Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Without His Cross on my Azumi 2000 Flute
Far from perfect, but in time for Good Friday. I think there's some improvement since the last video of me playing my Azumi.
Blessed Easter, everyone!
Without His Cross
By : Joseph M. Martin
Without His tears, there is no comfort
Without His death, there is no life
Without His blood, there is no pardon
Without His cross, there is no crown
Without His shame, there is no glory
Without His grief, there is no joy
Without His stripes, there is no healing
Without His cross, there is no crown
Lamb of God, You bring salvation
And with Your grace, our hearts are sealed
Lord, with Your tears of love, You bathed our sorrows
In Your eyes we stand revealed
Without His tears, there is no comfort
Without His death, there is no life
Without His blood, there is no pardon
Without His cross, there is no crown
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
O Great God by Sovereign Grace Music
One of my fav songs from Sovereign Grace Music. The Valley of Vision is an album of songs inspired by the classic book of Puritan prayers.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Christian YouTube Pianist
Norm Hastings is a Christian pianist I got to know through YouTube. He's got a whole bunch of hymns in piano posted on his channel, and the good news is they are now available for purchase online! I'll let him tell you a little bit about it:
And here is a sample of one of his pieces:
Norm's YouTube Hymns album can be purchased from here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/normhastings13
And here is a sample of one of his pieces:
Norm's YouTube Hymns album can be purchased from here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/normhastings13
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Irish Hymn on an Irish Flute
Finally recorded something on my M&E Polymer Irish flute. This is my all-time favourite hymn Be Thou My Vision, which dates back all the way to the 6th century A.D.
More information about the hymn here, including the original Gaelic version: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Thou_My_Vision
More information about the hymn here, including the original Gaelic version: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Thou_My_Vision
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Home-made Erhu
Just last Sunday I decided to try making an erhu, which is a Chinese fiddle out of some cardboard paper core and other materials I bought or had lying around.
A new beginner's instrument will set you back over $300 SGD. The cost of this one? Just $15 SGD and 3-4 hours of work.
Materials used:
- Cardboard roll for the soundbox (Free, complements of Alina)
- Wood dowel for the pegs and neck ($6)
- Plastic cotton bud box cover for the front of the soundbox (Free)
- Screw to hold one end of the strings (Free. Swiped from dad's toolbox)
- Scrap felt (Free, complements of Ni Zhen)
- Spare erhu bridge (Free)
- Erhu strings ($3 for both strings)
- Bow (salvaged from a crude gaohu I bought from a roadshow)
- Qian jin, which is a type of string ($1. Not shown in the picture)
Equipment:
- Hand drill
- Screwdriver
- Files
Materials
Soundbox with hole drilled through it for the neck.
Soundbox with neck
Neck with holes drilled for the pegs
Pegs with ends filed down to size and holes drilled for the strings
Screw at the bottom end
Half-assembled. Pegs, neck, soundbox and cover
The bow is strung between the strings. Notice the qian jin tied over the neck and strings below the pegs
Closeup of soundbox with bridge, felt and strings
Finished. Without flash
With flash
And here's a short test of the finished piece:
I'll try to post a full song when I can find the time.
A new beginner's instrument will set you back over $300 SGD. The cost of this one? Just $15 SGD and 3-4 hours of work.
Materials used:
- Cardboard roll for the soundbox (Free, complements of Alina)
- Wood dowel for the pegs and neck ($6)
- Plastic cotton bud box cover for the front of the soundbox (Free)
- Screw to hold one end of the strings (Free. Swiped from dad's toolbox)
- Scrap felt (Free, complements of Ni Zhen)
- Spare erhu bridge (Free)
- Erhu strings ($3 for both strings)
- Bow (salvaged from a crude gaohu I bought from a roadshow)
- Qian jin, which is a type of string ($1. Not shown in the picture)
Equipment:
- Hand drill
- Screwdriver
- Files
Materials
Soundbox with hole drilled through it for the neck.
Soundbox with neck
Neck with holes drilled for the pegs
Pegs with ends filed down to size and holes drilled for the strings
Screw at the bottom end
Half-assembled. Pegs, neck, soundbox and cover
The bow is strung between the strings. Notice the qian jin tied over the neck and strings below the pegs
Closeup of soundbox with bridge, felt and strings
Finished. Without flash
With flash
And here's a short test of the finished piece:
I'll try to post a full song when I can find the time.
Home-made Flute and Whistles!
Finally got about to posting some home-made instruments by yours truly!
The first video here is me play testing some Irish whistles made from PVC pipe by a friend for an overseas community project.
The instructions were taken from this fantastic website of Guido Gonzato, who makes his own whistles out of PVC pipe: http://www.ggwhistles.com/howto/.
The article my friend wrote of the project can be found here: http://www.goducate.org/making-music-with-pvc-pipes.html
Photos of her process can be found here.
Way to go, Alina and her elves!
Pitching may not be perfect, but for a first attempt by most who are not musicians or artists, and some materials with different dimensions, I think it's pretty good!
Just in case anyone is interested in the tunes I played in the video, they were (1) Lamb of God, (2) the Butterfly (mistakes and all) and (3) Inisheer.
The second video is of a flute I made out of PVC pipe following the instructions of famed PVC pipe Irish flute maker, Doug Tipple. The instructions are on his website can be found here: http://sites.google.com/site/dougsflutes/makingasimpleirishflute
Doug sells the flutes he makes too, and the reviews have been very positive. Irish flutes can be rather expensive costing several hundreds just for a beginner's instrument and in the thousands for well-crafted wood ones. For starters who just want to try it out without committing too much resources, Doug's instruments are a great choice: http://sites.google.com/site/dougsflutes/
My flute is different from Doug's as it incorporates some design features from the Chinese dizi, namely the membrane hole and the end holes on the underside of the flute. I use a piece of paper to cover the membrane hole when I want to play the flute without the characteristic dizi's buzzy tone.
Doesn't sound great, but still quite in tune and serviceable!
The first video here is me play testing some Irish whistles made from PVC pipe by a friend for an overseas community project.
The instructions were taken from this fantastic website of Guido Gonzato, who makes his own whistles out of PVC pipe: http://www.ggwhistles.com/howto/.
The article my friend wrote of the project can be found here: http://www.goducate.org/making-music-with-pvc-pipes.html
Photos of her process can be found here.
Way to go, Alina and her elves!
Pitching may not be perfect, but for a first attempt by most who are not musicians or artists, and some materials with different dimensions, I think it's pretty good!
Just in case anyone is interested in the tunes I played in the video, they were (1) Lamb of God, (2) the Butterfly (mistakes and all) and (3) Inisheer.
The second video is of a flute I made out of PVC pipe following the instructions of famed PVC pipe Irish flute maker, Doug Tipple. The instructions are on his website can be found here: http://sites.google.com/site/dougsflutes/makingasimpleirishflute
Doug sells the flutes he makes too, and the reviews have been very positive. Irish flutes can be rather expensive costing several hundreds just for a beginner's instrument and in the thousands for well-crafted wood ones. For starters who just want to try it out without committing too much resources, Doug's instruments are a great choice: http://sites.google.com/site/dougsflutes/
My flute is different from Doug's as it incorporates some design features from the Chinese dizi, namely the membrane hole and the end holes on the underside of the flute. I use a piece of paper to cover the membrane hole when I want to play the flute without the characteristic dizi's buzzy tone.
Doesn't sound great, but still quite in tune and serviceable!
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