Muse-sings

Like what I promised, an update. I didn’t win the bidding because my mom was using the (family) laptop at around 10pm and I can’t ask her to step off because she was playing. I lost it to this lhordpaolo guy…too bad. Then again, I guess I don’t have to shell out Php1200 for that top, it isn’t too pricey for me but the thought of paying something like this may not be worthwhile in the long run, since this top is trendy, not a classic wardrobe. I guess back to Top Man then.

Last Saturday, I rehearsed with our Church’s band for the performance the following day. It was rather different, in that there were seven (7) songs, rather than just six (6). The rehearsals went pretty well, although on my part, I was thinking and thinking of violin in-between intermezzos for all 7 songs. That is NOT easy, especially because some of the songs sound alike, has the same key signature and as if just part of one big song sang with different lyrics. Tough, but I weathered it out, by promising to brainstorm on it that night. What I like about this rehearsal was that I got a real violin solo part during the first song, I like it like that but those times are rare, unless some songs part of the repertoire have interludes like that. Anyways, during the rehearsal, I was pressured to think of references I can base my interludes, at the end of the day, it all boiled down to The Corrs. I tried alluding Bond but to no avail, Bond is too classical to fit in Christian Pop. After the rehearsal, I went to megamall, ate lunch in Bubble Tea, my new Tokyo Tokyo (albeit more pricey) circa 2004. As far as ubiquity is concerned, that train of indulgence ended when I lost twice in a row in Soul Calibre, and I was using my 2 top guns, Kilik and Seung Mina, guess you can’t win them all. Bad luck spilled through the Samurai shodown arcade, the arcade itself was broken, the joystick to be exact, and because of that, I can’t move the character, making me end up with this futuristic successor of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Yoshitora, kinda hot, but is actually like those Asian Pop stars turned anime (ergo, exaggerated looks). I made it to Sankuro but never got past him (duh, Mina’s the only one who can beat the hell out of that cheating character, like I would rather lose to Yumeji than him).

Come Sunday, the actual performance day, we had a little rehearsal form 7-8am, right before the start of the service (which is like the equivalent of a mass). We kinked a few verses left and right and then we were ready. We usually perform before the service proper, which is the lecture/homily. The performance went well, from my point of view, but it wasn’t a stellar performance, I don’t think the band has ever given a remarkable performance, in my perspective, not that it matters anyways. So after our mini gig we went to a small room and had our breakfast, yes, some of us just go to the church after taking a bath and fixing ourselves up, without eating breakfast because they serve breakfast there. During the breakfast, the other players were talking about certain things, like this previous drummer who will be flying off to Cambodia, then to China, I think. Ok, so I don’t know anything about that, so I’m mum on that. One player told us EVERY Sunday, after the service they go to Rockwell and eat, one player says Rockwell is small and that there aren’t very many choices to eat there, unless you want to eat in Cibo, Kaya, or whatever fine dining restaurant, Ok, I agree that Rockwell is small and I disagree that there aren’t very many places to eat because at the ground floor, they have a lot of restaurants and cafes there, from Jollibee to Delifrance.

Probably the most interesting thing I heard was that one player said that the back-up singers don’t back-up the lead as much as they should be. I concur, I barely hear them when the lead singer belts it all out, and the lead’s voice is kind of thin and as if gasping for air at times so she throws it to her back-up, so she can rest a bit and of course share the spotlight. The back-up don’t know what to do, too bad. It’s like playing volleyball where the server puts the ball in play, receiver gets it but tosser didn’t set the ball for play. I personally noticed this but I was mum on it because, the hell I know about them. As long as my interludes are heard I’m cool with that.

I realized that whenever I play in lower notes, I don’t hear myself, it drowns out in the entire band. When I play higher notes, I float, sometimes, because the guitar solos and at times, riffs are really loud, and I know exactly why. Its microphone is plugged in the instrument itself, did I mention it was an electric guitar? Funny how in the rehearsal I sounded so dominating but in the actual performance I kind of got saturated. Some players were saying maybe it’s like that there but in the “house”, it’s mixed already. Well Ok, that’s fine but my instincts tell me that if I don’t hear myself on the monitor, I am NOT heard. I’ve had experiences with this. DLSU Chamber, on their major concerts, microphones are tested and checked if we register on the monitor, and if both are positive, the mixing is considered. I guess the same thing goes there in Wordcom. I understand blending but to the point of dissolving? Well, I could be wrong. I did, one time hear the recorded performance and my theory is right, lower notes (those notes played in G and D string first position) aren’t very audible, higher notes steal the show (wahahahahaha). One of these days I’ll prove that by uploading or embedding (how am I gonna do this?) the video my parents took.

That has been my weekend, its mundane but its great. Until next time, au revoir!