Reviving the Band, Part III

There’s a side of me that feels like a parrot when playing cover songs. It’s not my voice and it’s not my art. The art aspect of it only falls into place with my playing, and that aspect even suffers. My bandmates and Pastor Xiaui had noted my playing to be very mechanical and emotionless. I could nail the songs without a hitch. It’s just that as a composer, it’s really hard to try and put some emotion into performing a song I never had a hand in writing. I will still try to put on my game face to sort of “own” those songs, even if it’s just for a day.

I’m still very thankful that this opportunity came. Nothing could ever beat performing with a band regardless of whether you’re playing originals or covers. The energy between each musician is something you can never experience jamming with a MIDI file, audio track or sequence. You can expect me to perform at my best at our scheduled performance. Since we’re playing as a worship band at this point and NOT a prog band, you can’t expect me to pull out stuff like crazy synth solos. However, you can expect some piano and organ playing from me, maybe some occasional strings here and there, perhaps a harpsichord sound even.

Because of this event, talks between us band members about rehearsing for a PROG album are underway. We have two songs that we will be rehearsing and recording over the next coming months, and then I’ll continue to write music for the band as usual. I hope that this new project would push through.

We are currently rehearsing for a special performance on October 21, 2012, 6 p.m. at UCCP J.P. Rizal, Makati City. We will be performing a very short set with three songs. For those of you who are in the area interested in supporting a growing church, I’d like to invite you for that special evening of praise and worship.

Reviving the Band, Part II

Going back to our rehearsals, most of them have commenced with one or two members being absent due to scheduling difficulties. Some of the rehearsals have been in my home facility with Chaz and Rodell. During the times when I was unavailable, they were rehearsing with Archie and Mike. We were rehearsing and trying to polish original prog compositions here at home while at some sessions we were rehearsing some alternative plus praise and worship songs. This week was the closest I got to having a rehearsal with only one member not present. Yesterday, I was able to rehearse with Chaz, Rodell and Mike. Just this evening, I finally got the opportunity to rehearse with Archie along with Chaz and Rodell (Mike was away because of work).

This evening we were able to play a couple of alternative songs and then we tried working on our prog compositions, namely a rearranged “Ignite Your Fire” and a new one tentatively entitled “I Have Seen the Light”. The church’s administrative pastor, Chaz’s wife whom the band affectionately calls Xiaui, was rather quick to point out that there doesn’t seem to be any point at playing some prog songs for a Sunday evening praise and worship event. She said it would be very difficult for many churchgoers to have any appreciation for those songs. She remarked that the music would be too heavy and too aggressive for the crowd (take note that the heavy and aggressive aspects of the song are important for the points being described in the lyrics I wrote).

I am somewhat disappointed that the band gave in to the suggestion that we play some praise and worship songs instead (even though our prog songs have very overt Christian themes). However, she was also very much keen on telling us that at this stage, the church is still trying to win over the conservative crowd towards giving merit to songs involving contemporary instrumentation. After all, we’re playing a benefit gig, and (as they say) we need to try and pull in more members to our cause. I am still happy about the fact that I still got an opportunity to play with my band even though we’re no longer playing any of our originals. It seems like circumstances are pulling us towards playing praise and worship music a la Jacob’s Ladder rather than all-out prog a la Blue Fusion. It’s two sides of the same coin except that the face with the praise and worship set in 4/4 and 3/4 won in the coin toss rather than the prog face in 7/8, 5/4, 13/8 and all of those crazy time signatures.

Reviving the Band, Part I

Since the last week of September, I have once again started rehearsing with humans. Away from the metronomic precision of robots, I feel very alive as a musician. The last time that I was able to perform music with my band was back in 2000. It took another 12 years before I got the opportunity to make all of this happen.

It seemed like everything fell into place nicely for my group, the band formerly known as Jacob’s Ladder inside church walls and Blue Fusion outside of it. There are some people who would believe that it’s God’s will that it should happen. Some would say that the stars have aligned for us to start playing again. After having rehearsed with an almost complete lineup (as far as instrumentalists are concerned), I feel very excited.

If you wish to kind of look into the beginnings of the band, you can click on this link. It describes an abridged history of the band from 1995 to 2000 highlighting the band’s experiences and struggles. It appears that our history as a band has just opened a new chapter. The newly revived band consists of myself on piano/keyboards and vocals, Pastor Chaz Romero on lead guitar, Rodell Tolentino on bass, and Archie Padolina on drums. We’ll also be introducing Mike, a new lead singer for the group as I wish to concentrate on the keys rather than having split duties singing lead as well.

As much as we’d like to have him play along, Erick, our (now former) rhythm guitarist and drummer, has not kept in touch with us. It’s sad really that he isn’t returning any of our band’s messages. He even seemed to have ignored the invitation to Rodell’s wedding. I really do not understand what’s going on with him. As much as I don’t want make an assumption, it seems like he doesn’t want to have anything to do with the band anymore.

Memories of ROTC: A Big Waste of Time

I remember being a college kid once and also recall that much of the time I spent in the University of Santo Tomas was a big waste of time. One of the largest contributors to time wastage was a Sunday requirement called ROTC.

ROTC, short for Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, was a mandatory course when I was enrolled in the University. This was around 1997 so much has changed since then (especially after the Mark Welson Chua murder case). For two years, I had to wake up early Sunday mornings to get dressed in shabby military garb and run to USTs field for “training” regarding military discipline. What I did find out was it only took what could have been fruitful years of my life.

All 1st and 2nd year male students of the University were required to attend approximately 12 Sundays per academic semester. A relatively select few become involved in special units while the rest of us were treated like crap. And like crap, all that we learned was to stand up and sit down under the heat of the sun or the occasional drizzle of rain. For 12 Sundays a semester, our routine was to stand up, sit down, march around a little bit, buy crappy food, and (if we’re lucky, that is) be taught some ceremonial gun wielding. Combat skills learned: ZERO. Some military training huh? This is the “Bahala Na” (let chance take over), “Pwede Na” (that’ll do) mediocrity cultural  mentality at work.

ROTC’s intention was to supplement the military with pawns in case the Philippines was involved in a major war. It has that high and mighty aspiration that given the chance, you’ll be called out to fight for your country, be a hero and all that crap that politicians want you to believe. But what good does standing and sitting all day do to train good soldiers? We occasionally had calisthenic exercises for that matter but in my experience, I had not learned to handle a rifle in a combat situation during the time I spent at the ROTC. I have years of experience training in martial arts so I definitely know what it takes to train a warrior; ROTC in the Philippines wouldn’t compare to that. I have relatives serving in the Philippine Navy, and based on their stories about real military training, the kind of thing they hand out in ROTC is a big load of bull. In a real wartime situation, those drafted from the ROTC would be nothing more than mere human shields. This is what taking MS11 and MS12 (the subject code for Military Science) has taught me. Now you tell me if that isn’t a waste of time.

Fast forward to 1998 and I enrolled for MS21 and MS22. This time, I had the option of going for alternative units. Since I couldn’t get a slot to go for a unit called CWS, who were required to provide civil service for only 6 Sundays a semester, I was eventually placed in LES (Law Enforcement Service). This unit aims to teach students some things regarding being in law enforcement in the Philippines. Like the last year, I learned nothing.

So, what did we actually do in LES? Sit and lie down on the asphalt, have an energy drink, maybe a cup of taho (it’s watery silken tofu with caramel and tapioca pearls) and smoke our lungs out to oblivion. Did learn any facet of police work. Nuh uh! I did this for 24 Sundays of that year, but because the ROTC screwed up my records for MS22, I didn’t get a passing mark. So much for attendance.

Not passing MS22 gave me something to worry about during my later years in college as I would not be able to graduate without it. It’s a good thing though that when I was about to graduate, the policy was changed to what’s called the National Service Training Program (NSTP) which only required a year to complete. As a result of that policy revision, since I was “officially” able to complete more than a year’s equivalent of NSTP, I no longer had to pursue finishing MS22. My cousin wasn’t so lucky though as he had to complete his program in Fort Bonifacio prior to the implementation of NSTP.

So now that I’m a parent, I would make sure that my son, when he approaches that age, would not have to waste his time on such an utterly useless program. Might as well he go the CWS route to complete his requirements, but that would be in the next 8 years or so. A lot of things might change and so I’ll have to wait and see. Again, the bottom line is that in my experience, ROTC is a waste of time.

The iPad as an Amazing Musical Tool

Just last week, my wife and I bought a new iPad from one of the shops at the SM Mall of Asia. I had been contemplating about getting a tablet computer or e-book reader for years given the advantages they have. I always thought that I could at the very least have one as a library or sheet music stack on the go. Upon getting an iPad, it opened up a whole new world to me.

The first thing about the iPad that was obvious to me was that I can use it as a musical instrument. This is due to Jordan Rudess’s influence, having seen him on many Dream Theater videos that feature the iPhone and then the iPad as an alternative to his Haken Continuum. Taking cue from that influence, my first app purchase was Wizdom Music’s Tachyon and MorphWiz. These two apps simply blew my mind away as it transformed my iPad into a new musical instrument, sort of like a fretless instrument with more controls. More toys for me to make a noise with then.

The second obvious application for the iPad was as a sheet music reader. I have plenty of sheet music in PDF format and so I got Adobe Acrobat Reader installed in the tablet, loaded up some of my sheet music in it, and there I go. I now have most of my sheet music with me in just a small package. No more folders or extra envelopes to bring with me then.

Reading all over the web, I realized that I can do more with it that those things I’ve mentioned. I have GarageBand in my iPad so theoretically I can perform multitrack audio and MIDI recordings with it. I have most of the things required to make that happen such as a couple of keyboards (from the massive Kurzweil PC88 to the Korg Nanokey), my trusty Technics digital piano, some guitars, and my Zoom H4n recorder. All I lack now is the digital camera connection kit for the iPad (essentially an iPad port to USB adapter). Since the Zoom H4n and the Korg Nanokey has been confirmed to work with the iPad, if I get that connector then boom! A recording studio on the go that’s more mobile than my laptop rig.

Since I’m a music transcriber, I’ve also thought about how the iPad would work as a scorewriter. It’s unfortunate that Sibelius for iPad hasn’t been written yet. However, there’s Symphony Pro and Notion for iPad. Since I’ve been reading reports about how both iPad scorewriters are prone to crashing, I held off the decision to purchase one or the other.

The iPad’s WiFi connectivity can turn it into a remote control surface for DAWs like Sonar, Logic Pro, Cubase, etc. This I haven’t tried yet but I’m assuming that it would be a good alternative to getting an actual control surface. I would have to admit though that nothing beats the actual hardware. But if you’ve got an iPad, it maybe worth trying out.

Having spent only a few days with the iPad, I now have an understanding of why a number of musicians prefer to use the iPad, iPhone, Mac Books and other Apple products for their music production needs. It’s easy to use, and it’s already optimized. I didn’t need to do any tweaks of sort to get things like MorphWiz running. With my PC-based music production gear, I had to spend hours tweaking various aspects of it to get them running smoothly. The big turn off for Apple products is the price. The iPad is not cheap, though I got mine lower since the New iPad just got released and I got the iPad 2. If I’ve already seen that much from just spending a few days with the iPad, I suppose there’s still a lot of exciting things for me to look forward to as this new device helps me in creating new music.

The Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines Contributes to the Dwindling African Elephant Population

My oh my. Tsk, tsk, tsk! Thanks to African poachers and religiously devout paying customers from the Philippines, Thailand, China and Japan, the African Elephant may soon become extinct.

I just read this piece from the National Geographic about how the illegal ivory trade in Africa relates to a pedophile priest who was transferred to Cebu and promoted in rank (instead of being prosecuted), owning a virtual museum of ivory statues, Roman Catholic-Muslim black market trade relations, corrupt customs officials, and Filipino Roman Catholic obsessions with the Sto. Niño. Even when the world has found replacements for ivory, it seems like the Roman Catholic Church is having a hard time letting go.

In the Philippines, Ivory statues of Sto. Niño and other “gods” for sale are glorified, gilded in gold and expensive clothing while elephant populations are dwindling down and many parishioners continue to live below suitable living conditions. It seems like the Philippines is still in the Middle Ages if you read this.

One priest claims such extravagance is an offering to “god” while people go hungry and elephants continue to be massacred. If you think about it, you will wonder why there are people who question what sort of “god” do these fanatics worship. This is just one of the many reasons why the Roman Catholic Church is accused of being a backward-thinking organization. Need any evidence of that? Check out many of Spain’s former colonies, and maybe even Spain itself.

These so-called holy men try to preach “god” to a hungry population while they dress up their lifeless ivory idols in gold, silver, and Swarovski crystals? No wonder they have followers who are hungry, deprived and therefore easily manipulated.

This is hypocrisy in action! These priests impose upon their congregation to think not of earthly wealth and desires and then get them to part ways with their hard-earned money. Where does all of this money go? To the priests and their lavish lifestyles, surrounded by their statues of ivory while they fatten up their asses with rich food and wine. The thought of it is just sickening.

Read more about it here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/10/ivory/christy-text.

Defining the Kind of Music Known as Prog

The term “progressive rock” or “prog” as a genre of music is very difficult to define indeed. From 1995 to 2000, I sang and played piano and keyboards in a band known as “Jacob’s Ladder” to UCCP Ellinwood-Malate Church insiders and “Blue Fusion” to very few people, some of which are now prominent figures in today’s  Filipino progressive rock scene (they probably have forgotten all about us by now). It was difficult for me to explain what prog is as most of what I would tell people would deem insufficient. Fast forward to today’s day and age, being way more knowledgeable now than when I was playing back then, I can try and attempt to define what prog really is.

Back in those days when I played with Jacob’s Ladder/Blue Fusion, I recall some people asking me, “Pare, ano ba ang tugtugan nyo?” (rough English translation: “Dude, what sort of music does your band play?”). I would typically answer three words: Gospel, Alternative and Progressive Rock. The followup question to that would be, “Pare, ano ba yung progressive rock?” (“Progressive rock? What’s that, dude?). I would then cough up some cliche answer like, “It’s the most unique kind of rock music there is,” “It’s like classical meets jazz meets rock”, blah, blah, blah. I would also give some examples like Dream Theater, Rush, Yes, Kansas, Genesis, etc., etc., all to the confusion of the person who I was talking to.

Sometimes there are people who would say something like, “Oh, and so it’s like Arkarna, Incubus…,” and that kind of crap. I would respectfully reply, “No. Arkarna is not prog. Think of something like Dream Theater and all the crapload of bands I talked to you about.” I then receive a blank stare afterwards until me and my bandmates  start playing whatever horrible prog composition we had just concocted.

Anyway, before you get sleepy from all my anecdotes, let us examine what people typically say about what prog is and then see if that is really a unique quality in progressive rock:

1. It’s rock that is heavily influenced by classical music rather than blues – It’s true that progressive rock is heavily influenced by classical music with some examples being Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Genesis and Yes. However, it would be difficult for me to find a prog fan who would classify Yngwie Malmsteen, ABBA and The Polyphonic Spree as progressive rock acts. Yngwie Malmsteen is obviously classically influenced with his Nicolo Paganini posturing and Baroque-inspired compositions. ABBA? Just listen to “Money, Money, Money” and you’ll hear the classical influence. The Polyphonic Spree have that symphonic flair. The point is that you can argue the classical influence but if you define progressive rock in that manner, you might as well classify all sorts of music as prog. After all, plenty of stuff that you hear from radio-friendly pop to obscure prog basically follow common practice period tonality.
2. It’s rock that features heavy use of odd time signatures. Okay. Progressive rock does indeed use a lot of odd time signatures like my favorites 5/4 and 7/8 as well as 11/8, 7/4, 15/16, etc. Would you consider a band like Soundgarden to be prog just because “Spoonman” is in 7/4? Many prog rock fans won’t.
3. Prog features virtuoso musicianship . Again, we see virtuosos even in radio-friendly genres. For example, certain J-Pop songs feature virtuosic musical passages within a radio-friendly format. A die-hard prog fan, despite his appreciation, wouldn’t call that prog at all.
4. Prog incorporates influences from musical disciplines from all over the world. Isn’t that what people call “World” music nowadays?
5. Prog music is typically lengthy and would not fit the radio format. So does classical music, jazz, and jam band music.
6. Prog has lengthy instrumental passages. And so does “real” jazz and a lot of classical stuff.
7. Prog is the kind of music that the masses don’t hear every day. Hmm, in today’s time, most of what we call “art” or “classical” music fits this description along with avant-garde jazz, “ethnic” music, etc.

I can go on and on about how people would typically define what prog is and any inquisitive music lover will offer up a counter-argument that would state that such a quality may also apply to other kinds of music as well. Have you heard of something called “Pronk” (prog combined with its former antithesis, namely punk)?

As you can see, can you really say that progressive rock is a definite genre? In some respects, yes, but the qualities that are said to make it distinct are not exclusive traits. No wonder why Robert Fripp and bands like The Mars Volta and Porcupine Tree have reservations about calling their music progressive rock.

In my personal opinion, if there would be a real definition of what progressive rock is, I would go back to why the term was coined in the first place. I would take into account the adjective “progressive”. I would say that progressive rock is a kind of music that features change and growth. It’s the kind of music that takes you on a conceptual journey. Its artists are not afraid to push boundaries and try out new things and approaches whether it be attempts in using unique/niche musical instruments, extended instrumental techniques and controlled physiological noises. It’s the kind of music that “progresses” that’s why it’s called progressive rock in the first place. It simply cannot be a genre that can be confined within a musicological discourse or a record executive’s marketing scheme.

As a parting word, any serious fan of progressive rock should think about this. If we define progressive rock according to parameters that have been historically established as being prog, aren’t we confining prog into a sort of a box and therefore causing it to stop being progressive at all? Maybe this is the kind of thinking Rush had when they decided to go for shorter songs after finishing “Hemispheres.

The Music You Need, The Music You Want, The Music You Love

Is playing the music you love a worthwhile endeavor? The optimist musician would instantly answer a big YES! The pessimist would say NO. Both views have their equally valid points that are worth exploring. By evaluating such things will we find answers to what’s the kind of music a musician needs to write and perform and the sort of music he/she would want and love to write and perform.

Why do certain people such as myself become musicians in the first place? The first reason that comes to my mind is that music expresses what mere words could never express. The second reason is that music is universal. Life is simply dull without music. Can you keep paying attention to a movie or a TV series that doesn’t even have a tone or a chord hit of sort? Unless you are deprived of hearing, you would never even consider such media to be entertainment. Even some people who have been deemed clinically deaf like Ludwig Van Beethoven and virtuoso percussionist Evelyn Glennie have very deep appreciation for music. The third reason is that music provides both mental and physical stimuli that would excite any person on the planet. Even the most tone deaf of people love hearing a single song or two. You could easily say for these reasons and many more that writing and playing the music you love is a noble and worthwhile endeavor.

The deepest aspiration of every composer (such as myself) would be to receive appreciation for the work he or she personally believes is his or her real musical voice. The sad reality in this world that’s ruled by the whims of many is that only a very few could make a living off of it. More often than not, composers are forced to compromise their musical aspirations in order to be able to pay the bills. Otherwise, composers like myself would be the starving artists upholding Bohemian ideals. In many regards, ideals are worth holding on to but this nagging question still remains: What worth would ideals be when your stomach is rumbling from hunger?

According to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, biological needs provide the groundwork for reaching higher goals and aspirations. This is pretty obvious. If you are undernourished, you will get sick and then die without even getting the chance to do anything else. You simply won’t succeed preaching to any person who is suffering from hunger. Satiate his hunger and he’ll probably lend you an ear or two. In a similar light, composers and all other musicians would face such problems too. It’s all good that you would want to be able to express your art, but if you don’t have the financial means to do so then how could you do it in the first place? From my experience, it is very common for many musicians to take on other jobs as an aid to express their art. I used to have a corporate job three years ago while trying to record what I thought for myself are my personal masterpieces of progressive rock and art music. Some would wait tables waiting for that big break to happen.

At the present time, I have all these musical ideas for original prog, classical, jazz compositions but I have to pimp myself into working music jobs that are  far from my ideals. I’m lucky that making music in the multimedia sector provides more freedom but it’s not the exact kind of freedom I would want personally as an artist. It feels like it’s close but no cigar. I got to eat, pay the bills and support my family and the chances of keeping my son from going hungry with the powers of progressive rock is very slim. I would think that many musicians think the same way and then go on to explore things like jingle making, writing the next big hit, and all those sort of commercial music jobs because of more immediate concerns than meeting lofty goals.

This reminds me of my first day training as an independent karaoke MIDI producer. Just a few hours ago, I was being trained by RJ Sy, bassist of the Karl Roy Band. It was a shock for me to hear that RJ never earned a single cent from playing with Karl Roy. With Karl Roy being a legend in the Philippine rock music scene, it is baffling and unfair. While the people who can’t even write a song earn millions with their second-rate versions of hits from the 70s, 80s, 90s and even up to the present time, bands like the Karl Roy Band are performing and writing music pro bono. RJ would admit that playing with Karl Roy was indeed musically satisfying, but it would never take care of his expenses. It couldn’t even pay for a bottle of beer he would enjoy in the venue where he’s playing.

I remember the time that I played with my old band known to UCCP Ellinwood-Malate Church insiders as Jacob’s Ladder and known to the outside as Blue Fusion. Back in the late 90s up until the last quarter of 2000, we tagged along with Filipino progressive metal kings Eternal Now for a couple of gigs. If my memory serves me right, audience numbers would never exceed 20 during those days! I remember having that disappointed look upon seeing how empty looking the bars were. Despite the musical joy and fulfillment playing progressive rock brings, nobody in the Philippines would give the genre the attention and respect it deserves. I still played the gigs just for the love and appreciation I have for prog. It is very likely that people both inside and outside the church have forgotten about Jacob’s Ladder or Blue Fusion or whatever name you would call those five teenaged musicians who thought that they were among the few who played prog rock in the country.

There are times that being coerced into having to write or play the music that you “need” is a good thing in certain respects. You get to learn a lot of things. MIDI production and music transcription provides excellent education by experience. I’ve learned a lot of things since I started transcribing for Kuya Cesar (Cesar S. Wycoco) and Tatay Romy (Romy San Mateo). My experiences writing music for multimedia applications were more than stimulating. I also think my ongoing training as a MIDI producer would add an irreplaceable wealth of knowledge to my expanding arsenal of techniques.

So, what would be the conclusion to all of my ramblings about music? I think that all musicians have to fulfill immediate needs using honest means whether it be in the music sector or elsewhere. It’s stupid to say that you don’t need to earn money. How else could you purchase your musical instruments and gear without it? More importantly, how can you keep yourself from going hungry without earning a single cent?

It’s also important to say that meeting those immediate needs would pave the way towards reaching any musician’s musical ideals. When you no longer worry about how to pay for your house, your car, your child’s college fund, etc., then of course you would be free to pursue writing that magnum opus you’ve been dreaming about. You could say that the Eraserheads would not have been able to write a concept album like “Fruitcake” without first recording “Ultraelectromagneticpop!”. The Who’s “Tommy” would never have come to life had they forgotten to write “My Generation”. Dream Theater would not have been able to write “Scenes From A Memory” without “Pull Me Under” opening up opportunities for them. You could say that it’s necessary to go and delve into the music you need before pursuing the music you want and love. It’s the bitter reality of life as a musician but the rewards awaiting those who persevere are sweet.

When will my reward come? That I do not know but I’m hoping it’s out there somewhere.