CoSy tuNes

Its FinAlly over!! :) year 3 exams... the rest is really not up to me anymore... although i m dead worried about the results... i shall try not to think much about it... this time... I really worked very hard... the hardest i possibly could... very glad to have the company of many people around me... florrine, kaiping, shiying, jieqi, navath.... :) I hope ALL of US do very well for this year's exams!! efforts may not necessarily commensurate... but not matter what happens... i am glad to have taken some very interesting courses and had satisfied my curiosity on various economic topics of interest...

one of the first things that I did after exams was a non-stop surfing of you tube live performance videos of lee hom, jay chou, cao ge... they are soooo inspiring!! :) these are really the standards to emulate towards! it seems like a really long way to go...

during a CNN interview of Lee Hom, one thing he mentioned was particularly striking. When asked to give advice for singers contemplating the entertainment industry, he said that the most important thing is - to be true to yourself. He said that many people are lured by promises of stardom if you do this this this and that... being true to yourself is often what makes you special... :)

I never knew jay chou and lee hom are such outstanding pianists!! check out the videos





check out this short interview by hei ren with jay chou and lee hom..... and he made them sing each other's songs! without background music... one can really hear how great their vocals are!



never have i been so impressed with the both of them!

Posted by Xin Wei at 10:05 am | Permalink | Comments

HAPPY 2007 everyone!

i realised that i have neglected this website...!!! maybe cuz i was a little dejected with the lack of views and response.... thus wanting to blog on my xanga more where friends can reach out to me easier....

2006 has been a wonderful year.... the most significant thing that has happened to me is none other than -

the TJC campus concert!

it was the first time i actually supervised a concert from head to toe.... together with a great company of ppl from mainworks and temasek jc.... i was having my internship then so have to juggle between the 2.... thankfully my boss ryan was v understanding and gave me leaves so i cld make it for the full dress and final rehearsals... it is also the first time i actually approach (and bargain) with a shop for sponsorship... tks ranking sports! i wonder when will we hv a time to perform agn... i miss singing chinese songs! hahaha...

the next most significant thing would be -

being casted for Excess Baggage The Musical!!!

http://www.excessbaggage-themusical.com/

go visit the site!! it is really v pretty and creative!! wat a talented webmaster gangwei!

in fact i think i am spending more time going for rehearsals than my lectures and homework combined (also becuz i have a slacker term 1 with only 3 modules) the scale of this musical is unprecedented by any other overseas sporean production.... just look at the no. of sponsors... i am really amazed with the admin team.... it is also the first time i guess any sporean group is putting up a musical for charity in london.... so honoured to be involved.... it is also the first time i am involved in a big theatre production solely for charity.... feels so much more meaningful..... and as a result ppl in the team are much more giving... there will almost always be (sponsored) food for any rehearsal.... unprecedented!

meanwhile.... i have lots to practise in preparation for the big day.... have also been wondering about the way i sing the songs... how can i sound better? am i sounding too forced? am i emoting correctly? just don't wanna let anyone down.... the efforts put together have been tremendous... yes there will be a lot of pressure... there will be many criticisms along the way hoping to generate a better end product.... many a times it will seem that giving ur best isn't gd enuff......

a few friends have told me in private that my demeanour seems to exhibit a lack of confidence... i guess that is quite true.... although yes i have been involved in many productions.... i have lived thru many disappointments... i am afraid of failure... maybe tts why i m afraid to try sometimes.... bcuz rejection can kill... and destruct my self esteem.... rip me apart.... leave me days to wonder whether was i ever gd enuff in the first place.... seems like a price to pay to love the stage..... shd i climb higher or shd i settle for less? will i risk falling greater?

will i rise to the occasion?

Posted by Xin Wei at 9:49 am | Permalink | Comments

have been going thru music instructional videos, listening to some piano music on this website

http://www.baypianist.com/

by a talented pianist Alan, tt plays in US (i think) for functions, cocktail events! his piano styles has a lot of classy feel in it... there is a lot of rhythmic 'space' in between his melodies... thus allowing ppl to easily feel relaxed listening to it..

piano music was an indispensable component which aid me during exams prep in apr... haha wondered if it made me too relax~

looking music instructional videos?

guitar
http://www.fenderplayersclub.com/woodshed/lessons_by_style/lessons_by_style.htm
some very clear explanations about theory... if u cant be bothered with theory like me... can jump into listening to the audio examples and videos...
although they only give a glimpse of their respective books... i think the introduction can really set ppl in the right directions.... otherwise, u may end up like me playing for many years on guitar but still havent grasp the fundamentals well.... forming bad habits...

piano
http://video.google.com
http://www.youtube.com
i tried searching ard for "piano lessons", piano techniques".... usually contains only v basic stuff and not in the right chinese pop music styles tt i wan to learn....

oh another website is
http://www.playpianotoday.com
quite inspirational and makes everything seem like easy.... concept of playing piano by mastering rhythmic patterns is unprecedented!

after looking ard.... i guess the take away for today is....

its all about practicing in the right direction!

Posted by Xin Wei at 2:08 pm | Permalink | Comments

yesterday, ronald and wee chuan came over to my place to practise for a teachers' day perf on this friday... they came to ask me for comments regarding the arrangement of the whole song... think i am not really used 'telling ppl wat to do'... most of the time, i think there are so many ways to express a song... think it is subjective wat makes a good perf... in my opinion, there is no perfect performance objectively... it can only be perfect subjectively....

after the "qi dian" perf, bazang said this... "everyone's satisfaction is counted by the effort they put in"... i tot this was very true.... personally i felt very attached to the whole event and have a great sense of relief tt everything went well.... i was on a 'high'... but guess not everyone feels the same...

in the broad sense... the more u give.. the more u shall recieve... in more ways than one...

i am impressed with ronald's passion for music... in a matter of weeks, his keyboard skills improved by leaps (in fact he bought a keyboard 2 days after our perf).... he always ask me abt how to improve his vocals... his desire to excel really touches me at times... i regret tt i cldnt offer him as much as he desired to learn... this also means tt there is a lot for me to learn too... singing and teaching singing is really 2 different things... i cldnt identify what exercises are necessary to correct his problems.....

weechuan is pretty gifted on the guitar... he only started learning guitar for about 2 years plus and he is already quite adept to fingerstyles playing.... i.e familiar with the scales.... for instance, after so long, i cld only play 'one set' of scales for C on the guitar, weechuan cld play 5 sets... have to buck up man... also, i think he is more steady in strumming than me....

i think learning an instrument is really about continuous practice. there is no substitute for that. and next, you have to truly believe in yourself that you possess the potential....

ur voice is ur natural musical instrument!

Posted by Xin Wei at 5:40 pm | Permalink | Comments

Haven't blogged for some time already... have been thinking abt many things....

Felt tt my prev blog got some overlapping pts abt being an instrumentalist.... dun really know how to summarise it though... it is just a feeling... somehow... an inspiration abt being a better performer... one tt is ready to entertain/sing a song well... anytime... on demand.... and enjoy it.... and of cse, sing well....

Quite a couple of things i wld like to do, still contemplating...
1. Sell off ibook, upgrade to mac book
2. Diving trip
3. Music arrangement/keyboard lessons
4. Singing lessons

money money money... haha... i ll really become penniless if i do all of it... must be more selective man... meanwhile, think i am spending a lot on karaoke, movies, meals too... maybe can cut down on tt.... must balance up somewhere....

also hope to bring my family out for a meal or org a chalet... "family comes first"

feels gd to be doing stuff tt are more "operational" in the dept for the past 2 days... been packing the trip folder for stockholm world water week... also learnt more from chris abt what our dept does... seems like IBR is really a gd way to know more abt PUB... wonder if it is possible to come back after i finished my studies... been having fun with my colleagues!

been searching for masters course also... looking into the area of finance, finanicial mathematics, environmental economics, environment planning.... finance/maths cuz i think that is where my strength lies.... environmental stuff cuz i think it is rather interesting and can help in future work... really hope to go to US to do 1 year of masters... wah... tt means 2 more years to b away frm spore...

ultimately, hope i can always stay in touch with music...

nid new goals, new directions!

Posted by Xin Wei at 4:28 pm | Permalink | Comments