Just a Little Update On My February Project...

It's only been a week but I'm GLAD (seriously) to report that there's been progress. 

I know that my last update was just I think 3 days ago but a lot has happened already. There's a new song done and another on the way. Since I wrote an update on the number of songs the other day, i'd like to talk about the lyrics...

As a songwriter, it's hard to sometimes come up with lyrics. Words to music for me is very personal especially in the sense that I really need inspiration to put something on paper. It may not be something 1st hand but it doesn't come anytime. It may be a little bit easier to write ANYTHING but sometimes, some pieces of music have that matching set of lyrics that have to go with it and that's where inspiration comes. 

For the february project, I've written down a few songs and here are the inspirations and ideas behind 'em

1. A song of someone waiting for "the one."

2. A song for our loved ones talking about reassuring that whatever happens, we shall do everything to give them the best

3. A quirky song about someone being cheated on by his/her partner

4. A love song inspired by my recent engagement

5. A song of Jesus' comfort for his children

So as you can see, there's pretty much half already. I'm on my way to finish the 2nd half of this project. Pray for me and I hope you all can support me in this. 

God bless :)

Cy

photo from champagnechic

I Want To Reach Schools with My Music

I've been thinking ever since that I really should be tapping into schools or students in general. I want to present and expose my music to them but seeing that I've already graduated yrs back, I really don't know at this point how to start. Any idea? I'm desperate... 

If you're willing to help out, then that's a HUGE PLUS!!! hehe Hook ups would be great, or if you have any suggestion on how to reach them, fire away. Let's have an idea bomb here :)

Thanking you in advance...

Cy

I Think This Is Getting Out Of Hand

I just saw this issue on a forum I'm part of and it literally is way out of hand...

http://techdirt.com/articles/20100120/1028177833.shtml

basically it's collection societies asking to be paid for music played in Prison... I think this is best put in tagalog... "Eh kung di ba naman sila tanga eh!" There!

I mean, it's not like those people chose to be in prison and went there for the music! Now collecting societies are going way beyond because of greed and an inappropriate understanding of where music "can" be paid for. 

It's sick actually...

By doing that, those very collection societies are harming the musicians they're supposed to be protecting by limiting the reach and potential market...

There's even another story about a beauty parlor being asked to pay!!! 

Ibang klase talaga...

Cy

photo via muffet

4 out of 10

Here's a little update on my 10 songs in February project. 

I pretty much have 4 strong songs already where I've done basic arrangement. I have 3 or 4 sketches recorded on my phone just so I won't forget how it sounds. 

The way I see it, I'm halfway there in terms of writing the songs but recording them is another story. I'll make it...

I plan to release the so-called single next week but ONLY for people who register and sign up for the mailing list. I will only make it available for silverlisters since they have priority for singles, studies and demo materials :) so head on over to silverfilter.com to sign up!

I'm pretty excited for this particular project.

Oh yeah, I've just been using Propellerhead's Record for this, my Fender acoustic guitar and my Fender Strats. Fun!!!

Cy

Directions...

Sometimes I feel I'm all over the place.

Just with doing electronic music, covering various styles can sometimes lead to being too spread out or unfocused. But I see it as a good thing rather than being stuck with just a style. I'm actually happy I'm able to broaden my sound.

But considering that I also love being in a band, playing blues and funk; then adding alternative rock on the side suddenly makes things interestingly complicated in a way... On top of that, it's not like I'm just playin guitar but also drumming for my other band.

I'm headed in so many directions sometimes I just want to be on one road...

Where will I go? Or better yet, where will I go next?

Cy

So Little Time... Seriously.

I aim to finish these this February...

- Album mastering and preparation for March 2 release of new silverfilter album entitled, Manila Electronica.

- Line up all tracks for mixing and mastering for Lovecore's debut album

- Finish my 10 songs in February personal project

Now here's the thing... on top of all that, work's getting in the way... now I guess this is where my previous entry comes in hahaha But seriously, work's gonna be eating a lot from February that I need your prayers to be able to finish all my goals for this month. I REALLY need to...

(deep breath...)

Cy

Is Piracy Killing Music?

I'm not here to discuss the effects of file sharing to the record industry but I wanted to talk about the core of it all... the musicians.

I've always read the statement from musicians saying something like, "please support my album and buy it/don't support pirated music so we can continue making music for the fans." I'm sure this is a common thing and I'm also sure every person who reads this entry have once in their lives heard or read this. 

In a way, I definitely understand where that's coming from. But before, I also shared an idea quite different. I also considered the thinking, that true musicians WILL make music regardless if they were selling millions or nothing at all. I thought that passion came first rather than sales. I, of course, still believe that. But somehow, I also realized the facts surrounding the main statement I mentioned earlier. 

Maybe it's not about selling music so musicians can continue making music but being able to let music sustain us so we can allot more time to make music and focus our talents on it. 

Think about it, a lot of musicians have to get a main job, which may be quite far from music just to be able to live by the day. If they worked 8 hours a day plus preparations and stuff, they hardly have time to focus making music. I know A LOT of musicians who either gave up music or set music aside because they simply don't have time anymore.

It's actually sad. 

Now, if we look at not supporting piracy or simply supporting these very musicians, I do believe we can expect something greater and better from their output because they can dedicate more time to make music. I'm trying to say this from a bloggers standpoint but as all of you may know, I am also one of them. 

I guess in a way, I'm just thankful to God that He has sustained me over the years by living off of music even if it's not exactly my own. I do still pray that my music will one day be enough to make a living out of but until that day comes, I will press on and write more music for everyone.

Cy

photo from toobydoo

Happy Happy Joy Joy

I just got back from getting all our drum tracks for the album. Now it's all sorted out and labelled ready for mixdown... And just when I thought things couldn't get any better, my friend and I were ableto sort out mu harddisc problem which I mentioned a while back. Turns out it's not my power supply. The board where the HD is connected in the casing got fried so the HD wasn't damaged at all! Now I'm waiting while I backup everything to my bigger HD.

Finally!!! God is so good!!!

Cy

10 Songs in February?

I just joined this campaign online called The RPM Challenge. 

Their challenge basically is to create 10 songs or 35 minutes of music in February. I was reluctant to join at first because of all the things that I have to finish this month but I paid the site a visit and was inspired by the write-up regarding their challenge...

They were saying it's not about making THE album but simply, AN album. It's a no excuses approach to set a goal, make and record music; and hand it in by March 1.

Let's see where this goes.

Who knows, this might end up as a silverlisters exclusive in the end. This'll be fun :)

Cy

On Band Producer Mode Today...

spent the day at a friend's home studio rendering and editing the drum tracks for the album of my funk-rock band, Lovecore. From the 14 songs, we're down to 2. It's not like we're actually done with the album but here's a short explanation...

We recorded in a Protools equipped studio and was given protools files. Unfortunately, the studio where we recorded our drums closed down so we didn't have time to actually render it to be able to import it into any DAW. We were left to find someone with Protools, someone with time, and someone willing to be fed instead of paid. Praise God my friend from gradeschool offered to help!

So we spent the whole night and even if I was sleepy at times just waiting there, the excitement of finally having it in my hard drive kept me awake. 

Once we finish later, it's just a matter of importing it into my computer and lining up everything.

It's getting close to completion I can actually taste the album...

pray for us :)

God bless

Cy