Ever heard of this phrase, “Don’t let the guitar hit you in the face”?

Maybe not. This is because I just created it today.

This goes out to all the emo/screamo fans out there, I’m sure you’ve seen our dear guitar and bass heroes swinging their axes in music videos and at live gigs.

So what did I do this time? I tried copying them of course. And what were the results, ten half successful swings, a bruised nose, a bruised, cut shoulder and an injured headstock.

Two points to take note of.
1. Swing it hard. Don't hold anything back. Give it all you've got.
2. Don't be afraid if it comes around and hit you in the face. Catch it!

This is a smack in the face indeed.

They should have come up with a manual or something.

“How To Swing Your Guitar 101"

Ahhh…A breather, finally.

Here are some observations over the weekend.

Firstly, driving a Perodua Kembara was quite an experience. I remember a good friend saying to me when we were driving in a Kancil, “ Dude, doesn’t this feel like flying an aeroplane with the cockpit blown off?”

Now I shall add to that. Driving a Kembara is like flying a World War II propeller plane!

So what does this have anything to do with music? With the engine dragging and blaring away, the radio busted and the only other option was the only cassette in the deck, a Maroon 5 cassette, it was only natural to turn that up despite disliking them. What was the outcome? I’ve become hooked.

Next up would be a twenty over hour work marathon! A year ago, I would have been discouraged, bitter and fed up, but with a new challenge, I brave the odds. In summary, it’s all in the mind. It’s all about the mindset. It’s all programmable. I took it as an experience and a challenge. Now, it turned out to be a rewarding achievement.

Note: The marathon included two Outside Broadcasts. It all started at 5 a.m. and ended at 1 a.m. the next morning. This used to be normal in the good old days of scouting but now it seems like something to shout about. Signs of old age perhaps. There was only a two hour gap in between them and the drive from one venue to the next took up a solid hour in the World War II machine mentioned above. All in all, it was an amazing experience. (I know I don’t want to talk about work in this blog, but I guess this is just a reminder for me in the future)

To Be Continued...

Ever seen a pregnant tyre before? This has totally nothing to do with music at all.

I was doing ninety on the highway and all of a sudden a piece of wood shows up in the middle of the lane. It was obvious that I had no choice but to go over it. I couldn’t have avoided it as the lanes beside me were both filled with traffic.

After about five minutes the car started to jerk so badly as if I was riding a horse that was reluctant to go any further and was trying to throw me off the saddle.

It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would have been. It was actually quite funny.

The most logical thing to do was to stop at a nearest workshop to fix the problem. It turned out that one of the tyres was swollen and it was about to explode. This is normally what happens to old tyres because of the wear and tear.

So there goes a tyre and out comes the wallet to fit a new one in.

All in all, it was really hilarious. If only I had a camera to show you how it actually looks like.

So here’s the start of it all. After a month and a half of rehearsals and practices, we’ve moved into the recording studio and will call it our second home for a while.

For this first recording session Manshaan was scheduled to record the drum tracks for Scratch but we ended up doing more than one track. This is because after setting up the drum set, we thought it would be a good idea to record as many tracks as possible with that drum setting.

Alda wasn’t present for this session as he has to set up his bass before we record his parts.

Here’s the breakdown.

4pm to 6pm: Set up, tune and mic up drum set.

We used a Yamaha drum set with Paiste hi-hats and Solar cymbals. Manshaan brought in his personal snare and Iron Cobra double pedals. He went with the snare, single tom, floor tom, kick drum set up. He had two crashes, a ride and a pair of hi-hats. This was really a Kodak moment. Here was a sweet looking drum set, surrounded by mic stands, mics and cables that made the entire miking and set up for the drum set look like a massive construction. It’s like Manshaan sitting inside his fortress.

6pm to 7pm: Recorded drums for Scratch

7pm to 745pm: Break. This is where Manshaan needed a smoke, so we drove out to the Seven Eleven, bought some water as well and just hung out before we headed back to the studio.

745pm to 845pm: Recorded drums for The Bleeding Confession

845pm to 930pm: Recorded drums for Silence

930pm to 10pm: Recorded guide vocal and rhythm guitar tracks for The Bleeding Confession and Scratch.

Consistency and accuracy are Manshaan’s key points. It was truly a memorable experience recording the tracks with him.

Not forgetting Kim, a very talented recording/mixing engineer with an excellent ear for sound and precision in timing/tempo.

As for me, I was armed with my dad’s trusty Norman B20 acoustic guitar to record the guitar guide tracks. It sounded really good especially after it was set up. It was just a line out of the guitar into the mixer without any miking because we were only recording guide tracks.

The songs sound different now as they are arranged in a full band setting and no longer just acoustic and vocals.

All in all, this first recording session was very productive. Most importantly, the studio was where I wanted to be and it makes me the happiest doing what I love to do. We were all exhausted by the end of the session, but it was all worth it.

P/S: There was a huge, beautiful rainbow in the sky while we were out at the Seven Eleven. This was a good sign.

This would be the first attempt to record any proper Broken Scar tracks ever with a full band line-up with Manshaan on drums and Alda on bass. It’s going to be a step by step process where I will record Scratch first, test the water and see where that goes.

Thanks to everyone who has been supporting Broken Scar so far and have pushed me on to start recording.

Will keep everyone updated on the progress.

We're hitting the studios this Sunday.

Here goes nothing.

There’s just this special feeling when listening to the sound of pouring rain. It’s like random blocks of millions of water particles hitting into the ground so loud that it overwhelms all that is overwhelming.

It’s quite similar to the masking effect in audio, where two audio sources can be playing the exact same thing, one is louder than the other, and our ears will automatically tune to the one that’s louder or rather, the sound that is lower in loudness will be masked by the one that is louder.

The rain puts a smile on my face. The randomness calms my nerves. It takes me away. I’m absorbed.