#239 ‘TIL THE RIGHT ONE COMES ALONG (DAVE CLARK FIVE COVER). so my brother started recording his vocal takes here at the hills (also known as my music room) a couple of months ago, and last thursday he brought along a condenser mic borrowed from a friend of his. we set it up and it worked fine with him, but when i tried to record with it the vocal takes sounded terrible!
long story short, i was troubleshooting the entire morning, and JUST NOW got it working right. won’t trouble you guys with an explanation because now that i know what the problem was, i feel really stupid—like i was counting to potato for hours.
ANYWAY. this is an old song that i’ve always loved; figured it was an easy song so i ran through all my mic tests this morning using the verse/chorus/end. my dad plays this on the guitar and sings it a lot; probably every other time he sits down to practice. don’t anyone tell him that i sang it though—he’ll just get all mushy and i’ll get all embarrassed. hahaha!
here is me through a condenser mic. hopefully there a little bit more bass in my voice; god knows i need it.
#238 TELEPHONE (STEPH MILLS FEAT. RUGGZ & A PROBLEM LIKE MARIA). oh my goodness, i’ve been waiting for this song for forever! steph asked me to sing the hook of this song ages ago, and i actually thought that she only used one hook (i sent four, i think). glad she included more than just the main chorus of the song—thought this turned out really well. :)
when i grow up, i want to rap like steph mills! hahaha. until then, though, i’m content singing her songs’ hooks.
it runs in the blood, as you can see. <3
that’s my dad in the middle, playing the guitar for his high school band—he says he was probably 15-16 when this picture was taken.
this is how my parents met: my dad played guitar for d’ vibrators; my mom played the drums for d’ gay garnets. they were childhood friends, but as they grew up they figured out that they had a lot more in common than just being from the same neighborhood. music was probably the defining point of that “figuring it out” phase, though—they kept on bumping into each other at gigs and house parties.
yes, this is a true story and those are real band names thought up by real ’60s teenagers. i know, right?
most of the time i’m the dependable one when it comes to a collaborative effort—i love planning things, i love the creative process, and most of all i love being able to share an awesome final product with people who will hopefully enjoy it.
sometimes, though, i get into funks—just sort of a natural ebb to correspond with my musical workflow. i get creatively blocked, or work suddenly needs 200% of me, or i get hit with the flu, or maybe i just get depressed for a month. usually i’m able to plan around this, but sometimes unlucky collaborators get that dreaded delay in communication and/or deliverables. if that’s ever happened between us and you’re reading this now, i’m really so very sorry. it’s an annoyance i’m familiar with, believe me—whenever i’m aware that i’m the one being the pain in the ass, don’t worry, i’m disappointed in me, too.
it was easier to own up to these things when i was still updating this blog with my musical progress each week; so, to be a musician who plays well with others, and just to be a better person overall, i think i should start doing that again.
here we go; a short list of things i need to do by the end of this month: record a demo of the new ukulele song i’ve been writing; record the cover of the saber rider theme that rekapper and i have been meaning to do; record vocals for the collab with throatcatcher; and spiffy up two of my WIPS well enough to be included in the next gentle whale sampler and the new hai compilation, respectively. game on.
oh, you know. just some pictures of me doing my job… at the pulp summer slam press conference.
that’s me (in the first picture, duh) with half of dragonforce! got to ask them (along with the other bands: amoral, circa survive, a skylit drive and coheed and cambria) a couple of questions. it was a good day. :)
on that pinay spitfire tip: with the one and only ruby ibarra right before her show in manila last april.
araneta dreams (a.k.a. a post long overdue)—it was both quieter and louder than i expected it to be. araneta coliseum wasn’t packed, but the energy was palpable, and the performances were good. for the most part is was good vibes all around, and my friends and i enjoyed ourselves. had the pleasure of introducing my friends to the music of local wonders j-hon, juan thugs, and a few others.
there was a girl who kept on screaming abra and zaito’s names during freddie aguilar’s set with his sons. to that girl, whoever you are: you don’t do that. learn yourself some music history before you show up to an event like a screaming, mindless fan girl. you embarrass yourself AND your idols by not being educated.
aside from that, A+! my favorite parts were the freddie aguilar / watawat set, the loonie vs dizaster battle, and gloc-9’s set. 10/10, would go again next year. <3
this started as a music progress blog—a fact that i remember only when i run out of things to post.
it’s much easier to just build up a queue and not have to worry about posting—but is there really a point to it? little to none, i would say. collecting bits and pieces of the internet that i like into this blog is useful only because it’s fun to do. when updating it starts to feel like a chore, the blog’s probably outlived its purpose.
before that happens i’d like to take a step back and re-focus. so:
here’s me, making music and making the memories that will be the stuff of my songs in the future. it won’t be as entertaining as a gajillion reblogs or scheduled song requests, but it’s a start.
hello, it’s M. let’s talk music. :)
