Post SYF

Well, this chapter of band has ended with RJCSB getting gold for the SYF. We practiced hard for it, and I can't say we were that happy, but in the end I don't think the award mattered that much for me.

But first, a brief rundown. We started with Safari, naturally. Personally I think this could be done better, even if we did switch only 3 weeks before the SYF. Still, no major blunders anywhere and some of the audience said it was quite unique (in a good way), so I suppose that's good.

La Mer was played quite nicely, according to most people in the audience. Granted it did seem off balance to me, but I think that was because of my position in the stage. We did it nice and expressively, and you can see that Mr Oura really put his all into the piece. If I'm not wrong, it's sort of a dream piece to him, and I'm happy for him that he finally got his chance to conduct it. Kudos to the soloists, and to the whole band, for putting in effort and playing this piece well.

Of course, the result was unexpected. I think all of us felt disappointed at the result, not helped by the fact that schools like VJC were cheering their hearts out. I can imagine the J2s were particularly upset, and I think we all were, for our various reasons. Granted I didn't feel as bad as I think most of the band. Perhaps to me, the award didn't really matter as much as the fact that we did play well, and we did manage to send our message across, a feeling reinforced now that I read some comments on our playing. I suppose mainly my regret lies in the fact that Mr Oura never did get a Gold with Honours. Still, I think that as long as we played our best, which I believe we did, he'll be happy. At least I hope so.

Well, SYF is over, on to less serious stuff such as busking. I just hope the school doesn't decide to do something stupid like replace Mr Oura or continue to deny us a band room (though I'm quite happy with RI's, it does seem rather sad sharing the band room). Other than that, good experience, and I gained much from it. I'm going to miss La Mer, actually, regardless of what I said at the start of the year.

SYF 2007 - JC category.

Well it's slightly more than 12 hours to our performance at the SYF 2007 central judging. Safari, by Adam Gorb, and La Mer, by Debussy, are on our repertoire.

So, after close to 5 months of working on the 2 songs, we're finally here. It's been a long time, and I started out pretty much hating La Mer, after coming out of a Coda II and Prometheum XI filled with more conventional songs. I've grown to like the song though, and while I can't claim I love it as much as pieces such as The White Tree or Vox Stellarum, I do enjoy the song, especially its climaxs. Might even miss playing it when all this is over.

So tomorrow would be the climax of all our work. Will we get the Gold with Honours that has eluded Mr Oura thus far, or will we obtain Gold, or even silver or below? Part of me does have this apprehension, yes.

But in the end, what does it matter? It doesn't matter to me what we get. What would matter to me would be how we play, what message we can send to ourselves and our audience. Cliched, I know, but true. I think in the end, the award means nothing. Music is meant to be enjoyed, not judged. What I want is to be able to see what the songs describe, especially La Mer, a very evocative piece. I hope to actually be able to see images through the music. Admittedly Safari isn't much, but of course it would be good to convey the feel of the jungle in this rather wild piece. La Mer of course, is about the wind and the sea, at least this movement of it is. I can almost imagine the sea as we play, the howling wind, crashing waves and yet moments of calm interspersed. This is the image I hope we can send.

As Mr Oura said, be possessed by the music. On the basic level of course, stuff like tone and all needs to fit the piece. In that respect, I hope to be able to play the bari sax for Safari, then turn it into the cello and double bass it's subbing in La Mer. La Mer was composed for an orchestra, so if we sound like one, the music comes across well. Then there's, as I mentioned, the message and images to be sent. I think as long as we put in our emotion into the piece, and we do know ourselves what kind of a message we want to send, our performance should come across beautifully. I can see that Mr Oura already has devoted himself to tomorrow, La Mer especially. Hopefully I can live up to his expectations, and by extension, the rest of the band.

I suppose the final message I want to send myself is that tomorrow, enjoy the music, enjoy the stage. Play your heart out. For me, the main aim is to really make our music beautiful and enjoyable. Even if you are just out for the GWH, if you do this, it should come naturally.

Tomorrow, we will make history. As the ocean glowed for RIMB, let it rise again in its power and might in La Mer.

To all RJCSB members out there, all the best for tomorrow.

Today.

Well, today was interesting. Wanted to go down to RI sectionals, but they changed to concert last minute. So I went to watch Meet the Robinsons with Paul. Always nice to spend some time with a close friend.

RI SYF is in 3 day's time. Good luck, we're all standing behind you.

SYF thus far.

Wow... judging the last 2 days has been very tough. Out of 50 schools, only 1 got Gold with Honours, and very shockingly it wasn't RGS. I really don't believe it...

Well, RIMB, the baton's with you now. Get that gold, for RI, for the alumni, for us, the batch of 2006, for Mr Oura, but more importantly, for yourselves. Prove to us that we were wrong when we predicted the band would die this year. Unless there's a major earthquake or a nuclear attack I will be down there at SCH on the 16th. I want to be able to say proudly that I was from that band up there, that won the Gold with Honours despite the strict standards. I want to see Mr Oura walk out of SCH with a smile on his face. Most importantly I want to be moved to tears by your music on the day, and I want to see you all celebrating and cheering your hearts out. Let's hear a repeat announcement of the 13th of April 2005: "Raffles Institution.... Raffles Institution... Gold with Honours"

I'd also like to take this opportunity to express my thanks and respect for Mr Oura. To quote him recently on his blog:

at the SYF, let's send our message to the people with love.
music without message is really boring and it is not music , just a sound (or noise)
if the message doesn't have any love in it. something awful.

only the message with full of love makes people happy.

i believe our music will give them the best message ever.


How can you look at that and not be filled with admiration. One of the few things still holding me to RJCSB is that I want to continue under his guidance, at least for one year more.

I also remember another quote from him

"We will make history."

RJCSB and RIMB will score.

Memories

Was just talking to Chester and was reminded of the old days of RIMB. Our batch was the paragon of batch unity and spirit. Without fail almost every day almost the entire batch would converge on 4R and go for lunch, be it at S11, J8 or in school. After band, we'd just hang around in the band room until we were chased out by the teachers. Tuesdays and Thursdays saw many of us hanging around in the band room as well.

I am reminded of all the songs that we played in our last year... Silvercrest, Le Carnival Des Animaux, March and Procession of Bacchus, Jalan Jalan, Overture for Symphonic Band, Carmen Fantasy, Whistle While You Work, Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, Bandwagon, Highlights from Ragtime, Army of the Nile and Spanish Fever, as a band. As a batch, we ended off with Utopia, Titanic Medley, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jurassic Park and the promise that we would forever remain together.

We held onto this too, even after Investiture and Lilies by the River. We still went for batch lunches together, visited the band many times during the term, mugged for CTs together and during the hols, went for quite a few batch outings. Batch chalet/refugee camp at Jeremy's house, numerous movies such as Death Note, Night at the Museum and so on. All the while we were saying we could never be parted. What happened after that?

On the 3rd of January 2007, something somewhere blew up, and took that with it.

It pains me still to listen to our Investiture recordings, especially Titanic Medley. Where did that go?

A Tempo XVIII

Well, my first concert with RJCSB, as well as my first concert with 2 runs, is over. It was ok, I guess, but not as satisfying as Prometheum XI or Coda II. Friday started out bad for me, for numerous reasons, and the concert wasn't that good either. Mr Oura certainly was not happy. Saturday's was OK though, so I shall talk about that.

The concert opened with Metroplex, which is a reasonably nice song with 3 movements, as it were. One fanfare opening, one bluesy sax solo and a fast jazz thing. The song was quite ok, not much to comment.

La Mer was ok, musically, but I didn't really like it. Neither did the audience, it seemed. Royce especially said that it sounded disgusting when arranged for a band as opposed to an orchestra. For my part, I find it a boring song, and I wish we could have put in something like Vox Stellarum.

Kaze No Mai was nice, being I think the only song in which I got a main melody part besides The Stars and Stripes Forever. I like the song, it's very Japanese.

Can't say much about Postcard from Singapore, except that I quite liked the second movement. I think this song was quite well done as well.

Miss Saigon was next. I thought this one was quite nice, but apparently the trumpets had some difficulties. I love the ending of this arrangement though. The helicopter/timpani cover was a nice touch, I suppose.

The ensembles were ok, we had a percussion ensemble and a jazz brass quintet. Pity there wasn't a sax ensemble though, would have liked to have one.

RIMB was next with And Then the Ocean Glows. I was very impressed by their performance, given the standard I had seen previously. Seeing the old band play on stage, and do reasonably well too, was a very emotional experience.

We entered with The Stars and Stripes Forever. I love this song, and I really enjoyed playing it, especially the quaver rundowns. My favourite song of the concert.

Norweigian Dances wasn't that nice, but I think we did OK. Boring for me though.

The sax solo song, I Need to Be In Love, was nice. Unlike Friday, the saxes stood up for the first part, which was nice. Didn't do that since Prometheum X a long time ago. The solo was pretty nice.

Sounds From the 60s was quite nice, I think it was quite popular with the audience too. Surfin USA is quite a nice song, though I prefer more symphonic stuff.

Silver Screen was better this time than the last, though I think there could have been a bit more improvement. It really fits the storyline though, the whole silent movie thing.

Our encore was Takarajima, which is a nice song. Pity the sax solos were a bit too soft though.


So, yeah. Not much I can say. It was fun, but not as much as Prometheum or Coda. Hopefully next time will be better.

Steamed.

Following what happened today, I, as well as some of my batchmates, have become very distressed. I shall start ranting from here on, so please do not read on if you don't like this sort of thing.

Now, last Saturday, myself, Paul and Shuotian, among a few others, fixed up the RJCSB A Tempo XVIII ticket sales booth. We came up with the idea of doing a world map, with our repertoire written on it near the respective countries. So we had to skip sectionals to go over to J8 to buy materials, and since a real map was too expensive, we searched throughout Bishan library for a book with a world map. After coming back to school, we went to make the world map, and set up the booth.

Today, some of the J2s deemed our booth "unsatisfactory". They thus decided to tear it down, and rebuild it. As Paul, Shuotian and I were about to go for lunch with Bernard and Shu Yi, we were kidnapped by them, scolded for slacking around and screwing up the booth, and then asked to help remake it. The current remake stands now in the canteen.

As you can imagine, I am none too happy about this. Firstly, we invested large amounts of time and effort, and some money as well, in getting this done. We searched Bishan Library over looking for a big enough world map, and hunted for the various materials. We then painstakingly spent time drawing the world map and designing the booth. Yi Ding had drawn out the continents and landmasses very carefully, spending a lot of time on this. Wen Chong was also assembling the blue background, which was not an easy task. In the meantime, the rest of us were busy putting up the black backing for the board, and deciding what to write. After the map was done, we put up the blue background, then carefully cut out and glued all the continents on, which was not easy since some pieces went missing and had to be redone. Much care was also taken in cutting out the continents, ensuring that they were cut as close as possible to the shape. Shuotian was spending time designing a nice banner, along with Paul. Joan and myself were doing up the concert's details, myself drafting out the design while Joan went over them nicely in silver pen. Following which, Shuotian, Wen Chong and Yiding had to leave. The rest of us finished up the banner, and did up the map nicely.

So, as you can see, being called slackers did not hold too well for me. Firstly, there were some J2s hanging around watching us do our work at various times. If they felt that the booth was unsatisfactory, then why did they not tell us when we were building the booth, not after? Secondly, the fact that the booth was unceremoniously torn down, without even telling us, was really unfair, especially given the hard work we had put in. Finally, after a long and stressful day involving a very nerve-wracking piano exam, I was looking forward to some rest at lunch with my friends. Instead, I, as well as Paul and Shuotian, had to endure scoldings by the J2s for doing a bad job with the booth, then asked to help out, eventually doing little except standing there, as the J2s were doing most of the work. I gather Shu Yi and Bernard were not happy as well, especially as Bernard was not happy in the first place that I wanted to wait for Shuotian before going to eat. The finished booth, was in my opinion, not an improvement over the old one.

I mean, we made sacrifices and put in hard work on that. Shuotian had his badminton training, and though he wanted to rest after a tiring practice, he stayed as long as possible before leaving. Paul had to skip church to ensure that the board was up. In the process of doing the banner, he spilled lots of green flourescent paint over his uniform, which no doubt made it a lot more difficult to wash. I had to rush off immediately after the board was finished to go out, which meant that my dinner was postponed to 11pm. I'm sure everyone else must have wanted to go home after a long day as well.

The fact that we put in a lot of effort, only to have the work that we spent so much time and effort on torn down just because some people found it ugly, is seriously enraging. I shall not say any more, except that I am very steamed about this whole matter. I think I can say the same for Shuotian, Paul, Joan, Yiding, Wen Chong, Ling Zhang and anyone else who helped out with the original booth.

Memories...

Found a CD full of nice photos from various November events.

Graduation Ceremony Aftermath











2nd National Air Race




Graduation Dinner




































My favourite one
























Isn't it amazing how, just 3 months ago, we were all proclaiming our unity and love for one another as a batch? And now?

Rwinds Chalet.

Well, just came back from the annual (as of last year) Rwinds post-Coda chalet. It was quite interesting. Started on Friday night. I met Shuotian in city hall, and we went for dinner. Then we headed off. On the way there, we were joking about going there and finding one guy sitting alone on the couch. Guess what we found when we got there?

Wasn't as bad as that in the end though, since we were joined by others, Henry and Yanlong first of all, followed by a few others. After playing cards a while, someone found a mahjong set. Went to sleep after 2 rounds of that though. Interestingly, I heard that Teng Kok, one of our conductors, is going to be an econs teacher at RJ.

In the morning, me and Shuotian woke up at 6:30, and went off for band. I had fun admiring the early morning arrivals into Changi Airport while walking out. Reached J8 at 7:30, had breakfast, then went to RI.

Band was rather boring, we just went through Silver Screen and La Mer. Vox Stellarum > La Mer. I wish we had some more interesting songs. Still, not too bad, Kaze No Mae especially is nice.

After that, we met Jeremy, then the 3 of us shared a cab back to East Coast. When we got there, we joined a game of frisbee. I kept getting distracted by the... scenery though. Quite some nice ones too, the highlight being a 747-400 of KLM.

Eventually, most of the people there, except myself, Shuotian, Jeremy and Teng Kok left. However, more people arrived. We tried some funny card game called Bang!, which was quite fun.

After that, Shuotian and I went to play pool and air hockey at the entertainment center. When we got back, we had an interesting game of charades. I still fail to see how to act "Alvamar Overture"...

The next morning, we didn't do much. After checking out ,we went by the beach to play frisbee and volleyball, and, in my case, admire the scenery. After that, I had a few rounds of pool with Shuotian before leaving.

In all that was quite a fun time. I just wish more of my batch had gone though...

JC life.

Wow.. time seems to have passed by fast. It's already the end of week 3. Seems like orientation, coda and all that were barely a week ago.

Anyway, orientation was ok, I suppose. The activities were quite fun, and our OGLs were a very nice bunch. They really made efforts to make us feel welcome in RJ. My OG is good as well, though I can't really connect with them that well. Still, we had some fun times there.

My class is very good. Got quite a few people I know, including Bernard. Also, I got to know this nice girl, Shu Yi, from RGS. She seems to treat cars in the same regard I do aircraft, which is interesting. Been nice knowing her so far, really helped me a bit in getting adjusted. Also, the RJC photocopy shop is a huge ripoff...

RJCSB seems fun, as always. Especially the time during La Mer when jazz music suddenly blasted from the band room speakers, or when Yiheng pretended to be a head doctor. La Mer is quite challenging, though personally I think it sounds boring. Vox Stellarum would make a good SYF piece. Ah well, maybe next NBC or something...

Yeah, band is quite fun. I wish more people from my batch would join though, especially Chester. It just isn't the same without them... Also, my LOTR medleys are coming along slowly, been working on ROTK for a while. The White Tree is a very very nice song. Problem is, ROTK's going to be long. 15 minutes or so. It promises to be the best work I've done so far though. Somehow I wish I could one day hear, if not conduct, it in a concert, though probably it will never happen. Still, one can dream, no?

Alone...

Sigh... My willingness to go to the ends of the earth for people who'd barely lift a finger to help me astounds me.

I think what happened yesterday was just a physical manifestation of how I've been feeling for much of recent times. I've worked so hard for many people, but few have actually done much for me. Perhaps I'm being a bit selfish, but I just wish that I could get something back. Just once, I would like to receive, not an expensive or lavish birthday present, but a nice sincere card. Something a bit more personal.

In some ways, I think the best birthday present I got this year was Zi Guang's. At least that was more personal...

Coda!

Well, my first concert with Rwinds, and also the first full concert Rwinds has put up, Coda 1 being a joint effort with RJC. I'm glad it went well.

So as usual, we started off moving percs down to the atrium, along with instruments. Then we spent half an hour or so waiting for the lorry to turn up, after which we had to move the instruments over to the columbarium gate since the construction prevented the lorry from coming in. Still, we did it quite fast, and we were soon on our way to VCH.

The usual at VCH, soundchecks and tech rehearsals. Was very rushed though, i think we took barely 2 hours, and at the end of it all I had 10 mins to eat dinner and prep before going up to tune.

I swear I had nothing to do with the mc script... But I liked it :)

So, we started with Conzensus, a rather slow, stately deal. I like that song. Allows me to lounge a lot in my comfortable range, sometimes going a bit lower. Quite good job, overall.

Suite on Celtic Folk Songs was next. I always thought Celtic was Scottish? Anyway it was quite good. March was ok, I think listening to the recordings, some people might have been confused at the dal segno and repeats, but overall good. Air was nice. I loved Wenyang's picc solo this time, though I still think it sounds better on a flute. Reel was ok, though a but slow, and again, people were confused with the dal segno repeats.

Danse Diabolique, I think the song that has given the sax section the most trouble with all those quaver running bits. Well, at least I managed to get them this time, which was quite good. Also, the trombones did well, compared to some pracs.

Mononoke Hime Medley was up next. Playing it brought back fond memories of Investiture 2004... I also have to say that this is the only band score I've seen where the bari sax has more to do than the tenors. Comparatively easy song, and it was quite nice, especially the horn solo.

Vox. Vox vox vox. I like it. Vox Stellarum has a nice ring to it. And the composer/conductor, Wong Kah Chun, is imba. Some may not agree with me, but I like this song quite a lot. Then again, I've always liked the kind of heroic style that's used a lot here. Also, up there on stage was the first time I've ever been able to pull off the whole song without any mistakes, technically. Of course, some parts were too loud/soft etc, but overall it was nice. Very challenging piece (though I think La Mer is more troublesome). I hope I get the chance to play this one again.

The intermission turned out to be very chaotic, compared to the usual. I guess it's because about 20 batches or so worth of people turned up, as opposed to the usual 3 you see in sec schools. Backstage was quite packed, and it was quite difficult to get around.

I can't comment much on the ensembles, since I was backstage preparing for my own. Our performance was the first time our full section actually played the songs together. It seems we were well received, and I quite liked Sin Yee's arrangement of An American in Paris. I think I did quite well for my standards too, though some slipups in both songs. The getup was interesting though, seems that the audience liked it.

Gulliver's Travels I think was quite nicely done. Most of the parts I was worried about turned out quite nicely, especially the bass melody in movement 2. I always wonder why movement 4 is the way it is though, considering the horses in the actual book are far from what the song would have you believe.

Tong Hua... the song I almost fell asleep (literally) in during a prac. Though my part was boring, I quite like the song.

Les Miserables was also boring for me, though I really like some parts of it, especially Do You Hear the People Sing. A good concert end, in my opinion.

Of course, it wasn't really the end of the concert. For our encore we had It Don't Mean A Thing, very nice jazzy deal. Considering we practiced the song once or twice only, it was quite nice. As with Vox Stellarum, this was the first time I managed the song properly.

So after the concert, we did a couple of photos, then packed up and moved stuff to the lorry. In an interesting case of deja vu, the bus was late. It showed up eventually though, and we headed back to RI for the traditional batch J8 visit.

Overall I was quite happy with the concert, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. I must say that I enjoyed the many practices as well. Oh, and I'm in love with the RJC bari sax.
I think that I actually improved more through the 3 months here than I did in the last 6 months of my time in the RIMB. In the RI band, firstly, I was stuck with a rather bad instrument. It was easy to play, but the tone wasn't very nice, and it had a lower range. The RJC Selmer Paris bari, on the other hand, took a long while to warm up to. I have to use a lot more air too, which can be tough sometimes. However, the end result is much better.

Also, perhaps I had a bit more challenge during this concert than for Prometheum or Myriad. Mostly, the songs that we had for those concerts were very boring for me, and I didn't really have much drive to improve there. I mean, holding long notes doesn't take too much skill, and the majority of the songs I had then seem to do that a lot. Coda's repertoire gave me more stretching room, so to speak, and I could improve more with those songs. So, although I'm not that good yet, and still the worst of the Rwinds section, I think I still improved quite a lot.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed practicing and performing for Coda 2, and I'm also glad attendance was quite good. I look forward to Coda 3 (along with everything else that comes next year).

G?

So I'm supposed to come up with 10 things about myself beginning with G? Ok

1. Gold with Honours - My aspiration for RIMB and RJCSB next year. Don't disappoint me, ok?

2. Gulfstream - They make good jets, though I prefer heavier stuff myself.

3. Gondor Theme - Yeah, I like LOTR, especially this music.

4. Green - I like this colour. Very pleasant.

5. God - I am reasonably religious here...

This is getting tough

6. GE90-115B - Pure power in an aircraft engine, 115klb of thrust, compared to 56klb in the early rockets. What more could one ask for?

7. Google - What I usually use to search stuff. I like Google earth as well

8. G-BOAB - The first (and only) Concorde I ever saw.

9. GG - What I think a number of my relationships have ended up as

10. Goodbye - What? I can't think of anything else.

There you have it. Anyone wants a letter, just tag.

Singapore Center, Singapore 37 heavy declaring emergency due to severe turbulence.

Yeah, but seriously, now is a rather bad time in my life. Too many things to get confused about. Most of which is of course my relationships. I've been going on a roller coaster as far as those are concerned, and I really don't know what to make of some of them. Especially this one guy. I'm sure anyone reading this would know who I'm talking about. I somehow find a need for openness and a need to know for sure. Maybe that's the problem?

Does anyone read this anyway?

Bands....

Sigh... Most of my life these past 3 years has generally revolved around band. Either the RIMB,(now) Rwinds or (in future)RJCSB. I used to resent playing the barisax, found it boring. Now, I love the thing. Still, I can't help but wonder what will happen.

Raffles Winds.. the alumni band of RI, RGS and RJC. It's been a short, but enjoyable time so far preparing for CODA II, the end-of-year concert. I'm quite worried that I might not be able to handle some pieces, including Danse Diabolique. However, most of the pieces are fun, especially Gulliver's Travels and Selections from Les Miserables. Though I don't know my section mates well, let alone the rest of the band, they seem a nice bunch and I generally look forward to performing on the 28th of December.

Next of course will be RJCSB. Wish I could say much about it, but I have no idea what's in store, other than Play 07, SYF, A Tempo and NBC. Even more fun, I suppose.

The thing that worries me the most is my former true love... The RIMB. I have to say that it's facing some... problems, to say the least. We were fighting to maintain the standard of the band right from the start, and now, things seem to be sliding. Perhaps it's our batch's fault, or not. I don't know. People, especially the Sec 1s, somehow seem to not care about the band's future. I wish I knew why. Even though I am no longer in the RI band, I think I'll be as disappointed as, if not more disappointed, than any band member if they don't get a gold for the SYF. And I have to say, that seems quite likely now.

Ah well, once a bandsman, always a bandsman, I suppose. Nothing much more to say, except to wish all band members from all bands the best in any concerts or competitions they might be playing in.

End of an era

Well, after 3 and a half years of band, I'm finally out. The past 3 years have been.. unforgettable. Some of the bad moments:

Torturous drills in Sec 1
Getting screwed by Jermyn's batch in Sec 2
Screwing up Play 05
Not going for the Japan trip
Barely scraping a Gold for NBC

And of course, the good moments:

Performing up front in Prometheum X
All the busking sessions along Orchard Road
Gold With Honours!
Playing well for Unisono
Performing at the Esplanade in myRIad
Barely scraping a Gold for NBC
Best concert of my life - Prometheum XI
Everything else

Well, all things must eventually end. It's going to be difficult for me to adjust to this new life, but I'll manage. I have to say that the band has been a major part of my life all this while. In Sec 1, it was merely a place to go to to get tortured by RDs. In Sec 2, it was a refuge from my troubles in class. In Sec 3, it was both a source of great joy and of frustration. In Sec 4, it became our band, our batch's band. Did we do well? I think we did. Not as good as we would have liked, but still alright.

National Day!

Well, this was one of the more interesting weeks recently. Started off with myself and Bertrand staying at Jon Seow's house until 1am to finish off a video for the school National Day Celebrations. Turned out ok, but we could have done better. Still, it looked quite cool, though laggy. The 20 second clip at the end, of the 3 F-16Cs in formation was the most frustrating to film, took us 3 hours to get right. When we did get it right the first time, the video software failed... In the end took 4 hours to film that final scene. I wish more people would be able to appreciate the time and effort we put into the 2 videos, military and commercial aviation, though I fear most did not.

Interesting quote did surface from a random Sec 1 during the video though. When the caption "Singapore Airlines now operates the largest fleet of Boeing 777s in the world" appeared, someone was quoted to have said "There's a typo, should be 747." Just for reference:

747



777



Ok, maybe I am a bit picky, but these are my two favourite aircraft we're talking about! Anyway, after that went for some history makeup. Originally wanted to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 2, but was abandoned by certain people... So I just went home and slacked.

At night, I began a nice long flight. Since Bertrand and Xavier would be coming over the next day, I decided to fly from Singapore to Paris, on a Singapore Airlines 747.

Flight Number: SQ334
Aircraft: 747-412
Registration: 9V-SMS
Route: Changi Airport (WSSS) - Charles De Gaulle Airport (LFPG)
Departure Gate: F37
Departure Time: 2345 local
Arrival Gate: A4
Arrival Time: 0615 local

Surprisingly, even at night, with the Samsoft Changi scenery, PMDG 747-400 and tons of AI traffic, I got little or no lag. Anyway, taxiied to runway 20L, and was greeted by a long taxi queue, most of them my fellow SIA 747s. Took off after a short delay, and began the PMK12 departure. Flew over a nicely lit up CBD on the way out. Once the plane reached cruising altitude, I went to bed for the night.

Woke up the next morning to find the aircraft cruising slowly over central Russia. It was just before dawn. Dawn in Flight Sim is a very nice time of day, as you can see from the pic above. Also, a Lufthansa 747-400 flew parallel to the aircraft for a time, though we overtook it.

Bertrand and Xavier showed up quite late, though before we landed. We had lunch, then Bertrand landed the aircraft on runway 27L at Paris, while Xavier attempted to hijack it.

For the rest of the day, we spent time watching TV and doing some flying, then watched NDP. Why they used the song "Return of the King" from the LOTR soundtrack I will never know. We then went to Kallang to watch a VERY short fireworks display.

It was quite late by the time we got back, so Bertrand and Xavier stayed over. Xavier mainly talked to his friends (and Chester, for some reason) on MSN, while Bertrand flew traffic patterns (circles) around Seletar and various airports.

The next day, we got our hands on the Australian Simulations Piper Warrior III. The Piper Warrior III is a very nice, simple to fly basic trainer, which SYFC uses.

After Xavier and Bert left, I installed the Flight Simulator X demo. Runs ok, not as good as the final version's supposed to, but I can see it has potential. Water textures are sweet stuff.

Band the next day was immensely boring. I get about 4-6 bars of interesting stuff in the entire repertoire of 5 songs! Still, what can I do? I feel quite disappointed that the baritone sax seems to be a sort of afterthought in most music, but then I can't protest against a song just because it's boring for me, can I?

Yesterday went to the airport to see Xavier off. He would be flying the same flight I described earlier, SQ334. While most people wished him a safe trip, I told him I wouldn't need to, because he was flying a Boeing 747 and was guaranteed one. I wasn't joking either, I place full trust in that aircraft. Can't deny that I was a bit worried though, what with recent events. After that, I also went spotting with Bertrand. Qantas was surprisingly co-operative, sending a Boeing 747-438 and A330-302 within spotting distance. Pity Japan Airlines and KLM weren't.

All in all, I'd say this was an interesting week, had its ups and downs, more than usual. It was a nice end to the doom period, of July 9th - August 8th, and I got some flying done with the 2 new aircraft I got, the Piper Warrior and Carenado's Cessna 182Q Skylane II. All I need now is a yoke and rudder pedals, and I'll be quite nicely set up. Hope I get them in the future (hint to section in case they haven't decided what to get me for investiture).

Airliner Feature - Boeing 737-800

I'm feeling bored, so I shall write about some aircraft.

Boeing 737-800

Length: 39.5m
Width: 3.53m(interior)
Tail Height: 12.5m
Wing Span: 34.3m without winglets, 35.8m with winglets

Engines: 2x CFM56-7 (25000 lb thrust each)

Passengers: 162-189

Range: 5665km/3040nm

Launch Customer: Hapag-Lloyd

Airlines that fly it into Changi: Jet Airways, Air Sahara, China Airlines, Air India Express, Qantas

General info:

The Boeing 737-800 is the second largest member of the 737NG family of aircraft. This is Boeing's current airliner in the short to medium haul segment, and more than 2000 737NGs have been delivered. The 737-800 can be fitted with blended winglets to increase performance, and many airlines, such as Qantas and American Airlines currently operate it.

Prometheum XI

Hmm.. Haven't updated in a while. Been caught up in other stuff. Anyway, after seeing a lot of people blogging on Prom XI, I think i shall follow.

Given our performances at Band Fiesta and NBC, many of us were... fearful for the future. However, we decided to try anyway.

The day started as a normal school day, then at 1.15, we moved the percussion instruments down. Got a new high-tech truck with a lift! Makes loading a bit longer, but much easier. So we loaded, then headed for VCH.

VCH rehearsals went about the same as Prom X, with us only playing segments of some songs to check balancing, and practice others. Not much to talk about here.

The performance started at around 7.30pm. Most of us were quite nervous, even myself. However, concert experience teaches that nervousness before and after is good, during not so.

Anyway, we started with Silvercrest, a nice concert march. That went ok, not brilliant, but not too bad either. Then again, it's a march, so can't say it was difficult.

Le Carnaval Des Animaux was slightly painful. I'm happy that I could play my Fossiles and Finale, but overall I'd say this was one of our worse pieces we played that night.

March and Procession of Bacchus, again, not very good. The trumpets were slightly off at the start, though later they sounded good. Some parts were off timing, and I think that we could have done better for this as well.

Jalan-Jalan was reasonably good, better than we did for NBC. I actually managed to play the low F this time, which is good. Jeremy's solo was good too, as was Chester's . I think dynamics could have been a lot better for the whole song.

Overture for Symphonic Band was expectedly painful, although I must commend the flutes and oboes here for their improvement. Still, I never expected this song to be good, and I think it was our worst that evening.

While we played Carmen, we thought it not good, although the recording turned out to be rather nice. Our best song of the first half, I think. Lower woodwind soli was ok, could have gone softer though.

Then the interval. Standard visitors coming in, including a certain girl who Zi Guang has been dying for for a long time. I took the opportunity to blowdry our reed. Contrary to popular belief, this helps in lower woodwind instruments.

What followed the interval was pure magic. I've never seen our band play as well as we did then since Unisono. The sax ensemble rocked! Jazzablanca was almost perfect. I loved my tone for that song. Stars & Stripes wasn't as good, but was still nice. Can't comment on the percs since I was backstage then, but Whistle While You Work was fun. Got the audience aroused too.

Those Magnificen Men In Their Flying Machines was brilliant. The timing was perfect, the band was in tune and the song sounded excellent. The only screwup with the drumset was unnoticeable. In all, this song was played beautifully.

Bandwagon was good too. Samuel can solo quite well. The rest of the band was ok, but then this is an easy song so I can't say much.

Highlights From Ragtime.. Our best song of the evening. I loved all the solos, especially Winston's and Jeremy's. The song sounded perfect. Absolutely perfect. One has to listen to the recording many times and let the song slowly sink in to fully appreciate it. It was quite meaningful too, being our last official song of the concert.

Of course, that's the last official song. There were still the two encores. Army of the Nile, conducted by Justin, was nice, proving my theory that that song sounds better the faster it goes. Spanish Fever would have been nice if the audience could clap on time... Still that song went nicely too.

After the concert, we packed up and left. No repetitions of Prometheum X this time though, we moved out quickly, loaded the truck and waited for the buses. In a strange case of NBC deja vu, the woodwind bus arrived 45 minutes behind the brass and perc bus.

In the bus, Jeremy and I gave out "inspirational messages", that were supposed to be given out BEFORE the concert. Still, their meaning held so we decided to give them out. Hopefully our juniors took them seriously, because I, at least, meant every word I wrote there. The bus took some roundabout way to get back to school due to traffic jams.

Back at school, we packed instruments, then went for a debrief. Everyone was happy with the concert, and we ended with the loudest band cheer ever. I couldn't even finish because my throat died halfway through the spelling of RAFFLES.

In the end, that was probably the most memorable night of my life. We all played well, the audience was fascinated, Mr Oura was happy, the band was happy. This band certainly has more passion and dedication than the band that went in for Prometheum X. I'm proud of us.

Sigh. Now only Lillies by the River and Investiture... Time flies.

A myRIad of events

As I write this, I am currently cruising at around 40000 feet over the Malayan Peninsula, in a Thai Airways A330-321. Of course, by the time I post this, if I'm lucky, I'll be in Bangkok Don Muang International Airport (VTBD/BKK). If I'm slightly less lucky, I'll be posting from Zurich Kloten (LSZH). If I'm unlucky, I'll be posting from a hotel somewhere in Hamburg. Sounds like a fun time. However, I have my doubts, more so than anyone else. The concert today especially reinforced my love for the band, and how much I will miss her and her members.

Woke up at 6 or so in the morning, made final preparations for a long day. After picking up Eugene, headed for school. There followed the standard pre-concert procedure. Fall in, final checks and moving of instruments down to the atrium. Then, headed off for the Esplanade!

For most of us, myself included, this was our first time performing at the Esplanade. When we got there, we were dropped of, for some reason, at the mall side. We then had to walk over to the concert hall side and go backstage.

Now, if you've ever been to Victoria's backstage, you'll know that it is a crappy place. Hence, the Esplanade was awe inspiring. Where VCH's backstage consisted of a single corridor and a few dingy little dressing rooms, the Esplanade was a maze of studios, loading bays and lifts. The dressing rooms were large enough that we could actually comfortably (to some extent) fit 2 sections in 1 room, and each had its own toilet, which was bigger than some of VCH's dressing rooms.

Also, in VCH, the truck usually stopped at the ground floor, requiring us to carry the percs up a few flights of stairs to actually get to the stage. Not so with Esplanade. They had a nice convenient loading dock, arranged such that the deck of the truck would align with the loading platform, allowing us to simply wheel the heavies across and into a nice lift. Luxurious, isn't it.

Our rehearsal didn't go as well as we would have liked. For me, I wasn't up to my best because my reed was positively soaked. Still, we weren't overly daunted at first.

After lunch, myself, Bertrand and a small group of Sec 4s went to go look for a present for Mr Oura. We met Royce Lee and Aaron Tan there. Also, Michael came up with a "gangster walk", owing to our attire (we were all wearing partial band uniform except myself, wearing full band uniform) and the background music.

Concert started at 4:10. Some of us went to watch the RISE and a bit of RIGE on the plasma screen on the first floor. I later went to the dressing room to listen to the broadcast there.

Around 5:15, RIMB was called to the warm-up dock. At this stage, I was worried that some of the Sec 2s would be overly nervous, this being their first public performance, and in the Esplanade, no less. Even some of the more experienced hands were a little nervous at the prospect of performing in the large concert hall. However, spirits were high, and we walked onto that stage determined to shine.

What followed was 25 minutes of sheer beauty. Right from the first note in Carmen, I could tell we were off to a good start. We played the song very well, our best yet. Jeremy's solo was enticing and seductive, Jia Wei's had the right degree of style. Us in the lower woodwinds did not disappoint ourselves with our soli, and the percussion solo was good too. The finale was, although a little messy, very rousing and entertaining.

Stirred by the good performance in Carmen, we went on to Ragtime. Eugene's solo was a little too soft, but it was ok. We then launched into the tune of Ragtime, giving it our best. Following that, we entered bar 37, and Buffalo Nickel Photoplay, Inc., my favourite song of the lot. I could just hear the lyrics in my head as we played that one. Sarah Brown Eyes had Winston pulling off a very smooth, jazzy solo, with the rest of the band, Mr Oura and some of the audience snapping to the beat. Wheels of a Dream was beautiful too. Although the introduction could have been better, Jeremy's solo was good. Trombones and brasses did not disappoint either, and we really played our hearts out for the ending.

Then, the most interesting, enjoyable and moving part of the evening. The string ensemble, guitar ensemble, Chinese orchestra, choir and Handicapped Welfare Association members joined us on stage for It's A Small World. Opening with a slow solo by an erhu, the song then progressed to a Chinese percusssion solo, which, while interesting, had nothing much to do with the song.

The orchestra then started off with full force, opening with a fanfare, then gradually fading to let the choir take the spotlight. Normally, I would be cursing the living daylights out of this song, as it causes great pain to my fingers, without any rests other than a short 8 bar segment, and normally, I wouldn't put in as much effort as I would for the other songs. However, on that stage, I couldn't care less what happened, I simply played my heart out. Can't say much for the other band members, but I can see that Mr Oura really enjoyed it. You just have to look at the spirited way he was conducting the orchestra, even turning to face the audience while conducting, as if to conduct them and encourage them to join in, and you can see how much he enjoyed it. At the majestic conclusion to the song, he seemed to be very moved. He wasn't the only one. By the start of the finale, I was already giving my all to that song, and during the crescendo to the end, I really put in my all, and could hear the rest of the orchestra in triumphant harmony. The audience started clapping even before we ended that note. As we stood up on stage, facing thunderous applause, I truly felt proud to be a member of the band.

Overall, I wouldn't say this was the best performance we had put up, and there are places to improve on, particularly balance. However, for a first time performance, it was quite good. The Sec 2s especially did well, considering that it was their first time.

Of course, all good things must come to an end. I stayed to help load up the lorry. At that point, since Chester and Zi Guang were leaving on the lorry, it would be my last chance to see them until after I returned from Europe, and we exchanged emotional farewells. I also said goodbye to Bernard there, although we would both be walking back to the main entrance together.

Once we reached the entrance, our section attempted to take a photo together, but failed miserably. At that point, as well as on the way down, many people wished me a pleasant flight, and I appreciated that. I said my final goodbyes to Jeremy, Joel, Jiawei and Bertrand, then watched and, at some point, saluted as the bus drove off. I then headed off to Changi Airport, where I was pleasantly surprised to find a Star Alliance logojet of Thai Airways at my gate. That, though, is a different story.

So, once again, today, I am reminded of how important my friends are to me. Now, I apologise if what comes next sounds a bit emo, and would be more appropriate for something like investiture, but, after all, there are only 3 months left, and I do want to express myself. To the members of the Raffles Institution Military Band, I would congratulate you on a job well done today. We performed well, brought the house down, and gave ourselves confidence for the coming challenges. To the saxophone/lower woodwind section, good job today, and may we continue to excel. And especially to my closest friends, Jeremy Wong, Chester Gan, Bernard Toh and especially Eng Zi Guang and Bertrand Na, thank you for everything. You supported me when I was down, shared in many fun and joyous moments with me and most importantly, was there for me always (well, almost always anyway). Though you may not realise it, you guys are the most important people in my life, and I sincerely thank you all for that.

Well, hope to see you all in three weeks.