I never really got around to blogging about this particular gig last year. I will probably chronicle the events of that day/night in detail in a separate post later on. I'll just put in a short description here for now.
I brought one of my bands, Jack Versus The Crab, to play at my sister Jo's wedding last year. Paid a lump sum of money to bring in the sound system and lights for even Vince's side of the family to partake in with their own music. I played my heart out that night in front of family that have never seen me play before (especially at 10:10 in the video below). This was one of those rare moments where you bring out the best in you. And you share it with the few people you truly love. I felt appreciated. I felt loved. I felt alive. I was happy.
I came across a YouTube channel by Hardcase Technologies. They specialize in making hard cases for musical instruments particularly for handpans and DJ equipment. Their handpan polybag case is amazing actually. It's the first ever bag/case I've seen that is actually sturdy enough for airplane travel. I may consider getting one or two for my Bali Steel hanpans some day.
While I was looking through their YouTube channel, I noticed that they made playlists for each of the different handpan types; from PanArt Hang to even my particular handpans, Bali Steel. I was surprised and flattered to see that two of my handpan videos were in their Bali Steel playlist. Below are screenshots showing that my handpan videos made their way into the Hardcase Technologies YouTube channel. I included the link to specific playlist as well.
Obviously, I'm no ensorsers of their products. Nor am I even qualified in terms of skill and popularity to be one. It was just pleasant to find out that yet another person felt some of my handpan videos were a good example of what Bali Steel handpans sound like. I embedded the two handpan videos here that Hardcase Technologies put in their channel.
On a whim, I decided to order a 13 note Spacedrum handpan online. It's much pricier than my Bali Steel handpans. But since I didn't win the Batch 3 lottery for a Pantheon Steel Halo, I figured Spacedrum was the way to go.
I've been a little frustrated at the fact that both my Bali Steel handpans combined didn't cover all notes in a chromatic scale. So if I wanted to play a song that I like, most of the time I couldn't. I'd be missing some notes that won't allow me to at least play the root notes of the chords of a song. Most handpans have 8-9 notes with a central ding (like my Bali Steel handpans). Each handpan has a different key and scale. This particular Spacedrum handpan I ordered covers a full chromatic scale from C4 to C5. So it has all the notes I would need.
Below are pictures of the Spacedrum I ordered. (Pictures were taken from the Spacedrum maker's website.) I included videos from others who already have this particular handpan.
The site says they have a 6-8 month wait list. But at least I know I will get the handpan for sure. I can't wait to get my hands on it. You will be mine. Oh yezzzz, you will be mine.
I was just looking through analytics data of one of my handpan videos. And I was surprised to find out that someone embedded my video on a Russian handpan site. Apparently, some guy who re-sells Bali Steel handpans used my video as an example of what those particular handpans sound like. Below are the URLs and screenshots of one of the pages where my video was used.
I don't claim to be a skilled handpan player. I am also not a popular handpan player on the net (as shown by the minuscule view count of the video). But I suppose having some random person use my video to sell Bali Steel handpans in Russia is a compliment nonetheless. There are tons of Bali Steel handpan videos on YouTube. And for this guy to find his way to my video seems close to impossible. You also have to wonder how available the Russian handpan Spb is over in Russia if acquiring a Bali Steel handpan is a viable option.
If you're curious about the actual video in question, here is the video below. I wrote the composition a few weeks after my physical medicine doctor graduated me from physical therapy of my right hand (Radial Nerve Palsy for 4+ months). So the video below signifies my return to music.
In the past, I normally celebrate my birthday for consecutive days or even every weekend of February. But this year was different. My birthday came and went the day before Valentine's Day. I was just coming out of a long recovery from my Radial Nerve Palsy injury on my right hand. So for months, I've been physically deprived of gigging with my bands. And I've been generally avoiding going out to drink as well.
February 13 has been globally dubbed as as "Desperation Day". But my perspective has been limited to getting back my right hand's functionality. I wasn't really celebrating my birthday much, nor was I worried that I didn't have a date on Valentine's.
I joined my bandmates Gigo and JR at the Keg to enjoy their acoustic solo sets on Valentine's Day. I was equally excited to watch the sultry Ansyl Yap perform. Unfortunately, she fell ill on the day and wasn't able to make it. I normally play percs for Gigo's solo acoustic sets. But my right hand didn't have the endurance for a full set with Gigo at the time. I will make it up to him soon now that my hand is nearly full recovered. Below is a video of one of the cover songs he played that night.
Akin Ka Na Lang (Cover)
Gigo and Rodney, who manage the entertainment of the Keg, were gracious enough to allow me to play some of my original handpan compositions. There are a lot of firsts for me with this particular gig.
First time gigging in 3-4 months.
First time gigging with my handpans.
First time gigging solo.
The culmination of all those firsts made me rather nervous for my handpan set. I took a hefty swig from my Jack Coke glass right before I set up my handpans. Below are videos of my entire handpan set. Very short set because that's about all my right hand could handle at the time.
And Then There Were Two
Battlerstar Thoughts
David Kuckhermann Cover
I made mistakes here and there while playing. But it was all part of the experience. I appreciated the support that people gave me during my set. I haven't been nervous about playing anything in front of people for a very long time. And this time, I didn't have a full band to play with. It was just all me. My sister, Jo, and my bandmate JR, were the most supportive that night. You'll notice them cheering and shouting in the background of the videos above.
After my handpan set, JR joked that he couldn't possibly perform right after my set. I knew he was just kidding. But I appreciate the gesture of praising my set in that manner. Below is a video of one of the songs that JR covered that night.
Turn Your Lights Down Low (Cover)
My birthday/Valentine's celebration was not glitzy compared to years past. But somehow I had a smile on my face by the end of the night at the Keg. I was amongst family and friends who knew what I've been going through the past months. They were just happy to see me finally return to music, with my handpans at that.
So cheers to coming out after a long hand injury recovery as the first handpan player in this Philippines. At least I can definitively say that now. I sincerely hope people who were there that night liked my handpan set. Whether or not I perform solo with my handpans again is yet to be determined. We shall see in the weeks and months ahead.
A friend of mine introduced me to this particular band's music about a year ago. He highlighted that it's a 3-piece Japanese band that's purely instrumental. When I first heard the band's music on YouTube, I was blown away at how these guys were considering there was no guitarist or bassist. The two keyboardist and drummer ensemble was more than enough to fill their musical soundscape and come up with a niche tone uniquely their own. So you can imagine my surprise when I first found out that "Mouse on the Keys" was slated to perform in Manila by December 12, 2012 at B-Side, Makati.
I was supposed to go with my good friend Mari. But he bailed a few days prior to the gig. So I asked my friend Joseph to join me instead. I just wanted a friend to come with me. Oddly, I feel weird venturing off alone these days. Bringing Joseph along proved to be fruitful to say the least.
That awesome gig night, I was oggling some of the Mouse on the Keys CDs and tour shirts that a friend of the band brought along with him from Japan to sell. But the guy was still setting up and calculating what the equivalent Philippine peso prices for all the items should be. So I didn't get to buy anything prior to the band's set.
Below are videos of some of Mouse of the Keys' songs that night. These videos don't really top being there in person. Listening and feeling this band's music is really something else.
Seiren
The band is normally a three-piece band. But for that gig, they brought
along a saxophonist to jam along with them. It gave the band's music a
more melodic feel.
Saigo no Bansan
This song above is actually my favorite Mouse on the Keys song ever since I first heard their music on YouTube. It was such an eargasmic treat to finally hear the song live.
It's been quite a while since I last blogged. I've been dealing with radial nerve palsy (wrist drop) on my right hand. So music these past 2 to 3 months hasn't been as primary of a source of happiness for me. I'm slowly recovering but I'm not out of the woods yet with my condition. But I'll get into my ordeal in a separate blog post.
Even though I haven't been gigging with my 3 bands. I still manage to enjoy music once in a while. One of those musical highlights is watching Sting's concert back in December 19, 2012. A lot of people I know have been excitedly waiting for this concert for months. It's been eons since Sting last came to Manila to perform. So you can imagine the kind of collective clamor people had for this concert.
There was some hoopla weeks prior to the concert about would-be activists who pleaded directly to Sting's management regarding SM Mall of Asia Arena as the concert venue. Their cries of protest got through to Sting resulting in an immediate cancellation of the concert. I was seriously wallowing in my own personal uproar when I first heard of the cancellation. Frankly speaking, whether Sting had his concert in a SM establishment or not, that doesn't prevent SM from doing further activities that will hurt the environment. The plea should really be directed to the government that allowed SM to engage in tree cutting activities rather than musicians utilizing a concert venue. That cancellation turned into a change of venue days after. Smart Araneta Coliseum is an adequate concert venue. But the sheer hassle of the ticket exchange was what nabbed me. Luckily my SunDownMuse bandmate, Briggs, was kind enough to get our tickets exchanged to equivalent seats in the new venue. So after briefly disappointing thousands of people, what was the end result of all that hoopla; absolutely nothing. I admire the motivations behind the plea. They are rightly placed as a fellow tree-hugger. But that really wasn't the right method to effectively make a change for the environment.
A few weeks passed, and all the hoopla earlier on didn't really matter. I was excited for the concert given the lack of personally performing at gigs. Surprisingly, the opening act was Aiza Segeurra; the child star turned acoustic musician. I'm not taking anything away from Aiza's musical talent. However, this was the very opportunity to show Sting and crew how talented Filipinos are in music. It came off as a disappointment to me that she mostly played covers. But in the end, it didn't matter. Regardless of what I thought about her performance, she can brag for the rest of her life that she opened for Sting. No one can really take that away from her. Lucky girl.
After Aiza played her set, Sting and his band came on stage. The crowd instantly stood up from their seats and cheered loudly. Below are some videos I took from that night.
Englishman in New York
This is one of many Sting songs that I love. But this particular song is one of the songs that my band J.O.E. (JR Oca Experience) loves covering. We play it in almost every gig.
Seven Days
Seven Days was one of the songs where Sting's drummer Vinnie really showed his stuff. I'm sure all musicians who were watching agree with me on this one.
A collection of ramblings from a solitary being searching for expression... These streams of thought are his attempts to find beauty in darkness beyond the mere absence of light...
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