to be alone with you

Always happens. When I'm trying to study I get inspired to pick up the guitar and record something. Happened for the O-levels, happened during the A's and it's happening now.

This time it's not an original but a cover of Sufjan Steven's "To be Alone with You":

LISTEN: (=D)
http://wongkangwen.googlepages.com/tobealonewithyou.mp3

God rest ye merry gennlemen

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen has always been one of my fav Christmas tunes, and I'd originally set out to record a metal version of it. But metal versions of Christmas tunes have been done to death, so I decided to jazz it up. I hope I did well. It's pretty short at the moment-hopefully I'll get around to building on it someway or the other.

http://wongkangwen.googlepages.com/grymg2.mp3

About the new Radiohead album.

Radiohead has sent shockwaves through the music industry by releasing their latest album online, and letting fans decide how much to pay for it. And apparently, according to a study, 62% downloaded it without paying a single cent while the remaining 38% paid an average of US$6 for it. Here's the article: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/most_fans_paid_0_for_radiohead_album.html

Apparently this is RH's strategy to address the problem of declining CD sales, but I wonder if they are actually making more than they would have if they'd released it the conventional way. Okay this could be a very good idea because:
1. if they produced, recorded, mastered the album all by themselves then this would undercut the cost of having a label behind them. Cos as it is most artists are lucky if they get to smell even 10% of their publishing, cos the labels take everything else with all the marketing and royalties paid by radio stations.
2. By publishing it online, they save on packaging and shipping costs
3. People who would otherwise have been cautious to buy the CD might have downloaded it for free, given it a listen, then returned to pay a sum they thought was reasonable.

However:
1. RH are still signed to a label so their funding could well still come from the label..and if this is so then they still wouldn't see most of the money.
2. Owing to the huge download volume, they need to pay a LOT for server bandwidth.
3. people are generally a stingy bunch =x

So the bottom line is where the money came from to make this album. If they did it on their own then it's highly likely that they are making more. Yngwie made more under his previous indy label than with Polygram. Some more they intend to release the album later, so they are going to make even more money out of the sales from those. However if their label remains behind this whole thing then..well it doesn't really make as much sense anymore.

..what do you think?

..by the way, my sis and I paid US$10 to download it. I haven't given it a listen as yet, but that's besides the point..

Rosseau

Re-recorded another one today. This one's called Rosseau. The story: I happened to be studying Jean-Jacques Rosseau the French philosopher for GP A-levels when I got tired and picked up the guitar. And so this tune was born.

http://wongkangwen.googlepages.com/rosseau.mp3

The tune actually reminds me more of wine than philosophers. Incidentally, Rosseau is also the name of a French wine made from Chardonnay grapes, so it's all's good!

...I really like the phrase "it's all good"

the island closest to hell

Spent all morning on this but now it's finally finished! It's a remake of a tune I made last year, inspired by BMT and Pulau Tekong. The concept then was to make two tunes showcasing contrasting facets of Tekong. Because, in my nine weeks on that island I'd really grown to appreciate its beauty. Yet most of our memories there involved drills, morning 5BX, runs, field camps, range, route marches and such. This one was meant to reflect all of that.

http://wongkangwen.googlepages.com/islandclosesttohell.mp3

MY COMPUTER IS BACK

..although all my past recordings/compositions are gone. Lucky I'd managed to salvage most of them (albeit low quality). I spent the night reacquainting it with all the essential hardware and software required for recording stuff i.e. Fruity Loops and Audacity and my trusty lil microphone.

and thus from this day on I will return to the days of composing/recording again. Hope my inspiration hasn't run dry after such a long barren period. Anyways, I tinkered around with FL a bit for good measure after installing and this is what came out of it:
http://wongkangwen.googlepages.com/wen150.mp3

back to the industry

while waiting for the liverpool-fulham re-run on TV today I decided to experiment with a little industrial/dance music in Fruity Loops. Here it is:

http://wongkangwen.googlepages.com/industrial.mp3

plenty of metal influence in there.

apparently, industrial music originated in the 1970s from the artists under the record label Industrial Records. The aim of the musicians was to reject what the music industry at that time was trying to tell the masses what music was supposed to be. I approve!