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Showing posts from 2012

Mongolians and Delay Lama Overtone Singing

uuuueeeeeeeeehhhhhh.... auuuuuuueee.. heh cough* oh Hi there! I was just trying out overtone singing. yeah is fun lol. I find this vocal sound rather intriguing at the same time unusually entertaining.. Khusugtun Overtone Singer This singing technique is believed to have originated from Mongolia, dated back in the period of Genghis Khan. Traditional art of Mongolian overtone throat singing is often coupled with the sound of horse head fiddle. The Mongolians refer this throat singing technique as hoomii or khoomii. By dexterously controlling the lips muscles, larynx, pharynx and the air flow (pressure), one is capable of producing harmonic partials. Simply put it as they can produce two different notes simultaneously. Is something like a bagpipe or hulusi, a sustaining sound of a drone accompanied by the sound of a chanter.

Mr Durian Going 3D

Yeah currently Im busy working on this Durian. I am using Google sketch up..Quite fun actually. 31/12/12 Update : done with the modelling few days ago still editing the animation for Mr Durian..  

Where FREE IMM Shuttle bus service Pick up point Changed!

Damn! the Shuttle bus service to IMM has changed. The pick up and drop off point is now located at JCube instead of Jurong East MRT station. The operation time for the shuttle services is 10.30am - 10.30pm daily. 5 minutes interval! I've Wasted 15 minutes here waiting for the bus.. Why because I saw a few people there waiting.. even though there are notices indicating the bus has been redirected to Jcube . I shall now walk myself there. To those going to IMM note that the shuttle service pickup pt has now changed to JCube (In front of Macdonald).

What is Aeolian Wind Harp? God plays harp music for you

Lyre Harp  So what is this Aeolian Wind harp? I only know what is korean's bibimbap  Aeolian harp is named after Greek God Aeolus, the god keeper of wind. No one is suppose to play this harp, thy Aeolus will play it for you. What I meant is let the wind play the harp for you. This is an old instrument and it became very popular during the romantic period. Even Robert Schumann referenced one of Chopins' Etude as Aeolian Harp (Etude Op. 25, No.1). Lets hear how the harp sound before we move on to the physics of how it works.

List of Gangnam Style Parodies by Singaporeans

Psy's Gangnam Style On friday 21st Dec Gangnam Style had hit 1 billion views on youtube. He has yet again make another mark on music history. I was walking around the mall yesterday, strangely indeed people never get tired of Gangnam Style.. MTV was being played on the TV displays while the Uncles Aunties & Children have their eyes glued to the monitor screen.. what an interesting sight. Even Psy himself cant explain the exact reason to why Gangnam Style is so appealing . And is it possible for him to replicate this phenomenon nobody knows?

How to Add Star Rating Review Markup For Blogger

Twinkle Twinkle Little Rating Stars I was surfing just a while ago, not in the sea but on the internet. And I noticed that some review sites have these little stars showing on the search results. So I was wondering, is it possible for me as a blogger to have my own rating stars as well since I am also doing abit of food service reviews. And yes it is possible! So those of you bloggers out there who are doing product or any other kind of reviews You are in Luck!

What is Starrboard and Harpejji?

Spongebob: Hi! That Patrick Star what is starrboard ? does it shaped like you? That patrick star: uhNo? but it kinda look like you. Spongebob: oh. ah. i see .. so what do you do with it? That patrick star: You play with it? Spongebob: oooohhh.. Both: gahahahaa gahahahaa ....

Composer's Block Composer's nightmare

Composer's Block I am having composer's block now! In fact most creators have the same problems. Doesn't matter if you are a  Writers, artist or designer.. we all have this mental block. Even sometimes when I write my blog article my head becomes like a "block of wood".  (Ps: that picture on the left is not my portrait but the right is o.o) It is annoying, ideas just wont come after pondering for hours and we often get frustrated with ourselves. You feel like you've tried everything but nothing seems to work. Or have you? Have you really Tried everything?

12/12/12 Guess what Beethoven was doing 220 years ago

Franz Joseph Hayden In year 1792 Dec 12 Beethoven had his first composition lesson from Franz Joseph Haydn. A year after Mozart death. A quote from Beethoven finical backers, Ferdinand von Waldstein, " You are going to Vienna in fulfilment if your long-frustrated wishes.. you will receive the spirit of Mozart from the hands of Hayden". Haydn is one of the well known classical era composer alongside with Mozart. It is believed that Haydn and Mozart are great friends and they often admire each other's work.

Discovering: Auto-tune Scientists sings

Symphony of Science  It was years ago when I first stumbled upon Symphony of Science and I have always been a huge fan of it ever since. Symphony Of Science is a music project created by John D Boswell. I love his unique way of mashing up clips from various Science Documentaries and turning them into uplifting music. Enough of my talking Lets listen to your favourite auto-tuned Scientists sings. If you want to listen to more of his work or wish to download them you can check out the Official Symphony Of Science site .

There is no Disability in music. We are all equal

I've always admire these musicians and I feel they should deserve our utmost respect. Although disabilities may affect their daily life in one way or another, but in the musical world they are certainly the "superhuman". Their passion for music will always glow. My 3 favourite Superhuman artist... Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) | Tinnitus It is usually a misconception that he was a deaf baby. Beethoven was not born deaf. He started losing his hearing at age 30 around the period of 1801. And by the age of 41 he started communicating using notebooks. Below is a popular excerpt of Beethoven's Symphony No 9.. Ode to Joy Beethoven was a total deaf when he conducts this symphony and was known that one of the soprano soloist had him turn around to accept the applause. Ray Charles (1930-2004) | Glaucoma One of the greatest legendary artist in soul music. Charles's sight begin to deteriorate when he was five. And at the young age of seven he completely 

Chicken or Egg Question?

Chicken Little came first? Chicken or egg : that is the question! This egg and chicken problem has always been a dilemma... There are several proven theories out there but we can never know which one are the real deal.. Even up till today the debates still continues... Instead of boring you and going through all the records of debates.. I'll just jump straight into how I view this chicken egg thingy.. By the way my answer is chicken came first. Reason?

I know Kiwi but What is EWI?

Sliced Kiwi On Tray What is EWI? What a weird name for a musical instrument. It makes me feel like eating KIWI, the hairy fruit not the bird. EWI known as Electronic Wind Instrument. Was invented by Nyle Steiner in the 1960s. The fingering system is similar to that of a saxophone and clarinet. Since EWI is a Midi powered device you can basically play any instruments or synthesized sound with it.  If you don't understand what a Midi device is just think of as an electronic keyboard with a library of pre-set instruments.

Google Makes Jam with chrome?

Eww.. Metalic chromium Jam! Nah.. not taking about the fruity jam that you spread on your bread every morning.. Just last month , Google has launched another cool experiment is called JAM with chrome . Yeah Google like to do experiments.. So do I. keke.. you can visit their Library of experiments here . So What is this Jam with Chrome experiment about? It is actually a web based interface that allows people from all over the world to JAM together in real time. There is a total of 19 playable instruments for you to select, ranging from drum kits to drum pads to guitar to  keyboards.. Even if you have no talent in playing the instruments Google has installed the easy mode switch for you.  Instead of playing each single note, they have loops in easy mode autoplay. I've tried playing it.. I find it glitchy though. Anyway there are a few limitations that I would like to point out. The app allows invitation up to 3 people which means you can only have 4 people, including yourse

Nuffnang: Gosh I lost my GLITTERATI status!!

Yesterday when I login to to my nuffnang account, I found out that I've lost my Glitterati Status Oh my!... I am already earning pathetic peanuts from it.. and now my Nuffnang Glitterati got stripped off. Non-Glitterati After checking through my site I found out the possible reasons why I am being demoted back to Non-Glitterati. Stupid me.! I've added my inactive blog to my Nuffnang account. And Even though I have added the Nuffnang ad code to my blog the ad units doesnt show-up. Why? because I am using the dynamic view template.. I dont know what is the real reason behind my demotion..maybe is because the blog is stagnant or the ads cant be detected by Nuffnang's "Crawling insect". For whatever reason I just want my Glitterati status back.. Immediately I went on to remove the inactive site from my account. Glitterati Status And today I am glad that I got my Glitterati status back. Note to nuffnang users: For Nuffnang members out there I urge

How to tie or bind flute, the technique.

..from Quena Flute making guide How to Tie / Bind your Flute Professionally Often this is the last stage of flute making... is optional but it'll definitely make your flute more authentic looking.. A good binding technique can help prevent bamboo flute from splitting. You can also use this technique to repair your cracked bamboo flute. Follow through my steps and do it slowly. You should be able to get a good and tight bind. Binding Steps: Step 1: Make a loop like this (btw this is the back of flute and its thumb hole) Step 2:  Hold the loop with your thumb Step 3: Start the winding.  Make sure each winding is tight and not overlapping each other. The yellow arrow shows the winding direction of my thread The red arrow shows the direction at which you should wind towards (towards the looped end) Step 4: Tying the ends   First, Yellow arrow..push the winding end of the thread through the loop Second, Red arrow.. pull the thread at the other end

The Complete Guide: Make your PVC Quena Flute

Why I started making flutes and a little history about quena flute ... Quena Flute Made in Singapore O.o Let's make Quena! Planning to get a Handy dandy notebk?   This will be a long post.. step by step  .. on making a quena flute. I will provide you with my personal secret handy-dandy tips n tricks, hopefully they will be useful for your flute making. And also I've included the making plans and dimensions for my flute. Don't worry if you do not own any heavy machines or milling machines.. I just find whatever tools I can get around me to make my PVC flute. In another words all the tools that I will be using should be easily obtainable. Yeah!

Why buy when you can make flute?

Yoz! Do you like to make a musical instrument? Of course you do! If not, you wouldn't have landed on this page. Right?  There may be a few reasons to why you want to make your own flute.. for me I find that is not easy to get a flute here in Singapore (  not talking about western flute ). Often hear people asking where can I buy a flute in Singapore?  You can find them, but they are like searching for rare items in a game.. Furthermore bamboo flute may splits when not taken care of properly. Not very durable compared to a pvc made one.. ..For more, here is  my article on plastic instruments Since I love making things out from scratch... why not build my own flute :)  White Black Quena Flute  But First let me give you a short introduction on this flute that I made. Quena is originated from Andean. It has a distinctive sound comparable to a bird-soaring in the sky. The early materials use for making this flute are from animal bones and condor quills..   slowly wood a

How we hear Sound? Anatomy Inner workings of our ear.

Ink on paper: The Ear Let's learn about how we hear.. Understand why? when a mechanical wave is created by a vibrating body (eg. musical instrument), is being heard as sound. Sorry for my bad drawing lol. Both are done by me but you can see I didn't put in any effort for the diagram below haha! The ear diagram This is just a simple structure of our ear (excluding the stick man of course). From my drawing you can see the three labelled parts; tympanic membrane (aka eardrum), auditory ossicles and cochela They each plays a different roles which contributes to our hearing. Sound wave reach the tympanic membrane and cause it to vibrate The vibration will be relayed through the ossicles, the ossicles are like little levers, it is said that the force of the vibrations is being amplified about 20-fold they are three the smallest bones found in our body Finally it reaches the cochlea inside Cochlea is filled with fluid when the fluid moves the hair cells in

Soup Master 老火汤 Great Deal

Soup Master Soup With Pumpkin Rice I believe most people in Singapore knows what is 老火汤 (lao huo tang aka Soup Master). Over the past one year I've seen them popping out of every corner. Lotus Root Pork Ribs Soup You can't go wrong with soup and I like to drink soup.  This is what I bought yesterday while on my way back home. Yeah.. I dont like to eat out when im alone .. but anyway they offer free soup refills if you dine in. They have a variety of soup for you to choose from a simple and light Pear & Apple Pork Ribs Soup to rich flavourful Buddha Jump Over the Wall. So what is the Special deal here? Collect Card There see this little card  ---> is all in Chinese which I don't understand why..  or maybe there is English version one? dont know.. "Whateva" .. so what this card says is, collect 10 chop marks or stamps and you'll get to have one choice of soup for free . Any one will do and of course I will be picki

The Six Elements of Music and its theory.

Understanding the basic component of music: It is important to study them when you want to convey your thoughts and show your appreciation toward music. Especially when you are writing a music critique these are the six elements that you would want to know. Most Music Critics don't touch on the playing techniques unless he/she is a professional player in that instrument. Or perhaps if you compose, these basic elements are essential to look at in order to create a specific genre of music. The Six Primary Elements of Music: There are various combinations out there but I will be covering on these Six. You are probably familiar with the top 3 (melody, rhythm and harmony) as they are the most common out of all the elements listed. I had come up with this F ish Analogy so that you can appreciate them better. Melody (fish bone) Melody is simply the backbone of the music. Made up by series of pitches. It is also commonly referred to as the tune. It is the main gist of the pie

I make music for eyes, not ears.. Oops

Some of you might be very familiar with this quote by Adele " I make music for ears, not eyes ". If you don't know her yet you should go check her out. Mr Krabs Listens to music with his eyes Well I will be going to talk about music for eyes not ears.. o.o <-- wow your eyes sure is staring big now. Probably wondering what has music got to do with visuals?.and what is this jerk talking about? I am talking about Ernst Chladni a physicist and a musician. By the way, I guess most physicist like the vibes of music... like our famous Albert Einstein who loves his violin.. Ernst Chladni invented a technique that allows us to visualise the different resonance on a given surface under a specific given frequency. Chladni Figures The technique requires one to draw a bow, like those you use for violin, across the edge of metal plate. The sand or salt covering the plate will resonate and concentrate on the nodal lines.. different frequency will result in the dif

My mummy wants to play this game!!!

Double Date Minna no Rhythm Tengoku / Rhythm Heaven Fever Yeah I am quite busy these few days...I wont be doing much post for these few weeks.. why? Cause exams are coming.!. I don't want to fail any of them and retake the exam again, super waste of time -_- & $$

Plastic Musical Instrument! Cheaper Alternative

Living in our current world, you'll find plastic practically everywhere! Plastics are so easy to work with. They don't rust or rot. Easily the popular material of choice among manufacturers. However the most prominent downside of using polymer is that they are not biodegradable .. What if we can make good use of its infamous property? We can recycle the waste plastic and make it into a music instrument. Some people will argue that the quality of sound is different and compare it with a real hand made instrument.. However I would think of it as an alternative for people who cant afford these expansive hand crafted instrument. The first time I learned about 3D printing technology, I thought to myself "will anyone print instruments out from a 3D printer?" Yes indeed more and more people are printing musical instruments out from it. Here is another one,  plastic printed flute As you can see all these videos are published one year ago, now if you sea

My Singing Monsters is finally out on android!

I've been waiting for this game for a loooonnng time... two months ago it was out on App Store but not Google Play Finally! I get to play it on my android tablet!!.. yeahh! For those who do not know what I am talking about .. I'll probably be playing it tonight.. Good night music lovers! enjoy the world of music & have fun! Update:Limited Edition Monster For the celebration of Halloween.. Breed Punkleton Monster before Oct 31st.. Im trying the T-rox & Bowgart combination. Hope I can get it! Yup, I manage to get the monster on the last day hah.. Comments are welcome and encouraged. :)

Difference between Keyboard, Digital piano & Piano. Tips on which to buy?

Planning to get a keyboard instrument this Christmas for your child? Looking for a piano for beginners and still cant decide on which one to buy? Should you buy a piano, electronic keyboard or digital piano ? No, I am not doing any product review here but I will be comparing the difference between these 3 babies and sharing with you what are the things to look out for. Yes, you'll need to know the difference between each of them in order to make the right decision. So.. let me help you out. Few steps and questions to consider when getting a new instrument. I will only be talking about keyboard related instruments here. But these steps can be use for other musical tools as well when you decide to invest in a musical instrument. Below are the 6 useful tips: Are you getting the keyboard for yourself or someone else Is always good to have the person playing the instrument around when you make the purchase. Since he/she will be playing on it for a long time, is better to get

Minimalism In music The Beauty of Simplicity

Minimalism is a musical style in post-modern music. This term can be used in other forms of art as well eg. design. Sometimes simple things can be really beautiful .. like this enso circle --> What is minimal music, let me do a simple break down for you. By making music simple and repeating them at a constant steady pulse, over and over, do a little modification or expansion  here and there. You'll create some kind of hypnotic effect.. which is why minimalism can also sometimes be labelled as trance music. Is like a circle going round and round. When combining with pop/rock it slowly evolves into a new genre called techno. Interesting right! Darwin's Theory of  Evolution in music o.o Bet you didnt know about this earlier .. There are quite a few famous artist who does minimal music, I'll name a few of those songs that I like down here, Michael Nyman I recommend you  " The Heart Ask the Pleasure First "                     Yann Tierseon - Comptine

Jack Neo Returns!!

Ohh Ho. Jack neo is back with his new movie. <<Ah Boys To Men/新兵正传>> Looking at the trailer reminds me of those day I spent in Tekong -_-.. and my brother is serving his reservist now, hope that he is doing fine... Well is good to see that he is still in the film industry ..... and since he said to "keep things realistic" in this film, I might be looking forward to it, we shall see..

My Opinion on John cage 433 Is this Music or JunK?

Ever heard of John Cage 4'33 Somehow I strongly feel like viewing this piece as a Buddhist teaching ,Form is Emptiness; Emptiness is Form.Yes this piece is nothing but "total silence" and you can play this piece using any instruments.  Well I wont be putting up any video for this piece. But you can search for it in the youtube there are a bunch of people out there playing this bizarre piece.. sitting quietly for Four minutes and thirty three seconds Rest In Peace I learned about this piece a year ago while I was taking up music appreciation course as one of my elective..  I feel so damn lucky to have this as part of my elective.. by the way I Got an A grade for my elective  >.< For those who didnt know, this is listed as one of the top controversial music pieces.. some may find it meaningful, some may just thought of it as a waste of time and not even considering it as composition..

My Views on Music: Universal language Music For Life

This is my philosophy of life & how I relate it to music. Every one of us is unique and different, we have what we like and what we dislike. We all have different preferences.. I cant force you to do things you don't enjoy, likewise you can't force me to do things your way if I don't feel like it. Mutual respect between humans are very important.. there is certain boundary and space we should never crossover.. Why do I say listening to music is the same as eating food.. Because.. The Taste Preferences:  Food have different flavours, textures, colours, nutrients,cultures... etc. Same goes for music they have different genre, cultures, styles, expressions...  etc. Besides all these differences.. the venues we are in also plays a part. For example, you wont be playing classical music in a nightclub right! everyone would be sleeping on the dance floor if you did that.. Universal Language: Food as a form of universal language.. it has the ability to convey

Tsuzumi goes "pong pong" in Patapon

I am in  obsession  with Japanese culture and their music. Let's start of this post by telling you how I discover this interesting instrument. It took me a long time to realize what this odd shaped hourglass instrument is called... How many of you knew about this PSP game, Patapon??? It's a fairly engaging rhythmic game.. whereby you need to march those little black eyeball imps to fight off monsters..with the help of the different drums.. So I was playing this game on my psp.. there is this particular mini game that caught my interest... I 'll show you a clip of the minigame that I was playing.. pata pata pata pon..

What makes Chiptune & 8 Bit music?

Hihi..music lovers! Today I will be talking about Chiptune!.. any idea what is chiptune or 8 bit music? Potato Chiptune Music Ah.. It has got nothing to do with these potatoes chip ;P But if you are thinking about the electronic component (micro-chip) you are right! Chiptune is one of the earliest form of video game music. It's first début was in the late 70's when the arcade video games thrive. I still remember the loud gritty sound coming out of my pc's speaker when I played those games back in the early 90's. Gosh my ear hurts o.o Yup they still exist in the early 90's. Below is one of my favourite childhood games with chiptune music.. Bubble Bobble theme by Tadashi Kimijima & Zuntata ..and guess what! WHAT? for your bonus information SNSD Ramen song has the same melody. Anyway Chiptune is also known as 8-bit music.. or I should say Chiptune is a music genre which consists of 8-bit, 12-bit  and anything that sounds "chippy&quo

Why don't you start appreciating classical music?

My affection for classical music started since young. Largely due to my dad's influence and encouragement. That is also when I got interested in the secret world of sound and music. Is common to hear people saying "listening to classical music is boring and it makes me sleepy". It makes me wonder are you really listening?or you just "shut off " your ears because in your mind you already deemed classical music as boring (which they all sounded like this ). (write in your comments about it) How to enjoy classical music? In my opinion the best way to appreciate a classical piece is to learn about it. You may not love classical music but certainly it can help you in understanding them more. So what is classical music?  In our current era we consider classical music as slow moving, light, with the accompaniment of strings, piano woodwinds and bass.. (Warning: Stereotype Content Detected) But how many knows that classical music consists of music from the d

Onomatopoeia! the godmother of SOUND!!!

What is On·o·mat·o·poe·ia? Damn this word is so hard to spell dont you agree but is a fun word to learn.. Why Godmother of SOund? To put it simple, Onomatopoeia is basically words that mimics the actual sound. For example "hiss", "boom", "blop" Speaking of which it reminds me of this song that my brother loves..  Price Tag by Jessie J lets see if you can spot any Onomatopoeia. Here is another question. Which language uses Onomatopoeia words most frequently?? Well it will probably be Japanese.. If you look closely, Onomatopoeia in Japanese are sub divided into 3 categories. Giseigo: Sounds that animate objects make Giongo: Sounds made by inanimate objects Gitaigo: They are words that describe feelings or expressions (Gitaigo are mimetic words and are often treated as Onomatopoeia) If you can read hiranga & katakana and want to know more you can go over to Tofugu.com   (There is a good list of  Japanese Onomatopoeia there) Well tha

Sound effect Laser gun ~ Pewww~

Ever wonder how the sound effect of laser gun was made in star wars?.. I use to think that it was probably "created" through extensive tweaking by some sound engineers  .. But it was NOT! You must be thinking Har!?. You must be kidding me.. how can zapping sound of the laser be made by an ordinary object...

Benjamin Franklin's Glass Harmonica Bowls

Benjamin Franklin ?? huh what has he got to do with sound n glass armonica ?  Aint he the electricity guy? Yup you are Right! He is the guy who flew a kite in the storm. Well I will not go into detail about the little experiment he did, if you are interested you can click on this link  Ben Franklin Kite flying Story . (PS:probably this is how he invented the lighting rod) So what has this thunder guy got to do with music? Did he made the musical tesla? Of course not. But he is the guy who invented The Glass Harmonica.

What is Cuíca ? yeah baby

Any idea what is a Cuica ?  Austin Power asking you a question Some of you might have heard the sound before but never pay much attention to it. Is used commonly in samba music. Well Soul Bossa-Nova by Quincy Jones really leaves me a great impression of this instrument. Here is a clue. Yeah baby! It sounds like a laughing hyena