....could have been the most epic metal track of the year

Dude,

Realm of Darkness is one year old....

Stayed that way from day one. Will take another ten years to complete the second verse I think.

Music and notation copyright by Kek Chze Kian 2012

Epic metal album - The Reckoning by Sudev Bangah

Happy New 2014

Dude,

Started off to an extremely unproductive day with surfing guitars whole day. Unproductive work day I mean. Definitely the otherwise for the soul.

Zakk's improvised track over Andy James's backing track was extremely scary...and so is Andy James himself.

I am having Cacophony over through the headphones while drafting this at work. Mind fucked today by extreme lead guitar playing.

Well dude, it is two more days before we say goodbye to 2013 and greet a new 2014.

This has been a crazy year so far. Enough have been said, so I am more than happy to bid 2013 farewell.

Of course, while the year has been rather overwhelming, there were some real good moments too. The birth of my daughter and the addition of a brutal Cort KX5 into the arsenal. Once again, thank you, thank you and thank you. I still have the feeling if I need to have only 2 guitars, that will be both the Corts......That's how good they are.

Looking back, none of the list I set earlier this year was accomplished. Well, the JL, guitar cabinet, new amp, 5 strings sweep, Zoom R8 etc; they didn't happen. What happened was a lot of online shopping... tab books, JP's stuff, and to date I am waiting for all my Neil Peart's books and DVD, a Paul Gilbert DVD, a Randy Rhoads DVD, a Jazz Instructional and Jason Becker Not Dead Yet DVD.

Don't ask me what's with the buying frenzy...I don't know dude.

Maybe it's the fear that I won't be able to be so "flexible" with my money anymore. With the cost of living (definitely) going up come 2014, there is little I can do, except to keep dreaming of getting guitars and gears..

That said, do allow me to (shamelessly) put up, as usual, a dream list for the new year.

1. Schecter Jeff Loomis Signature JL NT
2. ANY Sterling JP guitar
3. LTD Andy James AJ-1 Signature guitar

There, as simple as that for the year. Will be a big bonus if one of it happen. No more funny things like cabinets or amps.....

If all else fail, I will go get Neil Peart's drumsticks.

You may be thinking of a long post from me on this. Nah dude....too much talking and ended with nothing (and this has been going on for the past 2 years....). Not a good feeling. So, hopefully, the silent contemplation will bear fruit. Then again, tele-conference on guitar talk is always welcome.

Dude, hope the new year will bring lots of signature guitar loot to you. Hope you will get the best offers and services when embarking on your mad hunting (the SFG remains of the best buy ever!!!).

Most important of all, may you be blessed with good health through the year (and many many more years to come) and may success be yours in whatever you do. May there be no obstacles, no assholes and no Murphy's Law along your way.

Happy 2014.

Time flies..NAMM is here again.

Merry Christmas

Dude,

It's Christmas Eve today. Hope you are tuning yourself down for the holiday.

This is the time to thank you for the third and final celebration for the KX5 - Christmas. Wish I have got more time in hand to fully utilise it but the day will come.

Been a rather eventful year so far but I guess I still had a good run. Crazy times ahead but I shall be ready.

I thought of posting a Christmas wish list but will save that for the new year. Anyway, I have summarised the wish list to be something like below:

Picture copyrighted by SBInfluence. Dude, wish list - an arsenal full of signature models!!

Oh yeah, I can't say enough thank you(s) for the stuffs you have been bringing me back from the land of crazy guitar bargains....The DVD is a great gift (I will need to find time to pick it up soon!!). But the challenge, dude, crazy....But thanks again dude. I don't know how many people out there have the privilege to receive supplementary Christmas present.....

So dude, heartfelt appreciation and once again, thank you.

Blessed Christmas to you and your family....and to a healthy and happy 2014.

time to attempt EJ's First Nowell again....

Wednesday, 11th December 2013

Actual lettertodev sent today.

Dude,

How's Bali? The last time I was there, I had a blast. The hotel however, was a fucking turn-off. my favourite place is Pura Ulun Danu Bratan and Sukawati Market. Tanah Lot is another good one and the Tegalalang Padi field is magnificent.

It's a shame that the Metalicca LTD is sailing the world at the moment. Keep the faith my friend. I am sure all will turn out well and fine.

I am currently doing some housekeeping on my laptop when I found two pictures of you with the Fireman, which led to to try figure out the amount of signature models that you have.
Been kind of the 'in" thing at the moment. I am sold - on the fact that signature model does have some qualities to it that separates it from the rest - after the surprise gift of Cort MJ (man...that was like a year ago. time flies dude...). I hope my next purchase (on my own) will be a signature guitar.

I must say your recent purchase of Synyster Gates model is a real wise move. That is a real expressive and responsive guitar. I trust it is highly playable as well judging from how your fingers flew all over the fretboard. The EVH, gosh, that one is another story.... in a stupid way (our context of "stupid").

I remember some time around this time last year, I made some plans for the coming year, ie 2013, including building guitar cabinet...Well, unfortunately, I have accomplished none. (although it seems like I am a little more proficient in 3-strings sweep, which for 2013, it was supposed to be 5-strings...).

Seems like the strongest agenda is still trying to get that seven string guitar. Conversation with myself says that I don't need one, but for some reasons, I want one. The Jeff Loomis influence is extremely strong, and with JP70's image lurking around, it is not helping much to pacify the lust.
Anyway, I am not sure what I will want to do in 2014, with the baby in the house, things are slightly different. But one of the agreed KPI for next year is to catch Dream Theater in concert. Where about, we just need to work it out.

Other than that, I will be happy whatever comes along the way. Maybe, finally getting that Jeff Loomis or settle for a JP60? Either way I am fine. Without it, I should be fine, considering how elusive it was when it comes to me trying to buy a guitar. if all else fail, there is always the John 5 Tele at RM1300....(just kidding).

This is not meant to be a new year post. I am writing this because I am just in awe with how fast time flies. Ironically, it seems real slow because the BB King guitar felt like a 2012 affair, but it happened earlier this year yes? It has been 10 months since then. The Reckoning happened this year as well or was it end of last year? i get confused some times with time.

You see, with all the events zooming pass this way, I am hoping to live my life a little slower. The kidney stone (not to mention bladder cancer scare) and baby's arrival have kind of slowed me down a little. I am enjoying a slower walk to the office (with my pace, it takes about 10 minutes from my carpark to my office...and when I eventually shift to Sunway, it will take about 20-30 minutes via Sunway Pyramid to my office at The Pinnacle). When we slow down, we see and feel things we don't normally do. It chances the way we look at our daily life, changes the approach and hopefully, it will help us to see the bigger picture.

Applying that to guitar playing, I trust we are able to hear how we can produce varieties of harmonics and tones just by changing our playing dynamics. If we tone down from Jeff Loomis to Gary Moore, then up again from Jeff Beck to Zakk Wylde, we get to feel everything in between. Hopefully, this will make us a better player.

And in your context, an established guitar connoisseur.

Talk to you sonn.

Tele with a chrome pickguard...awesome.

Rockstar Father

Dude,

Been a rather eventful 2 weeks since the last post. I am now officially a dad.

Can't believe it but it is almost 2 weeks now since the baby's arrival and I am still learning to cope with the changes in life, which I believe with a little change of habits and lifestyle, everything should be ok.

While I will definitely have lesser time to do anything guitars, I still have the time and space to do what I do best for the past 9 months - staring at guitars and gadgets, comparing prices and keeping up with the latest development and guitar technology trends.

So happy to hear you are getting the Joker and dude, AOD II is indeed a kickass guitar. Will be having those long tele-con again to contemplate what's next, since you did mentioned at one point that you are taking a hiatus off buying guitars. Seems like you are getting crazier after that pledge.

For me, the JL still stays, with the Custom C7 being the second choice. I however, had traded that in exchange for my health, therefore, there could be a haunt for the next 6-string....muahahahaha....

This post is intended to be a real short one. My new role as a father will not dampen the quest to become The Greatest Bedroom Shredder in the World. Who knows, I may be able to pull off Teru and Hizaki with my little girl one day and when Uncle Dude is back, we do a G3 jam!

Take care dude.

If my girl does grow up to be the next coming of Orianthi (better than her, of course), Rock Bakery will eventually come to reality.

So Far So Good

Dude,

It has been quite a while, ain’t it?

First up, allow me to thank you for the killer KX5 (in black some more……) on the first of the 3 occasion it was meant for – my birthday. It’s definitely one of the most highly playable and versatile piece in my arsenal. Thank you very much for it.

Yes dude, I am 33 years (and 5 days) old. As I progressed through my life, I can’t help but reflect, how has it been for the past year(s).

I started to draft this post 3 days after my birthday but didn’t get to pass through the 4^th paragraph. Work has been rather overwhelming and my fitness level has been a challenge lately. So, my active hours for a day have been significantly reduced.

That said, after a crazy month of October, I hope things will begin to settle down. I have never been a person who yearns for an “exciting” or “colourful” life. I am most happy to live my life as uneventful as it can be.

This year, has got to be the most eventful year in my life. While there are those which completely drained my energy, there are equal amount of them that kept me going. So I really hope things will now just go smoothly.

I am beginning to come to terms with the changes in my life. I traded the 7 strings pursue, in exchange for a good health. I may be having far less time for playing but I guess I should be thankful to be able to have time to do 4 doodles files to keep my chops alive.

Having a string less on my guitars doesn’t mean I can’t do any brutal licks, or riffs. It just doesn’t work that way isn’t it?

Life is probably the most unaccommodating element we can experience. As I have shared, Khaled Hosseini rightly puts it when he said:

“Life just doesn’t care about our aspirations, or sadness. It’s often random, and it’s often stupid and it’s often completely unexpected and the closures and the epiphanies and revelations we end up receiving from life, begrudgingly, rarely turn out to be the ones we thought (we’d have).”

Sounds all gloom and doom yes? Not really…. I guess the remedy to all this is to be thankful.

I am having fun with the KX5 (and the rest of the pack), playing much better than before. I think I can make it through without anything else… at least for a while.

I got 16 minion cupcakes for my birthday!!......and a KX5!

Current State of Mind

Dude,

Just realised that I haven’t been real productive in dishing out blog-worthy post. The last one was in July and time passes real fast. There was a title in national language that was published a year ago on 30^th August, and we are just a month away.

Reviewing all the posts since then, I realized I did achieve something in the list this year. Getting Nevermore’s Year of the Voyager DVD. So at least there’s something.

Your return this time round triggered many crazy moments as well as various issues to plan and contemplate on.

Moving on from the crazy two weeks we had, I am slowly settling in work (which is never fun) and life; and as usual, taking some time off to reflect what my current state of mind is.

I would definitely love to find more time to play and doodle, but with work and daily commitments, it’s a challenge to have some time to practice, or in my case recently, doodle.

Speaking of practice, the guitar academic in me is surfacing again, this time looking for some deep instructional stuffs. Before I go further on this, it will be helpful to understand what goes on in the mind.

I am, basically, a simple, single-tracked mind guy. While this is reflected very much in my life, it has also found its way into my guitar playing. I am not capable to adapt to various permutations of harmonic equivalents on the fretboard, resulting in very limited licks vocabulary. Part of the main cause of this is the standard pentatonic box patterns which I employed so much in my playing. In addition, there are some standard licks that have been very much stuck with me from day one.

Despite putting in some effort in the early days to enhance or diversify the playing (with Paul Gilbert’s Terrifying Guitar Trip, John Petrucci’s Rock Discipline, Al DiMeola, Eric Johnson and Steve Morse’s instructionals, Yngwie Malmsteen’s Play Loud, Marty Friedman’s Melody something,something…., etc), it didn’t help much at the end of the day. This is also due to my trait of being a lazy bastard, not wanting to stretch myself.

Years later, today, picking up where I left off, I would re-visit all the videos and they will still sound new to me. That means I have not really put any effort to improve my playing.

I guess you understand now why I was so impressed with your licks in the Wilshire demo. I love the approach of utilizing the entire fingerboard.

As such, I have shortlisted four books which I feel can be of great help. JP’s Wild Stringdom and Guthrie Govan’s Creative Guitars series. To get a real good workout on songs, I would also love to get the tab book to Suspended Animation. Would love to have something Nevermore but there is not one publication that have tabs on Nevermore.

This could be just a passing phase, as I am always in the academic phase in one time or another. Seriously, I have learnt, memorized and forgotten a lot of stuff. That’s why I found that the best way to learn something is back to the fundamentals – doodle – but with a running recorder to record tones, feels, techniques and most important of all, what that needs to be worked on. So, this probably explains all the noises I have been sending you so far.

As I continue to find peace with scales and modes, let’s talk about my new ambition: The Greatest Bedroom Shredder in the World.

I have talked at length about the origin of this (shamelessly) self-proclaimed tittle. But this has always been a desire deep inside me – to able to shred the hell out of a guitar.

This brings me to one of the biggest contributing factor to drive: The frustration of getting another (or  two more) guitars.

The past 7 months has been filled with endless contemplation and planning for a new metal guitar, most notably a 7 string and to be precise, the Schecter Jeff Loomis NT (or FR). Seemed like a taboo every time this guitar is mentioned and there is always some situation that hinders the go-ahead with the purchase (in exchange for fatherhood, I have no complains though!!). In fact at this point while writing this, I already have 2 wedding invitations in September. That's USD200 gone.

With the continuous challenges ahead, getting a 7 string seems impossible....so.....

Song ideas and arrrangements that were brewing inside my mind (coined mainly for 7 strings) were then needed to be translated in a six strings context – which involved different tonality and rhythm arrangements. That was how the doodles session started.

To achieve some bottom heavy tones, I have downtuned the Cort one half step which the low E string is now E flat. That created the right amount of tension (thanks to the 25.5” neck) and definitely created a good vibe for heavy rhythm. The first riff done on this new-found vibe was something called I Think Therefore I Am (Realm of Darkness was done on standard tuning in the key of F#).

There are still some half done stuff – Death Calling, another one – which would require a lot of effort from me, given I am quite a novice when it comes to metal. Despite daily tutorials on Nevermore and Jeff Loomis, Jag Panzer and Chris Broderick, there is still much more to catch up and learn. All this were to prepare myself to embrace the world of 7 string guitar playing. Unknowingly, it has built some some chops which are new to me and kinda spice up a little of my otherwise monotonous, unoriginal sounding lines.

So, those are the force that is driving the academic side, to expand the fretboard and theory knowledge in order to complete the songs and to become The Greatest Bedroom Shredder in the World. Ultimately I believe all musician shares the same dream – to be able to compose their own music and share it with others, no matter good or bad, regardless if there is any commercial value to it. I don’t think anyone will understand why we do the things we do… Of course they don’t. We are musicians, they are just mere mortals, humans…..

Funny how it all started from frustration of wanting a 7 string.

Ten is the current magic number to round up the arsenal of axes. There is a neck-to-neck competition in the 7 string department between JP and JL, while with the 6 strings, JP100D pretty much fit the bill. Unless the price difference  of pickup upgrading of USD170.00 can be further stretched apart with other factors, getting a JP60 and upgrading pickups seemed to be similar to getting a JEM333 and upgrading it to EVO (while it is much cheaper and WORTH by getting the JEM555). And I am quite sure JP70 will be far cheaper than Schecter at where you are now.

So, this time, it’s real intense focus on just the last two - one 7 string and that very last 6 string.

And then, moving on, hopefully, we get to hear some original compositions and taste some fully baked cakes.

Meanwhile, it’s all scales and mode, techniques and tone, harmony and melody; and reviewing blueprint (over and over and over again) on the Ten Guitars Project. Those two are my current state of mind.

Weekend is almost here and I am sure you will enjoy Metallica live in the Lion City. Do me a favour dude: need a full scale gig report after that from you……. And please update your guitar review site! You have got all this cool guitars this year dude!

Take care dude….

We both know very well how my ten guitar plan will end – Option 13. But dude, the bright side is that we musicians will always learn to make do and make most of our current resources….And me dude, I am more than that ‘cos I am The Greatest Bedroom Shredder in the World.

Change of Season: The Longest Phase

Dude,

It’s been quite a while. First part of 2013 was a huge challenge to go through…

Anyway…..

We guitar players are a funny lot. We go into phases very frequently; with most (if not all) being guitar related phases.

If my memory serves me well,  have gone through several really significant phases starting with Yngwie Malmsteen, then to Joe Satriani. It was then I went into Steve Vai. Those were in1995-1996. Then in 1997, I discovered Eric Johnson and this stayed till today.

As I migrated to the capital for my studies, I went into many more phases – Randy Rhodes, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Al DiMeola, Dream Theater, Paul Gilbert and at one level George Lynch. By “phases” I mean I listen to nothing but those guys.

And I am happy to say that they are stuck with me till this very moment.

There are of course, the “non-rock” phases – Charlie Christian, Pat Metheny, Wes Montgomery, Tommy Emmanuel, Miles Davis, The Rippingtons…..and some that I can’t recall (Shawn Lane, Scott Henderson, etc).

Not forgetting, the Southern Rock phase!!

But dude, the most significant one would had probably happened last year after receiving that Cort Matthias Jabs signature model (that is one of the best guitar I have ever played..!!). I have no sufficient of metal chops to do that guitar justice (except for some limited neo-classical lines which is ever so present in my playing). I decided then to dig out an instructional DVD I bought long long time ago (without knowing who the hell the instructor is).

That DVD is Guitar World Super Shred by Jeff Loomis. I remember playing it only once, laugh my head off and put it aside for a very very long time.  I remember dismissing his playing as “fucking ridiculous”. It’s like watching Guthrie Govan or that guy…..Rusty fucking Colley… Makes Michael Angelo Batio look like Melvin.

So dude, I dug out the DVD and after playing it for one or two times, I put it aside again and it dawned to me that there are a lot for me to catch up if I want to do something metal. I had Endgame with me at that time and found new appreciation for that CD.

So shred phase officially started and 2 new guitar heroes were inducted into my hall of fame: Jeff Loomis and Chris Broderick.

For the next few months, I would spend all my time finding out shredders – all new and old school. While there is a Jeff Loomis and Francesco Artusato, there were also Vinnie Moore and Joe Stump.

And then, I found the origins of the two monster – Nevermore and Jag Panzer. The two bands scare the shit out of me.

And there is something rhythmically different about those music…. I then found out that the seventh string of a seven string axe made a whole lot of difference. The low B actually opens up many options in rhythm and its tonality.

Of course, the next sensible thing to do is to get a 7 string axe. You have been following my story so far, so at this moment, it’s rather impossible to invest in one. Nevertheless, I am not giving up. After all, my weapon of desire is not too far-out-of-reach. The Schecter Jeff Loomis NT or the C7 Custom will do the trick. So dude, just you wait. You will see a text one day asking for your account number and you know that’s when the world end.

Musically, this phase has done me a lot of good. Mind you, it’s getting stronger as days go by. I managed to force myself to learn sweep (at no avail, I still suck), incorporate multi strings tapping (I still suck, just spend USD36 yesterday on FretWrap) and enhancing my soloing vocabulary with diminished licks (which at times sounds like I am playing shred…Like the youtube video “Clapton Shreds” ….you know what I mean?!).

All done and said, I have gone back to doodling. It’s like going back to 1996 in the bedroom, practicising the same lick over and over again until it gets perfect; until my right and left hand become one. While doodling, many ideas were built. So I have now the habit of recording all the noises so I can string them into a proper melody when the day comes. Also, it helps to identify problem spot. Especially those with taps and sweeps (which I am fucking terrible, slightly better than Melvin though).

This phase was kept alive by re-visiting the fundamentals that build me and keeping close touch with the players who influence me.

And one important element that contributes so much to the “never-give-up” spirit is The Reckoning by Sudev Bangah. That is the motivation, that is the spirit and that is the real shit of someone who is committed to his heart. You are a true musician.

Rock on.

Djent, anyone?