Greetings to all, here's an update on the ALTERNATIVES CONCERT on
Saturday, 22nd October 2005, 4pm at Young Musician's Society Auditorium from the pianist's perspective
I was the accompanist for this 70-minute vocal recital where 4 soloists sang arias from operas, right from the baroque period to 20th century, and also some songs from musical theatre. The concept was refreshing, as there was not just singing, but some mime, a little acting, blocking, "multi-media" and "black-and-white projection" (big paper cards) and bantering. It was not the usual stiff-upper-lip sort of recital, but was done in a rather informal and light-hearted setting.
Accompanying for this recital has taken many long hours of rehearsals to just get timing and coordination right between right and left hand, pianist and singer, breathing and pedalling. The scores are so NOT easy to play. Some of them require 3 hands or 12-15 fingers (yes of course it's humanly impossible!!) because it was not written specifically for the piano per se but is actually a reduction from an orchestral score, so it was totally unsympathetic to the pianist =P But anyway, I managed all the scary songs (i.e. those with a lot of sharps, jumps bigger than an octave, countless changes in tonality and of course difficult singers.)
Things were looking up during our final rehearsal, and guess what? I had to screw up majorly on the actual performance! Fie on't! Ah, fie! 'Tis an unweeded garden. Things rank and grose in nature, possess it merely that it should come to this!
And to make it worse, I screwed up a part where the piano is completely exposed with no singing to mask my playing because I was ending the song with an unusually long piano part. I don't know what I was thinking, but I must have zoned out in the middle of it and I played all the wrong notes and went into a different tonality (it was a baroque piece, so no unconventional key changes) and it sounded like it was going to modulate and I panicked. Die, how to end the piece? I tried to think of something, but in the end I gave up and just ended on an A which was abso-f*cking-lutely uncool. The thing is, it has never happened in rehearsals and it is not one of my scary songs. It was so shitty shit shit shit shit! Anyway, the audience seemed to be forgiving because it's quite an informal thing. However, having said that, I more than redeemed myself in the following few songs, especially the Strauss, which was a beast! And I am so proud of myself.
Anyway, the concert has its brilliant moments. Some songs were really 'on' while others were just very er... wrong. Everybody had a little slip here and there but there were no colossal damage. And even if the singer makes a mistake, skipped a beat or missed an entry, it can always be covered up by the pianist who plays flexibly to suit them, and adapts to their idiosyncracies and irregular pulse, nobody gets hurt. But NOT vice versa! (-pouts)
Oh well, thus concludes this scary episode of mis-adventure. Tune in next time to the AD-VEN-TURES of the Maaan Behind the Ivories... ries... ries... ries... (echo)!
Monday, October 24, 2005
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
White Ribbon Campaign
Tuesday, 18 October 2005
Serangoon Garden Secondary School
The heat and humidity almost killed me. I was melting in my jacket. There was supposedly air-con but it leaked majorly, and had to be turned off. Anyhow, the choir looked sharp in their new costumes and the whole line-up (choir-pianist-conductor) looked professional. This ought to show the school what a real choir should look like and that choir is not just any CCA, it's a performing ART.
The sound system wasn't fantastic, but thanks to the boom mics which picked up the choir sufficiently, they don't sound bad. In fact the audience and principal were impressed. That's good enough for me, for now, HAHA, but I expect higher standards. They can do it. They are capable of sounding better in rehearsal, so concluded by Ms Koh and myself. However many factors work against us in the real performance, 1st it's in an unearthly early hour in the morning, voices are not at their tip-top warmed up state. 2nd, the piano is slightly out of tune, and the positioning of the mics were different from rehearsal day and the piano could hardly be heard, and that i suppose, had freaked the choir out a little. 3rdly, singing before an audience itself is nerve-wrecking and having not performed frequent enough to acquire the calmness of stage presence, the choir end up looking a bit stiff and scared. So the moral of the story is to go out and perform as much as possible coz the more you do it, the better you get.
There are few good things worth mentioning. The blend was good, phrasing has improved, intonation wasn't too bad, if not for the lok kok piano (Joel complained that keys got stuck and each song got harder and harder to play, sigh). Now, the choir needs to develop their resonance and work on dynamic display. It somehow lacked a bit of lustre and expressiveness. But the overall rating was satisfactory.
Jia You choir, I think if you continue to develop from where you are now, silver is not a problem for you in the next syf. =)
-corcovado20
Tuesday, 18 October 2005
Serangoon Garden Secondary School
The heat and humidity almost killed me. I was melting in my jacket. There was supposedly air-con but it leaked majorly, and had to be turned off. Anyhow, the choir looked sharp in their new costumes and the whole line-up (choir-pianist-conductor) looked professional. This ought to show the school what a real choir should look like and that choir is not just any CCA, it's a performing ART.
The sound system wasn't fantastic, but thanks to the boom mics which picked up the choir sufficiently, they don't sound bad. In fact the audience and principal were impressed. That's good enough for me, for now, HAHA, but I expect higher standards. They can do it. They are capable of sounding better in rehearsal, so concluded by Ms Koh and myself. However many factors work against us in the real performance, 1st it's in an unearthly early hour in the morning, voices are not at their tip-top warmed up state. 2nd, the piano is slightly out of tune, and the positioning of the mics were different from rehearsal day and the piano could hardly be heard, and that i suppose, had freaked the choir out a little. 3rdly, singing before an audience itself is nerve-wrecking and having not performed frequent enough to acquire the calmness of stage presence, the choir end up looking a bit stiff and scared. So the moral of the story is to go out and perform as much as possible coz the more you do it, the better you get.
There are few good things worth mentioning. The blend was good, phrasing has improved, intonation wasn't too bad, if not for the lok kok piano (Joel complained that keys got stuck and each song got harder and harder to play, sigh). Now, the choir needs to develop their resonance and work on dynamic display. It somehow lacked a bit of lustre and expressiveness. But the overall rating was satisfactory.
Jia You choir, I think if you continue to develop from where you are now, silver is not a problem for you in the next syf. =)
-corcovado20
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
KEY ELEMENTS
proudly presents
JAZZ AT THE MOVIES
It's going to be a night of movie magic come Saturday, 5 Nov 2005. That's when Key Elements, a six-member a cappella group, will present Jazz at the Movies at the Victoria Concert Hall, starting at 7.30pm.
Co-presented by YMCA of Singapore and supported by National Arts Council, the concert will see Key Elements singing songs from the movies - from mega-hits like Pretty Woman (Fallen) to more obscure comedies like Earth Girls are Easy (Route 66) - all in jazz-inflected vocal arrangements, all done a cappella, of course.
Formed in 2001, Key Elements started off doing small gigs and progressed to doing shows at the University Cultural Centre and the Esplanade. Jazz at the Movies is the group's effort to take its music one step further. The group was inspired to present a full concert after coming in second in the vocal band section of the fourth Taiwan Choral Ensemble Competition in October last year. Incidentally, Key Elements member Jason Ong won a prize for Best Arrangement at the competition for an upbeat version of 'Accentuate the Positive', which will be included in the concert. Once again, the concert details are as follows:
Saturday
5 November 2005
Victoria Concert Hall
7:30 P.M.
Tickets $35*, $25*, $15* (student concession) are available at
YMCA of Singapore
1 Orchard Road
Tel: 6430 2288
www.ymca.org.sg
You may also contact Vaughan Tan on 9338 7298 to order your tickets.
(*Please note that ticket prices are subject to 5% GST)
Featuring
original arrangements by
Jason Ong & Benedict Goh
Highlights
Do Re Mi (The Sound of Music)
Spiderman Theme (Spiderman)
Beyond The Sea (Finding Nemo)
Fly Me To The Moon (Down With Love)
Route 66 (Earth Girls Are Easy)
Fallen (Pretty Woman)
So make a date with Key Elements and come share in an evening filled with smooth grooves and electrifying entertainment for young and old. For more details, please visit the following website:
http://www.i-lurve-ke.com
Thank you and hope to see you there!
Best regards,
Benedict
proudly presents
JAZZ AT THE MOVIES
It's going to be a night of movie magic come Saturday, 5 Nov 2005. That's when Key Elements, a six-member a cappella group, will present Jazz at the Movies at the Victoria Concert Hall, starting at 7.30pm.
Co-presented by YMCA of Singapore and supported by National Arts Council, the concert will see Key Elements singing songs from the movies - from mega-hits like Pretty Woman (Fallen) to more obscure comedies like Earth Girls are Easy (Route 66) - all in jazz-inflected vocal arrangements, all done a cappella, of course.
Formed in 2001, Key Elements started off doing small gigs and progressed to doing shows at the University Cultural Centre and the Esplanade. Jazz at the Movies is the group's effort to take its music one step further. The group was inspired to present a full concert after coming in second in the vocal band section of the fourth Taiwan Choral Ensemble Competition in October last year. Incidentally, Key Elements member Jason Ong won a prize for Best Arrangement at the competition for an upbeat version of 'Accentuate the Positive', which will be included in the concert. Once again, the concert details are as follows:
Saturday
5 November 2005
Victoria Concert Hall
7:30 P.M.
Tickets $35*, $25*, $15* (student concession) are available at
YMCA of Singapore
1 Orchard Road
Tel: 6430 2288
www.ymca.org.sg
You may also contact Vaughan Tan on 9338 7298 to order your tickets.
(*Please note that ticket prices are subject to 5% GST)
Featuring
original arrangements by
Jason Ong & Benedict Goh
Highlights
Do Re Mi (The Sound of Music)
Spiderman Theme (Spiderman)
Beyond The Sea (Finding Nemo)
Fly Me To The Moon (Down With Love)
Route 66 (Earth Girls Are Easy)
Fallen (Pretty Woman)
So make a date with Key Elements and come share in an evening filled with smooth grooves and electrifying entertainment for young and old. For more details, please visit the following website:
http://www.i-lurve-ke.com
Thank you and hope to see you there!
Best regards,
Benedict
Monday, October 10, 2005
EXHAUSTED
This entry will be short, as opposed to the last one. I'm dead tired. Had 3 days of retreat with KE, in preparation for our concert on 5th November. Checked in on Fri afternoon at the YWCA Fort Canning Lodge, then for the weekend it was non-stop singing and choreography work, save for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The schedule was really punishing and when i arrive at home on Sunday night, i was completed wasted. Then we had recording tonight for Do-Re-Mi, last song of the album. Finished at 11+, got home and going to crash. Tomorrow night is our regular rehearsal, this time with mics. It's amazing how I survive. I think I'm falling sick again. SIGH..Need to go, bye.
This entry will be short, as opposed to the last one. I'm dead tired. Had 3 days of retreat with KE, in preparation for our concert on 5th November. Checked in on Fri afternoon at the YWCA Fort Canning Lodge, then for the weekend it was non-stop singing and choreography work, save for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The schedule was really punishing and when i arrive at home on Sunday night, i was completed wasted. Then we had recording tonight for Do-Re-Mi, last song of the album. Finished at 11+, got home and going to crash. Tomorrow night is our regular rehearsal, this time with mics. It's amazing how I survive. I think I'm falling sick again. SIGH..Need to go, bye.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
BACK HOME!
Sawadi Carp! I'm back from Bangkok. The trip was a blast. We had an absolutely smashing time - great company, great food, great laughs and great shopping :)
For your long awaited update, here are some of the highlights of the Bangkok trip:
Day 1 (Arrival at Bangkok)
'Twas raining cats and dogs at our arrival, luckily our agent has arranged for a minibus to pick us up at the airport and send us straight to Arnoma Hotel. It was 9 plus pm local time. Reached the hotel at about 10ish, rained has slowed to a drizzle and almost nothing. First thing we did after unloading was to pick up a few drinks and tid-bits from 7-eleven and after we had bathed and settled in, we all congregated at room 1020 for our midnight gossip.
Day 2
Breakfast at Buttercup (not Tiffanys' unfortunately), in the hotel, part of the package. They had a pretty large selection of food from chinese to continental style. I had servings of omelette and scrambled eggs and stewed beef and sausages and bacon and fried noodles and orange juice and tea. (You get the picture)
We did a tour of the royal palace next. First took the BTS (equivalent of our MRT)to some jetty and then a boat down the river to the royal palace. The palace was elaborately decked with gold, everywhere was littered with gold from the walls to the pillars and ceilings. And if some speck of gold dust would just come off from the roof top we would be rich. HAH...
After the royal palace tour was, you guessed it, LUNCH. We went to MBK food court. Don't think that it's only a food court, the food there is gorgeous. Some of the guys had shark fin's soup without shark fins (haha, joke of day) but tastes nice. I ordered a curry chicken rice, was not bad, J had the paht thai (fried glass noodles). And the highlight of the day was the sticky rice with mango was mmmmmmmm.... divine! And did I mention that it was also cheap? T brought back 3 servings, of which he had the lion's share of course. Lunch was more than satisfying. Having filled our stomachs to the brim, we embarked on our long awaited retail therapy. The place was just packed with shops. Think Far East, except twice the size and trice the density of tenants. That's how packed it is. And really, you need quite a lot of stamina to go through all of them. Was quite a challenge.
Anyway after an afternoon of exertion in the mall, we rewarded ourselves to swenson's ice cream, and an evening of traditional Thai massage in a Sauna. The ambience of the place was amazingly good, it's like a world of its own, a little retreat outside of the menacing city life. This is my first massage ever, it was really an eye-opener, and a very amazing experience. Well I think I would go back for more.
Dinner was at Silom complex, took a tuk tuk (think of the James Bond Ad) there. We had red and green curry, sweet and sour fish, tom yam soup and vege. And we polished off everything on the plate. The plan was to have dinner and then go for a cabaret performance but the heavy rain thwarted our plan and to end off the day, we congregated at Room 1016 of evening gossip this time.
Day 3
Breakfast at Buttercup as per the previous day. This time we had the usual omelette and scrambled eggs and chicken and fried rice. Again, ate till very full. After which we continued on our retail therapy part 2. But before that, T wanted to free birds for good luck (think of Richard Gere but less dramatic), so we made a trip to the famous four-faced buddha shrine to make the offering. Then we walked to our lunch destination, that took us a while, we had a good lunch in a local restaurant. The interior decor was humble, it looked probably like it's frozen in a timezone which is in the 70s, but the dishes were so delicious. Then we spent the rest of the time shopping. We went back to MBK centre and then J and I walked across to Discovery Centre and we saw lots of fabulous and cute stuffs for the home and gifts. The ideas people can come up with for little things like a floor mat and table lamp was amazing. Again, we rewarded ourselves to swenson's ice-cream after finishing with our shopping.
A few of us went back to our hotel to just rot while others continued to their massage parlour for more self indulgence.
We then had a fantastic dinner at Sukothai hotel, a luxurious haven which commands an exorbitant fee of about US$600 for just a one-night stay there. The restaurant is Celadon (if i remember it correctly) and again we had top-knotch Thai cuisine. The tom yam soup was clear but it's so spicy u can burn your tongue. We also ordered a red and a green curry, tofu, and fried fish. The service was remarkable and the ambience was heavenly. It makes a fantastic retreat or a honeymoon destination.
Of course we did not stop at dinner, the fun had only just begun. We made our way down to Pawan for a cabaret show. The show was really amazing, and roaringly funny, not becoz it's a comedy, but because some parts of it was so cheezy and so bad that it's actually funny. The thing looked like some primary school assembly programme thingy with very bad choreo and lousy effects and cheapo props and really wrong music. But that was not really the point. The point was not to showcase talent in the artistic way but another kind of talent. You go figure what talent it is =P
After the cabaret, the lot of us went shopping again down pat pong night market. It's like nothing you'll find in Singapore. Think of pasar malam, but only 10-20 times more elaborate and busier, which lots of tourist lots of variety of stuffs.
To end off the day, we did our midnight gossip (which has since became a ritual), this time in room 1022.
Day 4 (Last day)
We were so shacked out over the last 2 nights we totally skipped breakfast because we overslept. The day was pretty slack as we had done all the major shopping and visited the places we wanted to visit and done the stuffs we wanted to do. So we had a leisure walk to Starbucks for our coffee and did a bit of shopping at Isetan. All of which are within a 1km radius from our hotel. :) Not long after, we stopped by the food court for lunch and return to our hotels to check-out.
As our agent has arranged, the minibus came punctually at 1:30pm to pick us up for the airport. Along the way, we asked the driver to stop at Chatuchak market to pick up some fresh fruits. The market was just amazing, it is firstly humongous, and it sells anything and everything under the sun. The pomelo here is super cheap and sweet. N bought a whole stash to be brought home, the rest all bought something.
Then at the airport, we had KFC, as T was craving for it the whole time since yesterday. Delightful it was, the chicken I am referring to, and feeling satisfied, we checked in for our boarding.
Thus concludes the trip to Bangkok. So much for updating, I am completely exhausted. Goodnight and ciao.
Sawadi Carp! I'm back from Bangkok. The trip was a blast. We had an absolutely smashing time - great company, great food, great laughs and great shopping :)
For your long awaited update, here are some of the highlights of the Bangkok trip:
Day 1 (Arrival at Bangkok)
'Twas raining cats and dogs at our arrival, luckily our agent has arranged for a minibus to pick us up at the airport and send us straight to Arnoma Hotel. It was 9 plus pm local time. Reached the hotel at about 10ish, rained has slowed to a drizzle and almost nothing. First thing we did after unloading was to pick up a few drinks and tid-bits from 7-eleven and after we had bathed and settled in, we all congregated at room 1020 for our midnight gossip.
Day 2
Breakfast at Buttercup (not Tiffanys' unfortunately), in the hotel, part of the package. They had a pretty large selection of food from chinese to continental style. I had servings of omelette and scrambled eggs and stewed beef and sausages and bacon and fried noodles and orange juice and tea. (You get the picture)
We did a tour of the royal palace next. First took the BTS (equivalent of our MRT)to some jetty and then a boat down the river to the royal palace. The palace was elaborately decked with gold, everywhere was littered with gold from the walls to the pillars and ceilings. And if some speck of gold dust would just come off from the roof top we would be rich. HAH...
After the royal palace tour was, you guessed it, LUNCH. We went to MBK food court. Don't think that it's only a food court, the food there is gorgeous. Some of the guys had shark fin's soup without shark fins (haha, joke of day) but tastes nice. I ordered a curry chicken rice, was not bad, J had the paht thai (fried glass noodles). And the highlight of the day was the sticky rice with mango was mmmmmmmm.... divine! And did I mention that it was also cheap? T brought back 3 servings, of which he had the lion's share of course. Lunch was more than satisfying. Having filled our stomachs to the brim, we embarked on our long awaited retail therapy. The place was just packed with shops. Think Far East, except twice the size and trice the density of tenants. That's how packed it is. And really, you need quite a lot of stamina to go through all of them. Was quite a challenge.
Anyway after an afternoon of exertion in the mall, we rewarded ourselves to swenson's ice cream, and an evening of traditional Thai massage in a Sauna. The ambience of the place was amazingly good, it's like a world of its own, a little retreat outside of the menacing city life. This is my first massage ever, it was really an eye-opener, and a very amazing experience. Well I think I would go back for more.
Dinner was at Silom complex, took a tuk tuk (think of the James Bond Ad) there. We had red and green curry, sweet and sour fish, tom yam soup and vege. And we polished off everything on the plate. The plan was to have dinner and then go for a cabaret performance but the heavy rain thwarted our plan and to end off the day, we congregated at Room 1016 of evening gossip this time.
Day 3
Breakfast at Buttercup as per the previous day. This time we had the usual omelette and scrambled eggs and chicken and fried rice. Again, ate till very full. After which we continued on our retail therapy part 2. But before that, T wanted to free birds for good luck (think of Richard Gere but less dramatic), so we made a trip to the famous four-faced buddha shrine to make the offering. Then we walked to our lunch destination, that took us a while, we had a good lunch in a local restaurant. The interior decor was humble, it looked probably like it's frozen in a timezone which is in the 70s, but the dishes were so delicious. Then we spent the rest of the time shopping. We went back to MBK centre and then J and I walked across to Discovery Centre and we saw lots of fabulous and cute stuffs for the home and gifts. The ideas people can come up with for little things like a floor mat and table lamp was amazing. Again, we rewarded ourselves to swenson's ice-cream after finishing with our shopping.
A few of us went back to our hotel to just rot while others continued to their massage parlour for more self indulgence.
We then had a fantastic dinner at Sukothai hotel, a luxurious haven which commands an exorbitant fee of about US$600 for just a one-night stay there. The restaurant is Celadon (if i remember it correctly) and again we had top-knotch Thai cuisine. The tom yam soup was clear but it's so spicy u can burn your tongue. We also ordered a red and a green curry, tofu, and fried fish. The service was remarkable and the ambience was heavenly. It makes a fantastic retreat or a honeymoon destination.
Of course we did not stop at dinner, the fun had only just begun. We made our way down to Pawan for a cabaret show. The show was really amazing, and roaringly funny, not becoz it's a comedy, but because some parts of it was so cheezy and so bad that it's actually funny. The thing looked like some primary school assembly programme thingy with very bad choreo and lousy effects and cheapo props and really wrong music. But that was not really the point. The point was not to showcase talent in the artistic way but another kind of talent. You go figure what talent it is =P
After the cabaret, the lot of us went shopping again down pat pong night market. It's like nothing you'll find in Singapore. Think of pasar malam, but only 10-20 times more elaborate and busier, which lots of tourist lots of variety of stuffs.
To end off the day, we did our midnight gossip (which has since became a ritual), this time in room 1022.
Day 4 (Last day)
We were so shacked out over the last 2 nights we totally skipped breakfast because we overslept. The day was pretty slack as we had done all the major shopping and visited the places we wanted to visit and done the stuffs we wanted to do. So we had a leisure walk to Starbucks for our coffee and did a bit of shopping at Isetan. All of which are within a 1km radius from our hotel. :) Not long after, we stopped by the food court for lunch and return to our hotels to check-out.
As our agent has arranged, the minibus came punctually at 1:30pm to pick us up for the airport. Along the way, we asked the driver to stop at Chatuchak market to pick up some fresh fruits. The market was just amazing, it is firstly humongous, and it sells anything and everything under the sun. The pomelo here is super cheap and sweet. N bought a whole stash to be brought home, the rest all bought something.
Then at the airport, we had KFC, as T was craving for it the whole time since yesterday. Delightful it was, the chicken I am referring to, and feeling satisfied, we checked in for our boarding.
Thus concludes the trip to Bangkok. So much for updating, I am completely exhausted. Goodnight and ciao.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Monday, September 26, 2005
It's a good monday,
I have no school
I have no work
I just be a couch potato
and had a helluva time doing
absolutely
Nothing
Oh I did something in fact,
went to visit a student at SGH
It's not dengue,
It's just that her life was put in danger
by herself,
one fine day, she decided to mutilate herself
kids do that a lot these days huh.
some relationship problem
and next moment they try to kill themselves
details cannot be disclosed sorry,
so don't ask what school, who, what, when, where.
No comments.
Anywae, it was a lovely day, save for a traffic jam at the CTE.
'Twas a good start to a week free from the pressures of work.
Tmr got one primary school, and Key Elements practice, which reminds me that i have scores to memorise... orite, so long, farewell, adieu, till we meet again.
Bye.
I have no school
I have no work
I just be a couch potato
and had a helluva time doing
absolutely
Nothing
Oh I did something in fact,
went to visit a student at SGH
It's not dengue,
It's just that her life was put in danger
by herself,
one fine day, she decided to mutilate herself
kids do that a lot these days huh.
some relationship problem
and next moment they try to kill themselves
details cannot be disclosed sorry,
so don't ask what school, who, what, when, where.
No comments.
Anywae, it was a lovely day, save for a traffic jam at the CTE.
'Twas a good start to a week free from the pressures of work.
Tmr got one primary school, and Key Elements practice, which reminds me that i have scores to memorise... orite, so long, farewell, adieu, till we meet again.
Bye.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Mooncake Come and Gone
It's alarming how fast time flies, before you knew it, it's already 3rd quarter of 2005. We have eaten our mooncakes, sent and received our festive greetings and now it's nearing the end of the year and time to look forward to Christmas.
It's the exam period now, and so yours truly don't have to teach. This is a good time to go away for a holiday, so that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Will be away in Bangkok from 3-6 October. (Yes!! MUAHAHAHAHAHA)
It's alarming how fast time flies, before you knew it, it's already 3rd quarter of 2005. We have eaten our mooncakes, sent and received our festive greetings and now it's nearing the end of the year and time to look forward to Christmas.
It's the exam period now, and so yours truly don't have to teach. This is a good time to go away for a holiday, so that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Will be away in Bangkok from 3-6 October. (Yes!! MUAHAHAHAHAHA)
Saturday, September 17, 2005
THE YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO THE CHORUS
[Continued...]
Top Ten Reasons for Being a Soprano
1. The rest of the choir exists just to make you look good.
2. You can entertain your friends by breaking their wineglasses.
3. Can you name an opera where an alto got the man?
4. When sopranos want to sing in the shower, they know the tune.
5. It's not like you are ever going to sing the alto part by accident.
6. Great costumes - like the hat with the horns on it.
7. How many world famous altos can you name?
8. When the fat lady sings, she's usually singing soprano.
9. When you get tired of singing the tune, you can sing the descant.
10. You can sing along with Michael Jackson.
Top Ten Reasons for Being an Alto
1. You get really good at singing E flat.
2. You get to sing the same note for 12 consecutive measures.
3. You don't really need to warm up to sing 12 consecutive bars of E-flat.
4. If the choir really stinks, it's unlikely the altos will be blamed.
5. You have lots of time to chat during soprano solos.
6. You get to pretend that you are better than the sopranos, because everybody knows that women only sing soprano so they don't have to learn to read music.
7. You can sometimes find part time work singing tenor.
8. Altos get all the great intervals.
9. When the sopranos are holding some outrageously high note at the end of a song, the altos always get the last words.
10. When the altos miss a note, nobody gets hurt.
Top Ten Reasons for Being a Tenor
1. Tenors get high - without drugs.
2. Name a musical where the bass got the girl.
3. You can show the sopranos how it SHOULD be sung.
4. Did you ever hear of anyone paying $1000 for a ticket to see 'The three Basses?'
5. Who needs brains when you've got resonance?
6. Tenors never have to waste time looking through the self-improvement section of the bookstore.
7. You get to sing along with John Denver singing "Aye Calypso."
8. When you get really good at falsetto, you can make tons of money doing voice-overs for cartoon characters.
9. Gregorian chant was practically invented for tenors. Nobody invented a genre for basses.
10. You can entertain your friends by impersonating Julia Child.
Top Ten Reasons for Being a Bass
1. You don't have to tighten your shorts to reach your note.
2. You don't have to worry about a woman stealing your job.
3. Or a preadolescent boy stealing your job.
4. Action heroes are always basses. That is - if they ever sang, they would sing bass.
5. You get great memorable lyrics like bop, bop, bop, bop.
6.If the singing job doesn't work out, there's always broadcasting.
7. You never need to learn to read the treble clef.
8. If you get a cold, so what.
9. For fun, you can sing at the bottom of your range and fool people into thinking there's an earthquake.
10. If you belch while you're singing, the audience just thinks it is part of the score.
HAHA Wicked... Have a good laugh.
[Continued...]
Top Ten Reasons for Being a Soprano
1. The rest of the choir exists just to make you look good.
2. You can entertain your friends by breaking their wineglasses.
3. Can you name an opera where an alto got the man?
4. When sopranos want to sing in the shower, they know the tune.
5. It's not like you are ever going to sing the alto part by accident.
6. Great costumes - like the hat with the horns on it.
7. How many world famous altos can you name?
8. When the fat lady sings, she's usually singing soprano.
9. When you get tired of singing the tune, you can sing the descant.
10. You can sing along with Michael Jackson.
Top Ten Reasons for Being an Alto
1. You get really good at singing E flat.
2. You get to sing the same note for 12 consecutive measures.
3. You don't really need to warm up to sing 12 consecutive bars of E-flat.
4. If the choir really stinks, it's unlikely the altos will be blamed.
5. You have lots of time to chat during soprano solos.
6. You get to pretend that you are better than the sopranos, because everybody knows that women only sing soprano so they don't have to learn to read music.
7. You can sometimes find part time work singing tenor.
8. Altos get all the great intervals.
9. When the sopranos are holding some outrageously high note at the end of a song, the altos always get the last words.
10. When the altos miss a note, nobody gets hurt.
Top Ten Reasons for Being a Tenor
1. Tenors get high - without drugs.
2. Name a musical where the bass got the girl.
3. You can show the sopranos how it SHOULD be sung.
4. Did you ever hear of anyone paying $1000 for a ticket to see 'The three Basses?'
5. Who needs brains when you've got resonance?
6. Tenors never have to waste time looking through the self-improvement section of the bookstore.
7. You get to sing along with John Denver singing "Aye Calypso."
8. When you get really good at falsetto, you can make tons of money doing voice-overs for cartoon characters.
9. Gregorian chant was practically invented for tenors. Nobody invented a genre for basses.
10. You can entertain your friends by impersonating Julia Child.
Top Ten Reasons for Being a Bass
1. You don't have to tighten your shorts to reach your note.
2. You don't have to worry about a woman stealing your job.
3. Or a preadolescent boy stealing your job.
4. Action heroes are always basses. That is - if they ever sang, they would sing bass.
5. You get great memorable lyrics like bop, bop, bop, bop.
6.If the singing job doesn't work out, there's always broadcasting.
7. You never need to learn to read the treble clef.
8. If you get a cold, so what.
9. For fun, you can sing at the bottom of your range and fool people into thinking there's an earthquake.
10. If you belch while you're singing, the audience just thinks it is part of the score.
HAHA Wicked... Have a good laugh.
Friday, September 16, 2005
The Young Person's Guide to the Chorus
Disclaimer: I did not write this, comes from a somebody's blog, which is ripped off from some other source...
In a typical mixed chorus, there are four voice parts: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Sometimes these are divided into first and second within each part, prompting endless jokes about first and second basses. There are also various other parts such as baritone, countertenor, contralto, mezzo soprano, etc., but these are mostly used by people who are either soloists, or belong to some excessively hotshot classical a cappella group (this applies especially to countertenors), or are trying to make excuses for not really fitting into any of the regular voice parts, so we will ignore them for now. Each voice part sings in a different range, and each one has a very different personality. You may ask, "Why should singing different notes make people act differently?", and indeed this is a mysterious question and has not been adequately studied, especially since scientists who study musicians tend to be musicians themselves and have all the peculiar complxes that go with being tenors, french horn players, timpanists, or whatever. However,this is beside the point; the fact remains that the four voice parts can be easily distinguished, and I will now explain how...
THE SOPRANOS are the ones who sing the highest, and because of this they think they rule the world. They have longer hair, fancier jewellery, and swishier skirts than anyone else, and they consider themselves insulted if they are not allowed to go at least to a high F in every movement of any given piece. When they reach the high notes, they hold them for at least half again as long as the composer and/or conductor requires, and then complain that their throats are killing them and that the composer and conductor are sadists. Sopranos have varied attitudes toward the other sections of the chorus, though they consider all of them inferior. Altos are to sopranos rather like second violins to first violins - nice to harmonise with, but not really necessary. All sopranos have a secret feeling that the altos could drop out and the piece would sound essentially the same, and they don't understand why anybody would sing in that range in the first place - it's so boring. Tenors, on the other hand, can be very nice to have around; besides their flirtation possibilities (it is a well-known fact that sopranos never flirt with basses), sopranos like to sing duets with tenors because all the tenors are doing is working very hard to sing in a low-to-medium soprano range, while the sopranos are up there in the stratosphere showing off. To sopranos, basses are the scum of the earth - they sing too damn loud, are useless to tune because they're down in that low, low range - and there has to be something wrong with anyone who sings in the F clef, anyway.
THE ALTOS are the salt of the earth - in their opinion, at least. Altos are unassuming people, who would wear jeans to concerts if they were allowed to. Altos are in a unique position in the chorus in that they are unable to complain about having to sing either very high or very low, and they know that all the other sections think their parts are pitifully easy. But the altos know otherwise. They know that while the sopranos are screeching way on a high A, they are being forced to sing elaborate passages full of sharps and flats and tricks of rhythm, and nobody is noticing because the sopranos are singing too loud (and the basses usually are too). Altos get a deep, secret pleasure out of conspiring together to tune the sopranos flat. Altos have an innate distrust of tenors, because the tenors sing in almost the same range and think they sound better. They like the basses, and enjoy singing duets with them - the basses just sound like a rumble anyway, and it's the only time the altos can really be heard. Altos' other complaint is that there are always too many of them and so they never get to sing really loud.
THE TENORS are spoiled. That's all there is to it. For one thing, there are never enough of them, and choir directors would rather sell their souls than let a halfway decent tenor quit, while they're always ready to unload a few altos at half price. And then, for some reason, the few tenors are always really good - it's one of those annoying facts of life. So it's no wonder that tenors always get swollen heads - after all, who else can make sopranos swoon? The one thing that can make tenors insecure is the accusation (usually by the basses) that anyone singing that high couldn't possibly be a real man.. In their usual perverse fashion, the tenors never acknowledge this, but just complain louder about the composer being a sadist and making them sing so damn high. Tenors have a love-hate relationship with the conductor, too, because the conductor is always telling them to sing louder because there are so few of them. No conductor in recorded history has ever asked for less tenor in a forte passage. Tenors feel threatened in some way by all the other sections - the sopranos because they can hit those incredibly high notes; the altos because they have no trouble singing the notes the tenors kill themselves for; and the basses because, although they can't sing anything above an E, they sing it loud enough to drown the tenors out. Of course, the tenors would rather die than admit any of this. It is a little-known fact that tenors move their eyebrows more than anyone else while singing.
THE BASSES sing the lowest of anybody. This basically explains everything. They are stolid, dependable people, and have more facial hair than anybody else. The basses feel perpetually unappreciated, but they have a deep conviction that they are actually the most important part (a view endorsed by musicologists, but certainly not by sopranos or tenors), despite the fact that they have the most boring part of anybody and often sing the same note(or in endless fifths) for an entire page. They compensate for this by singing as loudly as they can get away with - most basses are tuba players at heart. Basses are the only section that can regularly complain about how low their part is, and they make horrible faces when trying to hit very low notes. Basses are charitable people, but their charity does not extend so far as tenors, whom they consider effete poseurs. Basses hate tuning the tenors more than almost anything else. Basses like altos - except when they have duets and the altos get the good part. As for the sopranos, they are simply in an alternate universe which the basses don't understand at all. They can't imagine why anybody would ever want to sing that high and sound that bad when they make mistakes. When a bass makes a mistake, the other three parts will cover him, and he can continue on his merry way, knowing that sometime, somehow, he will end.
[To be continued...]
Akan Datang
Disclaimer: I did not write this, comes from a somebody's blog, which is ripped off from some other source...
In a typical mixed chorus, there are four voice parts: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Sometimes these are divided into first and second within each part, prompting endless jokes about first and second basses. There are also various other parts such as baritone, countertenor, contralto, mezzo soprano, etc., but these are mostly used by people who are either soloists, or belong to some excessively hotshot classical a cappella group (this applies especially to countertenors), or are trying to make excuses for not really fitting into any of the regular voice parts, so we will ignore them for now. Each voice part sings in a different range, and each one has a very different personality. You may ask, "Why should singing different notes make people act differently?", and indeed this is a mysterious question and has not been adequately studied, especially since scientists who study musicians tend to be musicians themselves and have all the peculiar complxes that go with being tenors, french horn players, timpanists, or whatever. However,this is beside the point; the fact remains that the four voice parts can be easily distinguished, and I will now explain how...
THE SOPRANOS are the ones who sing the highest, and because of this they think they rule the world. They have longer hair, fancier jewellery, and swishier skirts than anyone else, and they consider themselves insulted if they are not allowed to go at least to a high F in every movement of any given piece. When they reach the high notes, they hold them for at least half again as long as the composer and/or conductor requires, and then complain that their throats are killing them and that the composer and conductor are sadists. Sopranos have varied attitudes toward the other sections of the chorus, though they consider all of them inferior. Altos are to sopranos rather like second violins to first violins - nice to harmonise with, but not really necessary. All sopranos have a secret feeling that the altos could drop out and the piece would sound essentially the same, and they don't understand why anybody would sing in that range in the first place - it's so boring. Tenors, on the other hand, can be very nice to have around; besides their flirtation possibilities (it is a well-known fact that sopranos never flirt with basses), sopranos like to sing duets with tenors because all the tenors are doing is working very hard to sing in a low-to-medium soprano range, while the sopranos are up there in the stratosphere showing off. To sopranos, basses are the scum of the earth - they sing too damn loud, are useless to tune because they're down in that low, low range - and there has to be something wrong with anyone who sings in the F clef, anyway.
THE ALTOS are the salt of the earth - in their opinion, at least. Altos are unassuming people, who would wear jeans to concerts if they were allowed to. Altos are in a unique position in the chorus in that they are unable to complain about having to sing either very high or very low, and they know that all the other sections think their parts are pitifully easy. But the altos know otherwise. They know that while the sopranos are screeching way on a high A, they are being forced to sing elaborate passages full of sharps and flats and tricks of rhythm, and nobody is noticing because the sopranos are singing too loud (and the basses usually are too). Altos get a deep, secret pleasure out of conspiring together to tune the sopranos flat. Altos have an innate distrust of tenors, because the tenors sing in almost the same range and think they sound better. They like the basses, and enjoy singing duets with them - the basses just sound like a rumble anyway, and it's the only time the altos can really be heard. Altos' other complaint is that there are always too many of them and so they never get to sing really loud.
THE TENORS are spoiled. That's all there is to it. For one thing, there are never enough of them, and choir directors would rather sell their souls than let a halfway decent tenor quit, while they're always ready to unload a few altos at half price. And then, for some reason, the few tenors are always really good - it's one of those annoying facts of life. So it's no wonder that tenors always get swollen heads - after all, who else can make sopranos swoon? The one thing that can make tenors insecure is the accusation (usually by the basses) that anyone singing that high couldn't possibly be a real man.. In their usual perverse fashion, the tenors never acknowledge this, but just complain louder about the composer being a sadist and making them sing so damn high. Tenors have a love-hate relationship with the conductor, too, because the conductor is always telling them to sing louder because there are so few of them. No conductor in recorded history has ever asked for less tenor in a forte passage. Tenors feel threatened in some way by all the other sections - the sopranos because they can hit those incredibly high notes; the altos because they have no trouble singing the notes the tenors kill themselves for; and the basses because, although they can't sing anything above an E, they sing it loud enough to drown the tenors out. Of course, the tenors would rather die than admit any of this. It is a little-known fact that tenors move their eyebrows more than anyone else while singing.
THE BASSES sing the lowest of anybody. This basically explains everything. They are stolid, dependable people, and have more facial hair than anybody else. The basses feel perpetually unappreciated, but they have a deep conviction that they are actually the most important part (a view endorsed by musicologists, but certainly not by sopranos or tenors), despite the fact that they have the most boring part of anybody and often sing the same note(or in endless fifths) for an entire page. They compensate for this by singing as loudly as they can get away with - most basses are tuba players at heart. Basses are the only section that can regularly complain about how low their part is, and they make horrible faces when trying to hit very low notes. Basses are charitable people, but their charity does not extend so far as tenors, whom they consider effete poseurs. Basses hate tuning the tenors more than almost anything else. Basses like altos - except when they have duets and the altos get the good part. As for the sopranos, they are simply in an alternate universe which the basses don't understand at all. They can't imagine why anybody would ever want to sing that high and sound that bad when they make mistakes. When a bass makes a mistake, the other three parts will cover him, and he can continue on his merry way, knowing that sometime, somehow, he will end.
[To be continued...]
Akan Datang
Monday, September 12, 2005
Black Monday
As if the weather is not gloomy enough,
I had to teach today.
And attendance was just unbelievable.
There were only seven (yes, no typo) people.
It was UNREAL.
We had ZERO altos.
It's like WOW.
Where did all the people go? Nobody knows.... it's a mystery.
People seem to appear / disappear in packages.
If you get one u get a bunch,
If you don't get one, u get a whole missing bunch.
Now, isn't that great.
It makes you wonder "why bother?"
If people are not gonna take responsibility,
to even let us know what has happened to them when they don't show up,
let alone attend rehearsals regularly,
they probably don't give a shit for this bloody CCA.
Why don't we close it down and save us all the trouble?
Because it's just going nowhere with this ridiculously small amount of commitment people are willing to give. No need to talk about developmental plans or long term goals when people come as they wish, go as they please. How can the choir grow together as a group where each practice we see less than half the people? We have been struggling since June and it's just getting from bad to worse. I don't think it's worth my while anymore.
I originally wanted to bring
a little surprise to choir
but thought otherwise,
now it seems I had made the right choice.
On a happier note, I went out for a movie after choir.
As if the weather is not gloomy enough,
I had to teach today.
And attendance was just unbelievable.
There were only seven (yes, no typo) people.
It was UNREAL.
We had ZERO altos.
It's like WOW.
Where did all the people go? Nobody knows.... it's a mystery.
People seem to appear / disappear in packages.
If you get one u get a bunch,
If you don't get one, u get a whole missing bunch.
Now, isn't that great.
It makes you wonder "why bother?"
If people are not gonna take responsibility,
to even let us know what has happened to them when they don't show up,
let alone attend rehearsals regularly,
they probably don't give a shit for this bloody CCA.
Why don't we close it down and save us all the trouble?
Because it's just going nowhere with this ridiculously small amount of commitment people are willing to give. No need to talk about developmental plans or long term goals when people come as they wish, go as they please. How can the choir grow together as a group where each practice we see less than half the people? We have been struggling since June and it's just getting from bad to worse. I don't think it's worth my while anymore.
I originally wanted to bring
a little surprise to choir
but thought otherwise,
now it seems I had made the right choice.
On a happier note, I went out for a movie after choir.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Happy Post
Key Elements put up a good show at the UCC today. It had never felt this good. Admittedly, Desmond our sound engineer helped to make us sound really good, but we were also in our Element tonight (HAHA pun intended). The chords were clicking, choreo was fine, nobody tripped, staging and presentation on the whole was much improved, sound (system) was fantastic, energy was high, and I remembered all my words for Jian Dan Ai (save for just one tinee-winee part, which nobody noticed I hope).
Thank you fans and friends for showing your support. My loyal supporters list has to include - Paul, Priscillia and Wei Sinn, they found their way there to the NUS (i'm so impressed) wasn't expecting them, that was a pleasant surprise.
OF course, not forgetting people from Consonance who came - Zhengchang (Rox), Edlina, SiewHwa and Charmaine, thank you all for your support. And other people who I forgot to thank. And it's good to see old time friends who's not been in touch for a while like William Morton.
Anyway, singing and performing is infectious. There's one more tmr night at a cappella fest. Tune in for more exciting news.
Key Elements put up a good show at the UCC today. It had never felt this good. Admittedly, Desmond our sound engineer helped to make us sound really good, but we were also in our Element tonight (HAHA pun intended). The chords were clicking, choreo was fine, nobody tripped, staging and presentation on the whole was much improved, sound (system) was fantastic, energy was high, and I remembered all my words for Jian Dan Ai (save for just one tinee-winee part, which nobody noticed I hope).
Thank you fans and friends for showing your support. My loyal supporters list has to include - Paul, Priscillia and Wei Sinn, they found their way there to the NUS (i'm so impressed) wasn't expecting them, that was a pleasant surprise.
OF course, not forgetting people from Consonance who came - Zhengchang (Rox), Edlina, SiewHwa and Charmaine, thank you all for your support. And other people who I forgot to thank. And it's good to see old time friends who's not been in touch for a while like William Morton.
Anyway, singing and performing is infectious. There's one more tmr night at a cappella fest. Tune in for more exciting news.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Mooncake
Mooncake festivals is almost here, I'm proud to annouce that I've gone up to JB and bought meself 2 boxes of SIN. Delectable they are. Anyway, it's the holiday week now. Time has flown by, I have many things to say, but I somehow think it's not very nice to say it.
I can't find the words.
Just a strong unsettled desolation and bewilderment
Like a forest fire that has gone wild
Consumes the frailing faculties
and ignites the dull incense of immorality
come winter
and be gone with spring
dead like a rex
moving like serpents in the sea of suffering
only to see the seals of regret and
heartaches seizes the spine
crinking boxes of lisping lying lonesomeness lingers on
to know the depth of the unfathomable darkness,
one has to cry in the dark for vanity to seep
then crawl like a weeping jaundice to earth's revolting core
catch a weak breath of stinging frost and
plunge into the ocean of daggers in search of destiny or doom
Burn!
fire,
Burn!
Mooncake festivals is almost here, I'm proud to annouce that I've gone up to JB and bought meself 2 boxes of SIN. Delectable they are. Anyway, it's the holiday week now. Time has flown by, I have many things to say, but I somehow think it's not very nice to say it.
I can't find the words.
Just a strong unsettled desolation and bewilderment
Like a forest fire that has gone wild
Consumes the frailing faculties
and ignites the dull incense of immorality
come winter
and be gone with spring
dead like a rex
moving like serpents in the sea of suffering
only to see the seals of regret and
heartaches seizes the spine
crinking boxes of lisping lying lonesomeness lingers on
to know the depth of the unfathomable darkness,
one has to cry in the dark for vanity to seep
then crawl like a weeping jaundice to earth's revolting core
catch a weak breath of stinging frost and
plunge into the ocean of daggers in search of destiny or doom
Burn!
fire,
Burn!
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Friday, August 26, 2005
NEWSFLASH: Exxonmobil Campus Concert Series
Featuring: Key Elements
Date: 7 Sept 2005 (Wed)
Time: 7-8pm
Venue: University Cultural Centre, NUS
Admission: FREE
Dear friends,
Key Elements will be putting another performance yet again, in promotion of our year-end full-length concert. This is chance for you catch us in action and hear some of your familiar blockbuster favourites done up in new, snazzy jazzy and electrifying arrangements. So make a date with us and be enthralled by the voices of Key Elements. It's a great way to spend the evening and get recharged for the rest of the week. See you there!
Best regards,
Benedict
For Key Elements
Featuring: Key Elements
Date: 7 Sept 2005 (Wed)
Time: 7-8pm
Venue: University Cultural Centre, NUS
Admission: FREE
Dear friends,
Key Elements will be putting another performance yet again, in promotion of our year-end full-length concert. This is chance for you catch us in action and hear some of your familiar blockbuster favourites done up in new, snazzy jazzy and electrifying arrangements. So make a date with us and be enthralled by the voices of Key Elements. It's a great way to spend the evening and get recharged for the rest of the week. See you there!
Best regards,
Benedict
For Key Elements
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
NEWSFLASH: A CAPPELLA ATTACK
Featuring Key Elements
A great way to spend your weekend would be to come and share the magic and excitement of a cappella music with the new a cappella sensation in town - KEY ELEMENTS! You can expect pop, jazz, R&B and even Mandarin pop favourites in a myriad of refreshing and riveting arrangements.
Where: West Coast Park
When: 20 Aug (Sat)
What time: 5-6pm
Admission: FREE
Make a date with us then =) Cya there!
Featuring Key Elements
A great way to spend your weekend would be to come and share the magic and excitement of a cappella music with the new a cappella sensation in town - KEY ELEMENTS! You can expect pop, jazz, R&B and even Mandarin pop favourites in a myriad of refreshing and riveting arrangements.
Where: West Coast Park
When: 20 Aug (Sat)
What time: 5-6pm
Admission: FREE
Make a date with us then =) Cya there!
Friday, August 12, 2005
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Am supposed to be happy, since i've just got back from a trip to KL where we had good food, good company, good laughs, good shopping, good rirakusushite (relax).
But the haze in KL seem to have gotten into my spirits plus I am a little feverish towards the end of the trip and that brought things down a little. The thought of work tomorrow certainly did not help lift my spirits. I am so not looking forward to it. Things have been going downhill recently, unhappiness, tension, resentment, disappointment, lethargy, demotivation have been poisoning the air lately. Wonder if it's a failure of my part or a sign to move on? Questions and decisions... really bothers me. I felt i need to go away for a while, and i did. Now i feel i should go away and never return. I do not know how to do it anymore. I need an exit.
But the haze in KL seem to have gotten into my spirits plus I am a little feverish towards the end of the trip and that brought things down a little. The thought of work tomorrow certainly did not help lift my spirits. I am so not looking forward to it. Things have been going downhill recently, unhappiness, tension, resentment, disappointment, lethargy, demotivation have been poisoning the air lately. Wonder if it's a failure of my part or a sign to move on? Questions and decisions... really bothers me. I felt i need to go away for a while, and i did. Now i feel i should go away and never return. I do not know how to do it anymore. I need an exit.
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