDead behind]. Either way, it's over. I tried everything to prevent this to happen, i already anticipated that SuspenDead might end but not this quick. It's only been two months since i left the band, and now the band's gone. Although K2 said that their team would still be "them", i'm having a feeling that the output will be much different. And he said that Vic already lost his morale of playing with a band so they should stop for a while.

I feel bad for Vic... and i was blaming myself because of it. I could have prevented his beating if i came earlier before the final meeting with me, the night before i decided to quit. I didn't want the blame to bury him, all i wanted was a major renovation. And now that Dennis made statements about the band's current levels, he got buried deeper. I really think it started because of me, even SuspenDead's disbandment.

I'm having a bad feeling that things may get worse if RevEp and the former SuspenDead [i don't know if they'll be changing names] meet up with each other. I will be hoping that i'm wrong and that both parties wouldn't open or make any issues from now on.

I am totally disappointed with the results... especially myself.


* I knew my mistakes. It shouldn't have turned out this way.

So much for my birthday present. =[

INSOMNIA

Shet. Di ako makatulog. Help.

BIRTHDAY Part 2

Well, what's with September anyway?

Actually, i forgot to mention that it was my nephew's birthday last September 3... and i'm sorry not being able to come to his birthday.

So Jeremiah's birthday was yesterday, and today's the birthday of my only disciple... Ian. Unfortunately, we haven't celebrated her birthday because we had a practice with RevEp.

But the day was totally productive for her, i think. All of us in RevEp [Edsel, Dennis, and me] thought of one thing about her: she is greatly improving. She made interesting basslines, and we are already planning on what to do with one of it. I think she's already near the half of my level before i left SuspenDead, though i know she's got a lot of things to learn still. Of course, i'm here to teach her. I'm her bass instructor after all... and that's the only gift i could give, i think. Anyway, happy birthday dear student! ^^,

Changing the subject a bit...

We finished Edsel's song entitled "Disdain", and it was pretty good. I nearly compared it with SuspenDead's "You Wanted Love" due to the tempo and riff and "In Control" because of the simple chorus rhyth-lead that i've made, but in totality, it's got a different level. I'll let you hear it... when we're ready.

I'm still thinking about the enrollment. I should get going this coming Monday.


* Actually, i came to school yesterday afternoon but there were too many people so i decided to go next week.

BIRTHDAY Part 1 [w/Pics]

Happy birthday to my very first-considered "bestfriend" and arts master, Jeremiah. He's turning 22 right now and i'm hoping him to have an exciting life to come.

I've been at his place a while ago having his party themed as "Boredom Awareness Seminar". It wasn't boring at all, though i almost fell asleep due to the lack of it and thinking about my problem in school disrailed my attention to everything that time. I'm sorry to have blown up the party, i really wanted to stay longer that time.

You'll see the pics below shortly. I'm currently uploading them. Click them to view it at 800x600.

* And, btw. I'm offering him the "vocs" position for RevEp. I just don't know if he's really serious about it but i'm hoping his schedules won't become an issue. ^^,

While it's his birthday today, my only bass student and disciple Ian's birthday will be tomorrow.

REBOOT SUCCESSFUL...

... that was nice.

I've been thinking alot of some offer which needed a lot of time. At first i was thinking twice, but now i think i should be proud. From here on i'll be straightforward and say the facts about that certain offer.

My friend Dennis [a.k.a. Sendoh], the drummer of my beloved former band SuspenDead, told me something even before i left the band. It was a revelation... unexpected, but understandable. He wanted to make a new band; a different one. More different than SuspenDead has ever been. And he had high goals for it. He wanted to create a band who can perform a different kind of music [well, who doesn't want to do that nowadays anyway]. A fusion; a mixture of different styles... one which we had tried on SuspenDead for so long but was just too hard to accomplish. It was a different idea, i guess. But i can't state what type of genres will he fuse yet, for private reasons. He offered me to become his bassist once more.

The idea was interesting, as Dennis' eyes were gleaming with light. But that time i wasn't interested after i left my post as SuspenDead's bahizta. Obviously, i refused the offer. Instead, i suggested that i could get the right men for his proposed band. I already got the idea of whom to put up on his band, and my #1 pick for the lead guitars was none other than my former BH bandmate Edsel, whom i've played with a lot of times even after BH broke up.

Although i already refused to join, he still pursued me to become a member of his new planned band. I said i'll think about it, since i have my word for SuspenDead that i will no longer play a bass guitar for other bands after i leave the band.

So i thought about it, spending a lot of time thinking while i was at school. It wasn't a bad idea, really. I was just scared that SuspenDead might get a bad impression on me. I mean, think about it: i quit the band, then their drummer and former bassist on a new band? I think that's gotta suck, bigtime. And knowing i left a word regarding the bass. It was a bad option. Then i heeded second opinions from my good friends.

Some suggested that it was my big mistake to release such words then regretting it on the last moment, while some said that what i did was martyr-like and plain stupid. But a good suggestion came out, stating something like: "while you can't hold the bass anymore, why don't use another instrument instead?"

It gave me an impression... a better, untreachorous idea. One i've done already with Armada. One that could avoid further conflicts and could do only minimal damage. It was then i thought if i should be holding the guitars for a change. Since i had some little skills i got from the bass, i thought maybe i could transfer them to the guitars... since they're both strings. The main problem i'll be having though, was adjustment. It was about time that i call for my uncle Jimmy's help to teach me some "real" guitar basics. All i got from him before were suggestions, not actual training. So i thought that maybe it's better if i ask for his help.

Then, the StratoMarco was born. Now, what the heck is a StratoMarco?

I decided to buy my own guitar so i could get familiarized with the new feel of the neck, fret distance, and strings. Dennis helped me with some options. Either i buy a guitar in Raon/Sta.Mesa [bad option], OR budget-wise: buy a second-hand guitar.

I really am avoiding buying guitars from Raon or Sta.Mesa because of their manufacturing and bad quality. You might say it depends on how you choose the guitar, or maybe it depends on how you take care of it. But HELL. From my experience, you can never get a good-yet-cheap guitar with those places nowadays and you can't maintain them properly even if you're really the "careful type". The term "local" there sounded like "lo-qual", so nevermind.

If you're willing to have a good, performance guitar then you'll have to buy for around 6-10k. So my option for a local-yet-good quality guitar was RJ. Since i saw their shop in Cubao, i had a good vibe that their guitars have a good quality since they have a demo there that shows how their guitars are made. And what's good about RJ was that they're engineering their guitars well and they use good woods. My uncle adds that they have good pick-ups too.

So i decided to get a RJ, and the model: just a simple Stratocaster. I'm not after the design [even if it's a Flying V i won't take it], i'm after the feel and sound that's going to come out of the guitar. My uncle gave me an option to get a Les Paul stating that it's good for solos, but i'm starting to hate it 'coz EVERY band seemed to have a Les Paul nowadays. If i'm about to make a good sound, i'll try it out with a simpler guitar. And i won't waste my money for something that'll lose value after it gets EVEN a little dent/scratch.

How much is a RJ Strat? The last time i looked it was about 6,700+... and my budget was just about 3k. So what can i get? Should i proceed to Raon/Sta.Mesa? Nah. Dennis helped me to look for 2nd-hand guitars at Philmusic. There were many options; including a 2nd-hand Aria Pro Magna, Fender Stratocaster Squier, even a Gibson Les Paul. But since they're highly-priced, i went down to one last option to fit my budget: get a second-hand RJ Strat.

I got that used-up RJ Strat for about 2.5k [using the money for our electric bill, but hey i payed it afterwards]; and with it was a guitar stand, an Ernie Ball strap, a heavy-duty cable, and LOTS OF F#*!IN DECAL LEFT-OVERS. The body was obviously abused with lots of decals ripped off the surface... and by the time i bought it, it was entirely messy. I had to clean the guitar, with Edsel and Ian's help it was possible. I finished cleaning the whole body after 2 days... and i love the clean, new look of it. Although it has a coin-sized dent underneath, i loved the guitar very much, since it's my very first electric guitar. I'm thinking of changing the paint job later, i got to customize the whole thing first.

The pick-up and switch were rusted, though the tremolo board and the machine head were still fine. The tone pots were somewhat broken, but i can replace it anyway. I scraped off the head part since it was very dirty, to the least i got it clean as new except for some ink left-overs. The RJ logo was not there when i bought it, and it looked dull without something. Then i decided to put up a name for my guitar. I bought a transfer letter and wrote up "StratoMarco". Now i call it that.

Now i have to save up money if i'm about to change the pick-ups. I was planning on letting my uncle make me a customized one at first. If i get enough money, i'll be buying a DiMarzio pick-up for the tremolo part.

Anyways, enough about StratoMarco. It was then i reconsidered Dennis' offer to me, i'll join his band BUT i'll be on guitars. It doesn't matter if i'm lead or rhythms, Edsel and i can do both anyway. And i had a package deal. I want my student, Ian, to be on bass. If she can't join then i won't join. But Dennis said it's fine with him having her on the band.

You might think it's something like "special treatment" of sort. It's not. I wanted her to learn a lot of things about being in a band. It's a part of my test where i wanted to prove that a willing person who loves their music and instrument has the capability to improve, learn fast, play good music, and having the spirit of a bandmate. And since it's the bass, i could show her some secrets that me and Dennis alone know: our chemistry.

Issues were raised but i think they'll understand Dennis' plans in the long run. SuspenDead was a great band when it started, and i have greater visions for the band's music while i was still there. There were lots of potentials, i can say. And the potentials were still there by the time i left the band. The thing i wished was for that potential to be released someday after i am gone from the band.

Now with this new planned band of Dennis, i knew the people i selected were potentially-talented. Edsel exceeds me with his speed already. Ian's on the process of learning freestyles and can now play lines in two strings. While i'm still studying some patterns, these people improve further. I think Ian will reach my bass skills in no time and will surpass what i can do when i was still in SuspenDead.

Dennis is excited to start up the band. Our only problem is a vocalist. For the meantime, we decided that Edsel should sing for the band. One day after the decision, he already made a pattern and partial lyrics. Talking about excitement. I did some songs for the band as well. One was a former recipe which was originally meant for SuspenDead, one just came out of nowhere. Everyone else were excited while Ian was tensed. She said that she might drag down the band, but i encouraged her that she'll learn in no time and that i believe in her talent. I won't put her up in the band if she won't do any good in it. I know what she could do... i'm her bass instructor after all.

For about two months since the planning we finally had our practice last September 9. It was then decided that the band's officially booted up. We're not planning on playing as of now, we're focusing on polishing the songs to something different. But here's our target: after we make 3 good songs, we're planning on playing live with gigs. Dennis is planning on having our next practice this coming saturday. I just hope this won't get a conflict with SuspenDead.

We currently use RevEp as the band's handlename. As for its meaning, you'll know soon enough.


* Well, that was pretty long. It just shows that i missed blogging. ^^,

RETRACTION...

... and so i am back.

It's been a while since i last touched this blog. I remember making this one since 2003. Now that i'm back, i've got lots of reviews to give you guys. But i won't elaborate right now 'cause i'm focusing on building my own template.

Many things happened. Definitely. Back in my LJ, i already wrote the first [and last] topic... I AM NO LONGER A BASSIST. I already let go of my title "bahizta" from the band SuspenDead last month for reasons i won't be posting, yet. I loved the band, really. I wouldn't be holding a single band instrument [with the exception of the Acoustic Guitar] if it wasn't for them. All i can say is that i don't want any conflicts to happen and i decided to kill myself from their sights.

So i had this goal that i should at least transfer everything that i know to my good student, Ian.

Meanwhile, the other band is really getting busy these days. Armada made a good break in the Anime community; doing that "Unchained Melody" soundcheck last J-Muzik Fusion really did an impact to the community. And the full version appeared on August 19 at the CulturEvolution which was held on Teatro Marikina. ^^,

Of course, i am proud to become a part of Armada... even though i'm from the outside realm, they considered me a part of their family. I pinned myself the name "Barq`z" for the community [Rai's getting common these days], thus my URL.

I'll give you some recaps later... especially about StratoMarco. I've got a lot of stories to tell... but i should at least make my layout presentable. =]


* Just as he said: "THIS IS THE POINT OF NO RETURN".