101. Kickstart Fitness + The 4th String Ensemble

Personal/Ideals

This post is supposed to be written a few weeks ago or so in the month of January. But it's mid-February already. Doesn't matter so much. But the feel is lost a little. Mundane.

So there are ambitions there are dreams there are daydreams there are goals and targets. We all have one or more. I have all but I am flexible about how I achieve. With bad discipline and irregular consistency. Wise man says, "you can't go far like that". But I want to enjoy as much living in my own most interesting ways. Successful people might say, "you ain't enjoying like that because you ain't achieving - you're just playing around - no commitment".

I was plain and goalless. I only breathed and functioned like fated. I realised fate is just a word to convince the unfortunate that someone out there caused the unfortunate. It's still a practical word but I rather not live on that. I stood up and grabbed my own puppet strings and orchestrate me myself.

But this current living ~ the 21st century modern civilisation on Earth is fast and competitive. I just started to like a couple of things/activities and it seems that the best thing for me to do now is enjoy the passion, support and take them as hobbies only. I succumbed to a lot of these lost dreams.

I would also say to myself that it's never too late to start. Yes it's never too late to start and be good in it but never in the top level. Cos like I said this current world is fast and competitive. At my age, I'm no more of that productivity/standard-be-able-to-achieve level of performance.

Cos I just started liking them it's like new found passion. But yes, it's never too late to take them up and for practise. But not of competition level anymore. I will leave that to my dreams or start my children young on them great activities. I don't want them to be idle like how I used to be some 5-10 years ago. I don't blame my parents. Parents are not to be blamed. The best thing for them to do is exposure and encouragement and that's only if they are aware of it. They are not wrong at all. The negative part is when they force, that is when they are overzealous in seeing their kids doing what they want to see the kids doing. Thumbs down.

But thumbs up for my parents for the average living (in malay, we call it kesederhanaan) I was brought up in. I get to explore by myself albeit a little too late or slow for myself. But I enjoy it nevertheless. I think having fun is the most important factor no matter what people say. It's a personal level. But let there be some knowledge and genuine passion. Not as a means.

What I meant, I really love:
1. Football / Sports
2. Playing music

I am very interested in:
3. Mixed martial arts

I am keen on/I can do it:
4. Bodybuilding - fitness

But I ain't like competing in no.4 - but Arnold is really bizarre.

Marathon is the new entry in to the category of no. 1. These are all really motivation-based activities.


Usually these activities are not to be done alone because results are vital and it's natural to compare either to a standard or your partner only we see and encourage improvements.

So yes, I will expose my future children to sports. It's a must... it's healthy and always good. Music, it's healthy and always good - certain music must not apply. Martial arts, always healthy and good. Bodybuilding, it's up to him/her after I show him/her my body lol gyahahaha.

This is the self-recorded and self-standard physical status record.

Height: 164 cm
Weight: 55 kg
Chest: 34 inches
Biceps: 11.5 inches
Thighs: N/A (nah don't really train on this - only running and simple weight curls)

Run
Distance: 5 km
Time: 29 minutes
Average speed: 10.2 km/h

Presses (for chest) - 10kg each arm
Curls (for biceps) - 7.5kg each arm
Push-ups (flat) - 21 times

(As of starting of the year - January/February 2011)

I did 1.5km runs too. The best I did during school days was about 9-10minutes. A recent record during the training for marathon I did about 8 minutes. And the most recent which was a few days ago I did ..the handphone application screwed up.

fakaladingdong it was about 7-8 minutes already after a distance of 1.4km so I pushed faster to get a better time. I swear to whatever freaking god out there I ran 300 metres already the distance still shows 1.4 and it's past 10 minutes.

I believe the application lags sometimes in the update of number. It might update when the distance becomes 1.6 or so in line with the time recorded. It's just that I want the time particularly for 1.5km it disappointed me.

This was probably my best record so far http://youareinmydream.blogspot.com/2010/11/98-progress-run-3-rekindled.html

My 2 hours and 58 minutes in my first 21km marathon is satisfactory but I am very disappointed that I took a freaking 1 hour 20 minutes for the 9.3km mark. Shame wei..own training record was so good at about 30-40 minutes for 6-7 km. It's like another 3km took another 40 minutes.

Ok end of fitness. Next up, my guitar.

I left my guitar at home since going down to KL so I've not played it for 4 weeks. But I found guitars everywhere in almost every crew room at my workplace. So, I get to play a bit of acoustic.

My thinnest string snapped and broke just after 3 days I resumed playing (got it back down here at KL after the cny fest). Got whipped while I was tuning it. Duno why maybe that part which broke was corroded thin already or just weakened by extensive bend of the part of the string.

And since I don't used to change one string only at a time I decided to change the first 3 strings instead of changing all of them since my 4th, 5th and 6th strings are still in a very good condition and I like em gauges 30 44 and 52.

So, I got this...

Dunlop Med/Heavy - Gauges 11 14 17 28 38 50

It's the first time my 1st 3 thin strings increase in gauge. I had been using 10 13 17. So I combine them old GHS Boomers GBTNT 30 44 52 and Dunlop 11 14 17 and give it a reality check.

Result:
I love it.

A broader and slightly mellow tone is produced. This in my opinion is the result of a complete heavier range of string gauge. Standard range is 10 13 17 26 36 46 I think which is quite thin compared to the ones I am using.

The mellowness is ideal as I love to have lower muddy tones in my playing, be it upbeat or dark songs. Especially metal or metal-based style of songs I like to play them in more crunchy and juicy tone. So in my opinion I can get that sound with heavier gauges.

Cos my Tele tone is already naturally thin, I get these thicker strings to beef it up. It works, at least to my ears and heart haha.

I mentioned slightly mellow because I still feel that it's quite bright which is not bad because it still sounds great in any kind of songs I try to play.

So, that's all about my 4th purchase of strings set.

95. Snakes In The Rough

Personal/Ideals

Welcome again.

It seems that filefactory does not have music widget anymore so kinda if you wana listen to that song you can download it by clicking. mmm it could be illegal already to put other songs for download. like free. bad

I would like to present to you my latest endeavour in improvising. It's not a complete and well prepared recording. It's an improvised recording of an improvisation.

The gears and materials used:
1. Sony Ericsson W580 - sound recorder
2. Squier Telecaster
3. Marshall MG10CD
4. USB cable
5. MIKSOFT Mobile AMR Converter
6. Guitarpro 5.2
7. Hoobastank - The Reason ver2 (from Ultimate Guitar website)
8. yeah my laptop and windows XP @#$%^

Just for the fun of details. Use any guitar any amp anything. Keep the ruggedness.

So yeah, I like these few notes which you play together and they sound like snake charm. And they can be used to improvise. And so I decided to randomly record what I can do with these few notes with a drums backing track, an I recently started doing with. It's fun.

1. I use Hoobastank - The Reason guitarpro drums track as my backing. Set to 50% tempo

2. I put my amp in gain. Cos i want the gain feeling in my guitar sound. yer know like rock solo

If you already feel bored, go to http://www.ultimate-guitar.tv/guitar_lessons/guitar_world_paul_gilbert_presents_shred_alert.html where you can learn snake-charming tunes. It's a different style of snake-charming though and presented in a different key.

Hooi has listened and tested out my notes and he identified it as part of the Gmin scale. Yes, indeed I use G as my primary key, the root which the improvisation is based on.

So, just move on to my filefactory and play my mini demo.

Things I would like to point out; Of course I will never keep silent on my own work. Ok cool 7mins long with slow drum beats it's rather sleep-charming actually. In fact, I didn't actually base my improvisation on snake-charming melody along the track. I altered naturally and intrinsically when I chose to base it in the key of G. Somewhat gypsy-ish-deserty-mystery sound.

Lack of dynamics: I could have do more tremolos, bending and sliding, legato or any other forms. I was concentrating on the beat so I ended up staying static on individual notes. And also thinking ahead of the notes and their positions to play. Because I didn't learn up the scale and the positions, otherwise it would have been easier and maybe juicier...

Lack of rhythm: Not so bad rhythm because it's me and the preset drums track. It's lack of the rhythmic articulation of my playing. Messy and not structured. I will improve on this. Also, because I was concentrating on the fretboard.

Sloppy: Obviously yes. Choppingly no. They could be heard as mistakes clearly mishandling the strings. Or just mere improvised dynamics. Chop. Scrape. Sloppy flick. Dirty notes. Works both ways. Just feel differently.

Other than that you give your comments I hope can work it out in my subsequent playing.

The final eighth of the song which you can spot some smells-like-shredding but fail-type is just some getting high and adventurous try-out on shredding tune. It's basically and usually for me to just play 3 notes per string (usually 2 strings) fast either chromatically or just randomly or any notes I happen to spot deem to be the notes in the scale.

"if you get the note wrong, get the next note right" haha this is easily true. Or rather, get your feel right.

Thanks anyways for any attention spilled here.

78. Rock n Roll Getaway

Review/Ideals/Personal

Nice number 78..part of 787, the new model series head of Boeing aircrafts. And there's 3 parts to this post. A review, an ideal and the personal account of storytelling. Spend your time wisely.

http://www.chickenfoot.us/

Check out the website I tell you... Cool video in the front. Chickenfoot has 4 fine veteran rock n roll musicians namely, Sammy, Joe, Michael and Chad from 3 fine veteran rock bands. With their musical expertise and experience, expect great music and super good classic-cum-hard rock experience created in the modern time that is now. I enjoyed particularly the totally orgasmic professional sound mixing and recording. The songs are super clear, crisp and powerful.

Those who like electric guitar very much may know Joe Satriani. Those who deal with the classic era of hard rock will know Van Halen (Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony). Those who like Red Hot Chili Peppers should know Chad Smith. I don't know any more about their other side projects, apologies.

So I am recommending it you readers to visit the website and make sure the required plugin is installed, average audio speakers...advisable to use ear/headphones cos Laptop built-in speakers are only fuxes to audio-people. For rock, they definitely kill your parents when you turn them on loud (and totally kill me)...you only hear dirt and audio noises. oh yeah back to the website... Let the video play. And you listen and watch, enjoy.

Their songs I can say, are written based on elements of rock n roll songs that existed since the beginning of the era and meshed to a great compilation. I mean by hearing, you could distinguish all the rock/blues pattern and significant styles. So it's kinda a perfect innovation of rock n roll. Of Satriani, I can safely say the guitars are all as pure as himself in terms of effects, riffs and melody styles.

In the song Oh Yeah they sing about hoochie-koochie man. We pay respect to Muddy Waters...woohoo I am just doing it like B.B. King who mentioned about the great bluesman from Chicago.

*

Here I am, I would like to stress on audio-loving and music quality experiences. In order to enjoy as much and understand what I describe and state on them sound stuffs, you will quite have to have the minimum requirements such as similar sound devices like I have, similar or better quality and performance. Really, cos I really find laptop built-in speakers awful and blaring out cb sound. But I appreciate them, because when I am lazy or do not possess any headsets at the moment I will need them. Simple.

I am someone, who may be fussy. Not sure how do I compare myself to or as an audiophile. I get satisfaction from separated left/right sound projections, or even better if proper surround is applied, true quality as of recorded particularly on the positions of the sound being received(left/right thingy). I buy selected original music discs. They offer uncompromised sound projection. Downloading is alright, 128kbps of bitrate is by strictest the minimum value.

Don't forget bass properties. But not too much please, I ain't big time fan of hip-hop/dance music which people usually pump up in the car audio systems. Boom Boom. Respect bass though. It's a part of the 3 parts of sound forms, bass, mid and treble....something like that in regard to low-mid-high. So with good hearing device and good quality songs, you could hear the full sound of music. That's music from the technical side. Rock is so greatly composed of these elements. Missing any of them, the rock lost its power. Rock band basic: guitars/bass/drum.

And your laptop built-in speakers (if your laptop is a super high end built with actually what I call audio speakers then beg my pardon), do not offer bass at all! Test it. You hear higher frequencies only. Pop music ok. Classical music not so bad...but you lose all the basses. The low sounds. With my first demo record, if you listen to it without the bass you're definitely not gona enjoy because the bass part is what makes the recording a music recording. It would sound dry and flat.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

*

Here's the personal side. Went to Midvalley that day. "Company" to the couple, of my roommate. Of course not full time. Only lunch and movie. The rest is my solo journey round in the mall. I had what Hooi termed as "the rocker's shopping list" haha. More like a music amateur/enthusiasts basic wishlist.

Compiled.
Walked up and down while "rinsing my eyes" with the view of fatal "booby" traps. I survived. Rock Corner. Movie Magic. Guitar Collection. Beatspot Yamaha. ATM. Studio R.

Those are:
-Chickenfoot album
-B.B. King - Live by Request with guest appearance by Jeff Beck
-D'Addario Light Top/Heavy Bottom

My latest, and it's my super favourite now. Transparent and rainbow in colour. Ideal 0.7mm medium gauge.

oohyeah, first time I saw a jersey which can fit me. S size. One of the new Arsenal kits.

[one of the heroes]

oohyeah, I suddenly became very interested in watching and supporting football. I even participated in it. I have this Sharqawi, my classmate as my guru. He's in the U-21 Malaysian squad. Ooohyeah, I borrowed Adidas Predator already. Come, Youth Park. Raya Open - Morning exercise with Football. Ah Hooi and Jason confirmed. I just need to pump the ball.

And I'm so gona get an original Arsenal home jersey one day, definitely a nicer design one (e.g this current season kit). Bootleg ones with my fitting size are rare I think..

1 week holiday back in Penang. Reunion planned. Let's see how smiles are flashed by nature. ~"Remember, I am the playmaker"
The guitar as the clothes hanger.

[googled: Chickenfoot Joe Satriani guitar and Arsenal Arshavin jersey]

77. Bucket Psyche

Personal/Ideals

Delayed the demo weeks already... At first, I thought the lucky double 7 post would be just a personal update. As soon I clicked on the New Post, I thought of one decision. It shall be a start to uploading my own personal demos and recordings. Which means I am going to embark on a new work. Yeah, already in my mind. But lack of convenience-excused-time has been crippling the juices.

A simple method for improvement. You readers/musicians/music-enthusiasts/lovers may leave comments and give feedbacks on them. And we can learn together. This is a way other than jamming with fellow players. By far, I'd had done simple jammings a couple of times but they do not provide efficient learning because I hadn't been too serious. Plus distractions and all. Remember, the work for passion.

Musicians from all over everywhere on Earth (may include Satch cos I suspect he came from the space..heh) have said well enough about getting together and play is certainly a great way to improve. Learning never ends right..

So, I am trying to find more friends and acquaintances to come together to teach and learn. Teaching is also good, up to where ever level you could. Sharing is caring too hehe.. Well, I'm not so good at doing videos like millions in youtube and I'm somewhat lazy to get an account so I'm doing audio only for now. If time and convenience is appears vast I will put an effort in doing shots of cam-focus-playing. Otherwise, you'd just see me appearing with other players such as YW and Hooi in the future. A target is put, play with Kelvyn Yeang one day as he'd invited for countless times already.cool.

Practice makes ~"perfect"~. But I didn't practise effectively though. Alright, without further ado (fuhh..learnt new english word usage..) I hereby upload my cover on Buckethead - Wondering. A very simple in fact super simple song. Just to kickstart this new adventure.
~My demo is in the filefactory, hidden. Simply click NEXT song until you see it.

Note: Only the dynamics and notes are hit according to the song but without the Bucket's effects and backgrounds. I have kinda modified the song towards the ending. And forgive me, this demo lacks synchronization and is rhythmically out a little so I practically did it by feel.

Cos' playing with the original song as a backing track is a little inconvenient and I would mess up because the song is kinda feely and swaying, I easily get carried away. You could think the off-sync as some sort of delay/echo effects hah. This explains why the metronome is vital for amateur musicians.

The recording is made by line-in from the output-headphone of my amp. It is consist of 2 tracks basically..er..actually 3. The 3rd is an add-on in the 3rd section of the song. The breakdown:
1. The full playing with a little added gain for extra volume and fuzziness.
2. Clean channel with only the lead notes (which goes out of sync quite most of the time)
3. Add-on to track 2.
...erh after its completion only I realised, how bad the synchronization is. Cutting, time-shifting and alignment of tracks have been done to improve "audibility". Particularly only the 3rd section I feel sounds good till the ending. I will do a better one next time, or call a jam-in of this song. Better live sync.

This song was uploaded by Hooi in his blog before. I wonder, you should be eager to try out this song too. So simple and yet nice to play and listen to. For some of you guys could just use their ears to get nail this song down. Happy music-ing.

Well, I plan when the 777th post comes, I will post an imba blistering superspeed shredding with sweep picking and string skipping..someday...hah

Now, for the personal..haha. [Outdated]

1st week of 3rd semester. Mum's birthday. I forgot. Until dad sent an sms. wouh. Kill mum again heh. Did a push jogging and run one evening. That was a great spontaneous joining my friend for an exercise as I just got back from class......

...[Updated]
So there you go new songs for a different season, mood and flow of life. I have 3 referral songs this time. Alice In Chains by Hooi. Rhapsody by Sharqawi and Kamen Rider song by my brother.

Wokei, classmate friend had brought his Ibanez electric down here, from Perak. So it's time to "keep on rockin' in the free world". It's really not very free anymore now, workload and hectic schedule have been in the way. And will last until retirement day.

So many sidetracks. Distractions especially activities which consumed much time and healthy lifestyle..(like dota) had eaten substantial portions of free time meant for improvement (any kind except distraction forms) or rest.

And spending time building up firm friendship among classmates is great. It could be having break time together with meals and drinks, read stuffs and share opinions in the library, or sharing a pack of cigarettes with many. Of course the mentioned are other than working in a team during assignments or practicals. The latest being, joining in a futsal game which they regularly host. Around RM5 per hour only, and I get to kick futsal (like football) with classmates. And I scored a goal using my left leg after winning back the ball from the opponent. These extra moments are delightful as I do not get anymore "compulsory" activities which are organized for classes and students to get together like we all used to in secondary school.

Great, health and fitness can be improved. Jogging. Running. Sprinting. Futsal. Football (my co-curricular activity). oh yeah baby, Sharqawi's F50 and Predator boots..here I come.

So, I thought I'm inhaling new fresh air only to realise that I abandoned this blog for almost 2 months. Never mind that. New sets of beliefs, principles and philosophical approach and motives shall set in. Every changes with beginnings and endings also welcome motivating seasons. So again here I am, to continue to live.


~Recording made possible by:
-Squier Tele
-Marshall amp
-Ibanez cable
-wires/jacks/adaptors
-Altec Lansing headphones
-plenty of holidays here and there
-turning down of dota games
-Ben teaching me a resonance technique to determine match tuning
-Audacity program (thanks to Musicman1066 and Ah Hooi for introducing)

72. MJ, D, BB & Looping

Ideals/Review/Personal

It's alright Michael. I've come up with ways to remember you. "Just call my name and I'll be there"~Michael Jackson.

MJs..there's Mou Jian...there's Meng Jon..or maybe Mary Jane of Marvel's Spiderman. Then there's Ye-Wheen's guitar brand which is Jackson. Aha, Wilson's brother's name is Jackson. Never mind people of the world. Just remember, he rocked the stages with his dance moves and unceasing stamina pouring. I have started to practise the moonwalk already. Meng Jon could do it almost perfect and he taught me several years ago.

*

Let's move on to Beau Bristow. Thank you Hooi, Matthew Ng and Mel for inviting. It's a great music performance by him, alone. Great. Superb solo. Doing it all himself. Really cool. Especially with the effects.

That's called "looping". Some sort of recording technique and playback to accompany your music playing. It's simple. It's a form of recording yourself playing some rhythm and then replaying the track and then you jam to it.

But with the loop effects setup, performer gets to do it all live and on the spot. Like how Beau did it. Otherwise, some effect pedals actually do have pre-set tracks already. Like this product, Line 6 JM4 Looper. By the way he uses a Taylor acoustic guitar. WOOH. With the ES pickups system which I knew of. It's great. The wood and the resonance. Just so natural, full bodied smooth tender crisp sound. And with the guitarist's playing, it just sounds great.

Some similar effects pedal which Beau uses, Boss RC-20 Loop Station

Some similar Taylor guitar which Beau uses

Check these out.
This might not be totally related but it's about the effects chaining and arrangements...here.
This, is bluesy/jazzy...his improvisation sounds blues to me maybe..

And this is the similar way of performing as how Beau Bristow did it.


I didn't buy his album though but in our hearts we continue to support his work. Wish him the best of luck in his career as a recording and a performing musician.

Hooi and I actually sat in front of the cross last thursday night and enjoy music. With sharing of love for the lord and Jesus. And getting A new friend and meeting old friends. Especially Andrew Chan, whom I last met in 2001 as a classmate in primary school. Alex Lim, edbod senior and mentor. ahah last but not least RODNEY the over-Friendly. Ask Hooi or Wan Ching or Matthew or Andrew to know how friendly he was. Great punching bag and a shooting target too. Goodall kopitiam guleng peng had some drugs which made Mel very high that night and she cracked lame jokes in very cool ways.seriously really =D Enjoy.

oh yeah saw some green Ibanez pedal which Beau has on the pedal board too..looks like Tube Screamer.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand"~Abraham Lincoln

70. Sound Hardware & Transmission

Reviews/Ideals/Personal

This is a kinda like a review. You're gona get bored if you aren't exactly interested in audio engineering or just as simple as setting up an electric guitar to an amp, meaning you just like to switch on the radio and press the buttons there.

Never mind, let's get on with something new I just got. I like doing these kind of things such as discovering new techniques and trying some basics in connecting tis n tat n tis which is more than switching on the radio and press the buttons. I enjoy plugging and testing setups. Physically and hardware-ly. No, not computer systems or softwares.

Basically, I like to do these sound setting up and trying out some basic sound devices for home use. First work, trying some guitar-amp-output-input plugging with different kinds of jacks.

See, I've been aiming to purchase these. And here I just got the chance to test it out, I bought them at RM3.80 each which I think you could get them cheaper else where. But never mind, I couldn't wait any longer to test the workability that I've thought and planned of.

[the ones with black bodies:I call them adapters-which convert the plug type/size into a suitable one which can fit into holes of any other appliances which require so. They are BIG and SMALL -male plugs. Another kind of jack is the one found usually with audio/video player, TV and PlayStation.]

Let's name them A and B. A being the larger body with tiny male plug and B, the small bodied large male plug.

Guess what, they worked. But not at the best quality especially A. You want, you go to the old town and look for old electrical retail shops or maybe some specialised electrical/electronical device shops. They should have them for specialised use. I got them at Jusco electrical appliances section at Queensbay which are for general use.

A:
-to connect BIG-male plugs (especially electrical guitar cables) to computers/devices(SMALL-holes) that do not have the BIG-holes
-so I use it to plug electrical guitar to my laptop for recording purposes
-OR I plug it into my hi-fi player...wow...I can sound like I'm playing from a CD
-OR I plug it as a line-out from my laptop to the amplifier...just to listen music from 10Watts loud amp(classic radio feel)
---either 1. straight from guitar to device or 2. bypass through an effects(pedal). Which in my case I don't have one so I use my amplifier for the Gain(distortion effect). In this case, 1. a Double-ended-BIG-male plug cable is required e.g my electric guitar cable; 2. two pieces are required.
Note: the SMALL-male plug on A is the typical and conventional audio wire/cable end of headphones(as line-in) and some microphones(as line-out).

B:
-to connect SMALL-male plugs (like stated in the Note for A) to amplifiers/devices(BIG holes) that do not have the SMALL-holes (like my amplifier and hi-fi player) and vice-versa
-so I use it to plug headphone to my amplifier for discreet purposes (like when playing at night)
---straight from amplifier fit adapter to headphone jack. In this case, my amplifier has a line-out BIG-hole which I fit in the adapter and then the headphone jack so the sound is muted at the amplifier speaker output, the sound is directly transmitted to the headphone.

Actually they are really simple items. But rather, I'm just feeling more-content-than-not for accomplishing such try-outs. So I could practise quietly to myself (but loud to only my ears) and maybe start on some recording of my music. My piece of discovery and tips: Try playing through the headphones and you will get to judge how smooth, clean, accurate and consistent you are. I did very badly..heh. Advice: Don't blast the amp too loud into your headphones.

Oh my, I'm so interested in these electricals. No, actually not. I'm into sound engineering. Sound Engineer or Producer was like my 4th/5th choice of ambition few years back. Now it's become my hobby of learning and applying the techniques.

As I'm very particular with sound quality and hearing experience I'm into setting up for great sounds. A lot of aspects come into play actually. For my level, I just keep to a minimal hearing loss heh. If you want perfect, get sound-treated walls/ceilings/floors, properly positioned outputs, properly positioned listening place, super HD LCD/plasma TV and a super good clean crisp harmony of sound system in the room. Now that's what I call DREAM THEATER..hahah!

Reuben Ch'ng if you know him, he's doing recording and he has these sound engineering tools and appliances in his home studio. Great.

A piece of appreciation to Musicman1066 for his tips and advices on these music and sound work.

May not get a speaker system this year. Might get my brother's 10 years old(since his purchase of a whole PC setup) 2.1 system instead. Up to you, if I'm an audiophile..at least lvl 1. Harvey Norman at Queensbay has some great Altec Lansing models. One being demonstrated is MX5021 if not mistaken. Not bad. RM500+. Jusco has too. Alongside SonicGear, Creative etc. Oooh Eric has Creative speakers.