I'm at Temasek Polytechnic today for the first recording session. Today I shall record the music - the minus one, to be precise - for the theme song of "Fourteen Days" (also, by the way, coincidentally called "Fourteen Days" as well).

I thought I might use the synthesiser in the recording studio, and input one instrument by one instrument into the recording software. You know, the technique of layering. The end product would sound as if it had been recorded by session musicians, although it's really a one-man job.

Gerald sets up the equipment, and runs the software. I begin playing. I decide to record the piano part first, since its presence is prevalent throughout the work. Then I will go on to the bass, the percussion, and finally the rest of the instruments.

I'm actually improvising. I'm very familiar with my work - but only in the key I'd initially written in. However I had to transpose the entire song because SY couldn't handle the range of the original. And I just did that the day before. I haven't had the chance to practice. I can't even get a hard copy of my score because the printer has run out of ink, and the only reference I have is a fucked-up, handwritten copy of the main melody and the lyrics in fake book format.

As I play, I begin to stumble more and more. My tempo is inaccurate, fluctuating here and there. Many times I hit wrong notes; play wrong chords. Shit. It's a very bad experience.

Gerald tells me it's okay, he can always delete the fucked-up recording and then we can do another one. Okay, let's do it. I play the piano part again.

Not a perfect recording. Again, stumbles, wrong notes... the whole works.

Shittified. Perhaps I should record the bass first. Its rhythmic pattern consists of regular beats. Thump-thump-thump-thump. To ensure that I stay in one tempo throughout, I type out crotchet notes to act as metronome marks.

Here I go.

I have trouble keeping up with the metronome beats. Some times I go faster. Then I have to slow down to let the metronome catch up. Everything is in chaos.

That's it. Period. I'm going to record the minus-one directly from Sibelius. It will be saved as a wav. file and then shipped onto the recording software. By the way, the polytechnic is using Audio Logic. It's damn cool: your recorded parts are shown as ribbons on the screen where you can snip off here and there, and drag and paste to fit with other "ribbons". This is great for doing electronic music... layering different sounds for effects. Or House Music can even be produced with it.

Let me stray off the topic and go on about House Music for the moment. Sure, it's stuff for the dance clubs, but the compositional process behind it is very exciting. What the DJ does is that he mixes up varying songs together, like rojak. Then he will seamlessly link different lines or phrases of different songs together. Think of a medley. A medley is spun out when a few songs are put together and joined seamlessly. Here, we're talking about lines and phrases and verses of different songs put together and joined seamlessly in random. For example, Verse 1 of Song A will link into Line 3 of Song B... before you know it it will go into Verse 4 of Song C. The emphasis is not so much on the lyrics, but rather, the rhythm, beat and the atmosphere. The great DJs will know how to surprise his/her listeners, and prevent them from getting too tired from listening to his work. It's a very exciting concept.

So what does House Music have anything to do with Audio Logic? Well, you can record various songs or pieces of music, and then do the cutting and pasting on the software. Then you can place the snippets here and there like a jigsaw puzzle.

Back to the recording. I realise I have no means to transfer the large wav. file to the Apple computer which contains the Audio Logic software. Stupid me, I forget to bring my thumb drive. Things will be so convenient then.

Anyway Gerald has scenes that require music. He shows me footages. I realise how weird films look without music. It's like something is missing. The actresses (the heroine and the Fairy Godmother) are acting normally, talking to one another... but it feels very discomforting. Even more so is the part when the Fairy Godmother does a dance to introduce herself. She looks rather silly, flailing her arms here and there to nothing in particular. Somehow I manage to figure out that she needs music in the a-go-go style. Gerald tells me, "Ah Lian."

"A-go-go, can?"

"Yeah, that'll be great."

Gerald goes for a lecture. I go back to the empty studio to begin composing - I've brought my laptop along with me.

Along the way, John Kuek enters. I only know him as the guy whom the students consult on recording and sound issues. He takes an interest in the Sibelius software. We strike up a conversation. He mentions that he is in the music arrangement business. His company makes arrangements of the latest pop songs for solo piano and sells them commercially. You know, those sort of Hit Parade books where they have the scores of popular songs for everybody to play and sing. They also do orchestral arrangements for large ensembles to play. He asks me if I'm interested to do some work. I will help to type some songs, and at a later stage, arrange them. I take up the task enthusiastically.

***End of Part I***