A new item in my guitar collection

Bought a Bass Guitar today. A Stagg “B300-BK“.

Standard “J” electric bass guitar - Pickups: 2 x JB - Controls: 2 x Volume + 1 x Tone - Body: solid Alder - Pickguard: White (BK/BL/SB) or Tortoiseshell (N/NS) - Neck: Hard Maple, bolt-on, 867 mm, (34.2 in.) - Fingerboard: Rosewood, 20 frets - Bridge: “JB” Classic - Machine heads: Standard “P”, nickel - Colour: Black.

Bought it from Zen Guitarwerks (they’re located at the basement of Peninsula Shopping Complex, at Coleman Street) for $310, including a $20 guitar bag.

Discussed with my wife if I should buy the bass guitar. Did a mental check so that I was sure I’d be using it and not buying it on a whim.

Didn’t really shop around to see if there were better deals. My budget was $500 or less. If the instrument was within my budget AND gave me the right feel, I was prepared to buy it there and then.

So I dropped by Peninsular Shopping Complex (which, in the last decade, has quietly become the guitar player shopping mecca in Singapore).

Zen Guitarwerks was the second shop I went into (the price range of the bass guitars at the first shop were beyond my budget). It’s a relatively tiny shop, and I’d almost missed it had my wife not pointed it out.

Within minutes of my scanning the price tags at the bass guitar section, the young girl manning the shop asked if I needed help. Her demeanor was friendly, and she seemed knowledgeable about the stuff in the shop.

Tried about four bass guitars from different price ranges. The one I bought was the lowest priced in the store, but somehow the feel and tone was nicer than the higher priced ones that I tested.

Final test was to tune the bass guitar, check the action for buzzing (none that I could tell), last intuitive feel of the weight and fret play.

I’ve reached a point where the sound generated from MIDI just isn’t good enough. Plus, I’m interested in learning more instruments. Admittedly, I was also encouraged after watching videos like these (now how’s that as an example of YouTube indirectly influencing a purchase decision?).

Technical skills-wise, I’m still going to focus on the guitar. But I decided to buy a bass guitar to try out some musical ideas I have in mind. I don’t expect it to drastically change my compositions but will see how it goes.

Will check out some online resources and books from the public libraries.

Nice to be trying out something new.

Free CD if you help review the SeaStars 2007 album

I’m giving away MP3 CDs for the first 50 people who help to review the SeaStars 2007 album.

It’s the only low-budget self-publicity that I can think of.

If you can find 30 mins during the next week or so:

1) Listen/ download to the songs from [this link].
Total playing time is about 32 mins. There are links for higher quality VBR MP3 files and also lower quality 64kbps ones. The link is available for 30 days only. A permanent list will be posted later, pending any changes after the reviewers comments.

2) Blog (if you’ve got your own blog)/ email your impressions of the album. e.g. like it, don’t like, not your cup of tea, good for dieting cos makes you puke, which ones got hope and can improve etc. We’ll post all reviews w/o edits (good or bad) in our blog.

3) Blog/ email us by 4th Jan 2008 or earlier (if you need more time, let us know).

We’ll then get in touch with you on how to pass you the MP3 CD we’re giving away for first 50 reviewers (CD will be supplied at a later date, once we get the supplies in for our home production!)

Thanks!
ivan

Music album - SeaStars2007.wordpress.com
Band blog - StarfishStories.wordpress.com

Oh the MP3 CDs we’re giving away would be the kind produced on a home computer though.

That is, if anyone still wants the CD after reviewing the songs. LOL.

~ Ivan

Pooch all pooped out!

How can I NOT love something like that?

Sigh.

My music project - SeaStars

I’ve not said more about the SeaStars 2007 music project. So here goes:

It’s a collaborative effort with a Secondary schoolmate, Adrian (whom I reconnected after 20 years!)

The story of how SeaStars got started is at this post.

We met to catch up over lunch. Then went for coffee. Adrian said he wanted to do an album and asked if I was interested. He said he liked what I did with the SeaShore Days mashup).

It was easy for me to say, “yes”.

Later, I set up the SeaStars blog, ‘cos I felt we needed a website. And it would be nice to document our musical journey.

And then, to our surprise, someone was kind enough to set up an official fanclub for us! It started off with this comment.

There are 134 members at my last count.

That’s 132 people more than what we’d expect. Heh.

OK, not all can count as “fans” per se (at least Adrian and I don’t expect any panties thrown at us, LOL!) but at least not all have quit the fanclub.

The songs for the album have been re-engineered (as best as I know how). Now I’m waiting eagerly for the artwork from (thanks to Jon.

“Zo Gang” (做工) - Singaporean film

I was laughing out loud at several scenes. I wonder if you have to be Singaporean to appreciate this:

Details at hosaywood.com

Which wireless router should I get?

I wanted to get a wireless router for my HDB apartment (I was using a fixed LAN point) but I wasn’t sure which brand to get. So I asked my usual IT/ Mac gurus.

Within a few emails, I went from “almost clueless” to “confident buyer” — thanks to Lucian, Kevin and Siva.

I’m happily blogging this while connected to the wireless router I’ve successfully set up a few minutes ago. I bought a Linksys product, if you must know. I’ve used their product before and have found it reliable. Their customer service was also pretty good.

There are plenty of product reviews out there, but nothing beats receiving affirmation and second opinions from trusted and knowledgeable friends.

Since the guys were generous in sharing what they know, I’ve decided to compile my own FAQs on buying a wireless router. NOTE: Any mistakes in this post are mine alone.

***

Q: Do different brands (of wireless routers) make a difference? For instance, I had the impression that Belkin is top of the range.
Apparently they do. The differences lie with the WIFI chipsets from the different manufacturers.

For instance, Linksys seems to have a good track record of compatibility with Apple products, while Belkin was a “maybe” and some feel Netgear was a “less than safe choice” if you have a Mac.

Getting a good router means a better Internet experience. Invest in a good one!

Q: Some routers end with “B”, “G” and “N” in their name. What’s the difference?
They refer to the wireless networking standards.

The 802.11b (B-series) is older. The 802.11g (G-series) standard comes next. Then there’s the newer, faster 802.11n (N-series) specification which has been drafted but not made standard by the IEEE yet.

The G-series is sufficient for most uses. It’ll be your broadband speed that’s your bottleneck, rather than the router. 802.11n is probably good if you move a lot of files wirelessly between computers on the same network.

Q: I saw product claims like “5x faster” etc. Does the router really improve download speeds?
The answer is ‘no’ if you’re just using the router without using the manufacturer’s propriety WIFI cards.

“5x faster” probably refers to the G-series when compared to the older B-series. You usually need to use additional WIFI cards with the router to enjoy the faster speeds. The packaging might say something like “For optimal performance, you will need to use the following [brand name] products…”

Q: For a 4 to 5-room HDB flat, would a wireless router with a 400ft range will suffice? Do I need to get a booster?
The range would usually suffice if you can place the wireless router in the middle of your home. If that’s not possible, try moving the router antenna (p.s. I found that just shifting the antenna towards the direction of a previously less-than-favourable-reception area improved the signal by 10 to 15%).

Q: I tested my connection speed via speedtest.net. Why is it that upload and download speeds differ?
It’s usual to have faster download speeds than uploads (most users will download stuff rather than upload, so it makes sense to ensure majority of users are happy). The ISPs don’t expect home users to run servers. But this is slowly changing, as more of us do VoIP, upload youtube videos, host game servers, do remote computing etc.

I have Mac. Should I then get the Airport or can I use the other routers?
The wireless routers work the same (Macs and PCs are able to use either brands). Your final decision may be the cost, your trust in the brand, and the design (i.e. coolness) factor. Cost-wise, Apple products can cost up to SGD$100 to SGD$150 more than another brand that might adequately serve your need (all I needed was just to surf the net, and my usage isn’t that heavy).

Comment: I hope the sales guy don’t give me that “how come you’re asking me such simple questions” look. Most times, I end up feeling stupid when I try to buy IT stuff. It’s like these people expect customers to know the products already.
If they want your business, they are supposed to be answering “stupid” questions! And you will find out that lots of questions turn out not to be “stupid”.

Wanna blog for MusicGadgets.net?

We break our regularly scheduled blog posts at MyRightBrain (regular schedule my…) to let our thousands of subscribers (definitely BS man, LOL) know that if they want to blog for MusicGadgets.net, now’s the time to apply:

So if you can write about pianos, keyboards, DJ equipment, music software or any other topic that isn’t covered now (so no guitar related topics) and are fluent in English you should apply for this job. This is a paid position, so you can even win some money while writing about your interests.

Free concert at NUS: 10 Jan 2007 - “A Journey Through Time”

Here’s a plug for a fellow FOYer (Friend of Yesterday.SG), who will be playing the Double Bass at the following free concert at NUS, Singapore:

A Journey Through Time
By NUS Symphony Orchestra
Wed, 10 Jan 2007, 7.30 p.m.
NUS Theatrette, Lecture Theatre 13 (LT13)
Free Admission
For enquiries, please call Tel: 6516 4041.

Mmm… I find traveling to NUS a hassle, but PY has provided maps etc. We’ll see… More details of the concert at PY’s blogpost (there’s a link to a clip of their rehearsal). Happy playing, PY!

Water + Lasers + Electronics = Water Music

“Water Music”, anyone?

YouTube video posted by LittleScale, who also provided this explanation at the sidebar:

A slightly more complex version of using a water surface as a music controller featuring five lasers instead of just the one. Please note that this is a prototype version, and as such does not represent the variety of output for the finished thing.

Here’s his earlier setup, which is equally instructional.

A cheapo laser pointer, a solar panel and a clear vase filled with water are transformed into a music controller. Includes demonstrations of amp modulation, amp and freq mod and a more complex mapping as well.

Technorati Tag: water music, apple

Free Hugs Campaign (, or “How music adds that impact to the message”)

This is a perfect example of how the right piece of music, with skillful editing, can make a video even more impactful. You might be aware of this Free Hugs Campaign that’s been circulating on the Internet. Imagine if the video used some other song, like “Sound of Music”… not quite there, right?

Technorati Tag: free hugs