Saturday, February 5, 2011
Happy Chinese New Year!
I've been cooped up at home for the past two days of this festive season due to some family issues. My closer friends will know :)
I haven't went visiting for the past two days so I'll be looking forward to a visiting session soon! Hopefully visitings to my closer friends! I must see a Chinese soul infront of my eyes that I can recognize before I go crazy~
Gf's in Malaysia, I've been at home doing nothing but rotting. Tried composing but all I came up was 25 bars of music. So I went on to YouTube stuffs, practice guitar and even got the time to record a video with Shawal.
My internship starts on 1st April and I am most probably going to shave my head before I go for internship. 4 or 6 months of don't-know-what work yet because I got posted and not by my choice.
Ok I don't know what else to talk about because my life seems boring now.
To my friends, I hope we meet soon for visitings! YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!
Cheers,
AoCheng
1:17 AM
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Happy New Year everyone!
Had a great 2010, well shouldn't say much here. If you haven't read my 2010's summary please read it first before you continue :)
My new year was great! Spending the time with my band members on stage and also sharing the counting down to 2011 experience with the whole of Woodlands Community. Well, there were some important MPs there as well. The whole concert was a blast and it was the most exhausting concert I've done so far. The crowd was insane and we just couldn't stop returning the energy back. It's like a reflection of energy throughout the whole show. How much the crowd gave us we gave them back. Such a wonderful experience and I wanna do that again this year!
To catch a glimpse and update of my band's performance, please click HERE !
Well, after many sleepless nights due to the post-effect from countdown show, my band's invited for a wedding gig at St.Regis Singapore. The hotel was very beautifully decorated and it is a 6 or 7 star hotel. Another wonderful experience for us to be part of a amazing journey for Dendy and Shin. We had a great time performing there and also made some contacts!
It's just too bad we didn't have a professional photographer to photograph our nice set at St.Regis. Maybe next time we'll ask someone to help us document.
My band is playing for NTUC's talk show coming Wednesday, 19th January 2011. We might be playing for WWF soon but details are still pending. A lot of shows are coming up so to keep track please like our facebook page and we'll update you with the latest news on our upcoming shows.
Alright enough with my band stuffs. School! Let's talk about school!
One word: Stress.
Everyone is stressed up about the Tests that came up in this two weeks. There are a lot of assignments to be done and lots of revision to be done. For me, I've been trying to breeze through this test but the thing is, every test didn't came out as what I was expecting it to be. So I have to face the music when my results are published!
Well, the fun thing about school is that I get to do what I like. Sound recording, music composition and recording studio fundamentals! So many hands on classes really made learning much easier. All the thinking processes allowed us to think out of the box and react to situations instantly.One of the things we did was to use Khair's beanie as a windshield for Alex's Q3HD recorder. It worked magic!
Well, I got myself a pair of Shure SRH440 Studio Monitoring Headphones and I must really say, it's definitely worth more than the price! I bought it at $169.00 and it's definitely sounding like a pair $200+ headphones.
With that pair of headphones, I went on to experiment some recordings done in my room. I was too bored that I went to test it with my Macbook's iSight Camera and recorded a guitar track simultaneously through my Presonus Firebox into my Mac's iMovie'11. The result turned out to be okay. Check it out here!
So recently I got a bit free due to the decrease in amount of other works that I need to do before and I've got the time to roam around my neighborhood! Went to check out the sports complex beside the reservoir area and I was quite amazed by the number of facilities and venues they provide down there. 8 Badminton Courts. 1 Inline Skating Space, 3 Dance Studios, 1 Gym, 1 Olympic Sized Swimming Pool, Street Soccer Court, Basketball Court and many activities room which I can't remember. And surprisingly, I saw Jocelyn working there! Jocelyn was previously working at TRCC. Well, I kinda like this free time feeling but I want to be busy real soon!
Alright that's all for the updates now!
Sum it all up, I really wanna spend more time with my darling before I get real busy!
Loves!
AoCheng
12:30 AM
Friday, December 31, 2010
Indeed, time passes very fast when you're enjoying what you're doing and I had the privilege to experience it first-hand for the past 2 years in Republic Polytechnic. Things had changed so much once I stepped into Polytechnic. Friends, responsibilities, goals, relationships and academic pretty much made lots of sense to me. So there I've learnt how to prioritize my work and attempted balancing mylife, which I failed.
Before 2010, I thought that the road next year would be bumpy and unexpected for me.
True enough, my intuitions didn't fail me.
From a simple marketing personnel in Replug IG I'm suddenly promoted to the Vice President due to some internal issues among the new committee. From there onwards, I had to learn things fast and juggle all my work along with my academic studies together. Being a Vice President was the greatest challenge for my life at the point of time.
Yes, Replug's audition didn't went that well honestly. But it's an important lesson that we learnt and thankfully we had two days of auditions. Whatever mistakes we made in the first day was reflected and not repeated on the second day. That's how fast I had to plan and learn stuffs. Well, we managed to scrap past in the end.
And there was Arts Platter, the first time in my life planning for an event to happen for my members in the group. Nobody had any idea what's to be expected and coming up with a theme is definitely challenging. I tho
ught about Mezzoforte, a concept which links the dynamics of two different shows together. Mezzo meant moderately and forte meant loud. Since Arts Platter was a Pre-IGNITE! showcase, it has to be something similar to the festival itself but a little bit toned down. Since the festival is quite loudtoo, I've decided that our show should be loud enough to be just below the festival's dynamic notch. Hence the name "Mezzoforte".
Bumpy, very bumpy.
Well of course, the rest of the members would be practicing really hard for this show and as a committee member, I cannot let them down as my job was toensure that everything runs smoothly on the day itself. It was alright but we had a few issues here and there, no problem. This marks the first of my many shows that I handled and managed throughout the year.
I had to balance between academic studies, Replug IG, relationship and of course my own band "DiverseAttentions". Somethings had to be compromised along the way to make room for the others to proceed. Time isn't on my side most of the time and it is really challenging for me to keep my motivation level up and pushing myself forward every time.
IGNITE! 2010 came and I was already planning to go for the event itself without playing for it. I thought that we weren't fit to play on that big stage with all the massive high-end sound systems and musical instruments. But just about few days before the actual show, I had to step in for Warren due to some personal troubles he was dealing with at that time. I had to learn all 3 songs within a span of 2 - 3 days and really, I
have to thank all the wonderful musicians that I've worked with for IGNTIE! 2010 for providing me with all the understanding that they can as they know I'm struggling with all the songs.
Being part of IGNITE! Music Festival 2010 was really a big achievement in my life as a musician so far. It was totally unexpected for me to perform in such a big event.
After IGNITE! Music Festival comes the preparations for Replug's annual concert. Still quite "noob" at planning a big scale event, the committee had to really drain our own precious time and energy just to make the event run smoothly. But well, it came out fine :)
Reflections arts festival had always motivated me to push myself further as a performer. Ever since last year's reflections, I've told myself that I really want to be contributing as much as I can for art. Just a simple sentence I told myself jokingly landed me in 4 shows in Reflections 2010. I'm part of the pre-show and the opening launch for the festival this year which I'm really happy about because I get to perform with other artists in CREATE Republic as well.Also, I've landed myself in "Just Jazz with Jeremy Monteiro" representing Republic Polytechnic playing in a jazz concert. Well, that was really tough! Nevertheless it's a whole new experience for me as I really stepped out of my comfort zone and try to do things that I've never done before. You see, RP and TRCC really provides a good and solid platform for us to showcase our talents and also to challenge ourselves further.
I can say that I've really improved as a performer in TRCC and when I'm out of RP doing shows, stage presence became a second nature to me. I learnt to have fun on stage and that's the most important thing that I look forward to every time I perform.
All these efforts put into the IG and my academics helped me bagged a Flame Award back home. I'm really thankful for all those people who supported me throughout the year. Well, even though sometimes I don't think I'm appreciated or acknowledge but who cares, at the end of the day, as long as the show goes on, I'm contented.
And now, I've just finished composing for Jeremy's Final Year Project video showcasing Reflections. It was a challenge for me to come up with a composition in less than a week and I was spending almost every night getting the song recorded down. I've named the piece "Connecting Horizons". The name simply derived from an understanding of Confluence from my perception. I want my music to inspire others as much as others have inspired me.
Throughout this year, I've faced with a lot of challenges and difficult situations. Thankfully, I have my friends, band mates and of course my loved ones always being there for me giving countless support and motivation. I can say that I'm really lucky to be blessed by such wonderful people around me and honestly, they inspire me more than what a rockstar can inspire.
Of course, I have my one and only love. She never fail to make me smile just in my heart irregardless of how tired I was on my expressions. I'm always happy when I'm around her and I'm really sorry for the fact that I'm not spending much time with you but I really do treasure all the little moments we have together. I don't know what my life would be without this girl in my life right now.
So 2010 was a good one. What to expect for 2011? Well, pretty much a bumpy road trip with a hell lot of unexpected events :) Oh, there's internship so wish me luck!
To everyone who came by and read this post, I really appreciate it. I want to wish all of you a Happy New Year ahead. Let bygones be bygones and look forward to the light that will guide us through the rough journey we might have in the months to come!
Celebrate, it's a Holiday!
Cheers!
Ao Cheng
3:23 AM
Friday, December 3, 2010
December
It's December again, the month where we should be really relaxing while looking forward to a better new year.
Well, at least I should be relaxed.
Sometimes life doesn't turn out the way you expected it to be. For instance, I thought after Reflections 2010 I'm able to get myself some good rest and catch up with work and life. I'm wrong.
Good news is, I'm taking more external show with my band, Diverse Attentions, this December onwards. I can't imagine how fast the shows just come to us. One by one, sooner or later, we will all be counting down with one another (probably on stage) during 31st December 2010 when we are performing.
Yes, my band and I are performing for a countdown event. (Details not out yet)
Let me update you on our current schedules.
We're performing on
10th December (Location unknown yet)
11th December (*Scape)
18th December (Padang and *Scape)
31st December (*Scape)
8th January (Wedding show)
Besides performing with my band, I'm actually engaged by singer-songwriter Arista to session for her upcoming competition at *Scape on the 11th December. Therefore, two shows in a day for two Saturdays. Ain't that cool? I feel like some busy musician wondering around town to perform.
And all of that are just for now.
On top of that, there are school works and assignments, work and of course my own social (private) life.
I'm looking to get a project done for Replug IG by next year's SLA Fiesta. I really hope I can squeeze in time for this. Planning to record some of our very own bands and arrangements. Also, it could help me with my portfolio development.
So much for my "career" now.
Beside all the hectic life that I'm in right now, I really wish to spend time with my loved ones. Especially my mother and my girlfriend. I really want to feel relaxed again and I can promise you that they can make me feel that way. Sadly, I won't get to countdown with them and by the time I reach home, I'll probably stink and shagged.
Really, this year has been a great year. All those small little good and bad experiences, they're all memorable and I can't believed how time really flew. I still remember this year's Open house, SLA Fiesta, Arts Platter, Pre-Ignite, Ignite, Woodlands Concert, National Day, Youth Olympic Games, Reflections 2010. So many of them... I had either performed or managed the talents for these shows. Oh, how memorable.
I'm actually feeling good now especially in this weather right now. Cooling, quiet when it's just me and my laptop at this hour, 12.58am in the morning. Yes, I have class at 8am later but I'm pretty much used to the little hours of sleep that I had over the weeks/months. Classes are getting more and more demanding and I'll just have to buck up in order to pull through this semester.
Maybe I'll look forward to my internship next April. That could be another phase of my life, well at least in polytechnic life.
Oh December, please be real cool :)
12:45 AM
Friday, October 8, 2010
Look what you've done to me
I really love alone time. It's so peaceful, so quiet and so beautiful. Maybe silence is the best sound for me right now. All the huntings for the right tone really burns out a lot of cash.
Reflections 2010 is coming up and I think I'm part of the opening act. Replug's concert is also coming up and I hope that the preview + run tomorrow will be great. I really pinned a hell lot of hope in this new batch. They never fail to inspire me day after day.
So yes please come to our concert if you can. I suggest you should because there're limited seats available and it's only for one night. If you all want to come down and chill with acoustic music, I suggest you should check us out.
It's on the 9th of November 2010 at 8pm.
More details and RSVP HERE.
Book your tickets now before it's sold out!
The finals for National Environment Agency Eco-Music Challenge 2010 is also just around the corner. We are still squeezing time in for practice. I hope we can win something. First time we are writing songs for NEA. Cheesy~
Anyway I miss jamming with them. We're all so busy.
Work preparations are also coming up and I'm still trying to do something about it. Everyone's so busy right now and I hope we can really focus on what we're doing after Reflections.
I think Reflections really took us a lot of time. Somehow, it's worth it.
At the end of the day, I always think of my dearest and really envy how understanding she is. Nowadays we're all so busy we barely have the chance to meet. Luckily I could still took a day off just to celebrate her birthday.
Really nice. Marina Bay Sands Skypark. Good view, nice place and comfortable. I should really save up for a DSLR or something to take some really nice photos of places. I'm not into the kind that takes picture for people. I'm more to beautiful moments.
Oh speaking about beautiful moments, I really want to congratulate my long-time brother/partner-in-crime for topping his class for photography module. Apparently his theme was "Moments" and we actually went for a Sunrise shot together with my girlfriend. What I know from him was that he got an "A" for his project and his facilitator commented that he could actually see that we're in love. Not only did he managed to capture "Precious Moments" but he also captured the essence of us. And these photos got him a job which starts on the 20th of October! Congrats bro if you're reading this!
More of our pictures could be found here.
I hope by the end of the year I could really relax and focus on what I want to do in my future. However, looking at the packed schedules, I don't think time will permit.
All these packed schedules really made me treasure alone time. For instance typing this blog entry on my Mac while listening to no human but crickets, wall fan, cars and the sound of my fingers typing. This is the kind of moments I enjoy pretty much all by myself.
Let's hope that I can really find a time to isolate myself from this never-ending and demanding world.
Hi dear, I miss you as much as you do :)
10:55 PM
