Woo! No more insomnia. Now I sleep well. I guess after all the tiring rehearsals, some in the morning, my body clock has gone back to normal. Well it's a good thing coz many concerts are coming up and I need the precious sleep. So people, please do attend the concerts! Upcoming one is Philwinds Goes Pop! Details on the left. See ya there!

I've been having insomnia for quite a while now. I would just lie on the bed, unable to fall asleep. I just don't feel tired and sleepy. So here I am, typing out a blog entry.

Just hours ago, I attended a rehearsal/recording session of the Berlin Philharmonic and man were they awesome! The unity of the orchestra; the unseen, literally virtual, communication between musicians was really special. They did not just stare at their scores and/or the conductor, but they played to each other as well; and I mean this literally because they sometimes play in the direction of the colleagues next to them. These musicians really have the music at heart and made things like intonation, articulation, pulse and even musical direction second nature. This frees them up to listen to themselves as a unit and constantly fit in according to their roles, which I think, is a major contribution to their success. I'll be attending one more rehearsal later and I'll open up my ears even more so that I make attending the rehearsal really worthwhile.

I really do hope to get sleepy really soon....

I've never felt so...well...weak, tired and headache after..well..2 rehearsals. I feel my head is depleted of oxygen or something. It's a good thing there will be no more 2 consecutive rehearsals. Somehow I've not been able to keep my energy level up today. Well, the day is over; time to get some well deserved rest. Good thing there's Berlin Philharmonic tomorrow!

Yeah man! I got another gig to play. It's Carols by Candlelight at Fort Canning Park. 12 December (Sunday) at 6pm. Repertoire will be Christmas carols I would think but I've yet to confirm this. It's free admission so mark down on your calenders people!

Practicing my New World Symphony part last night was probably one of the most tiring things I've practiced after my exams. I just realised the power of the tuner and it really helped me realise a lot of things in my playing. Since my exams ended I've been practicing with a tuner and from what I hear, my sound is getting more centred consistently. Having said that, keeping low notes centred and in tune really requires lots of air and support and now what my teachers and peers have told me makes sense! And that's why my practice session last night was so tiring.However, I really think I'm overpowering the instrument and the mouthpiece especially. So I might head down to Top Brass one day and check out a new mouthpiece; bigger and maybe heavier too.

So right now I've got a busy schedule in December to keep myself occupied. Well that's all for now, goodbye!

PS exam is over! Time now to look forward to excerpts, solo pieces and of course the ensembles that I'll be playing with. Exam went alright, my intonation was still not good but I pulled through. Now I know what's on top of the priority list: INTONATION. Get this right and my music making will have much more meaning, be it solo or ensemble. Well time to get some well deserved rest and start practicing again soon!

Great news for myself: I'll be going to watch the rehearsals and recording sessions of the Berlin Philharmonic! Not needing to pay to watch them! This is fantastic; they'll be rehearsing/recording Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances and Mahler's 1st Symphony. It'll be next Monday and Tuesday. Something great to look forward to as well!

Well it's 15 hours to my PS exam. I really hope all goes well. After a disastrous brass class, I've been trying to mend as many problem spots as I can. So...one shot at it, to play a representation of my playing. Well all the best to everyone!

Now that all the academic papers are done, time to concentrate on the technical exam. 5 days to go! I'm really looking forward to the concerts I'm performing in during the year-end. I'm also looking forward to the concerts I'm attending like Emmanuel Pahud solo/Mahler 7 by SSO and Rite of Spring by SSO. So much good music to conclude the year. Well that's all for now. Bye reader!

Hi all! I just received this poster of the Philwinds concert. Do take a look (Click on it to enlarge) and buy tickets if you're interested!

Hi all! Tickets for the Philharmonic Winds Goes Pop! concert are on sale on Sistic already! Here's the link to the event. Get your tickets now!

I just had a self reflection of the past semester. It was really busy I must say. Keeping up with orchestra, wind band, technique building and academics is really demanding work. James Markey (bass trombonist of the New York Philharmonic) put it well: "Even in college, you can be practicing 4-5 hours a day. But if you constantly do this everyday, high chances are that you won't feel fresh the next day." It is very true for me. I would practice till night and when I reach home, I just feel so tired. It is rare for me that I sleep when I'm on the bus but on some days, I just have so much fatigue that I can't help it. I would then go to school the next day feeling tired and unable to have full focus and concentration when I practice. I can probably push it for an hour more or so but after that, focus just goes down the drain and so does the practice session. But it definitely has been a semester that I've learnt a lot with regards to trombone playing. Playing in the orchestra has made me more sensitive to what's going on around me. Listening was of utmost importance; needless to say but it was the orchestra that drilled this skill into me. I admit that I'm still not good at it and it will be a lifelong endeavour to constantly improve my listening skills. It's great that I'll perform in one orchestra concert in December (Dvorak's 9th symphony). This will be another opportunity to improve my listening in an orchestra.

My seniors have taught me many things and have given me new and different ideas about playing. I'm grateful for having such close friendships with fellow brass players at school. Of course musicians from other disciplines give good ideas as well. Sometimes, when I hear my schoolmates practice, it just motivates me to practice and play well. It'll just be up to me to practice well to play well; after all, "If you practice well, you get better, when you get better, it's more fun, when it's more fun, you practice more!" -Douglas Yeo.

All that said, I'm very grateful to my parents for supporting my musical journey so far. They've contributed a lot and have provided moral support as well. So now, time to get through the exams and then, more time to make more music!

I've deleted my Livejournal account; so all that I wanna post online will be here. Lessons at NAFA for the semester are done. All that's left are 3 weeks of exams. After that, holidays! Oh yeah, time to start practicing more but with less stress on time. Rehearsals will also be abundant as I'll have three concerts in November. The first one is already on the left in the 'Upcoming performance' section I just added. Do come and watch as there will be familiar pop songs including the NDP song "We'll Get There"; "Plastic Mannequin Love" by Tay Kewei (should be familiar with NAFA music students) and "We Are The World". Full repertoire will be listed once confirmed. So that's all for now, goodbye!