Recruitment Ad?! (=^_^=)

Can we actually get members for a new band with this kind of propaganda? xD

Letter from the Embassy of Japan

28 July 2009

Earl Angelo Panganiban
Blk 12 Lot 10 Camella Avenue
Camella Homes, Better Living Subdivision
Paranaque City

Dear Mr. Panganiban,

On behalf of the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines, we would like to express our gratitude to you and your fellow group members, namely: Carmen Lumban, Jica Monsanto, Neil Cabello, Ed Adrian Dilla and Mark Jason Villangca for your enthusiastic and youthful performance in the J-Pop Anime Singing Competition Grand Finale. Your group's performance added color to the event and made it memorable.

We hope you and your fellow group members continue to be interested in Japanese language and the various aspects of Japanese culture both popular and traditional. We are certain that your continued involvement will be a valuable asset in promoting the appreciation and understanding of the Japanese culture among your peers and in fostering friendly relations between our two peoples.

Sincerely,


Tomoko Dodo
Director
Japan Information and Culture Center

Are we ready to take this to the next level?

Truth be told, I was disappointed with the performance last weekend. In fact, watching the vid made me depressed even more.

If there's one fact that I realized, it's this -- people are happy with small bands. These are the bands who are trying to prove themselves and having their songs heard. The problem is, though these bands play and sing for just the fun of it, they get scared the moment they see the stage, or the crowd. Next thing you know, they give up on music completely.

This fact never felt so real. I even had the impression that we were not walking away from the stagelast weekend.. we were running. Deep in our hearts we know that we are running away. Proof? Watch the vid, especially at the last part. And then ask yourself--now that you've seen the stage, and you've experienced the crowd.. are you still up for it, or isn't it about time we give up on music completely?

To me, the answer is obvious. Music has become everything to me, to the point that I even regret the fact of not being a music major. Oh well, everything happens for a reason.

I know it's going to get hard from this point on, and I'm not even certain on who gets to walk with me along this path. I never really imposed on anything NEWTONE should do after the contest, but now I believe is the time we get this straight.

To whoever decides to follow me into this ditch--my standards will be raised a few notches. If you guys think that the rehearsals were tormenting enough, guess again. I will point out each and every mistake, and fine-tune all of your pieces. In fact, I'll even tell you straight on if you deserve to stay in this band or not considering your level of skill. I will start handing out GuitarPro files with just my tracks on it and leave you the task of filling out your own tracks. And finally, since I'm the manager, you can expect that I'll sign up the band for each and every opportunity that we get to take the stage (which I believe is the only way to beat the "stage presence" or what's also known as "stage fright").

If you're still up for it--I am in need of a Lead Guitarist, a Bassist, a Drummer, a Keyboardist and a Vocalist. Probably a mixer as well.

NEWTONE or not, this time I'll be critical. I'll choose my crew. Only those with the skill and passion for their instruments gets to be picked. Auditions? Probably. I'm serious.

バンドやりませんか?

I wonder if it could've been different if it started like this..

Mina konnichiwa. A pleasant afternoon to all of you. First and foremost, I'd like to say that WE ARE PHYSICS MAJORS and music isn't really our thing. So if you here me sing some flat notes, or if the instruments freeze at some parts, Gomen Gomen.

It is a given that we don't even know why we're here. It's Carmen's fault for getting us in an anime music video contest that turns out to be a J-POP/ANIME SINGING contest.

She even picked the right FILM and now MUSIC DIRECTOR for the job--Earl. Being the perfectionist that he is, he's the guy responsible for tormenting our lives these past few months. Thank you Earl.

I also want to thank our humble sponsors, the PANGANIBAN for the Fender Squier Strat and the CABELLO foundation for the Yamaha ERB-070. Yung nagpahiram kay Master ng Yamaha keyboard at kay Carmen ng Rockstar Strat, maraming salamat din. To Kuya Ian for mixing our tracks, and to Kuya Auditions for blaming us for the damaged snare drum last night, maraming salamat din.

To all those who believed in us and all those who supported us, we dedicate this to you.

Earl keeps on telling us to sing or play our hearts out. However, we don't really know what that means or what it's all about. So for now, being our first and hopefully not the last time we perform for a crowd, we'd like to give it a shot.

This song is Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha's opening, Mizuki Nana's "innocent starter." Hajimarimasu.

NEWTONe disbands?!

I think I'm feeling a bit of mixed emotions today. I'm happy by the fact that we were able to perform at the Market! Market! Activity Center, but it saddens me--the fact that we did not perform at our best.

Not really dismayed at losing, for all intents and purposes I was there to enjoy the show. I'm sure that I met this objective, but then yeah--losing proves the fact that we are still innocent starters (the choice of song fits). A lot more has to be done in terms of stage presence (which I believe completely ruined the show for us).

In any case, since everyone will be in SPP mode starting today (to please our advisers), I guess for now we're on our own.

P.S.

On a side note, I believe the organizers and the MCs were fond of NEWTONE among the other groups.

Sig was quite happy the fact we were there, and if there was an award for being obedient--we could have won it. NEWTONE was the only group to arrive before the 7am call time, we followed all of their guidelines and submitted their requirements on time, and we went back to the dressing room at the appointed time.

The MCs also liked as a lot.. probably because we're not snobs. I really enjoyed chatting with them. I wish I gave a copy of the single to Aryn (the female MC who was very fond of NEWTONE).. and probably to Mr. Watanabe-san as well. It's a bad thing to run short on CDs..

awoo...

I was expecting someone (Earl) would post something last night.

Grabe sobrang nakakapagod ang araw namin kahapon kaya nakatulog ako agad pagdating sa bahay at hindi na nakapag-online.

Hmm... kahapon, actually simula Friday ng gabi, nagkaroon ng series of unfortunate events... snare problem, Neil's bag and Master's adapter, Carmie's loose string, unsuccessful katips trip, Carmie's camera... That's probably not the whole list. Gomen, gomen.

Gomen T_T

Hay basta ang galing niyo, you guys should keep playing. Lalo na si Carmie dahil may fans na siya hihi. I'm going to miss watching and listening to you guys practice. :) Ack mushyness. See you next week! Domo arigato!

EDIT: Ang kaisa.isang pic natin kahapon na meron ako. Gomen.

~jaa

nag post n ako :)

sorry ngaun ko plang naiblog.. neweyz ang mga pics na to ay from kuya ed.

Ito ang mga pics ng recording namin for Tomorrow at Innocent Starter!




kkatapos lang nito mag recording ng lahat ng instruments yehey. nagprprepare na for the vocalist.

... nkkpagod mag bass noh?

...si ed ang kumuha ng larawang ito. wacky shot uli.




ehehem... ganito po pag nagrerecording na for the vocalist part ng kanta. :) masaya makinig sa labas ng room habang kumakanta si jica ng Innocent Starter.

ayan we are done with the v-voice recording!!!
the tracks are now ready to be mixed and burn.

It took us 4.5 Hrs to finish this recording.n_n






ang post na ito ay available din sa youtube... :)

NEWTONE single [innocent starter] report!!

With just a few days left before the live event, there just doesn't seem to be any tension in the air for NEWTONE. Probably due to the fact that we only have two weeks left before the SPP deadline, a lot of stuff to do for AP 186 and 187, not to mention a coming 142 exam.

The shirts are on their way, and the cd covers are almost done. What remains is a final rehearsal on the night before the big day.

In any case, for those who don't know, the live event will be held at Market! Market!'s Activity Center this Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 2pm. It's sponsored by the Japan Embassy so there's plenty of other activities there aside from the concert.. So to all NEWTONE fans, we hope to see you there!

this disc is worth 1.7k.. and it's trash.

NEWTONE Emergency Lunch Meeting tomorrow. After 161.

My most rash ranting ever: We need to record again. This just won't work out.

To start, the drums were bad. They're just not right. And the mere fact that it wasn't recorded as a whole, the fact that the tempo changed at the bridge was just too obvious. There were a lot of missed cymbals, the rolls were bad and the kick drum was wrong at some parts.

The bass recording was an injustice to the newly purchased Yamaha. There were some parts in the chorus where the bass was leading the drums. And the tone wasn't set right (but i'll probably owe this to the lack of a pre-amp.)

The keyboard was high by an octave. It made it difficult for the vocals to sing the song.. there were a lot of flat notes on the vocals because of this. It's probably better to split the keyboard and strings track.

Guitar 1 plainly sucks. The volume wasn't leveled in the intro, and it had a terrible end. Same goes for Guitar 2. Can't hear Guitar 2 between the chorus and the second verse (obviously the strings track was louder and it wasn't in sync with Guitar 2.) I'm owing this to the fact that I've practiced a lot longer than everyone else, but my mistake was the fact that I had limited practice with a guitar that's connected to a good (Marshall MG Series) amp.

Guitar 3 was nowhere to be found. Same goes for Guitar 4.

Vocals was dead. Sounded like she was singing because she was forced to do so. It's the 'need to' or 'have to' rather than 'want to.' She was good in her own right, but it's dull. It's plain. There's just no 'feel' to it.

Now you know why there has to be an emergency meeting. And I'd like to remind everyone that we only have two weeks left.

If it's just the effort, we'll probably win this contest--but that's not what they're looking for. If we wanted them to see our efforts, we won't give them a song.. we'll give them a rant. These people are obviously looking for results and I believe that with the kind of performance we had last weekend, we're just not taking their expectation seriously.

It's time we get serious. It's no time for burning out. It's about time we stand up and tell them--'we're the best band there is.'

busy bees

Carmen and I were supposed to post an entry last Tuesday after our 5:30pm to 7pm classes. But then Carmen ended up busy at the library. And the rest of the week we were both super busy. She didn't even get to practice with us yesterday because she had to do an experiment. The entry was going to be full of pictures from practices. Tsk tsk. Oh well, next time. :)

And hmm on busyness... Ack! SPP deadline's on August 3 T_T ... I don't even know what to do for SPP yet. Deadlines do get extended most of the time but only by a few weeks. And hmm... 186 blog reports are due every meeting day... Plus labwork...

Mangs is back and well na! :) But she needs to avoid strenuous physical activities pa... Mag-ingat, Mangs, okie? :)

Earl is back na rin but still coughing. Carmen has a cough din. You guys get well right away, okie? hehe :)

We're recording na on Saturday! And at night. I hope Master doesn't get too tired from his afternoon seminar. And I hope we all do great! :) Waaa pressure. Nurr nurr nurr. Let's just enjoy the recording, horayt? :)

At dahil sabi nga ni Earl, play your heart out. Naalala ko itong xkcd strip:

Haha.

~jaa ^__^

Powered by ScribeFire.

...

Spent the entire day yesterday in a hospital bed.. waiting for that 0.9% sodium chloride solution bottle connected to my hand through a plastic tube line to get depleted. Time ticked slower with each drop.

I won't make it to Jica's vocal practice today. I just hope they push through with it anyway.

Way behind schedule..

With only one more rehearsal before the recording.. it seems that time gets faster as the date of the live draws near. However, the way things are going.. we won't make it (or maybe I'm too pessimistic about it.)

In any case, sick as I may (for those who don't know, i'm fever-stricken as of the moment and I spent most of my day sleeping..) we need to change the practice schedules.. Thus, I came up with this:

Jica Vocals Practice (with Master) :
Wed/Fri 4:00-5:00pm (or earlier depending on Physics 187 Dismissal) Blue Room

Carmen Guitar Lessons:
Sat 9:00-12:00nn
Carmen's Boarding House

Regular Rehearsals:
Sat 1:00-4:00pm
Auditions - Studio A

Sorry if I decided on this on my own but we need to focus on the vocals and rhythm guitar parts.. anyone interested in helping out or if there are any objections, inform me right away. I won't be in UP tomorrow. ~recup mode~

Thirty days make a month..

So I guess I found myself yet again posting in this blog site. Come to think of it, thirty days make a month--meaning it gets busier from here on. After all, we only have a month's left of practice left before the live.

As time passes, I become able to discern who among my bandmates are in love with what they're doing, and who among my bandmates need a little pushing.

To be more specific, everything seems to be going well in the bass and drums department. It seems Ed and Neil have taken the initiative to make their tracks better. In particular, I only gave Ed a score sheet and he comes back to tell me,

The guitarpro file sounds plain from measure 18 to 26.. We can make it sound better by removing this slap..

leaving me with a yeah, I guess you're right and poof! We now have a 100% accurate drums track! I can tell that Neil's been practicing real hard as well, judging from the way he plays the bass now as compared to how he used to play it. I've come to think that he really is getting serious about getting his own bass guitar.

Truth be told, NEWTONE's weakness is at the moment its vocals as well as both rhythm guitars. Jica needs to work on sustaining her notes and making sure they don't end up flat. I can't really blame Carmen--she's new to this so it might actually be tad too early for her to play those riffs. Mangs is in Recup mode so she can't practice.

In Master's case, the way he played wasn't bad but it wasn't that good either. How do I put it, let's just say there's still a lot of room for improvement. He only managed to rehearse with us once, so I bet his still has stuff full of surprises left in his pocket.

Contrary to my belief, I actually get better on my 16th notes riff by learning styles from other songs. Yup, my 16th notes got cleaner thanks to the weird rhythm in Cagayake Girls!'s Guitar 2, Eric Clapton's Bell Bottom Blues, Hit in the USA's lead track, and the intro riff for My Love is a Stapler.

Sig called us again to tell us that they're requesting for a copy of the recording for the song to be performed in the live. Proves once again that my intuition is correct since I've already anticipated it and it was part of my plan to record the song. I probably have my Art Studies I professor to thank for teaching me to do more than what is expected from me.

I was actually planning NOT TO ATTEND this weekend's practice ON PURPOSE to see how my bandmates would act on their own initiatives.. but I guess that just wouldn't work with just a month's worth of practice left. NEWTONE should prepare itself for a more frank, and probably mean Aru-sempai. After all, we need to play the song in such a way that the performance is worthy of a recording in two weeks time (i.e. more time for me and Master to arrange the tracks.)

P.S.
I'm actually planning to switch roles with Carmen in Tomorrow. I'll have her play the lead cause one, she still doesn't have the endurance to play the entire song. Two, she gets less riffs to play with the Lead. And three, I can be Jica's back-up vocals if I play rhythm.

No NEWTONE Vocals Practice or Guitar Lessons Tomorrow!!

Of course, if there will be one, I won't be the one facilitating it.

I've been thinking lately.. another reason why this thing is not working out right is because I'm trying too hard. I don't even know why I'm taking this seriously aside from the fact that I don't want to get embarrassed with the performance during the live. Since I try so hard, I push them too hard. And maybe that's why I get the impression that it's either they don't want to practice, or they are just forced to practice.
Maybe I'm just having my Azusa-chan moments but yeah, I'd rather be working on my thesis problem tomorrow. みな、ごめんなさい。

Today's Practice

Wow ang haba ng pinost ni Earl haha.

I was about to rant on the rehearsal studio din sayang naunahan niya ako hahaha. Dapat pala tinest talaga namin ni Carmen yung amps nila when we checked the place. Sayang naman yung malaking studio na yon, sabi ni Sison dun daw nagpapractice dati ang Radioactive Sago hehe.

Mangs couldn't come today... Pagaling ka Mangs!!!! *massive glompity glomp hug*

Uy ayan Earl, I posted, the blog's not pointless heehee. Wala pa lang kasi kami masyado masabi at mapost sa blog. Ang masasabi ko nga lang tungkol sa pagtugtog kanina, nakakatuwa dahil may piano na. Ang ganda pakinggan ng piano. At natuwa ako na nakapag-gitara ako hehehe. Ayun.

Waaa! How do you sing/play from the heart? Hehe gambatte!


jaa~ ^__^

あなたの心を再生!! T_T

I'm actually starting to think that it's pointless to have a NEWTONE blog--since there's only one member writing it namely me.

Today is probably one of the worst days in NEWTONE's history. First, there was no practice this morning (Jica - Vocals and Carmen - Guitar Lessons). Second, we spent the first 15-20 minutes of our time getting lost. Spent another 15-20 minutes just to get one of the guitar amps to work. Another 10 minutes for Carmen to get to the rehearsal studio, and after about two runs of Tomorrow and Innocent Starter we were asked to leave. Poof. So much for practice..

Truth be told, I did NOT like that rehearsal studio.

広い。たぶん。いいえ。広じゃない。

It might be a wide rectangular room but come on, the amps and drums were so clumped you can barely breathe in there. Their amps sucked, and we kept getting feedback from unknown sources. The guy in charge doesn't know how to troubleshoot. He even came to the conclusion that my guitar was dead despite the fact that the cables just sucked.What really got me pissed though is the argument I had with Carmen. She kept on insisting that her score for the chorus was wrong. I didn't find anything wrong with it. When I asked her for her reason, it was told in a way a physicist would answer and not an artist--I counted. Wait a minute, everyone in the group is a physicist. Maybe that's the reason why it just doesn't work right. A band is not looking for physicists, it's looking for artists and musicians. At the end of the day, the problem was her difficulty in shifting from one chord to another while keeping the rhythm.

Personally, I never doubted the GuitarPro File or any part of it to be wrong. I believe that I don't actually have the right to correct someone if I can't play or compose better than he/she can.

To everyone in NEWTONE.. please do not forget that Music is not a Science, in its own right. Your mind can only dictate how something is played, but it's your heart that makes the music. Skill can only tell you how many ways you can play something, but it is dedication and an artistic spirit that would determine whether the music you produce is pleasant to the ears.. or not. You DON'T COUNT! You SING and you PLAY YOUR HEART OUT!

I did not like the way we played innocent starter. I know we could perform better. They're telling me that it's only the first time we practiced together.. but that's not the point. People only practice together when they have already mastered their parts. Band rehearsal is all about adding the pieces together and making them fit, not working on each individual piece.

To summarize my rant, I just want everyone to think they are artists instead of scientists the moment you hold your instruments. I can tell that despite all this, we are getting better. But at this pace, we might not make it in time. We still have volume leveling and effects to take care of.Finally, I'll finish this post by pointing out everyone's weakness--the way I see it. We need to work on:
Jica - Vocals, Breathing Exercises and jogging to prevent your shortness of breath
Carmen - Rhythm Guitar, You should play the strings we need you to play. Techniques come afterwards but first we have to make sure your foundation is set. Stick to the basics!!
Master - Keyboard, Intro part (practice with no one singing at proper tempo) and use something equivalent to - Synth Pad (New Age)
Ed - Drums, Please refer to the GuitarPro file for the drumming pattern. We can modify it later if needed, but for innocent starter I want everyone to stick to the GuitarPro file first.
Neil - Bass, Work on the slides and 2nd chorus to bridge
Earl - Lead Guitar, I still have my 16th notes riff to work on. The problem I'm having with looking for everyone's mistake is that I miss the opportunity to work on mine. That's why I practice on my own. In just a few more plays, the iTunes play count for innocent starter would reach 300. xD

P.S.

Tomorrow was sweet. The Bass track (which is the main track) finally sounds like the real deal. Now I need to look for something Master and Carmen can do.

NEWTONEブラグへようこそ!! (=^o^=)

Ok, so I started making this blog out of whim. I just wanted everything that had to with NEWTONE archived.. for memories sake? maybe. After all, the members keep insisting that the band was formed not for the prize that awaits (which does not apply to me.. fufufu.) but for the experience.

As you can see, most of the blog posts are dated according to their exact chronology, i.e. posts were written to travel back in time; thus, some posts may be addded to the archive making it hard to follow which post comes first.

Oh well, blame it to bloggers and their ability to set posting dates. Will probably give Carmen, Jica and the others (yup, the others kasi more likely than not, si Jica lang at si Carmen yung magko-contribute ng posts dito..) the ability to co-author once I get to talk to them tomorrow. ^_^

btw, nana-sempai ga, kirei na!! (stole it from her blog site.. xD).

Kei and Brawny are now running on SLINKIES

So we finally had NEWTONE's electric guitars restringed. ^_^

I finished restringing my guitar last weekend and managed to get away with snapping off the B-string. Luckily, my parents were generous enough to buy me another set of Super Slinkies. And yeah, I realized that my tremolo bar needs a little cleaning. I used Super Slinkies because they were the thinnest ones around and they're good for single-notes, slides and bends.

Today, I finished restringing Carmen's guitar with Regular Slinkies while Jica and Mangs were practicing. I used Regular on Carmen's since the set is a lot more rich in terms of Tone as compared to the Super ones, which is perfect for rhythm guitar.

I think I'm getting a bit rusty when it comes to tuning strings manually. I think I'm already used to having a tuner around which is not good.. at all. I believe that all guitar players must be able to fine-tune their instruments without a tuner and instead having to use a trained ear.

Oh well, I'll probably have Power Slinkies on Neil's Bass (to get as much tone as possible), while Mangs' Acoustic strings is still a matter of debate.

Animelo Summer Live 2006 - innocent starter

Mizuki Nana performing innocent starter during the ANIMELO Summer Live 2006 concert.

NEWTONE

NEWTONE is band of physics majors who are fond of Japanese Animation and Japanese Culture. It is a fact to note that most of the members has not played or even touched their instruments until the group decided to join the contest. The name NEWTONE came to mind when Earl (Lead Guitar) was thinking of a name for a band which had something to do with Sir Isaac Newton, while flipping through the pages of Feb 09’s NEWTYPE magazine on the train ride to JICC to submit the form.

NEWTONE started with Carmen’s initiative to join Japan Embassy’s J-Pop/Anime Singing Contest after mistaking it for a video contest. Along with Jica, they started recruiting other Physics Majors who were fond of Japanese Animation. Earl joined the crew as their manager, but turned out to be the lead guitarist. At the same time, his close friends Neil and Ed joined to become the bassist and drummer (Jica’s instructor). Cindy was then poised to become the band’s vocalist but settled down to be the acoustic guitarist, and Carmen started to learn how to play rhythm guitar. Master came along to mix the tracks for the instruments but eventually decided to be the keyboardist for the live performance.

Yatta!! Looks like we made it. xD

Dear Mr Panganiban,

We are pleased to inform you that your group NEWTONE is one of the top ten groups who have passed the pre-screening and will perform on the J-Pop Anime Singing Competition Grand Finale on July 25, 2009 at the Market! Market! Activity Center.

In this regard, we would like to get your confirmation as early as possible if your group will continue to the final level of the competition. Furthermore, we would like to remind you that expenses (i.e. transportation, meals, accommodation, costume, etc.) incurred shall be borne by the participating groups. Likewise, we would like to tell you that the prizes (Nihongo lessons from the Nihongo Center Foundation) are Manila-based.

Should your group decide to push through the next level of competition, we would like you to:

· Submit a short write-up about your group (50 to 100 words) and your group photo (you can email this to jicc-mnl@japanembassy.ph)

· List your equipment requirement for your performance (i.e. amplifiers, drum sets, etc.)

· Tell us the title of the Anime/J-Pop piece you will be performing for the competition

We would like to hear from you by June 4, 2009 regarding the points above. We would contact you through email or phone for updates on the J-Pop Anime Singing Competition. Should you have further questions, please call (02) 551-57-84 loc 2318.

Japan Information and Cultural Center
Embassy of Japan
2627 Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City, 1300
Tel. No. 551-5710
http://www.ph.emb-japan.go.jp

Something to ponder on..

Ok.. apparently, kami pa lang ni Jica yung nag-comment dun sa SINGLE.. pero narinig ko na rin yung comments ni Neil, di nga lang through group mail. Oh well, dun sa mga walang comment, you can forever hold your peace.. if that's what you prefer. xD

I thought of three possible songs for the Live Performance, assuming we make it. Heto yung songs in my order of preference:

1. innocent starter - Mizuki Nana
2. さくらんぼ - Otsuka Ai
3. ALONES - Aquatimez

Why not ALONES and Sakuranbo? First, the song must involve all the members of the band on stage. ALONES features 2 Acoustic Guitars, 1 Lead Guitar, a Keyboard, Bass and Drums (6). Sakuranbo features 2 Lead Guitars, a Bass and Drums (4).There are seven of us, and there's just no way we can allow the other member to just stand on stage. Not to mention the fact that we don't have the complete tabs for both songs.

innocent starter is probably something most of us hasn't even heard of. Na-discover ko lang to when it got my attention after listening to Mizuki Nana's discography. I managed to find a guitarpro file for the song and I edited it to suit our purposes (by edit, i meant pinahirap ko yung track na ako tutugtog. Guitar 1 at Guitar 2 dapat yun, pero pinagsama ko na sa iisang guitar track.) No more problem with the tabs.

As for the cast on stage, Jica will be vocals. Jica will no play anything else and will focus only on vocals. Back-up Vocals, I'm not quite sure kung kaya ko.. after all, I'm also the lead guitarist. Carmen will have to learn to play guitar basics, and try to borrow her own guitar. Ako na bahala magturo kay Carmen, at kay Mangs who will be doing Acoustic Guitar. Si Master yung keyboard, si Neil yung bass as usual, at this time, si Ed yung drums.

Since the song is unheard of, it's quite fresh. Hopefully it will make the same impression to the audience as it did to me. Btw, thanks to this song, I'm already in EP 3 of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. xD

Tomorrow

The SINGLE's finally out. Jica did a pretty good job with the delivery (along with Sison). I think it's time we hope for the best.

However, if I were to comment on it--we made a nasty blow-job. Can't blame anyone actually.. I had Art Studies to cram on as well.

The bottom line remains the same: WE COULD HAVE DONE A BETTER JOB!!

For Tomorrow: The mixing was rushed, the drum fill-ins went haywire, the bass track didn't turn out to be as good as expected, and we only had one attempt on the recording for the voice track.

For LIFE: Some of the lines were not sung right, and those lines just had to be obvious.

Lesson learned--when you manage to get all the time in the world, don't think twice--practice!

J-Pop Contest Details

FYI: I already submitted our entry form. The details of the form are as follows:

Group Name: NEWTONe
Group Members:

Carmen Lumban

Jica Monsanto

Klarisse Gepilano

Cindy Esporlas

Neil Cabello

Gilbert Gubatan

Miguel Sison

Mark Villangca

Earl Panganiban

Contact Person: Earl Panganiban

I went to the JICC Library of Japan Embassy before lunch time today, and I got to meet with the organizer Sig. These are his notable inputs:
1. There are no restrictions regarding the setup. However, the judges are expecting bands to join, so a band would probably have the most impact.
2. The prize for the top three teams can either be A Basic Conversational Module in Nihongo (for those who don't know Nihongo), or a Refresher Course (for those who already know Nihongo). Both modules are worth Php 4000.00 and will be sponsored by the Nihongo Center.
3. We can use the off-vocal (minus one) versions of the songs for the CD due on May 20, however it would be important to note that when we do, the judges will focus on the voice quality of the singer rather than the music. What he's trying to say is DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE.
4. Everyone on the list are expected to be on stage during the live performance on July. The minimum requirement for the live performance is at least one member will sing (This means na back-up singers/dancers na lang yung iba). The song for the live performance may not be one of the two songs prepared for the cd.
5. Invite more people to join this friendly competition. Since there is NO REGISTRATION FEE, it's the same as having "nothing to lose and everything to gain."
6. Finally, submit the CD on or before May 20.

The two tentative songs for the cd are: Sakuranbo (Ai Otsuka) and 1/3 No Junjo Na Kanjou (Siam Shade). My personal comment on the second song: LALAKI kumanta nito ah!! So I'm not for the second song.. especially now that I watched the guitar cover: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQLRyBvxIk0&feature=related

With that said, if you have any questions, I will be available at the poolside tomorrow after my 9-11 class.