Mixing Room

Anytime Soon?>

2011-04-16T21:40:00.001+08:00

Maybe i will get around to writing on this blog... anytime soon? oh well...

January 2011

2011-01-02T13:12:00.003+08:00

Happy New Year! New year... new beginnings as the end of happy and not to happy things in your life happens for a somewhat inexplicable reason.
I don't like to dwell on things that make me sad... enough to say that i am sad and will be for a longer time that i would want to be. I need to focus ! on what i am not sure of right now.
I want to be happy ... i know everyone wants to be.
I'm trying to diet and exercise and to try to live a healthier lifestyle because now i do want to be around a little bit more.
Da is scheduled to leave for New Zealand in Feb. JR left August last year to do a year long gig in Dubai. I will be alone starting in the second week of Feb for a couple of months. What do i do?
I honestly don't know yet at this point in time ... I just have to enjoy my bonding moments with my only daughter. :(

New>>???

2010-09-15T19:01:00.002+08:00

Nope not new> but old!
me... i'm old and tired and not doing as much as i would want to.
i guess it's a funny way of slowing things down for me.
not much happening on the music scene right now.
not much happening on my personal life... and my virtually non-existent lovelife?
in the words of jaymsterbean... "steady lang ako brod"

hopefully i will have something nice to say about something ... sometime...
if not, then just hang on.

hang on... to what?

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

2010-05-17T20:21:00.002+08:00

It's 2010... yey?
new president ? new people in government... will it change things... i hope so.
I haven't touched this blog in almost a year, I've been occupied. I've been busy... what else?
I don't know what to do now. I don't have an excuse for not blogging... just that these endless ramblings of mine... aren't really helping me at all.
I have given up on a lot of things th0ough.
NO more Smoking...
NO drinking alcohol
NO eating rice
NO more pork dishes....

Nothing really to be happy about.
i seriously need to pick up my groove.
I HATE this...!!! whatever it is... I HATE IT!

Away>?

2009-07-04T10:34:00.002+08:00

Woke up this morning and realized that i do have a blog... somewhere... and why am i not blogging?
It's not because of lack of anything interesting in my life. It's maybe because i don't know where my life is going at all.
I need to focus my time and energy. On what? i don't exactly know right now.
Maybe in a couple of days i would come up with a plan. That's what i need right now... A Plan!
since my last post... hmmm
I am now working as freelance recording engineer, yep, i'm no longer with Mixsonic.
I've been doing a lot of live guitar work ... notable of which was guitar player for Charice at her SMX concert.
Shorty, bless her, has passed on.
Now that's truly sad.
:-(

Nothing

2009-04-10T01:21:00.003+08:00

Nothing... that's what i feel right now... comfortably numb
just one of those days i guess when i feel like ... poop?
hahaha
its good friday april 2009
maybe i'm just getting into the spirit of the season.
i'm surely be spending time alone today since the kids are going out.
I guess it's just me with the gang... shorty, maddox and mishka
maybe now is a good time to teach them obedience... or at least try to teach my brood.
why beat around the bush...????
i don't feel happy today... haven't been for quite a while.
oh well , what's down should come up again, i just hope it's sooner than it should.
now that's me rambling

Dorian Lee Maddox

2009-02-03T00:56:00.002+08:00

Meet Dorian Lee Maddox... my new baby boy... Super Playfull

Hyper active Bichon Frise pup

Our house has been blessed with the addition of Maddox and Mishka whose pics i have to upload yet.

More of my babies pics to come soon...
hehehe
:-D

More Supersession Pics

2009-01-04T00:15:00.001+08:00

LOVE my IBANEZ!

2008-12-15T00:34:00.001+08:00

Got this pic off the web, pic taken from the RJ supersessions... whoever took the pic...
Thanks
I hardly get to have my pic taken with a guitar
nowadays... :-)

SUPERSESSION

2008-11-01T23:13:00.004+08:00

I was asked to play guitars for RJ Jacinto's Supersession concert held last Oct 25 at the A venue in Makati which was a stones throw away from my old workplace.
Apparently they wanted me to play guitars on a song i recorded in the nineties... It's a song done by one of my mentors... Sampaguita on a song called " Nosi Balasi ". I actually recorded and mixed that song and as an added bonus i got to play guitars on it as well.
It was after all a portion dedicated to Sampaguita in celebration of the 45th anniversary of DZRJ.
I also learned that two of my old co workers had moved on... namely Howlin Dave and Emil Quinto aka as Charlie Brown. Old rockers don't really die they just sort of fade away.
It was quite a nostalgic night since Pepe Smith was there as well as Chikoy Pura of the Jerks... Joey Puyat and Johnny Alegre whom i really admire as guitar players. The youngbloods were also there Cowboy Santos who happens to be Sampaguitas son was there and we got to play together on the Sampaguita set. Daniel Crisologo was there, another amazing guitar player who reminds me of Joe Satriani. Tirso Ripoll, Kakoy Legaspi were some of the younger guitar players there.... Bassists like Louie Talan and Dondi Ledesma and Simon Tan were there... drummers Zach Lucero and Wendell of Pupil was there. It really was a fun evening, more so for me since i hardly go out to do live work. I'm always in the studio either recording or doing arrangements for artists on their respective albums. I have gone a long way since the time i was starting out as a recording engineer on RJ's studios in Makati. I never did dream about being famous since all i wanted was to be able to work on songs that will be remembered long after i am gone. I've done quite a few really... but i still think i can do a couple of songs more... before i too join my other rocker friends in that great rock concert in Heaven. I'll be posting more pics from the concert on my next post since most of the pics were taken with someone else's cam. Really hard to take pictures when you're on stage. I hear the show is going to be shown on Jack Tv on cable. Hope someone tapes it and post it on youtube... hahaha

It's a wonderful life

2008-09-27T18:30:00.002+08:00

The last quarter of the year is at hand and i'm almost done with my recording chores...
After the Gary V tribute album... i'm now in the middle of production for "Pokwang"! Yes, the hilarious co host of noontime show Wow Wow Wii. It's an easy album to do since all we need to do is be funny, and with Pokwang around the laughter never ends. I also did an arrangement for the Streetboys. Yes, they've decided to sing and dance.
I'm also doing an arrangement for the theme song of the upcoming Vhong Navarro and Toni Gonzaga movie. I also have arrangements for the PDA album ... hehe at the rate i'm going i might actually be nominated for best arrangements for next years Awit Awards. Now that's hilarious...
Oh and the really cool thing ...
I've been asked to play guitars for the anniversary of Pinoy Rock... sponsored by RJ Jacinto.
Yes i did go back to the building i used to work in when i was just started out recording but i couldn't bring myself to actually going up and seeing the studio and the premises i used to haunt.
Don't ask me why though.
I will be playing and i'm having rehearsal sometime next week
More about that when i do get the time to sit down and blog
:-)

Late Breakers!

2008-07-28T00:22:00.003+08:00

Haven't had the time to visit these past few weeks... or has it been months?
busy as always doing music for other people the good news is that i am again nominated for this years AWIT awards. I'm nominated for best engineered recording of the song " A little too perfect " for Sam Milby. I think i'm nominated in two other categories as producer. So for anybody who cares... pray i win. *wink*
Let's see what have i been doing lately? Oh i am currently working on the Gary V tribute album for Star Records featuring 25 songs by GV sung by different artists. I do get to do arrangements this time on this album since all my album experience with Gars was strictly recording and mixing... this time i get to arrange for Rachelle Ann Go singing " Paano " and for Randy Santiago's version of " Heto na Naman " arranged for an Emo type song. I also get to play guitar and work on the Jamie Rivera song.. " Letting Go " which is one of my fave GV songs. Not that i can relate or anything. :-)
Come to think of it.. i am kinda busy, I also arranged the new Judy Ann teleserye theme song which is a remake of the Rivermaya song " Himala "
And my arrangement of the ABS station id " Bagong Simula " is still airing occasionally.
I'm also doing arrangements for the new Pokwang album.
And on a side note my dear friend Tikya or Tess Santos aka Sampaguita gave me a surprise call! Seems like she asked around for my number and sent me a text message asking if it is really my number. She signed her name Sam which made me think of Sam Milby... but why would he be calling me when we aren't doing anything? Hmmm
I haven't worked with Sampaguita for a long time. Since i recorded the " Nosi Balasi " song and an obscure song which i love entitled " Kumapit ka Lang ".
I have always been a big fan and when the time came for me to actually play in a Sampaguita song came my way i did not hesitate to do so.
Seems like she wants to do another album which could probably be her last.
It would be nice to do one more album for the legendary Sampaguita... maybe i could do more guitar parts. Now that would be fun!!!

:-)

Charice Pic1

2008-06-10T19:20:00.002+08:00

with Charice Pempengco... who as far as i know is the first filipina singer to guest in Oprah's show.
:-)

Charice Pic2

2008-06-10T19:16:00.002+08:00

Picture of me and Charice Pempengco
taken during one of her vocal sessions for her self titled album.

Charice Album

2008-06-09T22:54:00.004+08:00

OK... now my life is back to being semi normal after a series of album productions starting off with sweet Charice Pempengco's self titled album.
Now i feel i can blog about this album since it is out on the market and i can look back and shed some useful info on the production of this album.
first off cut number one:
And i am telling you ... originally heard on the movie adaptation of "Dreamgirls" arranged by Arnold Buena a talented and amazing arranger who uses high quality samples on his arrangement none of the orchestral instruments were done live but if you listen closely enough you probably won't notice since the MIDI arrangement and samples are simply fantastic. Charice didn't sing the way Jennifer Hudson did. She wanted to do it her way which Jon and I happily agreed. At least she doesn't just want to cover the song but to sing it in a style of her own.
cut number two:
It can only get better
is again a song orignally done by Amy Diamond. Now this song i believe can't be sung in any other way since it is about juvenile love. It's a teenage girl singing about how after all the pains you encounter things will definitely get better. Hmmm now isn't that a song we can all relate to?
This song I arranged but i did change it a little bit since the original arrangement didn't have a band feel to it. No drums and no string parts, this i put in myself to make the song more lifting and heavier towards the middle and end part. The guitars were all done live by again... Me
:-)
i just love playing guitars specially on an album which features a very competent singer.
if you listen closely to this song you'll hear an original guitar line that i felt complements the particular section it was in.
cut number three:
I will always love you... originally written and performed by Dolly Parton if i'm not mistaken but we all remember Whitney Houston's famous rendition of this song.
Charice practically grew up singing Whitney songs... so this one is not so much of a difficult song for her and she sings it in it's original key. I've seen whitney videos on youtube of her singing this song a key lower. Charice does justice on this song since she must've been singing it since she was four years old. hahaha
This version was arranged by my good friend Paulo Zarate who now has his own studio aptly called Studio Z!
guitars by moi... this song originally had a saxophone solo in the middle part but now for this album jon wanted a guitar solo so ... i used my fender strat for this song plugged straight to Protools with an amp simulator plugin.
cut number four:
Born to love you forever
now this song is a swedish song originally included on an album she recorded in Sweden.
the original arrangement was for the swedish market which i believe likes songs with heavy synth textures and drum loops.
The arrangement for this song is once again done by.... guess? well, me of course.
Jon decided as producer that he wanted me to give this song a band feel to it of which i was only too happy to oblige.
Charice did all the vocals for this song... which called for quite a number of backup vocals as well snd Jon decided to let Charice sing her backup parts as well so that the texture and stable vocal timing are retained.
cut number five:
I have nothing
This song posed quite a challenge since the original arrangement was done by David Foster.
And Leona Lewis has done this song as well. Jon wanted to keep the original Foster arrangement since we both felt that this was a very good arrangement for this song and it would not seem right to change it at all ... since this album was intended to be used by young hopeful singers as well hence the inclusion of minus one versions of all the songs in the album.
Of course the Foster version featured human musicians but Philippine production budget would not allow for a full orchestra for just one song, well unless you'll only sell one song on the CD.
Plus the logistics for doing such a thing would be ridiculous considering the amount of time we were told to come up with this album. This album was started after her "Ellen" performance and before her "Oprah" guesting. In the middle of production we had to take a short break because she had to go to do the Paul O'grady show in London. Charice had a hectic schedule.
I personally like the arrangement and i think it holds it own and it serves it's purpose.
One very notable incident was that i arranged the song almost sync'd to the original and i purposely did not put in a click track or metronome count on the breaks of this song.
Charice sang it straight through proving that she knows this song by heart and did not need a count to keep her in time. Now that's something i rarely see in a singer.
:-)
cut number six:
Mama
originally done by Smokey Mountain
Star Records wanted to include this song since they felt Charice could do justice to this song. It was kind of funny though since the lyrics include the lines "mama is a maid in London"
which Mrs. Pempengco obviously isn't. We had a blast doing this song which was arranged by Gino "Blooze" Cruz.
another excellent musical arranger and keyboard player.
Charice wasn't really familiar with this song so it took a little bit longer to sing than when she sings a song she knows by heart.

All recodings was done at Mixsonic Recording studios
Recorded by Arnold Jallores and Jonathan Manalo
Produced by Jonathan Manalo for Star Records Inc.

the original mix had vocals sitting on the mix but Star Records wanted more vocals upfront since after all it was a vocal album.

mixed and mastered by
Arnold Jallores

2008-05-06T10:47:00.001+08:00

LIFE SUCKS RIGHT NOW

i am currently swamped with work and emotional distress right now... will be back blogging soon as i get over this current slump. Yeah! story of my life... too many ups and downs? oh mostly it's about the down side. *sigh*
:-(

Back again

2008-02-22T12:02:00.003+08:00

I've been away from blogging for since September of 2007 because of an unfortunate event, my nest door neighbors house burned down and in the process burned the second floor of my house as well. Whatever it was that wasn't burned by the fire got water damaged and all in all left me in a state of helplessness.
I've seen fires breaking out on TV and in the papers but not till you experience it first hand does it give you the sense of horror that it brings. Imagine all the stuff you love and treasured gone in an instant.
Funny thing was, I had the house redone soon after... In about a month and a half i had my house back again. This time i had all the repairs i wanted to do for the longest time... done.
My children and I lost quite a lot of things... most of which can be replaced except for some of the old pictures of my children. I did get to learn a lot about rebuilding a house. I just thought of the whole experience as a fresh new start.
That whole episode took me quite a while to get over with, but like failed relationships one just needs to move on. Not that moving on is an expertise of mine.
I lost a '62 Fender Stratocaster during the fire... my very first US made guitar which i took apart and kept in an old suitcase because i wanted to keep it instead of actually using it since i do have a nice collection of guitars that i have been using through the years. A day before the fire i had just bought another US made Fender Stratocaster which looked exactly like my old one.... Black with white pickguards and rosewood fingerboard. I was really happy i found a guitar that looked like my old one. Now the chances of that happening is really like winning the lotto! (same odds?)
I got my first strat when i was about 18 about the same time my son was born, so one can just imagine the memories associated with that guitar. I was playing around with my new strat before the day of the fire and put it at the foot of my bed. After i went up the stairs to view the damage done by the fire i was really overwhelmed by the fact that the only thing left untouched in the room was my newly acquired Fender Strat! The old one had been damaged by the fire but the new one was standing proudly at the corner of the room, at the end of my damaged bed.
Now is that a sign or what?
Perhaps it's a sign that i need to make new memories and to let go of old frustrations and disappointments.
It's a sign to move on.
A chance to start again.

:-)
more to come...

2007-12-25T13:44:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas to all !!!

So many things happened this last quarter of the year 2007... that kept me quite busy and left me no time to blog. (that's a bad thing i know!)
But i might blog about it someday or if ever i do get the time.
Not really sure it this might be my last christmas so.....
let me greet everyone a very merry christmas.
To people who do actually love and care about me and things that happen in my life, I love you !

2007-10-04T01:28:00.001+08:00

OK... here's a pic of me and ZSA ZSA
woohooo
i've always been a fan of Zsazing
and it's always a thrill having her in the studio. She recorded an excellent rearrangement of "The way you look tonight" for the Judy Ann tribute album... great arrangement by Arnold Buena, and of course, fantastic singing by the one and only ZSA ZSA
:-)

Meet Misty

2007-09-11T00:05:00.000+08:00

Meet my other girl!!! Meet MISTY
she is i think a bichon frise... a french dog breed cousin to a poodle
i'm not really sure bout being cousins with a poodle but she recently got a haircut and she now looks like a poodle ... only smaller.
and she has hypoallergenic hair
maybe i should post pics of Shorty as well ... hmmm if i can get her to stay still for a picture.

Mixing Room

2007-09-10T23:55:00.000+08:00

can't seem to crosspost from my blog to my multiply... so just check out
http://mixingroom.blogspot.com/
for recent blog posts... like i do it regularly... hehehe or maybe i should but i'm the kinda guy who would just blog online if i have the time and energy.
sort or like a lazy busy bee? oxymoronic statemet?

and i cannot for the life of me understand why i cannot seem to upload pics on multiply as well
now that's a bummer

2007-09-05T03:18:00.001+08:00

Piolo Album UPDATE

I got the news just this evening that the new Piolo Album ... "Timeless" has just reached the triple platinum mark.
so congratulations Piolo Pascual on a very successful album. I had fun doing this album and hope to see you again on the next album.
Just finished the Aiza Seguerra album now called... "Songs from Ysabella"
and am presently working on the new Sam Milby album yet untitled but features a couple of songs that Sam Milby wrote.
And Sam is even working on lyrics for a tagalog song... that should be a cool song to do.
Oh and i might have another guitar coming on the way... another instrument, which Dada say she might actually Bop me on the head with.
Well one can never have too many guitars i always say.

hehehe

2007-09-05T03:12:00.001+08:00

Misty and DADA
Now just don't ask me who is the prettier one?
hehehe
Love my girls... oops, my other girl Shorty isn't in the pic because shes busy playing outside the house.
:-)

2007-09-05T03:04:00.001+08:00

PRESENTING MISTY

Here's a cute photo of Misty... don't exactly know her breed. All I know from what Dada told me is that it's a french breed somewhat related to a Poodle but with hypoallergenic hair.
Misty is a cute little she dog... i guess that qualifies her as a bitch! Hehehe
but, she is one sweet little girl.
Unfortunately she's been hanging around too much with our other dog Shorty. She's picking up some of Shorty's weird habits... one of which is sleeping on her back and sitting beside the dinner table waiting for treats. But it is nice to be with my girls Misty and Shorty after a long recording session in the studios. At least these girls won't disappoint.
:-)

2007-08-10T03:15:00.002+08:00

Rest Day

I spoke to PJ this afternoon and he told me he actually found my blog! So i'd just like to say HI to Piolo Pascual. We're still mixing your album bro... and it's going to sound really great.
I'll be blogging about his songs in my next posts.

After this long stretch of staying up late... mostly because of work, i decided on just staying home yesterday and working on a couple of reggae songs for a compilation album for Mylene of MxN productions. It's one of those things i do just so i get to practice my MIDI programming and arrangement skills, doesn't really pay much but it's always fun to do.
Except that my desktop PC's motherboard recently gave out and since i did not want to spend heavily on a PC that i might actually replace soon, i just went out to buy an old motherboard to replace my broken one.

hmmmph

2007-08-08T04:49:00.000+08:00

One Down?

Today or yesterday was the last vocal recording day for Piolo's new album. Technically now work gets harder since i have to take care of mixing all the musical elements to make it into the album.
I've always liked PJ or more popularly known as Piolo Pascual. I did his first two albums and now on his fifth album, Jon Manalo is producing.
Jon actually wrote a couple of good songs on this album... which will probably end up as a movie theme song or a possible single for airplay. I was fortunate enough to be asked to arrange two songs.
I did a re-arrangement of the song "Dahil Ikaw". Written by Marlone Silva and recorded by True Faith as a theme song for one of PJ's earlier soaps on ABS. What is unknown is that i actually did arrangement for that song for Michael Cruz. In fact, True Faith actually played my piano intro.
:-)
My re-arrangement this time is more guitar based and since Jon wanted this arrangement to sound like a band... i was only too happy to oblige.
As usual i played all the instruments including live Bass Guitars and Acoustic guitars.
Alexie Corbilla did the backup vocals... with vocal arrangement by Jon Manalo himself.

My other arrangement is for a Willy Wilcox song... which features PJ and Toni Gonzaga on vocals. A lovely duet.
I am kinda proud of my piano playing on this song... hehehe not bad for a guitar player.
:-)
I've started to use high resolution samples for my drums on both this songs and i must say that these are the best sounding drums i have used.
The only drawback is that i think i need to upgrade soon to a faster PC. I think i just want to justify my desire to get one of them Dual Core PC's. Wooohoooo!!!
OH and i am happy to say that i regularly hear Aiza Seguerra's new song on the radio, entitled "Para sa yo" written again by Jonathan Manalo and features Aiza on vocals and guitars and myself on second guitar. One of the rare times you get to hear me on guitars without drums and the rest of the instruments. Since this is actually an acoustic rendition. The full song would be on her next album which we are currently working on. Sam Milby is also currently recording his next album and i will probably blog about that as well.

All this work is making me BIG again.
hehhee as if i wasn't big enough as it is

2007-07-28T02:56:00.000+08:00

SELECTIVE MEMORIES?

As i get older but not necessarily wiser... i tend to look back at certain events in my life.
Does one only remember the good memories or the good things that have happened in their lives.
My opinion is that everything every event has happened for a reason. Like a piece in a massive puzzle every little thing is a part of the whole.
There are a lot of things i have done in my past that I do regret, wishing that things did not happen the way they did. As i am sure everyone has skeletons in their closets as well. Of course, there are things that i am thankful for.
Then again i realized, though a little bit in my life, that things will never work out the way you want them too. One just has to learn to swing with the punches, to roll with whatever that comes your way, to simply survive.
I've just had a hard day today... a long day.
Perhaps that is the reason for the tone of this blog post.
As i lie down and go to sleep
Tomorrow will be another day
Another piece unveils again.

2007-07-26T02:53:00.001+08:00

GROOVE BABY!!!

Aiza Seguerra's full length album for Star Records... Aside from my recording and mixing chores.
I do play guitars on this album which is turning out to be an album with participation from the country's premiere guitar players... like Cesar Aguas and Rick Mercado... arrangements from Jun Tamayo who himself is a fantastic player. Four of Aiza's songs are being produced by Mike Villegas, yet another talented guitar player and songwriter. Oh, i am producing a couple of her songs as well... Jonathan Manalo has been kind enough to trust me on some of her songs.
You can hear my guitar work on a song written by Jon entitled "Para sa yo"
what makes this song unique is that it has two versions... the full version was arranged by my good friend and bandmate Paulo Zarate of Studio Z Productions.
and another version featuring Aiza on vocals and guitars...
yep Aiza actually agreed to play guitars on this song, something which she rarely does on her albums, which strikes me as kind of odd since Aiza is a VERY GOOD guitar player.
this acoustic rendition features Aiza and myself on guitars.
Both of us use Taylor Acoustic Guitars but Aiza's Taylor is a " to die for " model
hehehe
I'll take pics as soon as i remember to do so
I guess age has dulled my memory in some ways.
errrr... excuses, excuses
Har Har
:-)

2007-07-16T00:06:00.000+08:00

Uneventful day?

Well, woke up really early since Gina wanted to have a day off. Gina has been with us for a year now and she does take day offs only very rarely so i said it would be fine since i had errands to do in the morning. I went to the Petron Station on C5 to have an oil change and spark plugs changed on the Pajero. Found out though that the ac belt needed to be replaced but being a sunday, there were not a lot of car parts stores available in Pasig. I just hope the belt holds till i get it changed. Got home and worked on a couple of kiddie songs for Mylene, who is producing an album of kiddie songs. I do like kiddie songs... i like doing them knowing that somehow somewhere a kid will be singing to a song i did. Kinda gives one a nice feeling.
Monday will be anothere hectic day, continuing with the Piolo album. Work needs to be done on a church band's album as well. Aiza's album will soon be underway so i will get kinda busy in the days to come.
Bliss is on hold since Lone, our lead singer is still in Singapore for a series of shows for an Opera.
Drats!!!
still didn't get to see Transformers the movie.
oh well might as well see it on DVD when it comes out.
:-)

2007-06-30T01:20:00.001+08:00

WHAT NOW?

so... haven't been blogging much since i got back from trip simply because i don't quite feel like doing so.
Not doing much either... no projects coming in except a couple of bands doing original music.
No new arrangements either... not quite bring myself to the same pace and frame of mind i had before my trip. Haven't been picking up the guitar as well.
I don't know what's happening to me.
I guess i haven't gotten my GROOVE back.
now, this is new... i usually am back to my jolly self after a couple of days of not doing anything.
I hope i do get my GROOVE back... somehow... someway... SOON i hope!
:-(

2007-05-30T03:08:00.000+08:00

Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is took,
And each doth good turns now unto the other:
When that mine eye is famish'd for a look,
Or heart in love with sighs himself doth smother,
With my love's picture then my eye doth feast
And to the painted banquet bids my heart;
Another time mine eye is my heart's guest
And in his thoughts of love doth share a part:
So, either by thy picture or my love,
Thyself away art resent still with me;
For thou not farther than my thoughts canst move,
And I am still with them and they with thee;
Or, if they sleep, thy picture in my sight
Awakes my heart to heart's and eye's delight.

sonnet 42... William Shakespeare

2007-05-27T03:10:00.000+08:00

BLISS LIVE

Bliss... just played it's first gig today. We were at the Robinson Mall on Pioneer St. for two songs as promo tour for the Rounin album of which one of our songs " Tanging Ikaw " is included. There weren't much people around but then again i don't really look at the audience when i play since i just kinda like to concentrate on my playing.
We then went to the HK mall in Macapagal Ave. for another event this time Colt 45 was part of the event for Rounin... so i guess Bamboo and the other famous bands will be playing. We did get to se Marc and the guys of Shamrock who were kinda surprised to see us actually play live.
:-)
The photo was taken with just a cellphone cam... with my new N70 Music Edition phone, sorta like a nokia phone with a music player combined.
Here's a cool pic of me wearing a purple shirt with purple lights... Dang! I should have used my purple Ibanez for this pic.

2007-05-27T03:01:00.001+08:00

Mxrr on an Ibanez guitar!!!

2007-05-27T02:59:00.001+08:00

here's a pic of me during the Bliss live performance in Sun HK mall for the Rounin album promo tour.

2007-05-14T21:47:00.000+08:00

I AM BACKKKKK!!!

Oh Man!!! i'm back after a wonderful time in ... oh just out of the country. What was fantastic was who i spent my days with. I spent a month with the kindest and funniest people on this planet!
For a whole month, i lived in what is most probably the best place i have ever been to, and i've been to a lot of places. :-)
Just to let people know that i wasn't able to blog because i was away and i couldn't be bothered blogging.
I will talk about it soon though, i just don't want to talk about it as i am still enjoying the past unforgettable month.
Love it down south... way down hehe
:-)

2007-04-06T00:07:00.000+08:00

BLISS

Happiness is bliss!!!

Finally... my new band aptly called Bliss... is coming out! I've been toying with the idea of having my final band, I stopped playing in a band several years back. In 1984, which was the year i started working in a recording studio instead. Having to stop playing guitar professionally was both a painfully sad experience for me. I had to stop because I've been saddled with the responsibility of having two beautiful young kids. Now that i can afford to... i chose to form a new band.

Bliss is a band of brothers from different mothers.

Led by Marlone Silva on lead vocals and songwriting duties... accomplished recording engineer and songwriter. I met him after his stint with the UST singers which brought him to several tours worldwide.

Alexie Corbilla... on bass guitars, i used to work with his brother Clyde who has moved on to greener pastures or maybe because he is in Canada, white pastures would be a better description. Alexie is currently recording engineer for Studio Z, which happens to be owned by

Paulo Zarate... songwriter, producer, brilliant arranger and now amazing keyboard player for Bliss. He goes onstage armed with a Macbook Pro.

As for our drummer... current drummer is Bennii Obana, who has just started working and might soon be unavailable. He already has 2 other bands, but he did play on our recordings and i hope he can continue to be with this band as it progresses.

Me, i'm just the guitar player
:-)

2007-03-14T02:56:00.000+08:00

SCARY MOMENT

Right after lunch time... while i was contemplating on what time i should go to the studio. I heard my next door neighbor trying to pack their belongings in their vehicle ... and i just thought maybe they were rushing off to a picnic or something. Then the guy whose house is in front of mine said that they should not panic made me think ... Panic!!! why the heck would he say something like that >? so off i went outside to see what the fuzz was all about. I saw black smoke coming out somewhere over the back of the third house from mine. Oh my!!! there was a fire going on... and i was without a shirt looking out my garage.
Quick thinking demanded that i take out my cars so that the firetrucks when they arrive can freely go inside our street. So i brought out both cars outside the gates. Next, came my laptops and my guitars. I saw my son bringing out his clothes, his brand new shoes still in the shopping bag... and Shorty.. he was carrying shorty out of our house. My daughter... just brought out her papers. Her licenses and papers she needed to go to the US. Gina the househelp was running back and forth trying to find something else to take out of the house. To her credit she did not waste time on clothes or the ref or the washing machine... she brought out the Playstation and the DVD players... hehehe
it seemed strange at the time but it did make sense.. at least if our house did burn down.. we would have something to entertain us while we gather our wits and decide what to do.
I have never been to a fire that close... but that was really scary since it was just at the back of my house... luckily we live near the fire station so the fire was immediately put out by the quickness of the firemen that responded. Thank GOD!
So people believe me... please please do not leave your house with anything plugged. Apparently the cause of the fire was electrical and nature. I don't know whether to pity the poor owners of the house which the fire started.., or to curse them to high heavens for being soooooooo stupid!!!
I am thankful that no harm happened.
It was a stressfull day though.
Hate FIRE
fire to cook OK to warm you up on a cold night OK
to burn your house... NOT OK
:-(

2007-02-16T03:19:00.000+08:00

POST VALENTINE BLUES

or should it be red?
i never was big on valentines day maybe because i simply didn't have anyone around to celebrate it with... well. except for my kids of course. I am truly looking forward to spending the actual day with someone dear. Maybe someday that wish might actually come true.

In the meantime... work continues.
We're working on an album for Chad of Pinoy Dream Academy
I am doing arrangements and guitar work plus co- producer on this album.
I will be describing the songs and production notes on future blog posts.
I just heard that i'm doing live sound work tomorrow for a couple of bands at the UP sunken garden.
I just hope i can remember to take pictures.
hehe

:-)

2007-02-14T02:50:00.000+08:00

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

Is it valentines day again>? my! how time flies...
January has been such a hectic month for me and my kids... First off the HongKong trip with my daughter. Then after she aced her NCLEX exams... She and her brother decided that it would be an excuse to actually have a party... So we had one... with about a hundred guests! Which made me decide not to host another party anytime in the future. It's not so fun being host, just being the guest at a party is way better! believe me.
My son has a new band named FREEDOM of which he does lead vocals... and this band is actually a band to watch out, if they stay long enough to actually make it big. I hope they do though since these guys are a talented bunch of musicians.
I now own three cars... since i got dada her own vehicle so she can practice and learn how to drive.
Got her one with an automatic transmission so i hope she could get through this driving phase without having an accident of sorts.
But since we only have a two car garage... i might dispose the Red Sentra which has been with me since 99.
Everyone has been telling me to get rid of it a long time ago... but it still drives well and i had it repainted and restored to its stock options. I just can't seem to part with it.
Now that there's another car maybe it's time i gave it up.
On a sad note... it will be my mom's first anniversary of her passing .
after all this excitement and routine and mundane things i do on this earth
I miss my mom

drats!

2007-01-22T02:10:00.000+08:00

Ooops been really busy since the start of the new year... but I did get to go to HongKong once again. This time to accompany my daughter dada who did get her NCLEX exam in HK .. Oh btw she passed the exam.
It was really cold in HK, apparently it's their winter time. No snow but really cold... people were walking around in winter clothes and there i was wearing a shirt like it's summertime. Hey i come from the Philippines! no such thing as winter for us.
Here's a picture of me on Kowloon Island on the
other side of the Star Ferry.

2007-01-22T02:01:00.000+08:00

Welcome to Disneyland HK

while in HK why not go out to Disneyland? pay a visit to mickey and the gang!

2007-01-22T01:55:00.000+08:00

Finally, a picture with Mickey, Dada and Minnie

i have always wanted a picture with mickey mouse... since i was a little boy... good thing Disney had the good sense of opening Disneyland in HK... this is one of those pics that makes me smile everytime i see it.

2007-01-22T01:51:00.000+08:00

To INFINITY and where else?

2006-12-25T22:00:00.000+08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS '06

wishing all a very merry christmas and may all your wishes come true.

another year, another christmas
i am quite thankfull i get to spend another christmas... i hope i could still be blogging in the next ... say ten to twenty years after this post. :-)

anyways if i don't get to do that... i would like to thank all of you who have been a part of my life... all those that i've met
all those who have loved me
and specially...

*sigh*

2006-12-13T01:49:00.000+08:00

LULL

Doing nothing much lately after the Sheryn R album and the PDA albums... but dang! I got sick with the flu... bummer... must be because of the weather. The sure thing coming is that Soc V... is coming home to do a couple of songs starting on the 18th. I did get to reformat my laptop and my desktop one after the other. Had my purple Ibanez set up ... and a lot of other things. Since i have been sick i have not been going to gym lately and since this is the season of good food. OH MY! i am doomed to gain weight again. Hate that!
We did get to write another song for my band... no lyrics yet just an arrangement i came up with several years ago.
will keep you posted on that one... actually i am counting the days... kinda expecting something really cool to happen this christmas season...
Been surfing the net for stuff... mostly guitar gears
Hey I am a guitar slut!
hahaha
Maybe i can check out a few stores ... but i might not be gift giving individual this season... too many expenses coming soon and bills to pay.
like everyone else i guess.
I miss somebody.
super duper miss somebody
:-(

2006-11-27T01:27:00.000+08:00

BIRTHDAYS

First off... Happy Birthday to Jonathan Manalo who being true to himself decided not to treat anyone since he was going to several parties of people celebrating their birthdays as well on this day! Well Jon we could always celebrate your birthday any day this coming week so, wala ka pa ring lusot! wehehe
Happy Birthday as well to the boy and girl of Aries ( Gloc 9 ) and Thea, since they have twins they have double birthday celeb.
Happy Birthday as well to Dex of Reddmonn Productions... he was a member of the last reunion of the group Jeremiah, he had his celebration in Musicmatch... a KTV located in Timog Ave. That was fun since Jon kept on singing... Kinda cool watching him sing his own songs on videoke and getting low scores everytime he sang it. Also saw OJ Mariano who just got back from a singing stint abroad looking dapper and fit.
Lastly Happy Birthday to Sheryn Regis who celebrated her birthday at Cabalen along West Ave.
I did go to her party... small celebration of abut 50 people... mostly family and well wishing fans.
Erik Santos was there... Jed Madela... and Rachelle Ann Go plus i did see Johann Escanan, who wsa in Sheryns batch of the Star in a million competition. Star Records people were there headed by Annabs Regalado and a lot of people i don't really know that well but i do see them once in a while because of work.
I didn't stay that long... since i am a bit antisocial, just a bit... hehe crowds of people make me nervous and uneasy. I probably will give a review or a blow by blow account of how we made the Sheryn Jukebox album as soon as i get a complimentary copy... but since Jon gives me a copy like six months after the album is released i might actually have to go out and get one myself. "Ang Pagibig kong Ito" is the current single for Sheryn Regis ... and i hear is doing well on the radio, i have yet to see the video though. I've just been informed that "Maria Flordeluna" will have a video shoot as well. That theme song started out as a band arrangement type of song but somewhere along the way the revision called for a more orchestral type of arrangement so i had to revise till they were happy with it.
Next this week is a rearrangemet of a Rey Valera song for another theme song of an upcoming soap starring Piolo P
more of that next post
I am kinda tired... i guess i'm not used to socializing on a weekend... or maybe just i don't socialize at all.
I get enough of that at work
wooohooooo

2006-11-25T03:22:00.000+08:00

NO REST FOR THE WICKED

my blog post title sounds good enough to be made into a song... heck maybe BLISS could actually make one...
Taking a break from the Sheryn album and just hanging out ... maybe i could go to gym again... i haven't been going regularly lately since i'm really quite busy. Christmas is just around the corner again!!! Dada, my daughter actually went out to get us a christmas tree ... after i said that i didn't want a tree this year since i am trying to save up for our HK trip in January. I did buy lights for the garage and Gina, who i always kid as the owner of our house since she's there the longest time, did put up the lights... in a weird way ... hmm maybe ill post a pic so i remember how she did it.
Studio Z is up and running and Alexie is now his resident engineer and audio tech dude.
My baby is still with the repair dude... and he is having a difficult time trying to rebuild the electronics.
Can't wait till she gets home.
:-)
wait i think there is a song with my blog post title already, just can't think who wrote it!
time to google?
heheh

2006-11-18T02:59:00.000+08:00

REFORMAT

I haven't been blogging since early this month of November... my laptop, which is what i use to blog at night when i get home from work, bogged down and windows wouldn't work properly.
The only recourse was to install that Initial DVD and reinstall all my programs and WinXP
in doing so i lost all of my data!!!
BUMMER
I did manage to transfer some of my music projects to my desktop, but still having to reinstall everything is a pain in the *&^!(
I have been busy finishing up on the new Sheryn Regis album entitled "Songs from the Jukebox" or something like that.
My rearrangement of the Lea Navarro song " Ang Pagibig kong ito " was chosen as her carrier single and i heard that she just shot the music video for that song as well.
I did the Racel Tuason version several years back and now that I rearranged it again... well, it makes me feel kinda old.
waaaaaaaaaaaaa
I actually got around to doing a remake of something i did in the past... Hmmm maybe it would be a blast to actually rearrange the Andrew E song " Humanap ka ng Panget "
hahhaha
I also did a song for super Inggo... called " Superhero " done by Rocksteady and now sung by Makisig who is Super Inggo.
I also did arrangement for the theme song of the new "Flor de Luna" tv show... sung by Sheryn and will appear on her album as well.
We're also doing the Dennis Trillo album being produced by Regine V
and in the middle of the PDA album as well
so i am quite busy as of the moment...
Sidecrash has just finished their first music video but has yet to be signed up.
I have a new baby....
she's still being prepped up but i will post pics of her as soon as she gets back.
:-D
hmmm, what else???
will talk about it next blog post
I have switched to the new Blogger Beta and am still trying to figure out how to work this thingy.

2006-10-25T16:13:00.000+08:00

TESTING

I just lost a post! How ? i don't really know but i did one post and i hit the publish button but it never got published... bummer... Oh well... so just to be safe i decided to test this post before i lose another one again... not that i have the penchant for writing compared to some people i know who blogs regularly.
It was supposed to be my birthday post... hmmm, maybe next year then... hahaha
Bliss
OUT

2006-10-14T12:48:00.000+08:00

IM BACK ONLINE... finally

Oh man... curse you Milenyo.... you made me realize that technology is so much a part of my life as i'm sure it was for everyone else. Imagine 24 hours of no electricity! No laptop.... no phones... no TV, no movies no nothing. Good thing i still had my guitar but i was constantly on the lookout for flying tree branches and the possibility of flooding... which did happen eventually... :-(
and the worse thing was after we got the electricity back... there was no internet connection for about two weeks after the Milenyo visit.
I was non existent in the cyberworld for quite a while... now that sucks... BIG time.
ROTFLMAO... wow those letters seem ancient now. :-)
woooohooooooooo

2006-09-28T00:48:00.000+08:00

Kewl pic of me in a hospital gown... taken minutes before my eye operation... notice the smile :-)

2006-09-28T00:45:00.000+08:00

Finally went to have my cataract removed ... maybe that's why i am smiling moments before they wheel me inside the operationg room. Thanks to Dada i only had to pay for the lens implant. Talk about a good deal.
About same time ago last year i was diagnosed with a cataract that wasnt really a threat to my eyesight ... except for the terrible discomfort it created. When it's really bright and sunny my vison on my left eye was cloudy while my right eye saw it clearly. The procedure itself was really painless well except for the slight discomfort caused by the eyedrop anesthesia.
Hopefully after my eyes get their act together maybe i can afford to get Oakley prescription glasses. I always have a problem with my present glasses since i always find ways and means to ruin them. There was this one time that i had like four replacements made in a single week!
oh well ... still getting used to wearing glasses i guess... Oh man ... I am OLD!!!

2006-09-08T03:17:00.000+08:00

EYE to EYE

I got a cataract on my right eye a couple years back... maybe two or three years ago. It was a very unpleasant experience. Imagine doing things with just one eye... you never realize the things look entirely different once youl lose vision on one eye.... What more if you go totally blind ?
Well i found it difficult to read and to look at my computer monitor since it tires out the good eye.
Driving became really hard once you lose depth perception brought about by just using one eye... talk about having a blind spot literally.
I underwent a procedure wherein they scrape off the skin where the cataract lies. They scrape it off and replace it with a special lens which was sewn onto the edges of the remaining skin of my eyeball. Then i found out that the transparent skin on the eyeball itself had the melanin pigmentation as well making everything you see a little bit yellow its a natural thing really ... except when the lens was put in on my right eye the fluorescent lights got really white.
I remember i had to go to several doctors beside my excellent eye doctor. Since the procedure i had was sort of like being operated on... well, it did involve cutting and sewing. I had to go to a cardiologist to make sure that i can withstand the procedure... Perhaps my being on the heavy side gave them the idea that i was diabetic. My eye doctor was kinda baffled at the fact that i had a very bad case of cataract since i was kinda young to have them. Cataract usually affects older people.
Well if you lead the kind of life i lead and all the stress i had to go through then maybe you'd understand why i had them in the first place. hehe
I hate medical procedures... I'm terrified of hospitals... both my parents were in the hosptital before the passed on.
I did need to see with both eyes so i guess the choice was easy for me to make... Get It done!
I was in the operating table for about an hour or two fully awake listening to my eye doctor sing while she removes my cataract... and in fairness she did sing really well.
NOW.... i have a cataract on my left eye.... waaaaaaaaaaaaa
not again!!!
My daughter dada brought me to Medical City and had my eye checked, one of the perks of having a daughter who actually works in the hospital. The doctor said i did have a cataract and that he recommends that it be removed. He asked me if i was diabetic and i said probably not since i've been watching my sugar intake for the last couple of years and whatever wound i have still heals normally. Actually i'm hoping i'm not diabetic... at least not at the moment.
Now the lens which cost more than the lens i have on my right eye now costs almost double the amount i paid for my previous lens. Since now they dont sew the lens onto the eye. They kinda weld it. Cool!!!!
They can attach it now without having to cut it up. Great!!!
But it doesn't change my view of going to hospitals... Oh well it is kinda hard trying to see clearly on a bright day.
Maybe i could go back to reading once i have the procedure done... Maybe i can have bionic eyeballs or something ... or maybe they come up with super vision ... maybe xray vision...
or better yet settle on just having better vision than i currently have... woooohoooo
I can start reading again....
sigh

2006-09-03T04:07:00.000+08:00

PROJECTS

Ongoing... Erik Santos album... an album of old hits from Pilipino bands of the eighties remade ala Erik. Check out my arrangements on the songs... Wag na lang kaya originally done by True Faith, Running away by the AMO band and Kailanman by Introvoyz... guitars on a couple of songs arranged by Paulo Zarate... All songs except for one recorded by Marlone Silva. Produced by Jonathan Manalo for Star Records.

The Three Inch band... now doing their demo recording... I've heard of Eight Inches but, Three?

Mastering for Fuse Band

And i'll be acting as producer for one of the songs for Pinoy Dream Academy.... The song by Soc Villanueva entitled AKO has just made it among the sixteen songs for that show.

Next week i think i'll be working with the guys from Holiday Records again.... not sure of the artist yet.

Of course BLISS is still ongoing.

Added to my wish list: Might be a good idea to get myself and IPOD and just put all the songs i've ever done on it.
A new Ibanez guitar ( again )

I did go to Araneta again to watch the Penshoppe fashion show and rock concert... didn't stay long though... My ears literally hurt... the FOH house was in my opinion terrible, vocals way too loud for me. But what do you expect from a production with twenty bands or so performing...
apparently there was no time to soundcheck. hahaha

2006-08-27T02:23:00.000+08:00

WHAT IF's

nice blog post title... what if?>??? i guess life is just full of those what if's... questions that hound you endlessly begging for an answer but for some strange sordid twist of cruel faith can never be answered.
I've always tried to be a practical and logical dude... but hey... in moments of so called weakness one just can't help but wonder ... WHAT the hell IF?
I would like to believe that there are only two sides to an argument, a problem, a dilemma. There should not be a grey area... just plain old simple black and white, which is by the way two of my favorite color of womens clothes... i find women dressed in black and white ... well, errr cute.
" Everything begins with a choice " i couldn't agree more with Morpheus... from the movie MATRIX
That may hold true when you have the consiousness to choose .... but do we have the same option from the moment we are born?
okay enough of the philosophical crap... back to the real world
maybe i'll think of something witty and brilliant to write about...
on second thought maybe .... NOT

2006-08-21T00:15:00.000+08:00

okey... here's another celebrity pic... me with Ruffa Mae Q ... Oh! my Ghost!!! woohoooo

2006-08-21T00:13:00.000+08:00

Oh i did get to see INXS live in araneta... with new singer JD ... hmm in fairness he did sound so much like michael hutchence

2006-08-18T02:44:00.000+08:00

BACK TO BLISS

Backkkkkkkk.... I just spent like ten days in Holiday Inn Galeria... thanks to Jaymsterbean for helping out with that gig. I just spent like ten great days doing absolutely nothing. Well except for eating and sleeping .... sort of like a vacation of sorts.
Back doing the new Erik Santos album which features several cuts of remakes of songs popularized by bands... I'm doing two arrangements for this album... One is a rearrangement of " Wag na lang kaya" by Truefaith and an old song from the AMO band entitled " Running Away " which is kinda cool considering i did the original recording ages ago in RJ 's studio in Makati.
The true faith reaarangement is really cool since the album producer Jonathan Manalo, who by the way is coming out with an album of his own in November featuring rearrangements of his popular compositions.... kinda like an experimental album of sorts... since his arrangements are more like ... well ... "unique".
"Wag na lang kaya" is arranged really sparse since he wanted an Electronica sound element on it... You'll actually hear me play a guitar synth solo on the adlib section.
I got myself a new toy ! I now own a brand new ZOOM G9.tt multi fx processor... which i am still currently learning to use . I do like the amp simulation and the functionality of the unit.
We actually had to go to Quiapo ... as in go to Raon to buy the unit.
"Running Away" has been rearranged slower to give it a ballad feel instead of the old RnB flavor it had.
Now if only i knew how to post audio samples... this blog would be really cool won't it?
:-)
Specially since Bliss is almost finished with the four song recording... hey! It might come out as and EP
more of Bliss soon... Promise

2006-08-05T23:10:00.000+08:00

SAD

Just spend a couple of days doing nothing... but just being with someone ... who makes my world rock. I just wish these moments would not end... but somehow they are put on HOLD.
I do wish that someday ....
This week has been fantastic but I hate it when it ends and i have to go back to my so called life
Aw man ... this sucks.
Crap
:-(

Trying out Blogger for Word

2006-07-26T00:42:00.000+08:00

Trying out Blogger for Word

It’s been raining cats and dogs and horses and pigs… I guess you know what I mean by that!  I think there’s another typhoon coming along so more gloomy days to come.  I wish I could just quietly check in a good hotel and just spend the day sleeping … hey, since it’s just a wish maybe I could get a suite… hehe
We’re almost done with the material for my band but I’ve been kinda sick lately… sort of the flu or maybe because there’s a change in weather today and I always get sick whenever there’s a radical weather change.  I’m trying out this thing that allows me to post from work today.  Maybe I can update my blog promptly this way.  I usually just write or try to remember the significant things that happened in my day and try to post that.  I started blogging mainly as an online journal to remind me of how my days went and how I felt during those days.  Old age can be such a drag!
Haven’t been going to the gym lately because I’ve been sick and it’s been raining as I said earlier… excuses, excuses!
I think I’m destined to be at this size for the rest or my lonely life.
Ho-hum what else is new?
Oh I’ve been watching a couple of seasons of my fave shows…
CSI vegas is on top of my list
The Simpsons
Grey’s Anatomy
House
Prisonbreak
Lost
One can actually get copies of the whole season for these shows and many more.
All I can say is that I try not to buy pirated videos but if someone insists on lending me a copy… well, hehe
Seriously piracy is such a rampant thing going on in Manila.  I mean if the authorities really wanted to catch them all they could just go to one famous place and arrest everyone.. though they might not find a big enough jail to put them all in.
Like how would you jail a whole community?  My opinion on the matter is not to punish the individual retailers of pirated materials … sure maybe have them pay a fine or something, but the ones that really need to punished and stopped is the one who actually manufactures and distributes the copies.  Without these guys who produces pirated copies then there won’t be any retailers trying to survive on the sale of said materials.  Well until something serious is done with it I guess it will remain a viable industry in this country.
What’s that?  It’s an industry already?
But please and I mean please do not buy pirated copies.  Unless someone insists on lending you one?
Woohooo
(

2006-07-17T02:45:00.000+08:00

AFTER THE RAIN

Bennii played drums last friday and Lonee and I worked on it last saturday editing the drum parts.
Most drummers rarely ever play dead on against a clik track so it takes quite an effort trying to align parts to the right beat without losing that element of being human.
My arrangements was done the usual way on PC then transferred to Pro Tools where the "live" instrument replace the sampled ones.
Bennii is back on Magic 89.9 again on the six AM slot so if you want to hear him blabber away so early in the morning just tune in. I will probably never hear him since im snoring happilly away at that time of day. Hey! I'm a night person.
We even have a song where Bennii duplicated parts to make him sound as if he was playing in a snare group in drumline!
I'm really so happy with the way this project band is turning up. The songwriting is fun and the arrangements are challenging. Not to mention the fact that i'm working with my friends is truly something that cannot be bought.
I hope somebody likes our songs.
Happiness is BLiSS

2006-07-12T22:49:00.000+08:00

RAIN RAIN...

It rained today... hate the rain... perhaps because of too many bad memories associated with it... anyways we're having a lull in studio work after just finishing the Cris Cayzer album... of which i arranged most of the songs... most being like five songs and one song done by Jimmy A. I hear Jonathan and I are sharing production credits on this album and that Cris has a radio program on JAM 88.3 so if you want to hear my work just be sure to tune in to his program.
Recording for my band has been moved to saturday since Bennii has too many previous commitments. He did promise to play like 4 or 5 songs on friday. I actually managed to write a song for this band. One of the rare times i get inspired enough to actually compose original music or maybe it's because i've been doing so many arrangements lately ... one of which is going to be a theme song ( again ) of a major show on ABS. Hope that one gets approved.
I'm seriously considering purchasing a new pedalboard... Most guitar effect pedalboards are for use in live gigs. So i'm choosing carefully since i want a pedalboard that i could use both in the studio and probably in a live situation... if ever i get to play live.
:-)

2006-07-06T03:13:00.000+08:00

AND NOW IT BEGINS

Today i've officially started recording for my new band... finally after years of being out of the band scene ive decided to form a new band which will probably be my last band since i'm no spring chicken... i love the material plus i'm having fun doing arrangements and producing our new songs... they will be rock oriented but with orchestral arrangements done by Paolo Z who will be with us as our keyboard player... Line up is Alexie Corbilla on Electric Bass guitar, Paolo Zarate on keyboards, Benni Obana on drums and myself on guitars.
I totally missed working with a group on writing songs to doing arrangements as i've been doing most of my arrangemenst solo.
I hope i can live up to the challenge of being a guitar player in a rock band... after all i did start out my musical career that way.
more of the progress of my band in the days to come.
Happiness is BLiSS
:-)

2006-06-19T23:30:00.000+08:00

Blogging at Starbucks

Am right here now at starbucks in tomas morato using jons powerbook and i just wanted to try it out, blogging while having coffee... gee it works! duh
The boys... Jon and Lone are with me tonite as we just finished recording bass guitars and guide guitars for the new Chris Cayzer album. I'll be putting pics as soon as i get them hehe
Jon just reminded me that he and I are actually co producing this album so... this should be one interesting album as i'll be playing a lot of guitars!!! yippee.

2006-06-12T01:02:00.000+08:00

DEPRESSED in Pasig

It's a sunday again... and it's going to be a holiday on monday. Somehow my son got this idea that today is the "Fathers Day" and convinced me to go have lunch with him , great idea except that it isn't the special day yet. hahaha Well he did tell me he was cross enrolling at UE so that he gets to finish college this sem! Whew what a relief!
Why am i depressed? I really don't know the answer to that one. It's just an overwhelming feeling of being sad when you try to relax and do nothing... maybe that's what drives workaholics... i actually hate being idle for then the feeling of sadness creeps in.
Maybe if i get myself another guitar ! hmmm that's an idea.
Or maybe i'm sad because i was kinda expecting something but i just found out that it wasn't going to be. Or maybe i miss someone ! hmmm now that sounds more like me.
I think i'm going through a mid life crisis but heck, i had that like a couple of years back already!
I did get to finish recording the davao based "SIDECRASH" band, and i hope i could continue work on another song for my band, whose name we haven't decided yet.
Life is too short.... Life sucks.... What is the meaning of Life? God i don't know!!!
just me trying to be philosophical... just me ranting on.
:-)

2006-05-17T02:28:00.000+08:00

BACK from a LONGGGGGG WEEKEND

Started off with the Nokia Launch at PICC on a friday night... with Francis M, Kitchie, Rivermaya, Pinikpikan and Bamboo...
I haven't done TV mixing for a long while... so i got to the venue early enough and found my childhood buddy Rards Corpus... teaching a class from CCP, i'm glad because Rards has been doing a lot of live shows for the past couple of years and is qualified to teach the younger wannabe techs.
It was my first time to use the new Yamaha DM2000 digital board, and i fell in love with it... i have always been a fan of Yamaha boards since they came out with the O2R. This board has a lot more features such as assignable inputs and outputs, bussing and Matrix outputs. Evertything in a compact board which is like three times smaller than the old analog boards i used before.
We were doing double band setup that night with something close to 40 inputs and i was able to group them into two groups on the third layer of faders on the DM.
The mix was not as good as i would have wanted more time to eq and balance properly but it was a crazy hectic show... so i hope it turned out OK... hehe

Saturday i was in Araneta Center for the Fra Lippo Lippi show... this time i was familiar with the DM's eq and i had more time to balance and shape my sound as we were only doing one band... what a relief! Unlike friday night which featured an all pinoy band lineup... Fra lippo had three local musicians joining them onstage. Beth Martin on second Keyboard, Soc Mina on bass and Noel Mendez on guitars.
I believe my mix for this night was better than the friday night job... except for a flub on one song wherein i had to look for the nylong guitar input because it was not marked clearly on the DM's readout. Meaning they must've placed an input on a mislabeled channel on my mixer. I did manage to get half of Noel Mendez's nylon guitar solo on the only song he had one.
Otherwise it was a good recording with a modest audience ... in fairness to Fra Lippo Lippi it was raining on that night because of typhoon Caloy.

Sunday i was back in Araneta for the Paul Anka concert featuring an all american band with an all american crew.... The FOH engineer wanted an analog board and asked for Midas.
Luckilly Rards got the board and other equipment. It was a great day to be with my childhood friend whom i haven't seen in a long time. We were both busy in our own current line of work ...
I have always viewed Rards as an older ...yes older brother. We do share the same passion for music so we were really glad to be together watching the american musicians and crew going about their work. We were comparing notes on how the american crew were doing their job ...
Paul Anka did have a great show that night except for an occasional feedback on his monitors... He had multiple monitors on stage ... even a monitor under the acoustic piano... which the boys of Soundcheck kept refferring to as an "ass monitor" hahaha . Way too many monitors for me... as he already had soundfills onstage.
The sax player whose name i can't remember right now was an elderly band leader who had brilliant arrangements of Paul Anka's songs. He wrote a lot of good songs apparently for luminaries such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, and Barbra Streisand.
I loved the band ... with an incredible tight Brass section.
I wasn't able to take pics as i was kinda busy working that night.
If i were only younger i wouldn't mind doing live sound work again.

2006-05-11T02:47:00.000+08:00

THIS is a nice pic if i may say so... taken at the Enchanted Kingdow grounds... with Johann and hmmm Jon again>? LOL

2006-05-11T02:33:00.000+08:00

SHAMELESS PLUG

I've got a couple of shows coming up... I'll be on PICC of friday for the Nokia Launch... doing TV Mix. I'll also be doing TV Mix for the Fra Lippo show at the Araneta on sat , May 13th.
Haven't done TV mixing for a while so i welcome the oppurtunity to do one again.
I usually get a split signal from the stage snake cable which goes to inputs on my own board of which i can mix for something suitable for TV. Usually with a 40hz roll off on my master mix fader insert. I'll be doing this for Soundcheck, which are my employers for this gig.
I will also be doing an out of town show on the 18th in Island cove in Cavite which will have Rivermaya and six cycle mind as headliners... i'm trying to get Sidecrash to play in that event as they've been here in Manila for a couple of weeks now doing their album with me which has some nice songs in it. I still am trying to figure out how to put audio bytes on this blog... so i need a help from my dear Jaymsterbean to help out with this small problem.
Busy busy busy as a bee....
:-)
Oh and i'm having body rapair and paint job done on my red Nissan!
Can't wait to be with my red car again.

2006-05-11T02:32:00.000+08:00

Cris Kayzer... me and Jon... notice he's always as in most of the time always in my pics!!! taken during recording of the song "Hold On" which i arranged and mixed.

2006-05-11T02:29:00.000+08:00

Lone, me and Jon together with this good looking guy by the name of Piolo

2006-05-11T02:27:00.000+08:00

I love Eula Valdez's cooking show, taken during recording for the "Makuha ka sa tikim" theme song of which, i did the musical arrangement.

2006-05-11T02:25:00.000+08:00

I kinda noticed that Jon is always in my pics...

2006-04-26T02:30:00.000+08:00

Jon hamming it up with Bennii my drummer friend who insists that good guys wear black! He plays for a group called Barfly and is a session drummer as well.

2006-04-26T02:23:00.000+08:00

Here's a pic of me with Chris Cayzer... If you saw the Sam Milby movie ... the one with Bea and John Lloyd, Chris was one of Sam's bandmates... he is being introduced as the newest talent of Star Records... i did a rearrangement of a " Hold on " a neocolours song for him coming out in a compilation album if i'm not mistaken.

2006-04-25T01:45:00.000+08:00

SIDECRASH

That's the name of this new band from Davao that i'm helping out right now. A group of young guys who just want to play on and improve their music whilst making an album as well. These guys are fresh grads... so now that they're out of school they want to try their luck in Manila.
The vocalist reminds me of early Spongecola but their music is pop rock ... closer to what the guys of Cueshe plays.
I seldom do live recordings for a whole band because of the tedious process that it involves.
The setting up of the drums and band instruments seem to take forever till you get it right, Plugging the guitars and bass and keyboards with mic for vocal tracks while mic'ing the drums and getting the right mix and balance in the monitors so that the band can record properly does take time. Not to mention the fact that you have to play the music loud enough to inspire a rock band to perform better... Aw my poor monitor speakers.
We are doing 8 more songs out of a 12 song lineup and just doing drums for the next two days before we move on to bass and guitars then keys and finally vocals.
I did finish one song for Chris Cayzer... at least i think that's the correct spelling of his name.
He's a fil-aussie dude who likes Jon Mayer. He even sounds like him at times.
Civ the producer from Star asked me to do a rearangement of a Neocolours song called " Hold On" but as an acoustic band type of arrangement.
I think it's coming out as a soundtrack album for their new soap, if i'm not mistaken.
This one is one of my better arrangements since it's mostly guitar based.
I'm particularly proud of the fact that i played everything on this song.
The song actually sounds like a whole band playing live and not done on my PC
and mixed on a Mac.... hmm not bad if i may say so.
:-)
I'll put pics of the band probably next post
I'm tired time for bed

2006-04-03T01:03:00.000+08:00

and it goes on and on and...

I did get to finish my arrangements on schedule... The Toni and Sam song has been recorded and mixed at the ABS studios. I've submitted my thirty song arrangement to MXN, and i did an arrangement for the Silver Swan jingle currently airing... sung by Sheryn Regis. I'm currently doing a rearrangement of the Kyla song "Buti na Lang" by Jonathan Manalo... to be sung by Jonathan on his upcoming album. I haven't started on the other arrangements yet. This new arrangement of "Buti na Lang" will still be metered at 6/8 but it will sound more like a triplet four time signature. The chords has been transposed down to a C and will start with a minor key then after intro the song will go into a major key... quite unusual but Jon likes it that way so... I kinda like this arrangement coz it will allow me to put a blues guitar on the song. Maybe i was in a good mood tonight so i decided to put an organ solo as well.
I'd also like to blog about this great eating place we found... It was Jaymsterbeans birthday last March 30 so we decided to meet up in Megamall and decide where to eat later. Since Jamie didn't want to eat at the mall, and i didn't want to stray away from the Ortigas area we decided to try out this "palengke paluto" thingy in Julia Vargas.
Suffice it to say... we were all happy we decided to go to this place instead.
First off, we got to buy fresh tuna and salmon for sashimi... and they tasted way better than the ones you get from a japanese resto... perhaps due to being really fresh and not refrigerated?
Then jamie bought prawns since she likes them butterred and we also got grouper fish or commonly known as LapuLapu... we had them steamed and with sweet and sour sauce, of course two separate dishes. There was also inihaw na liempo, since i'm being carefull with eating seafoods after this thing with my leg.
I'm now looking for an excuse to actually go back there again. :-)
Note to self... GO BACK TO THE GYM!!! i'm getting huge again waaaaaaaaaaa

2006-04-03T01:01:00.000+08:00

Since it was Raspberry night ... naturally the color of the night was red... taken without a flash at the Absolut launch with jon and marlone.

2006-04-03T00:56:00.000+08:00

Jaymsterbean and Alexie during the launch... holding plastic cups of vodka...hey they're free :-)

2006-04-03T00:53:00.000+08:00

Taken during the launch of Absolut Vodka Raspberry held at the Fort. I was musical director for this show where the prod number involved an Electronica group, Makiling ensemble and the Dawn, in a rearragnement of their Enveloped Ideas song.

2006-03-29T02:44:00.000+08:00

Happiness is a new phone... kinda confusing nga lang going back to a NOKIA after all these years :-(

2006-03-29T02:43:00.000+08:00

My new monitor of choice... Mackie HR824 nearfield monitors... i will be posting my reviews as soon as i get accustomed to the sound of these babies :-)

2006-03-29T02:16:00.000+08:00

TOYZ

Toys will be toys... specially for boys! I've been really busy doing arrangements and guitar work ... I just did a thirty ... yep, count em' thirty song arrangements for a nursery rhyme album. I usually don't do stuff like this, but the oppurtunity of doing something for kiddies doesn't come everyday.

I'm also doing several arrangements for my friend Jonathan Manalo who has finally decided to work on his album... which will contain rearrangements of his hits... From " Tara Tena" to "Pinoy Ako" this is going to be one album to watch out and certainly fun to do. I'll be posting the songs i will be doing for him.

I'm also doing a live event wherein i am Musical Director... haha that's a first... a friend of Jaymsterbean asked me to do MD chores for an event involving ... Makiling Ensemble, the Dawn and an Electronica group who i can't remember the name...

I also am back to using a NOKIA ! after years of using the amazing phone from Smart... then the voyager which is the next generation smartphone... my daughter finally persuaded me to avail of the retentiion package on my postpaid plan... so i'm the proud owner of a NOKIA N70... which has 3G capabilities... now if i could only find someone who i can actually talk to using 3G that would really be cool... oh and did i mention the phone was free? :-)

Another friend of mine named Edwin Marullano has just released his album... and watch out for his song " Walang kadaladala kong Puso" a catchy little ditty, which given the right airtime might actually make it big. Oh, my name does appear on that album as well.

Mixsonic is currently undergoing a renovation of sorts since our new studio is turning out to be a real sweet room. I'll be posting pics soon .

Milo just got back from the US and bought me a new pair of Mackie HR824's... a really, and i mean really amazing pair of speakers. Just have to get used to them though. I've been using my old but trusted Yamaha NS10m speakers for almost three years now. I guess it's time to move on to a better sounding pair.

2006-03-12T03:45:00.000+08:00

Neng and me... Neng is worship leader for a church in Las Pinas... Faith Music Manila... they have an album out distributed by Praise Music

2006-03-12T03:42:00.000+08:00

here's a picture of happiness as my cam is now working fine.

2006-03-12T03:40:00.000+08:00

Got my cam fixed again... hehe so here's me with Pauline Luna... from Eat Bulaga... as she did vocals on a song with Oreo.

2006-03-08T22:31:00.000+08:00

Happy Unlucky?

I was really bothered with the unfortunate accident i had with my cam... so i tried to look for a service center in Manila via the web... and guess what? Fuji cameras can be serviced by the people at YKL whose office is in Sto. Domingo in QC... i got my LCD replaced in like 30 mins. :-)
I also got my red Nissans aircon fixed, so i'm using it again ... Driving a big vehicle around Manila is getting to be unpractical what with the rising cost of fuel. :-)
Ok now on to the hassles... Sara , my househelp woke me up this morning telling me that she can't cook because we ran out of LPG ... hmm, now that's strange considering i just bought the last tank about a week ago. Since it was too early for me... hehe I get out of bed usually around 10 am, I told her to call up Abe, my moms trusted homeboy... I thought it would be good for him to do something since he has been kinda sad and at a loss now that my mom has gone to the great beyond. Something or someone seems to have chewed off the hose and the metal tube behind the gas range... bummer. Got a new set of hose and LPG tank and he got the thing working again ... less the oven and one small burner... hey! i still have 2 burners, not bad... but i might have to replace it soon. On my way home... i got into a small accident involving another car as i was turning left on Meralco Ave. towards Pasig. I failed to notice the car behind me since i figured i was ahead of the guy and that i was turning left and he had the last option to avoid me but accidents do happen so i just told him to just go to Noel, my car mechanic to have his bumper fixed and that he can just charge it to me. :-(
I just hate arguing over something as trivial as that... since i figured that the cost wouldn't really be big ... (it was an old Toyota anyways) since the damage was really ... really small i hardly saw anything but the guy insisted there was a small dent... I just wanted to get home early. Hey, i am thankfull it wasn't a bad accident, and that no one got hurt.

2006-03-08T03:00:00.000+08:00

What's up with ...?

First thing off... i'd like to congratulate Gloc 9 for winning in the recently concluded Pinoy Hip Hop Awards... way to go bro!!!

Bummer!!! I droped my Fuji E500 Digicam and broke the LED screen... so i won't be able to post new pics. :-(
Oh well... maybe i'll get my hands on a new one later on. How's that for hoping? LOL

Things have a really funny way of screwing up ... but i am quite sure that it'll get better... It's just a matter of time...
I miss my Mom.

2006-03-08T02:55:00.000+08:00

Before i dropped my cam... Alexie got this pic with me and my Taylor during rehearsal for a recording session.

2006-03-08T02:52:00.000+08:00

I just love this guitar... :-)

2006-03-08T02:47:00.000+08:00

Here's another pic of me and my Taylor

2006-03-03T02:19:00.000+08:00

A different world?

The sad part of my life is just beginning to take it's toll on me... It's been a little over a week and a half since my mom has passed away and I miss her so much more ... I've talked to my sister and my brother about things that has to be done now that my mom has gone... the tasks of getting order back into out lives is now up to me... something i really hate to do... i've been used to just being in charge of my life and my own family matters. I've spent so much for my moms hospital bills and her funeral only to find out that there are still bills to be paid, debts my mom had. I am forced to now run my mom's business, as well as dividing what little property she had among my siblings. I gave my brother use of one of the properties and my sister plans to take over my moms household. I just find it unfair that i was the only one obliged to spend for all my moms expenses. They both tell me that they're in a bit of a financial slump right now and that they simply can't afford the extra burden of sharing expenses. Still on the bright side... now i can always check up on both of them since i know where they are.
I went to back to work this week and I'm doing a new album for a new artist named OREO
being produced by Paolo Zarate. I'm back to doing engineering and guitar work. At least i still have music to turn on to despite the rough times ahead. I also am in the process of working on my new band's music... which deserves another blog post soon.
I just found out that Star Records will now do their albums inside their recording studios located at the ABS compound. I guess i won't be doing engineering work for Jonathan anymore... I hope they still get me to arrange stuff and play guitars on some of the albums. Personally i still think my work speaks for itself. I hope they come up with albums close to or even better than the albums i did for them or else that would really be a shame. I wonder what projects i'll be doing this year?

2006-02-19T03:58:00.000+08:00

I've never been good with words but here is something i want to say to someone very special in my life.

It's been rough... but i'll always be with you... I've been by your side as you will always be in my heart. If i have caused you pain... please forgive me. I did try my best to be the son you could be proud of, and i will always remember you as you were. I promise, I miss you...
Goodbye... God Bless... May you rest in Peace... I love you MAMA

/\rnold

2006-02-13T02:32:00.000+08:00

SIKAT ANG PINOY

My latest work include... the Sam Milby album of which i arranged a couple of songs, most notable of which is the remake of the song "Only You" for a korean telenovela airing on ABSCBN. I was at the launching of the album held at a place called eskinita in QC but had to cut it short since Jaymsterbean came and wanted to leave as she doesn't want anything to do with her former officemates. I guess she has her reasons.

I also arranged the song "Sikat ang Pinoy" the new theme song for the Celebrity Pinoy Big Brother. The song was originally supposed to be done by an upcoming band but we ended up using my arrangement for it. It was done rather quickly at home where my MIDI sequencing desktop PC is set up. Then audio data was imported into Pro Tools HTDM at Mixsonic Studios after which the vocals were done by Sam Milby and Toni Gonzaga at around 6pm. Vocals were finished at around midnight which left me very little time to do guitars and to mix the song. I'm particularly proud of the opening rift for the song since it reminds me of what Carlos Santana might actually do.
Oh this was on a friday night ... since Celebrity PBB was supposed to air Saturday night.
We finished at around 6AM on Saturday... on my way home to Pasig i noticed the crowd near ULTRA so i guess there was a huge turnout for the Wow Wow Wee anniversary special.
When i did get home i found out about the ULTRA tragedy. That was freaky!!! There was a time when noontime shows provided entartainment for people as they enjoy their midday break.... but i guess times have changed. Now noontime shows have the habit of giving away bigger and bigger prizes in a bid to outdo each other. Is being number one worth all the sadness that happened that fatefull day?

I do know that it will be hard forget the classic "Pinoy Ako" theme but this new song for the Celebrity PBB is not supposed to replace the original theme. The song "Sikat ang Pinoy" is just another statement done by Jonathan Manalo running on the original concept of how "good" it is to be Pinoy.

Already Jon is toying with the idea of making a livelier and happier arrangement for the "Sikat ang Pinoy" theme song... Hmmm i wonder if i'll be doing that one as well.

2006-01-30T00:17:00.000+08:00

I'm Back!!!

Oh my!!! it really has been a while but i am back... i've been busy this christmas season and i've been sick just right after the new year with a leg infection that made me stay in bed for at least a week and another week more limping. I will be posting things i did and things i intend to do for this year.
Oh tonight my son is having his 23rd Birthday party in the house with a couple of his friends and it's around midnight and his friends are having a mini concert of sorts right in my garage!!!
He has quite a lot of friends from different bands and they've arranged for the equipment and the repertoire for tonight. I'm beginning to enjoy the music ... hope my neighbors don't have a fit.
It is getting kinda late.
I will be back in the studio tommorrow, after almost two weeks of absence due to my leg infection.
I miss studio work... i did manage to arrange a song for Gloc9 who is doing a brand new album again but this time not with Star Records.
Oh i did finish the Sam Milby album for Star Records so watch out for that.

2005-12-04T01:48:00.000+08:00

RUSH RUSH

It's been another hectic month... and that is an understatement... "-) first off i've been sick... must be in keeping up with the coming Christmas season plus i feel like my left eye is developing the same symptoms i had with my right eye which needed an operation. I might go under the knife again soon... oh man.

I just finished the new EXJ album which has members of the group Jeremiah, hence the name EXJ... ex Jeremiah :-)
The new DK Tijam is also out under Alpha Records ... check out the single " Hanggang dito na lang" which features me on acoustic guitar. The arrangement of this song started out fairly simple but the producers wanted it simpler so ... let's just have one guitar accompaniment.
I also did a couple of songs for Sam Milby... i actually got to arrange two songs on the Pinoy Big Brother Christmas album. I also did the arrangement for the Franzen Rap song on the same album.
Sam Milby also has a version of a Platters song entitled " Only you ", which actually sounds like a band playing on it. I actually liked the arrangement of that song. I liked my arrangement on that song so much i ended up doing an arrangement on a song by Marlone Silva which i'm really proud of. If i ever learn how to post the mp3 file here i would do so... hmmm maybe it's time to ask Jaymsterbean a call.
We've also started work on the New Star in a Million album which i originally didn't want to do but my son told me to actually do it since he wants to sing backup vocals on that album. Besides this album is a compilation of rearranged rock dittys.
I'll post about that album next time i blog
I've been so busy i've no time to blog. :-(
Ongoing projects include a Christian Album and an album by the Carmellite Sisters
and my mom is feeling a bit better now but she's still undergoing treatment and i do miss her.

2005-11-04T00:55:00.000+08:00

Me and Gloc 9 the Producer for the new Carlos Agassi album... check out the song called Senorita... my arrangement plus cool nylon guitar riffs... :-)

2005-11-04T00:52:00.000+08:00

Check out the new Carlos Agassi album...i arranged two songs plus i played guitars on another song arranged by Pao... here's me with Amir ( Carlos ) and Thea

2005-11-02T21:16:00.000+08:00

WEEKEND HURRAH

it's a looooonnnngggg weekend... but got to do the things that needed to be done.... i did go to see my mom who seems to be doing better after her kidney operation and she's about to start chemo therapy. I lost my dad two years ago so i wish i could still have a little more time with my mom.
Well at least she's taking this therapy thing fairly well... she still has the strength to scold me about my smoking. I swear i will give it up ... soon.

My nieces and nephew came to visit... and insisted that they stay on as houseguests so my house looks like an electronic daycare center... non stop PC gaming and PS2 tournaments abound.
My son bought a couple of games which i really like... the new Ultimate Spiderman is really cool... Makes you feel like playing a comic book, or an animated movie. the new Prince of Pesia is also fantastic... probably the best obstacle game on the PS2 yet. My son tells me that the new Xmen Legends 2 has the most logical controls and the best way to play the Xmen characters.
These are all my sons games at the moment... i did get myself the new NBA 2006 which has better gameplay controls than the previous versions. Imagine that! my son and i actually like playing PS2 games together. Is that bonding or what? hahaha

I didn't know that Nov 2 ISN'T a holiday so i didn't go to the studio. Cool! I spent the day going to banks mainly to pay bills. I did bring my ten year old niece to Market Market at the Fort and she had a blast. I actually had a great time bringing her along to kiddie places. I can't believe a small child could actually consume that much food! hahaha well since she is my niece i shouldn't even wonder.

I guess i do have to go to work tommorrow. Aw man!!! and i was having so much fun staying in the house... hmmm maybe too much fun.

2005-10-31T01:16:00.000+08:00

BREAK!

I am thankfull for the coming break... from work that is... i can finally get some much needed rest and maybe some recreation as well. Jeremiah has finally finished all their vocal tracks and so it's just the editing chores and the mixing and mastering stage of their new album.

I've also started the album of a friend of mine ... her name is Trixie and she's an artist friend from way back. I also did one song for 6 cycle mind, the title of which escapes me right now...it's an acoustic version of one of the songs from their recently released album.

oh my ... now i could spend some time with my mom. :-)

have some repairs done in the house, pay bills, be a dad and a million other things that i should do.

i do wish i was with someone though.

it's tough being alone. :-(

oh well ...

2005-10-26T02:43:00.000+08:00

me with Ramon Jacinto in his studio in Makati...it has been quite a while but i do hope i do a good job on his upcoming album