My instrumental version of an Eraserheads song

It’s more than a week today since I watched this great reunion concert, but all those happy and nostalgic memories are still on my mind.

I was inspired by the last song the Eraserheads performed that night. The title is Lightyears from the band’s Fruitcake album. The song’s lyrics became more meaningful and significant in the context of Ely Buendia’s mother who passed away just two days before the band’s historic concert. And so I composed an piano/flute instrumental version of it the day after the concert.

I did the instrumental using the open-source music maker NoteEdit on my Ubuntu Linux laptop. I listened closely to the original song’s melody and rhythm, and I strived to preserve the essence of the original sound in the instrumental, in particular the melody, key and chords. I also kept the instrumental as simple as possible.

So ladies and gentlemen, here it is:

Eraserheads - Lightyears (instrumental by Perry Valdez)

Big deeper, north of nowhere
Outside the room inside my mind
(I) look forward to tomorrow
But can I leave yesterday behind
How it feels so strange
To have grown and change
Now it’s not the same

Coz time slips and slides into another place
And try as we might to understand each other
Doesn’t really matter where you are
It always seems so very far
It’s like you’re light years away
You’re light years away from me

Little deeper, south of somewhere
It looks much closer than it really is
I held it in my hands
But you’re forever out of reach
Far as the eye can see
Nothing is meant to be
Doesn’t mean much to me

But oh, if I only had a rocket ship to fly
I’d be right there in a minute
But it doesn’t really matter where you are
However near is still so far
It’s like you’re light years away
You’re light years away from me, oh…

Far as the eye can see
Nothing is meant to be
Doesn’t mean much to me

But time slips and slides into another place
And try as we might to understand each other
Doesn’t really matter where you are
It always seems so very far
It’s like you’re light years away
You’re light years away from me

Look forward to tomorrow
But can I leave yesterday behind

The songs the Eraserheads would have performed

We all know that the Eraserheads reunion concert was cut short due to Ely Buendia’s poor health. He was rushed to the hospital just after the first set of songs. I was there at the concert.

Some fans proceeded to the backstage after the Eraserheads staff and the promoter left the venue. They found a piece of paper containing the full set list of what the band would have performed that night.

They are:

First Set

Alapaap
Ligaya
Sembreak
Hey Jay
Harana
Fruitcake
Toyang
Kama Supra
Kailan
Huwag Kang Matakot
Kaliwete
With A Smile
Shake Yer Head
Huwag Mo Nang Itanong
Light Years

Second Set

Maskara
Poorman’s Grave
Torpedo
Trip to Jerusalem
Back to Me
Maselang Bahaghari
Maling Akala
Tikman
Spoliarium
Magasin
Para Sa Masa
Overdrive
Pare Ko
Minsan
Ang Huling El Bimbo

Eraserheads reunion concert updates

This time, the Eraserheads reunion concert is not for free anymore. Ticket prices are Php 800 and Php 1,300 (Php 824 and Php 1,334 if you purchase from TicketWorld). You can also buy from selected National Bookstore branches, such as the one in SM Megamall.

The concert will still be held in the Fort Bonifacio open field and will start at 8:00 pm. It’s going to be strict in there. The gates will open at 3:00 pm and will close at 8:00 pm. It’s recommended to bring an ID with you.

The band will perform more than 20 songs. There will be no front acts and no acts in-between performances.

The concert will be produced by Radiohead Media  Solutions, Inc. in cooperation with Sony-BMG. Philip Morris will not going to be involved in the concert.

See also Pupil’s site. 

Eraserheads reunion concert at Fort Boni

The Eraserheads will have their reunion concert on August 30, 2008  8:00 pm at the Fort Bonifacio open field, Global City, as officially announced by Philip Morris. The concert will be an invitation-only event. Invitations will be distributed exclusively through an age-restricted website.

Update: (Unofficial announcement) The site is going to be updated very soon, please read the mechanics carefully on the updated website. You are going to download an invitation ticket which can be printed only once. If you lose this printed ticket, you will lose your ticket forever. So take care of your ticket.

At the concert venue itself, please bring government-issued ID’s (SSS ID, postal ID, voter’s ID, etc.) for your proof of age. I recommend those ID’s with both your photo and your date of birth on it.

Official Confirmation: Here’s an email message from Philip Morris Managing Director, Chris Nelson, dated August 8, 2008:

Dear All,

I wish to inform everyone that we have confirmed in media today that the Eraserheads will be performing in a one-night only event as part of our Marlboro Red Nation promotions which we have been running for the past two years for our adult smokers. The event will be held on August 30 at the Bonifacio Global City open grounds in Taguig City.

PMPMI supports regulation of the manufacture, marketing and distribution of our products. This is why we supported the passage and implementation of the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003.

The event is permitted under the provisions of the law related to promotions. The Eraserheads performance is not a form of sponsorship which is not allowed by the law. PMPMI’s participation in the event is not as a sponsor, but as a promoter.

This is an invitation only event, restricted to adults and not open to the general public. Invites to our adult smokers will be distributed exclusively through an age-restricted website which is also permitted under the law. Invitations will also be reserved for our trade and business partners, and selected adult guests.

We acknowledge the interest the event has generated and we will strive to keep everyone updated on the developments.

Best regards,

Chris

Songwriting 101: Laying Out The Chords (2)

Before you proceed, please make sure that you’ve already read the first part.

For simplicity we will use the Key of D Major in our examples. For a recap, here again is the pattern for our key:

The chords for this key are in the green boxes: D, Em, F#m, G, A, Bm and C#dim7 (used rarely).

The letters at the bottom of the boxes indicate the tonic chord (T), the subdominant chord (S), and the dominant chord (D). For the Key of D, the tonic chord is D, the subdominant chord is G, and the dominant chord is A.

Cadences: Punctuate Your Chord Sequences

Suppose that you’ve decided to use these chords for your stanza lines: D, G, Bm and F#m. Here are the chord for the first two  lines of your stanza:

D   G   Bm   F#m

D   G   Bm   F#m

Listen:

D-G-Bm-F#m (2x)

The chords are fine, but you might want to tweak the sequences a bit. 

Notice that each line begins with the tonic chord (D)  and ends with F#m.  Upon reaching the end of each line, the F#m chord is played side by side with the D chord on the next line. This chord transition doesn’t carry a sense of finality. It sounds like it leaves us hanging (although it can still be considered acceptable music).

It is desirable that the last chord in a sequence resolve smoothly into the first chord of the next sequence. For that to happen, there should be some kind of "signal" that tells us that the current chord sequence is ending and we are about to move to another chord sequence. That "signal" is called a cadence.

A cadence is a transition between two chords that gives a sense of finality or completion. It is used to punctuate a line, a stanza, a chorus or any other musical structure. It can also be used to signal a transition from one key to another key (this is called modulation, i’ll discuss this in a future post). There are many types of cadences. Here are two popular cadences:

Authentic cadence - also called perfect cadence or standard cadence. This is the transition from the dominant chord to the tonic chord. In our example (Key of D), the dominant chord is A and the tonic chord is D, so the authentic cadence is the transition from A to D. Listen to the sample below:

Authentic cadence - from A to D

 
Plagial cadence - also called amen cadence. This is the transition from the subdominant chord to the tonic chord. Again in our example, the subdominant chord is G and the tonic chord is D, so the plagial cadence is the transition from G to D. Listen to the sample below:

Plagial cadence - from G to D

 In our sample stanza lines, to use an authentic cadence, simply replace F#m with A. This way, the ending chord of each line is now A, which resolves nicely into the starting chord of the next line D, giving us the authentic cadence. The lines now become:

D   G   Bm   A

D   G   Bm   A

D-G-Bm-A (2x)

Similarly, to use a plagial cadence, simply replace F#m with G. The lines become:

D   G   Bm   G

D   G   Bm   G

D-G-Bm-G (2x)

In our sample stanza lines above, we used cadences to punctuate every line of the stanza. You may also use them to punctuate every other line of the stanza, such as the following (using authentic cadences as example; cadence chords are in blue):

D   A   Bm  F#m

G   D   A

D   A   G   Em

D   A   D   A …

Cadence every other line - the chords above: 

Again, you can also punctuate whole stanzas, choruses, and other musical structures.

Here are two other types of cadence:

Half cadence - also called imperfect cadence. It’s the transition from any chord to a dominant chord. In our case, it’s a transition from any chord to A. Example sequence with half cadence (cadence chords are in blue):

D   A   G   Em

A

Half cadence

Deceptive cadence - also called interrupted cadence. A transition from a dominant chord to any non-tonic chord. In our case, it’s the transition from A to any chord except D. Example sequence with deceptive cadence (cadence chords are in blue):

D  F#m  G   A

Em

Deceptive cadence

See you on Part Three!

Lyrics and Chords: Ang Sarap Dito

I hear this song often in the radio and partly in a Coke commercial. The song is called Ang Sarap Dito by Project 1. In case you still don’t know the song, you can listen by clicking the Play button below:

Ang Sarap Dito by Project 1 

I like this song very much because it’s very upbeat and the voice blending is excellent throughout the song.

Update: I’ve just learned that the band Project 1 is actually a conglomeration of an all-star cast of band members. The members are:

Raimund Marasigan (ex-Eraserheads, Sandwich) - lead vocals

Uela Basco (Chilitees) - backup vocals

Katwo Librando-Puertollano (ex-Narda, Duster) - backup vocals

Clem Castro (ex-Orange and Lemons, Camera Walls) - rhythm guitar

Francis Reyes (The Dawn) - lead guitar

Jazz Nicolas (Itchyworms) - drums

Carlos Calderon (Chicosci) - bass

They performed the song live at Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition Plus. End of update.

If you’ve read my article on songwriting (and possibly my article also on perfect pitch), then you will discover that the song is written in Key of A Major. This song is one of the few mainstream songs that do not use a tonic chord (the A major chord) at the start and at the end of the song. Instead, it begins with a subdominant major seventh chord (DM7) and ends with a dominant chord (E). Even the chorus does not begin with a tonic chord. In contrast, most popular songs have a tonic chord either at the start and/or end of the song, or at the start of the chorus.

But what’s more interesting for me is the way the voices blended together. Listen first to the main melody of the chorus, shown below (reconstructed by me):

Ang Sarap Dito - Chorus (main melody, instrumental)

The main melody itself is boring and uninteresting. What’s more interesting is the second voice of the chorus (also reconstructed by me):

Ang Sarap Dito - Chorus (second voice, instrumental)

When the main melody and the second voice blend together, the result is even more interesting:

Ang Sarap Dito - Chorus (voice blending, instrumental)

Anyway, here’s the lyrics and chords of the song:

Ang Sarap Dito
By Project 1

(Chorus)
DM7       F#m       E
    Lilipad   na ako

DM7   A          E (hold)
         Tikman mo…

Songwriting 101: Laying Out The Chords (1)

If you’re going to compose your own music, one of the first things you must do is to create the chords for your song. One of your problems will be finding the right combination of chords, and what chords to start or end your song.

I’m going to share with you a basic guide on how to lay out the chords for your song.

The Key

You must decide first how you want your song to sound. Is it a happy, lively and upbeat song? Or is it a sad, gloomy song?

If you want to create a happy song, the common choice is to use a major key. If you want  a sad song, you might want to use a minor key.

But what exactly is a key?

In layman’s terms, the key of a song is the song’s "home pitch" and "overall mood". The "home pitch" is one of the following: A, A# (also known as Bb), B, C, C# (a.k.a. Db), D, D# (or Eb), E, F, F# (or Gb), G, and G# (or Ab). The "overall mood" is either major or minor. Examples of keys are Key of G Major and Key of A Minor.

If you want to know how a major key and a minor key sound like, try the sample audio below:

Scale in Key of D Major

Scale in Key of D Minor

Before deciding which chords to use, you must pick first a key (the pitch/mood combo), because the key determines the exact chord set you can use.

The Chromatic Circle

Before we discuss the chord set that goes with the key, it is helpful if we put all the pitch names on a circle. We will call this circle the chromatic circle (my terminology, hehehe…  ).

The blue arrow represents the direction of ascending pitch. Each two consecutive pitches on the circle (e.g., F and F#) are one semitone away from each other. Similarly, the "distance" (interval) between G and A# is three semitones. Note that the sharped pitches have alternative names (e.g., F# is also Gb).

The Chord Set

Now for the actual chords.

Each key comes with a chord set. There are chords that define the key and therefore the overall sound of your song. To know which chords go with the key, we will use visual patterns for choosing the chords.

For the major keys, we will use the following pattern: 

The green boxes are the appropriate chords you should pick for your song. The letters above the green boxes indicate that the corresponding chord is a major chord (M), a minor chord (m), or a diminished seventh chord (dim7, used rarely). The letters below the green boxes indicate the tonic chord (T), the subdominant chord (S), and the dominant chord (D).

Your task is to fill up the boxes with pitch names. Start first with the key pitch, then fill the rest of the boxes with consecutive pitches in ascending order (refer to our chromatic circle above). For an example, here are the boxes for the Key of D Major:

The chords that go with the key are the chords in the green boxes. In the case of Key of D Major, the chords are D, Em, F#m, G, A, Bm and C#dim7. The tonic chord is D, the subdominant chord is G and the dominant chord is A.

The process is similar for the minor keys, except that we will use the pattern below: 

How To Begin and End A Song

There are many ways to begin and end a song. The popular choices are to begin/end it with a tonic chord (the most popular choice), a dominant chord or a subdominant chord. You can, say, start your song with a tonic chord and end with a dominant chord, if you want. These are not hard and fast rules anyway.

For a real-world example, the song Bed Of Roses by Bon Jovi is written in the Key of F Major. The song starts with a subdominant chord (Bb) and ends with a tonic chord (F). Hear it for yourself!

Bed of Roses by Bon Jovi

Stay tuned for Part Two!

Songs You’ve Heard Before But Don’t Know The Title (1)

Here’s a beautiful oldie that you most likely have heard on the radio before, but don’t know the title.

It’s a song with an anthemic feel and a beautiful melody. It’s called I Will Always Wait For You by Burton Cummings. I’ll post this song together with the chords I transcribed.

But first, here are some complicated chords used in the song:

And now for the song:

Burton Cummings - I Will Always Wait For You

I Will Always Wait For You

By Burton Cummings

Intro
F#/B    E/B    F#/B    E/B

How To Acquire Perfect Pitch

Some people have the ability to identify the exact pitch of any sound merely by ear. That’s right, any sound, including sounds coming from a guitar, piano, speaking voice, car horn, doorbell, cricket and so on. They can tell if the pitch is, say, F# or B.

Many have offered their own explanations for this kind of skill. Some say that perfect pitch is something innate, you have to be born with it to have it. Others say that perfect pitch is a mark of a genius or a special gift, only a blessed few like Mozart and Barbra Streisand possess it. Yet another group say that it’s a matter of genetics.

And yet another group say that I have it.

But speaking from my own experience, I don’t believe that perfect pitch is such an inborn, special talent. Perfect pitch can be learned, just like any other skill. And I’m going to share with you how I learned it.

Hearing Is Like Seeing

Most of us have normal eyesight since childhood. Yet when we were still very little kids, even with our normal vision, we  still couldn’t identify the objects around us. Even if an apple were placed right in front of us, we wouldn’t know that it was an apple. Our moms had to tell us that it was an apple, that we were seeing an apple. Then after we learned about it we only had to remember what we saw and what it was called, so that the next time we would see an apple, we would know that it’s an apple.

So is the case with hearing and pitch. Even with normal hearing, we still can’t identify the pitch of anything we hear, unless someone or something else can pinpoint to us the exact pitch we are hearing. So the secret to learning perfect pitch is to remember what we hear and what its pitch is, so that the next time we hear it, we know the pitch.

What You Need To Hear

So now I’m going to pinpoint to you the basic pitches you need to memorize. Pitches are named after the first seven letters of the English alphabet (A, B, C, D, E, F, G). Some pitches are accompanied by an accidental (either a sharp (#) or a flat (b) symbol) next to their letter name. For starters, we will not include pitches with accidentals here.

Here are the basic pitches. Listen carefully and remember their sound. Humming them repeatedly can help.

C

D

E

F

G
 

A

B

 You should also familiarize yourself with the concept of octaves. Two different pitches can sound "alike" if they are a multiple number of octaves apart. For this reason, these pitches have the same letter name. For instance, listen to the various pitches below, all named "C":

C in various octaves

And here’s another one for A:

A in various octaves

Learning By Association 

Just as in learning any other skill, you will be able to memorize things faster if you can associate them with familiar objects. So that’s exactly what we will do today.

I will facilitate your memorization by associating a pitch with a song. Each pitch will be partnered with a song written in the same major key as the pitch. A side benefit of this is, not only will you memorize each pitch faster, but you will also memorize how each major key sounds like.

So here they go:

C

Best Of My Love  by The Eagles

D

Paano by Shamrock

E

Pagdating Ng Panahon by Aiza Seguerra

F

Yesterday by The Beatles

G

When You Say Nothing At All by Ronan Keating

A

What’s Up by 4 Non Blondes

B

Ulan by Cueshe

So the next time you hear something, try to "listen in your head" if the pitch sounds like one of the songs above. If for instance the pitch sounds like the song Yesterday, then the pitch is F. 

Practice Makes Perfect Pitch

You must listen to the basic pitches everyday. You must always associate them with the songs above. You must practice, practice and practice to master perfect pitch. In time, it will become second nature to you.

Learning to play a musical instrument greatly accelerates your learning in perfect pitch. So if you have an instrument nearby, grab it and play it now!

Test Yourself

To gauge your own progress, I created a sample melody that tests your mastery of the basic pitches.

Identify all the pitches that occur in the following melody, in order:

Pitch test

You may also want to identify the major keys of the following songs:

Sundo by Imago

Kisap Mata by Rivermaya

Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day

I will post the pitches with accidentals in a future post.

Hi ya there!

Hello, welcome to my new blog. I’m Perry, and I’m also the owner of perryv.i.ph.

I’ll just explore my musical side here. Feel free to visit and comment.

Salamat po.