The AlvinKei Revival Plan

i need massive support.

why?

nop im not goin for any operation or anythin serious.

but,

i'm going to start playin the piano again. and then maybe shift to the keyboards.

so what i really need is some support.. some encouragement.. so that i wouldn't quit another time.

i tried playing just now and i sucked so bad i didn't even know that it was me.

if anyone of you wana show some love, leave a comment for this post from time to time yeah. whenever i feel out of inspiration or feel like quitting, i'd come back and read all of it and boost my spirits up. =)

thank you.. i really do appreciate every comment, criticism, and guidance.

some support on msn messenger =)

OPEN

your fucking mouth alvin

sigh. when can u ever learn to open ur bloody mouth to say 'hi' to your classmate.

you can scream, you can bullshit on the mic, but you can't even say 'hi' to classmates? damn, you should just go suck a cock.

day's been pretty long after i found out that i have classes on wednesdays, starting tomorrow. =(
another 10am-5pm day in college. i don't dread going to college. i dread sitting in class and fighting sleep. and especially during criminal, the lecturer will go "take this down : and the decisions of the Court of Appeal bla bla bla bla...." makes me feel sleepy all the time.

OPEN YOUR MOUTH

OPEN YOUR MOUTH

OPEN YOUR MOUTH

why is it that you can scream without feeling shy on stage, and yet so fucking shy in real life?

you're a hopeless asshole alvin.

reminder

cables spoilt..

1. i need to buy 2 cables. prolly 10-15ft both could cost me around rm100.

2. and a metronome, which could cost me rm200.

imagine, playin piano and finishin grade 8 and don't even have/practised with a metronome. what a torture.

3. fill up my exam form.

4. practise from the 'Guitar Techniques' mag that i bought.

suck

I SUCK BIG TIME.

here's a convo between me and lynnette.. about the band competition at PWTC.


: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
dun worry

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
there will always be next year

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
XD

alvinkei says:
yea

alvinkei says:
sigh

alvinkei says:
boring sial

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
why not go this year

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
go see how's the comp

alvinkei says:
no way

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
then nx year u know what to expect

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
no?

alvinkei says:
nop

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
okay then

alvinkei says:
shoot me also i don wana go

alvinkei says:
sure make me emo for few months

alvinkei says:
cos see all the terrer guitarist there

alvinkei says:
i macam so suck lidat

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
hmm...

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
then u can motivate urself to upgrade urself marr

alvinkei says:
no.. it'll make me quit instead

alvinkei says:
i very weird one la..

alvinkei says:
i hate seeing other ppl on stage oen..

alvinkei says:
except those artistes

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
hmm...

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
reli bit weird

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
u won't feel anything like... erm... i wanna win that guy... or i can play better than that larr

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
meh?

alvinkei says:
nop.. not for guitar

alvinkei says:
my guitar.. very low confidence one..

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
boost up ur self confidence larr

alvinkei says:
i suck so bad.. how to boost my confidence

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
stop saying u suck

alvinkei says:
sigh

alvinkei says:
n also feel like quit singin

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
why u wanna quit everything just because u dun do it well?

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
if u really treat it as a passion right

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
something u like doing

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
why quit just because u suck at it?

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
u play for ur likes

alvinkei says:
nop..

alvinkei says:
i play to be famous

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
the go upgrade urself larr

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
go take lessons

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
or wtv

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
practice more

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
the world of music right

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
sure got ppl like and dun like somethings one

alvinkei says:
i got no patience, got no heart edi

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
that means u have no passion for music

alvinkei says:
yea.. its dying di

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
damn dissapointing

alvinkei says:
sigh

alvinkei says:
tats y im such a failure la

alvinkei says:
its the only thing i do but i got no heart di

.: Lynnette :. [http://book4sales.blogspot.com/] says:
why no heart already??

alvinkei says:
i cant do it alone la..

I WOULD TRADE HALF OF MY LIFE TO BE FUCKING BLOODY INSANELY GOOD IN EVERYTHING THAT I KNOW RIGHT NOW.

and that includes :

- piano
- guitar
- bass
- singing
- screaming

study..

study.

i hate this word, a LOT.

i just killed my new year's resolution - i just added another pedal to my collection.

im screwed =( big time.

ok now for some regular language, cos you guys kept complaining that you don't understand wtf i'm talking about.

here's some updates on my life. well, not much recently, but some notable stuffs are like -

1. i finally touched the piano after 3 months in exile,

2. i had the sudden 'emo burst and feel like cutting my hair' this afternoon (yeah, when i get emo i'll just cut my hair freakin short to 'start again', weird ain't it?) but i didn't,

3. and i'm still trying (and failing again) to get a fucked up voice.

procrastinating whenever i'm supposed to wake up and go to college, like tomorrow for sure. i wonder when is my life gona be saved from the evil clutches of the fearful combo of MUSIC, GUITAR, and PIANO. my life is going down the fucking drain. i lost my mojo. i lost my social skills, like, everything.

i often wonder, what happened to the old alvinkei that i once knew. someone who was very outgoing, or at least he seems to be, and someone who isn't shy to say 'hi' to a random person standing at the bus stop. he used to smile like an idiot, and having many people ready on his speed dial. but who killed alvinkei?

what turned him into a monotonous nerd who has a penchant for nothing but guitars, music, and piano. shit. someone please save him.

finally

i touched the piano!

well i'll start off slowly today.

it'll just be a matter of days before i'm blazing thru the keys once again like before. and i vow to rock harder, run faster, bang louder on the piano.

finally you've come back to me <3

fuck you

fat ass eat my fucking dust u bitch!

im so fucking motivated to practise up my damn scales on the piano tomorrow.

cos i know im so gonna melt the face of this fat fuck when i see him again.

lets start the avk revolution again ~!



Vivaldi Four Seasons, guitar duet



Children of Bodom - oops i did it again (cover)

if only i could

sweep pick..

it'll be so nice to listen to bloody fast arpeggios comin out of my amp instead of the noisy shit that i play everyday.

another week has passed and yet i have not been reading my law books. even some of them are left untouched on the bookshelf. guilty sial..

and another thing that's been bugging me is.. my piano.

haven't been touching it for around 3 months already. sigh, my piano's been collecting dust, and i somehow couldn't remember much of the things i've done, and the times i've spent with my dear Wagner upright grand. will anything ever bring me back to 'her', and start playing poignant melodies, aggressive medleys, depressing pieces, and 'con fuoco's on her again?

yoshiki, where the fuck are you? i need you to save me and give me the determination and strength once more like you did before.




tell me what you did last christmas. =)

confirmed

buying the TW-1 for 2nd hand at rm290. plus a new set of GHS strings =D

say goodbye to my next week's allowance and hello to a new member of my pedal family!

COD on monday. can't wait!

anyway screw cny clothes. it ain't important anyway. i realised that i haven't spent on any clothes for the past few months. and didn't drink any starbucks or expensive coffee for a few months too. oh wait oh wait! i also stopped eating at nice shops that cost you at least 30bux per meal! so i guess i could use those 'saved up' money for my guitar stuffs. screw cny! haha

well okay so far already 3 people said that my blog is like some guitar blog. so here it is: emo time!

exam's coming. i still feel so blank in my head. i try to read stuffs by myself, and somehow after 20mins or so i find myself dozing off, or planting my head deep into the textbook, hoping that somehow the information would seep into my brain. how the hell can i get thru this damn course with honors for CLP.. damn

as if sitting alone in class isn't boring enough, i still have to fight the occasional 'sleep bullet' when somehow you find yourself really absorbed into the topic and understanding every word the lecturer says, and just with a sudden lost of concentration, you find sight moving slightly and mind hitting the killswitch. *dozes off*

having terrible phlegm nowadays but that's probably what i hoped for, so that i could sing a little more like the gypsy kings, kyo of dir en grey, and m.shadows of avenged sevenfold.

ahh!

another round of 'Gear Acquisition Syndrome' hitting in.

lurked around forums and stumbled upon this mid-80's Made in Japan BOSS pedal. might i say 'rare' ? going for 290-ish hoping to test it out and nego a little more. =)

~~~ALVIN READ THIS EVERYTIME YOU COME TO YOUR BLOG!!!~~~

1. ITS TIME TO HIT THE BOOKS. ONLY 4 MONTHS BEFORE EXAM!!

2. STOP BUYING NEW EQUIPMENT, SAVE SOME MONEY FOR CNY CLOTHES

3. GET YOUR CHOPS UP!!

stop!

Lace Sensor-Gold: A classic 50's Style single coil sound with a classy bell

Lace Sensors also have Radiant Field Barriers: metal slides which frame the inner core of the Sensors and perform two function. The first is to shield the Sensor from the outside noise and 60 cycle hum. The second is to produce a broader yet more concentrated umbrellas of sensing field that standard magnetic pickups.

Less Noise, More Harmonics
As compared to standard pickups, sensors read a greater physical area of the string, while picking up less outside interference. This makes the signal-to-noise ratio nothing short of phenomenal for a single coil system. Also, a wider range of harmonic content is read by the Sensor, delivering a more complex tonal response.

Increased Sustain, Truer Pitch
Since they operate so efficiently, Lace Sensors can utilize the much lower energy magnets than ordinary pickups, and this in turn bring about a whole new realm of properties. In regular pickups, the magnetic fields are so strong they physically dampen, or drag on, the strings' vibration, reducing sustain and actually changing the pitch. But in Lace Sensor, string dampening is virtually nonexistent. This means your sustain is increased dramatically while the string holds its true pitch for the duration of the note

-from www.lacemusic.com

alvin stop-

stop looking at pickups.

and fucking improve ur chops first.

Vintage output single-coil-sized "rails" humbucker with the sound of a vintage Strat®. Perfect for country, pop, surf, rockabilly, blues, ska and classic rock.

Vintage Rails use a unique split rail, twin coil design and special (parallel) wiring to achieve true, vintage, single-coil tone without hum. The sound is clean, clear and bright, with all of the "quack" you love in the notch positions. Though tonally similar to Duckbuckers, the rails design eliminates any potential dropout in string bending.

i cant play

it seems to me that i cant play any proper shit on my guitar.

yeah i could play scales n stuff, but ask me to play something (like how everyone always go: "hey play somethin for me to hear) and i'll go blank on the guitar. even those people who only know how to play 'Canon Rock' is much better than me.

went to curve just now, had nothing much to do. just couldn't stand the fact that i'm having 2 free days (wednesday and today) and yet i spent the whole afternoons at home just rotting and wishing that there was college instead.

but when there IS college, like tomorrow for instance, i dread staying for the second class. like, how bad can it be? let me show you.

10am-1pm : contract law (i like this lecture. the lecturer interacts well with us and still doesn't compromise on the facts churned out)

2pm-6pm : PUBLIC LAW ZOMFG.

i dread going to public law. 4 hours of a dry topic is enough to knock out even the 'high'-est of drinkers.

*UPDATE*

yes yes yes yes yes i can play faster on the guitar today <3

look what i found

on the net.

"GAS differs in that the compulsive need to "tweak your rig" supersedes the desire to improve as a player, compose music, record, (and if you have aspirations of playing professionally) seek gigs. Another common trait of a GAS-inflicted individual is the tendency to impulsively trade in a perfectly good piece of equipment for a seemingly more desirable piece of equipment (often at a loss of money) and later regret the transaction."

GAS = Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

that very well describes me.

i wana be a gipsy

ahah kiddin. just accidently heard this song "my way" (yeah the classic by sung frank sinatra) in spanish. its called 'a mi manera' and if im not mistaken, il divo did their rendition of it in spanish too. just 10 seconds of listenin to the song n instantly i felt inspired to look up on that song.

then i bumped into 'gipsy kings', who happen to do their spanish renditions of lots of classics. they're pretty old anyway. their 'hotel california' is also damn nice. =)




^ a mi manera (my way)




^ hotel california (spanish)

wow

ok went to check out some amps today..

crate g-15x is rm550 before discount

marshall mg15dfx , well.. the price everywhere is almost the same but just not sure if i should spend on this, or wait for a better one.

roland cube 30x , someone is sellin this on the forum.. 1.5year used amp. even tho its quite a good practice amp, i feel like waiting for the AVT series haha.

long day at class today. just fighting to stay awake made me even more tired =(

feel so gatal to do something to my hair. either cut a little here and there, cos its quite messy now since its not long nor short. or just let it growwww. and also feel gatal to dye my hair, but the image of another 'lala alvin' keeps me away from the saloon. haha.

gig

KYO!!

when when when when when can i play again. =(

ok here's something to choose. i wana do somethin to my voice. i realised tat my voice sucks real bad and i can barely sing properly without shouting or screaming somewhere along the songs.

should i:

1. spoil my throat to get the raspy voice

2. clear my throat and start singin in a deeper voice

3. shout,vomit,spit,scream like Kyo of Dir en Grey.

super noob

today i went to try out some pedals.

as a noob that i am, i didn't dare to turn up the volume on the amp. just audible to me =D

first, i heard some good samples on the BOSS website and decided to try out the dynamic wah AW-3. its some auto wah pedal. i tried it, and the way the 'human voice' effect changes the syllable, it has some distinct 'gap' or sudden change in the syllable. not that nice if u ask me. ok i may be very noob in operating that pedal so i hope i'll go back there one day and try it again.

next was the blues driver. had no idea what difference does it make, but sounds like some distortion pedal to me. and now i still cant really tell the difference between various distortion pedals.

then it was the metal-core. i heard people sayin that it sucks n everything so i decided to try one for myself. nice sharp/deep variety it provides.. but well the price ain't that pretty.

went there to look for some amps and there were few options for me.. a Laney 65w for around 900, or a marshall mg30dfx for around the same price too. but still i've set my eyes on the AVT that i saw that day in KL. =)

morning

haha i like this pic. look at the reaction on the guy's face : "fuck you" haha.

any guitar pros here who's willing to give some pointers to a noob like me? i only see the guitar teacher on saturdays if he's free (i dont take lessons...) but on weekdays like these, i get lost somewhere along the way and don't really know what to play.

i downloaded petrucci's rock discipline dvd but somehow after few minutes of watchin and doin the exercise i get bored. =\ i guess i have really short attention span. but if there's anyone who is interested to teach me, or learn together with me, it wouldn't be so boring after all.

looking for:

guitar expert , or someone who wants to learn guitar with me. i mean self-learn..not go for classes. =)

016-6785223 (alvin)

avt50

yeah this is the amp im targeting now. =) maybe will cost me around 2k+ but i will TRY to save.
either this, or the 20 watt version of it.. which costs around 1.2k.

and i better improve some shit before i even break my bank to buy this thing.. no use playin power chords all the time over this beautiful hybrid amp haha.

i have rm250 in my bank now.. (so little, i know) and i feel like gettin another tattoo. perhaps one which could complement my current one.. or some patterns around mine.

ahh which is better? save for an amp (would probably take me 2 months) or instant tattoo?

sold

YESSSSSSSSSS FINALLY SOLD MY AMP.

so now i'll have to start saving money to get a new and BETTER amp.

read, BETTER. which means NO BUZZING, just clear crisp sound of the guitar. haha.

now i'm just playin thru my keyboard amp (waiting to be sold actually) plugged to the distortion pedal. it sounds very electronic. what to expect la? keyboard amp rite. not for guitar also.

so, next, is to look for a nice nice nice amp. i was eyeing the Marshall AVT series. its a hybrid amp between a solid state and tube i THINK. i tried one before and it was beautiful.

probably cost me about 1.3k

jazz

i should make it compulsory to learn jazz for now.

and stuffs like bossanova.. and funk.

sounds so good..........and complicated too =(

spent whole day at yamaha today.. n realised tat i don really like the laney amps there anymore (thanks to tryin on a marshall AVT amp..) die man i can never be satisfied with what i have. haha

hope i can sell off my amp and hopefully get a good one =)

some stuff to remember

1. my damn keyboard.

2. sell off my amp.

3. SAVE MONEY AND STOP EYEING AT NEW EQUIPMENTS.

4. stop thinking about modifying ur guitar, ur lucky enough to suck and play on a guitar this beautiful.

5. remember to figure out riffs and stuffs for :

• lovestoned
• umbrella
• from the bottom of my broken heart
• linger

saturday is cominnnn

sigh what to do on friday nights.

no car = no goin out = no party

its been 3 months since i got my license already i think but my parents still dont let me drive by myself. how sad . friday nites.. always have the itch to go out.. drink or watch a movie or do anything outside. somehow i feel that playin the guitar at home is a little boring now since i dont quite know what to train on, and the sound that my amp is giving me is like.. someone having a really bad sore throat and blocked nose altogether (that sounds really like me.haha)

somehow i like saturdays.. even tho its all spent at yamaha for the whole afternoon. but heck, i like it anyway. there's good amps there (well at least better than my stupid ass amp) and even though i play simple things it sounds good. haha! there's some personal satisfaction right there. and why the more to look forward to tomorrow - i wana hear how my '59 sounds like thru a 'proper' amp. which means, an amp which doesn't buzz like my shit ass amp.

yay fat fat fat

yessss my guitar sounds fat in the neck now.

maybe its just premature to say that i hate single coils (maybe i will like them in the future) lol.

ah shit goin to college in an hour.. 10am - 6.15pm.. sigh =\


now i just cant wait to improve on my shit skills so that the guitar doesn't go wasted..

some updates

brownie's back with new pickups on the neck =)
now i'll just have to bring it to yamaha this saturday to listen to the full potential of my guitar since my stupid ass amp isn't doing any justice with its buzzing and crackling.

so here's the full specifications of my guitar:

Construction	Bolt-on
Scale Length	25 1/2" = 648mm
Fingerboard	Rosewood
Radius	13 3/4" = 350mm
Frets	22
Body	Alder
Neck	Maple
Bridge	Vintage Tremolo
Pickups	Neck : Seymour Duncan '59 Model Mid : Yamaha Stock Single Coil Bridge : Seymour Duncan Screamin Demon
Pickup Switch	5-Position
Controls	Master Volume, Master Tone
Colors	Old Violin Sunburst

some pictures

so happen to stumble upon a pic that brannon edited about the black list.
very dark though..
anyways who cares whether our faces can be seen. it's the atmosphere which describes the mood that night =)

battle of the bands

upcoming battle:

date: 18th - 20th Jan (must be there before 8am)
venue: PWTC

now i need to find people who will be free on those few days. actually just on the 18th because i think it's the 'auditions' or sth like that on that day.

oh yeah its friday, saturday, and sunday.

urgent urgent urgent ~

as far as i know my bandmates have school on friday. actually me too, that's why im just looking around if there are people who are interested, then i might skip the afternoon classes (yea i suck haha).

LOOKING FOR:

1. drummer
2. guitarist
3. bassist
4. female / backup vocalist

very very urgentttt !

call or sms me at 016-6785223 (alvin)

morning

ahh another 1 more hour and i'll have to go back to college.
what's so nice about college life that everyone seems to love? kinda true that when you have money, you can enjoy. just tryin to make the most out of my college life here in BAC. i guessed i screwed up my KDU college life by frequenting Blitzone more than my lectures. =(

yeahh finally brownie's (my guitar's name is brownie) operation is done! now it has a '59 at the neck and a screamin demon at the bridge. <3 will collect it later after my piano class at 7.

speaking of which, i forgot to practise (yes, again) my piano.

some videos.

What is 'rainbowsquare' been up to



soundcheck.



umbrella cover.



songs during practice - mungkin nanti, ultimate, it ends tonight.


What's 'The Black List' been up to:



umbrella cover, again but with massive support.


well for those who are very blur about how many bands i have, here's a complete list. actually its not really complete because i'm not sure either. haha!

'RainbowSquare' - alright. here's a pretty cheesy band with a cheesy name. its not the real name actually. bandmates here (including me) are students from yamaha pelangi square. and we're in some band course (yea i don think many have heard of it before, but now there's a few more 'bands' coming up). so happen they kept introducing us as the 'pelangi square band' during mini performances, i just coined up this temporary name which sounded a little better than 'pelangi square band'. this can be said as my 'main/real' band as we've been together for a year perhaps?

members include:

v/g - brannon
dr/g/b - nick kwek
dr/g/b - nick auyong
v/kb/b - chi yan
v/kb - phaik sim
v/kb/b/g - alvin

'The Black List' - this band was created for the small 'competition' (yeah u can watch that vid above). supposedly a side project of mine, and currently i'm still considering whether to be in it or not. just wana try my hand at managing / producing a band. yeap i think some of you know that my dream is to actually become a producer =)

members include:

v/kb - julia
v/g - brannon
b - nick kwek
dr - seikan
v/g - alvin

'The Melt Method' - nothing much is known about this band. got invited from my buddy Jie Juan. always talks to me about his views on forming an instrumental-driven band, more towards neo-classical material. however, i don't know much about this project yet, but i think in the long run it'll be a success since the other members are, well, technically good and creative.

members include: (from what i know)

v/g - jie juan
g - edwin
kb - alvin

okay there is at least 1 more band which i'm "in". which means i've been invited but haven't really jammed or met up with the other members yet. but for this one, i'm not really sure about the plans yet. just to brief you a little on it - i've been invited as a vocalist/bassist for a j-rock inspired band. got this invitation through friend's friends (complicated). not much news about when it's starting but it's gona sound a little like L'arc~en~Ciel and Luna Sea.

2008

so it's new year, but i'm still the same, no?

quick wrap up on 2007:

couldn't really remember much of what happened for the first ten months. all i knew was i emo-ed my days away over i-dont-know-what-cause.

november = got a tattoo on my back.

december = was kinda busy preparing for the small performance/competition at TTDI hall. not really a good turn-up that night, but that didn't dampen our mood to rock our asses off. my band, 'the black list', got 2nd (honestly i didn't know until few hours after that). we were celebrating but i didn't know what did we win. i guess the prize wasn't really important, but what was - we enjoyed ourselves, and my friends did.

xmas time ! but this year xmas was pretty dull. never got any presents, nor gave any either. well bought myself a seymour duncan pickup for my new guitar (oh yea forgot to mention that i sold my old guitar and bought a new yamaha one) as a xmas present to myself. how pathetic, yeah i know.

on new years eve, spent it at the hilltop with bandmate/'sis' kanzy. nice fireworks and we actually had a view of shah alam, and the whole of puchong. we could see fireworks from all the different areas. real beautiful =)

today = just sent my guitar for some modification. putting in a '59 model neck pickup for my yamaha. i guess my guitar is worth at a total of rm1300 after all the modifications.

realised that i have this terrible habit of creating new blogs, posting for a week or so, and never post for a few months. then after that i forgot my blog's account/URL and create another one. yep, just like *this* very blog.

new year resolutions? well here's mine:

1. either find a new charismatic vocalist who can sing to replace me, or force myself to improve on 'singing' rather than screaming.

2. try to study more.

3. try to make some new friends in college.

4. alvin, stop thinking about buying new guitars or equipments. improve ur shitty skills first before you even think of it.

5. do something real stupid on my birthday. something outrageous to be etched in my memory.