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My “Satu Malaysia” theme song

LifeDemo — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:39:56 +0000

Recently, the Kementerian Penerangan of Malaysia organized a song writing contest. we were supposed to create a song based on the much popularized ’1 Malaysia’ concept being promoted by our current prime Minister.

It was a good opportunity. I went about finalizing my music since the closing date was initially June 15 2009. I sent the whole material on the 1st of May only to find out online that they have abruptly change the date to 31st May!! Something fishy is really going on man….

Well. Here’s the demo. If I were to win this one, I would have wanted Faizal Tahir to sing it since it has this Rock element to it. I sang this demo myself and as you can see, my voice was struggling to hit the high notes. Lol!

Satu Malaysia

Composed by Kay Stanford Jr Kastum, May 28, 2009

Kita sama sahaja
Walaupun semua berbilang bangsa
Hidup harmoni, berkompromi, kita amali

Pemimpin di hormati
Raja menjadi tunggak tradisi
Keamanan, kestabilan rakyat yang penyayang

Bridge:
Bersatulah rakyat jelata, kita menjadi Satu Suara

Chorus:
Satu Malaysia, Satu Malaysia
Ku rasa bangga, menjadi warga
Negara Malaysia

Psalm 32 year B for weddings-(Psalm 32:12.18.20-22)

LifeDemo — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:09:49 +0000

I’m not really sure if that’s the correct title or Psalm verse.. I’m not an expert in Bible verses, I’m just a person who can make music from Psalms.

I’m down with flu, cough and a slight fever the past couple of days. I have no choice but to finish this today since time is realy running out. My friends wedding is this coming saturday Febraury 14th which happens to be Valentine’s day as well. This one is recorded while I’m still having the cough so my voice seems to be a little bassy and low strangely.

I included the MP3, MINUS ONE as well as the LYRICS with guitar chords for you to download should you want to use this for any event especially weddings. (Sorry I don’t read musical notes so I can’t provide any SHEET MUSIC for you folks)

DOWNLOAD mp3
Click this link to download the full file

RESPONSE: The Lord fills the earth with his love

They are happy whose God is the Lord
the people he has chosen as his own
The Lord looks on those who revere him
on those who hope in his love

Our soul is waiting for the Lord
The Lord is our help and our shield
In him do our hearts find joy
We trust in his holy name

May your love be upon us, o Lord
as we place all our hope in you

Responsorial Psalm for Third Sunday of Advent, Year B (I think..?)

LifeDemo — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:06:41 +0000

I’m still not sure whether I should do it this Sunday.

Free Download!

MY SOUL REJOICES IN MY GOD

MY SOUL GLORIFIES THE LORD,
MY SPIRIT REJOICES IN GOD, MY SAVIOUR.
HE LOOKS ON HIS SERVANT IN HER NOTHINGNESS;
HENCEFORTH ALL AGES WILL CALL ME BLESSED

THE ALMIGHTY WORKS MARVELS FOR ME.
HOLY HIS NAME!
HIS MERCY IS FROM AGE TO AGE,
ON THOSE WHO FEAR HIM.

HE FILLS THE STARVING WITH GOOD THINGS,
SENDS THE RICH AWAY EMPTY.
HE PROTECTS ISRAEL, HIS SERVANT,
REMEMBERING HIS MERCY.

She Doesn’t Love You Anymore-(Short Acoustic Version)

LifeDemo — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:56:06 +0000

Here’s a song I’ve written about love. More like love that does not exist anymore caused by reality of life. It was written about a month back. Never really had a chance to do a demo with all the elements: drums, electric guitar etc.

I did this one today around two hours before going off for work. I used my new (cheap) Vietnamese handmade guitar. I just had the feeling that I had to do it at that point of time. I was having a terrible flu too. Somehow I felt more energized singing while having flu for some strange reason?? I also recorded this in my apartment living room. It was raining and there was a fan blowing at me. My Pekingese dog was also making some noise at the end if you are sharp enough!

Here it is, ‘She Doesn’t Love You Anymore’, the short version in acoustic guitar.

Another Old Demo-’Rokok’

LifeDemo — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:47:47 +0000

This one is entitled ‘rokok’ meaning cigarette in the national language here in Malaysia. This was just a one take recording using my Sony ‘mini compo’ again where I played the bass part and the rhythm part on the Casio kiddie keyboard. Not sure what model it was.

The language is in Bahasa Malaysia too. It talks about how we liked cigarettes and at the same time mentioning it’s price. Back then, ciggies are really cheaper!

Expect to hear some major off-keys and terrible music and vocals!

Just you and I, demo done with a friend

LifeDemo — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 12:00:51 +0000

Here’s a demo (long and unedited) that me and a good friend of mine did when we were still in secondary school. His name is Ivan Roger Ongkili and this song was written and music is also by him. I just helped him with the harmony as well as the one-take recording from my trusted Sony mini compo. Since it’s only one take, that’s why the quality sounded a little bit better and clear. This was done in my parents home back in a place called ‘Kunak’ in Sabah.

After converting it to mp3 from the tape, I actually tweaked some equalizer and added some reverb effect. I regretted it now since I really think I should have kept it as normal as possible. There were some pitch problems here and there too. I think we recorded this ‘early’ morning.

There were other sounds too like dog bark, (our dog which I forgot the name) and some lighter sounds from our buddy Jai. He also sang some at the back ground. Oh, also expect some snorting sounds. I think we were having flu or something..

The guitar used was my trusted Fender Strat-Mexican made.

Old Demo-’Lady in Black’

LifeDemo — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 07:27:32 +0000

This recording was done on a normal Sony mini compo the one with the double tape slots. I think this was during my secondary school days like more than 10 years ago?? What I did was record one track and then played it on the other player and recorded on another tape. Repeat until you have all your parts in one tape. Sound quality will definitely be affected this way I guess. So much hiss!

The timing was horrible, and the guitar solo was amazingly crappy! Ha ha. Anyway, enjoy this one. This is a song about a guy walking in the street going to buy some cigarettes and bumped into this hot gal wearing black t-shirt? After that he can’t sleep at night wishing he should have got her name at least etc.

Guitars, drums & vocals and keyboard + keyboard bass all done by me.

It’s quite obvious I did not use an acoustic guitar here. Hope to redo a more ‘decent’ one for this one in the future.