Closure (A revisited thought)

I've always been a irreligious person. An apathetic individual when I was a kid who had no knowledge as to what 'God' was in the mainstream religions, till I finally heard of this 'Jesus', 'Buddha' and etc that they speak of, when I was abit older. A cynical person I am about life, I know that I only live once on Earth. I do not worry about where I am gonna be after I've passed on someday, but I would just wait and see where I go. In my family line, alot of them were non-believers, especially my Grandpa from my dad's side who was an assured Atheist himself. My parents never encouraged me to be in a religion or to be a non-believer. All of this came upon myself about how I wanna live life.

Without making any immediate assumptions, I went to an 'Assembly Of God' Church called 'Glad Tidings', located in PJ a few months back to feed my brain with knowledge about Christianity. A college friend of mine introduced me to the Church and it's people. I have to say, the place is pretty nice. A good place to settle down and relax and unwind your mind. That's how good the aura of the Church was. I came for their services for a few times to learn about what they believe and what they've been taught about life and the life-after.

This was a great opportunity to meet and mix with commonly good people in the church, and to learn about Christianity. Of all the times when people there prayed for me and tried to convince me that Christianity was the answer, I started to stray away from Sunday services. How? It was during the time when the pastor started preaching to this,"God created you and gave you a freewill life, but you must abide by these rules that he has set". Something like that. It got me questioning,"If God created us and gave us a freewill life. Why do we need to abide by his rules? That's not even freedom. What would be my will and purpose in life then?"


Going to Church is like going for a Rock concert. People go to Church to find deeper meaning as to what God is, just like how people go to concerts in search of good music. The vibe of people getting absorbed into getting blessed in a big group, is like an amplification of 4 good 100 watt powered guitar cabinet amplifiers, blasting Rock music helping people to enjoy the music. If you don't believe in God, then stop. Find another path. It's like if you don't believe in the music, stop listening to it, find something else. Do I have a choice? Yes, I have the will to choose.


It was then, I stopped going to Church and only attended the cell meetings that happen every Friday. Knowing myself as a very sociable lad, I only went for cell meetings to mix around with different people and to widen my circle of friends. Till it came a time, when I made a short speech for them to know what I thought about their faith and such. I told my Christian friends who were half stoic, that I was grateful that they've welcome me to their faith and also told them I enjoyed being around them because of how well they treated me. But I came down with a 'Closure' as to what I think, when they asked me whether I would accept Christ as my saviour.

I ended it like this,"I do not know whether this would be the right path for me, but I hope I could still participate with you guys, on your social activities. My life on Earth is my last and I wouldn't want to make any wrong decisions along the way. I am still finding my own ground of beliefs. I may not know what God is, but I think I know what God isn't." I said those things because I felt that I needed to make a stand instead of just following what they say. I felt that I had the right to question. Answers don't come when questions are not asked. So, what is wrong? Questioning or making assumptions about religion? Think that for yourself.

I live by these principles:
-Don't kill

-Don't steal

-Be good people

-Live a good life


I still go for cell meetings for the reason that I like being around friends, instead of professing to the faith but learn about it. One day, in Moral class...my lecturer was teaching about the benefits of Religion. On how it brings purpose into our lives. She said that Religion is something that teaches us to be good people and to help bring people together.But to me, each religion has different kinds of teachings of conditions. How is that going to bring people together when they have certain contradictions that the religion has taught them, and yet affects society of different backgrounds? Only way, is to respect each others religion and appreciate the good things a person has done for you, rather than to judge based on what he/she is. That's just being a stereotype!

I believe death will deliver all answers that we've been wanting to know when we were still living. Everyone has the right to believe or disbelieve whatever they want. If it serves a purpose in your life, go ahead!

Entrance of the conflagration...

Well, today went pretty well. Finally sold my Vox VT30 amp to some buyer yesterday and I got myself a new amp today =) An Ibanez TBX 30. It's so awesome! The Gain of this amp was so immense, it can blow my brains out of the window! Seriously, compared to the old amp, the Vox didn't have a large amount of gain that I wanted (Even though it was a Valvestate amp). I'll never settle for anything less than 30 watts of power in an amp, that's one thing about me. Unless if it was a 5watt Mesa Boogie, then it's a different story.

Got a bargained price for the stuff I bought from Bentley Music. A DI box and an Amp for a good price indeed. Of course, I won't buy the DI box for no reason, it was supposed to make my guitar recordings give out pretty clean signals and hopefully to preserve and enhance great tone =)
Finally, Bentley has brought in Ibanez 'Made In Japan' RG series(s) into their shop. It was about time they brought in the goodies, but their price is something that I still do not agree. But I don't care much though, being a 'Drop Tuning' nut such as myself, I'm done with Floyd Rose guitars and I wouldn't settle any less for fixed bridge guitars.

I played an Ibanez MIJ RG (RG450 I think) off the rack to test out the amp that I've purchased this afternoon. Surprisingly, it's a pretty well built guitar if you asked me. But I'm a proud owner of my own RG, so to me...most of them don't even come close in terms of sound and feel. The 'J Craft Team' editions are one of the 2nd best batches in making Ibanez guitars from Japan, which I was deeply impressed. Nice neck, great body resonance and awesome fingerboard. For the stock pickups? They sound just fine! I might just wait for one of the Mahogany body RG's to be brought over , hopefully soon *Fingers crossed*



I'll be waiting....


Here is, 'Entrance Of The Conflagration' by Trivium =)

You're a legend!

On that one Friday morning, I woke up and started thinking about how I'm going to do my vocal recording project which was supposed to be my last chance on that day itself. Because next week's schedule would be hectic. I was still in my T-shirt and jeans as I didn't have any pajamas. (Yes, I stayed over without any extra clothes to change into).

My friends, Glen, Ervin and myself were up late at night in KLCC, watching 2 movies which both were 'Inglorious Bustards' and 'Jennifer's Body' from 9pm-2am. Both movies were not so bad, except that 'Inglorious Bustards' had boring- long-winded dialogue sessions. It was 2am after finished both movies. We took a cab back to Ervin's hostel and I slept over that night.

Woke up the next day, and went back home straight away to take a nice hot bath. After that, went back to college to catch Friday Performance. The performers that day were decent. 6pm, I rushed into the studio and quickly set up. Rowen was recording vocals for my vocal project that day, after his Friday performance. At the end, we did almost everything fine under 1 take with the Verses, bridges and choruses. Rowen, you're a legend!

Came back home at 8pm, and I started mixing carefully that night. Though it went on for a couple of days before my submission. So, is perceiving the only way on getting things done. Or do things sometimes just fall into place like 'Tetris'?

Poetic genius

One thing great about Heavy Metal music is that, not only can this very genre come up with great riffs and solos that are progressive ever since the early 80's, but also with alot of very well written lyrics. For those, who can appreciate the writings about anger, intolerance, hope, strength and such common writing styles of Heavy Metal. Which means, the tunes of this genere doesn't always have to be heavy, as long as the messages in the song itself can hit your inner gut..

But one of the songs that I favour the most in terms of lyric material, is the song 'Hurt' by Nine Inch Nails. Though the song is very Ballad like, the lyrics in the song was well written by frontman, Trent Reznor himself. The song is about Trent, going through hard times after the passing of his friend a long time ago. It doesn't have a heavy and bashing tune to it, but the lyrics are heavy in a way. Trent is a poetic genius in song writing.

Nine Inch Nails-Hurt

I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything

What have I become?
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
You could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of shit
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here

What have I become?
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end

You could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way

The pain and relief..

Sometimes, I think that life is just too short to be even complaining and whining about unnecessary things. Yes, I've had Trials & Tribulations in my life (and still do). My goals may be too foggy to see it any clearer, but I guess being able to do with a passion does lead to some place else better. As for the following:

-No, I may not be as good a guitarist as I should be by now
-No, I may not have a very sharp ear like a professional sound engineer yet
-No, I may not be a good flirt unlike many people that I know of
-And no, I don't think I would go well with large boots (So random)

But why is it, that I continue mixing, playing guitar and so on? Was it to prove to anybody that I could be greater than them someday? NO! Its because I love doing those things. People always try to find a reason as to why they continue to do the things that made them feel discouraged earlier. But here's the answer,"Passion". I do not give a care in the world as to when my problems strike. Because, the problems come from all angles (but only at different times). There isn't a life without problems.

I think that people complain about their problems because they think that there would be a day where there are no problems. They're DEAD WRONG! A friend of mine,Rowen said to me,"I don't know why people complain about assignments and such since it's a course that they're interested in.".

True, some (Or most) desires don't come too easily. Like losing weight.
You hate the fact that you're overweight, but hey..you gotta work on losing weight, by exercising. Yes, it is tiring and pressuring. But it'll help you get what you want at the end, 'Losing weight'.

Yes, I've failed many times in my life in many things that I wanted to achieve. But the decay left me with a 'lesson' at the end to help me reflect on what mistakes were done and I TRY to assure myself that I wouldn't do it again. Everybody has pressure, because everything we do..pressure needs to be applied. (Unless you have telekinetic abilities).

Everytime, I hear the word 'Emo' by some of my friends. Oh, I wish they could stop misusing that word. To me, it's not a form of excuse about their 'self-pity' acquisition. I think it's a form of self-preservation bullcrap that they put up with to get people's attention most of the time.

Yummy..

I think Charvel Custom Shop model guitars look and perform better than Fender Custom Shop guitars (No offence to Fender fans). This is the 'yummy'!



Charvel Custom Shop San Dimas guitars!

Get me out of the mass!

Conventional is never in my books at most of the times. I just cannot accept the general Pop culture around these days in this modern era. There are loads of common things that a lot of people follow today that I do not agree;

Homosexuals

No, I do not support the gay community or the Metro-sexual bullshit that a lot of people can solemnly accept and lightly discuss about these days. And you thought having the PRMC society to ban Heavy Metal in the 70's was bad? Then start thinking about THIS (Gay culture)! When most parents thought that Heavy Metal was bad for their kids. Think about most parents on Earth, who could accept the Gay status approach and thinking that it's fine. What if one fine day, your son gets influenced by these bunch of 'Homos' and comes back to tell you,"Mom...Dad, I think being Gay is THE path in my life".

Yes, it can be very heart breaking to a lot of parents. Gays are now accepted by the media (some of them are TV hosts. For example? Programmes like 'Project Runway', 'Akademi Fantasia' (I think Aznil is a fag), 'America's Top Model'. Then what are the attributes of Man and Woman?! Nothing! Scrapped and thrown into the dustbin like a flick of a switch. BUT, I do wonder..whether it's the mainstream media who gives us this kind of feed of information without a proper survey on this subject, whether society agrees or disagrees on this 'Gay' matter. The main reasons why I'm against Gay-ism are these few points below;

1. They could contract Sexual Transmitted Diseases
2. I think it's un-natural and discriminates both manhood and womanhood
3. I understand that some homosexuals are born with it, but majority of them are under
influenced by the affected.
4. "Be a Man!", Russel Peters

Mainstream Music

Sometimes, I wonder..whether I have a bad taste of music or the large number of people who dig Mainstream Music do. I somehow think, a lot of popular artists these days are just 1 hit wonders. General Pop Music these days, with their cheesy lyrics and simple easy-to-listen-to melodies just can't be as good as music from the old days. If I were to compare between Fal Out Boy and Megadeth, in the end...Megadeth is hands down.

Megadeth's music is more technical, melodic and full of energy. You just can't deny Dave Mustaine for coming up with such good lyrics and guitar solos along with Chris Broderick these days. Sometimes I do wonder how Pete Wentz could get his own Signature bass from Squier Fender when he can't really play bass that well, but only knows how to stare infront of the mirror and putting on eye shadow before playing a show with Fall Out Boy. Fall Out Boy generally loves writing songs emphasizing the greatness of celebrity and fame. Why not write about things that relate to people's issues or problems for once? I wonder if one has lost the true meaning of music. This is why I think Metal bands are more liberal and a lot of them can play music better. Scr*w your MTV or your Channel V today.

LOSTPROPHETS' NEW SINGLE!

Finally, Lostprophets are back with their new single and upcoming album after 3 long awaited years for the new record to be released! They've once again, innovated their music with hard hitting Indie Rock blending with some Nu-Metal feel to it. It could be Lee Gaze, playing that Fender Telecaster with that sort of Drop D 'Overdriven Twang'. Their written material has gotten better than before. Awesome vocals from Ian Watkins, funky bass lines from Stuart Richardson, awesome keyboard/synth playing from Jamie Oliver, monster lead guitar playing of Lee Gaze and chugging rhythm guitar from Mike Lewis. But of course, the drummer is not the same without Ilan Rubin as he has gone to perform with Nine Inch Nails as their official drummer. Lostprophets' current drummer is Luke Johnson.

Well, it was worth the wait...their new single is AWESOME!


Lostprophets-It's not the end of the world

Mind on the mixing board...

Everytime I start to record something, there's always expected a mix for every 'Rough Take'. What I mean is, mixing the recorded track, that we mean 'Raw Mix'. Aside from my audio terms, mixing to me needs a lot of patience, especially when it comes to re-recording the same guitar track till it becomes perfect.

Yes, being a perfectionist doesn't give you a good reputation with people, generally. But it is a habit for sound engineers. It is not an onboard ego that we have naturally . And again, being a perfectionist in that field needs patience. You just wanna get the sound right, making sure the levels are well balanced so that they don't reach at peak levels. Compression (Oh I hate this part) makes your mix sound tighter and to touch up the tracks and also to make sure not to lose alot of information of the track.

With many considerations, comes many methods to guess out yourself to innovate practically after what you've read in recording magazines. But yeah, I finally realized that recording, mixing and mastering are long procedures to create a single/album. But I think it depends on the amount of experience that the producer/engineer has to get the job done as soon as possible. Sometimes it makes me wonder, how producers like Rick Rubin, Bruce Swedien or Trent Reznor make the cut on producing damn good albums.