Logitech Mini Boombox: Review

[Facebook wall post] On Friday, I received the Logitech Mini Boombox for review. When I took out, I was like: huh, so small. After I paired to my phone, I played a track from Adele. It filled the entire office. Heads turned, people gathered and looked at this wonder. One colleague even committed to buy it within a minute of sampling.


This is the strongest testimony one can get for a product trial.

Imagine this: a battery-powered mini speaker shorter than the length of an iPhone 4 or Samsung Galaxy S2, offers up to 10 hours usage, bluetooth connectivity and direct cable connection, doubles as a speakerphone with built-in mic, touchscreen controls for skipping tracks and adjusting volume.

My colleague actually intended to get this Boombox and be used as a car speakerphone. Asked why not get a dedicated car speakerphone, he replied curtly: "This is portable and multi-functional." He also suggested that this Boombox could also be used for teleconference.

The Logitech Mini Boombox is powerful enough to fill the room, doing what it is meant to do. Not only will the audio make head turns, it will make people wonder how this compact device can achieve so much. The ability for me to place this thing anywhere, anyhow, without worries of wires, is game-changing. Instead of listening audio through my mobile device speaker, I can pipe through the Mini Boombox, which is as portable as my mobile device. Exciting.

As I compared the audio quality between bluetooth connection and direct line-in, I found that the bluetooth audio balancing sounds warmer and better bass production while the direct line-in gives a clearer sound with less bass. I actually prefer the bluetooth audio.

The Mini Boombox can pump out most music genres rather well, but it doesn't seem to handle certain frequency resonance well, like acoustic piano recording. When these tracks are played, the Boombox rattles. Do take note if you intend to get this to play your favourite classical piano tracks. One should also not expect the Mini Boombox to handle demanding loud music.

The Logitech Mini Boombox works really well as a portable wire-free speaker and handsfree speakerphone. Sound quality is surprisingly good for its size and will satisfy most consumer needs. Retails at S$109.

Piano Spa 6: by Chester Tan and Tat Tong

It all started with a casual conversation with Tat Tong, a chart-topping music producer from T2 Productions. I told him about my past Piano Spa albums and he got inspired to produce instrumental albums. After discussing with Warner Music Singapore, Tat asked me if I would like to produce another new Piano Spa album. After giving some thought, I agreed.

The album was completed by end November, and after a few days of sorting out the licensing details, the contract was signed. And before I knew it, the album is out in stores. I first spotted it at HMV Marina Square on 27 December and excitedly informed Tat. 2 days later, Warner officially announced it on their Facebook page.

Piano Spa 6 (PS6) is Tat's first commercial instrumental album. His versatile composition styles offer the listener with an enchanting, whimsical, and moving experience. Through PS6, we get a flavour of Tat's musical calibre which reflects his vast experience in music-making.

For me, PS6 is my 5th release. After writing entirely for PS1 to 3, I collaborated with Fred Lin for PS4 and then Fred did the entire album for PS5. That was 2008. After that, Warner Music refreshed the Piano Spa series by releasing several compilation collections.

I am grateful to Warner Music for their continual support in the Piano Spa album series. I'm also privileged to produce this brand new album with an experienced musician who has produced a growing list of #1 songs in the Asian market, and whose portfolio includes music veterans like Kit Chan, Joi Chua, Karen Mok, Sally Yeh, Show Luo, plus rising stars like Christian Bautista, Jonathan Wong, Tay Kewei, Derrick Hoh.

Piano Spa 6 is now available at all good music stores. Visit our facebook page to listen to music samples.

Track listing:
CD1

1 - Awaken Dreams
2 - Daisies and the Sun
3 - Spring Bloom
4 - Last Summer
5 - Motions
6 - Old Time
7 - Our Wedding Moment (with Pachelbel's Canon)
8 - Returning to Love
9 - The Final Ember
10 - Impressions of a Broken Road
11 - There is Nothing Else to Love
12 - Twilight Passion
13 - Wishing Him Well
14 - We're at the End of Our Days


CD2

1 - Forest Dreams
2 - In The Air
3 - Fireflies
4 - Sunday Morning
5 - Walk
6 - March
7 - Enchanted
8 - Remembrance
9 - Reverie d'Amour
10 - Gnome Dance
11 - Coming Home
12 - Entering The Eternal
13 - Day's End
14 - Love of my Life

Best of Piano Spa: Serenity

Warner Music Singapore has released the second Piano Spa compilation since "Piano Spa: The Timeless Collection" in April 2010. This new compilation, titled Best of Piano Spa: Serenity, is the perfect companion to the "Timeless" compilation. You will be pleased to know that there are no duplicate tracks between the 2 collections.

This new album collects 4 CDs totalling 48 tracks from Piano Spa 1 - 5. If you have missed the previous 5 albums, there is no better time to get both compilation albums.

Get your copy at all good music stores before they sell out.



International Order: please click the below Paypal button to purchase at US$29.95 including shipping charges.

Audyssey SOMA Audio Dock: A Friend's Testimony

Remember my previous review about the Audyssey SoMa Audio Dock, and that my colleague intended to get one? Well, he finally made a pre-order from Sound Decisions. Yes, the dock is so popular that it is out of stock till end August!

I'd like to share with you the following email message that he addressed to a common friend and later forward to me.

I went to Adelphi just now to look at the Audyssey i-Pod dock that I planned to buy. I tried out the dock with the songs in my iPhone. Fortunately I have got the “Grandma’s Hands”  piece in high quality MP3 format.  The dock played the song beautifully. The finger snaps were very life like. In fact, more so than my large B&W speakers at home!!!  I also played other songs like Spanish Harlem, Chinese songs, pop songs.  They played well but I can sort of tell that the songs are coming from a small setup rather than from big speakers. (Its is not obvious for some songs but obvious for others.)

Then I went to the B&W reseller shop just nearby to try out their newly released high end bookshelf speakers, PM1 which cost over $4K a pair. I played Grandma’s Hands again. While the sound was very clear from each speaker the finger snaps sounded like sh**!!!  They sounded flat, lifeless and just plain awful – very much like the same sound coming out of my big speakers before you tuned them for me. 

Suddenly it dawn on me that you mentioned before that you were shocked that most HIFI shops do not even positioned their speakers properly for optimum sound.  True enough.. the speakers’ positions were crap. They were not even toe-in. In fact, they were toe-out. That explained why such good speakers could produce such awful finger snapping sound!!!

Conclusion, the Audyssey SOMA i-Pod docking station is really optimised for good sound.  And secondly, all speakers no matter how cheap or expensive needs to be properly position/tuned to get good sound!!!

When I told him I would like his permission to post his comments, he said yes, and added the following:

Seriously I was very surprised the finger snapping sounded so life-like from the small box. Ric spent quite a lot of time positioning my floor standing speakers to make the finger snapping sound life-like on my big speakers. Even now, I would just rate it a barely life-like. But on the SOMA, it was very life-like. This is just a very specific example. I don’t know if the same applies to other variables or not.

(BTW, this particular piece of music, Grandma’s Hands, is from an audiophile testing CD I bought sometime ago. This special CD  teaches one how to audition an audio system. Before each musical track is played, a narrator introduces & explains what the track excels at and exactly what you should be listening for on a quality audio system capable of faithfully reproducing tracks just as they were recorded. In this case, it is the life-like finger snapping sound.)

True, or bull? Well, let your ears decide! Visit Sound Decisions showroom at The Adelphi (#04-06/07), or at the following retail outlets:


CK TANGS ORCHARD
310 Orchard Road,
3rd Floor, TechnoBay
Singapore 238864


GAMESCORE PTE LTD
109 North Bridge Road
#05-05 Funan DigitaLife Mall
Singapore 179079

Chester Tan: COMPASS Young Composer of the Year

Last evening, I received the COMPASS Young Composer of the Year award at the 16th COMPASS Awards. I was also awarded the Top Local Instrumental Contemporary Song of the year.

It's a surprise win after 14 years of composing (from Uni days) and 6 years since I starting publishing my songs (first album in 2004).

When I embarked in writing instrumental music exclusively, I know that it's a road less travelled. But I do it because I like it, and because I believe in the music that I write. Each of them are a fragment of my emotions, my music diary.

Credit goes to my manager, Gilbert Ong, for pushing my works commercially. Thanks a heap to Publisher Richard Lim and Album Concept James Kang who conceptualised Piano Spa. Thanks to Warner Music for pushing 5 albums out in the market. With these collective efforts, I got my awards. Biggest thanks to wifey for her support all these years. Thank you for giving me time and space to develop my passions.

Like they say, Patience is A Virtue.

I performed a medley of songs at the awards presentation:
1. My Favourite Time of the Year (Top Local Instrumental Contemporary) from Piano Spa 3
2. Dance with The Clouds from Piano Spa 4
3. Shyanne from Piano Spa 4
4. Dreams of Tomorrow from Piano Spa 2



It's an honour to join the rolls of the following past winners for the Young Songwriter/Composer Award (and can only win this award once):

15th (2010) - Tay Chee Wei 郑旨为 (first non-pop recipient)
14th (2009) - Xiaohan 小寒
13th (2008) - David Tan (Electrico)
12th (2007) - Corrinne May
11th (2006) - JJ Lin 林俊杰
10th (2005) - Eric Ng 黄韵仁
9th (2004) - Lim Yeek Sinn 林毅心
8th (2002) - Tan Han Jin 陈奂仁
7th (2001) - Tanya Chua 蔡健雅
6th (2000) - Liew Chee Vun 刘志文
5th (1999) - Leong Wai Foong 梁伟丰
4th (1998) - Kevin Quah 柯贵民

For the full list of recipients of the 16th COMPASS Awards, click here.

Chester Tan's facebook page for music is at http://facebook.com/chestermusic . Chester also seeks creative passion in photography and his works are collected at http://facebook.com/chesterphoto

All I Ask Of You - The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber

Last evening, I watched "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber" musical event, rekindled my love for this song, which I've not played on piano for years. So I decided to record my rendition here for your enjoyment.

As for the show, it's enjoyable, allowing me to listen to snippets of all the musicals that Sir Webber wrote. The Marina Bay Sands Grand Theater is magnificent. Andrew himself was present - in the form of video - which drew the most laughs as he shared some of his honest views.

I'm not exactly a fan of live performances because in most cases the sound balancing does not do justice to the performers as well as listeners. In this case, some of the musical numbers had overpowering accompaniment while a few had the singers putting the sound system to the test when they sang at the top of their lungs. I also don't quite like the renditions of some songs but well that's a personal preference.

In short, a good effort to present a compilation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's famous musical pieces in a relatively static stage presentation filled with looped video projections, sparse stage choreography, and 100% raw vocal prowess.

Audyssey: South of Market (SoMa) Audio Dock

They claim to be "the best sounding dock in the market." And I think they are right.

Eugene from Sound Decisions invited me to experience this 13x23x23cm sound machine at their showroom at The Adelphi. When I arrived there, he first took us on a brief tour of the showroom. The 150-inch projection-screen home theatre set-up was awe-inspiring. But that's not what I was there for.

He then promptly led me to where the SoMa dock was placed. After sharing some technical specs, he docked his iPhone onto the port and played some music through it. Frankly, it sounded fabulous. There was no doubt on the kind of quality that this small box can deliver. The designers from Audyssey have proven again that size does not matter. The amazing part was that the SoMa dock was placed between a pair of floor speakers and it appears as if the sounds came from the big speakers!

Non-iPhone devices can also be used! SoMa Audio Dock functions as bluetooth audio speakers, as a speakerphone, even as speakers to your existing audio devices using line-in connection. You can also customise the sound EQ using an iPhone app. You could even dock your iPad, but due to the iPad size, the frontal sound direction is slightly blocked. In essence, the SoMa dock should not be placed in an enclosed area so that the sound can fill the room.

I was surprised that there are many normal-branded docks selling around the price range of S$300 - $600, with some specialised audio brands going up to $1000. Based on in-store samples, they sounded like normal home system speakers. But here is Audyssey, the brand behind all the audio technologies that go into high-end audio equipments like Marantz, Denon, Onkyo, selling for S$635. For that, the Audyssey SoMa dock is reasonably priced with that kind of exceptional audiophile quality it produces and the connectivity it offers to non-iPhone devices.

Don't take my ear for it. Go for an audio test and experience yourself.

P.S. The sound is that good that my audiophile colleague is seriously considering to buy one.

Sony Headphones Review: MDR-EX1000 and MDR-Z1000

On 14 June 2011, Sony Electronics Asia Pacific officially launches the new high performance monitor series headphones - the MDR-EX1000, MDR-EX600, MDR-EX510SL, MDR-EX310SL, as well as the flagship professional studio monitoring headphones, MDR-Z1000. On the same day, Waggener Edstrom (PR agency for Sony) couriered me the MDR-EX1000 and MDR-Z1000 for my review.

The media review package comes in a customised box complete with gold engraving of my name. Sliding off the obi reveals the caption "Ready for the Purest Sound Experience?"

Opening the box reveals another teaser: "Immerse Yourself in Audio Perfection."

Underneath the top box compartment is a carefully-crafted message signed by the Chief Engineer, N. Tsunoda and Engineer, B. Matsuo, of the headphones and a DVD of media photos.

Removing the cardboard finally reveals the headphones.

On the left is the MDR-EX1000, the row of colour-tagged earbuds with 10 different sizes.

On the right is the MDR-Z1000.

Such attention to detail even for a media package! I am mentally prepared for an audio experience as promised!

MDR-Z1000
The design is a luxury. Lightweight magnesium alloy housing and silky-soft urethane cushions offer me the much-needed comfort. The headphones are driven by 50mm driver units that uses newly-designed liquid crystal polymer film diaphragm, delivers a frequency response of 5 - 80,000 Hz, low 24-ohm impedance and high 108dB/mW sensitivity, and wired by 7N OFC Litz cord.

MDR-Z1000 Photos compiled from Sony press kit

So, how does it actually sound?

Making comparison to my S$120 Sennheiser HD215, while the MDR-Z1000 is priced 5 times more, it does not sound 5 times better. The MDR-Z1000 sounds warmer and delivers more bass than the HD215, yet the high frequencies are still delivered without compromise. The soundstaging of the MDR-Z1000 is tighter than the HD215 and offers better acoustic isolation. The headphones feel more secure around my ears without discomfort. I can't say which of the two I would prefer, but it's certain that they both offer different tonality to the kind of music you are listening to.

MDR-Z1000 excels in delivering a warmer sound and controlled treble frequency without sounding noisy. I also prefer wearing the MDR-Z1000. Its asymmetrical left-right design gives an ergonomically perfect fit (you can't wear the headphones the other way round).


MDR-EX1000
I have owned quite a few in-ear headphones, none of them quite made for professional use. The reason for not investing in one is that I seldom indulge myself in personal portable stereo listening since I do not commute to work in public transport. So I am contented with the occasional listening of the stock headphones that come with the gadgets I bought.

I remember during my Secondary school days, I was very particular with the quality of my personal stereos, and my audio investment is exclusively on a pair of top-grade Sony earphones. After more than 2 decades, I finally got a chance to re-experience Sony earphones.

MDR-EX1000 Photos compiled from Sony press kit

The MDR-EX1000 is the most comfortable pair of in-ear monitor headphones I have tried. All the other in-ear monitor headphones felt uncomfortable and "intrusive", so I usually prefer to use the traditonal earbuds headphones. The magnesium alloy housing units do look unusually large against the ears, but it's surprisingly light and the weight is distributed as the cables looped over the ears. Instead of hard plastic mould, the loop is made of flexible material that is easily shaped to fit around your ears.

I like how the sound is balanced across the entire frequency spectrum, produced accurately from the original source. The bass is not as encompassing as the MDR-Z1000, but that's to be expected due to the obvious driver size difference. If the headphones are used at outdoors where there's lots of ambient noises, you might not get the optimal audio quality. So I would recommend that you use this for portable monitoring of quality audio tracks.

Final Thoughts
It's a privilege to review the 2 top-range headphones from Sony. They are truly delightful to listen to and offer great comfort. If price is of any indication of quality, then these headphones might not be the ultimate best in the market - there are headphones that cost above US$1000! Still, it's good to know that Sony has produced their very best.

Price-aside, every person's audio perception and sensitivity is different. So the only way to judge is to experience yourself - if you get the chance - and decide if you like what you hear.

Sennheiser Headphones HD215

My Sennheiser eH2200 headphones of almost 10 years broke down on me. Due to Mayenne's rough handling of the detachable cable jack, one side of the headset lost its signal. The headphones was the main reference source for my audio mixing all these years. The ear cushions have been changed several times at the Sennheiser service centre, and the headphones quality have never degraded all these years.

I had eyed on the HD215 for quite a while already. My criteria of choosing headphones is: the EQ must be flat, so that my audio mixing can be unbiased. So I shunned all the models that boast "a better bass response". Another reason for choosing HD215 is that one side of the headset can be swiveled away for one-ear monitoring, which I do very often.

Some first impressions when I tried on the HD215 for the first time after I unpacked: it's heavier than eH2200. Wearing it for long hours is a little more tiring and my ears get more sweaty than my old set. The frequency response is totally different from the eH2200. The eH2200 high frequency has always sounded unnatural to me and the bass less "fulfilling". The HD215 has more natural-sounding bass but now the mid-range is overpowering the rest.

What I really like about the HD215 is that I can literally hear more of the music. It sounds more defined and directional (i.e. "soundstaging"). Despite a stronger mid-range, my ears can pick up the entire frequency range as compared to the eH2200. There was no loss of details as I previously experienced on the eH2200.

I am extremely happy with my new purchase, which comes with a soft casing to keep my new prize from Mayenne's view. The eH2200 is still wired to my mixer, a decoy for her to continue playing with it. Who knows, she might end up a better musician than I am.


Chester is a composer to over 100 published works under the Warner Music album series, "Piano Spa". With some luck, you can still find them at HMV and That CD Shop with the unmistakable 2-CD-long packaging. Follow his trails on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/musicdiary/

How to Create iPhone Ringtones and Use in iPhone

Ever wonder why most iPhone users use the same ringtones? That's because Apple ringtone format is proprietory. However, there are many apps that can help you do that easily.

Technically-speaking, as long as you can convert any music file to .M4A format, then rename it to .M4R, add the .M4R file into iTunes, and include "Ringtones" to sync to iPhone, you're done. (I actually drafted this post with step-by-step overview, but after finding that most of these iPhone ringtone apps already have instructions, I decided not to elaborate on the steps in my blog)

You can either convert it in your computer or on your iPhone itself. There are many desktop software (like iRinger) and iPhone apps (like Ringtone Designer) that can help you convert your non-DRM music into the correct format. However, you still need to sync with iTunes as "Ringtone" before you can actually select the custom ringtone under your phone settings. Most of these apps come with video tutorials that will teach you how to do just that.

Once you add a ringtone file in iTunes, you should be able to see the "Ringtones" library for you to manage and sync to your devices.

Customising text tones (.CAF) requires you to jailbreak your iPhone, so we shan't discuss that here.

For comparative purpose, if you are using Android phone, you can use any MP3 files as ringtone. You can also trim your music on your Android phone using many ringtone apps out there, and use it immediately on your phone without requiring to go back to iTunes to sync before you can use.

Receiving COMPASS Awards

Today I received a letter from COMPASS (Composers and Authors Society of Singapore) to inform me that I will be receiving two awards at the 16th COMPASS Awards Ceremony in July:

1. Top Local Instrumental Contemporary - awarded based on royalty collection of songs in the instrumental category in the year 2010


2. COMPASS Young Songwriter of the Year - given to a writer member who receives the most royalties in the year 2010 as a composer or lyricist who are below 35 years old. Each writer member will only be entitled to receive this award once.

The second award came at a timely moment, for I turned 35 in 2010, which makes this the final year that I am eligible for this award.


I am extremely elated to be recognised of my achievements through these music awards. I am very heartened to know that my dedication to writing for the instrumental genre since I started composing in 1995 is worth it.

I wish to thank all who loved my works in Piano Spa series and I will continue to produce more instrumental music for your enjoyment.

MortPlayer Music: Android App Review

Do you use the Android phone as a music player in your car? Do you find that it's a hassle to use it while driving? One, the touchscreen turns off after a while (unless you plug the car kit which keeps the screen alive). Two, you have to press the buttons accurately to switch tracks or albums while keeping your eyes on the road.

Well, I found this android app called MortPlayer Music that appears to work well when I'm driving.

What MortPlayer Music does (where other apps don't):
- The screen is always on during playback, so that I can see the album art and tracks, and it's always ready for me to change tracks.

- The app supports swipe gestures. Swipe left-right to switch albums; swipe up-down to switch tracks. This means I can keep my eyes off the phone and still can control the player.

- The albums are sorted by folders, not by artists or albums as read in the ID3 tags. I prefer this so that I can organise my tracks the way I like it.

- You can define the music folder that you want the app to read, so that only the child folders and files will be scanned by the player. I also like this feature so that the player doesn't read every file in the phone.

- Once you unplug the 3.5mm line-out cable from the phone, the player pauses automatically.

- Able to control orientation within the app independent of your phone orientation settings.

- Resumes from last track you stopped even after you exit the app.


There are other features that may be useful when you use the app outside the car
- alarm clock
- sleep function
- displays on notification bar when running in background

The app is still in beta, and I do find that at times the playback will stutter a little.

Download and try it out yourself. After all, it's free.

Mayenne's Milestone: Playing a Complete Song On Piano

It must have been every parent's dream to see their child playing a song on the piano. Whenever a piano is brought to a child, the first song that every parent would attempt to teach their offspring must have been "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

I don't want to force Mayenne to learn the song in the shortest time possible just so that I could boast. I believe that we need to wait for the right maturity for her to appreciate and pick up the song. She must understand the relation of tones on the keyboard so that she can play anything that she wants, and not just the songs that we teach her.

The challenge in teaching the song to a young child is the note sequences. She has already got the rhythm right months back, except she's just hitting all the wrong notes. To add to the difficulty, Mayenne is an absolute mule when it comes to the piano. Most of the times, she refuses to be taught. Whenever she played on the piano, there can be no other fingers laying on the keys. She would promptly swipe any "foreign objects" away. We would have to wait patiently for that "learning mode" to be on before she willingly allow us to drill her into the notes and rhythm of the song.

On April, she finally wanted to play the song, and she would willingly follow our directions, playing the note that we pointed at. Here, she did it with a little help from me, except for the dominant (5-note) jump:



Yesterday, while we were not noticing, Mayenne went to her toy piano and instinctively played out the entire song unaided. She must have been so pleased with herself, because she played at least 10 times over and over. Initially I didn't want to take out my phone to video-record, because I foresaw she would rush to my phone (as she always did). But very soon my wifey came into the room and screamed (figuratively):"Why aren't you recording this?" Fortunately for us, Mayenne was still in her repeat mode, and here it is, documented, her milestone, my pride.

Best Selection of Piano Spa

Unknown to me, Warner Music has another Piano Spa compilation album in the market. Best Selection of Piano Spa is a 2-CD compilation sold exclusively at CD Rama. I came across it when I was comparing prices at CD Rama.

I managed to find my RBS credit card and went down to HMV to buy a couple of "Piano Spa: The Timeless Collection" (and at the same time, found Yanni Voces CD+DVD selling at a bargain). But later in the evening I passed by That CD Shop and they are selling 3 for $49.90. Great bargain.


So which one should you get? I'd say "The Timeless Collection" is a wiser purchase. 4CD 60 tracks vs. 2CD 30 tracks, both selling are similar prices. You might also want to get the "Best Selection" because it contains quite a lot of tracks not available in "The Timeless Collection". Between the 90 tracks, 12 are duplicates, so by getting both, you will still get about 78 songs. Considering the complete Piano Spa (series 1 to 5) has 150 tracks, that's a pretty good listening list.

Why are there 2 compilation albums? I reckon this "Best Selection" is already in the stores for many months, sold exclusively at CD Rama. Perhaps the sales was good, so Warner decided to launch a "collector's" edition that can be distributed across all stores.

One mistake though: in this "Best Selection" album, they left out Fred Lin as the other composer/arranger for some of the tracks. For the record, the following tracks are composed and arranged by Fred Lin: tracks 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 19, 21, 22, 24, 27, 29. Good thing "The Timeless Collection" is detailed in crediting the tracks to him. I'm very anal about getting the credits right, because I expect the same proper credits on me.

I'm just elated that Warner Music still appreciates the "Piano Spa" series and continues to find means to increase sales. I'm very proud of what James Kang has created for the "Piano Spa" concept back in 2005, which was originally under Play Music but took over by Warner when they acquired the former.

Many people have asked me whether I am also responsible for other piano albums in the market. To be sure, look out for the "Piano Spa" branding together with the "Warner Music", "Play Music", and "Rhythmiz Music Production".

Piano Spa: The Timeless Collection

Piano Spa: The Timeless Collection. 4CD collectors set. A selection of 60 best Piano Spa masterpieces. Now on sale at all music stores.

I was caught by surprise when I visited HMV this afternoon. A quick call to my music agent confirms it. Actually, Warner Music has planned to release a compilation many months back, but I wasn't told when the release date was.

If you have bought all the past Piano Spa albums, then you can skip this compilation. But if you have not gotten a copy yet, now is the best time. The album is available for sampling at HMV, so listen before you buy. But well, it's number 2 on the HMV Jazz charts, so you can't go wrong buying this album.

I wanted to buy a few copies (yes, even I had to pay for my albums), but I forgot to bring my RBS credit card, which offers $5 HMV vouchers for every $50 spend. So I'll get a copy next time, and then I can listen down the tracks on this blog. But at one glance, most of my favourite tracks are in the compilation.

Thanks to Warner Music Singapore for this compilation, so that people who have missed the earlier albums can finally get a copy. While stocks last, and believe me, you will not find the album in stores 12 months from now. Call that "limited edition" if you like, but I think the cover design is already worth owning it.

Oh, and while you are at the store, you might want to check out "Rock On Piano". Rock songs never sounded so good on piano. 2CD 24 tracks, arranged by Chester Tan.



International Order: please click the below Paypal button to purchase at US$35 including shipping charges.

Ballet Pianist - Again (2010)

I'm still receiving blog comments from my ballet pianist posts 2 years back, so I decided to blog again.

The search for ballet pianist has begun again after our other regular pianist who has played for 2 years is going to study music in Melbourne in June.

As I finished playing for this year's ballet exam (my 10th year playing for exams), my teacher once again encouraged me to play on, as she received compliments from this year's examiner, Jan Mills from Australia, about my playing.

I am still wondering why it's so difficult to find pianists. Is it because the standard is too high for the school that I am playing? They prefer pianists that can improvise free music on-the-fly as the teacher creates exercises for the students on the spot. Is it because the pay is too low? Certainly the teachers wouldn't mind paying as much as I am getting if the pianists are as good as me. Is it because there is a lack of an interest in the area of music accompaniment? It's such a worldwide phenomenon that the RAD actually revised their Pre/Primary syllabus to include instrumental accompaniment that is allowable for exams. In fact, the instrumental CD is better than the piano transcription because it is more musically adequate to bring out the dance movements. The RAD also created an alternate music syllabus taken from the classical music genre to go with the existing Grades 1-5 dance syllabus in hope that more pianists who are less skilled can master the music.

I remember starting playing for ballet classes in Dec 1993. I remember I had a bad first class. The teacher required me to play for 3 grades, but I only could manage 1 grade. So the teacher asked me to operate the cassette player. 2 months later, she recommended me to play for another ballet teacher. So I went on, playing for years. Then over time, I tried improvising for free work in 1996, the time when I started composing music. Again, I remembered I struggled very hard, as I listened attentively to the teacher going through the dance steps with the students. I had to think on my feet what music style should I use, what melody should I create, what chord progression should I attempt. As the months go by, it got better. After all, everything is about practice.

So when do you want to start?

Tonight I Celebrate My Love For You

Tonight, Mayenne was not at home, because wifey has to work on a big project proposal. So the night is ours to do what we wanted.

I have no other photo projects on hand, and I have a cameo performance for my friend's wedding banquet this Saturday, so I switched on my digital piano for the first time this year and practiced.

The opening song that I am intending to play for the performance is "Tonight I Celebrate My Love (For You)". While practicing, I decided to make a recording, a simple straightforward rendition. The song has been uploaded to my blog playlist or you can listen in my Facebook.

After that, I practiced my second song, a Mandarin song by David Tao, called 爱很简单 "Ai Hen Jian Dan". Instead of the straightforward rendition, I injected a dramatic arrangement. Warning: don't turn up the volume, as some passages may get rough.

Let me know if you enjoy the new songs.

Music Albums Galore!

Over the CNY weekend, I was bombarded with lots of TV ads on new music album releases, particularly David Foster's "Hit Man", which was re-titled internationally as "You're The Inspiration". Nevertheless, Warner Music priced it very attractively. You can look at it as either buy-CD-free-DVD or buy-DVD-free-CD. Initially, I was not expecting the DVD to be of top-notch production quality due to the pricing and packaging strategy. Boy, was I wrong.

I was impressed by the fantastic production and the quality recording. The live tracks are very well-recorded and balanced, from the instruments to the vocals. I love the song arrangements, some of them faithfully reproduced from the original song, others gone through nice renditions. Although not all the original artists sang the songs, the alternative singers sound very closely similar to the originals, which I find nothing wrong with it, because very often the songwriter (in this case, Mr. Foster himself) would want the song to be sounded the way it was made popular. And that's what I love about this album: the new tracks have strong original flavours with changes to provide a new perspective and yet not overdone.

If you are a fan of David Foster, then this album will let you see lots of him in action, on piano for 2 full hours, 'live' and interacting with guest singers and lots of speeches. Finally, the man behind all the greatest hits is bathing in the limelight.

Another album I got is the 101-tracked 6CD Warner Music compilation, "Love 101: 101 Ways To Say I Love You". It's a real bargain, selling for the price of 1 CD. That's cheaper than a legal paid download, even cheaper than a pirated CD, and you even get printed lyrics. Mind you, these are not some out-dated garbage tracks, but great classics and even some recent tracks, like The Corrs and Damien Rice. While some people could have gotten the tracks off the Internet via some form of free means, I'm always for the idea of owning a piece of an original work if it's affordable. It's a no-brainer: please get it if you have love around you, which I believe a lot of people have. When you run out of ideas of what love song you need, for your wedding day, or Valentine's Day, or just to convey a special message to that important person, this album will help you a tremendous lot.

I also purchased Kavin Hoo's instrumental album, "A Moment In Time". After months of seeing it on the shelves, I finally purchased it because I got a chance to sample the CD. It sounds good, and more importantly, inspires me to start writing new material. Kavin Hoo is fortunate to get his wife, Corrinne May, to do vocals. No lyrics, just humming and ahh-ing. Ethereal.

If you are interested in this album, I recommend you go to PinkArmchair website (http://www.pinkarmchair.com/) to purchase an autographed copy at US$14 (before shipping).

Back to Music

I have not touched my piano keyboard for months, nor used my sound card to do audio recording. So when Zoe needed to practice her singing for her talent segment of "Miss Veet Standout Challenge 2008" competition. I found that there was something wrong with the audio playback. I eventually found that it's not caused by my expensive card but my 2-year old PC. I have yet to find the root of the problem, and I suspect some audio driver is corrupted and I probably should re-install my OS, a time-consuming process.

Meanwhile, I plugged my sound card to my backup PC, and it works without missing a beat. I'm rather impressed at how my 3-year old machine could still handle the Akoustik Piano sound samples. Thanks to my old trusty PC, the practice session went on smoothly. Zoe managed to grab the "Miss Veet Desirable" subsidiary award.

Here's a video footage of her actual performance.




You can listen to the demo recording we did during the practice session.

That's What Friends Are For
Zoe Raymond (vocals)
Chester Tan (piano)

You can visit my Facebook music page for more full-length music tracks, from my previous albums as well as unpublished tracks.

Vanessa Mae: Toccata & Fugue

Remember Vanessa-Mae? Britain-based Singapore violinist who was known for her classical-pop fusion style. Here's a performance of one of her popular track, with live orchestra and church organ.