The Church Pianist Experience versus the Prog Rock/Jazz Keyboardist

Last New Year’s Eve was very memorable for me. It was one of those rare occasions that happens a few years or so when a church requires a pianist. It’s another case of a regular pianist/organist becoming unavailable and I’m asked to fill in. It’s no accident that such times happen, and I do think it is God speaking through those people to call me up and help in their worship service. Therefore, December 31, 2012 became the second time that I was able to perform some music at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines – Makati Church of Christ Disciples (UCCP-MCCD for short). This piece is actually for people who are interested or called into becoming a church organist or pianist, and I would like to share what little experience I have in this field.

First, I’d like to provide a little disclaimer: I am not an authority on being a church pianist or organist. I have much more experience as a keyboardist/pianist in a progressive rock band than a pianist/organist for a typical Christian worship service that favors hymns from centuries past. There are many similarities yet there are notable differences.

1. First obvious similarity is the instrument. ‘Nuff said.
2. Second similarity is the need for repertoire knowledge and technical keyboard skills. Just like playing in a progressive rock or a worship band, you need to have some good chops because hymns are not easy to play. The ability to sight read is also a necessity because unless you have impeccable memory you only have a few hours to practice and get your repertoire for the service at a considerable level.
3. Third similarity is the the need for improvisation. In certain sections of the worship service, the need to improvise becomes apparent such during certain sections for prayer, offertories on occasion, etc.
4. The last one and most important similarity is the need for synchronicity between pianist and choir/congregation. In a worship service, almost everybody will sing, and the church congregation is always an active participant in the music making experience. Just like the prog rock or jazz keyboardist, a church pianist must be able to play in sync with the congregation’s flow and momentum.

When I say playing in sync with the congregation’s flow and momentum, I mean to say that a pianist should have the attitude that the congregation would become a band or ensemble member and that the pianist will treat the congregation as such. This goes both ways:  Sometimes, a church pianist will dictate the tempo and overall mood of the piece/hymn through his playing (unless the choir conductor takes charge of that). There are also times when the pianist has to adjust his playing in accordance to how a congregation would typically sing. One example I can think of is this: There are congregations that are used to singing a hymn in a particular key other than it was originally written. A church pianist must be able to transpose such hymns on the fly. A church pianist would have an easier time playing a hymn as written when a congregation consists mostly of members with some form of musical training. In cases where a congregation has little or no training at all, a pianist must be prepared to adjust accordingly. The worst experience I had regarding this was a congregation that tends to sing hymns in different keys after each stanza. Whew! That was challenging.

Now, let’s take a look into some differences between being a church pianist and a prog rock or jazz keyboardist:

1. The instrument: A church pianist playing in a service where old-style 16th- to 18th-century hymns are in order only has a piano and/or an organ. Prog rock and jazz tends to be free and experimental, and therefore they can call upon a wide array of sounds as their instruments can call up. Keyboardists in a contemporary worship band have the same options as guys who play in prog rock bands.
2. Repertoire: Church pianists would typically play the classic hymns. Prog rock keyboardists go anywhere from renaissance-era music to contemporary.
3. Improvisation: While church pianists have the need to be able to improvise, their improvisations cannot be indulgent! No shred piano for me while in a church service. When I function as a church pianist, I can’t play blindingly fast and aggressive a la Franz Liszt. Prog rock and jazz keyboardists can be all over the place and blaze away with solos that rival Spinal Tap proportions.

Being a church pianist is an exercise in restraint and control. While I am required to have some considerable chops and precision, you need to be able to hold back and only play what is necessary. You can improvise but you cannot chop up your keyboard like Keith Emerson stabbing his L-100 Hammond organ. Such control is VERY important because the goal of being that sort of musician is to facilitate the congregation to focus on God through music and not focus on the musician.

Here’s some advice for aspiring church pianists and organists:

Learn the material: Get into the habit of sight reading hymnals every day. Make it a goal to commit to memory popular hymns like “Amazing Grace”, “How Great Thou Art”, etc. even if you can manage to play the melody at minimum.

Learn how to improvise: Improvisation helps in many ways. First, you can compose some lovely pieces on the fly and on the spot for sections of the worship service like the prelude/postlude, prayer time, offertory, etc. Second, given the fact that playing all four voices of hymns can be difficult to manage at times (e.g. intervals that go up to the 12th and 13th, unless you have really huge hands like Rachmaninoff!), being able to improvise an accompaniment based on the melody of the hymn is VERY important.

Brush up on music theory and ear training: This helps prepare you for improvisation, which is essentially an application of both disciplines.

The most important thing to take note of is pray to thank the Lord for such an opportunity to serve. Thank the Lord for allowing you to become an instrument for his glory. Also ask the Lord for necessary strength for the task. All that preparation will always fall short without the strength of God.

My pastor friends tell me that that particular instance of being a church pianist/accompanist is God’s calling. I have no doubt that in that particular day, God led me to that path in order to serve. However, I still don’t know if God would want me to go towards that direction in the long run. What I am certain is that that it’s one sign that the Lord has called me to be involved in a very musical life. I’d like to emphasize once more that it is not out of my own strength and skill that has made me capable. It’s only through the Lord that I gain the confidence go ahead and be a church pianist, even it if it’s just for one particular day. This experience always reminds me of Philippians 4:13 which says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

The Year That Was 2012

How would I sum up the year 2012? I would say that it was blessed and fulfilling. A lot of things have happened this year, and I could go on to say that this was one of the most musically fulfilling years I have experienced in my life. More than that, I would go further in saying that I really am happy that this year will come to a close with a bang.

The year 2012 started to be a very challenging time for my small family of three. My wife was unemployed and freelance projects for me were slim. We were feeling somewhat desperate as it seemed like it would be a financially difficult year for us. However, I’m very happy and thankful that despite all that difficulty, God still provided adequately. We had no debts and we still were able to manage living a rather comfortable lifestyle albeit rather slim pickings. It was also this year that I decided to go work in music full time, and I’m happy that somehow my decision is paying off.

Blessings came in gradually this year. This started off with getting some funding to upgrade my home studio. Around the middle of this year, my wife also finally landed the job of her dreams: a stint as an operations manager in Accenture. I was able to play once more with the band of my youth (the formerly named Jacob’s Ladder) and got involved in some more music projects as well like a string of guitar tab transcription projects for GuitarZoom as well as some music composition and sound design projects on the side.

This year had its bittersweet moments as well. I was experiencing what I believe to be bouts of depression during this last quarter of 2012, October to be particular. My beloved cat Scheherazade gave birth to three healthy babies in June but then passed away 3 months later. Although it was a great learning experience, writing music for a7records turned out to be a bad financial decision. such things caused me to feel a lot of self-doubt and I questioned my competence as a parent, as a husband, as a musician along with everything else. God never left me though and gave me the strength to carry on.

I do think that the Lord had reserved the best for last in 2012. I was suddenly tapped to be the pianist for UCCP-MCD’s New Year’s Eve worship service! I was so surprised when I got a call from my dear friends, Pastors Chaz and Xiaui Romero, when they had indicated that they were in dire need of a pianist since their regular accompanist was unavailable. My pastor friends were telling me that the sudden unavailability of their regular pianist was no accident; it did seem like God wanted me to be there to play some music for the congregation. Over the past few days, I was not feeling confident about being up to the task but I did prepare to be at my very best. To cut the long story short, I was able to play through the entire 2-hour service. I would go to claim that it was not out of my own power and ability that I was playing. I feel certain that it was God that was utilizing my personal playing style to deliver music so that the worship service would be a success, the same way He did guide my band through last October’s fundraising concert. According to Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” By my own power, I will not be capable of anything, but it is He alone who has saved me from sin and gave me strength this day to share my faith through music.

In conclusion, I’m very thankful to The Lord for the year 2012. It was indeed a very good and prosperous year. I look forward to see what God has in store for me, my family, my band, and with all the other people in my life this 2013.

Happy New Year dear readers and I hope that next year would be a blessed one for you as well.

Being Filipino: An Honor or Something to be Ashamed About?

I just found these definitions of “Filipino” at the Urban Dictionary:

http://filipino.urbanup.com/2315108
http://filipino.urbanup.com/1397824

I find these definitions to be hilarious. These also got me into thinking again of what really is a Filipino. Is it a state of being that I have to be proud about like many Pinoys would be? In a lot of ways I would not be. The damaged retrogressive culture that permeates into mind and soul of the typical Juan is something that I do not desire for myself.

Having vicariously (I say vicariously as I have never traveled outside of the Philippines) seen and experienced other Asian cultures, I would have to agree that Filipinos have little to do with being Asian. F. Sionil Jose even goes to proclaiming that the Filipino is not Asian. Culturally speaking, Filipinos have so much more in common with Latin Americans and the Spanish than with the Japanese, Koreans or even Thais. The sad fact is that Filipinos seem to have inherited everything negative about Spanish culture that keeps Filipino society from moving towards progress. Things like Mañana habit (procrastination), ningas cogon (the inability to finish what was enthusiastically started), advancement through connections rather than skill (Padrino system); the “pwede na yan” (that’ll do) mentality of mediocrity; the abuse of amor propio, delicadeza,and utang na loob (indebtedness); and the grip of Roman Catholicism all get in the way of progress of the Filipino society. Such culture has given way into the chaotic state that the Philippines is. Seems like the Pinoy is a creature and lover of chaos that is easily entertained and driven by emotion rather than the intellect.

If you go study the history of the Philippine Islands closely, you might arrive at the conclusion that the concept of being a Filipino originated from Creoles i.e. people of Spanish descent who were born in the Philippines. There are claims that these Creoles co-mingled with the dominant Tagalog tribe (and perhaps with some wealthy businessmen of Chinese descent), established their own government in defiance of Spain (getting inspiration from the French and American Revolutions), and placed their seat of power in Manila. Other tribes of the island could care less. There is one site in particular that goes to a great depth about this topic called “The Nation of Don Rafael Ibarra” if you’d like to read more about it.

It really appears that three centuries of Spanish rule have made Filipinos dumb to the point that there are claims of the Philippines having a collective IQ of only 87. It doesn’t really surprise me given the fact that during the last presidential elections, the Philippines elected a president based on sentiment rather than competence.

The lack of collective achievement as a people is bothersome. Apparently, this is due to having too much freedom with too little discipline, something that former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew had said before. Having too little discipline is readily observable in the Philippines; just try driving at EDSA and the streets of Manila and you’ll know what I mean.

One aspect of Filipinos that continues to drive me crazy in this information age is the fact while Filipinos have admirable work ethic as a hardworking people, they do not appear to be smart about it. I am a freelance worker who’s registered at oDesk, and it appears to me that the trend amongst Filipinos is to drive prices down. It is what I call “nagtratrabaho ng palugi” (working at a loss). Granted that labor is supposed to be cheaper in the Philippines, should that mean that the Filipino’s way of competing with the rest of the world is just through low prices rather than competence? I believe that despite our flaws as a society, the Filipino in this global society are worth much more.

Allow me to give an example. I currently work freelance taking on music and audio jobs. Whenever I apply for a job, I occasionally look into profiles of other contractors. I have noticed that some of these other Filipino contractors price themselves at miserably low rates. I see Filipino freelance musicians at oDesk charging as low as $1.00 an hour for composing music or writing a jingle. This is lower than Philippine minimum wage! (around $1.50/hour) A service like writing music should cost much more than that given how taxing and mentally challenging the process is in the first place (plus the potential value of a jingle as intellectual property). How I thought that Filipinos are very proud of the fact that they are musically inclined! Shouldn’t they ask for more given the fact that they’ve got musical and audio production skills that can compete at the international level? Although it’s virtually unavoidable to take cheap jobs in order to gain higher feedback ratings (and higher rates eventually), why should such workers remain at such a miserable hourly rate? I’d assume that they don’t families to support and they’re still living off their parents. If you look into the salary trends in the medical/general transcription sector in oDesk, the rates are even more miserable.

Going back to those Urban Dictionary definitions, I would have to agree with one post that says “A hard working, industrious, and very strong family oriented people, but notoriously useless at organizing anything beyond chaos as a nation of people.” It hits the point right at home. As an example of that, take a look into Filipino fiestas. Many Filipinos would rather incur enormous debt just to host a party and look good in the community during feast days for pagan gods and goddesses, all of which have been draped with a “Christian” veneer as Santo this and that by the Roman Catholic Church. They’d rather keep on having sex and have as many as 10 children just right after hitting middle age despite lacking the financial resources to properly raise such offspring. No wonder that the Philippines has a collective IQ of 87. Is acting stupid a thing to be proud of? Apparently, many proponents of “Filipino pride” think so.

It’s very sad that Filipinos always think of themselves as small, the underdog so to speak that’s incapable of dreaming big. Despite all the negative things about the Filipino culture, I still would like to believe that Filipinos as a people should be capable of achieving greatness. Examples of these are the many Filipinos who have great individual achievements inside and outside of the country, all of which are mostly earned through a disciplined and frugal approach of living. My parents are a good example. Starting from virtually nothing, they worked their way to acquire assets that currently serve as financial security for themselves. I also happen to have an aunt who works two blue collar jobs in Australia, enabling her to invest some of that money into property and enjoy in the Philippines whatever is left over. Former waiter and security guard turned restauranteur Larry Cortez is another. My wife grew up from a below poverty state and is now making great strides up the corporate ladder at the moment. Why is it that such Filipinos are exceptions to the norm rather than the standard?

I would go to say that Juan has to change his way of thinking in order to succeed, to give value to competence and logical thought rather than emotion and mediocrity. I also do hope that some day this statement would true within the Philippines itself rather than just abroad:

“Most Filipinos are upper middle class. Day know how to budget der money and make lots ob sacripices like staying in da Naby por 20 years so day can get a retirement.” (source : http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Filipino&defid=2315108)

It’s unfortunate that this kind of Filipino is more readily observable in the United States, Australia and anywhere else that has become locations for the Filipino Diaspora. Outside of the gated community where I reside, I usually see Filipinos who are living below the poverty line, incapable of budgeting given the fact that many are in debt, unable to make sacrifices because of the addiction to parties and entertainment, and would eventually retire with a huge debt and a mentality of mendicancy. The Philippines is really home to a fractured culture of people who claim to be Asian yet Hispanic in thinking and afflicted by still existing tribal divisions and a plutocracy that doesn’t care at all.

In a lot of ways I would be ashamed to be a Filipino. I often feel that I lack affinity with what a typical Filipino would want. I’m not a fan of Filipino cuisine, and I have no taste whatsoever for the mainstream OPM scene. I hate Pinoy telenovelas and noontime TV shows simply because they promote stupidity, mediocrity and mendicancy. I don’t watch local TV channels. Call it colonial mentality or whatever but if something is excellent, I have great appreciation for it, and for the most part a lot of things found overseas are leagues away from what is found locally in the Philippines.

However, whenever I see and hear about exemplary individuals such as my wife, my parents, composers Angel Matias Peña and Jose Maceda, restauranteur Larry Cortez and others, I appreciate the fact that Filipinos can be capable of breaking away from the typical Filipino slacker mentality.

“Love Rock” by Emi’s Eve: A Composer/Arranger’s Perspective

About 2 years ago, I wrote some music for Emi Waterson, lead singer and songwriter of Emi’s Eve (an original and covers band from Australia). Fast forward to today, the result of that collaboration is now here for your listening pleasure:

 

(“Love Rock” – Copyright 2012, Emi Waterson/Mark A. Galang/Jeni Wallwork)

 

“Love Rock” is a song that started out as a melody that Emi wrote. She sent me a recording of her singing the melody and I wrote music to accompany that melody. It’s a product of my first musical collaboration with somebody from outside of the Philippines, something that was unimaginable for me prior to the advent of the Internet.

The intro where the strings are sawing away was originally a guitar riff. I even wrote a shredding guitar run in the upper register prior to the part where the vocals kick in. The whole idea that I had in mind for the music was sort of a hard rock song for a pop singer. At the very least I was trying to put some hard rock integrity into the song in the same manner that a J-pop song would have a surprisingly technical twist that you would typically expect from a speed metal piece.

The great thing that I love about this recording is how Emi and the rest of her collaborators have tweaked the arrangement. I think most of the notes I wrote are still there, the most important ones being the riffs, the chord progressions, some of the licks and the basslines. The most surprising thing for me was how the Emi and the other arrangers  turned the main riff and some of the passages into something useful for strings. The string passages gave that sort of chamber music appeal like a Vivaldi concerto.

Since the record is intended for a mass-market/radio audience, I wasn’t really surprised that the guitar solos I wrote were edited although a semblance of which appeared as a lick towards the end. Maybe Emi’s guitar player wrote it himself and could have been influenced by the solo I wrote: I’m not really sure.

To sum it all up, I’m very happy to have worked with Emi on “Love Rock” and a few other songs (regarding which I’ll keep my mouth shut for now). I was really glad how the whole recording turned out. It is a pop song, that’s for certain, but it’s one that requires a good level of musicianship to perform, a rarity in today’s music scene where garbage can produce millions of dollars. Give “Love Rock” a listen and you’ll be happy to hear how amazing Emi and her band are.

To get to know more about Emi and Emi’s Eve, visit http://www.emiseve.com.

Recitals and Canned Music Live

When I was studying piano and classical guitar back when I was still attending classes in Benedictine Abbey School, I remember how it was to line up and wait for my cue to perform. Today, my son is experiencing the same thing for the third time, another step closer to what I hope to be the development of a future violin virtuoso. While waiting for everything to unfold, I’m currently listening to the MSE Orchestra (one of my past clients for sheet music preparation and music transcription). They are performing the kind of stuff they do best: pop songs reconfigured for strings, piano and flute. As expected from professional musicians with years of experience, they are excellent performers. The repertoire, however, is reflective of the sad state of the musical tastes of many Pinoys: instant entertainment that drives the emotions and the feet rather than the mind. Perhaps in as much as MSE and the ensemble would like to perform something artistically gratifying (which they do on occasion), they need to keep a business running, and this is why at this instant they’re churning out what I call canned music. It’s like Muzak being performed live.

Don’t get me wrong. I have great respect for the musicians themselves. It’s impressive how they produce renditions of hits, chamber orchestra style. The pianist’s improvisations are spot on, and the rest of the orchestra play their instruments as if they were just brushing their teeth. However, as much as I’d wish to hear them play stuff like Penderecki, Bach, Debussy, Liszt, or even Wagner, it’s unfortunate that I won’t get the chance to do so. So canned music it is for now.

The set is just bad here at SM Bicutan. If I were Ric and Mariza (MSE’s owners), I’d be really pissed off. First thing is that MSE plans to serve lunch. The assholes at SM failed to provide tables. How are the guests supposed to eat lunch? Minutes after writing this, I see some tables being set up. I’m hoping that they’d put in enough tables for everybody. Second problem is the awful slide in the middle that just gets in the way of the audience. If I was shelling out tons of cash to rent the place for a few hours, I’d expect it to be put out of the way, no excuses.

In a few moments from now, my son would be performing a Gavotte by P. Martini, one of the standard pieces found in the Suzuki Violin School Literature. He could already pull off pieces like Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto in A minor. However, it seems to me like because of the Suzuki methodology, he has to go through recitals in chronological order of the books. Since it’s his 3rd year of playing the violin, he’s playing something from book 3 I believe. Maybe he’ll have a better chance of demonstrating his skills in the School of Tomorrow’s Junior Student Convention in 2014, an event he’ll prepare for after this.

Now I’ll be stopping my critiques and do my best to enjoy the rest of the day. So, I’m guessing that I’ll be expecting the same stuff year after year: classical music from students and canned music from the pros. Maybe if my son goes into another program things might change. It’s a good thing that my son is learning from the pros but I hope I could find an opportunity for him to go for higher artistic goals, the kind of stuff that people like Coke Bolipata would go for rather than play canned music. Well, performing canned music would help pay the bills but musicians need to go for dreams way bigger than that.

Of Eagles and Rats: Family Structures and Socio-Economics

I will be candid and honest here. I find it very annoying and irksome when people ask me why I only have one child and have decided never to have another one. These sort of people go on with their reasons that the child might become unhappy, lacking in social stimulus, and all of those same tired illogical reasons to having more than one child. I explain my reasons to them (along with my reasons for homeschooling and other lifestyle choices), they seem very baffled given that it goes against much of the traditional Filipino culture norms (machismo, two or more children, head of household working in some big corporation, etc.).

In such times, especially when such people encourage me to have a second child, I have this urge to question or tell them, “Since you want it so bad, why don’t you have another child yourself?” or “Perhaps you are rich enough. Maybe I can ask you for financial support for your suggestion.”

If you ask these people why they want to have children, they can’t provide you with a decent and logical answer. For one thing, if you had asked me why I wanted to have a child, I would answer you in this manner:

1. It fulfills the natural, biological urge to reproduce
2. It is a fulfillment of the need to build a family
3. It fulfills the desire to share one’s life and nurture another

I’m being honest here when I state such reasons. I wouldn’t answer you with some answer that would come across as hypocritical. I would not lie as well when I tell you that I cannot fulfill the third reason if I had more than one child. Should I then try to have another child? If I did, the likelihood of ruining the life of my son and that hypothetical child would be great indeed.

To clarify a few reasons for having only a single child, let me describe to you two of God’s creatures and how they differ: the eagle and the rat.

The eagle is a creature that has such high esteem. It is an apex predator, a high-flying bird that rules the air with telescopic vision, sharp talons and a powerful beak. They tend to build their nests in high places. Once an eagle finds its mate, it is for life, an example of monogamy in the animal kingdom. Reproduction tends to be minimal with only about one to three eggs in the nest. In many cases, only a single eaglet succeeds to go on into adulthood. To me, an Eagle represents a vision of going to what seems to be unreachable heights, of dreaming big and doing something noble in life.

The rat, on the other hand, is usually a prey animal. It has poor vision. It’s survival as a species depends on being able to reproduce rapidly, often with multiple partners. It may be crafty but its no apex predator and is always on the lunch menu. It dwells in dark places where they can scavenge for food easily, acting as a pest inside human dwellings. I’m not surprised of the fact that the rat is often used as an analogy for a state of being destitute.

Following the model of an Eagle makes more sense to me because it espouses the “quality over quantity” concept. Being an “eagle” allows me to provide full resources to a single offspring which improves the chances of that child having a superior level of upbringing. My child would have a better chance of avoiding the kind of problems that Alfred Adler describes in his theories regarding birth order. My son enjoys the diversity of social interaction he gets without being pigeonholed into peers of the same age group. He can therefore have the mentality of an apex predator that would not follow the whims of the herd. It’s the same kind of mentality why I ventured out to become my own boss rather than dwelling in corporate slavery.

If you talk about “rats”, they’re everywhere. Take a tour of downtown Manila and you’ll readily see what I mean. Go to the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, and you’ll get a clear picture of how dysfunctional the rat mentality is. There are many people who still have the mistaken belief that children are living insurance policies; in many of these cases, such children turn out to be liabilities as their inept parents are not capable of equipping them well.

Now you know why I choose to be an eagle rather than a rat. I don’t want to be on some other predator’s lunch menu, and I don’t want my son to become prey either.

Afterthoughts About The Movie-Viewing Habits of the Pinoy

My wife and I like watching movies. It’s one of those things that we tend to enjoy together. After watching the last Twilight Saga movie (Breaking Dawn Part 2) and then seeing the Jason Becker movie trailer over at YouTube, it led me to conclude how vacuous the tastes of many Pinoys with regard to their movie viewing choices.

Breaking Dawn Part 2 was entertaining, something that many Filipinos appreciate in their movies but content-wise it was thin. I never even bothered reading the books after my wife reported about how bad Stephanie Meyer’s prose is (she apparently shares the same opinion that Stephen King had with Stephanie Meyer). See, in our household while I am the authority regarding music, my wife is the authority with regard to literature so I tend to listen to her suggestions and opinions regarding prose. Going back to the movie, it was mere entertainment or something that a completionist would do. It’s just that I’ve watched every single Twilight movie and I wanted to see how it all wraps up. To sum up the whole shebang, the Twilight Saga is entertaining in its depiction of teenage angst in a world where vampires and werewolves are different from the traditional folkloric concept of such creatures. Again, it’s entertainment and nothing more. It does not compel anyone to go deep into serious thinking about symbolism and intellectual themes. The Twilight Saga could never merit an intellectual discussion anyway.

And so the theaters were filled with this movie and some other local flick which I wouldn’t bother watching. A day after, I once again saw the trailer for Jason Becker’s biopic “Not Dead Yet”. Being a musician, such a movie sparked a great deal of interest in me and wondered why such a story would never make its premiere in the Philippines. And then I suddenly recalled those other trailers of Justin Bieber and Katy Perry movies in local cinemas. The question now became, “Why do Philippine cinemas show such vacuous movies rather than movies that compel people to think or imagine?” It’s bothersome that majority of Filipinos only prefer mind-numbing entertainment rather than information that would provoke them to think big and be creative. Philippine theaters would prefer to air vacuous movies like Justin Bieber’s and Katy Perry’s rather than a Jason Becker movie.

Consider this. Which of those music-related flicks would prove to be more inspiring? If I would compare the trailers for each of these flicks, in terms of overcoming challenges and obstacles, the Jason Becker movie would just sink those Justin Bieber and Katy Perry flicks to the bottom. While the two would continue to dominate music charts with their vacuous pop crap, Mr. Becker churns out wonderful, imaginative music to this day using only his eyes. If we examine the backgrounds of these artists, it seems to me that all of them stem from middle-class North American families. I don’t understand why the Justin Bieber and Katy Perry trailers seem to whine about the “obstacles” they face while they churn out millions and millions of dollars every single night, complaining about being “different” and living in a “repressive” environment. I don’t really see how different they are from every aspiring teenager who wants to make it in the music industry. It looks like all of them grew up in similar suburban settings so with the exception of Jason Becker, I don’t really see what they’re whining about.

Jason Becker, in contrast, is burdened by a real challenge. Being one of the top-notch guitar virtuosos of his time, he suddenly fell ill to Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig disease. He can only move his eyes, his jaw and to some extent his mouth, but he can’t move and can’t speak. His musical and artistic mind is trapped inside a body that many people would easily give up on. Despite the enormous challenge, he still can write music through his eye movements that control his computers and sophisticated software.

I seem to be going off tangent but I’m trying my best to illustrate a point here. That being Philippine cinemas would rather feature shallow entertainment than something that is truly inspiring. The Jason Becker movie has that sort of story that I think many Filipinos would like, since many Filipinos are suckers for that kind of feel-good-underdog-rising-against-the-odds movie. It’s sad that it would never be shown here. The reason could be easily demonstrated in a following imagined scenario:

Me: Uy manong, nagugustuhan nyo po ba yung mga kanta ni Justin Bieber at Katy Perry (Hey mister, do you like songs by Justin Bieber and Katy Perry?)

Manong: Ay oo, gusto ko yun. Madaling sayawan at nakakaaliw. Gustong gusto nga ng mga bata yun e. (Yes. I like their songs. They’re very amusing and danceable. In fact, a lot of kids like them).

Me: Eh manong, yung si Jason Becker ba kilala nyo? Magaling na magaling gitarista yun. (Manong, what about Jason Becker? Do you know him? He’s a very good guitarist.)

Manong: Jason Becker? Sino yun? (Jason Becker? Who’s that?)

Me: Magaling na gitarista yun noong dekada ’80. Nagkasakit, di na makagalaw, pero nakakapagsulat pa rin ng kanta. (He’s a very good guitarist in the ’80s. He got sick, became paralyzed but is still capable of writing music)

Manong: Talaga? Ewan ko. Di naman mapapanood sa Wowowee yun e. Hindi  sikat. (Really? I don’t know. I can’t watch him on Wowowee. He’s not famous.)

The point in this illustration is that most Filipinos are only attracted to what’s popular. That person or entity may have all the kind of skill and talent in the world but if he/she is not popular, she wouldn’t make a dent into the Filipino psyche. Many Filipinos tend to admire only what’s popular, even those without any sort of substance whatsoever. This is one fatal flaw in Filipino culture that has resulted into a messed up government, substandard education (Nationalist sentiments promoting Tagalog in public general education, despite the language’s divisiveness, inefficiency to articulate scientific and intellectual concepts, and lack of economic value), and the lack of entertainment options that are intellectually stimulating. And that includes movie choices folks.

Reviving the Band Part IV: Rodell’s Wedding

I just got home from a special event in the life of a dear friend: my band’s bass player, Rodell. He just got married this afternoon in a very picturesque location, a colonial town called Taal, Batangas.

I’m very happy for my friend as he had finally found someone whom he’d be with for an entire lifetime. Big things and big changes are really going to go his way as he’s on the road to building his own family. Here’s a fancy shot of some people with the groom:

Here’s another fancy shot of our drummer, Archie, giving an impression of a despotic ruler of a third-world former Spanish colony with the groom:

And so Rodell’s wedding is the primary event of the day. This day is indeed a wonderful experience given that there were other things that happened.

Perhaps the next most important thing that happened is that we got to see Erick again. After a long, long time of being unable to respond to any of our messages, he finally showed up. I was mistaken that had lost any interest in our lives; it’s just that he was busy settling more immediate personal matters. For that I offer my apology for being rash about what I had previously thought of him. All that matters to me is that he’s happy and that he could rise above the challenges of a rather complex situation he is in, the details of which I’m at no liberty to disclose. Another thing is that he seems to be interested in playing with the band. If he could make the time, perhaps our band could be something like King Crimson: two drummers/percussionists similar to the kind of dynamic that Bill Bruford and Jamie Muir had during the “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic” era. Would that happen any time soon? I wouldn’t know yet.

Third thing that happened is a realization of sorts. I would even say it’s a humbling experience. I finally was able to perform again in front of an audience, namely Rodell’s wedding guests. Prior to the wedding, I had been preparing a number of songs, a few of which were supposed to be sung by Pastor Chaz. Most of these were covers of songs from other artists and another one was an original composition called “promises”. This day confirmed my suspicions: I could only focus well on one musical task at a time. While I could consider myself competent behind the keys, playing piano and singing lead at the same time is something I wouldn’t consider doing again.

Pastor Chaz’s vocal performance with my piano accompaniment was good in my opinion. My solo performance, however, was utter crap. If I had just played some instrumentals, it would have been better. I should have shut my mouth. You see, “Promises” is a complex vocal and piano piece. It features really busy piano work with stride/march-style left hand accompaniment, right hand leads plus vocals. I tried doing all of them this evening and it was a mess.

Yesterday, I had resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t be able to sing and that I wouldn’t get the chance to perform “Promises”. During rehearsals, Pastor Chaz was singing it, but he wasn’t confident enough to go through and perform it. Around that time, I thought the possibility of playing the song live was lost.

Moving on to the wedding reception, after having performed a song well with Pastor Chaz on vocals, I resigned myself to the fact that I’m not performing again that evening. That was until the emcee announced an event called a money dance i.e. some sort of waltz or sweet dance where guests begin sticking paper bills into the bride and groom’s clothing. The emcee called me out, to my surprise, and then Rodell started asking me to play “Promises”, a song I wrote as a wedding gift for them.

There were a few problems with this. “Promises” is not a waltz. Another thing is that the song originally had a virtuosic middle section with octaves, Phrygian scale runs, etc. which I conceived as a part of Rodell’s story during his time in the Middle East. Since I was put on the spot to perform it during the money dance, I wouldn’t sound right if I had played that crazy instrumental section.

And so, with no singer to sing “Promises”, I started to play and sing along. I was able to finish the song, improvised a somewhat generic sounding instrumental section that I thought would have been better for the money dance, and then play a couple of more improvisational passages just to keep the dance going until I got the signal from the emcee to end the set. Despite being able to complete the song, I knew very well that I messed up. It wasn’t the same piece I was rehearsing without the vocals. Maybe I should have just played a pure instrumental set for that money dance. I felt like a big joke afterwards.

Just as Pepe Manikan of Eternal Now fame told me some 12 years ago, I got to either stick with the keyboards or stick with vocals. This day’s performance mishap proves that he’s right. I was trying to do too much. I’m not impressed by my own voice (why o why did I get the idea to sing lead in the first place?) so perhaps it’s best to stick to my keyboards rather than try to do vocals, especially in a live setting.

Lesson learned? If I’m gonna do my best to revive the band, I better find a frontman/lead singer. Somehow, I’m imagining Pepe say, “I told you so.”

Despite stressing out myself and breaking into hives, I’m happy overall.

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.