Music Arrangement

At the recent music training camp held at the Centre for the Arts, organised for the NUS Niibori guitar orchestra (GENUS), Raj - who is my fellow guitar tutor for the club - and I conducted a short workshop on music arrangement for the classical guitar.

We tried to make it more like an open forum, in which the students could exchange ideas and share their own experience on the topic of arranging music for the classical guitar (CG)- or more specifically, for the CG ensemble.

Only a hand of them at the workshop had some experience in arranging music (since many of the alumni members were absent), but a few common issues were identified:

1) Difficulty in selecting suitable music to arrange for the CG

- It is certainly true that not all songs are suitable for guitar transcription. E.g. try arranging Beethoven's 5th Symphony for the CG. hehe)

2) Finding a suitable key to arrange the song in

- We introduced a couple of the more "guitar friendly" key signatures, including the usual A maj, E maj, G maj, C maj, and of course the favourite D maj. For the minor keys, common ones include A min, D min and E min (

3) Deciding on the instruments to be used

- Here, we advised the newbies to try arranging for a trio or quartet of Prime guitars as a good way of getting started. Normally a simple guitar ensemble arrangement would comprise of a lead guitar (G1) which carries most if not all the melody lines; an accompanying chord part (G2); and a bass line (G3). An additional guitar part can be written/arranged for a harmony voice or to add some counter-melodies to sweeten the arrangement.)

- Only students with some basic arranging skills should attempt to arrange for a Niibori-styled guitar orchestra, as that involves more consideration into the key signatures used (2 sets - one for the Altos/Basses, the other for the Primes/Contra basses/Guitaron) as well as understanding of the pitch range achievable and "playable" in such arrangements

Looking back on my own experience in arranging music for guitar ensemble/orchestra in the past decade, getting past the initial stages of "setting the stage right" has always the most difficult. That includes some of the above-mentioned issues (selecting song, the key, the types/number of guitars, etc), as well as the lost of "momentum" which normally occurs after arranging half the song! Normally, sitting in front of the computer screen and staring hard at those little note-heads causes a slight head-ache and after a couple of hours, the notes seem to fly out at me! :P
That probably explains why I'd taken weeks (if not months sometimes) to complete a song which I'd started arranging - normally on an impulse.
* in this aspect, our DIVO Liang Shan has become a master in arranging/transcribing for the Niibori orchestra. His "production rate" for the Expose Orchestra has been phenomenal!

With guitar quartet music now much more readily available and purchasable on the internet, my choice of arranging music for Guitaresque has been limited to certain genres of music which are lacking in the mass market, namely - chinese pop songs and evergreens!

Hmm.. I think I will try to arrange a sequel to the 老情歌组曲 in my next attempt :)

C02 & Expose

The condenser microphones I've ordered via Vpost USA has finally arrived!

The packaging of the mics

The mics come in a pair, with shock-absorbing holders and wind cushions/covers provided

A close-up view of the pencil-type condenser mic

Since Guitaresque has no upcoming performances at the moment, I'm not sure when we will get to actually use these.... (although I am presently contemplating and planning for a March/April outing at SAM again).

One other possibility of testing out the condenser mics may come in February 09 (on Valentine's Day to be exact), when the Expose ensemble takes the stage in the National Library forum area.

Expose is a Niibori ensemble comprising of many alumni players from the National University of Singapore Guitar Ensemble (Genus). The group is led by its conductor Kevin Ow - also a member of Guitaresque - who single-handedly arranges the ensemble's growing repertoire, which usually feature almost the full range of the Niibori-styled instruments. The group has performed at numerous public venues, most notably in the Esplanade Concert Hall early this year for a Beautiful Sunday performance.

(Ed: Even though none of Expose's players are professional guitarists, I personally consider Expose to be one of the finest Niibori guitar ensemble in Singapore, if not in the South-east Asia region. )

Sound amplification

Following our outing at the Singapore Art Museum, Ivan had suggested that we consider investing in a set of microphones for the quartet for our future performances. I thought that was an excellent idea!
We have now performed in many kinds of public settings, including some outdoor stages (e.g. Chinese Gardens) and one concern that kept coming up was the proper amplification (or the lack of) of 4 classical guitars in these spaces.

Well, firstly the classical guitar isn't a loud instrument by any means, and it certainly isn't built for open areas - not without the appropriate amplification, that is.

Secondly, many of these settings are not well-equipped with the proper sound amplification for acoustic instruments. Most of the time, we were given vocal microphones. Since these vocal mics can only pick up sounds directed straight at them, we would simply position one mic for each guitar - placed inches away from the guitar soundholes. The resulting effect we get are usually pretty disappointing. In short, we'd sacrificed the nice, warm tone of the classical guitar in order to obtain an amplified sound which can be described as "coarse" or "artificial" at best.

Thus I scoured the internet for forums and discussion boards to find a suitable set of microphones for Guitaresque. It is clear that we need condenser mics, which are suited for recording instrumentation and music.

Of course there are many brands names that kept popping up - Shure, Audio Technica, Rode - just to name a few big ones. There were also tonnes of different models available, and some of these condenser mics cost almost as much as our guitars!

After doing considerable reading up on this topic in the many forums and reviews, then balancing our "non-professional" needs and also taking costs/practicality into consideration, I've narrowed my search down to this - Samson C02 Pencil Condenser Mics

A review on this mic can be found at http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct05/articles/samsonc02.htm

I have since ordered a pair of these from Amazon via Vpost services. And they're on their way even as I am typing this blog! Will try to do a simple recording test when we get them and post our opinions here then.

Guitaresque at the Museum

Guitaesque put up a 1+ hour recital at the Glass Hall of the Singapore Art Museum on 15th November 2008. This is the 2nd time the quartet performed at the museum, the 1st back in 2006, although the location was actually in the Auditorium of the museum.

What was so special about this recital, however, was the fact that it was the very first ticketed performance put up by Guitaresque!

While we'd previously been playing in free-for-public gigs all over the island, nothing tests our nerves more than playing in front of an audience whom paid to listen to us. And it certainly turned out to be quite a different experience.

In total, about 80 people turned up for our recital (out of a capacity of 120), amongst whom was our invited guest - Mr Alex Abisheganaden, the founder of the NUS Niibori Guitar Orchestra (GENUS) and a highly respected figure in the classical guitar space in Singapore.



Fellow guitarist (and the quartet's close friend) Balraj turned up to assist with our sound checks before the recital started, even though he was unable to stay around to listen to our performance.
(Ed: Thanks a million, Raj!)

Based on feedback from friends and supporters in the audience, the acoustics of the Glass Hall, complemented by 2 small microphones set up in a cross-orientation, was superb!

To be honest, we were rather tense and played the opening piece - The Barber of Seville Overture - rather tentatively. There were several nervely phrases, but as the song progressed, we gradually regained our composure and ended the piece on a high.

I think we did pretty good for most of the pieces, in particular - Moon River and Three Preludes were picked up by several people as their favorites for the night. Only Funiculi Funicular was - in my opinion - played below par.

All in all, it was a successful (and enjoyable!) outing for Guitaresque! With this first ticketed performance under our belt, I hope to lead the group to greater heights, and many more wonderful performances in the years to come.

Publicity post at SAM website

Violin vs Viola

No, I've not mistakenly typed in a subject line which has seemingly nothing to do with guitar. :P

In fact, this is in relation to a conversation topic between myself and Dr Robert Casteels, the Music Director/Conductor of the NUS Guitar Orchestra. In short, he was asking me if it would be possible for a Prime guitar player - ie. someone who has not played a Niibori-styled guitar before - to pick up say, an Alto guitar within a matters of 4-5 days and be able to perform on stage with this new instrument.

(note: Dr Casteels himself does not play the guitar)

Having played and performed with Niibori instruments for more than a decade, the answer to this question seems simple enough to me. Since the Niibori instruments are essentially nylon stringed guitars (with the exception of the Cembalo set of guitars, which we are not discussing here) with 6 strings, tuned to the same interval-between-strings as the Prime guitar, and all basic classical guitar techniques apply, I was initially quite certain that the entry barrier to such a "conversion" wouldn't be too high.

So I said, "I don't believe there would be a problem... Basically the player just has to adjust to slightly smaller (in the case of Alto/Soprano guitars) or larger (in the case of the Bass/Contra bass guitars) frets, that's all! "

Dr Casteels then gave me an incredulous look and said, "But that's like asking a violin player to switch to the viola and perform with the latter in a matter of days (or vice versa)? Sure, he'd probably be able to adapt well to the new instrument since the techniques are similar, but to be able to perform? I think not..."

After some thought, I guess I have to agree with him. Sometimes, when you're too used to doing something, you tend to take things for granted.

Haha.. true of so many things in life. =)

A sneak peek...

Here's where we will be performing in 3 weeks' time...







(pictures taken from SAM website - http://www.singart.com/museum.php?page=the_building)

As we have not played there before, I'm not too sure if the sound acoustics of the place is ideal for non plugged-in instruments such as the classical guitar. Hopefully, with the help of proper amplification (ie. good mics and proper placement) the sound will come through clear and crisp!



The quartet's good friend and fellow musician - Balraj has kindly agreed to help us with the sound test on 15th Nov, even though he is unable to attend the performance in the evening, as he needs to work on Sat evenings. (Ed: Thanks Raj! Owe you one! )

My guitar case has arrived!

The fibre-glass guitar case which I'd order from Guitaraffecs has finally arrived (ed's note: Thanks, DHL - your delivery service is ever so efficient! Great stuff! )

Here're some pictures of the case:

The case has a nice shape, and it weighs a little more than 5 kg. (according to the packaging details on the delivery box it came in)

I especially love the twin straps at the back, which allows me to carry the case like a haversack.

The guitar neck is suspended by a raised cushion support. There is also a small attached pouch above which is convenient for carrying objects such as tuners and nail files, sandpaper, etc..

A interior is lined with plush cushioning. Probably not as thick and protective as some people would've liked, but then it's not as if I travel extensively with my guitar, so that is not a big issue for me. Anyway, you cant expect Accord or Karura kind of standard for a fraction of their prices! :P

New scores update

Like all group (and good) leaders, I always like to plan ahead. Even as we are busy preparing the concert repertoire for the upcoming recital in November, I have already been shopping around for the next set of scores we can tackle.

These new ones just came in! =)

A Blast from the Past

Hmm... I hope the article is not about some war criminal or something like that... :P

SAM recital updates

Looking ahead to the 15th Nov performance at the Singapore Art Museum, we are considering a slight adjustment to the originally planned repertoire. This is my current choice of pieces for the recital:

Barber of Seville Overture (Rossini)

Sicilliana (Anon)

A Furiosa (Bellinati)

American Folksongs (various)
- The Drunken Sailor
- St. James Infirmary
- Wade in the Water
- Sweet Betsy from Pike
- Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
- John Henry

Il Postino (Bacalov)

3 Preludes (Gershwin)
- Allegro ben ritmato e deciso
- Andante con moto e poco rubato
- Allegro ben ritmato deciso

Moon River (Mancini)

Funiculi Funicula (Denza)

La Cumparsita (Rodriguez)

Nashville Noel (various)

The songs which I have tentatively taken out are:

1) Waltz of the Flowers
2) Pacific Coast Highway
3) Stirfry

Going forward, we will focus on the 10 listed songs, and then decide if we can/should include some of these other ones.


OTHER UPDATES:-

• We are also actively preparing for the publicity poster for the recital - LS is supposed to work on the group photograph, while I am in-charge of the brief write-up.
• The venue of the recital has been changed to the Glass Hall
• Tickets for the recital will be $8 (free seating)

Il Postino

I have just completed the quartet arrangement for the theme song from the movie Il Postino.

This 4 guitars arrangement is based on a CD recording of the song featuring a violin soloist, backed by strings.

I have always liked this song, as I find its melody lines extremely beautiful and flowing, delivering a sense of peace and yet, a kind of yearning at the same time.

Can't wait to try this out with the guys!

Is Guitaraffecs.com a scam?

Recently, I placed an order for a fibre-glass guitar case from http://www.guitaraffecs.com/ , after reading about this site from a CG forum.

Since then, it has been about 2 weeks and absolutely no news from the US-based company. Despite repeated emails sent to their dedicated email addresses, there's been no reply whatsoever.

The problem is - I have paid for the case with my credit card (online purchase). And it is beginning to look as if the website is either:

1) an old site, which is no longer used (in which case, nothing should be charged to my credit card)

or

2) Guitaraffecs.com is simply a scam - which seems strange to me, because if you're going to run an online scam, why bother to set up a guitar site? I mean, how much "business" do you hope to get, as compared to running a similiar website for say.. electronics (I have already come across several of those) or some fake branded goods?

Anyway, there's nothing to be done except to wait. Till either I actually do receive the guitar case shipped to me home, or I check the monthly credit card bill to confirm the "scam".

Open Stage : Library@Esplanade performance

The performance was a success! We had fun playing the pieces - and we hope our audience had fun listening to us too :)


One of my colleagues took this photo for me. She said I looked "super serious" when playing the guitar (which simply implies I'm usually a joker at the workplace?!? HAHAHA)

Open Mic at the Library@Esplanade

A short writeup on the upcoming performance this Saturday:

===========================================

4 musicians tradings ideas while carrying a tune, each providing his own senses and ideas.

Together, the quartet paints a beautiful image of the Baroque landscape...

If you think that sounds like a description of a typical string quartet, you are possibly right.

Well... not really.

Not many classical music lovers here in Singapore are familiar with the sight of a classical guitar (CG) quartet - 4 classical guitars playing in an ensemble, ala the string quartet. Guitaresque is such a quartet - and we are 100% made-in-Singapore.

Guitaresque members are Shu Hann, Ivan, Alex and Kevin. We are a group of CG lovers, who have been playing together for the past 8 years though none of us are actually full-time musicians by profession. Instead, we have found time amidst our busy working schedules to meet on a weekly basis, not so much to practice and rehearse a repertoire, but more to be with friends who share a similar passion in guitar music.

The quartet has been actively promoting CG ensemble music in the local music scene for the past few years.

We have been invited to numerous public performances, including a Charity dinner function at the (then) Pine Tree Club; the Open House event for the Tampines East Community club; Fusion Feast concert at the Chinese Garden, amongst others.

In 2004, Guitaresque took part in the Singapore (Yamaha) Guitar Festival and won the first prize for the Ensemble category. Since then, we have been invited to play at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM), where we played a one-night recital inthe SAM Auditorium, as well as in conjunction with the Engraving the World exhibition, showcasing music mainly from the Baroque era.

Come 6th September, the quartet will take the stage in the library@esplanade for the second time (we played in the Open Mic event back in 2006), and we hope to bring to the audience an afternoon of easy-listening guitar music. Expect evergreen songs like Mancini's Moon River, the theme song from the Godfather, as well as one of the perenial favourites of many guitarists - Cavatina (from the movie Deer Hunter).

This performance acts as a prelude (or appetizer, of sorts) to our upcoming recital at the SAM Auditorium later this year (November 8th). More information on that performance will be available at a later stage, so keep a look out at this blog site.

Whether you are an avid classical guitar fan or not, you will surely enjoy the soothing music played to a backdrop of artistic films and books in the classy surroundings of the library@esplanade. So do join us on 6th September 2008!

See you there!

New scores

Just ordered some new scores for Guitaresque:

1) Barber of Seville Overture (Rossini)
2) Impressions of Habanera (Laurent)
3) Folie d'Espagne/Greensleeves (Koch)

Together with some others which I have ordered in the last round (including the 4 Elements), I believe we have enough to prepare a whole new repertoire for our upcoming performance(s), after the SAM outing. :)

How exciting!!

Rehearsing for the Library@Esplanade performance

Before we know it, the Library@Esplanade performance is just 1 month away.

We are currently busy rehearsing the repertoire for this performance. And one of the key challenge for us, in my opinion, is our "stamina". Let me explain.

There are a couple of songs (for each one of us) in this round of repertoire that we've chosen, that really makes our fingers (both LH and RH) feel the hurt. These songs are probably different for each one of us - ie. some songs which are really demanding on 1-2 players, but simply a breeze for the other 2.

Take a song like Lotus Eaters. This reggae-styled song from Andrew York's collection of brilliant compositional pieces makes OG and myself feel so much strain that towards the end of the song, we'd normally breath a sigh of relief (that it's finally over). It's like running the 2.4km run (in Singapore, this is the de facto distance for our Fitness test) and finally reaching the last 400m.
The chords and rhythm are fast changing (and all chords require the barring technique), and we really have to just hang in there and sustain it till the end.
On the other hand, Alex & Divo's guitar parts for this song are relatively simpler - well, with the exception of the improvisation runs of course :P

Another song in our repertoire this time is a collection of American Folk songs- which includes songs like Sweet Betsy from Pike, Drunken Sailor, John Henry, etc..
This time round, it's Alex's turn to "suffer" (hahaha..). For some of these songs, his part consist of some RH-finger gymnastics, and you can almost see smoke coming out of his head during our rehearsals of these songs (haha. kidding lah!)

Then, for Haruyo Koi, OG and Alex will sweat it out during all the duet segments.

Of course, there's always the terrifying A Furiosa which (when played at crochet = 110 <= indicated tempo, aka LAGQ's speed) will cause all our fingers to twirl up in a futile attempt to hit all the notes in the proper time. :)

Fortunately, there're always the R&R pieces for us to 'recuperate' in-between our ordeals. Thank goodness we included Strauss's Waltz medley, Cavatina , Moon River and.... Around Mi (ops! Sorry OG, maybe not so for you. hehe!)

The Divo's 7 string guitar

The Divo's 7 string guitar has finally arrived! It is a spruce-top instrument, with an additional string (A), which allows the player to get the extra "ommphh" when playing some bass lines notes/runs.

I tried my hands on it during our rehearsal last Sunday, and found out that the additional 7th string actually changes the whole experience of playing a CG! It is definitely NOT a case of simply playing a normal 6-stringed guitar, and hitting the 7th when the music demands it. Rather, it involves getting used to a larger fretboard (wider), a different right-hand positioning (since now it feels "weird" to rest your thumb on the lowest string for stability and balance), not to mention becoming 'crossed-eyed' when glancing down at the fretboard/strings - there just seemed to be so many strings all of a sudden! :PP

Anyway, I'm so glad that the Divo has finally gotten his instrument. It has been a long and hard struggle for the rest of us (hahaha!). But yeah - it's done at last: We can now tackle some additional low notes on some of LAGQ's notoriously difficult scores!

See below for Divo's entry on his new instrument (taken from his blog) :
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Haha... my 7-string guitar has finally arrived. Just picked it up yesterday!The sound is pretty decent, the 7-string bass sounds a little like contrabass though. I was running through the notes in "Waltz of the flowers" and suddenly realised that there was a fret extension up to the 22nd fret! High D!

Previously I asked Yudi to help me ask if they made extension up to high C, Yudi got back to me to say that the asturias people don't do it. It was a little disappointing, since I thought I was making the guitar for the quartet, might as well solve all the range problems we encountered in our scores. But hey... I was so surprised to find the extension done nicely and beyond what we needed. Hahaha...

Must thank Shuhann for helping a lot in this... the looking and sourcing for the guitar, the negotiations and everything else. Without his grizzly intervention, I probably would be guitar-less for still quite some time yet.

BAM guitar cases

Ivan and I were recently talking about getting new homes for our guitars. (No, we're not selling our lovely "mistresses"! )

Rather, we were looking for premium guitar cases to house them.

A quick search on the internet yielded a couple of choices, and eventually we agreed that the BAM cases afforded a good balance of protection/durability/looks/price(!! Accords and Karuras are simply too expensive! )

Furthermore, I actually saw the actual BAM classical guitar case sometime back, being sold here in Singapore - it was in the Frank Brothers Violins shop located in the Esplanade.

Unfortunately, when we decided to contact the shop, we were told the case had sold out, and new orders were "arriving soon", but no specific time frame could be given. Apparently, BAM (a French company) had decided to only manufacture limited numbers of these cases, and on demand only.

We also tried our luck at SynWin (which listed the BAM case amongst its product category), but met with the same response.

Looks like our lovely "mistresses" have to wait slightly longer, before we can find new homes for them. :)

CD update - Black Opal (San Francisco Guitar Quartet)

Probably not many people in this part of the world (read: I am in Singapore) have heard about this group - San Francisco Guitar Quartet. To be honest, before I came across this recording, I have also not heard of them.

Some may say that it's because there are simply too many wannabes guitar quartet around, and many of them are only "so-so" in performing standards. That is true. But after listening to this recording, I have to say that the SFGQ are NOT one of those so-so groups. They are very impressive! I am only an amateur guitarist residing in small Singapore, so what do I know right?
Well, see what Scott Tennant has to say (of SFGQ):

"The SFGQ play with a fresh enthusiasm and life force which one rarely experiences in even the most seasoned performers. Their performance of Dusan Bogdanovic's 'Introduction and Dance' is like a gypsy caravan springing to life." -Scott Tennant

I think many a times, we only get to listen to those groups whom are marketing to this part of the world. Afterall, we are a small market, and many distributors hesitate to bring in these recordings, in the fear that there would not be demand for them. In the end, most of us here only know LAGQ, the Romeros, and a couple of others famous names. Which is a shame, really. Since many of these new, up-n-coming groups as actually really good and worth a listen.

Ok, back to this recording...

I have not really had time to listen through this recording more than once (thus able to comment in more detail), but from what I've heard, it doesnt disappoint at all. I liked their rendition of Boccherini's "Introduction and Fandango", as they injected their own ideas into the piece. But in particular, the "Introduction and Dance" piece by Bogdanovic was masterful! It really sounded like what Scott Tennant mentioned above ~ a gypsy caravan. In fact, i thought it sounded distinctly Arabic in flavour, invoking images of mysterious veiled women dancing to the tune, and snakes and daggers around the corner, in a dangerous (and exciting!) adventure in an ancient world.
( haha... now I sound like I'm describing an RPG in Playstation3!)

Incidentally, I also picked up SFGQ's 2nd CD, titled "Compadres", along with 2 other guitar quartet's recordings. Shall see if these are gems as well...

CD update - Nostalgica (Saffire)

Recently, I have been re-listening to a CD borrowed from Mr A some time back. It's by the Australian Guitar Quartet - Saffire.

This album "Nostalgica" includes the world premiere of a piece written for Saffire by the renowned composer Nigel Westlake, as well as new arrangements of pieces by Bartok, Piazzolla, Deep Purple, Bill Wheelan (composer of Riverdance).

I particularly liked their quartet arrangement of Riverdance! Wonderful, exciting and virtuoso guitar ensemble stuff! A pity they do not sell their arrangement(s), otherwise this is a gem of an arrangement.

Here's the album's song list:

1. Rumba Nostálgica (J. Martin; arr. Koch)

2. Romance del Diablo (A. Piazzolla; arr. Grigoryan)

3. Tango en Skaï (R. Dyens)

4-9. Romanian Folk Dances (B. Bartok; arr. Koch)

10. Riverdance (B. Whelan; arr. Field)

11. She Moved Through The Fair (trad.; arr. Koch)

12. American Wake (B. Whelan; arr. Field)

13. The Salley Gardens (trad.; arr. Koch)

14-19. Six Fish (N. Westlake)

20. Highway Star (Deep Purple; arr. Koch)

Prime Quartet vs Niibori-styled Quintet

I have always wondered about the potentials of a all-Prime (guitar) quartet versus a Niibori-styled quintet.

For friends who are unfamiliar with the Niibori-styled guitars, these are guitars designed and constructed (mainly) by the Niibori Guitar Academy in Japan. They are a range of different sized (hence tone and pitch) guitars built to resemble the instruments pitch-range of a full symphonic orchestra - the brainchild of Dr Hiroki Niibori.

In short, there are smaller guitars such as the Soprano and Alto guitars - which covers the violins in the orchestra; the Prime (normal) guitars - representing the middle voice, or perhaps the violas; the Bass guitars - the cellos; and the Contra Bass/Guitaron - which take the part of the Double-Bass. Of course, in a full Niibori setup, there are more instruments such as the Sopranino guitars, as well as the cembalos.. but let's not go there.

Thus, a Niibori-styled quintet would typically consist of maybe 2 Altos, 1 Prime, a Bass and a ContraBass/Guitaron. They would be the equivalent of a string quintet in the more commonly known sense.

A all-Prime quartet, however, consists of 4 identically pitched intruments guitars playing in an ensemble. I believe this is quite a rarity in the sense that seldom do we come across a setup like 4 violins, or 4 cellos, etc..

I cannot comment on the stringed instrument aspect, since I am neither a player nor a great fan in the first place. But having played in a Niibor quintet (in the now-defunt Masak) and now playing in a prime quartet Guitaresque, I begin to wonder about the different possibilities and potentials of these 2 setups.

First, it is clear that the Niibori quintet gets the points for pitch range. It has the Alto guitar, which stretches the upper range of the normal prime guitar by another half an octave. It also has the Guitaron (or Contrabass), which stretches the lower register by a whole octave. So essentially, you could play music which affords a 1.5 octave extra worth of notes, in terms of its pitch expanse. That is surely a great advantage.

Having said that, I cannot but feel that the prime quartet has a distinct edge when it comes to versatility of music that could be interpreted. For instance, I've always found the Niibori guitars a little wanting when they are used to play Brazilian (e.g. samba) and jazz music. Somehow, because of the tone or sound quality produced by the Altos, it makes the general output sound rather "mandolin-like". That, to me, sometimes makes the song rather "old" sounding - ie. it sounds like period music from the Handel or Vivaldi era.
On the other hand, a Prime quartet has better range of control when it comes to creating specific tones. As an example, it is much easier to play tasto or ponticello on the prime guitar than on the Alto (or even Bass) guitar. Techniques such as rasguerdo and (artificial) harmonics also are performed and more importantly, sound better on the normal prime guitars.

Of course, the skill level of the players ultimately determines how well the ensemble performs, but given the fact that the Niibori Academy players are arguably some of the best ensemble guitar players in the world (especially when it comes to coordination and syncrhonised playing), I still cringe when I listen to recordings of some of their attempts to play jazz or music not belonging to the baroque/classical eras.
You can argue that it could be due to the quality (or lack of) of the arrangement itself, but surely, that is also a reflection of the limitations of the Niibori instruments per se.

To be fair, I do feel that Niibori quintet setup, besides adapting wonderfully to period music, also get high marks for ballet-style contemporary music. Just listen to their rendition of some of Richard Clayderman's classic pieces like Coup de Coeur or Marriage d'Amour and you'll know what i mean. :)

Our guitars (part 3)

Finally, what about the DIVO.

Well, to date he has NO guitar. (in case you're wondering, NO is not a brand name.)

He plays Alex's old Esteve guitar - which only recently has been 'relieved' of its brownish bass strings - during our rehearsals. As for performances, he'd usually borrow Adrian's Alhambra guitar.

For years he has claimed that it is just due to the "lack of opportunity" of finding his ideal guitar, so he wouldnt settle for anything else. And when asked about what his ideal guitar should be, he mentioned things like '7 string', 'must feel heavy', etc.
* for more information, refer to Ivan's entry on these "pre-requisites".

But FINALLY, I managed to nail the instrument down, and made him commit to it. We are now awaiting the arrival of the 7-string guitar, scheduled to come sometime in July this year. Will provide more update then.

p.s. guess who made all the inquiries, through phone calls, SMSes, etc regarding the guitar? Certainly not Liang Shan himself... Now you know why we call him DIVO.

Our guitars (part 2)

Ivan plays a Juan Hernandez guitar (model: Concierto). It is a spruce top instrument, and from what I recalled - when I test-played it with him about a year back - it is a really beautiful sounding instrument.

Now, you may wonder why I have to "recall" the sound. Don't I get to hear it every week during our rehearsal sessions? Yes, indeed I do. But the truth is, every guitarist has their own feel, own perception (not to mention individual technique also affects the sound/tone production to a large extent!) about the sound from a guitar. To me, I am only able to relate how this guitar sound, relative to another guitar which I have played. It is rather meaningless to listen to a guitar sound that I played (say, on guitar A), then listen to another guitarist play guitar B, and then go, "Guitar A sounds better/worse than guitar B".

* Some fellow Genus members (of my "era") might remember Professor Manji from the Niibori Academy. He was the visiting professor at our Genenis Camp many years back. I distinctly remember, till this day, that he picked up one of our lower-range Alto guitars (definitely one of those hopeless TE300), and played it so effortlessly to make it sound like an NA20 or better! So there!

Well, back to Juan Hernandez, Ivan's guitar luthier (did I mention that the headstock design looks gorgeous? :P ). Anyway, here's a little excerpt from his website:

http://www.fernandezmusic.com/JuanHernandezGuitars.html

Juan Hernández--Constructor of Guitars.

Made in Alboraia (Valencia), Spain

Juan Hernández Iranzo was born in Turís (Valencia) Spain in the late 1940's. He began learning guitarmaking in the Francisco Esteve workshop at age15. There he became an "oficial" (sort of a certified guitarmaker) and later he became production manager. For many years he has been involved with the construction of the deluxe models made at Esteve. Now, along with the assistance of 3 artisans, he is proud to offer a limited number of fine guitars under his own label made of very good woods and constructed with care and expertise.

Our guitars (part 1)

Alex and I both play Kohno guitars (both are Model #30).

I'd acquired my Kohno 30 many years back, and have been pretty satisfied with its sound and ease of play so far. It is a spruce top instrument, and was built in 1980. I got it from the 2nd hand guitar dealer - Michael Ho years ago (when I was still schooling) and even then, it must have been 2nd or 3rd hand ownership.
Perhaps my only complaint would be that I sometimes wish for a more mellow and 'boom-ier' voice to my guitar, rather than the crisp, clean and distinct tone produced by this instrument. That said, I personally feel it is a terrific instrument to play Bach's music! =)

Alex, on the other hand, had only recently purchased his Kohno 30 (also made in the early 80s, though I cant remember exactly which year). It was entirely by chance that an acquintance of ours - Charles (who is, by the way , an aspiring luthier himself ) informed us that he is helping someone to sell this instrument. When I heard that it was a Kohno 30, I immediately "alerted" Alex, and we went to his workshop to test-play the guitar. Within days, he decided to grab it. I dare say he's made a great decision, considering the often ridiculously high prices quoted for some brand new (but rather mediocre) instruments these days. It was a steal at the price he paid for it.

Below is some information regarding Mr Masaru Kohno (taken from his workshop website - now run by fellow luthier Masaki Sakurai): http://www.kohno-guitar.org/


Masaru Kohno

1926 Masaru Kohno was born.
1948 He started making guitars.
1960 He went to Spain and studied making guitars.
1967 He awarded the GOLD MEDAL in Elizabeth's Concourse Belgium, international competition in guitar lutherie.

Dec. 13 1998 He died of renal cancer.

New scores update...

I heard's Tokyo Guitar Quartet's rendition of Francis Kleyjans' "Los Cuatro Elementos" (which means "The 4 Elements"), and was instantly attracted by the interesting melodies and intricate runs.

After sourcing around for the score (which apparently has been out of print at many online stores all over the world), I finally managed to get it!

A quick look at the scores showed it to be tougher than I'd first imagine. It shall be kept as consideration for Guitaresque's future performances.

New Scores update...

Some time ago, I bought 3 books containing scores arranged by the Tokyo Guitar Quartet, as well as 2 of their CD recordings.

Perhaps not many people in Singapore would have heard of this quartet, since we have a rather limited choice of CDs available here (even LAGQ CDs can be difficult to find at times...sigh).
But having listened to their recordings - which subsequently prompted me to purchase their scores - I have to say, they are really very good!

My personal favourites include their arrangement of Funiculi Funicula (haha.. Liang Shan absolutely hates this one, since he has an extreme finger/chords etude to do throughout the song), as well as the beautiful Moon River, which was the theme song from the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

Currently, Guitaresque is working on a couple of pieces (including the 2 above-mentioned) as part of our repertoire for the Library performance and later the recital at Singapore Art Museum.

The way we were

Just a little history about Guitaresque...
It's probably not of interest to anyone else except ourselves, as a way to keep track of how we became what we are now - which was part of the reason why I wanted to have this blog set up.

I have spent nearly one and half decade at GENUS (NUS Guitar Ensemble), having joined the group in 1994 as a freshman in the University. Joining a demanding course of study like Chemical Engineering (which was a mistake!??! but that's another story...), I found it essential to liven up my varsity life. Thus began my life as a guitar orchestra player in GENUS.

Throughout the years, members joined the group and leave (mostly when they graduate). Many good guitarists have passed through our doors throughout the years I've been in GENUS. For some, their guitar journey continues even after they leave GENUS. These are usually people who are into solo guitar playing. Many are still wonderful guitarists whom I am proud to have played alongside with in GENUS.
For others, unfortunately, their passion for the instrument (and some for music itself) diminished over the years, and eventually the guitar became a white elephant in the house, or something which they pass on to their younger siblings or nieces/nephews.

In 1999, I managed to find 3 like-minded players - Balraj (aka Raj), Kar Mun and Ivan, who like me, liked the idea of forming a more "permanent" guitar quartet so that we could continue to jam pieces and to play as a group, even after we have graduated from NUS and move on with our lives. We called ourselves the "Genres Guitar Quartet".
This particular set up lasted merely 2 months, as Raj realised he could not afford the time for our weekly practice sessions.

That's when Karen Ann was recruited as a more-than-able replacement. She was an excellent solo guitar player, even at the time, and she quickly assimilated into the group - becoming our 开心果with her brand of quirky and witty humour. We had a "rebranding" meeting, during which we came up with the name "Guitaresque".

This time, we lasted for slightly more than a year. In 2000 (year end), Kar Mun had a change of heart (actually, it was more or less a group decision, since he obviously had lost interest in our practices) and left the group. Again, we were 3.

In came Liang Shan, who was then still a relatively new member in GENUS. Still, we kinda felt that he had the "right attributes" to fit into our quartet. ( he was quite crazy... about music, about guitar, basically he was just a crazy and fun guy! I mean, just look at his dressing and and his hairdo these days, and you'd agree. hahaha )

We had a couple of years of good fun making music and entering competitions. In fact, we took the 2nd prize in the Yamaha Guitar Festival in 2001, for the ensemble section, narrowing losing to another group of GENUS participants (I remember it was a 10-man strong Niibori team consisting of Michelle, ATKS and gang). We came back in 2004 and took the 1st prize, playing the fast and exciting piece by Patrick Roux- Carnival!

In 2005, Karen left the group and went travelling round the world with her fiance, and we were left again with 3 remaining members: Ivan, Liang Shan and myself.

Fortunately, we found Alex (who had been a member of the earlier defunct group "The Canoners"), and Guitaresque was back in business once more.

The quartet has become more active in performing in public arenas in the last 2 years, and we have put up a series of performances at the Library@Esplanade and the Singapore Art Museum in 2006 and 2007. The experience have been so wonderful, that we decided to repeat the acts again at these 2 locations. So later this year (in September and November respectively), we shall be performing once again at the library, where we can have a close and cozy environment to interact with our audience; and then at the SAM, which features excellent accoustics for the classical guitar sounds.

Going forward, I am looking into new and exciting places for us to perform in, and the Esplanade performance halls (be it the concert hall, or maybe more likely the Recital studio) would seem a good target for us to aim for in the future.

Liang Shan's 7 string guitar wishlist

Courtesy of OG (good one bro! haha..)

For body, pls use top-of-the-grade Brazilian rosewood for sides and back. If possible, look into Church-door design for back. Also spruce for top (as indicated by DIVO), however, use high quality ones like in close-grinded, prefably have some bear claws would be nice.

As usual, ebony for finger board but use titanium metal for fretting coz it might hurt DIVO fingers and the insurance will cry. Look at installing RODGERs' tuners (with snake-wood), no imitation thank you. Body length of 650 mm would be ok.

Having a 20th fret is forthgone conclusion. Else why he buys a 7-string other than to play and sound like an orchestra? Also, ask Yudi to construct raised finger-board to facilitate the runs at the 15th to 20th frets.

Lacquer-finish is acceptable.

He is still considering adding an arm-guard at side (ala arm-rest). Ask Yudi to throw in guitar-support wrapped in premium leather as DIVO hates the sit the classical way. Also, throw in life-time free-delivery of 7strings to DIVO residence would be critical in making DIVO commit.

5k is for planning purpose, other cost just add in accordingly. ^^

And for heaven-sake, make the guitar weigh like a M-16 at least.

Archive - Engraving the World (performing at the art gallery)

Guitaresque performed at the Singapore Art Museum on 21st July 2007, as part of the "Engraving the World" event held there.
We gave 2 half-hour shows in the afternoon (I think it was at 345pm and 445pm respectively), each with different sets of repertoire (this will be updated later - Liang Shan being our group's "score keeper" )
Anyway, it was a wonderful experience playing in a cosy environment, with the audience seated (on the floor) barely an arm's length away from us. =)
Here are some of the photos we took on that day:

Archive - Open Mic performance at Library@Esplande (Sept 2006)

(taken from an old blog entry dated 17th Sept 2006 - Good fun and great nerves)

I have to say it was predictable. And to be honest, rather expected really.
And i'm not talking about the mood and atmosphere we were greeted with at the library@Esplanade yesterday.

16th September 2006 was the first time Guitaresque had an hour long performance indoors, all by ourselves (not as part of Genus or with other small groups) - playing to an actual 'listening audience'. That means, we were not playing to some big shots in a dinner setting, where we could basically just smoke out and keep repeating repertoire without anyone noticing (ala Pine Tree club charity dinner); or in an open stage in a garden where the sound probably sounded crap regardless of what we played (ala Chinese garden performance).

This was really a good experience. Nice, appreciative audience. Rather cosy and warm ambience lightings, and at least decent sound (it wasn't as good as playing in my home studio of course! ). Many of our friends came to listen to us and to lend their support. The usual Genus alumni gang were there - Mich, Wai, Sherrie, Mel, HF, JQ, JH, Moh. Some of the SMU Guitarissimo members popped by too. I also had 'past' and 'present' colleagues coming to "support" me - really appreciate the gesture - Lina & Sandra! :)

But what was really predictable and expected was the fact that some of us 'froze up' during the performance. I think it is precisely the fact that we knew that we were being watched and listened to by an attentive audience, coupled with a video camera pointing at us at the same time, that created the nerves and anxiety.

Haha.. i cant recall ever hearing Owls play the Habanera melody line wrongly in ALL our practices. But it happened.

Barber couldnt get his fingers to listen to him as he attempted those darn Aragonaise scales. He even ended Canon 2 bars before we did - causing alarming and disbelief stares from Owls and myself. ( i was too stunned to realise what OG was doing )

The Telemann concerto sounded like we were sight-reading it for the first time. I think the passing of melodies were completely missing as fingers were slow to react to the panicked mind.

I messed up several arppeggios (those darn pizz!) in Canon too. Not to mention the usual nerves when playing the art. harmonics in 老情歌.

But OG kept the best for last. (wahahah!) The 'ad-lib' display in our encore showed that he was back at his best. I could barely contain my mirth as we completed the supposedly romantic Entrac'te.

As the leader of the group, i feel that we may have to challenge ourselves a little differently going forward. While we are certainly progressing in terms of our technical abilities and being able to tackle more challenging repertoire (e.g. A Furiosa, Libertango); there remains this aspect of us not being able to rise to the occasion when we are in front of an audience.

As a group, our 默契 is certainly fantastic. We know one another well, and our weekly practices give us gives us time to gel and to develop our group dynamics.

Individually, as players, we need to develop our self-confidence too. Whether playing guitar to or addressing an audience is actually a test of our own self-confidence and esteem. I certainly still feel some nerves when doing so, but it really helps me to think "the fact that i'm here performing/speaking to you (ie. audience) means that i am probably the subject matter expert in this particular topic. So even if i fumble along the way, as long as i show the kind of confidence that experts normally do, then you wouldn't even know i'm "smoking" you."

* ironically, it's this kind of thinking that helped me 'survive' at my workplace too. Given the kind of people i sometimes have to deal with (e.g. bankers and traders), you have to demonstrate confidence in your product knowledge (no matter how cock-up the product sometimes can be), else you risk losing all credibility.

I think some members of Guitaresque need a little more of this confidence-training/booster than others. But all of us will benefit if we do not keep to our own comfort zone, playing good music behind closed doors, in a comfy studio which seduces us into thinking we are better players than we really are.

More performances for us, definitely. And Genus seems a good place to start. :)

Archive - An Evening of Classical Guitar Music performance at SAM

(taken from old blog entry dated 1st April 2007)

It was an evening I will remember for a long time. Great ambience, superb sound, an appreciative audience, and we played our hearts out.

First, the venue. I believe we hit the jackpot this time, when I decided to write in for a venue sponsorship from the Singapore Art Museum. They promptly replied and we got a performance slot on 31st March 2007. Initially, my idea was to play in the Glass Hall, which I had previously attended a concert in, and it looked pretty cool. But as luck would have it, the Glass Hall was already booked by another group that night, and SAM offered us the Auditorium instead. And what a nice place that turned out to be, especially for a delicate sounding instrument like the classical guitar. It wasn't too large, but just enough to seat 150 people or so. Here's how the place looked it (picture taken during our sound test earlier on the day of performance):

Lots of friends and well wishers came to lend us support, including our dear mentor - Maestro Alex Abisheganaden, who had nothing but kinds words for us after the performance. He liked the more spanish sound pieces in the repertoire, which included Sevilla and Fandango, but less of the contemporary ones like Harumi suite and (a little surprisingly) Carnaval.Ivan's guitar teacher, Ernest Kwok (arguably one the best local classical guitarist of our times) also came by to listen to our performance. He too was very appreciative and even suggested we play for a Yamaha event, featuring 4 silent guitars (plugged in)! haha.. that would be interesting :P

Some of my colleagues - Sandra and Thomas (my usual supporters! yay!) came, as well as Wilson, who commented, "whoa! i didnt know classical guitar could be played in so many ways!" Ex-colleagues Lina and Ken also came to lend their support and reminded me at the end of the recital to call them for future performances.

My old buddies wolf, tpk, pete and Tian How also came, some with their spouses and even kids. I didnt really get to talk to them much (i was busy 'entertaining' some of my other more inquisitive guests.haha), but i hoped they have had a great evening.

As for our repertoire, i felt we started off a little shaky (what's new.. cold fingers, anxiety..etc) with Sevilla, but by Cavatina we were moving along pretty ok.

Telemann's Concerto in D was pretty standard, some missing runs here and there, but generally I felt we fared much better than we did in the Open Mic event @ Esplanade Library just a couple of months back.

Baia was smooth and the tempo was great (for once!), and once we went into the tune, we never looked back, and song moved into good "cruise-control" mode. Chinese oldies medley was as usual, one of the audience's favourite, its catchy and familiar tunes, with some techniques (pizz, artificial harmonics, etc.) thrown in. Alex told me later that his 2 RP students who were there, actually asked him for the scores! :)

Harumi was, well... very Andrew York. ie. very modern and "mood" music. Not surprisingly, Along the Edge managed to put some ppl almost into sleep mode - not that we played badly though. I thought our rendition of Blue Ocean Echo/Country Gentleman came through quite well last night. (I'll have to watch the video to hear how we sounded though)

Lastly, our 2 fast-n-furious finale was the highlight of the night! I thought we played Fandango very, very well - not too much bones to pick on that one. And Carnaval's signature whistle-start and the all-time-fav "OOmmpH!" brought the concert to a nice high and close.

*phew*

One more performance in our pockets, and this time, we gained some valuable experience playing to a closed door (proper hall) seated audience. I'm definitely looking forward to our next excursion soon!

If I may say so myself - Well done, Guitaresque!

Opening post

After more than 9 years since its formation in 1999, I have finally decided to set up a simple blog site for our guitar quartet.

Reason being - I wanted it to be a somewhat more "transparent" as well as simpler way for us to look back at the journey we took (in terms of our music then & now, and our playing standards too!), and hence learn to improve going forward as a quartet, hopefully for many more years.

* Had I been more web-savvy, I would have prefered to set up a Guitaesque dedicated website, since I'd be able to upload videos and sound clips from our previous endeavors. But hey, I just an average web-surfing joe eh, so what do I know about all these HTML stuff..blah blah blah..??? :P

Finally, for our friends and fellow guitar afficionados, this is where I will be posting announcements of our future performance details.

So, keep a look out for us! :)