wasakan week post # 4

after last night's recording session, the band went to angel's sweden love party to have some drinks and relax with friends, in celebration of angel's 22nd year of life. engineer joey and maite plus engineer edu also arrived in support of sweden love, and soon we were talking about how edu gets his shorts for halik ni gringo gigs, and ean's devirginization. haha. it was sort of surreal, being with the band and drinking outside of the context of gigs. angel's ipod was playing on speakers and the +/- song "leap year" came on and ean kathy selena jing (now renamed magnus gaddi haha) and i lost ourselves in the music (haha cliche, kadiri) and i knew i was wherever i was supposed to be? i like that feeling.

friday's session joe and ean arrived at the studio while i was doing a vocal take. we didn't expect them to be there, the members who were scheduled to track were just me and selena, with kathyg filming the "making of the album" documentary so it was a quiet night and when the guitarists got to the studio i realized how much i missed them and how much more fun a recording session is when they're there (aww)

we've nearly finished all the vocals, and not to wax poetic or anything, but i really think the whole process of recording an album is like taking a picture of how a band works at the time of recording, and depending on how closely you listen you can see things about yourself (if you're the one doing the recording) that you don't normally see, and how songs change during recording and after recording and how you change as the songs change, and how you adjust to recording parts that you can't do live, and basically just finding how you can do something the best that you can do it, and deciding what's real and how you show it, and i dunno what i'm saying but i love feeling that between all the money we spent and all the sleep we lost and all hoarseness, lockjaw, repetitive stress injury, etc, that the recording of this album is gonna be a great picture soon?

haha walang sense don't mix your metaphors

owel

wasakan entry no.3

diary dear

twas a quiet night last night

save for my gutteral sneers

for a good take of di ko matake

and good burger cheer

 

love,

jing

Wasakan Week 2007 Post #2

Dear Diary,

The second of this week's sessions at Love One Another went well. We were able to finish Ean's cures and harmony vocals for his song Sasamahan Ka Pa Rin complete with "ratata's" and "yoohoo's" and hetfield-ian groans. There was a proposed "totka" section but instead the winner word used for the great bridge was "yeag-vah" matched to the horn section melody. Ean envisions it as a sort of army harmony, with army stomping sfx ala 300 (awooo!). Suffice to say, Engineers Marc, Wacky, and Joey, along with innocent bystanders KathyG and myself were amused to no end. A "no smiling" rule was imposed so during takes of the great bridge most of us in the control room were facing the wall, grasping the wall and our clothes or the baseball couch or whatever in hopes to keep from falling over because of laughter. I love recording.

Last night also marked the return of the ZEN VOCAL TAKE where all the other tracks of the song (drums bass guitars synth guide tracks etc) will be MUTED and I had to keep my eyes closed to FEEL the ABSENCE of the MUSIC. I nailed the line in one take like magic. Marc just has to "make usog-usog" the track haha.

Another high point was Engineer Wacky's makeshift lightsaber grip, composed of a mic-stand leg, a broken pl cable, and a flash disk + id strap. The contraption made Engineer Joey reminisce about his Padawan training at Tatooine. Hahaha.

However, we were not able to do the "sampalin" portion of Ean's song, as Ean tried slapping his face in different ways but the mic was just not able to capture the fury conveyed in the song. Engineer Joey then conceptualized a solution wherein a room mic would be placed in the middle of the studio and many people would slap each other in the face at the same time. Ean protested, saying "hindi ba pwedeng taasan nalang yung reverb pati volume nung sampal ko?" and this was met with a resounding "NO" from the LOA engineers. I love recording Hahaha.

Tonight we will do the Jing cures for 'Di Ko Ma-Take, as well as finishing vocal cures for Tsuper Duper and Morrissey.

Dear Lovey Hart, I'm desperate.

-Owel

Meet the engineers!

Waskan Week Night 1! Kathy gave me scratch n' sniff Ratatouille cards last Saturday and I shared them with the group. Our album engineers, Marc and Joey experiment to see if they really work.

Love One Another rawks!

- selena

Wasakan Week 2007 Post #1

Dear Diary,

Tonight will mark night 2 of the Love One Another Wasakan Week (featuring marathon recording and inuman sessions)! Last night we accomplished a lot of stuff! One of the major buzzwords from the July 23rd session was "portamento" haha. I don't really know what it means and maybe I can google it but I'd rather the mystery be left to the word so it would be more magical. Haha. It is an effect of Heidi's Yamaha CS-10 that we abused in the synth parts of Together Forevers. I love that song now. The synths really make the song. I can't wait to hear the finished version!

(Yamaha CS10)

In other news, we also did a lot of vocal cures! We ironed out the vocals in SMS, Bato, my parts in Themesong (omg my voice on that song sounds so ETHEREAL haha, POWER-BALLADY even..) and another composite run of Patintero/Habulan/Larong Kalye. That song is so hard to sing in the studio, particularly because the melody of the vocal lines are so fast and close together that it really takes my (and Selena's) breath away (considering we are both asthmatic haha) and even though it would probably be easier doing a lot of partial vocal takes, there's a quality to the out of breath delivery that really really really sounds good with the song. So we have to strike a balance between good takes, and "natural" takes. or we can try to keep doing it until we have "good natural" takes. Haha. I'm not making sense.

Another interesting event last night was the presence of Scratch and Sniff cards (promos of the upcoming Disney Pixar film Ratatouille) given to Selena by Kathy, and at the end of the night (we finished at around 130am) Engineer Marc De Vera  had his eyes closed and Engineer Joey Santors was scratching cards for Marc to sniff, and guess what the scent was. That was funny, even if I was on the other side of the glass barrier separating the control room and the recording booth. Also, Heidi and Selena had an informative discussion on boobs.

Tonight we will be doing vocal cures for Ean's Sasamahan Ka Pa Rin, and Tsuper Duper harmonies after Engineer Marc "makes usog-usog" the "bagsakan" in the song that isn't "sabay" haha.

I love one another!

-Owel

Once In A Blue Moon

I had a very informative YM chat w/ our beloved Love One Another Master of Love engineer Joeyhloey last night which just started with "hoy! kamusta?" then to the wasakan week 2007 Shirley recording schedule next week to the origin of the band Taken by Cars then shifted swiftly to the phrase "once in a blue moon". hahaha. Ang labo. BUT then it was interesting because do any of you actually know the explanation behind the commonly used/very popular phrase? i remember having a similar conversation w/ some of the Shirley dudes last month as we were about to go home after a gig in UP Manila w/ a very clear view of the full moon on top of our heads wondering if it was a blue moon? 

I actually had a faint idea about the explanation of the said phrase thanks to the movie "Blue Moon" Starring Eddie Garcia and Boots Anson-Roa and Dennis Trillo. Seryoso. Basically it said that the blue moon is not literally a blue moon but a very rare appearance of a certain kind of full moon hence the phrase.

I was actually quite contented w/ that explanation until that very informative YM chat w/ Joeyhloey took place. and so i made some research on the net and here it is:

http://www.obliquity.com/astro/bluemoon.html

Once in a Blue Moon ... is a common way of saying not very often, but what exactly is a Blue Moon?

According to the popular definition, it is the second Full Moon to occur in a single calendar month.

The average interval between Full Moons is about 29.5 days, whilst the length of an average month is roughly 30.5 days. This makes it very unlikely that any given month will contain two Full Moons, though it does sometimes happen.

On average, there will be 41 months that have two Full Moons in every century, so you could say that once in a Blue Moon actually means once every two-and-a-half years.

When will the 2007 Blue Moon occur? May, June or July, depending on your timezone. (HAHAHA! I TOLD YOU! BLUE MOON YUNG NAKITA NATIN SA UP MANILA! hahaha!)

Does the Moon actually change colour during a Blue Moon? No, but there have been rare occasions when the Moon really did turn blue.

Does a Blue Moon have any effect on human behaviour? It has no more effect on human behaviour than any other Full Moon. (MERON! MALAS AKO KAPAG FULL MOON LAGING OLATS PALAGI NANGYAYARI SAKIN)

Who wrote these pages, and why should we believe what we read here? His name is David Harper. He lives near Cambridge, England with his wife and two cats. He has a Ph.D. in mathematics and astronomy. He used to be a professional astronomer, but now he just does it for fun.

Haha. See, we at Ang Bandang Shirley not only like food but astronomy as well. Our bassist even wrote a song about a comet!

Love, Kathy g.

Recording Etc

Love One Another is a really really good studio. I feel like it is a wonderful environment to record an album. There is nurturing involved, like the songs (and band members) could grow in that small space.

I just came from there with Selena, we tried to do vocal tracks for Habulan but my lousy voice showed up instead of the power balladeer voice I sometimes channel for gigs, and thus not much was accomplished, but I realized how great a studio the studio we record at is, because even though we didn't accomplish much, we didn't feel like we wasted time! I love not doing anything and not wasting time while not doing anything. I think it is an art.---------------------------------

Last night Shirley played at a the despedida party for Annette Ortiz, the drummer of the wonderful girl-band Fatal Posporos. The set was alright, but what made me want to post about last night was how i felt while watching Fatal.

I don't know if everybody feels that way while watching Fatal, but I'm sure everybody knows the feeling, when you used to like something but you forget about it, or it just isn't as prominent as before because you've moved on to more important things, or you outgrew something, or for whatever reason things change, band members leave, ganun, then you watch the gig and it all comes back and you're a 15-year-old starstruck fan again. I love that feeling.

Top 5 starstruck-fan gigs:

1) Last night. Wow.

2) Cambio/Pan at the UP College of Mass Comm parking lot a couple of years ago. Halos walang tao, they played  Huwag Mo Nang Itanong/Senti, I heard it for the first time. I almost cried. Wow.

3) Free-era Rivermaya at the Ateneo softball field siguro year 2000. Channel V event. Rico Nathan Mark Jjohn lineup. Ian Tayao of Cheese and Reg Rubio of Greyhoundz jammed on stage to an improv kupaw version of Sunog. Wow.

4) Pepe Smith at Mag:Net Katipunan with parts of Snakecharmer, Jing Gaddi, and the late Weslu. Lee's night yun, December last year. Impromptu standards set, with Mr Pepe Smith lecturing the rhythm section sometimes, and other times praising their TIGHTNESS. like i said in a previous blog update about that gig, "parang nag-simba ako tapos imbes na pari, si Jesus yung nagmimisa" haha. Wow.

5) A tie, between the reunion gig of Sugar hiccup with Melody on vocals at the 4 Calendar Cafe  I dunno when haha. And the Rock U event held at Tower Records Makati. That was Sept 11 2001. I remember the date I dunno why haha. Me and Ean cut class to watch it with our good friend Jean Navarro, standing in one spot for a very long time. Kathy G was also there but we did not know each other yet. That was a fun gig. Wow.

Haha

That is all I love you all

-Owel

Band Love

The random meeting of people sometimes seems not so random at all.

I feel safe in this place, the place where we meet, where we can tell stories, our happiness and our sorrows, where we can eat a lot of good food, spicy and sweet, where we can be ourselves and enjoy playing the songs for everyone we love and hate.

I don't want to leave.

I've never felt this way for bandmates before. True band love, if there is such a thing.

My head hurts right now... it's hard when you feel like you've been falling, tumbling and rolling downhill for ages, as if it's never going to end. Yes, i've been feeling this way for years now, but I don't know if this is the reason for this stupid headache.

Thank you Ang Bandang Shirley for breaking my fall every now and then. I am truly happy that I am part of this random meeting.

-Ean

This is a Food Entry.

I always get the munchies after gigs. Drumming (particularly my drumming) is a very physical activity and I guess it's only natural to crave sustenance afterwards.

Like me, the girls and boys of Ang Bandang Shirley lean towards the heavier side of the weight spectrum. Our pesudo-tagline, "We love to eat!" is actually an understatement. We live to eat. I have a suspicion that we'll one day ditch a gig and just hang out at Mr. Kebab's. I really think it will happen.

For me, the hands down winner for best post-gig dining is Kowloon House. The reasons:

(1) It's cheap. 40 pesos gives you either 2 pieces of siopao (or one jumbo pao) or it can give you 3 HUGE pieces of siomai. You get more for less.

(2) Open 24 hours. No matter what time the gig ends - 12 midnight or 3:30 AM - you can be sure that there's a Kowloon House branch open. The ones we frequent are Sikatuna (at the supermarket on Maginhawa St.), E. Rodriguez (walking distance from Bigskymind), the big one near Nakayama and Visayas Avenue (close to where I live). It's accessible and always available.

(3) It's relatively healthy. It isn't as oily as, say, shawarma or kofte. Plus it's dimsum, man. It's what Chinese people eat. And they're one of the oldest civilizations around. If it works for them, it works for me. Sure, you're not certain if it's really meat you're eating whenever you bite into a bola-bola pao but you'll certainly enjoy it.

(4) They sell noodles. If you've had a bit too much alkyhall at the gig, what better way to battle inebriation than with a nice hot bowl of noodles? We have tons of stories about this, but they're best told with a nice bottle of beer. :-)

Anyone up for siopao?

-Z

Lunch Out

I took another long lunch out today so iIcould submit Ang Bandang Shirley's "world conquering" (haha) WBOB entry to the Pulp office. My taxi got lost around Ortigas so I just decided to go to SM Megamall first and eat lunch. As per band description that we love to eat...

This is what I ate for lunch today:

Sbarro's White Chicago Pizza. It's a deep dish pizza filled w/ pineapples, pepperoni and another kind of ham I think w/ mozzarella cheese topped w/ white creamy sauce. It looked really enticing so even w/ it's hefty price (159 pesos!!!) I ordered it. It was delicious of course but nothing to rave about as it was just like eating a bulky white cheese pizza but then again white cheese pizza is the best pizza ever so ok: RAAAAVE! haha.

Anyway gusto ko lang sabihin: Guys, napasa ko na nga pala yung CD. Goodluck! :)

Love,
KathyG.

On Recording

Kathy sent us the WBOB mix of Masamang Damo and I couldn't stop listening to it for about an hour. I love it! It's so addictive. Last night, we listened to a rough mix of it in Joey's car (to round out their mixing perspective) and I liked it well enough... but today it sounds so adorable hahaha and I feel much, much better in many ways because of it. I agree with Owel that our recorded vocal performances are improving, and I'm immensely proud of the work we've done.

 

I'm also proud of the album in general. There's a lot of variety we put in there and i feel it will appeal to something different in everyone. Good job, guys! I love you all hahaha.

 

We'll be putting in the final tracks within the week, and next week LOA will be doing marathon work on it so we can finish by the end of the month. Expect to see the fruits of all our hard work sometime in September. (Don't tell Dolguldur, shhh...)

 

- Selena :)

Ang Bandang Shirley Blog Entry # 1

Last night we recorded the vocal tracks for the Jing Gaddi-penned-opus Masamang Damo. I am very happy with the outcome of said recording session, as my vocal prowess is increasing and it showed in the multiple takes composited to form the wonderful vocal track I layed-in. Also, despite feeling under the weather, Selena managed another wow-performance demonstrating how awesome it is when both our vocals are done cleanly and done well (often it is my fault as to the dissonance between vocal lines ha ha) and the song is much better because of her efforts.

Mixing was performed and after a couple of level tweaks we have the very first album track off the soon to be released debut album! We will be submitting the said track to the Pulp office today along with a fun quirky band profile to finalize our entry into the World Battle of the Bands (WBOB). I feel like we have a good chance of placing high in the WBOB because I think we are one of the best bands in the world (next to Taken by Cars, ha ha).

A weird observation, I am beginning to enjoy screaming on the Shirley songs, and when the song calls for screaming (the screams on Masamang Damo were screams of anguish, as directed by KathyG and Joeyhloey) I seemed to perform fairly well. Maybe this can be incorporated in future songs?

Anyway, that is all I have to say, 'til the next blog by any of the members of the band! Goodluck to me in my bible study long quiz later this morning!

-owel