Guitar ramblings - a blog on Guitaresque... and everything guitar!

Journey into music

2011-12-09T23:52:00.001+08:00

Recently, I visited the Yamaha music school at Clementi, to sign up for a junior music course (JMC) for my son. As someone who has benefited from the rich and rewarding experience of not just listening to, but actually playing (and performing) music through an instrument, I really want my boy to also enjoy this wonderful journey as he grows up.

Of course, I'd personally asked he many times before actually putting down the cash to sign up for the course. Each time, he'd give me the same answer (in Mandarin), "Yes, I want to learn the piano!". My wife and I obviously know that the words from a not-yet-four years old kid has to be taken with a serious pinch of salt. Yet, the fact that he'd repeatedly proclaimed his interest in learning the piano, and not the guitar (I'd only given him that 2 choices, to keep things simple..); coupled with our observation that he loves singing and appears to be rather rhythmically-attuned, led me to this decision.

I recall myself learning the piano from a young age also. My mum did, at that time, what I am now doing for Jing Kai - she sent both me and my elder brother to a piano teacher.

Unfortunately (for both of us, I think), we didn't really liked that teacher - her methods were dull and she didn't exactly inspire us, or even bothered to motivate us to play the piano. I remembered our 1 hour lesson each week consisted nothing but scales, and exam pieces! Try convincing a primary school kid to love playing Clementi (not the station west of Dover MRT lah! ) and Bach... Tough.
It didn't help that we were forced to go through the ABRSM graded exams, even as we dreaded going for each week's piano lesson and having to practice the exam repertoire at home.

Against all the odds, we'd still managed to complete our Grade 7 exams before finally calling it a day. Enough was enough. By then, I was in Sec 1, and had fallen in love with a new instrument - the classical guitar. This love affair has since lasted till today and the feeling is stronger than ever.

I am grateful for my piano background though. The music theory foundation was instrumental in helping me pick up a new instrument and learning it faster than I would've. And this is what I wish for my boy. I will not force him to take music exams if he does not enjoy playing the piano, but I will certainly encourage him to persue his interest music - if he indeed does show keen appreciation for it.

One day, hopefully he will embrace music as his father does, expressing himself through the music instrument of his choice.

No prizes for guessing what I hope that instrument will turn out to be.... :P

Fritz Ober

2011-12-01T10:19:00.001+08:00

Recently, I'd put a deposit for a new guitar to be built for me - by renowned German luthier Fritz Ober.

Like Robert Ruck (from whom I'd placed an order some 10 years ago now), whom I had not met, nor even played a single guitar made by him before placing the order, I am placing my faith on reviews put up by other players/collectors/etc. and a little "instinct".

But why Fritz Ober? Why not some other luthiers? Sure, there are many others whom I could've gone to - established names like Jeffrey Elliot, Eric Sahlin, Paul Jacobson (USA); Marin Montero, Manuel Contreras, Paulino Bernabe, Jose Ramirez (Spain); Paul Fischer, Kevin Aram (UK), Daniel Frederich, Dominique Field (France), Matthais Dammann, Hermann Hauser(Germany), Greg Smallman (Australia), etc. all spring to mind.

Some of these luthiers have built up such a reputation that their waiting list is prohibitorily long or even closed. I heard Dominique Field's waiting list is 17 years and counting.. (geez!). Furthermore, some of their prices are near stratospheric or near-impossible levels. For instance, I saw a second hand Field being sold for USD25,000, not sure how much a new one would cost (invariably, these are tagged as "Inquire", so I can only assume it's in the 30-35k region if not more). Dammanns and Smallman also go for these kinds of prices. Not to mention Frederich's... those are like untouchable, at least for me.

I'm crazy about guitars, but not THAT crazy.

Then, because I have a US luthier-made guitar, I kind of want to try one made by another region (possibly using differnet kinds of woods/materials). The Spanish guitars are tempting, but many of these are no longer made solely by the master luthier himself - think Ramirez, Bernabe, Contreras. These brands have made such a name for themselves that unless you go for the Top-of-the-line model, I doubt the guitar even passes through the hands of the man himself! More than likely, the guitars will be made by a senior apprentice in their workshop, at most under close supervision by the master, to maintain certain levels of workmanship. I just don't fancy that.

Back to Fritz Ober's guitars. He has been building up a reputation for making more than decent replicas of Hausers and historical instruments. At the same time, he has made importants strides in experimenting with low body resonance, giving the guitar a supposedly warmer bass, without sacrificing volume and projection.Of course, being a sucker for looks, I am also attracted by the beautiful spruce tops and Brazilian rosewood sides of Ober guitars from pictures I've seen on the web. They are truly stunningly beautiful instruments.

The other factor being - I have a little more faith in German-made stuff, these folks are just so well-known for their precision and consistency in producing some of the world's best consumer goods.

You can only read so much into reviews and opinions of others. At the end of the day, the choice of a classical guitar is a personal thing. Everybody has their own "taste" when it comes to sound quality and playability. Furthermore, a guitar may sound godlike in one's hands, but pretty ordinary in another's - something which I will never forget...

It's just another 1.5 years of wait, till I get my hands on my second (and probably last) handcrafted concert guitar. I am filled with anticipation and excitement (almost like waiting for the arrival of my baby daughter, who's due in Feb 2012! haha).

Until then...

Estampas!

2011-10-23T20:03:00.005+08:00

One of the pieces the quartet worked on today was Estampas (Torroba).This piece brings back memories...

I recall that many years ago (probably more than a decade!), I did a recording of some songs in this selection with a quartet that comprised - Kwok Kar Mun, Karen Ann Leong, Ivan Goh and myself.

We were the "original" GENUS quartet to stick together beyond a Genus concert, as in those days, small groups were formed purely for the purpose of performing in annual Genus concerts. After the concert, the groups 'disbanded' and new groups were formed when upcoming performances came along.
(note: come to think of it, we STILL are the only small group doing this.... unless I include Xpose, which is not technically a "small group" :P)

We certainly broke that trend, as the four of us felt it was a waste if such a group of like-minded folks only rehearsed one (or two) songs each time. We were capable of doing so much more. So we stuck together and called ourselves... Guitaresque.

Of course, Kar Mun and Karen subsequently departed from the quartet to pursue other priorities in their lives, leaving just me and Ivan as the original members of that group. But we'd welcome new members - Kevin and later Alex. (Alex, who is our newest member, has joined the quartet for more than 5 years now..)

Anyway, playing Estampas again after all these years, I feel we are certainly more able to bring our sounds and expressions which were totally impossible then.

Instead of cherry-picking (we only did 4 pieces previously), we are now rehearsing the entire song, and I find myself enjoying the strong Spanish "feel" of the song!

Hopefully we can find a good occasion to perform this wonderful contribution from Torroba!

英雄无用武之地

2011-10-23T19:41:00.003+08:00

It is tough getting a performing gig in this little red dot!

And I'm not even talking about a paid gig. We are prepared to play for free, but it seems that the performing art scene in Singapore is really limited when it comes to finding an organization/location willing to sponsor a venue for a locally-based group.

Sigh....

Anyone looking for a classical guitar quartet to perform in for any occassion? Open houses? Functions, ceremonies? Even.. graduation dinners and.. weddings??

Ivan's birthday - Lunch at Smokin' Frogs

2011-10-23T19:32:00.001+08:00

A little get together

2011-09-21T15:24:00.000+08:00

On a lighter note, Guitaresque celebrated the DIVO's birthday recently at Saizeriya. We had a wonderfully long lunch, peppered with the essential gossips and exchange of deeply intellectual views on lifestyle, classical guitar and ...world politics.希望年年有今日吧！

It's been a long time

2011-09-21T12:11:00.000+08:00

Woah.. it's been almost a year since I've updated this blog (or my personal blog too!).

Not to worry, Guitaresque has not disbanded. In fact, we can still having our regular practices and jamming sessions at the Divo's home. It's only that I have been totally swarmed by work and other personal commitments and have little time to contribute articles or share my thoughts in this blog.

Still, I am hopeful this will change.. soon!

As a quick udpate:

- The quartet has been faithfully honing our sight-reading skills. We do this by purchasing and reading new scores every couple of weeks. One of the more interesting scores we recently did was "Tokyo Bay Highway" by Hirokazu Sato, one of our fav guitar composers/arrange of late.
This piece is not too difficult to play, but lots of fun! And of course, it sounds great too. We hope to perform this piece soon, maybe along with Andrew York's Pacific Coast Highway!

- Another piece we have been working on is "Baio de Gude", a composition by Paulo Bellinati. This has been in our "closet" for the past couple of years, and we'd all along felt it was too technically/rhythmically challenging for us to play well. But with the years going by (in a flash, I must say!), we seem to have improved our individual technique and understanding of one another's play, so when we took up this song to try again, it was surprisingly not that tough anymore! It would make a nice performance/competition piece, I think...

- We have also dug out the LAGQ's arrangement of the "Carmen Suite" to rework on - as seeing we did not do much justice to some of the more challenging movements in the past, namely Gypsy Dance and Toreadors. This time round, I must say the Gypsies and the Bull fighter are dancing a little more to tempo! Haha.

- Finally, another of LAGQ (York) work that Guitaresque has taken on as a challenge is "Quiccan". This was once an absolute 'out-of-bound' piece, and in many ways, it still represents one of the toughest piece the quartet has ever taken upon to rehearse. It is technically difficult and rhythmically complex as well (just as an example, there are bars of 12/16, 6/16. etc amidst the usual common times of 4/4... haven't seen those time signatures in any other scores, I must admit...See below:)

But once we get the hang of playing some of the parts, and hearing how it all gels together, the song becomes really catchy and intriguing to play! Not that we are anywhere NEAR performing it though... think that will take some work and lots of individual effort to practise!

Here's a clip of the marvelous LAGQ performing this lively song:

That's all for now... will try to keep this blog "alive" if I have time to update.

Cheerios
SH

Dance of the Reed Pipes

2010-12-10T10:22:00.000+08:00

Goodies from Japan

2010-10-28T09:33:00.004+08:00

Recently came back from a trip to Japan (Tokyo). Though it wasnt meant to be a 'guitar-trip' (ie. visiting guitar shops, luthiers, music outlets, that kinda stuff), I managed to pay a short visit to Gendai publication.

Having previously ordered quite a bit of stuff from Gendai, so visiting it in person was all the more interesting as I've always felt that their English website was not very complete - in the sense that many of the good scores and CDs that were listed in their Japanese (original) website could not be found in the translated website.

Bought a couple of quartet scores, some DVDs and CDs. Though I must admit the prices of these items were really high (for instance, the DVD of Shin-Inchi Fukuda cost about SGD90! ), it was too good an opportunity to let up, so I decided "heck with it" - just buy!

Roland Dyens

2010-09-19T07:46:00.002+08:00

Received the 2 quartet scores by Roland Dyens - Hamsa (special request of Alex!) as well as French Pot Pourri.

Not sure if we will be trying them out immediately though, as we are targeting the Nutcracker suite for the Dec performance - gotta work on that one first. Pretty challenging! =)

Music competitions

2010-09-16T22:17:00.001+08:00

I recently read an article about competition music - ie, where performers of an instrument pit their technical and interpretation skills against one another in front of a panel of judges. The article goes on to say that while competition is good in that it raises the expectations and pushes people to improve themselves, the pitfalls of having a competition for music include: (1) creating performers who put too much emphasis on technical perfection (read: no mistakes) rather than musical interpretations; and (2) and then stick to the tried-and-tested formulas (read: familiar pieces, familiar composers, etc).

This is something which I agree whole-heartedly. How can someone judge who is better - a guitarist who plays say, Albeniz's Asturias (leyenda) note-perfectly, superhumanly fast compared to another who plays a never-before heard composition, not necessarily demonstrating equally amazing finger dexterity but instead showing off a well-polished, well thought through musical journey of expression?

Granted, as classical guitarist we'd always favor a fuller, rounder tone compared to a thin, harsh one - but who is to say that it is not the repertoire that demands the usage of such a tonal expression? Is someone who expresses a nice warm/mellow tone throughout the song necessarily better than another who constantly changes his tonal colours throughout the piece?

Another gauge that people often rely on (to judge a guitarist's skill & technique) - his sound projection; whether he is able to fill a hall with his playing or if he is simply stroking the strings but in fact making no sound! Again, this is very subjective. While sound projection generally gives an indication of a player's right-hand technique and his level of confidence, one can alway argue that being able to control the volume dynamics whilst playing is a much more important skill to possess than having this "raw power". Well, like they alway say, "power without control is nothing".

At the end of the day, such music competitions are usually very subjective in terms of the finaly judgement. For even were the performers to play exactly the same repertoire (e.g. like a set piece) - which they often do not ; it would come down to whether the judges liked your way of presenting the song. Of course, if the technical abilities of the competitors are way apart, then the decision can be pretty clear, but often this is not the case.

In Singapore, we have the bi-annually held SYF (Singapore Youth Festival) whereby music groups representing the various Secondary schools and Junior Colleages will present their song items. These items are then judged by a panelist comprising prominent musicians from the various fields, and at the end of the competition, each team will be awarded a medal - Gold with Honors, Gold, Silver, and Certificate of Participation. I like this format of awarding a tiered awards instead of having the schools directly 'compete' with one another for 1st, 2nd, 3rd prizes, etc. On one hand, it provides the recognition and reward schools (instructor, teacher, students) for putting in the effort to prepare for the event, and on the other hand, it provides the necessary motivating factor for schools to either maintain or improve on their previous rounds' awards ratings. Obviously there are some cases where I may not have agreed with the judges' decision on the award type given to a particular school/performance, but like I said before, all music judging is subjective in the first place, so there's really little point debating "rights" and "wrongs".

Upcoming performance

2010-09-14T21:56:00.002+08:00

Guitaresque will be performing at the Singapore Art Museum chapel on the 3rd Dec. It is meant to be a kind of Christmas thingie, so we'll be playing mostly Xmas-related songs. Possibly the most challenging pieces we shall be attempting will be the Nutcracker Suite, as arranged by Andrew York, formerly of the LAGQ. Hope to see you at the SAM then!

Guitaresque Vs Xpose experience

2010-09-06T20:12:00.001+08:00

It has been a great experience playing with Xpose in our most recent performance - 5th Sept at the Esplanade Recital Studio. I feel I've gained a new perspective of playing in such a ensemble.

To be honest, if you'd asked me 2 months ago, I would've told you that playing in Xpose was merely a watered-down experience compared to playing in Guitaresque. On one hand, I have Prime 2 (which is my current allocation in the Niibori ensemble) scores punctuated with single notes and lots of rest bars; and on the other, I am facing scores like Francis Kleyjans' Los Quatro Elementos or even the Nutcracker suite arrangement by LAGQ which tend to be littered with technically challenging chords, mazy runs and complex rhythms.

But after going through the last 2 months of rehearsals and the performance itself, I have to admit - it takes very different skills to be playing in either group.

In Guitaresque, the emphasis is clearly on individual technique and good understanding of the other 3 players' temperaments and strengths. The onus is usually on each player to do his homework, so that when we play together as a quartet, all we need to do it to put the 4 parts together. Understanding of one anothers' playing style is important, as often we instinctively know when the melody line player is going to inject his brand of expression into the music; or when the usual suspect(s) is going to give that speed-boost at the odd places. Navigating difficult passages (e.g. music which require a lot of coordinating runs, pauses, changes in tempos, etc.) require us to make eye-contact and the usual nods come in handy too. But the bottom-line remains: we play our own bit well, and we have trust in the other 3 players to do their part.

However, in a mini-ensemble like Xpose, it isn't always easy to do the same. And that's why the conductor is so important. He has to put all the different parts together to weave a complete picture - which is now made up of not 4 parts, but maybe 10 or more different parts (including percussions)! From a player's point of view, it isn't easy to always look-up a the conductor, and this spells disaster at times - especially when guitarists are struggling to hear one another amidst the powerful percussion instruments banging in the background. The other challenge is that it can be frustrating to hear 2 (or 3) "versions" of the music played on your left/right - esp. when neither seem to be following the conductor.

I admit I sometimes rush passages too, but all too often there's that niggling feeling that the whole ensemble is 'falling part' (in terms of the music we are interpreting), and I feel powerless to stop it. Whereas in a quartet, anyone of us can easily stop the playing and declared, "let's do it again, I think this part so-and-so are out with the rest of us"; doing so in an ensemble (to me) is a disrespect to the conductor. Furthermore, in a big setup it is often difficult to pin-point a particular section or player who is actually causing the problem. And because the bond between a group of 20 can never match the closeness and level of understanding that can be reached between a group of 4, oftentimes criticisms are not taken very well and sometimes feel like a finger-pointing exercise.

Regardless, it has been enlightening to perform with a group of guitarists and a great learning experience. Personally, I am certainly more inclined toward the quartet setup, but at the same time I am glad to have an opportunity to immerse myself in a larger setup as this allows for developing a different set of musician skills altogether.

Performance at Esplanade concourse on 19 & 26th June 2010

2010-06-12T18:16:00.003+08:00

Repertoire for 19 & 26 June performance at the Esplanade Concourse "Reeling good times":

Set 1 ( at 5.15 pm)

1. Peer Gynt Suite (Morning Mood, Death of Ase, Anitra's Dance, In the Hall of the Mountain King)
2. Theme from Princess Mononoke
3. Theme from IL Postino
4. Over the Rainbow
5. Blue Ocean Echo/Country Gentleman
6. Libertango

Set 2 (at 6:15pm)

1. Clair de Lune
2. Canon in D
3. Theme from Godfather
4. Cavatina
5. Moon River
6. A medley of Chinese oldies (love songs)
7. La Cumparsita

Set 3 (at 7.15pm)

1. Moon River
2. Clair de Lune
3. Over the Rainbow
4. Il Postino
5. Cavatina
6. Libertango
7. La Cumparsita
8. Canon in D

String 'em along!

2010-05-29T13:19:00.005+08:00

Recently, I'd realised that there one aspect of the classical guitar that many non-professional players (including myself, of course) had totally taken for granted.
Well, almost totally. =P

And that is - the guitar strings! That "realisation" came to me and I thought it was pretty shocking but significant. Why? Let me explain.

We all know that the quality of the sound that can be produced from a guitar depends on many factors:

1) The player - here, we are obviously talking about the technical ability of the player himself. A maestro (take John Williams, or Christopher Parkening for instance) as compared to a novice playing on the same instrument obviously sound worlds apart.

Many a times, I'd realised that the level of confidence a player has on his/her ability also makes a lot of difference. A confident player tends to project a louder volume (ok, let's take the quality of tone out of the picture for the time being) than a player who's a little more hesitant and afraid of making mistakes.

2) The guitar (make and construction) - no need to emphasize more on the importance of having a quality instrument which is capable of producing what we often hear as "satin-sounding, singing trebles; deep, warm and loud basses".

Why else would players (and collectors) cough out tens of thousands of dollars to purchase that instrument from the top luthiers?

3) The strings you put on the guitar - and herein lies (I feel) an area which is generally neglected by many amateur guitarists. While I'm sure the professional players have studied and researched this aspect in great detail, finding out what brand/type/grade of strings to fit on their world-class instruments to produce the most mesmorizing sounds on stage, the fact is - many of us are oblivious to the differences.

Or simply, some of us dont care.

It is amazing to find some players playing on good, solid top (concert) guitars, yet bearing brownish, dirty-discoloured looking strings. Particularly the bass strings (4th, 5th and 6th), since it isn't always obvious how the condition of the treble (nylon) strings are just by looking at them. To some of these players, changing the strings on their guitars is a once-a-blue-moon event. Or worse, some ONLY change their strings when they're forced to (e.g. when a string snaps)....

If you think about it, it is really funny. How some players can spend thousands on a good guitar, yet refuse to spend that little sum of money (or to take that extra bit of effort!) to make their guitar sound as good as she possibly can be! That is akin to paying a million bucks for a Ferrari, but refusing to service/maintain it, or to even change the engine oil - until the engine breaks down!
* Or for that matter, it's like having the prettiest of girls as your girlfriend, but asking her to wear dirty, boyish-looking clothes and make do with a messy hairdo and insisting on no make-up! *ahem* =P

The fact that the strings are the actual point of contact when we play the guitar surely gives an indication of just how important this factor is. On many past occasions, I've tried playing on a nice (read: expensive!) guitar but fitted with "dead" strings, which I felt was a terrible shame....

On the issue of WHICH type/brand of strings to use would obviously depend on the individual instrument. For instance, when Ruck sent me my guitar, he fitted it with Savarez Corum (Cristal) strings (high tension). It sounded perfect!
Subsequently, when I changed the strings to prepare for a performance, I fitted my Ruck guitar with D'Addario EXP strings (normal tension), and though the guitar still sounded great, it just wasnt quite the same I thought. For one, the 4th string tend to produce a slight buzz when I played on the 3rd/4th frets. This clearly was an indication that I wasnt using the right string tension for my guitar.

Hence, I going to change back to the Savarez high tension string when I receive them (ordered from StringsByMail, an guitar accessory shop in the US). It's the least I should do, to "give justice" not just to my beloved guitar, but to myself as a guitar player.

Friends and fellow guitar afficionados - I urge you to do the same! =)

Ivan's new guitar - Thomas Humphrey Millenium (Assad Model)

2010-05-23T11:52:00.003+08:00

Ivan recently acquired a new guitar - a Thomas Humphrey Millenium!

It is a beautifully crafted instrument (what you'd expect from a master luthier, who unfortunately had passed away quite recently) - its top is European spruce, and sides and back jacaranda (Brazilian Rosewood).
Very interesting, the luthier used a separate pieces of rosewood and maple in constructing the sides/back, hence you can see a somewhat "2 layered" coloring at the sides, as well as a 'church-door' configuration at the back.

From the looks of it, it hasn't really been played much (it's a 2007 model) as it looks in pristine condition.

Ivan is still trying to find the "proper" strings to use on this guitar - its current set of LaBella strings does not seem to suit the guitar very well.

I will try to upload pictures when I have them =)

P.s. Kevin joked that the quartet now boast of an "Excalibar" type weapon in its line-up of guitars. It really is a world-class instrument, I must say. But I still love my Ruck!

Guitaresque performs for International Museum Day (23 May 2010)

2010-05-23T11:47:00.002+08:00

Guitaresque will be performing at the Singapore Art Museum as part of the International Museum day Open house event.

The performance will be in 2 sets (20 minutes each):

Set 1 (3pm - 320pm)
1.Peer Gynt Suite (Morning mood, Death of Ase, Anitra's Dance, In the Hall of the Mountain King)
2. Choro
3. O Solo Mio
4. Blue Ocean Echo/Country Gentleman

Set2 (330pm - 350pm)
1. Canon in D
2. Clair de Lune
3. Harumi Suite (Dredlock, Along the Edge)
4. Theme from Godfather
5. Cavatina

The performance is free. Venue is at the Auditorium (2nd floor) of SAM.

Robert Ruck Classical Guitar #967

2010-03-15T20:12:00.001+08:00

It's been close to 2 months since I've received my Ruck guitar, and the reason why I've not yet written much about my experience with it is because I wanted to give myself some time to 'get to know' the instrument.

So far, in the few quartet rehearsal sessions in which I've used my new guitar, the experience has been wonderful.

It is often pretty difficult to gauge just "how good" an instrument is. I mean, how to you say whether an instrument is worth that 5-figure sum of money paid for it, as compared to another instrument valued at less than half its price tag, but also with a good sound? Sure, many a times the distinction is more in the mind (or heart) - you THINK you are playing a better instrument simply because the price tag on that instrument is heavier than the other one. It could also come down to personal preference - who is to say a spruce top is necessarily better than a cedar top (or vice versa), or for that matter, a Spanish-made classical is superior to a Japan-made model?

Personally, I feel it is hard to put a dollar value down on an instrument like classical guitar - simply put, it is PERSONAL. You simply try to find that one guitar which you find yourself loving the sound that you can produce (from it); enjoying the relative ease of playing a big chord that requires a full stretch; or playing a tough scale at say the 15th position - and there you have it, the G (not girl.... guitar!) of your dreams.

My Kohno 30 is very dear to me. Even though I'd gotten it as a 2nd/3rd hand instrument, she has accompanied me in so many performances and it has "grown" (old) with me. In other words, she's like my trusted buddy and ally in battles past. Perhaps even more like an old friend.....

When I received the Ruck, of course I'm delighted and very keen to begin using the new instrument. I want to know how good it can be, if it would be the "last" guitar which I'd need to look for to sustain my passion in playing the guitar. From all of what I feel and hear so far from the instrument, it certainly may be!

The Ruck feels significantly lighter than the Kohno, and like all new instruments, she has the smell of new varnish on wood. I'd requested Bob to put on Rodgers tuners onto the instrument, hence completing the looks of what is already a really beautiful guitar. Of course, the tuners costs a lot, but besides looking nice it also gives precision tuning and to quote OG,"makes you want to tune everyday!". My Ruck guitar (#967) has a cedar double (composite) top, which is french polished. The guitar has relatively low action and is extremely responsive to play, giving a clear timbre and well-defined tones in the trebles. The basses are definitely considered loud but I feel it is not overly boomy in nature.

In order to know if she is comparable or better than my Kohno, I judged the Ruck based on my experiences during our quartet rehearsals. On certain tough passages and execution, the Ruck guitar made it much easier to navigate and still manages to produce a sustain which I found extremely impressive. For example, we were recently rehashing LAGQ's Blue Ocean Echo/Country Gentleman, and the difference was felt instantly when I did the chord slides. It was a pleasure to hear the sustained sounds of the slide chords and also made it much easier to switch from the pizzicato bass notes to the slide-chords, as you would not have to pluck so hard to give emphasis the the chord (I'm the first of the "echo-es", so it has to sound louder and sustain longer!).

Being the first owner of this instrument also gives me a different sense of ownership and pride. It'll be a learning and growing experience throughout the years of playing this guitar - learning how to make the best of the instrument and how to take good care of her; and growing in terms of improving my own technique and maturing the instrument further to make the sound "open up" over the years.

For anyone who's seriously passionate about playing any instrument, (and of course, subject to affordability) investing in a concert-worthy instrument is certainly one big step you MUST take at some point in your life. I feel I've just made that step, after playing the classical guitar for the past 23 years.

Yet, at the same time I will continue to play on my Kohno. She remains my trusted partner whom I can depend on for many more concerts to come. AND - she is a spruce top guitar! So now I truly have the best of both worlds.

The wait will soon be over!

2010-01-18T21:21:00.000+08:00

My 10+ year wait for my new guitar is finally about to end!

Some 10 years ago (I cant remember the exact date nor year, as it seems so long ago now...), I had placed an order with American luthier Robert Ruck, to be put in his famed waiting list, which at that time was claimed to be 7 years long.

For those uninitiated to the world of handmade concert classical guitars, these are instruments which are hand-crafted by individual luthiers (instead of mass produced in factories), and the prices of these instruments depend largely on the most basic economic principle - supply and demand. Simply put, when a luthier achieves a certain level of fame - which usually happens when a famous performing/recording artiste plays using one of this luthier's crafted instrument - the demand of this luthier's guitar will rise in tandem with his fame.

To some, it may seem a little foolish to pay tens of thousands of dollars for an instrument, especially one which you have not even tried on before making that purchase. After all, they argue, the sound which a classical guitar can produce is a very "personal" thing. A large part depends on the player's abilities - his technique, his ability to produce pleasant-sounding tones using his fingers, and last but not least - his personal preference for the sound that is produced. I agree with this. There is no substitute for good playing skills and the worst guitar can sound good under the hands of a master. This I have experienced first-hand, when a Japanese guitar professor (Manji-san) from the Niibori guitar Academy visited us many years back. It was really an eye (and ear) opening experience for the many students/alumni who have attended his masterclasses then.

Yet, a good concert guitar can enhance a player's sound production (and tonal quality) to a large extent too. The idea is to use less effort to produce the same sound volume/quality, or to use the same effort to produce a much larger sound/better tone. Another aspect of playing on a well-crafted instrument is the intangible - yet significant - effect that it has on a player's motivation level. We are more likely to want to practise on the instrument (be it guitar or any other instruments) if we like what we hear when we strum or pluck the notes. In that sense, a good concert instrument can also have the effect of raising a player's passion and motivation to practise, and hence lead to his becoming a better player overall (technically and musically).

As to the risk involved in paying so much for an instrument which you haven't even seen nor touch beforehand, well.. it's down to faith and a bit of luck, I suppose. No 2 handcrafted instrument - even by the same luthier, built around the same time in his career - can sound the same. A top luthier can occasionally produce a dud of a guitar, while a gem may be uncovered amongst the hordes of guitars churned out from the factories. That is why people (myself included) decided to put their faith in those guitar maestros who have played and performed on these hand-crafted instruments, reason being - if a world class professional wants to use that luthier's guitar, it must mean that luthier is capable of producing good instruments. As for how CONSISTENT the luthier is, we (ie. laymen) would throng through the forums and websites where netizens would give their own 2-cents worth. From the cumulative feedback provided, a trend eventually emerges - those luthiers who are recognised as the consistent good builders and those who may have been "1 hit wonders".

I've made my decision years ago, and now it's time to reap the rewards of my patience and for putting my faith in a luthier whose reputation seems to be growing by the day (or years) since then.

It could be a very merry and happy Chinese New Year for me, in 2010. Hopefully my faith is well placed.... We shall know if a couple of weeks' time. I will keep you posted on this blog!

Guitalele GL-1

2009-12-30T10:40:00.006+08:00

Strictly speaking, this post should belong to my other blog - as it pertains to my little one, for whom I have bought this instrument. But since it IS about a guitar, I thought it'd fit well here too.

I paid a visit to the Yamaha shop at Plaza Singapura yesterday and brought home a new addition to my guitar collection: a Yamaha GL-1, also known as the Guitalele.

It is basically a 1/4 size classical guitar, similarly sized like a Ukelele, but unlike the latter which has only 4 strings, it has the full set of 6. Its tuning however is A-E-C-G-D-A, which is a fourth higher than the standard (Prime) guitar. Thus, it essentially is a requinto guitar pitching, though I suspect it is actually much smaller than a requinto (I have not seen/played a requinto guitar before, so I'm just hazarding a guess...)

Anyway, I thought it'd be cool for JK to have his own guitar - and something that fits his little frame (oh, he's just 2 years old! =P ) - so that he can start strumming and whacking those strings.

* and also so he'd not harass me whenever I take out my Kohno to practise! hahaha*

How I wish I could play with these beauties...

2009-11-05T20:42:00.010+08:00

If I had loads of money to spend (in my dreams.... e.g. if I strike TOTO top prize of more than 1 million bucks) ... here are some of the builders whose guitars I'd love to buy and try out:

1) Matthias Damann
- it is said that his double top (or composite top) guitar is one of THE loudest and best sustain guitar in the lot. As someone who loves loud guitars, I'd really love to have the chance to play one of these! German-made stuff are well-known throughout the world for their precision and high quality standards. This should be one of the examples, I guess.

2) Daniel Friederich
- like the other big names French luthiers (think Robert Bouchet), his guitars are amongst the hardest to acquire. That is because these luthiers seem to make so few every year! It could be a good strategy these guys employ, so as to control the supply-demand in the market, but from what I've read about the sounds these guitars create, it definitely would be treat for anyone to play on these rare instruments.

3) Greg Smallman
- well-known for their loud (some say "boomy") voices, these guitars were of course made famous by the one particular maestro (or some say "Prince") of the guitar, John Williams. Many who watched the John Williams documentary (DVD) will be familiar with this shaggy-looking luthier who seemingly live in the forest, somewhere in Australia... Anyway, if greats like Williams and other up and coming guitar masters like Yang Xuefei play on Smallman guitars, they must be quite something, don't you think?

4) Miguel Rodriquez
- the Churchdoor guitars from this legendary maker are said to represent the epitomy of the spanish guitar, and while I have not have the opportunity to hear one such instrument, I can say that from the pictures posted on the internet - they really look stunning! These guitars are said to embody the true "spanish" sound, and even though I am not audacious enough to claim that I can actually distinguish what a "spanish sound" is like, say compared to a "non spanish" one, I would certainly love to get my hands on one of these beauties...

5) Hermann Hauser
- If I am not mistaken, this is the 3rd generation of the Hauser family building the instrument, following up on the success and fame earned by the original Hauser whose guitars were played by none other than the legendary guitar maestro (of all time) Andres Segovia. In many cases, when such traditions are passed from one generation to another, there is undoubtedly a possibility that the later generation would not be able to to live up to the high standards that their father(s) had achieved. Simply put, they may just be riding on the name of their predecessors. But somehow, for this German maker, I do not think this would be the case. They're usually too good to let the standards drop - by even the slightest.

6) Thomas Humphrey
- Even prior to his unfortunate demise last year, I've always dream of playing on his wonderous Millenium model again. This is especially after the one time when I was lucky enough to play on such a guitar, owned by Sharon Isbin (I helped her with the sound checks when she visited Singapore to perform with the SSO several years ago). Even though it was a mere couple of minutes, I could still remember how "silky" the guitar sounded, and certainly how comfortable it felt when I tried to hit some high notes. A real pity that this great luthier has passed on...

7) Robert Ruck
- What more need I say? Why else would I place an order for one of his guitar 10 years ago... Cant wait for it to arrive....

* I took these beautiful photos from various guitar dealers websites. Not sure if this is considered infringing on any copyright issues (since I am not using it for any sales-related purposes, but merely from a guitar afficionado's point of view... and yearning...). But in case I am, please drop me a private note, and I'll remove them. Thanks!

Footstool or guitar support?

2009-10-30T11:42:00.004+08:00

I think it is a consideration all classical guitarists have to make a decision on at one point or another - whether to use a (traditional) footstool or to use the relatively newer invention a guitar support.

Years ago when I started playing the classical guitar, there was no such issue. We were all taught to use a footstool (see below):

It was something that we all (students learning the instrument) had to get used to. I remembered it was a little bit uncomfortable at first, having to "prop" up our left leg and remain in what was seemingly an awkward position while playing the guitar. But that discomfort was soon overcome, and when the music begins, one can't help but forget about the little device sitting beneath our left feet.

Still, having your leg raised above the ground for anything more than a hour or two, and you could still feel a little strain/stiffness on your back.

It was only in the recent 6-8 years or so that the guitar support made its way into the local guitar community (at least in Singapore.... it could have been a bit earlier for the European/American community, which tend to be the early adopters of such changes). I remembered that I bought a Gitano guitar support just to "test it out", and see if it really was more comfortable than a footstool.

It turned out to be a good experience (overall), and since then I have performed using the guitar support more often than not. This is not to say that I cannot revert back to using the footstool, sure I can. It's just that given a choice of having to raise a leg/foot up artificially, compared to raising the guitar up artificially (both using a prop, hence "artificially"), I tend to prefer the latter.

Still, with my new guitar on its way (hopefully in November, as promised... *fingers crossed*), I am a little concerned if the constant usage of the 2 suction cups of the guitar support might just affect the layer of polish/lacquer on the guitar surface. Looking at my old-reliable Kohno, it seems to be "eating" away a layer of the french polish which was not-too-long ago replied onto the aging instrument. Using a footstool would solve this problem.

Anyway, as luck would have it, my Gitano support is also showing signs of wear and tear - rusting at its sides, plus the suction cups are dropping off all too frequently these days, and I have to readjust their positions, sometimes mid-way of play. Perhaps it is time to reconsider going back to the footstool?

Hmm... the vain guitarist that is me has now turned to surfing the websites for a nice footstool, not just some metal-looking piece of scrap that you mindlessly tug under your feet. But rather, a elegant, designed piece of guitar "furniture" (as classified by a certain guitar website).

Here's what I have found:

Sexy~~~ But also costly. Imagine paying upwards of US$200 for a footstool!? Oh ok.. for a guitar furniture. =)

Guitaresque Expressions @ Singapore Art Museum (26th Sept 2009)

2009-09-28T20:49:00.003+08:00

Gutiaresque took part in 2 performances in the last 2 weeks - the first being a guest appearance at the Singapore Management University (SMU) Guitar ensemble, Guitarissimo's annual showpiece Strings Blended; and the other was our annual recital held at Singapore Art Museum (SAM).

Strings Blended featured SMU undergraduate and alumni members performances, on both classical guitars as well as some acoustic and electric guitar items. Guitaresque was there as guest performers and we delivered 2 songs related to the folk theme of that evening's concert (aptly titled "That's All Folk!"). They were Haruyo Koi, a Japanese folk song and Folksong Trilogy, a 3 part medley comprising of Wayfaring Stranger, Jimmy Crack Corn and When Johnny comes Marching home.

The quartet's annual recital, titled Guitaresque Expressions was held at SAM, which is becoming our favourite performing venue since we've developed a wonderful relationship and partnership with the museum's administrators, and also for the amazing acoustics and ambience of the Glass Hall. We've also had the opportunity to test the Samson condenser microphones that I'd bought last year, and it really lived up to our expectations. With our dear friend Raj's professional assistance in setting up the microphones positioning and volume settings, the guitars sounded that much sweeter and produced much less of the rather "harsh" metallic sounds usually produced by the vocal (dynamic) microphones that we've had to deal with in previous outings.

The recital opened with 2 of Debussy's masterpieces - Golliwog's Cakewalk and Clair de Lune. Based on our previous experiences, the first 1-2 pieces of any concert would suffer the "Nerves effect", which typically sets in after the initial round of audience applause dies down. This time round, I thought we made a pretty good choice in selecting these 2 pieces to start the concert, as they were decidedly not as technically demanding as some of our other selections, and yet provided a good indication of the type of music we liked as well as a glimpse of the quartet's abilities on the instrument (read: they certainly aren't simple melody+chord+bass type of songs!).

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik was the "Main Course" for the day. It was almost 20 min long for all 4 movements, and though there were the usual bumps and mis-hits here and there, I believe we just about did justice to the work. Afterall, anyone who has attempted Mozart on the classical guitar knows how tricky it is to play all those darn mordents and turns, and slurs, and what-have-you's... :P

We'd also included some easy-listening pieces, not only for the audience's pleasure (you simply cant have an hour of classical or heavy stuff in Singapore guitar scene context, without the audience going zzzzzzzzzz...) but also to balance the technically demanding songs with some lighter works for 'recovery' purposes. These included Pearl Fisher - a popular Tango number, as well as Princess Mononoke, an arrangement of the popular anime theme song for 4 guitars.

Variations on a theme Shabondama would also probably fall into this category.

La Tierra is becoming one of the quartet's favourite performing song, as it is a perfect example of a highly "guitaristic" work, composed FOR the classical guitar quartet, by a classical guitarist (Francis Kleynjans). This is the first part of a collection known as Los Quatro Elementos, or the Four Elements. Not only is the song interesting in terms of techniques demonstrated and the layerings involved, it also make highly exciting workout for the guitarist playing it. Funnily, LS once remarked that it was like going through a Sor Etude! ( Ed's note: After finishing with La Tierra (Earth), we should likely be progressing to the next element - water. A song called El Agua. Equally remarkable and demanding to play, I should add!)

Hungarian Dance #5 came through pretty ok, although I've always thought of this song as something we played without giving too much ownership to it. Meaning to say - it felt a little as if we were pretty much going through the motion of playing this piece as we have heard it played so many times before. There wasn't a whole lot of ideas going into this, and we simply reproduced what we've all been accustomed to hearing on numerous recordings.

Ponticello Tango is a "Carnaval"-like song composed by Patrick Roux (of Canadian Guitar Quartet), and had the expected thrills and spills of weird-sounding chords and fast, inter-weaving runs on all 4 guitars. Much of the success of this piece depended on creating the 'atmosphere' more than the actual notes produced, and I felt we did bring out that bit rather well.

We ended the recital with Folksong Trilogy, which was well-received given the fact that the tunes are pretty catchy, and most people could easily recognise the melody of When Johnny Comes Marching Home.

At the end of the 80 minute recital, Singapore guitar maestro and the Guitaresque's long-time mentor and advisor, Mr Alex Abisheganaden came forward to congratulate the quartet on a successful performance and for providing what he called "educational" guitar repertoire for the audience. We were highly encouraged by his words, and will certainly strive toward achieving greater heights in our future endeavors!

Guitaresque Expressions

2009-09-12T21:43:00.001+08:00

Interesting encounter outside Redhill MRT station

2009-09-07T20:50:00.000+08:00

Encountered something really quite interesting on my way to work this morning....

You know, sometimes there are these street musicians playing around the MRT areas? Usually, they play on an acoustic guitar (plugged in to an amp), and have a small microphone clipped to their shirts, and they'll sing some oldies/pop songs while their plucked their chords or strum along. Well, the guy whom I came across today (at the Red Hill MRT vicinity) was also playing a guitar which was plugged into an amp. But it was an classical guitar, and guess what he was playing - when I was walking past him -?

Bach's Prelude from the fourth lute suite (sometimes referred to as "Preludium" or "Praludium"). I think it's BWV 1006.

Perhaps this is not uncommon in other parts of the world, where classical guitar is a more commonly studied instrument, not unlike the piano or violin. But here in Singapore, the percentage of music students who take classical guitar as a instrument for performance and study is probably minute compared to the ever popular piano, and with the violin coming a close second. To many lay person here, the guitar is mostly viewed as an instrument for pubs and church groups, where it is used as a main tool for strumming out chords to accompany singing/vocals.

Anyway, back to the busker playing the Bach's Prelude.

I stopped long enough to hear a good part of his playing, and though it certainly wasn't like listening to Parkening or Segovia (on CD, of course!), I have to say he was pretty good. A couple of missed notes here and there, some parts weren't well executed, but generally the tempo was not that slow, and it came through. Pity nobody, besides me, was in a mood to listen to him - we are talking about rush hour in the morning, at 8:00am.

Somehow, I feel encouraged to practise my solo scores after this experience. Afterall, I've just changed a new set of strings for my beloved Kohno yesterday, in preparation for Gutiaresque performances in the upcoming weeks!

A Concert review - When guitar meets zhongruan

2009-07-19T10:34:00.002+08:00

Guitaresque attended a performance titled When Guitar meets Zhongruan, at the Esplanade Concert hall on 18th July 2009.

The performance featured Manuel Barrueco, one of the most notable guitar maestro in our times - along with the likes of John Williams, David Rusell, etc. So our expectations were understandably ver high.

And as guitar concerts go, this one would rank high in the "unusual" list, pitting a classical guitar against the likes of the 二胡，中阮，笙，唢呐，琵琶，etc. instruments of the typical chinese orchestra. In fact, what was most interesting for us, was that Barrueco was going to perform the well-known Concerto de Aranjuez (as the soloist, of course) backed by a full chinese orchestra (SCO)!

It was truly an eye-opener, as the various chinese instruments almost "simulated" their western counterparts in those familiar phrases in the concerto, and yet at the same time, brought a different kind of flavor to the song. Credit has to be given the arranger for coming out with such a novel idea in the first place.

Barrueco, of course gave a almost flawless rendition of Aranjuez - as you'd expect him to - but what we were most amazed with was his tone throughout the performance. His guitar sound was not only super clean and clear (kudos to Esplanade for the great sound support and wonderful accoustics), it was warm and mellow at the same time. The ease at which he scaled some of those "killer runs" in Aranjuez (particularly in the third movement) was truly astounding. It reveals his mastery of the instrument and its technique, when he could make a difficult passage look and sound easy to play, topped by the fact that his tonal control was never compromised at any time. Anyone who has played the classical guitar for some time would know that as the technical difficulty of the piece increases (as well as the tempo of the piece), it becomes more ardous a task to maintain a controlled and beautiful tone.

I would be disrespectful if I did not mention the artistry of the 中阮 maestro 刘星, who played a wonderful solo in his own composition Reminiscences of Yunnan, a 3 movement concerto composed as a tribute to a close friend of his, who lived in the chinese city.

The concert ended with an arrangement of Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 mandolins in G major, for the chinese orchestra, and the 2 soloists parts being arranged for a classical guitar and a zhongruan. The linking up of a western instrument with a traditional chinese instrument as they each took their turns to lead the voicing and run the scales and arppeggios was quite refreshing. Although I have to admit that comparing the 2 instruments and their tones, I really really prefer the warm (and in my opinion, more refined) sound of Barrueco's guitar compared to the almost banjo-like plucked sounds from the 中阮. A pity we couldn't have a chance to check out what guitar he was using. haha.

Review - Guitaresque at Library@Esplanade (4th July 2009)

2009-07-07T20:20:00.001+08:00

The performance at the Library@Esplanade last Saturday (4th July) was another successful outing for Guitaresque. The crowd was appreciative (and i think the 40 odd chairs were filled, plus quite a number of people standing around too) and we played alright. While it certainly wasn't one of our best performance - in any sense of the word, and I believe the players themselves will agree - I felt the overall flow was smooth and given the limitations we'd faced, it has to be considered a success.

One bugbear this time though was the fact that the library staff did not seem to know much about the sound (miking) setup and their equipment. Possibly because the "right" people weren't around, we ended helping ourselves to the chairs, the mic stands, the mics, the wires, and possibly every other thing that we needed from the store room. We also had to do the mic testing (using the master control and all) ourselves, which resulted in a complete wastage of our 1hour supposed sound-test time. In the end, we did not play a single note in the sound test, and as there was another programme planned for 2-3pm time slot, we simply had to start playing "cold" at 315pm (the previous programme went overtime a bit) So considering all that, I believe we did reasonably well.

Some of our supportive friends in the audience gave us helpful feedback, regarding which songs they felt we did particularly well, and which ones they thought we were "smoking" our way through (trust a guitarist to know when another's bluffing eh? =P ). Rather surprisingly, La Tierra was mentioned as one of our better songs, by more than 1 in the group of friends who came to listen to us. I think credit has to be given to the compositional skills on Francis Kleynjans, who has managed to write a piece which is sophisticated, interesting and extremely 'guitaristic'. *if you play the guitar, you'd know what I mean by guitaristic, ya?* Clair de Lune was also mentioned as a song which came through rather well.

On the flip side - and not too surprisingly - Carnaval was picked as a song which sounded a little messy and under-rehearsed. I guess when your fingers are feeling cold and stiff, playing fast running scales and arppeggios aren't the best idea in the concert. Still, looking at the fact that we played this song as a "one-off" competition piece a couple of years back, and now are able to just play it as one-of-many in a 1 hour gig, I think there's reason to be positive about the group's progress.

That said, there's obviously much room for improvement, and the quartet should come back stronger and more prepared in September, when we perform in the Singapore Art Museum for our annual show-piece - Guitaresque Expressions.

Library@Esplanade 4th July

2009-07-01T10:09:00.005+08:00

Guitaresque will be playing at the Library@Esplanade on the 4th July (Saturday) 3pm at the Open Stage.

This will be the third time the quartet has performed at this venue. We sort of like this cosy little corner at the nicely furnished library, as the nature of the performance can be quite informal and relaxed.

Songs we have chosen for this 45 min gig are:

1) Haruyo Koi
2) La Tierra
3) Appalachian Folksongs
4) Over the Rainbow
5) Moon River
6) Carnaval
7) Claire de Lune
8) Golliwog's Cakewalk
9) Variations on a theme on Shabondama

See you at the Library@Esplanade this Saturday!

Performance at SAM 2009

2009-04-22T16:52:00.003+08:00

We are currently in discussion with the SAM folks on a staging a performance at the museum for the 3rd year running.

Following successes in our recently 2 performances there - in 2007 and 2008 respectively - the quartet has grown really fond of the place. Its scenic environment, beautiful ambience, and serene charm - all contributing to create a relaxed mood, to be accompanied by the sweet sounds of the classical guitar...

Currently, the tentative date is sometime in September. We're keeping our fingers crossed...

Looking forward to playing there again!

A new beginning!

2009-03-10T17:07:00.003+08:00

The quartet has started our regular weekly training/practice again.

Due to the inavailability of my new home (also the lack of room! ), Guitaresque has found a new rehearsal "studio" in the form of DIVO's bedroom - which is really as big as many living rooms of flats which I've visited. :P

Anyway, what's most important is that the group has again begun to tackle new songs and challenges. Amongst the more interesting pieces we are attempting now is this piece called La Tierra （大地）, which is one of the 4 "elements" in Francis Kleyjans' expertly written guitar quartet composition Los Cuatro Elementos, which means "The 4 Elements". I particularly liked this piece, as it contains many phrases whereby the 4 guitarists inter-weave their play, combining 4 guitar solos into 1 colourful burst of melodies and counter-melodies.

We are also working on a Jeremy Spark's arrangement of Claire de Lune, which contains quite a fair bit of pauses and it really requires the quartet to develop a good understanding of one anothers' play.

These pieces, along with some other familiar favourites will be presented in our next public performance on the 4th July 2009 at the Library@Esplanade.

We're moving!

2009-02-15T10:02:00.003+08:00

No, it's not that Guitaresque is moving our blog somewhere else.

Neither is it that the group has progressed so much that we are moving overseas to ply our guitar skills (though our venerable mentor Mr Alex A recently told us that he felt we were "at that standard" to venture overseas.. Somehow, we all felt it was simply kind words from an old teacher, whose sense of hearing may not be as keen as before, or as we'd have liked. Nevertheless, I am still very grateful to be thought of highly by such a respectable figure as he. )

Guitaresque will, however, be moving out of our regular rehearsal studio (which will be fondly remembered as our "Carnegie Hall" ) at The Dew@ Bukit Batok. The reason? I'm moving house this week. That is also the reason why this blog has not been receiving the regular updates recently.

Here're some pictures for us to remember the place by, in the future...

Where we shall be pracitising in the future is still uncertain, but in all likelihood, we would be visiting LS's abode, since space is definitely -not- an issue at his place. =)

Music Arrangement

2008-12-31T10:25:00.002+08:00

At the recent music training camp held at the Centre for the Arts, organised for the NUS Niibori guitar orchestra (GENUS), Raj - who is my fellow guitar tutor for the club - and I conducted a short workshop on music arrangement for the classical guitar.

We tried to make it more like an open forum, in which the students could exchange ideas and share their own experience on the topic of arranging music for the classical guitar (CG)- or more specifically, for the CG ensemble.

Only a hand of them at the workshop had some experience in arranging music (since many of the alumni members were absent), but a few common issues were identified:

1) Difficulty in selecting suitable music to arrange for the CG

- It is certainly true that not all songs are suitable for guitar transcription. E.g. try arranging Beethoven's 5th Symphony for the CG. hehe)

2) Finding a suitable key to arrange the song in

- We introduced a couple of the more "guitar friendly" key signatures, including the usual A maj, E maj, G maj, C maj, and of course the favourite D maj. For the minor keys, common ones include A min, D min and E min (

3) Deciding on the instruments to be used

- Here, we advised the newbies to try arranging for a trio or quartet of Prime guitars as a good way of getting started. Normally a simple guitar ensemble arrangement would comprise of a lead guitar (G1) which carries most if not all the melody lines; an accompanying chord part (G2); and a bass line (G3). An additional guitar part can be written/arranged for a harmony voice or to add some counter-melodies to sweeten the arrangement.)

- Only students with some basic arranging skills should attempt to arrange for a Niibori-styled guitar orchestra, as that involves more consideration into the key signatures used (2 sets - one for the Altos/Basses, the other for the Primes/Contra basses/Guitaron) as well as understanding of the pitch range achievable and "playable" in such arrangements

Looking back on my own experience in arranging music for guitar ensemble/orchestra in the past decade, getting past the initial stages of "setting the stage right" has always the most difficult. That includes some of the above-mentioned issues (selecting song, the key, the types/number of guitars, etc), as well as the lost of "momentum" which normally occurs after arranging half the song! Normally, sitting in front of the computer screen and staring hard at those little note-heads causes a slight head-ache and after a couple of hours, the notes seem to fly out at me! :P
That probably explains why I'd taken weeks (if not months sometimes) to complete a song which I'd started arranging - normally on an impulse.
* in this aspect, our DIVO Liang Shan has become a master in arranging/transcribing for the Niibori orchestra. His "production rate" for the Expose Orchestra has been phenomenal!

With guitar quartet music now much more readily available and purchasable on the internet, my choice of arranging music for Guitaresque has been limited to certain genres of music which are lacking in the mass market, namely - chinese pop songs and evergreens!

Hmm.. I think I will try to arrange a sequel to the 老情歌组曲 in my next attempt :)

C02 & Expose

2008-12-09T10:07:00.007+08:00

The condenser microphones I've ordered via Vpost USA has finally arrived!

The packaging of the mics

The mics come in a pair, with shock-absorbing holders and wind cushions/covers provided

A close-up view of the pencil-type condenser mic

Since Guitaresque has no upcoming performances at the moment, I'm not sure when we will get to actually use these.... (although I am presently contemplating and planning for a March/April outing at SAM again).

One other possibility of testing out the condenser mics may come in February 09 (on Valentine's Day to be exact), when the Expose ensemble takes the stage in the National Library forum area.

Expose is a Niibori ensemble comprising of many alumni players from the National University of Singapore Guitar Ensemble (Genus). The group is led by its conductor Kevin Ow - also a member of Guitaresque - who single-handedly arranges the ensemble's growing repertoire, which usually feature almost the full range of the Niibori-styled instruments. The group has performed at numerous public venues, most notably in the Esplanade Concert Hall early this year for a Beautiful Sunday performance.

(Ed: Even though none of Expose's players are professional guitarists, I personally consider Expose to be one of the finest Niibori guitar ensemble in Singapore, if not in the South-east Asia region. )

Sound amplification

2008-11-22T23:29:00.008+08:00

Following our outing at the Singapore Art Museum, Ivan had suggested that we consider investing in a set of microphones for the quartet for our future performances. I thought that was an excellent idea!
We have now performed in many kinds of public settings, including some outdoor stages (e.g. Chinese Gardens) and one concern that kept coming up was the proper amplification (or the lack of) of 4 classical guitars in these spaces.

Well, firstly the classical guitar isn't a loud instrument by any means, and it certainly isn't built for open areas - not without the appropriate amplification, that is.

Secondly, many of these settings are not well-equipped with the proper sound amplification for acoustic instruments. Most of the time, we were given vocal microphones. Since these vocal mics can only pick up sounds directed straight at them, we would simply position one mic for each guitar - placed inches away from the guitar soundholes. The resulting effect we get are usually pretty disappointing. In short, we'd sacrificed the nice, warm tone of the classical guitar in order to obtain an amplified sound which can be described as "coarse" or "artificial" at best.

Thus I scoured the internet for forums and discussion boards to find a suitable set of microphones for Guitaresque. It is clear that we need condenser mics, which are suited for recording instrumentation and music.

Of course there are many brands names that kept popping up - Shure, Audio Technica, Rode - just to name a few big ones. There were also tonnes of different models available, and some of these condenser mics cost almost as much as our guitars!

After doing considerable reading up on this topic in the many forums and reviews, then balancing our "non-professional" needs and also taking costs/practicality into consideration, I've narrowed my search down to this - Samson C02 Pencil Condenser Mics

A review on this mic can be found at http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct05/articles/samsonc02.htm

I have since ordered a pair of these from Amazon via Vpost services. And they're on their way even as I am typing this blog! Will try to do a simple recording test when we get them and post our opinions here then.

Guitaresque at the Museum

2008-11-21T19:54:00.006+08:00

Guitaesque put up a 1+ hour recital at the Glass Hall of the Singapore Art Museum on 15th November 2008. This is the 2nd time the quartet performed at the museum, the 1st back in 2006, although the location was actually in the Auditorium of the museum.

What was so special about this recital, however, was the fact that it was the very first ticketed performance put up by Guitaresque!

While we'd previously been playing in free-for-public gigs all over the island, nothing tests our nerves more than playing in front of an audience whom paid to listen to us. And it certainly turned out to be quite a different experience.

In total, about 80 people turned up for our recital (out of a capacity of 120), amongst whom was our invited guest - Mr Alex Abisheganaden, the founder of the NUS Niibori Guitar Orchestra (GENUS) and a highly respected figure in the classical guitar space in Singapore.

Fellow guitarist (and the quartet's close friend) Balraj turned up to assist with our sound checks before the recital started, even though he was unable to stay around to listen to our performance.
(Ed: Thanks a million, Raj!)

Based on feedback from friends and supporters in the audience, the acoustics of the Glass Hall, complemented by 2 small microphones set up in a cross-orientation, was superb!

To be honest, we were rather tense and played the opening piece - The Barber of Seville Overture - rather tentatively. There were several nervely phrases, but as the song progressed, we gradually regained our composure and ended the piece on a high.

I think we did pretty good for most of the pieces, in particular - Moon River and Three Preludes were picked up by several people as their favorites for the night. Only Funiculi Funicular was - in my opinion - played below par.

All in all, it was a successful (and enjoyable!) outing for Guitaresque! With this first ticketed performance under our belt, I hope to lead the group to greater heights, and many more wonderful performances in the years to come.

Publicity post at SAM website

2008-11-04T16:08:00.002+08:00

Violin vs Viola

2008-10-29T09:14:00.002+08:00

No, I've not mistakenly typed in a subject line which has seemingly nothing to do with guitar. :P

In fact, this is in relation to a conversation topic between myself and Dr Robert Casteels, the Music Director/Conductor of the NUS Guitar Orchestra. In short, he was asking me if it would be possible for a Prime guitar player - ie. someone who has not played a Niibori-styled guitar before - to pick up say, an Alto guitar within a matters of 4-5 days and be able to perform on stage with this new instrument.

(note: Dr Casteels himself does not play the guitar)

Having played and performed with Niibori instruments for more than a decade, the answer to this question seems simple enough to me. Since the Niibori instruments are essentially nylon stringed guitars (with the exception of the Cembalo set of guitars, which we are not discussing here) with 6 strings, tuned to the same interval-between-strings as the Prime guitar, and all basic classical guitar techniques apply, I was initially quite certain that the entry barrier to such a "conversion" wouldn't be too high.

So I said, "I don't believe there would be a problem... Basically the player just has to adjust to slightly smaller (in the case of Alto/Soprano guitars) or larger (in the case of the Bass/Contra bass guitars) frets, that's all! "

Dr Casteels then gave me an incredulous look and said, "But that's like asking a violin player to switch to the viola and perform with the latter in a matter of days (or vice versa)? Sure, he'd probably be able to adapt well to the new instrument since the techniques are similar, but to be able to perform? I think not..."

After some thought, I guess I have to agree with him. Sometimes, when you're too used to doing something, you tend to take things for granted.

Haha.. true of so many things in life. =)

A sneak peek...

2008-10-27T11:48:00.004+08:00

Here's where we will be performing in 3 weeks' time...

(pictures taken from SAM website - http://www.singart.com/museum.php?page=the_building)

As we have not played there before, I'm not too sure if the sound acoustics of the place is ideal for non plugged-in instruments such as the classical guitar. Hopefully, with the help of proper amplification (ie. good mics and proper placement) the sound will come through clear and crisp!

The quartet's good friend and fellow musician - Balraj has kindly agreed to help us with the sound test on 15th Nov, even though he is unable to attend the performance in the evening, as he needs to work on Sat evenings. (Ed: Thanks Raj! Owe you one! )

My guitar case has arrived!

2008-10-17T12:41:00.004+08:00

The fibre-glass guitar case which I'd order from Guitaraffecs has finally arrived (ed's note: Thanks, DHL - your delivery service is ever so efficient! Great stuff! )

Here're some pictures of the case:

The case has a nice shape, and it weighs a little more than 5 kg. (according to the packaging details on the delivery box it came in)

I especially love the twin straps at the back, which allows me to carry the case like a haversack.

The guitar neck is suspended by a raised cushion support. There is also a small attached pouch above which is convenient for carrying objects such as tuners and nail files, sandpaper, etc..

A interior is lined with plush cushioning. Probably not as thick and protective as some people would've liked, but then it's not as if I travel extensively with my guitar, so that is not a big issue for me. Anyway, you cant expect Accord or Karura kind of standard for a fraction of their prices! :P

New scores update

2008-10-13T17:29:00.003+08:00

Like all group (and good) leaders, I always like to plan ahead. Even as we are busy preparing the concert repertoire for the upcoming recital in November, I have already been shopping around for the next set of scores we can tackle.

These new ones just came in! =)

A Blast from the Past

2008-10-12T22:42:00.003+08:00

Hmm... I hope the article is not about some war criminal or something like that... :P

SAM recital updates

2008-09-23T13:26:00.005+08:00

Looking ahead to the 15th Nov performance at the Singapore Art Museum, we are considering a slight adjustment to the originally planned repertoire. This is my current choice of pieces for the recital:

Barber of Seville Overture (Rossini)

Sicilliana (Anon)

A Furiosa (Bellinati)

American Folksongs (various)
- The Drunken Sailor
- St. James Infirmary
- Wade in the Water
- Sweet Betsy from Pike
- Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
- John Henry

Il Postino (Bacalov)

3 Preludes (Gershwin)
- Allegro ben ritmato e deciso
- Andante con moto e poco rubato
- Allegro ben ritmato deciso

Moon River (Mancini)

Funiculi Funicula (Denza)

La Cumparsita (Rodriguez)

Nashville Noel (various)

The songs which I have tentatively taken out are:

1) Waltz of the Flowers
2) Pacific Coast Highway
3) Stirfry

Going forward, we will focus on the 10 listed songs, and then decide if we can/should include some of these other ones.

OTHER UPDATES:-

We are also actively preparing for the publicity poster for the recital - LS is supposed to work on the group photograph, while I am in-charge of the brief write-up.
The venue of the recital has been changed to the Glass Hall
Tickets for the recital will be $8 (free seating)

Il Postino

2008-09-11T14:48:00.002+08:00

I have just completed the quartet arrangement for the theme song from the movie Il Postino.

This 4 guitars arrangement is based on a CD recording of the song featuring a violin soloist, backed by strings.

I have always liked this song, as I find its melody lines extremely beautiful and flowing, delivering a sense of peace and yet, a kind of yearning at the same time.

Can't wait to try this out with the guys!

Is Guitaraffecs.com a scam?

2008-09-11T14:29:00.002+08:00

Recently, I placed an order for a fibre-glass guitar case from http://www.guitaraffecs.com/ , after reading about this site from a CG forum.

Since then, it has been about 2 weeks and absolutely no news from the US-based company. Despite repeated emails sent to their dedicated email addresses, there's been no reply whatsoever.

The problem is - I have paid for the case with my credit card (online purchase). And it is beginning to look as if the website is either:

1) an old site, which is no longer used (in which case, nothing should be charged to my credit card)

2) Guitaraffecs.com is simply a scam - which seems strange to me, because if you're going to run an online scam, why bother to set up a guitar site? I mean, how much "business" do you hope to get, as compared to running a similiar website for say.. electronics (I have already come across several of those) or some fake branded goods?

Anyway, there's nothing to be done except to wait. Till either I actually do receive the guitar case shipped to me home, or I check the monthly credit card bill to confirm the "scam".

Open Stage : Library@Esplanade performance

2008-09-10T12:01:00.003+08:00

The performance was a success! We had fun playing the pieces - and we hope our audience had fun listening to us too :)

One of my colleagues took this photo for me. She said I looked "super serious" when playing the guitar (which simply implies I'm usually a joker at the workplace?!? HAHAHA)

Open Mic at the Library@Esplanade

2008-09-02T13:31:00.002+08:00

A short writeup on the upcoming performance this Saturday:

===========================================

4 musicians tradings ideas while carrying a tune, each providing his own senses and ideas.

Together, the quartet paints a beautiful image of the Baroque landscape...

If you think that sounds like a description of a typical string quartet, you are possibly right.

Well... not really.

Not many classical music lovers here in Singapore are familiar with the sight of a classical guitar (CG) quartet - 4 classical guitars playing in an ensemble, ala the string quartet. Guitaresque is such a quartet - and we are 100% made-in-Singapore.

Guitaresque members are Shu Hann, Ivan, Alex and Kevin. We are a group of CG lovers, who have been playing together for the past 8 years though none of us are actually full-time musicians by profession. Instead, we have found time amidst our busy working schedules to meet on a weekly basis, not so much to practice and rehearse a repertoire, but more to be with friends who share a similar passion in guitar music.

The quartet has been actively promoting CG ensemble music in the local music scene for the past few years.

We have been invited to numerous public performances, including a Charity dinner function at the (then) Pine Tree Club; the Open House event for the Tampines East Community club; Fusion Feast concert at the Chinese Garden, amongst others.

In 2004, Guitaresque took part in the Singapore (Yamaha) Guitar Festival and won the first prize for the Ensemble category. Since then, we have been invited to play at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM), where we played a one-night recital inthe SAM Auditorium, as well as in conjunction with the Engraving the World exhibition, showcasing music mainly from the Baroque era.

Come 6th September, the quartet will take the stage in the library@esplanade for the second time (we played in the Open Mic event back in 2006), and we hope to bring to the audience an afternoon of easy-listening guitar music. Expect evergreen songs like Mancini's Moon River, the theme song from the Godfather, as well as one of the perenial favourites of many guitarists - Cavatina (from the movie Deer Hunter).

This performance acts as a prelude (or appetizer, of sorts) to our upcoming recital at the SAM Auditorium later this year (November 8th). More information on that performance will be available at a later stage, so keep a look out at this blog site.

Whether you are an avid classical guitar fan or not, you will surely enjoy the soothing music played to a backdrop of artistic films and books in the classy surroundings of the library@esplanade. So do join us on 6th September 2008!

See you there!

New scores

2008-08-22T10:22:00.002+08:00

Just ordered some new scores for Guitaresque:

1) Barber of Seville Overture (Rossini)
2) Impressions of Habanera (Laurent)
3) Folie d'Espagne/Greensleeves (Koch)

Together with some others which I have ordered in the last round (including the 4 Elements), I believe we have enough to prepare a whole new repertoire for our upcoming performance(s), after the SAM outing. :)

How exciting!!

Rehearsing for the Library@Esplanade performance

2008-08-03T21:10:00.002+08:00

Before we know it, the Library@Esplanade performance is just 1 month away.

We are currently busy rehearsing the repertoire for this performance. And one of the key challenge for us, in my opinion, is our "stamina". Let me explain.

There are a couple of songs (for each one of us) in this round of repertoire that we've chosen, that really makes our fingers (both LH and RH) feel the hurt. These songs are probably different for each one of us - ie. some songs which are really demanding on 1-2 players, but simply a breeze for the other 2.

Take a song like Lotus Eaters. This reggae-styled song from Andrew York's collection of brilliant compositional pieces makes OG and myself feel so much strain that towards the end of the song, we'd normally breath a sigh of relief (that it's finally over). It's like running the 2.4km run (in Singapore, this is the de facto distance for our Fitness test) and finally reaching the last 400m.
The chords and rhythm are fast changing (and all chords require the barring technique), and we really have to just hang in there and sustain it till the end.
On the other hand, Alex & Divo's guitar parts for this song are relatively simpler - well, with the exception of the improvisation runs of course :P

Another song in our repertoire this time is a collection of American Folk songs- which includes songs like Sweet Betsy from Pike, Drunken Sailor, John Henry, etc..
This time round, it's Alex's turn to "suffer" (hahaha..). For some of these songs, his part consist of some RH-finger gymnastics, and you can almost see smoke coming out of his head during our rehearsals of these songs (haha. kidding lah!)

Then, for Haruyo Koi, OG and Alex will sweat it out during all the duet segments.

Of course, there's always the terrifying A Furiosa which (when played at crochet = 110 <= indicated tempo, aka LAGQ's speed) will cause all our fingers to twirl up in a futile attempt to hit all the notes in the proper time. :)

Fortunately, there're always the R&R pieces for us to 'recuperate' in-between our ordeals. Thank goodness we included Strauss's Waltz medley, Cavatina , Moon River and.... Around Mi (ops! Sorry OG, maybe not so for you. hehe!)

The Divo's 7 string guitar

2008-07-14T13:22:00.003+08:00

The Divo's 7 string guitar has finally arrived! It is a spruce-top instrument, with an additional string (A), which allows the player to get the extra "ommphh" when playing some bass lines notes/runs.

I tried my hands on it during our rehearsal last Sunday, and found out that the additional 7th string actually changes the whole experience of playing a CG! It is definitely NOT a case of simply playing a normal 6-stringed guitar, and hitting the 7th when the music demands it. Rather, it involves getting used to a larger fretboard (wider), a different right-hand positioning (since now it feels "weird" to rest your thumb on the lowest string for stability and balance), not to mention becoming 'crossed-eyed' when glancing down at the fretboard/strings - there just seemed to be so many strings all of a sudden! :PP

Anyway, I'm so glad that the Divo has finally gotten his instrument. It has been a long and hard struggle for the rest of us (hahaha!). But yeah - it's done at last: We can now tackle some additional low notes on some of LAGQ's notoriously difficult scores!

See below for Divo's entry on his new instrument (taken from his blog) :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Haha... my 7-string guitar has finally arrived. Just picked it up yesterday!The sound is pretty decent, the 7-string bass sounds a little like contrabass though. I was running through the notes in "Waltz of the flowers" and suddenly realised that there was a fret extension up to the 22nd fret! High D!

Previously I asked Yudi to help me ask if they made extension up to high C, Yudi got back to me to say that the asturias people don't do it. It was a little disappointing, since I thought I was making the guitar for the quartet, might as well solve all the range problems we encountered in our scores. But hey... I was so surprised to find the extension done nicely and beyond what we needed. Hahaha...

Must thank Shuhann for helping a lot in this... the looking and sourcing for the guitar, the negotiations and everything else. Without his grizzly intervention, I probably would be guitar-less for still quite some time yet.

BAM guitar cases

2008-06-17T13:16:00.003+08:00

Ivan and I were recently talking about getting new homes for our guitars. (No, we're not selling our lovely "mistresses"! )

Rather, we were looking for premium guitar cases to house them.

A quick search on the internet yielded a couple of choices, and eventually we agreed that the BAM cases afforded a good balance of protection/durability/looks/price(!! Accords and Karuras are simply too expensive! )

Furthermore, I actually saw the actual BAM classical guitar case sometime back, being sold here in Singapore - it was in the Frank Brothers Violins shop located in the Esplanade.

Unfortunately, when we decided to contact the shop, we were told the case had sold out, and new orders were "arriving soon", but no specific time frame could be given. Apparently, BAM (a French company) had decided to only manufacture limited numbers of these cases, and on demand only.

We also tried our luck at SynWin (which listed the BAM case amongst its product category), but met with the same response.

Looks like our lovely "mistresses" have to wait slightly longer, before we can find new homes for them. :)

CD update - Black Opal (San Francisco Guitar Quartet)

2008-06-12T09:59:00.004+08:00

Probably not many people in this part of the world (read: I am in Singapore) have heard about this group - San Francisco Guitar Quartet. To be honest, before I came across this recording, I have also not heard of them.

Some may say that it's because there are simply too many wannabes guitar quartet around, and many of them are only "so-so" in performing standards. That is true. But after listening to this recording, I have to say that the SFGQ are NOT one of those so-so groups. They are very impressive! I am only an amateur guitarist residing in small Singapore, so what do I know right?
Well, see what Scott Tennant has to say (of SFGQ):

"The SFGQ play with a fresh enthusiasm and life force which one rarely experiences in even the most seasoned performers. Their performance of Dusan Bogdanovic's 'Introduction and Dance' is like a gypsy caravan springing to life." -Scott Tennant

I think many a times, we only get to listen to those groups whom are marketing to this part of the world. Afterall, we are a small market, and many distributors hesitate to bring in these recordings, in the fear that there would not be demand for them. In the end, most of us here only know LAGQ, the Romeros, and a couple of others famous names. Which is a shame, really. Since many of these new, up-n-coming groups as actually really good and worth a listen.

Ok, back to this recording...

I have not really had time to listen through this recording more than once (thus able to comment in more detail), but from what I've heard, it doesnt disappoint at all. I liked their rendition of Boccherini's "Introduction and Fandango", as they injected their own ideas into the piece. But in particular, the "Introduction and Dance" piece by Bogdanovic was masterful! It really sounded like what Scott Tennant mentioned above ~ a gypsy caravan. In fact, i thought it sounded distinctly Arabic in flavour, invoking images of mysterious veiled women dancing to the tune, and snakes and daggers around the corner, in a dangerous (and exciting!) adventure in an ancient world.
( haha... now I sound like I'm describing an RPG in Playstation3!)

Incidentally, I also picked up SFGQ's 2nd CD, titled "Compadres", along with 2 other guitar quartet's recordings. Shall see if these are gems as well...

CD update - Nostalgica (Saffire)

2008-05-28T17:07:00.003+08:00

Recently, I have been re-listening to a CD borrowed from Mr A some time back. It's by the Australian Guitar Quartet - Saffire.

This album "Nostalgica" includes the world premiere of a piece written for Saffire by the renowned composer Nigel Westlake, as well as new arrangements of pieces by Bartok, Piazzolla, Deep Purple, Bill Wheelan (composer of Riverdance).

I particularly liked their quartet arrangement of Riverdance! Wonderful, exciting and virtuoso guitar ensemble stuff! A pity they do not sell their arrangement(s), otherwise this is a gem of an arrangement.

Here's the album's song list:

1. Rumba Nostálgica (J. Martin; arr. Koch)

2. Romance del Diablo (A. Piazzolla; arr. Grigoryan)

3. Tango en Skaï (R. Dyens)

4-9. Romanian Folk Dances (B. Bartok; arr. Koch)

10. Riverdance (B. Whelan; arr. Field)

11. She Moved Through The Fair (trad.; arr. Koch)

12. American Wake (B. Whelan; arr. Field)

13. The Salley Gardens (trad.; arr. Koch)

14-19. Six Fish (N. Westlake)

20. Highway Star (Deep Purple; arr. Koch)

Prime Quartet vs Niibori-styled Quintet

2008-05-10T08:44:00.002+08:00

I have always wondered about the potentials of a all-Prime (guitar) quartet versus a Niibori-styled quintet.

For friends who are unfamiliar with the Niibori-styled guitars, these are guitars designed and constructed (mainly) by the Niibori Guitar Academy in Japan. They are a range of different sized (hence tone and pitch) guitars built to resemble the instruments pitch-range of a full symphonic orchestra - the brainchild of Dr Hiroki Niibori.

In short, there are smaller guitars such as the Soprano and Alto guitars - which covers the violins in the orchestra; the Prime (normal) guitars - representing the middle voice, or perhaps the violas; the Bass guitars - the cellos; and the Contra Bass/Guitaron - which take the part of the Double-Bass. Of course, in a full Niibori setup, there are more instruments such as the Sopranino guitars, as well as the cembalos.. but let's not go there.

Thus, a Niibori-styled quintet would typically consist of maybe 2 Altos, 1 Prime, a Bass and a ContraBass/Guitaron. They would be the equivalent of a string quintet in the more commonly known sense.

A all-Prime quartet, however, consists of 4 identically pitched intruments guitars playing in an ensemble. I believe this is quite a rarity in the sense that seldom do we come across a setup like 4 violins, or 4 cellos, etc..

I cannot comment on the stringed instrument aspect, since I am neither a player nor a great fan in the first place. But having played in a Niibor quintet (in the now-defunt Masak) and now playing in a prime quartet Guitaresque, I begin to wonder about the different possibilities and potentials of these 2 setups.

First, it is clear that the Niibori quintet gets the points for pitch range. It has the Alto guitar, which stretches the upper range of the normal prime guitar by another half an octave. It also has the Guitaron (or Contrabass), which stretches the lower register by a whole octave. So essentially, you could play music which affords a 1.5 octave extra worth of notes, in terms of its pitch expanse. That is surely a great advantage.

Having said that, I cannot but feel that the prime quartet has a distinct edge when it comes to versatility of music that could be interpreted. For instance, I've always found the Niibori guitars a little wanting when they are used to play Brazilian (e.g. samba) and jazz music. Somehow, because of the tone or sound quality produced by the Altos, it makes the general output sound rather "mandolin-like". That, to me, sometimes makes the song rather "old" sounding - ie. it sounds like period music from the Handel or Vivaldi era.
On the other hand, a Prime quartet has better range of control when it comes to creating specific tones. As an example, it is much easier to play tasto or ponticello on the prime guitar than on the Alto (or even Bass) guitar. Techniques such as rasguerdo and (artificial) harmonics also are performed and more importantly, sound better on the normal prime guitars.

Of course, the skill level of the players ultimately determines how well the ensemble performs, but given the fact that the Niibori Academy players are arguably some of the best ensemble guitar players in the world (especially when it comes to coordination and syncrhonised playing), I still cringe when I listen to recordings of some of their attempts to play jazz or music not belonging to the baroque/classical eras.
You can argue that it could be due to the quality (or lack of) of the arrangement itself, but surely, that is also a reflection of the limitations of the Niibori instruments per se.

To be fair, I do feel that Niibori quintet setup, besides adapting wonderfully to period music, also get high marks for ballet-style contemporary music. Just listen to their rendition of some of Richard Clayderman's classic pieces like Coup de Coeur or Marriage d'Amour and you'll know what i mean. :)

Our guitars (part 3)

2008-05-02T22:10:00.003+08:00

Finally, what about the DIVO.

Well, to date he has NO guitar. (in case you're wondering, NO is not a brand name.)

He plays Alex's old Esteve guitar - which only recently has been 'relieved' of its brownish bass strings - during our rehearsals. As for performances, he'd usually borrow Adrian's Alhambra guitar.

For years he has claimed that it is just due to the "lack of opportunity" of finding his ideal guitar, so he wouldnt settle for anything else. And when asked about what his ideal guitar should be, he mentioned things like '7 string', 'must feel heavy', etc.
* for more information, refer to Ivan's entry on these "pre-requisites".

But FINALLY, I managed to nail the instrument down, and made him commit to it. We are now awaiting the arrival of the 7-string guitar, scheduled to come sometime in July this year. Will provide more update then.

p.s. guess who made all the inquiries, through phone calls, SMSes, etc regarding the guitar? Certainly not Liang Shan himself... Now you know why we call him DIVO.

Our guitars (part 2)

2008-05-02T21:49:00.004+08:00

Ivan plays a Juan Hernandez guitar (model: Concierto). It is a spruce top instrument, and from what I recalled - when I test-played it with him about a year back - it is a really beautiful sounding instrument.

Now, you may wonder why I have to "recall" the sound. Don't I get to hear it every week during our rehearsal sessions? Yes, indeed I do. But the truth is, every guitarist has their own feel, own perception (not to mention individual technique also affects the sound/tone production to a large extent!) about the sound from a guitar. To me, I am only able to relate how this guitar sound, relative to another guitar which I have played. It is rather meaningless to listen to a guitar sound that I played (say, on guitar A), then listen to another guitarist play guitar B, and then go, "Guitar A sounds better/worse than guitar B".

* Some fellow Genus members (of my "era") might remember Professor Manji from the Niibori Academy. He was the visiting professor at our Genenis Camp many years back. I distinctly remember, till this day, that he picked up one of our lower-range Alto guitars (definitely one of those hopeless TE300), and played it so effortlessly to make it sound like an NA20 or better! So there!

Well, back to Juan Hernandez, Ivan's guitar luthier (did I mention that the headstock design looks gorgeous? :P ). Anyway, here's a little excerpt from his website:

http://www.fernandezmusic.com/JuanHernandezGuitars.html

Juan Hernández--Constructor of Guitars.

Made in Alboraia (Valencia), Spain

Juan Hernández Iranzo was born in Turís (Valencia) Spain in the late 1940's. He began learning guitarmaking in the Francisco Esteve workshop at age15. There he became an "oficial" (sort of a certified guitarmaker) and later he became production manager. For many years he has been involved with the construction of the deluxe models made at Esteve. Now, along with the assistance of 3 artisans, he is proud to offer a limited number of fine guitars under his own label made of very good woods and constructed with care and expertise.

Our guitars (part 1)

2008-05-02T21:24:00.005+08:00

Alex and I both play Kohno guitars (both are Model #30).

I'd acquired my Kohno 30 many years back, and have been pretty satisfied with its sound and ease of play so far. It is a spruce top instrument, and was built in 1980. I got it from the 2nd hand guitar dealer - Michael Ho years ago (when I was still schooling) and even then, it must have been 2nd or 3rd hand ownership.
Perhaps my only complaint would be that I sometimes wish for a more mellow and 'boom-ier' voice to my guitar, rather than the crisp, clean and distinct tone produced by this instrument. That said, I personally feel it is a terrific instrument to play Bach's music! =)

Alex, on the other hand, had only recently purchased his Kohno 30 (also made in the early 80s, though I cant remember exactly which year). It was entirely by chance that an acquintance of ours - Charles (who is, by the way , an aspiring luthier himself ) informed us that he is helping someone to sell this instrument. When I heard that it was a Kohno 30, I immediately "alerted" Alex, and we went to his workshop to test-play the guitar. Within days, he decided to grab it. I dare say he's made a great decision, considering the often ridiculously high prices quoted for some brand new (but rather mediocre) instruments these days. It was a steal at the price he paid for it.

Below is some information regarding Mr Masaru Kohno (taken from his workshop website - now run by fellow luthier Masaki Sakurai): http://www.kohno-guitar.org/

Masaru Kohno

1926 Masaru Kohno was born.
1948 He started making guitars.
1960 He went to Spain and studied making guitars.
1967 He awarded the GOLD MEDAL in Elizabeth's Concourse Belgium, international competition in guitar lutherie.

Dec. 13 1998 He died of renal cancer.

New scores update...

2008-04-30T14:12:00.002+08:00

I heard's Tokyo Guitar Quartet's rendition of Francis Kleyjans' "Los Cuatro Elementos" (which means "The 4 Elements"), and was instantly attracted by the interesting melodies and intricate runs.

After sourcing around for the score (which apparently has been out of print at many online stores all over the world), I finally managed to get it!

A quick look at the scores showed it to be tougher than I'd first imagine. It shall be kept as consideration for Guitaresque's future performances.

New Scores update...

2008-04-30T13:56:00.003+08:00

Some time ago, I bought 3 books containing scores arranged by the Tokyo Guitar Quartet, as well as 2 of their CD recordings.

Perhaps not many people in Singapore would have heard of this quartet, since we have a rather limited choice of CDs available here (even LAGQ CDs can be difficult to find at times...sigh).
But having listened to their recordings - which subsequently prompted me to purchase their scores - I have to say, they are really very good!

My personal favourites include their arrangement of Funiculi Funicula (haha.. Liang Shan absolutely hates this one, since he has an extreme finger/chords etude to do throughout the song), as well as the beautiful Moon River, which was the theme song from the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

Currently, Guitaresque is working on a couple of pieces (including the 2 above-mentioned) as part of our repertoire for the Library performance and later the recital at Singapore Art Museum.

The way we were

2008-04-16T13:37:00.004+08:00

Just a little history about Guitaresque...
It's probably not of interest to anyone else except ourselves, as a way to keep track of how we became what we are now - which was part of the reason why I wanted to have this blog set up.

I have spent nearly one and half decade at GENUS (NUS Guitar Ensemble), having joined the group in 1994 as a freshman in the University. Joining a demanding course of study like Chemical Engineering (which was a mistake!??! but that's another story...), I found it essential to liven up my varsity life. Thus began my life as a guitar orchestra player in GENUS.

Throughout the years, members joined the group and leave (mostly when they graduate). Many good guitarists have passed through our doors throughout the years I've been in GENUS. For some, their guitar journey continues even after they leave GENUS. These are usually people who are into solo guitar playing. Many are still wonderful guitarists whom I am proud to have played alongside with in GENUS.
For others, unfortunately, their passion for the instrument (and some for music itself) diminished over the years, and eventually the guitar became a white elephant in the house, or something which they pass on to their younger siblings or nieces/nephews.

In 1999, I managed to find 3 like-minded players - Balraj (aka Raj), Kar Mun and Ivan, who like me, liked the idea of forming a more "permanent" guitar quartet so that we could continue to jam pieces and to play as a group, even after we have graduated from NUS and move on with our lives. We called ourselves the "Genres Guitar Quartet".
This particular set up lasted merely 2 months, as Raj realised he could not afford the time for our weekly practice sessions.

That's when Karen Ann was recruited as a more-than-able replacement. She was an excellent solo guitar player, even at the time, and she quickly assimilated into the group - becoming our 开心果with her brand of quirky and witty humour. We had a "rebranding" meeting, during which we came up with the name "Guitaresque".

This time, we lasted for slightly more than a year. In 2000 (year end), Kar Mun had a change of heart (actually, it was more or less a group decision, since he obviously had lost interest in our practices) and left the group. Again, we were 3.

In came Liang Shan, who was then still a relatively new member in GENUS. Still, we kinda felt that he had the "right attributes" to fit into our quartet. ( he was quite crazy... about music, about guitar, basically he was just a crazy and fun guy! I mean, just look at his dressing and and his hairdo these days, and you'd agree. hahaha )

We had a couple of years of good fun making music and entering competitions. In fact, we took the 2nd prize in the Yamaha Guitar Festival in 2001, for the ensemble section, narrowing losing to another group of GENUS participants (I remember it was a 10-man strong Niibori team consisting of Michelle, ATKS and gang). We came back in 2004 and took the 1st prize, playing the fast and exciting piece by Patrick Roux- Carnival!

In 2005, Karen left the group and went travelling round the world with her fiance, and we were left again with 3 remaining members: Ivan, Liang Shan and myself.

Fortunately, we found Alex (who had been a member of the earlier defunct group "The Canoners"), and Guitaresque was back in business once more.

The quartet has become more active in performing in public arenas in the last 2 years, and we have put up a series of performances at the Library@Esplanade and the Singapore Art Museum in 2006 and 2007. The experience have been so wonderful, that we decided to repeat the acts again at these 2 locations. So later this year (in September and November respectively), we shall be performing once again at the library, where we can have a close and cozy environment to interact with our audience; and then at the SAM, which features excellent accoustics for the classical guitar sounds.

Going forward, I am looking into new and exciting places for us to perform in, and the Esplanade performance halls (be it the concert hall, or maybe more likely the Recital studio) would seem a good target for us to aim for in the future.

Liang Shan's 7 string guitar wishlist

2008-04-14T09:43:00.002+08:00

Courtesy of OG (good one bro! haha..)

For body, pls use top-of-the-grade Brazilian rosewood for sides and back. If possible, look into Church-door design for back. Also spruce for top (as indicated by DIVO), however, use high quality ones like in close-grinded, prefably have some bear claws would be nice.

As usual, ebony for finger board but use titanium metal for fretting coz it might hurt DIVO fingers and the insurance will cry. Look at installing RODGERs' tuners (with snake-wood), no imitation thank you. Body length of 650 mm would be ok.

Having a 20th fret is forthgone conclusion. Else why he buys a 7-string other than to play and sound like an orchestra? Also, ask Yudi to construct raised finger-board to facilitate the runs at the 15th to 20th frets.

Lacquer-finish is acceptable.

He is still considering adding an arm-guard at side (ala arm-rest). Ask Yudi to throw in guitar-support wrapped in premium leather as DIVO hates the sit the classical way. Also, throw in life-time free-delivery of 7strings to DIVO residence would be critical in making DIVO commit.

5k is for planning purpose, other cost just add in accordingly. ^^

And for heaven-sake, make the guitar weigh like a M-16 at least.

Archive - Engraving the World (performing at the art gallery)

2008-04-12T11:32:00.003+08:00

Guitaresque performed at the Singapore Art Museum on 21st July 2007, as part of the "Engraving the World" event held there.
We gave 2 half-hour shows in the afternoon (I think it was at 345pm and 445pm respectively), each with different sets of repertoire (this will be updated later - Liang Shan being our group's "score keeper" )
Anyway, it was a wonderful experience playing in a cosy environment, with the audience seated (on the floor) barely an arm's length away from us. =)
Here are some of the photos we took on that day:

Archive - Open Mic performance at Library@Esplande (Sept 2006)

2008-04-11T22:26:00.003+08:00

(taken from an old blog entry dated 17th Sept 2006 - Good fun and great nerves)

I have to say it was predictable. And to be honest, rather expected really.
And i'm not talking about the mood and atmosphere we were greeted with at the library@Esplanade yesterday.

16th September 2006 was the first time Guitaresque had an hour long performance indoors, all by ourselves (not as part of Genus or with other small groups) - playing to an actual 'listening audience'. That means, we were not playing to some big shots in a dinner setting, where we could basically just smoke out and keep repeating repertoire without anyone noticing (ala Pine Tree club charity dinner); or in an open stage in a garden where the sound probably sounded crap regardless of what we played (ala Chinese garden performance).

This was really a good experience. Nice, appreciative audience. Rather cosy and warm ambience lightings, and at least decent sound (it wasn't as good as playing in my home studio of course! ). Many of our friends came to listen to us and to lend their support. The usual Genus alumni gang were there - Mich, Wai, Sherrie, Mel, HF, JQ, JH, Moh. Some of the SMU Guitarissimo members popped by too. I also had 'past' and 'present' colleagues coming to "support" me - really appreciate the gesture - Lina & Sandra! :)

But what was really predictable and expected was the fact that some of us 'froze up' during the performance. I think it is precisely the fact that we knew that we were being watched and listened to by an attentive audience, coupled with a video camera pointing at us at the same time, that created the nerves and anxiety.

Haha.. i cant recall ever hearing Owls play the Habanera melody line wrongly in ALL our practices. But it happened.

Barber couldnt get his fingers to listen to him as he attempted those darn Aragonaise scales. He even ended Canon 2 bars before we did - causing alarming and disbelief stares from Owls and myself. ( i was too stunned to realise what OG was doing )

The Telemann concerto sounded like we were sight-reading it for the first time. I think the passing of melodies were completely missing as fingers were slow to react to the panicked mind.

I messed up several arppeggios (those darn pizz!) in Canon too. Not to mention the usual nerves when playing the art. harmonics in 老情歌.

But OG kept the best for last. (wahahah!) The 'ad-lib' display in our encore showed that he was back at his best. I could barely contain my mirth as we completed the supposedly romantic Entrac'te.

As the leader of the group, i feel that we may have to challenge ourselves a little differently going forward. While we are certainly progressing in terms of our technical abilities and being able to tackle more challenging repertoire (e.g. A Furiosa, Libertango); there remains this aspect of us not being able to rise to the occasion when we are in front of an audience.

As a group, our 默契 is certainly fantastic. We know one another well, and our weekly practices give us gives us time to gel and to develop our group dynamics.

Individually, as players, we need to develop our self-confidence too. Whether playing guitar to or addressing an audience is actually a test of our own self-confidence and esteem. I certainly still feel some nerves when doing so, but it really helps me to think "the fact that i'm here performing/speaking to you (ie. audience) means that i am probably the subject matter expert in this particular topic. So even if i fumble along the way, as long as i show the kind of confidence that experts normally do, then you wouldn't even know i'm "smoking" you."

* ironically, it's this kind of thinking that helped me 'survive' at my workplace too. Given the kind of people i sometimes have to deal with (e.g. bankers and traders), you have to demonstrate confidence in your product knowledge (no matter how cock-up the product sometimes can be), else you risk losing all credibility.

I think some members of Guitaresque need a little more of this confidence-training/booster than others. But all of us will benefit if we do not keep to our own comfort zone, playing good music behind closed doors, in a comfy studio which seduces us into thinking we are better players than we really are.

More performances for us, definitely. And Genus seems a good place to start. :)

Archive - An Evening of Classical Guitar Music performance at SAM

2008-04-11T22:10:00.005+08:00

(taken from old blog entry dated 1st April 2007)

It was an evening I will remember for a long time. Great ambience, superb sound, an appreciative audience, and we played our hearts out.

First, the venue. I believe we hit the jackpot this time, when I decided to write in for a venue sponsorship from the Singapore Art Museum. They promptly replied and we got a performance slot on 31st March 2007. Initially, my idea was to play in the Glass Hall, which I had previously attended a concert in, and it looked pretty cool. But as luck would have it, the Glass Hall was already booked by another group that night, and SAM offered us the Auditorium instead. And what a nice place that turned out to be, especially for a delicate sounding instrument like the classical guitar. It wasn't too large, but just enough to seat 150 people or so. Here's how the place looked it (picture taken during our sound test earlier on the day of performance):

Lots of friends and well wishers came to lend us support, including our dear mentor - Maestro Alex Abisheganaden, who had nothing but kinds words for us after the performance. He liked the more spanish sound pieces in the repertoire, which included Sevilla and Fandango, but less of the contemporary ones like Harumi suite and (a little surprisingly) Carnaval.Ivan's guitar teacher, Ernest Kwok (arguably one the best local classical guitarist of our times) also came by to listen to our performance. He too was very appreciative and even suggested we play for a Yamaha event, featuring 4 silent guitars (plugged in)! haha.. that would be interesting :P

Some of my colleagues - Sandra and Thomas (my usual supporters! yay!) came, as well as Wilson, who commented, "whoa! i didnt know classical guitar could be played in so many ways!" Ex-colleagues Lina and Ken also came to lend their support and reminded me at the end of the recital to call them for future performances.

My old buddies wolf, tpk, pete and Tian How also came, some with their spouses and even kids. I didnt really get to talk to them much (i was busy 'entertaining' some of my other more inquisitive guests.haha), but i hoped they have had a great evening.

As for our repertoire, i felt we started off a little shaky (what's new.. cold fingers, anxiety..etc) with Sevilla, but by Cavatina we were moving along pretty ok.

Telemann's Concerto in D was pretty standard, some missing runs here and there, but generally I felt we fared much better than we did in the Open Mic event @ Esplanade Library just a couple of months back.

Baia was smooth and the tempo was great (for once!), and once we went into the tune, we never looked back, and song moved into good "cruise-control" mode. Chinese oldies medley was as usual, one of the audience's favourite, its catchy and familiar tunes, with some techniques (pizz, artificial harmonics, etc.) thrown in. Alex told me later that his 2 RP students who were there, actually asked him for the scores! :)

Harumi was, well... very Andrew York. ie. very modern and "mood" music. Not surprisingly, Along the Edge managed to put some ppl almost into sleep mode - not that we played badly though. I thought our rendition of Blue Ocean Echo/Country Gentleman came through quite well last night. (I'll have to watch the video to hear how we sounded though)

Lastly, our 2 fast-n-furious finale was the highlight of the night! I thought we played Fandango very, very well - not too much bones to pick on that one. And Carnaval's signature whistle-start and the all-time-fav "OOmmpH!" brought the concert to a nice high and close.

*phew*

One more performance in our pockets, and this time, we gained some valuable experience playing to a closed door (proper hall) seated audience. I'm definitely looking forward to our next excursion soon!

If I may say so myself - Well done, Guitaresque!

Opening post

2008-04-11T17:17:00.004+08:00

After more than 9 years since its formation in 1999, I have finally decided to set up a simple blog site for our guitar quartet.

Reason being - I wanted it to be a somewhat more "transparent" as well as simpler way for us to look back at the journey we took (in terms of our music then & now, and our playing standards too!), and hence learn to improve going forward as a quartet, hopefully for many more years.

* Had I been more web-savvy, I would have prefered to set up a Guitaesque dedicated website, since I'd be able to upload videos and sound clips from our previous endeavors. But hey, I just an average web-surfing joe eh, so what do I know about all these HTML stuff..blah blah blah..??? :P

Finally, for our friends and fellow guitar afficionados, this is where I will be posting announcements of our future performance details.

So, keep a look out for us! :)