Quite some time ago, I was interested in the later more than the former. Needless to say, the situation is exactly opposite now.
Speaking about the incident, I found a broken harmonium kept on the loft. When I opened it in a hope of some melody, I found the bellows full of dust and occasionally stuck to their original place. Before estimating the extent or repairs needed, it was very apparent that it would cost as high as a new harmonium itself, so I decided that I should practice some of my "acquired engineering skills" and try to repair it myself. So a laborious but interesting job of glueing them back and fixing the joints with plastic, tape and paper, was done. In the end the instrument looked renovated but had a clear patchy appearence.
Though the reeds played the right notes after all the labour, the bellows were so weak that the sound of blowing the bellows was more than the sound of the reeds. Nevertheless, I could play the usual chords and sargam for a while, till my left arm told me that it was time to quit.
Some time back, I fancied instrument making as a profession. This day I realized the joy of keeping it as a hobby. I don't want this occasional fun to be a monotonous daily routine, which was very clear from the job I did. I would rather have the fun less frequently than destroy it.
Well, it surely was fun for the first time.
Sunday, 28 May 2006
Thursday, 20 April 2006
Inebriated maudlin
thats what I'm right now.
There were many reasons today to celebrate -
1.(actually this is too old now) got a good job
2.finished with term project in MCS & OHM
3.had another ETMS treat and sensible discussion
4.will be leaving kgp in a month or so (almost sure, but not exactly)
having the-maudlin-feeling because -
1.I'm drunk right now
2.will be missing you friends after a month or so
3.will miss etms especially
4."the-hollow-feeling" (referring to apro's blog on a strange time)
I'm learning to live.
(that's a song by DT too.... what a coincidence)
There were many reasons today to celebrate -
1.(actually this is too old now) got a good job
2.finished with term project in MCS & OHM
3.had another ETMS treat and sensible discussion
4.will be leaving kgp in a month or so (almost sure, but not exactly)
having the-maudlin-feeling because -
1.I'm drunk right now
2.will be missing you friends after a month or so
3.will miss etms especially
4."the-hollow-feeling" (referring to apro's blog on a strange time)
I'm learning to live.
(that's a song by DT too.... what a coincidence)
Wednesday, 5 April 2006
moving on
i don't smoke. i don't drink as much. but i'm addicted to quizrooms on dc. after deciding to quit, twice i felt like playing again. but now i've quit. well, almost....
i used to be addicted to aoe. then i quit. then i am playing cs for some time now. i'll quit that too someday.
i used to be in love. then i quit thinking about it.
i write blog whenever i feel like expressing myself to my other self. someday i'll quit that.
i'm looking forward to a job which will give me money. after some time, i'll stop looking forward.
i want to live life happily. some day i'll go to himalaya and live an ascetic life.
i try to set things right, if i feel something should be changed so that the world could be a better place to live. someday i'll quit.
i'm an optimist to the core. sometimes i quit being an optimist.
i used to be addicted to aoe. then i quit. then i am playing cs for some time now. i'll quit that too someday.
i used to be in love. then i quit thinking about it.
i write blog whenever i feel like expressing myself to my other self. someday i'll quit that.
i'm looking forward to a job which will give me money. after some time, i'll stop looking forward.
i want to live life happily. some day i'll go to himalaya and live an ascetic life.
i try to set things right, if i feel something should be changed so that the world could be a better place to live. someday i'll quit.
i'm an optimist to the core. sometimes i quit being an optimist.
Wednesday, 22 March 2006
stuck
wikipedia says - The Chapman Stick in the early is a musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman 1970s. He set out to create an instrument designed for the tapping technique and the first production model of the Chapman Stick was shipped in 1974. Superficially, it looks like a wide version of the fretboard of an electric guitar with 8, 10 or 12 strings mounted on it, but it is considerably longer than a guitar fretboard. Unlike the electric guitar, it is usually played by tapping or fretting the strings, rather than plucking them. Instead of one hand fretting and the other hand plucking, both hands sound notes by striking the strings against the fingerboard just behind the appropriate frets for the desired notes. For this reason, it can sound many more notes at once than most other stringed instruments, making it more comparable to a keyboard instrument than to other stringed instruments. This arrangement lends itself to playing multiple lines at once and many Stick players have mastered performing bass, chords and melody lines simultaneously.
the beauty of the tuning - from stickiwicki - This one will stretch your brain a bit. Since the melody side is in fourths, and the bass side is in fifths but in reverse order and a fourth is an inverted fifth, the same chord and scale shapes work on the bass side as the melody side! They produce different voicings, since the octave pattern is different, but the same shapes and patterns will work on either side.
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
here's more to explore - (yes, google and wikipedia are very good sites)
.The sole manufacturers of the intrument (check the prices :(( )
.flash-listening on Jason Stunges' site
.some mp3z - some arbit, some with vocals.
.the video of Greg Howard playing distortion on stick is awesome.
.an interview of Emmett Chapman.
I wish I buy this instrument soon.
p.s. people who still want to fight, move on. i won't entertain crap now.
the beauty of the tuning - from stickiwicki - This one will stretch your brain a bit. Since the melody side is in fourths, and the bass side is in fifths but in reverse order and a fourth is an inverted fifth, the same chord and scale shapes work on the bass side as the melody side! They produce different voicings, since the octave pattern is different, but the same shapes and patterns will work on either side.
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
here's more to explore - (yes, google and wikipedia are very good sites)
.The sole manufacturers of the intrument (check the prices :(( )
.flash-listening on Jason Stunges' site
.some mp3z - some arbit, some with vocals.
.the video of Greg Howard playing distortion on stick is awesome.
.an interview of Emmett Chapman.
I wish I buy this instrument soon.
p.s. people who still want to fight, move on. i won't entertain crap now.
Saturday, 18 March 2006
entertained....
My last 2 years in Kgp have kept me busy in music almost throughout the year. Here is what I've gathered from the experience (speaking about entertainment/music only).
Three habits of winning people -
How to win in any event -
a) "Tap" potential fachchas.
b) Get a judge who would be pass-out of your hall.
c) Get the gymkhana ent-secy in your hall.
How to win a groups event -
a) Get a slot different than first 3.
b) Get your hall people to kowtow.
c) Be the black horse - you can come second most of the times.
How to win a vocals event -
a) Sing some fundoo pop number with hoohaa modulation in western vocals.
b) Claim that you have not had training.
c) Sing same songs for all the duration you are here.
How to win an intrumentals event -
a) Do some wizardry (e.g. biting your guitar or playing tabla (only right) by both hands time and again).
b) Again, play same pieces over the years (except this year).
c) "Ek guitar aur ek synth... sabhi hall yehi karenge... kya sexy lagega be.... judge ekdam impress ho jayega.... nahi to kuchh nahi aanewala apna is event me.... mai bata raha hoon na."
And the other side of the coin - three habits of losing people.
How to lose any event -
a) Try something beyond your caliber, no matter how it comes out.
b) Find some excuse for not performing, you can do anything you want during this time - chat, play guitar/synth in your room, sleep, go to chhedis etc etc.
c) Get disheartened very easily (kya rakha hai, sab moh-maya hai!).
How to lose in a groups event -
a) Be overconfident about your musical abilities, don't care about tightness, meager amount of practice would be enough.
b) Don't choose something which you can do better than other halls.
c) Get a first day first slot when the judge is good, or any slot when the judge is normal.
How to lose in a vocals event -
a) Realize that you don't stand a chance anyway, so try something out of the blue.
b) Re-organize the ongoing event because of some impertinent reason.
c) Choose accopanyists who are not-so-experienced.
How to lose in a instrumentals event -
a) Any excuse (e.g. going to Cal) for not participating will do - samajh rahe ho na!
b) Try playing different instruments and decide which one to play 1 hour before the event.
c) Play what YOU like rather than what THEY like.
I have seen the habits of losing people creeping in most of us losers (sure these were sore grapes for me, I will be the first one blogging the other view - how it feels to lose) though I'd rather advice not to indulge proactively in so-called good habits (unless you have exceptional tempo like Daku or Bhatu or few other people).
Why am I being so sarcastic? There's a proverb in Marathi meaning "A wise needs no explaination". I hope people are wise enough to digest this sarcasm (In my defence I argue that if they can't take it, they may not be that wise!).
p.s. I sincerely hope that the persons criticised/glorified in the above post read this entirely (esp. all the RP-ent team members) because this is what an ent-captain should have done and has failed to do - motivate his teammates.
Three habits of winning people -
How to win in any event -
a) "Tap" potential fachchas.
b) Get a judge who would be pass-out of your hall.
c) Get the gymkhana ent-secy in your hall.
How to win a groups event -
a) Get a slot different than first 3.
b) Get your hall people to kowtow.
c) Be the black horse - you can come second most of the times.
How to win a vocals event -
a) Sing some fundoo pop number with hoohaa modulation in western vocals.
b) Claim that you have not had training.
c) Sing same songs for all the duration you are here.
How to win an intrumentals event -
a) Do some wizardry (e.g. biting your guitar or playing tabla (only right) by both hands time and again).
b) Again, play same pieces over the years (except this year).
c) "Ek guitar aur ek synth... sabhi hall yehi karenge... kya sexy lagega be.... judge ekdam impress ho jayega.... nahi to kuchh nahi aanewala apna is event me.... mai bata raha hoon na."
And the other side of the coin - three habits of losing people.
How to lose any event -
a) Try something beyond your caliber, no matter how it comes out.
b) Find some excuse for not performing, you can do anything you want during this time - chat, play guitar/synth in your room, sleep, go to chhedis etc etc.
c) Get disheartened very easily (kya rakha hai, sab moh-maya hai!).
How to lose in a groups event -
a) Be overconfident about your musical abilities, don't care about tightness, meager amount of practice would be enough.
b) Don't choose something which you can do better than other halls.
c) Get a first day first slot when the judge is good, or any slot when the judge is normal.
How to lose in a vocals event -
a) Realize that you don't stand a chance anyway, so try something out of the blue.
b) Re-organize the ongoing event because of some impertinent reason.
c) Choose accopanyists who are not-so-experienced.
How to lose in a instrumentals event -
a) Any excuse (e.g. going to Cal) for not participating will do - samajh rahe ho na!
b) Try playing different instruments and decide which one to play 1 hour before the event.
c) Play what YOU like rather than what THEY like.
I have seen the habits of losing people creeping in most of us losers (sure these were sore grapes for me, I will be the first one blogging the other view - how it feels to lose) though I'd rather advice not to indulge proactively in so-called good habits (unless you have exceptional tempo like Daku or Bhatu or few other people).
Why am I being so sarcastic? There's a proverb in Marathi meaning "A wise needs no explaination". I hope people are wise enough to digest this sarcasm (In my defence I argue that if they can't take it, they may not be that wise!).
p.s. I sincerely hope that the persons criticised/glorified in the above post read this entirely (esp. all the RP-ent team members) because this is what an ent-captain should have done and has failed to do - motivate his teammates.
Monday, 6 February 2006
Hyderabad Blues
4 days outside kgp - and life was very much fun.
just 14 hours before boarding train to hyd, we were not sure whether we could perform in the fest. various impediments such as acad load on Vinod and practices on short notice had already made us apprehensive about the outcome of the event. then Yogesh made it clear that he could not come. the afternoon before we had to leave for hyd, Vinod also had no choice but to leave us looking for some other singer. at 7'clock in the evening we were pondering whether to cancel tickets or to really put up a show. finally we decided to get some on stage experience, may be at some cost. so we had Kaushik in the band.
as usual, the train got late, but we had just enough time to reach IIIT and get a feel of the fest felicity) before our performance. after the show, we had a chat with Rana, met Ojha (who was fascinated by the sound of fatal tragedy), gathered ample number of fans. though we stood third, we were better in many respects than other bands. agreed, we did not have own compositions, we did not practice as much, and we covered DT largely when the audience was for more heavy stuff (metal/death/black).
we learned many lessons in wildfire show, and some more here.
1. never use a processor in which you cant set a tone, however pro it may be
2. check sound of each instrument on each monitor (esp when you are covering DT)
3. select a songlist more approproate to the performance, rather than what you would really like to perform
4. have an original composition
5. have a balanced songlist - yet to include deep purple /led zep /van halen /metallica /pantera etc
6. have confidence in yourself and your fellow members.
7. have a smaller sound check, preferably, do not play a sound check song.
so even if our expenses were more than the prize money and we experienced "kataoing" at many points of time in various forms (ask Kaushik), the experience was precious, and the trip was worth the effort.
when 6 junkies have some time off, guess what they do - they pass time. after we realized it was sunday and rang de basanti was housefull long time back, we successfully wasted our time munching and jhandaoing. Apro left us for his conference in Chennai in the aftenoon. then we went to Kaushik's home and watched and listened to DT before we came to know that the train back to kgp had to start late by an hour at least. so we watched and listened DT for some more time :D (passing time is always easy)
apart from the lessons , the wonderful outcomes of this endeavor were few phrases - "No!", "Ooooowk", "Heeeeeeeee" + clap clap clap, "h ha h hm h ha", "hagg do... sab milke haggo... hagte kyo nahi". then there were endless pjs and vocalized instrumedley practices which needed no communication, only few tapping of foot were enough to set the band into yet another recital.
so, what's next? we'll see if we can get to play in such events as much has we can, we will come up with some (at least one) compositions, we will practice instrumedley more and we will cover some more bands..... (hmm too many issues at hand :D)
just 14 hours before boarding train to hyd, we were not sure whether we could perform in the fest. various impediments such as acad load on Vinod and practices on short notice had already made us apprehensive about the outcome of the event. then Yogesh made it clear that he could not come. the afternoon before we had to leave for hyd, Vinod also had no choice but to leave us looking for some other singer. at 7'clock in the evening we were pondering whether to cancel tickets or to really put up a show. finally we decided to get some on stage experience, may be at some cost. so we had Kaushik in the band.
as usual, the train got late, but we had just enough time to reach IIIT and get a feel of the fest felicity) before our performance. after the show, we had a chat with Rana, met Ojha (who was fascinated by the sound of fatal tragedy), gathered ample number of fans. though we stood third, we were better in many respects than other bands. agreed, we did not have own compositions, we did not practice as much, and we covered DT largely when the audience was for more heavy stuff (metal/death/black).
we learned many lessons in wildfire show, and some more here.
1. never use a processor in which you cant set a tone, however pro it may be
2. check sound of each instrument on each monitor (esp when you are covering DT)
3. select a songlist more approproate to the performance, rather than what you would really like to perform
4. have an original composition
5. have a balanced songlist - yet to include deep purple /led zep /van halen /metallica /pantera etc
6. have confidence in yourself and your fellow members.
7. have a smaller sound check, preferably, do not play a sound check song.
so even if our expenses were more than the prize money and we experienced "kataoing" at many points of time in various forms (ask Kaushik), the experience was precious, and the trip was worth the effort.
when 6 junkies have some time off, guess what they do - they pass time. after we realized it was sunday and rang de basanti was housefull long time back, we successfully wasted our time munching and jhandaoing. Apro left us for his conference in Chennai in the aftenoon. then we went to Kaushik's home and watched and listened to DT before we came to know that the train back to kgp had to start late by an hour at least. so we watched and listened DT for some more time :D (passing time is always easy)
apart from the lessons , the wonderful outcomes of this endeavor were few phrases - "No!", "Ooooowk", "Heeeeeeeee" + clap clap clap, "h ha h hm h ha", "hagg do... sab milke haggo... hagte kyo nahi". then there were endless pjs and vocalized instrumedley practices which needed no communication, only few tapping of foot were enough to set the band into yet another recital.
so, what's next? we'll see if we can get to play in such events as much has we can, we will come up with some (at least one) compositions, we will practice instrumedley more and we will cover some more bands..... (hmm too many issues at hand :D)
Thursday, 2 February 2006
a hectic day
0:00 - practicing with my band in music room, i discover that the bass cannot be plugged in. I open the bass and plug it the hardcore way.
2:00 - practice and bhat is over, i go back to room. i am ecstatic after i discover the missing nut from the bass assembly.
2:15 - i log on to dc, check out whether someone in playing jumble/trivia/gtw. play for some time. unable to decide whether to sleep or not. decide to work on btp till 7.30 class.
4:30 - that's it... i'm too sleepy, btp kata ;), get some sleep for some time.
7:00 - alarm wakes me up but the drowsiness takes me down again.
7:15 - decide to attend class at 7:30. wake up and brush. have breakfast. wake apro up, he is in no mood.
7:40 - reach class. try to concentrate for 2 hours.
9.40 - go to atm to withdraw cash. discover that i don't have sufficient balance. withdraw as much as i can. wake apro up again and take extra cash.
10:00 - reach reservation counter, reserve 3 tickets and cancel another (for praticipating in Hell's Bell in IIIT's fest felicity, happening in hyd 3rd-5th feb).
10:15 - wonder how that got over in 15 mins and have a cup of coffee.
10:30 - attend another class, listen to a seminar. get a bigger case-study (31 pages) for my presentation in next week.
11:30 - feeling the heat, have a cup of ice-tea.
11:45 - reach room. open dc. play gtw. spam in the quizrooms.
12:45 - wash clothes. have lunch. abuse indian cricket team.
13:10 - come back to room. remember that eastern vocals is happening today. hold a practice session in my room with intermittent gtw and winamp.
15:00 - remember that term project seminar has to be given at 3:30. get hold of a notebook and rush to department.
15:30 - fumble the opening of presentation, so hand over to other fellows in the group. then do bigger bakchodi in the notebook - animations and drawings.
17:30 - return to hall, have snacks. goto room, open dc. before starting gtw, kauwa calls and asks about instruments needed for vocals. suddenly remember that i have to accompany others in vocals.
18:00 - go to music room, pack up and go to raman. wait for our slot.
19:00 - makhao the vocals more or less, listen to abuses of people.
20:00 - go back to hall, have dinner. assure hallmates that position is almost impossible in this event.
20:30 - go to room. try to play aoe a couple of times. once my comp hangs once my opponent's comp hangs. decide to quit.
21:00 - open dc. play gtw for some time and then jumble for some time. call up bandmates for practice. decide to have practice at 12.
23:00 - decide to sleep for an hour. set the alarm on but forget to change timing (7.00 in the morning).
0:15 - mohit has to come and wake me up. get over the "halu" state.
0:25 - go to music room. arrange the bass again. feel happy. practice the songs.
2:15 - practice over, get back to room. open dc. play gtw.
3:15 - after being exiled from both the quizrooms decide to write a blog about the day.
3:30 - complete the diary, but feel that there is lot of matter for blog still uncovered.
3:40 - "I am here right now"
before joining IIT, i had heard about students sleeping 3-4 hours a day and working hard for the rest of the day and how-life-is-hectic-at-iits. it had to be three and a half years to make me realize that such days can exist in a real iitian's student life (i still missed the hardwork part - it had a different connotation altogether).
will write more after returning from hyd.
2:00 - practice and bhat is over, i go back to room. i am ecstatic after i discover the missing nut from the bass assembly.
2:15 - i log on to dc, check out whether someone in playing jumble/trivia/gtw. play for some time. unable to decide whether to sleep or not. decide to work on btp till 7.30 class.
4:30 - that's it... i'm too sleepy, btp kata ;), get some sleep for some time.
7:00 - alarm wakes me up but the drowsiness takes me down again.
7:15 - decide to attend class at 7:30. wake up and brush. have breakfast. wake apro up, he is in no mood.
7:40 - reach class. try to concentrate for 2 hours.
9.40 - go to atm to withdraw cash. discover that i don't have sufficient balance. withdraw as much as i can. wake apro up again and take extra cash.
10:00 - reach reservation counter, reserve 3 tickets and cancel another (for praticipating in Hell's Bell in IIIT's fest felicity, happening in hyd 3rd-5th feb).
10:15 - wonder how that got over in 15 mins and have a cup of coffee.
10:30 - attend another class, listen to a seminar. get a bigger case-study (31 pages) for my presentation in next week.
11:30 - feeling the heat, have a cup of ice-tea.
11:45 - reach room. open dc. play gtw. spam in the quizrooms.
12:45 - wash clothes. have lunch. abuse indian cricket team.
13:10 - come back to room. remember that eastern vocals is happening today. hold a practice session in my room with intermittent gtw and winamp.
15:00 - remember that term project seminar has to be given at 3:30. get hold of a notebook and rush to department.
15:30 - fumble the opening of presentation, so hand over to other fellows in the group. then do bigger bakchodi in the notebook - animations and drawings.
17:30 - return to hall, have snacks. goto room, open dc. before starting gtw, kauwa calls and asks about instruments needed for vocals. suddenly remember that i have to accompany others in vocals.
18:00 - go to music room, pack up and go to raman. wait for our slot.
19:00 - makhao the vocals more or less, listen to abuses of people.
20:00 - go back to hall, have dinner. assure hallmates that position is almost impossible in this event.
20:30 - go to room. try to play aoe a couple of times. once my comp hangs once my opponent's comp hangs. decide to quit.
21:00 - open dc. play gtw for some time and then jumble for some time. call up bandmates for practice. decide to have practice at 12.
23:00 - decide to sleep for an hour. set the alarm on but forget to change timing (7.00 in the morning).
0:15 - mohit has to come and wake me up. get over the "halu" state.
0:25 - go to music room. arrange the bass again. feel happy. practice the songs.
2:15 - practice over, get back to room. open dc. play gtw.
3:15 - after being exiled from both the quizrooms decide to write a blog about the day.
3:30 - complete the diary, but feel that there is lot of matter for blog still uncovered.
3:40 - "I am here right now"
before joining IIT, i had heard about students sleeping 3-4 hours a day and working hard for the rest of the day and how-life-is-hectic-at-iits. it had to be three and a half years to make me realize that such days can exist in a real iitian's student life (i still missed the hardwork part - it had a different connotation altogether).
will write more after returning from hyd.
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