Long Overdue Updates

So, it’s been a very long time since the last time aku update korang. Well, I’ve been busy. Why? Unless korang follow aku kat facebook, you probably wouldn’t know what’s going on.

Let’s see. Last summer, lepas vacation, aku start belajar main softball. Masuk team company.

Pastu company beli meja ping pon plak. So aku pon start main ping pong. :D

Fall semester pulak, aku masuk class piano kat community college. And my instructor thought that I should skip the most beginning level. So dia masukkan aku ke class yang atas sket. So I had to work extra hard to keep up with the syllabus. I did very well in the class.

Here’s me playing part of the Moonlight Sonata. Tapi ni bukan syllabus class la. Saje gatal. This song is way above my level. But not bad kot, baru bape bulan main. :D

 

Pastu, I got engaged. So, some time in 2012, aku akan balik Malaysia for good to settle down. Because of that aku pon busy shopping. What have I been buying? Let’s see.

That’s Limited Run Gibson Flying V 7-String. I was surprised that it only costs around $1300. Lepas discount dapat dalam $1100. I thought why not? It’s limited production. Pastu feature dia aku blom ada, such as 7-string, EMG pickups, and fixed bridge. Pretty good guitar for the money. I preordered one in July, got it in October kot. Gibson is slow.

After that aku start beli rackmounted gears, like Pod HD Pro, Presonus Studio Channel tube mic preamp etc.

In September I bought a bass, 5-string Spector Legend Classic. I got it for like $500 bucks, and it’s regularly like $750 kot. Not bad for the money.

Late November pulak was Thanksgiving, so the discount would be good. Aku memang plan nak  angkut Gibson Les Paul Standard satu. But then aku jadi tamak. So I went for this Gibson Les Paul Supreme.

Couldn’t help it. This baby is gorgeous. AAAA carved flame maple top, and unlike other Les Pauls, the back is also AAAA carved flame maple. The headstock has some nice inlays too. Interestingly, I bought it on a rainy day in November, so November Rain was the first song that I jam with this baby. :D

As if that’s not enough, the week after that I bought two tube amps: Fender Deluxe Reverb and Line6 DT25 to go with my POD HD, along with a couple of Shure SM57 and Behringer FCB1010 midi pedal. Yup, that was a very costly November.

So yeah, in 2012, I bought 4 guitars, one bass, and a whole bunch of gears. And I’m not done yet. This is my chance to get all the toys that I can get. Still planning to get a few more guitars, an electric drum and other gears.

To save money, in December aku pindah ke area ghetto. :( That way I can save about $400 bucks per month. Moving was very time consuming too.

And then a few weeks ago aku start buat rack case, since I couldn’t find what I want in the market. Check out this album.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100576789306435.2743752.3407023&type=3&l=616bf76869

Except for the tuner, everything in the rack was bought after July 2011. I still got space for more. :D

 

Future Plans

So yeah, I’ve been very busy learning many different things, buying the toys that I want. And I’m not done yet with those. I haven’t really been playing guitar to be honest.

Skrg aku amik satu lagi class piano, and it seems even harder than before. So I’ll have to focus on that. Tak lama lagi (maybe even this next week) aku akan dapatkan Electronic Drum set. So I’m gonna be learning that too. Not sure if I’ll take a lesson yet.

And then of course aku kena plan my wedding. Kinda hard since I’m here in the US still. Thankfully I have a very understanding fiancé. And we don’t plan to have a big fancy wedding too. The wedding will actually take place about one month after aku sampai kat Malaysia.

So yeah, other things have to be prioritized. Taun lepas aku released dua video jek. Taun ni, maybe tak kot. Paling banyak pon satu jek, probably not until the end of the year kalau sempat. I’ll try to write a few articles, maybe update some pages of the website. But video and TAB take too much time.

So rasanya 2013 baru aku back to full speed. Hopefully as productive as 2010.

Add me on Facebook if you want. You’ll see what I'm up to better.

 

Fender

Oh, sebelum lupa. Actually last year aku beli satu buku pasal history Fender Stratocaster. As an engineer, I was impressed with the innovation that Leo did. The Stratocaster has revolutionized electric guitars as we know it. Think about it. Ibanez JEM and many other great guitars are all variants of stratocaster, which is why they’re called “superstrats”.

And I’ve also become more and more interested in blues. When I get the time later, I’ll spend some time studying it. And aku tak pernah ade influence. But now I think I want to be influenced by Eric Clapton.

I’ve become more and more in love with Strats.

Last year kan aku pegi melawat kilang Taylor. I’ve always complained why Fender tak bukak kilang dia untuk public tours. Rumah aku pulak dalam setengah jam jek dari kilang dorang kat Corona.

Guess what? They posted on facebook that they’re opening it for the public. So I took a few hours off from work to go to the first ever Fender factory public tour. Check out this album.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100420800394465.2714017.3407023&type=3&l=daab72a3ab

That was so much fun. :D I was so lucky, sikit lagi nak balik Malaysia pastu dorang kasi visit pulak. Cantek.

I’ve been there like 3 times so far. Next week nak gi skali lagi bawak kawan. Maybe a few more times after that sebelum balik Malaysia. :D

Here’s my second visit.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100420800394465.2714017.3407023&type=3&l=daab72a3ab

and yeah, I saw the legendary Abigail Ybarra at Fender Custom Shop. That lady has been with Fender since the 50’s kot. Even Jimi Hendrix owned some of her pickups.

Yup, I own 2 Ibanez, 2 Gibsons, but I’m a Fender fanboy. I still don’t have a Fender guitar though.

____________________________________

Tambahan.

I strongly urge you to join this facebook group, Guitarist Nusantara. Bagus group ni, banyak otai-otai bertukar-tukar pendapat. Noobs jangan segan, dorang welcome soalan. Just don’t ask them something too general and obvious like “macam mana nak terer main gitar”, since the answer is of course “practice a lot”. Ya la aku suka gak nak jawap soalan korang, but like I said, I’m very busy now. And I’m sure kat sana lagi ramai yang boleh jawap dengan lebih bagus. Ada jugak kat sana yang dah bertaraf artis professional. So take advantage of that.

Update

Vacation

So aritu aku cakap aku akan pegi vacation. Almost right after aku released the last video, I went on a 3-week vacation around Southern California. Here are some pictures and video that you might be interested in.

Lawatan ke Kubur Randy Rhoads

Gambar: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100354981965125.2691492.3407023&l=6ac9bb4301&type=1
Video:

Lawatan ke Kilang Taylor Guitars

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100385479672475.2703403.3407023&l=3e65cd43e4&type=1

Kalau Nak Add Aku

Kalau nak add aku dalam FB boleh. But bila add tu, please tulis "GSHBB" dalam comment box. That way I know who you are. Otherwise I may reject the application. See, I have quite a lot of people adding me. So usually sebelum accept aku akan check profile orang tu, tengok ade tak gambar gitar ke, atau under "interests" ade berkaitan dengan gitar. Kalau takde, I might not accept, unless I know the person. I don't indiscriminately add people anymore. So please, tulis something that can help me identify you. I'm trying to avoid from adding people who have no business adding me (even if you're a hot girl). It annoys me that some people just browse through their friend's friends list and randomly add people.

And please, jangan tag aku dalam gambar product yang korang nak jual. And absolutely no tagging me in pictures of money. I know what pyramid scheme is, and I'm not broke.

Lagi satu, I tend to be outspoken. Yeah, I like music. But I like philosophy and critical thinking more. I may comment on current issues and criticize stupidity. You're free to challenge my views, I welcome ideas, even if I don't agree with them as long as they have intellectual values. You may find what I write to be offensive. But I don't just say things blindly. I was the best student in Critical Thinking class for a reason. ;)
So, you've been warned. Add me if you accept the conditions. :D

Next Project

For the past few weeks aku dah buat mental preparation untuk next video. The next video bukan untuk TAB, so aku takkan main lagu. Instead, aku plan untuk buat lesson. The subject I'm guessing most players dah tau. But it's really intended for beginners, who may not know it yet. And I'll try to make it informative enough that even orang yang dah tau teknik tu pon might find it interesting. It's gonna be long, and it's gonna be unlike the lessons on that subject that you can find anywhere else.

And at the same time I'm also trying to learn piano. Honestly, since last video aku tak main pon gitar. I've been playing piano a lot, and recently aku baru masuk class. And class ni pon aku signed up as total beginner. But instructor aku dengar aku main dia persuade aku masuk class level atas sket. I donno if I should, but I'm practicing intensively to see if I should. Right now the video project is on hold. Tak tau la bila nak sambung. :(

Update: TAB – Aku Hanya Serangga (BPR) & Lesson - “Plucking”

Unless you haven’t noticed yet, aku dah upload video terbaru. That was a lot of work. Sampai pagi tadi right before start keje on Monday baru siap. Well I’ll be on vacation soon. :D

http://www.gshbb.com/GSHBBMaterials/BPR-AkuHanyaSerangga/AkuHanyaSerangga.htm

Update: Tgh buat video baru

So recording is mostly done… except for vocal melody (on EWI). Dah record sekali, but I’m gonna redo it. Sama la macam bass, dah siap aritu buat balik semula. Well, EWI ngan bass ni bukan primary instrument aku. So I need to do so many takes just to get acceptable performance quality.

Deadline aku ialah weekend ni. I have to get it done by the weekend, no other choice. :( Hmm, not sure how I can get everything done. But most likely part lesson aku akan record in just one session. Maybe friday night or hopefully earlier. And then kena edit video (using Sony Vegas, yang aku tak pernah pakai sebelum ni).

Hmm.. we’ll see if it will be any good. I promise to get it done, but due to time constraint, I suppose I can’t promise a quality work. >_<

Update

 

TAB & Video & Lesson Baru

Sorry la kalau aku senyap jek. I’ve been very busy (as always). For one thing, I’m one of the lead engineers for one of the projects for my company. So by the end of the day, aku usually penat, malas nak pikir benda lain. And there’s a lot of pressure too since the economy is still bad, so we have to do the best we can for whatever project we get.

Last month aku released lesson barre chords tu. I’m telling you, each time I do something, it’s a lot of work, because I put a lot of effort in it. And by the time I’m done, I’ll be exhausted. Mesti aku malas nak pikir pasal benda tu for a bit. So yeah, every time aku siapkan satu material, I need to take a break.

Anyway, malam ni plak final exam untuk class yang aku tgh amik. I’ve been practicing on that.

Other than that, TAB baru dah pretty much siap. Tinggal nak polish sket, which I’ll do after releasing the video. I can’t wait to do the video. Pikir-pikir balik, last time aku release full song punya TAB and video was about a year ago. That’s too long.

So besok aku akan start process recording. It’ll take some time, since as always I wanna do it better than before. Aku nak try a few recording and mixing techniques yang aku dah discover or think of.

This time aku nak buat recording approach yang lain sket. First, aku akan record draft dulu. Very rough draft. That way bila aku record any part, I’ll have a more realistic backing track to play with. And then from there aku akan decide on recording order, which instrument should be recorded first.

For each instrument, aku plan nak spend satu malam (after keje and before masak) cari recording setting yang aku suka untuk instrument tu. Practice, and besok baru record. The next day repeat the process for another instrument. And this time aku akan try pakai mic untuk record acoustic guitar gak, not just relying on the pickup. I’ll mix the sound from the pickup and mic.

It’ll take over a week just to record. Pastu aku akan spend a few days mixing the sound.

Lepas tu aku ingat nak record a short lesson jugak, sebagai suppliment untuk video tu. So after the video of me playing the song, I’ll give a short lesson on one aspect of it, tailored for beginners.

And then put everything together and release the video. Pastu baru polish TAB and release it. I hope i’ll get it done in a month or so (since after that aku nak amik vacation).

I’m telling you, I can’t wait. I’ve been listening to this song intensively for the past couple of months. Beribu-ribu kali aku ulang. Bila aku take a break at work untuk isap rokok, mesti aku pasang lagu ni, and think about how the video should be.

Oh, this video will feature two of my new guitars. :P I’m crazy. In April I bought two guitars. And I want more. :(

 

Pasal Requests

I hate to say this, but aku memang takde masa nak tunaikan requests. As you can see from above, it takes time for me to finish anything. And for your information, since the last time aku released a TAB, aku dah buat TAB for a few songs. But I ended up abandoning the projects, at least for the time being. Tu la, aku selalu camtu. Dah focus betul-betul, sometimes aku ilang minat kat lagu tu. Sometimes it’s just too hard and very tiring, sometimes I just lost interest. So it’s important untuk aku buat apa yang aku betul-betul minat, and aku rasa within kebolehan aku.

Your requests are good, I won’t deny it. But aku rasa for the time being aku patut focus on the songs that are already in my list for a long time.

I may do it some time in the future. But yang paling penting ialah korang belajar something, even from the song that you may not like. And don’t forget to check http://discuss.gshbb.com Baca archive discussion kat situ pasal cammana aku buat TAB.

Untuk Dijual: Taylor 114CE Grand Auditorium (Used)

UPDATE: SOLD-SOLD-SOLD-SOLD

Mari-mari tengok iklan gitar aku.
http://www.gshbb.com/About/ForSale/114CE.htm
Harga: RM2,200 (non-negotiable) SOLD

Shipping: Free from US to Malaysia, but kena ambil dari PJ sendiri
Tarikh Tutup: 27 June 2011. Email aku di atau kat Facebook. First come first served. But keutamaan diberi kepada yang sanggup bayar cash paling awal dari tarikh gitar ni sampai Malaysia. Aku akan buat wait-list (remember since nothing is final until the prospective buyer is satisfied with the condition and makes payment). Actually tarikh tutup ni hanya untuk aku decide samada nak ship to Malaysia or sell it in the US. You can still buy it if it's already in Malaysia and not sold yet.
Untuk bayaran ansuran: Bawa salinan IC untuk rekod aku, bawa original IC, bayar RM1,200 (masuk bank since ada record), sign agreement untuk bayar baki RM1,000 dalam masa setahun.

Update: Lesson Baru

 

Ok, setelah spending a few nights shooting, a whole day of editing, waiting 9 hours for the computer to finish encoding it, waiting another 5 hours to finish uploading it, lesson baru akhirnya dipublished. Video ni almost 50 minutes long. And this time it’s more on practical than theory.

Lesson ni pasal Barre Chords. It’s It’s a really useful thing to master. It’s something unique to the guitar. I don’t think any other instrument can claim that you can use just one shape and play all chords of the same type. So learn it. Penat aku ajar. :P

Lesson ni listed kat ruangan “Lesson” tu.

Lesson Barre Chords.

Update:

 

Since last time aku buat short TAB, I’ve been doing several TABs. But satu pon tak siap. As usual, buat separuh jalan, lost interest. Switch to something else. And it goes on and on. And recently, aku decided to do one song, that I really love. Buat lagu yang aku betul-betul suka penting untuk maintain focus.

But buat separuh jalan, gitar RG aku tali putus plak. And I’m taking the opportunity to do some rewiring on it. After that kena hantar ke Guitar Tech untuk setup. Not sure how long that will take. But I prefer to use that guitar to do transcribing work, since stand dia kat sebelah meja aku jek. JS dalam case.

And earlier this month, aku pegi beli satu digital piano. I’ve been wanting to learn the instrument for a long time. Finally decided on one. And this thing is pretty addictive. After spending a total of around 24 hours playing it, I made this short arrangement last week.

And at the same time I’m also trying to study Classical guitar some more. Nasib baik aku drop class Jazz, kalo tak lagi takde masa.

I think I should work on my next basic guitar lesson first. It’s been too long.

Update: ruangan Lesson

Ok, ruangan lesson aku dah update. Macam aku sebut sebelum ni, aku nak tulis balik artikel-artikel dari blog aku pasal teori. So aku start balik dengan artikel pasal “notes”. Even if you already know a little bit about notes, aku suggest ko baca jugak sekali lalu. You may find something you don’t know before. And it’s very important to understand that before learning other stuff.

And section lesson tu aku bahagikan kepada dua. Satu pasal teori, satu pasal practice. I think I’ll spend more time writing about theory, since I think most people still lack that knowledge, and maybe tak banyak lesson pasal tu dalam BM. And aku akan try tulis dalam BM sebanyak yang boleh.

Lagi satu aku nak share kat sini ialah aku dah start buat open discussion pasal macam mana nak tulis TAB atau backing track sendiri. I get a lot of requests, and I don’t have the time to do them all. But aku rasa lagi berguna kalau aku ajar teknik-teknik buat TAB/backing track aku. Discussion ni open to everyone. Sapa nak menyampuk boleh jek. And tak yah register pon takpe. Discussion tu ade kat sini: http://discuss.gshbb.com.

And for the time being at least aku tak bukak forum tu untuk topic baru. Tak larat aku nak jaga. So for the time being, it’s only for one discussion.

Update: Download section dah siap

 

Yeah, I took so much time doing that. But it’s done. Now laju sket nak load page tu, since aku guna method yang baru aku belajar untuk track download statistics. And aku dah siap transfer semua artikel yang aku tulis untuk setiap TAB dari blog aku tu.

The next section that I will work on is the Lesson section. Yang ni aku tak plan on just copy and paste ape yang aku dah tulis sebelum ni. Instead, I’m going to write everything from scratch. The bad thing is that it’ll take time. The good thing is that it’s gonna be more thorough, more complete, and easier to follow untuk orang yang takde langsung background pasal music theory. And aku plan nak divide section Lesson tu into two. Satu pasal theory muzik, satu lagi pasal practical knowledge untuk gitar.

I’m glad that I’m doing it now, instead of later. Aku rasa banyak gak aku dah tulis dalam masa setaun. It’s already getting disorganized. Kalau aku tunggu lagi baru nak buat, I don’t think I’ll ever have the will to do it.

At this time a year ago, seinggat aku aku dah released a few TABs. Yup, skrg dah February, aku tak release apa-apa TAB pon lagi. One of the reasons is that I took a vacation. Pastu I took too much time to decide which song to work on first. And then I got sick a little bit. Pastu nak buat website ni lagi. So many reason, valid reasons.

But this year, I think you shouldn’t expect too many TABs from me. Focus aku taun ni aku rasa aku nak educate more, instead of spoon feeding y’all with the TABs. That won’t make me very popular, since aku rasa kebanyakan orang nak belajar main lagu jek. But that would be such a loss. Sebabnya kalau sekadar belajar lagu jek, you’ll learn the song, but you won’t really learn music. And aku banyak terima request. I appreciate that. In fact, I feel honored. But I’m just one guy, doing this part time. But if you learn music, instead of just songs, you’ll be more equipped to learn any song you want in the future, on your own. That’s a lot more valuable. That’s a better impact that I can make.

So yeah, taun ni aku akan still buat TAB. But aku akan focus lebih sket on educating people, particularly newbies.

Update: Hosting Baru

Ok, macam yang aku cakap semalam, hosting tu pegi ban traffic from Malaysia. So, takde choice. Aku terpaksa move again. So I just spent $75 for a 3-year hosting plan. >_< it’s all for the sake of public service.

Now, kalo korang pegi http://www.gshbb.com, you’ll see the same home page, it’s just that it’s stored somewhere else. Links dalam page tu blom boleh pakai lagi. But, aku nak mintak tolong sesape kat sini yang tak boleh masuk langsung website tu, tolong comment kat bawah. I need to know, so that I can decide if I should get my money back and move elsewhere.

Hmm, baru sebulan pindah ke website baru dah kena pindah lagi. Well what can I do? So yeah, there’s a lot of work to be done. I have to work on the website, I have to work on a new TAB, I have to study Jazz and Classical music, bla bla bla. I’m extremely busy, and I’m feeling a little sick for the lack of rest. So hopefully korang faham la ye.

Update: Sebab korang tak leh gi website baru aku

Aku contact support for the hosting. Dia kata

yes, we had to block several IP ranges from Brazil and Malaysia due to severe hacking attempts on users sites and all servers in our network

GREAT!! Menyusahkan aku jek. Them hacker wannabes need to find real jobs and stop fucking with others! Yes I am angry.  So yeah, for the time being my website (gshbb.com) is down for you guys in Malaysia.

Update: Download Problem

Sorry, aku tak perasan yang download link semua broken. I’ll have to fix it. I’ll figure out how, hopefully soon.

Adeh, memacam kena buat.

Update:

 

The server seems to be ok now. Aku dah boleh update the site. The work will resume soon.

Lagi satu aku dah start buat TAB baru. It took me a few weeks to decide which one from my list to work on first. But finally aku decided on lagu yang tak technical sangat, partly because aku jarang main gitar lately. But I love the song, and I’m doing it because I’m fascinated by the key modulation yang aku dengar. We’ll see what it is. Hopefully I’ll get it done in a few weeks.

Site Update: Update Tergendala

 

Haram tol la. Hosting server down. Aku tak leh nak update ape-ape page. (FYI, post ni ditulis kat blog and automatically reflected by my new home page).

Here’s what the server says:

The VistaPanel is undergoing maintenance for the next 5 - 7 days.
Sorry the the inconvenience.
- Last updated Thursday 13 Jan.

Gile lama. Apparently it’s undergoing an emergency maintenance. >_<

Anyway, I have a new domain name. It’s simply:

GSHBB.com

:D

It’s only $8 per year, so I don’t mind paying for that. But hosting still free punya la, since I’m not making any money out of this, and I don’t want to annoy you with advertisements. 

Site Update: Ruang Soal Jawab

Ruangan Soal Jawab kat site tu dah siap.

Site Baru – GSHBB.COM

I’m back

Baru last week aku balik dari Las Vegas for a short vacation. Alright, aku ingat nak start buat TAB baru. Tapi pikir-pikir balik there’s one thing that I really have to do: Work on the new website.

Cam aku cakap sebelum ni, I’m sick of relying on blog layout. One of the reasons is that orang selalu tanye aku soklan yang jawapan dia aku dah cover kat sini. I don’t blame them. Pada aku blog layout tends to bury old stuff that are still relevant. Usually aku akan try jawap gak, but I get questions daily so lambat la aku reply. And aku sendiri pon makin susah nak keep track on ape yang aku dah ajar. I really feel like a regular website layout will allow me to list all the lessons, all the answered questions, and everything else properly. Senang untuk aku, senang untuk korang. The most important thing to me is for you guys to learn something. So how I present everything must be helpful. Kalau aku tak buat skrg makin bercelaru la. Baru setaun aku rasa dah berterabur materials aku.

So aku baru a few days try belajar benda-benda ni. Last time I really tried to learn how to create a webpage was over 10 years ago. Back then simple sket dari skrg. Mase tu Dreamweaver pon still under Macromedia, bukan Adobe. Mase tu Microsoft ade program FrontPage. Skrg memacam benda aku kena belajar. RSS la, CSS la and memacam benda yang memeningkan kepala otak, but important.

After working on it for a few days, here’s what I’ve come out with so far.

http://gshbb.com

Buat masa ni baru siap sket front page dengan download page. I still have to reorganize everything I’ve written, and fine tune the formatting. I may have to rewrite certain things to suit website layout. Aku akan arrange lesson sume ikut order yang aku rasa sesuai. That way aku boleh keep track on what to cover later.

So that’s where everything will be. Lepas ni blog ni aku pakai untuk inform pasal update jek. Takde letak artikel pepanjang. Artikel sume letak kat website. This blog will be fed to the home page of that website. So korang tak yah gi blog ni lagi, just use the above address.

Give me a couple of weeks. Makan masa ni. Ye la balik keja baru ade mase nak belajar & buat benda ni. Pastu kol 10 malam baru nak masak. Adeh. It’s ok, anything that keeps my brain working can’t be too bad, especially if I enjoy it.

Busy busy busy…

Well, kalo korang Facebook friend aku, you’ll probably know why I’m busy right now. Actually, aku dah agak aku akan busy la aku mengelabah buat last video aku tu. That’s gonna be the last one for the year.

So, right now aku busy dengan visitors. Tak penah penah orang kampung datang sebelum ni. I’ll also be busy settlekan ape-ape yang patut sebelum hujung taun (like using dental insurance etc).

Actually aku estimate aku akan busy until January, but then aku tak dapat nak register class gitar yang aku tgh amik ni next semester. The only open class is Jazz Band. Nak masuk class tu kena audition sume. And I don’t know anything about Jazz. So I’ll be busy preparing for that, although I really doubt that I’ll pass the audition.

And kalau pass pon, I’ll have to be working more on learning Jazz, since I’m really not familiar with the intricacies of the style (I just know that it’s really hard and has heavy emphasis on music theory knowledge).

So skrg aku tak tau la bile lagi aku akan realease a new material. We’ll see. But just know that I’ll have to shift my focus on other stuff for a little bit. But I’ll still answer questions if I have the time, and if I know the answer.

And like I’ve been saying, aku nak move from blog tu website. Tah bile-bile la nak siap. But I have to do it. This is getting disorganized.

Software: Perisian Musik Ajaib Ayah Bean

 

Well, if you don’t love me yet, YOU SHOULD BY NOW!! :P

Okeh, aku dah siapkan app yg aku janjikan. Aku namakan app ajaran sesat ni “Perisian Musik Ajaib Ayah Bean”. Here’s the tutorial video. You should watch both parts, and listen carefully.

p/s: Actually mase buat video ni aku record skali video aku “bersyarah”. Konon nak buat Picture-in-Picture la. But I can’t figure out how to merge the screen shot and video tu fast enough. It’s not worth the wait.

Gi download software ni kat sini.

 

Minimum Requirements

Windows PC (XP or above)

Microsoft .NET Framework (3.5 or above). Just download program aku ni, pastu try run. Kalo ade error message pasal .NET Framework, just google “.Net Framework download”, the first search result should be the installation link. Install the framework (can be time consuming, but it’s worth it). Current .Net version is 4.

 

Software Info

Again, as mentioned in the video, this program will not make you the fastest shredder. It will not suddenly turn you into a music expert. But it teaches you the basic of something helpful: keys and chords harmonization.

Basically, pilih key, and you’ll get a bunch of chords that belong to the key.

Since aku ni Excel freak, memula skali aku research on chord formula, pastu letak dalam Excel spreadsheet. If you’re interested and you want to double check me, download it here (Excel 2007 or above).

After dah siap sotware ni, I did a quick check with my instructor to make sure the theory is sound. He approved. :D

So, learn what the software tells you. Tak yah memorize pon takpe. Just use it as a reference.

Oh, make sure korang faham beza Key, Chord ngan Note. Key ni macam a collection of 7 notes. It tells you what notes should be sharp, flat or natural. Contohnya, C Major KEY, note dia C, D, E, F, G, A, B (note-note yg sama ngan major scale of the same name).

Chord pulak, well u know what it is right? Contohnya, C Major CHORD diperbuat dari notes C, E, G. 

 

But, why?

I did this for many reasons.

Satu sebab dia ialah cam aku cakap sebelum ni, walaupon gitar ni popular, a lot of guitar players don’t know or care to learn about music theory. So aku design software ni to be user friendly (hopefully). And aku present the material ni dengan cara yg tak nampak terlalu technical. Well, a lot of people might be intimidated to learn if they see too many symbols they don’t recognize right? Oh, the theory covered by this software is not just for guitars. It’s universal.

The other reason is, I like my book, but I want a better reference.

I also love teaching. Like I said before, I taught an engineering course back in U, and fell in love with teaching right away. So, the love for teaching, music, and programming make this a perfect project for me.

With the amount of effort involved in developing this (the books I’ve read in the past, the classes I’ve taken,  and my precious time), I think I deserve to charge at least RM5 per user, right? :D But no, thanks. I just want you to learn something. Plus, more than RM750,000 of your tax ringgit was spent on funding my Mechanical Engineering education in the US. And due to contractual reasons, government tak suruh aku baya seringgit pon or balik keje ngan government. So, this is the least I can do for my people. :D

 

New Download Page

FYI, aku dah pindahkan download page aku. It’s no longer located at http://gshbbtabs.blogspot.com. Tak kuasa aku nak pakai blog lagi. Actually I am thinking of moving this whole blog to a standard website. But that won’t happen anytime soon. Well at least the download page is its own website for now.

The new download page is located at http://gshbb.xtreemhost.com/Download.php

Update

 

Software is done. Now aku tgh buat script untuk video “lecture” untuk korang.

Well, the software is easy to use. But it’s only useful if you understand what it’s telling you. That’s why video lecture ni penting.