Materials Welding Class

Last week I've got a hands on experience in welding, which I must say is not like what I expected. It's not that easy, requires years of training to get the best welding job and the equipment is not expensive stuff. I always thought that I could weld very well, although a bit ironic I must say since my soldering skills really sucks.

The workshop guy explaining to us about the science of welding:













Ha ha master welder Ariff is in town.




The mask uses some sort of polarizing filter, which cuts off probably 80% of the light.


A video of the welding process.


There are also other welding types other than electrical, like this one, oxyacetylene welding.





I cannot remember what this type of welding is called, but can be use for quick adhesion.

Hard Work Paying Off

So after almost 2 months going to the gym, I can finally see some results. No I don't meant that I'm skinny of buffed up yet, but at least I'm stronger and faster this time. All those time spent of threadmills and cycling machine made my legs stronger. Hitting the weights made my muscles bigger, I can actually do a pullup now.

But my belly is still there, so I'm not gonna pose for a before/after shot yet. But I'm definitely gonna continue going to the gym until I am finally satisfied with myself. But I have to admit, it is quite costly. Although I am fully sponsored by my mom for club fees, I've developed other bad financial habits over there. For example, after every session I would almost always head over to McDonalds downstairs to indulge myself. I felt like I should reward myself for working out. Not to mention the expensive parking at Subang Parade. Maybe I should start Parking at Carrefour instead?

So the next time ur gonna see me, u'll be surprised. To the guys, I'm gonna make all ur girlfriends ditch u for me. To the girls, this time ur not gonna be rejecting me.

My Pedalboard

One of the most important things to a guitarist is sound. Of course, that's the whole point right, to produce sound so you can get the rythm? If you have a shrieking tone, or a muddy tone, it could just turn people off. That's why it's very important to achieve a tone which is favorable to you and the audience. And one of the best ways for you to achieve that is by using effect pedals. Effect pedals has a very wide range from overdrive and distortion to delay and pitch shifters. Brands like Boss, MXR and Digitech gives players excellent pedals and has been used by many famous artists. Of course, there are other ways of getting that sound you want, you could just use the overdrive on your amplifier. But to produce top notch sound from an amp, you'll need a top notch amp to do that, and would probably cost you thousands of ringgit. Plus if you have an effect pedal you could just bring it anywhere, no matter what kind of guitar or amp you're using, you could always get that sound you are so familiar with.




So this is my pedalboard. It took me more than a year to get it like this. Mostly I used my allowance money from my scholarship to buy stuffs. Well what else am I supposed to do with that money, sleep on it? I don't have to pay rents and fees so it shouldn't be a problem. Don't worry I have plenty left, just used a small portion of it.

The most basic pedalboard consists of a overdrive/distortion, delay and some other modulation. Mine of course, is much more complex than that. I have a wah pedal, tuner, pitch shifter, overdrive, distortion, equalizer, flanger, delay, noise gate and a volume pedal. I plan to get a compressor later on, to fill it up in that empty space over there. I realized a compressor is quite important when you're strumming with a clean sound, especially when I'm in Dr. Herbert's band, which plays mostly 60's songs.






Behringer Hellbabe Wah HB01
I'm not much a wah pedal user, but I do need it sometimes, especially when I'm playing Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix. And this is the most cheapest wah pedal in the market, but it is definitely not a lousy stuff. Even though it's Behringer, it's tougher than you think. I can just step on this all day and it would hold great. It's a nice luxury item, definitely not necessary, but nice to have. It's cheap anyways, doesn't really bother me that much. Also comes with a bypass jack so it doesn't affect my tone when I'm not using it.

Bought for: RM100 used from a mudah.com.my advertiser
Would probably sell for: RM120, heh heh I want a bit of profit.




Korg Pitchblack Tuner
This is the second latest addition to my pedalboard. I bought it because I couldn't use one of those headstock tuners while jamming with Dr Herbert. His bass made it impossible for the tuner to detect vibration coming from the guitar alone so I need a tuner in my pedalchain. This one caught my eye the most. It's cool, it's popular and it's black, just like my guitar. Not to forget the colorful colorful dancing lights moving while I tune the guitar. And the bright LCD displaying the note which can be seen from far away. But it was expensive, and I immediately had remorse after buying it. I wanted it so much so I couldn't think straight. Oh well, still a necessity. Keeping in tune is very important.

Bought for: RM240 new from Music Master Studio
Would probably sell for: RM200,as long as the screen is not scratched.




Behringer Ultra Shifter/Harmonist US600
This is definitely something very important for me and I used it a lot. I like to play Malmsteen songs, unfortunately it uses half step down tuning. In order for me to change tuning on my guitar, you need different set of strings and also would take a long time to tune it. I also need it to for standard tunings and also one step down tunings for metal. So this is the best solution to that problem. It can achieve tuning up to 2 octaves down and up. Of course it wouldn't sound nice, but it's good for the harmonist function. I admit that it does eat up a bit of your tone, but I normally use a front end booster to regain that tone. I waited to have this for 4 months, finally able to get it from engbok when the product arrived in Malaysia. Definitely a necessity, did not regret buying. Might switch to Digitech Whammy in the future, but then no space in my pedalboard.

Bought for: RM180 new from Engbok MMO
Would probably sell for: RM150, it's actually RM210 new on the market.




Digitech Bad Monkey
This is definitely an awesome overdrive pedal. The sound is very sweet, and it has a very tube like sound. I say it's better than the TS808, much better and more controls. But I normally use it to boost my distortion, primarily with my microcube on the lead stack function. It is extremely heavy, heavier than a boss and solid as a tank. Might be bullet proof, it is the toughest pedal I have. A great buy, somewhat necessary but I definitely enjoyed it.

Bought for: RM200 new from Bentley Music Mutiara Damansara
Would probably sell for: RM130, this is the cheapest price I've encountered




Boss OD20 Overdrive Zone

This is the latest addition on my pedalboard. It is the centerpiece on my pedalboard, the biggest, most powerful and most important piece of equipment on it. It is where all my tone is generated. It comes with pedal modulations that I longed for, TS808, DS1, MT2, Dist+ and Metal. I wanted it so badly, I ordered it from Deadeye and waited 3 weeks for it to arrive. Unfortunately he messed up on the price, found out it is actually almost twice the price. I needed to find a replacement soon and I got it while surfing through Jamtank. Just got it yesterday, so I haven't been able to use it to its full potential. But so far I like it a lot.

Bought for: RM500 used(9/10) from Jimmy (Jamtank)
Would probably sell for: RM450, standard used price for this item.




Artec Graphic Equalizer SE-EQ8
An equalizer is definitely an important addition to a pedalboard. Fortunately I got this for cheap. I needed something to replace my Behringer EQ700 since it crapped out on me but Boss GE7 is too expensive. My first option was a Danelectro Fish and Chips but you can't get that here. Good thing I found this on mudah. It has a true bypass circuit and 8 band (1 more than GE7). A good buy, and cheap. Less noisier than GE7.

Bought for: RM120 from Mohd Zaid Othman (Mudah.my)
Would probablys sell for: RM150, that is the advertised price of this eq



Danelectro FAB Flanger
I don't use flanger a lot, but it is the best modulation to be used with distortion. Lot of metal artists uses flanger, from Iron Maiden to Wintersun. And this was cheap, and incredibly solid for a plastic case. I was shocked to find out it was plastic when I opened the battery compartment, as I thought it was made of metal. Nice buy, wouldn't opt for any other flanger.

Bought for: RM55 used from Joshua Chin
Would probably sell for: RM60, he advertised it for RM65



Behringer Digital Delay/Reverb DR400

I always wanted a delay, and reverb. But have no money to but both. The best way is to combine it both in a same pedal. Boss has a RV3, but that has been discontinued. So I bought the clone instead. I've been eyeing this for 4 months and when I got it, I was so happy. This is a brilliant pedal, definitely worth my money. It can do everything Boss DD3 and RV5 does, maybe more. And it saved a lot of space on my pedalboard, and also saved some money in my bank account.

Bought for: RM200 new from Music Master Studio
Would probably sell for: RM150, still cheap



Beta Aivin Noise Gate NG100
After passing through shitloads of pedal, the noise generated is insane. That's why it's important for me to have a noise gate. This thing is brilliant, it doesn't suck tone and performs it's job very well. Much better than Boss NG1 and NS2. It has a metal casing so it's rock solid. Also one of my first pedals. Served me very well, don't regret buying it.

Bought for: RM100 used from Music Master Studio
Would probably sell for: RM100, same price even after years of usage




Boss Volume Pedal FV50
A volume pedal is very important while gigging. And this is the best option that came to me.Not much to say, it's just a foot pedal with a potentiometer. I love this thing,it really served me well.

Bought for: RM200 opened box from othniel (Jamtank)
Would probably sell for: RM150, standard used price for this model




Godlyke Power Supply kit
This was an impulse buy. I somewhat regretted it, but now realized I need it. With all my pedals, I need something powerful to light it up and this is the best. I used to use a Zoom PSU that supplies only 300mA, compare to this that supplies 2000mA, more than 6 times than the Zoom. It comes in a kit consisting of various converters and extenders. Quite expensive, but cheaper and better than 1Spot.

Bought for: RM150 new from Music Master Studio
Would probably sell for: RM90



CNB Large Pedalcase
I used to have a medium one, but sold that to make way for this one. One thing about this CNB Pedalcase is that their extremely heavy, well that's why I'm going to the gym right? But ofcourse it's reliable and cheap. And this thing is much better than the crappy pedalboard I built myself. A good buy, satisfied with it.

Bought for: RM150 used from En Zulhusni (Jamtank)
Would probably sell for: RM130, quite cheap don't you think

Total spendature on my pedals: RM2195

Shit that cost more than a GT10, owh well I didn't spend it all in one shot. But it's an investment. I may not gig as much as I'm supposed to, but this is what I love, and this is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life. I will never stop playing music, worst case scenario is I'm a bedroom shredder.

Celebrity Fitness

So it's been a month since I joined Celebrity Fitness, Subang Parade. The reason why I joined this particular gym is because of its location. I've tried the 2 weeks trial at True Fitness, USJ and what bother's me the most is the time taken to reach there from my home, which is approximately 45 minutes, not counting the heavy traffic jam going towards USJ which usually occurs everyday at peak hours. This Celebrity Fitness is located in between my house and Monash, therefore I found it the most suitable gym for me, plus it's at Subang Parade, currently my favorite shopping mall.

But I must say this gym is not the best. The treadmills are jerky at times and not equipped with tv screens, the machines have torn fabrics at the seats , and most of all the toilet door is rotting, so it's just disgusting. But there are upside to it, the staff are very friendly, you get free towels, and the gym are filled with people like me, fat but trying to get rid of it. Not like True Fitness, you only see really fit and buff peole, which actually brings you down, because you know you are such a loser compared to them.

Here are some pictures of Celebrity Fitness Subang Parade:

A view of the cardio machines from the cycling machine




The spin class


Weights ranging from 10 lbs to 250 lbs




The muscle training machines




The bigass window which can be seen from the road down below




Don't worry I'll post pictures of myself before and after joining the gym when I got myself into shape.

My new guitar

It's been such a long time since I last blogged. I guess I've just lost interest. No one's even visit this page anyway. But now I really have something to blog about. A new guitar. And it's damn nice too. Unfortunately I have to let go two of my other precious electric guitars to get this one ( So long Jackson Rhoads and Squier Strat, I'll miss you ).

This here is an IBANEZ RGR321EX. It has a basswood body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, EMG designed pickups, and a fixed bridge.





Why did I choose this guitar? At first I wanted something with a radical shape like a BC Rich Warlock or Jackson Kelly. But years playing the Jackson Rhoads made me dislike all this fancy guitars with pointy shapes. It's just hard to place it on your leg when practicing. Sure it might be great when playing in a live metal show, but I just decided that I like the Strat shape, and opted to go for an Ibanez.

Then there's the choice of picking which Ibanez, there's so many option. RG350,PGM,RG470,etc... I chose the guitar based on 3 criteria:

1) Must have reverse headstock ( I just love reverse headstock, it grew unto me when I had the Jackson)

2) Must be black (Need something for metal)

3) Must have body binding (Without it the guitar will look very plain)

4) Fixed bridge (Gotten sick with tuning problems on a Floyd Rose)

At first I was tempted to get Ibanez RGR08LTD, it has a different but metal designed dot inlays and Seymour Duncan Blackout on the Bridge pickup. But it only has 1 pickup, which looks weird, so I didn't like it. Plus with the usual dot inlays, it's easy to see which note you are pressing, great for teaching.



Wonderful bolt on neck, easy to find replacement.



Made in Indonesia, surprisingly very good quality. I've done shitloads of homework before getting this guitar, and I have never heard a problem from this guitar.

I also bought an Ibanez hardcase from gapnap. It's damn good quality, normally an Ibanez case would cost more than RM600, this is half the price. At first I was thinking of purchasing a GATOR hardcase, but this one caught my attention.











Will post a video of the guitar in action later.

My visit to the church and temple

The title might surprise you. Why on earth would I want to visit a church and temple? Am I converting to another religion? Is that why. No is the answer. It is all part of trying to understand another religion, so that I can truly understand my own religion. I went there under the Friendly Comparative Religion (FCR) program held by the Islamic Information & Services (IIS).

During our school days the non-muslims were introduced to the Islamic world during our history classes. There they learned about us, but we never really learned about them. So this is kinda like returning the favor, but not just because of that. I wanted to learn more about other religions, why is it that they do what they do and why they believe in it.

We went to visit the church of St. Thomas in Sentul, where they practice the Orthodox doctrine of Mar Thoma. Amin picked me up at Monash University and we arrived quite early so we decided to have a light breakfast. We came back at around 9.15 am in time for the Bible Studies. I can't remember which verse in the Bible the father was talking about but from just one verse, he was able to elaborate it until it took almost 45 minutes. By that time the church was filled with people and the mass was about to begin.

One thing I have to note is before entering the church, I was filled with hatred and contempt and I wanted to question the christians everything about their faith. But the moment I sat at the church, I saw the father prieching to his disciples, I saw the christians so devoted to their religion, my mind suddenly changed. I stopped looking at it Islam or Christianity. I started looking at it as devotion to God.

So the mass was filled with all kinds of ritual, the weirdest I've seen is the use of incense and the candles, looks like a Jewish ritual. This is an Orthodox church, where they're rituals follows similarly to the Catholic church ( Though I was misinformed it's going to be an Anglican Protestant church). It lasted quite long, almost 2 hours. Even Bro Shah Kirit said that it is very long, he expected it to be only an hour. Having said that, it disrupted the plan and we had to make some arrangements. The Q&A sessions was cut very short so we couldn't ask much. So we left for the temple at around 12.



The temple we went to is a Sri Lankan temple of the Theravada Buddhist sect. They're beliefs is quite different from the chinese beliefs. They don't believe in all the gods and praying to ancestors. It's Buddhism to the purest. We were greeted by Mr. Tan and a couple of Sinhalese Monks. Then we were given lunch inside their main hall, it was supposed to be very simple vegetarian lunch until the KFC shows up. Yeah they probably know we malays are suckers for KFC. But even the veggie food was delicious, they have dishes originating from Sri Lanka. So after lunch we we're brought around to visit the temple. We were shown the Buddha statue, the Boddhi shrine, and among many other things. It was very interesting, until the questions start to come out, which destroys the time planning. But Mr. Tan was very patient, he doesn't get angry when we ask all our questions, even ones which was designed to test his faith.

After the tour is finished we went back to the hall for a Q&A sessions. Mr. Tan was probably the most impressive non-believer I've ever seen. He knows about other religion and he really have faith in his own. Even when the questions was getting very offensive, he kept a smile on his face and he explains it in a way that everyone could understand. Bro Shah said that if he were to revert to Islam, he would become a huge asset to Islam. I mean, everyone was amazed by him, for his knowledge and for his his patience. He is doing what Islam is telling him to do, 'berpesan dengan kebenaran, dan berpesan dengan kesabaran'.



The trip to other religious sites was an invaluable experience. Without this FCR I don't think I would have ever thought of going there. But now I want to expand my horizon, to free my mind and become closer to Allah because of it.

Exam dh habis!!

Exam is over people. Freedom is now here. Wow i don't remember when I've felt this relieved. My blood is rushing from excitement.

Wow, this semester has been quite a challenge. And nothing gives me more challenge than electricals. Surprisingly I managed to do fine for the exams. Structures was fucking shit. Fucking hard as hell. I cannot believe they actually come out with that. Too much calculation, not enough time. Computing was alright I guess. Good thing I did that hand calculation exercise.

I think I wanna go for jamming, release some tension. Going to jam with Dr. Herbert tomorrow, play some oldies. Then maybe jam with Faiz, play some metalcore.

2 down, 2 more to go

I have just finished my electricals and professions exam. i think electricals was tough but alhamdulillah i managed to do all, thanks to circuit solutions from Irwin-Nelms. The one that saved me in professions is doing past years. Everyone else seems to struggle since most look down on professions, but actually there is a lot to remember.

See the way I study is to practicing. Always practicing. I can never just open and book and read all the way, wouldn't even last 2 hours. That's why I did badly in Biology. Even if there is a chapter I have no idea of, when I look at the questions and understand them, I can always do well. That's why I need solutions to any tutorial problems. Practice, just like how I practice my guitar.

So 2 more papers, structures this wednesday and computing this friday. After that I will be free as a bird, ha ha. Might wanna get a job, maybe at ACE Hardware or Best Denki. But first must go jamming, have gotten very rusty already.

Metal : A Headbanger's Journey

Hi how r u? Yeah it's been quite a while since my last entry so I'll make this one somewhat a good entry.

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. I've been meaning to make a review of this documentary. It is seriously good, it really touched me. It was a documentary made by Sam Dunn, a serious metalhead from the age of 12 about metal and it's origins. It portrays the history of metal, the controversies such as satanism and violence and also the effect it has on the fans.





Metal is widely accepted as being originated from Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi to be more precise. The song "Black Sabbath", features the usage of tri-tones which a provide a dark and grisly atmosphere. This pattern was actually prohibited by the church during the medieval times, as it is related to satan.

Satanism has always been a problem to the society. Unfortunately it's always being connected to metal, that's major stereotype. Not all metalists are satanists, in fact people who writes songs about satan are most likely not satanist. For Example Slayer and Venom. The reason why they wrote it is because they wanted to make they're songs darker than everyone else's. It's not like they mean it at all. Tom Araya of Slayer sings about God Hates Us All, but he's a devout catholic who goes to church every week.

The Norwegians wrote songs about satan because of the rebelling towards christianity. Well hatred towards christianity in Norway stretches out to their Viking roots. Church burnings, killing is a problem with this group. I don't knnow man, I'm not really a fan of black metal so I'll just leave this out.

Death metal is my most favorite genre. Unfortunately gore and violence is always connected to this one. Cannibal Corpse often depicts violent imagery on their cover albums. The reason why they do what they do is to shock people, but in reality they're just like you and me. Humble and down to earth type of people. They know things like this will never happen in real life.

This documentary demonstrates the effect of metal to the fans. Metal doesn't judge, doesn't discriminate and it sure is comforting when you have a trouble. Being a metal fan myself, I cannot get through life without metal, just as I cannot get through life without Islam. You may not understand what metal means to us, it's more than just a bunch of songs with heavy drum beats, distorted guitars and over the top screaming. It's a way of life.

Australia!

Just got back from my week long holiday in Australia. Man it's hot here, over there it's 13C. heh 13 going to 30. But man it was really enjoyable. Not to mention very expensive. I wasted 400 Ozzy dollars.

Time to recall some precious memories. It was a beautiful sunny day in Melbourne when I arrived. The sight of whities everywhere reminded me of the time when I used to travel the world, visiting foreign countries, meeting new faces and introduced to a new culture. How I miss those days. But now I get a chance to relive that moment, and experience the joy of being a foreigner, where everyday is an excitement.

I love winter. That is my favorite season. I love the cold and the chilling wind and the sight of empty trees. I never experience winter before, and may I say that it is everything that I expected, everything that I wanted. Being a husky guy, I tend to have larger amount of fat than what is supposed to, so it's only logical to say that my body is a good insulator. In Malaysia, due to the sweltering hot weather and humid atmosphere, I usually drown in my own sweat and suffer the unbearable amount of heat generated in me. But during winter, I can relax comfortably while others shiver in the mighty cold.

I must say that I shopped a lot. Went to lots of places but I especially like going to Victoria Market. Things are dirt cheap but still maintains a certain level of quality. I bought most of my clothes at Target since they have them at big sizes. I got a cotton pants which costs me around 70 AUD, damn that's expensive but it is one of the most comfortable pants I ever wore. Better I got sports shoes for 4 bucks, that's like 10 Ringgit. Went to DFO, visited Rivers and bought me a boots for 35 bucks. Supposed to be 70 but I got it half priced.

We rented a Holden Statesman for the 3rd day. Seriously that is the best car we've ever rode. It's so wide not to mention having a 3.5 litter that would probably produce around 250 bhp. Our first trip was to go to Mt. Buller. I have to say that it was my first time experiencing snow and it was the best time of my life. I went skiing with my sister, not knowing it was terribly hard to do it. After managing a couple of laps on a gentle slope, I decided to tackle the big dog and slope down the whole mountain. So there I was, sitting all alone on the ski chair with the chilling wind, strikes down right to my bone. I was beginning to have doubts whether I could come down alive, seeing how I performed before. But hell it went well, too well so I decided to go again. Not knowing I took the wrong ski chair, before this it only went half the mountain, now I'm heading way to the top. Not many people went there because the slope is very steep and it needs massive amount of control. Since I don't have that the only way I could stop is by falling down, in this case, rolling over. But I was having the best time of my life. My family was getting worried why I wasn't down yet since I'm only expected to go down once. They thought of getting someone to rescue me but luckily I came down safely.

The next day we went to Ballarat to visit Sovereign Hill, an old mining town. Too bad we came late so we only have an hour and a half to explore the place. But seriously it was worth every cent, as none of us regretted going there. Took lots of photos and videos and seen things we've never saw before. It looked like a Western cowboy town. We didn't manage to go on the underground mine tour as we were to late but it's a good thing we came late, since we were the only people there so it was peaceful, apart from a couple of schoolgirls.

Other than that we get to see a couple of other places with the car. We went to St. Kilda at night. My god it was so beautiful seeing the waterfront at night. It was so peaceful, it is a perfect place to bring your girlfriend on a date. My sis thought it was a good idea to watch the fireworks at Crowns Casinos, although it was rather short but seeing the hotel itself is good enough. The most wonderful lobby I ever been in. No words can describe it, it was just so wonderful. On top of that I saw the girl of my dreams. Joe met up with one of his Indonesian friends there, and that guy brought a long his girlfriend. She is so beautiful, she looks like a beautiful model and a great face indeed. But hell, I know I can never get someone like that, so I can only spend the rest of my life imagining being with a girl like that.

Went to a couple of guitar shop. Allan's Music at Bourke St. Tested a couple of amps, Orange Rockereverb 50, Vox AC30CC2. Damn nice. I also tried a couple of Ibanez Prestiges and some GIBSON Les Pauls. Bloody hell the Gibsons are so cheap compared to Malaysia's price. They showcase their Gibsons like we showcase our Epiphones. But of course I don't have any money to buy anything. Would love to go there again and actually buy something.

Going to Australia is so wonderful. I really miss it and I sure wish I can go there again. Hopefully I get to go study there next year. So pray for me aite!

Jamming Jamming!!

Last saturday I went out jamming with Joe's brother and his friends. We went to a studio called Hot Stuff, which is located somewhere in Taman Tun. Damn the studio was nice, well since it's because we picked the nicest one, RM40 per hour so each have to pay RM10. They got Marshall AVT cabs, Carvin cabs and a keyboard. Soundwise, top notch. I used the Marshall cab since I thought of leaving the Carvin stuff to the lead guitarist. But I don't know why Daniel, who is a much better guitarist than I am, chose to use a Hughes and Kettner amp.

Man that guy is damn good, he can really shred and I'm not talking about pure wanking, it's about putting theory into practice. I don't know much about theory, so that's why I signed up for guitar lessons at Music Master yesterday.

The jamming went well, although there are a lot of mistakes made. But all is well, I was really satisfied with the outcome.

But hey don't listen to me, here are some few clips. Yes I made a lot of mistakes



Ni aku main Open Your Eyes Solo (ALter Bridge). Ye ada byk silap ngan mistiming.




Ni Sweet Child o Mine duel solo. Ye aku silap dlm first half.



Rock You Like A Hurricane. ni aku x main solo tp ko tgk Daniel pny playing...flawless

Gi Lepak kt Rasta smlm...

Yesterday i lpk2 with Amin, Wari and Emir. Amin and Wari brought their girlfriends along. Hell good thing Emir didn't otherwise I'll be lonely like shit. But hey it was still fun hanging out with them since we can't do this very often. And as usual they laugh the shit out of everything I say, damn I feel like such a clown.

But hey Wari seems FATTER, so I'm not alone. Relax man I know you hv ur reasons. Tak kisah la kan sbb ko yg ada awek. Aku sebatang kara je. But seeing how romantic those 2 couples are, it makes me think, will I ever get the chance to do something like that? Or am I going to die alone? Insyaallah not but I still cannot help wondering. Nothing has ever came out so far so why should it starts now?

Feelings aside, had fun last night. It was a mistake to order that damn shisha. Cost me some greens and those two girls seems to be bothered by the smoke. Good thing I didn't took out my sin sticks. Went back at 2.30, I believe this is the latest I ever came back ever since college.

PS: fuck you man!!

Far Beyond The Sun

So far this is my best video of me playing guitar. It's a cover of Yngwie Malmsteen's Far Beyond The Sun. I think it's a bit sloppy , got various mistakes and to mention a bit off in timing. Normally I can play this fine but when you're playing for the camera, there's an added pressure to make sure you get it all in one go. But then it's hard to get it right.

To be able to play at this level, it took years of practice. Nothing can achieve without blood, sweat and tears. So if you want to be able to play like this, there's no other option but to practice. Even then I'm not even half as good as where I want to be. I'm not planning to stop playing guitar anytime soon since there's so much to accomplish.

Jason Becker, the greatest musician ever!

The first time I saw Jason Becker's photo on a Guitar World issue, I thought man this guy is a real poser and pufter. I was dead wrong. For he is the greatest musician ever to roam the earth, greater than Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Alexi Laiho, Muhammed Suicmez or any other guitarist or musician put together.

He was one talented guitarist. Filled with a bright future, he went on to become one the greatest guitarist ever. His video of him playing "Serrana" proved his technical fluency as well as his superb master over the six-string arpeggios (which is extremely hard even for the best). He joined the band Cacophony while he was 16, along with Marty Friedman and created duelling guitar solos which are out of this world. He then went on to join David Lee Roth's band, replacing the legendary Steve Vai.

Sadly at this time, he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease). It is the same type of disease which occur to Stephen Hawking. Doctor's gave him 3 years to live, but he fought on and never gave up. His body started to paralyze, rendering him from playing his guitar. Now he can only move his eyes, but he still composes by using a computer with special device to detect his eye movements. His body might be paralyzed, but his mind is as sharp as ever. Anyone who knows about him will say that his career has just begun.






Jason, you are truly an inspiration to all of us. God gave you a special task, to keep us inspired.

Exam dh dkt!!!

Assalamualaikum smua... haishh terkejut ke... phl plk selama ni aku asyik ckp omputeh tiba2 guna melayu ni... haa kalo korang smua nk tau aku pun dh muak dh asyik ckp english je... ye la kt monash tu org cina smua mne ckp melayu, kalo x reti ckp english mati la hang, dh la byk international students...

Aku rse dh sebulan lbh dh aku x post new entry.. busy beb mmg life jd engineering student ni cm babi je... assignment, report, lab la... cmne x tension....org ckp 1st year pun dh tension? mmg la mentang2 aku lg, cuti 10 bulan otak berkarat gilo2... susah nk guna blk...

Tp aku mmg buat mistake la...1st half sem ni aku mcm main2.. x buat assignment smua, x dtg klas... skrang ni result aku truk, tp xpe aku kena focus smua power aku untuk exam final ni... 3 minggu lg, x byk tu.....

Subject aku plg bimbang is dynamics ngan physics... 2 tu aku mg slalu ponteng lecture, pastu klas tuto dia selang 2 minggu.... aku ni jenis nk phm kena tgk orang lain buat kerja..... kalo nk phm kena klas tuto la.. ngan dynamic tu ramai gile org fail, cmne aku x takut nye.... tp skrang ni aku mmg btol2 bersemangat nk blaja.... aku byk berkawan ngan bangladeshi ni.... pandai tau diorang ko ingat bangla ni bodoh2 ke smua... x semestinye jgn stereotype plk...

Well anyways, aku dh graduate jatuh untuk silat cekak.... hari tu baru ada majlis ijazah... mlm sblm tu kita org buat demo.. ni demo yg pertama skali dlm sejarah untuk persatuan cekak kota damansara.. wah best giler la ramai org dtg... minah2 pun sama dtg tgk kita org beraksi... huahh hah aha..tp ada satu minah ni mmg lawa la... dia ada mse majlis ijazah tu... putih molek ngan rambutnye yg panjang lurus dan ayu muka nye... tu la aku ingat bdk baru nk join bleh la aku show off sikit tunjuk kuat nnti mse training.. rupe2nye dia dh tamat, alaa potong stim btol la.... cmne aku nk show off kalo dia lg senior dr aku... tp aku sedar diri gak sapa aku ni... mne mungkin bdk gemuk mcm aku blh kluar ngan bdk lawa2 mcm dia tu....aku mmg x percaya ngan org yg ckp pompuan ni x tgk badan sgt... sedih sedih...

tu la hikayat hidup aku ni ntuk beberapa bulan yg lepas... mintak maaf ye kepada sapa yg menunggu aku nk post topic baru.... merepek plk bkn nye ada sapa2 pun bace blog aku.... aku tulis ni pun sebab nk lepas kan tension..... tp kdg2 tu ada jgk la harapan org amik mse untuk baca aku pny blog ni... haish sedih la aku ni

I'm Just A NOOB!

After approximately one year of playing the electric guitar, with hours of practicing everyday, ranging from alternative picking to various sweep-picked arpeggios, I realize that I am no more than just a noob guitarist. Why is that? I couldn't put the scales to practical application.

When I started playing,the only thing I know what to do is just open the Guitar Pro and just read the tabs. That's all I could do, do as instructed. I couldn't come out with my own riff or shred blast on a song I don't know. I could use some pentatonic scales but it's not good enough. All those hours of practicing sweep-picking, tapping is useless if I cannot put it to good use. Aaargh, the horrible truth about music. Once you taught that you know, you actually know shit.

The Subgenre's of Metal

I've been wanting to write about this for a long time but I find it hard to categorize some of the bands. Well, some people think that metal is a division of rock music. Based on my experience plus words from those who knows better than me, I say that metal is a genre on its own. Sure Metal has the same components as rock music, such as the use of guitars, drums and bass, but so does jazz, blues or even hip-hop. But due to the harsh vocals and foul language used, metal is not accepted by the society, even if the subjects talked about is serious and concerning issues ( compared to rap & r&b who only talk about sex and drugs). Anyways lets just skip that part a moment and focus on categorizing what we call metal:

• Early Metal : The early days of metal. Pioneered by the most important metal band of all time, Black Sabbath. Compared to today's metal, this is for wimps. But don't be fooled by the slow tempo and simple chord progression, without them there could possibly be no metal at all. It is then continued by bands such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. After that the flow of metal is smooth and it quickly spreads out by itself.
• Thrash metal: This is possibly the softest form of metal available today. A firm example would have to be Metallica. The riffs are pretty much easy due to the slower tempo but people seem to go with this because the vocals are pretty much comprehensible but at the same time they can get a bit of the energy and anger generated from metal. But let me tell you, if you say that you're a metal fan but only listens to the likes of Metallica or Megadeth, then you're nothing but a poser. Dont' stop here, continue on. Thrash metal bands I actually like is Slayer and Five Finger Death Punch.
• Groove Metal: I don't really know about this one but people seem to mention it a lot. I do know that bands like Pantera or Lamb of God resides in this subgenre. I guess it's another genre that receive huge attention and bands people actually know about.
  

• Nu metal: New age metal, as the name suggests. The metal community doesn’t really accept this form of metal. I don’t know why, but maybe it’s because they tried to fuse elements of rap and hip-hop into it. Band such as Slipknot or Korn, they definitely sound different from other stuff but for Slipknot, I kinda like them. A band featuring a lineup of 9 definitely is something different. Plus the wearing of creepy masks help gain their notorious reputation. The vocals is harsh, just like usual, but this time the tone itself is very angry and changing, different from the death growls of death metal or high pitched grunts from black metal. I like both the guitarist, Jim Root and Mick Thomson. Definitely shredders since they can play so well.
• Metalcore: This is the subgenre of metal that has been receiving a lot of attention lately. Don't know what is metalcore? Think of Trivium, Atreyu and Bullet for my Valentine. One think that I realized from metalcore is that they have heavy sreaming in their songs but the chorus part is switched to singing. It's quite pretty straightforward, the chord usage is relatively simple and the solo section doesn't involve heavy use of arpeggios or complex structures, just alternate picking with a bit of sweep pick or tapping added to it. Then it is usually paired with a simple guitar duel before getting to the breakdown.
• Death Metal: This is my favorite subgenre of metal. Why? Simply because my all time favorite metal band is in it, Children of Bodom. They are just wonderful, very melodic, super guitar solos, keyboard duel, I mean it's everything you can ask for. After listening to every song Alexi Laiho has to offer, I started to get a bit bored and went to search other bands in the same subgenre. Bands like In Flames, Cannibal Corpse and Necrophagist caught my attention. It involved complex riffs and very heavy drum beating and not to mention dark death grunts ( it's different for COB and In Flames). Necrophagist for instance, involves the most complicated riffs I've ever seen and extensive usage of sweep picking and heavy arpeggios, but when comes to soloing, Muhammed Suicmez is a Yngwie Malmsteen clone. He downright copies Malmsteen's licks, style and technique of playing. Some other death metal band to take note are Carcass and Ensiferum.
  
• Black metal: I don't know much about this because I dare not get close to it. One reasons it's because they diss religion and worships satan. Come on how crazy is that, satan should be your no. 1 enemy not the other way around. Anyways the theme and atmosphere generated from Black metal bands is very dark and trecherous. It doesn't involve as much of technical skills or complex riffing as death metal, since they put a focus on satan. If you still want to check em out, go with Cradle of Filth, Behemoth or Gorgoroth. But I warn you, once you enter this road, you can never go back. Don't say i didn't warned you.

I know I missed out some other genres of metal such as power metal or speed metal, but I'm putting this down based on my experience and my knowledge. Keep in mind that this may not be 100% accepted by the metal community, so you might just wanna keep it as a guideline to yourself.

I can already imagine some people asking me why I left out Dragonforce right? Well it's simple they are nerd metal. Stupid worthless and wasting of time. They are not actually metal but try to disguise it with heavy guitar battles which they can't actually repeat in a live environment. That's why they are called Studioforce. If it wasn't for Guitar Hero 3, none of us would have ever heard of them.