Svarga for sale

I read on my friend Rocky’s post that Svarga is being put up for sale. Wow. One place that has been there since the very beginning of my SL life and pretty much the only place still remaining. Sad to see it go.

Original rocky post here.

Forgetful

So many thoughts, so little time.

I tend to come up with thoughts when I’m not at my computer ready to type. But as soon as I drop down here and try to type something, I totally forget everything that I wanted to say.

I guess I’m getting old, but I guess not too. It’s not like this is the first time it’s ever happened. It’s usually the case.

It’s all about streamlining…

…to me, ah, now I remember I wanted to talk about streamlining. I will write a series of thoughts on this then.

But in short, I have always had to develop easy ways to maintain and update. If it’s not simple and streamlined and all here in the now and then, I can’t keep up with it. I have to have it all here, and easy to just go. And then have things criss cross.

It took a while to get it going, but I am starting to really develop my own system and it gets progressively easier to do so much with so little time. It’s just to keep going and not let the energy die off.

Post by Paul Kwo

Live Music Review: Satin Galli @ Golden Horn

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music
Satin Galli
Golden Horn

Time for another review.

Satin Galli was advertised as (and I quote):

• “Satin Galli’s name says it all! His voice is smooth as satin! If you’re looking for great vocals and style, you’ve found the right guy! Satin has sung must of his life, and grew up in a very musical family. ‘Everything involved music growing up’ Satin says. Talent comes from deep within him”

I know puffery is a big part of marketing and used to hype up a lot of people. But with puffery comes judgment. My take is the more you puff up something, the higher you increase someone’s expectation. When my expectations are up, I become more critical about the person and the music. If you tell me it’s just a fun party with no standards, well I come in expecting that. If it’s more then that then I’m even more delighted. But if you tell me someone has a voice as smooth as satin, yes I know it’s a play on his name, I am literally expecting that.

So was Satin’s voice as smooth as satin? No. Usually I put this criticism on the venue for hyping up someone to get attention. But not this one, this was in Satin’s profile. On top of that, he writes:

• “If you’re looking for great vocals and style, you’ve found the right guy! Satins name says it all.”

There are minor issues in his singing throughout the concert. There are the occasional pitch intonation problems. There are passages that sound like a bland karaoke singing at a local pub. But, there is some nice stuff here and there and his voice does have a good quality to it. It’s just not fully polished.

His voice isn’t bad, but it is not what I would consider smooth as satin, great vocals and style. A much more accurate description would be Satin’s is a good singer who enjoys sharing his oldies and some contemporaries with his audience. Once in a while he may even be as smooth as Satin, if that’s possible.

Satin sings a lot of oldies…

…which were nice to enjoy. He does do some contemporary rocks too but they are not as good as his oldies. I can tell he does enjoy all these songs and love singing them. And before you all think I hate Satin, I don’t. I just don’t think he’s correct in his advertisement of his own abilities. He is really on par with a good local bar singer outside of a major US metropolitan area.

It is very obvious that his voice definitely needs some polishing to create a real sound that would be record worthy. To me that is what the words great vocals and style means. If you are great, then you are record worthy. You may not have any intention to record anything and you don’t have to. But that’s what great is, at least to me. Satin is not record worthy, at least not what I heard live at Golden Horn live. Even his Myspace stuff isn’t what I would consider great vocals and full of style, though there are some good moments in some of the recordings like “Landing in London.”

I have been a bit harsher on Satin because of his description of himself. I do think if he didn’t advertise himself as that I would be much less judgmental about his music. He is a good singer. He has a good voice. He is pretty on pitch most of the time. He struggles at the higher register. He’s really a Baritone. He does have a descent quality in his voice that those couple of moments of goodness sounds pretty nice and enjoyable. I would encourage Satin to record every live session of his and then listen to them all from top to bottom. That’s the best way to learn and since he has a musical family, maybe have them sit down and give them an honest weigh in. But I know how often that doesn’t work since family tends to want to support you then to be honest.

As for style, I think Satin is trying to nail down his style and his voice. I don’t think he has it yet. It’s one thing to sing your favorite songs really well. That’s the beginning. But until you can turn even song that aren’t your favorites and make them your own like you own them, and until we can say that is definitely a Satin Galli performance because of how you sing it, you don’t have style yet. Style is very hard to develop, especially for singers. We have a huge tendency to imitate when we sing but that will only get you maybe to a hotel lounge singer level. There are a couple of people I have heard in Second Life so far that actually have a style of their own. They turn all the songs (covers and originals) they sing into their own versions. We may not always agree or like them, but that is real style.

I did get a chance to chat with Jeanaette Janus who is in charge of the venue at Golden Horn. I think she’s an absolutely wonderful person to talk to and very intelligent. Given the fact that I had been rather critical about some of the performers at her venue that she is still talking to me, I have to give her major credit. The conversations are probably something for a From the Editor’s Desk column, but the conclusion I got is that we are all playing a part here in Second Life live music. She is supporting it in her own way while I see it my way and does it my own. To me it’s always a pull between all the different sides that makes a scene. If it’s all one sided, all happy and bubbly, it doesn’t work. If it’s all critical and judgmental, it doesn’t work. We need both and everything in between.

There have been some real streaming issues lately in Second Life. I few people I know have been struggling with things like that. But they are out of the control of the artist so it’s just something we all have to put up with. I am still having issues with my own stream on my Mac and have to use my PC to log on today to play the streams to review. That’s Second Life.

I would say if you like to hear some oldies in a decently performed manner, Satin is the right guy for you. But don’t go in expecting awesomeness and something that’s just great. The vocals are good but not flawless. The style is correct but not unique. But you may occasionally hear something that may be close to being as smooth as silk. But the over all quality of the entire concert is not smooth as silk.

Live Music Review: Noma Falta @ The Original Winterland

I don’t syndicate a lot of my posts from Metaverse Music here anymore, but I thought this was a good one to do here cause I both improved my writing quality in this one and also this is a good artist too. So I thought I’d syndicate it here too. Check out the rest at MM.

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music
Noma Falta
The Original Winterland

Finally my stream decided to work again, all on its own. I didn’t do anything to fix it, no one did. I am just counting my blessings that it’s working and I can continue to review.

Of course it wouldn’t be an Enniv Zarf day of reviews if I didn’t have something to complain about. Today’s concert was for UNICEF charity for children, a fantastic thing to support. My only complain was actually the teleport point. What in the world is up with these teleport points at ridiculously far off places? As if Second Life lag isn’t bad enough with a ton of people at a concert, some venue owners decided they want you to first get lost and not know where the concert is after teleporting in, then when you do find it you have to lag through the walkway to get to the actual concert. Please set teleport points right in the middle of the concert area or at least somewhere close enough that I can see it without having to look at a map.

But that aside I am very glad to have stopped by Noma Falta’s concert. She has one great voice and she knows how to work it too. She’s a blues singer who also venture into soulful rock, which leads me to think do blues singer hold themselves to higher standards then pop and alternative rock singers. No matter Noma really has a fantastic rich voice and puts on an awesome show!

Her voice has great…

…range that is solid from the lowest of her register to the very top falsettos. On top of that her chops on her electric guitar is just electrifying. There is a lot of power coming through the stream and just lights up my speakers.

The best parts I think of her set are the wonderful songs she sings with only her bass. They feel like the equivalent of an unplugged version by most other singers who does it with a guitar. I think they are just sweet to listen to. It’s great to just hear her voice carry the entire song which she has no problem doing. In these songs, she was totally exposed but still carried through strong. She doesn’t hide her voice and she doesn’t need to. She did have a headache today and was having some issues juggling some stuff, which contributed to some shakiness at rare moments that are barely detectable. I probably wouldn’t have paid attention to them if she didn’t point out her nerves kicking in. She did stop midway one song, but that is not an issue to me at all. We all have those days.

Her other numbers are also very well mixed and balanced never to cover her wonderful voice, which is definitely her selling point. Having this wonderful complete sound and varying it back and forth between this and the slimmed down electric bass versions really adds to the diversity that helps keep things fresh throughout.

She also has a good diverse selection of songs to begin with that covers a few good sub-categories of blues. And no matter which style she does, she still brings her gifts to the table and owns them all.

I do want to get to know more about her original music. I usually have a hard time telling which are the originals at a concert since without them explicitly telling me it’s an original, it could be an obscure cover. So whenever doing a concert that mixes in both, make sure to let your audience know what’s what.

Another worthy note that I absolutely think is a thing we have to get more into in Second Life is to sing each other’s original songs. We are a community here so why not? Noma presented a song by a friend of hers near the beginning of the concert. It was a good song too and her voice worked very well with it, carrying the song into my living room. I can think of a few other songwriters in Second Life whose songs I would like to hear someone else singing.

Noma’s music has a wonderful old school vibe that I can certainly get used to hearing. Her voice along with her instrumentals is just both rock solid. She claimed to have a headache, but if this is her off day I sure can’t wait to hear her on an on day. So check her out any day of the week and you’ll all have a great time with some great music.

Saturdays of Concerts…ARGH!!!

Saturday was very long for me and I basically didn’t have any more energy left to blog at all. I also was very frustrated that my streams wouldn’t work so I couldn’t hear anything and review anything for my Metaverse Music.

I got a chance to do 1 today. I was going to do another but just was again totally distracted by something else and couldn’t get enough up. But at least I did 1. I’ll start doing more tomorrow. I really need to get a few more up there after taking it a bit slower this weekend. But it’s ok, gives my reader a chance to catch up too.

I do know some people are following hard with the site very much so I really want to keep it up going as much as I can.

The concerts though on Saturday was just great – except my Chinese Pop. I just didn’t have time to practice or warm up. It was ok, not my best singing. I really need to work much harder if I wanna really do that. But it’s not my main thing so I just sang for fun and it was fun. But after 2.5 hours of concert, teaching in RL, working on a new website and also started at 8am at Language Lab, I just ran out of energy. I threw everything I had at Freestar Bay.

So much work, so little time….well I keep my posts here short to avoid getting too deep in a hole…

Art Improv – Kwomusic.com

So I’m planning on launching a new site soon to promote myself to galleries and other places to play improvs, especially my art improv.

I registered for the new site KwoMusic.com. My friend Tim suggested that I market myself to real places with my improvs and gave me ideas about how to properly brand it. I always knew I need to split my site from acting and have my music. So now I finally have. I am still working on that site to finish.

The idea is…

…to promote my improv which are highly unique, so it’ll give a really unique experience to experiencing the gallery. There are a lot of gallery parties which are generally consist of DJ’s playing music while people chatted. But this I think is something really special and have done very well online at online galleries. So I’m seeing if there’s any way to market this to real life galleries.

After all it’s a totally unique each performance to be tailored to each work. So no two experiences will be the same. It’s also much more affordable then hiring me as an original composer and then have thing performed and all that. Just me, a piano and here we go.

So I’m working on the branding of the site. Got a lot of work to do. But it’s good I believe.

Live Music Review: Noma Falta @ The Original Winterland

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music
Noma Falta
The Original Winterland

Finally my stream decided to work again, all on its own. I didn’t do anything to fix it, no one did. I am just counting my blessings that it’s working and I can continue to review.

Of course it wouldn’t be an Enniv Zarf day of reviews if I didn’t have something to complain about. Today’s concert was for UNICEF charity for children, a fantastic thing to support. My only complain was actually the teleport point. What in the world is up with these teleport points at ridiculously far off places? As if Second Life lag isn’t bad enough with a ton of people at a concert, some venue owners decided they want you to first get lost and not know where the concert is after teleporting in, then when you do find it you have to lag through the walkway to get to the actual concert. Please set teleport points right in the middle of the concert area or at least somewhere close enough that I can see it without having to look at a map.

But that aside I am very glad to have stopped by Noma Falta’s concert. She has one great voice and she knows how to work it too. She’s a blues singer who also venture into soulful rock, which leads me to think do blues singer hold themselves to higher standards then pop and alternative rock singers. No matter Noma really has a fantastic rich voice and puts on an awesome show!

Her voice has great…

…range that is solid from the lowest of her register to the very top falsettos. On top of that her chops on her electric guitar is just electrifying. There is a lot of power coming through the stream and just lights up my speakers.

The best parts I think of her set are the wonderful songs she sings with only her bass. They feel like the equivalent of an unplugged version by most other singers who does it with a guitar. I think they are just sweet to listen to. It’s great to just hear her voice carry the entire song which she has no problem doing. In these songs, she was totally exposed but still carried through strong. She doesn’t hide her voice and she doesn’t need to. She did have a headache today and was having some issues juggling some stuff, which contributed to some shakiness at rare moments that are barely detectable. I probably wouldn’t have paid attention to them if she didn’t point out her nerves kicking in. She did stop midway one song, but that is not an issue to me at all. We all have those days.

Her other numbers are also very well mixed and balanced never to cover her wonderful voice, which is definitely her selling point. Having this wonderful complete sound and varying it back and forth between this and the slimmed down electric bass versions really adds to the diversity that helps keep things fresh throughout.

She also has a good diverse selection of songs to begin with that covers a few good sub-categories of blues. And no matter which style she does, she still brings her gifts to the table and owns them all.

I do want to get to know more about her original music. I usually have a hard time telling which are the originals at a concert since without them explicitly telling me it’s an original, it could be an obscure cover. So whenever doing a concert that mixes in both, make sure to let your audience know what’s what.

Another worthy note that I absolutely think is a thing we have to get more into in Second Life is to sing each other’s original songs. We are a community here so why not? Noma presented a song by a friend of hers near the beginning of the concert. It was a good song too and her voice worked very well with it, carrying the song into my living room. I can think of a few other songwriters in Second Life whose songs I would like to hear someone else singing.

Noma’s music has a wonderful old school vibe that I can certainly get used to hearing. Her voice along with her instrumentals is just both rock solid. She claimed to have a headache, but if this is her off day I sure can’t wait to hear her on an on day. So check her out any day of the week and you’ll all have a great time with some great music.

Sensitivitiy in Musical Taste

I remember reading Rick Warren’s book when he talked about how music is so subjective in taste that of all things a church ever fights over, music is the biggest and the most unrelenting of them all.

Sure there are other issues in life that are controversial. But music really is the one.

I discovered that with the site Metaverse Music where I’m reviewing all these musicians who obviously would be ridiculed in real life in general. And any person I went to school with (well most) would have immediately turn off the music and moved on without a second thought.

Yet I get these people coming after me saying I’m totally off base or wrong or whatever it is because they love that person and their music.

It is very fascinating to experience this…

…It is an experience for me to hear all these comments. And in this way I am learning about marketing and art. I am finally understanding why good art often overlooked by bad art. Second Life provided a microcosm of the reality of marketing of all things subjective.

Anything said repetitively becomes reality.

In an age where information moves super fast, it is even more important about key word advertising. Good artists tends to be humble and try to not over market who they are and what they do. But those who don’t know any better then to just market as they are the best. Then once you say it so many times and get enough people to you, you will get a fan base because they will fall in love for you because of you and it has nothing to do with the work.

It’s different in Second Life because there is an audience interaction element in it. Those who do that and really get to the audience gets them coming back too more then those who’s just there to play.

We don’t have that much of a problem on a myspace or thesixtyone type site because the human element is removed. Only the music speak. You listen and you move from one to another without feeling any obligation to even stay a little longer and give them a chance the way Second Life sets things up to be.

Marketing of art and music is really different. There is so much truth to shameless self promotion. It really helps when you have an agent and a manger to do that. Even if it’s just a friend to say it on your behalf, it makes a world of a difference in how everything comes out. When I vouche for someone else in a posting it’s so many more times more effective then when I post my own announcement. It’s fascinating how all of that works.

I am still learning and still growing. But I’m having a lot fun along the way.

Music Review: The Schumann Duo @ Amadora Recital Hall

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Michael Schaf
Originally from Classical Music in Second Life
The Schumann Duo
Amadora Recital Hall

[NOTES FROM ENNIV ZARF: This review is written by Michael Schaf who is a choral conductor living in the United States. More info about him coming soon.]

Tonight, I had the pleasure of hearing the Schumann Duo playing their benefit concert for Toys for Tots.

The concert featured a series of pieces for a variety of instruments accompanied by piano, including the oboe, the English horn, the bass oboe, and not the least of which was the saw. Yes, the saw! The duo made some clever choices, presenting a number of pieces with the saw as the feature instrument, being played with a string bow to produce some interesting undulations.

I have to salute this double-reed player’s skills. His accompanist noted that he played for many years as first-chair oboe for the L.A. Orchestra, no small feat to accomplish. His mastery of the instruments was amazing. Lovely control of dynamic, articulation, and artistry. In particular, I was touched by the performance of Edward Elgar’s “Salut d’amour” on the English horn. The sensitivity given the piece by the duo drew me in a way I did not expect through a digital universe. I guess it goes to show that music can be beautiful through any medium if handled well. Thank you so much!

The saw on the other hand…

…ha ha ha ha. I find myself unable to embrace it. The technique of the player is certainly not to be questioned. He knew what he was doing, but I suppose the novelty of the instrument didn’t win me over. It was cute to play “Hark! The herald angels sing!” on the saw and make everyone smile, but I wouldn’t expect John Williams to add a part for it in any of his coming movie scores.

Another thing that perplexed me was the way in which the literature was presented. Most of the pieces were very short, less than 2 minutes in length, with just a few going longer. I admit I’m not a fan of lots of talking in a classical recital, where this recital had 1.5 minutes of music followed by 2 minutes of talking, making for a somewhat choppy experience. The duo played a lovely arrangement of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” for bass oboe and piano that I thoroughly enjoyed hearing, but it felt like barely an introduction to so much more. I was sad that it ended so soon. Let’s hear the Milhaud Sonatina next time so we can revel in your gorgeous sounds, whaddaya say?

In short, the Schumann Duo are an excellent pair of musicians and a welcome addition to my second life. In spite of a few minor differences in opinion, I look forward to hearing them again.

PK Cast: Freestyle Piano Improv

Finally it’s here and I am so excited that it is!!!!

You can search me up on itunes – Paul Kwo Freestyle Piano Improv.

CLICK HERE TO OPEN ITUNES PAGE

I am still trying to figure it all out and fine tuning anything that’s still wrong. But other then that, I’m just happy it’s up there! So subscribe everyone.

These are all my online streaming concerts! Do check them out.

My inworld media stream isn’t working properly today so I couldn’t review any live concerts. I don’t know how much time I’ll have to do that tomorrow either. I’ll try. I want to.

I just need to figure out what’s wrong the stream.

I’m also working on my singing concert for tomorrow night at 1030pmSLT. Singing Chinese pop. Fun to do for me.

Language Lab Yesterday – Christmas Tree

I wanted to write this yesterday but I got all caught up with Metaverse Music and all the controversy it’s driving.

I don’t care to drive controversy myself. I am not out there to do that. I just wanted to be critical about all music in SL and myself too.

Anyways I made this tree with the students at Language Lab. I made tree and they made the star and some of the ornaments. Thought it was pretty neat so I shared the photo here.

Also…

…one of the student made this fantastic sculpture – Nostradamus. Zhefeng Key, really cool stuff. I liked it.

This Week in the Metaverse (Second Life) – Dec. 5, 2008 to Dec. 12, 2008

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music

This week has been a whirlwind for me and that’s why this edition is a bit late. I have been caught up with people who are upset with me and what I wrote from all sides of the isle. But I think though soon it will all become less pronounced when people starts to see the bigger picture and realize that this is just a review amongst the many. (Check my From the Editor’s series on the right to read up on what I think.)

So I have a little less artists to choose from this week so the super hot list is a tad bit shorter. But these are my absolute favorite from this week. There were others that I enjoyed tremendously too and I’ll mention them later. There is also one that isn’t about an artist but about a music project that I thought is super hot and worthy of the list!

My Super Hot List – Dec. 12
Damian Carbenell @ D2TK
Ayden Kruh @ Romantica Yacht Club
Thom Dowd & Gorse Ferraris @ Cairo
Crap Mariner’s Tunes in SL Gallery Project

Damian has just got a fantastic voice and his show is just wonderful to listen to from top to bottom. He has some great original music that deserves our attention and I will definitely get to those in the future. I only wish he plays them up more during his show.

Ayden also has a brilliant voice doing all the covers he does. He has got some nice originals too. I am just disappointed that not enough people are requesting him to sing his originals instead of constantly asking him to do covers.

Thom Dowd and Gorse Ferraris are just fantastic musicians and presents a totally different point of view of Second Life music that is well deserving of our attention. They are definitely something to enjoy this holiday season as their music is just fitting to get into the spirit of things.

Crap Mariner’s Tunes in SL Gallery Project is definitely note worthy in my books as he’s an avid lover of Second Life original artists. He decidedly to go and buy albums by Second Life musicians on itunes and also sets up their album covers in his venues to help promote them. I definitely believe this is something that’s worthy of our support and embrace and we should all be more encouraging in the advancement of original music. But do not put these musicians in a bubble. Be nice but be honest. Your musicians will love you and appreciate you in the end to keep them in check. If they are so into their own world and refuse to at least hear you out, chances are they are not really worthy of your support. Remember we only intervene with those who we love! We let those who we hate out in the cold to fend for themselves.

There are a few other people I thought worthy of some attention. I thought KevinMThomas has some fantastic original sounds. Though at times it was way too much belting for my own taste but still thought they are worth checking out. Jaggpro McCann had some great music and a good voice to enjoy and listen to from down under. FrankLee Anatra has a pretty solid voice to offer to his crowd too. Dakota7z7 also offers some really good country sounds as an alternative to the other musicians for me this week. I also thought Djaj puts on a fun and engaging show that is very entertaining and full of original material.

Things are really being put into perspective here for me. I am also seeing the who’s who of what camp in Second Life music and I am actually very glad that I was in no camp before going into this to be a little more objective then I would be if I was already going to some people’s concerts on a consistent basis. It’s fascinating to hear about reputations after I actually hear the music. Some are in line with what I heard, some are not quite. The ones that are not has a lot to do with hype and the aftermath of hype overload. I am learning a lot about this as I continue my journey around Second Life Music. And I hope you are all going to continue to ride along with me for this awesome ride for the good and the bad.

>> Dec. 10, 2008
KevinMThomas Carpool @ Red Rock
Jaggpro McCann @ Dolphin’s Dream

>> Dec. 9, 2008
Djai Skjellerup @ SL Globe Theatre
Ayden Kruh @ Romantica Yacht Club
Mike00 Carnell @ Italia Vera: Milano Vera

>> Dec. 8, 2008
Dres Forder @ Pixel Hill
Doubledown Tandino @ Pixel Hill

>> Dec. 7, 2008
FrankLee Anatra @ Woodstock

>> Dec. 6, 2008
Strummer Vultee @ BarrioBeat Productions
Dakota7z7 Pluto @ Close to the Edge
Thom Dowd & Gorse Ferraris @ Cairo
Jackdog Snook @ The Warehouse

>> Dec. 5, 2008
Damian Carbenell @ D2TK
Al Hofmann @ Bibi’s Beach
Russell Eponym @ Unity

From the Editor’s Desk: I lose either way

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music

I hope everyone knows that I am not doing this for my own satisfaction cause I lose no matter what I write. (I’m writing this and then going back to reviewing. I took yesterday slower cause I got caught up with a few controversies that came about from my writing. I’m also having trouble with stream so I probably have to restart my computer to get it to work – it didn’t and now I have to really figure out what’s wrong. I also promise this will be one of my last rants for a while and really focus back on the music. I just need to have this here so I point anyone who have issues with me to just read this. They can do what they will after.)

First of all, I’m not jealous about anyone or anything in Second Life. I’m doing this out of my love of it, cause I love SL Music. Honestly not to boast or anything, but I’m on national TV and on major network TV shows and working on major blockbuster films. I am not jealous about anyone or anything in Second Life. Nothing to be jealous about. To me Second Life is a way to grow as an artist. It’s a way to become better. It is however not a bubble to put ourselves in free form the rest of the world. I do not at all buy into the I’m in Second Life not Real Life so I get to live in a bubble. There is no such thing. If you want to live in a bubble, do something that involves no other human beings.

Second I am not out to get anyone. I lose either way with every review I write. I write a good review about someone, there are bound to be people who will get upset because I said he’s good. I write a bad review about someone, there are bound to people who will get upset because I said he’s bad. I don’t win. There’s no winning for me either way. I hope you all know that.

I only say what I observed. Observation is what it all is. Know what a review is, it’s observations. Reviewers and critics observed and write what they observed. Artists should take it and leave it at that. And no you won’t agree with everything that I observed but that doesn’t mean I didn’t observe them. What you should do is to see why I saw what I saw.

Do you know how many times I’ve been told myself I sound like…

…so and so. I have been told I sound like Keith Jarret and George Winston, both of whom I have never heard of before someone told me. I went and checked them out on itunes and online to see what they sound like. I don’t think I sound like them in totality, and wasn’t directly influenced by them. But perhaps somewhere down my musical journey I may have crossed something of theirs inadvertently and then somehow it got fused in. Or maybe I independently arrived at some of those similar ideas.

I’ve also been told who I look like and how I act like. I’ve been told I looked like an Asian version of Conan O’Brian. I am not even sure how to take that. But instead of getting upset or angry or whatever I ask myself why did they say that. What about me coveyed that. Is that something I want to continue to portray myself as? Is that something that really is a big deal? It’s only as big of a deal as I make it. When I mention that to people, some of them would say oh yeah I can see that and tell me it’s because I’m kinda tall, lanky and a little awkwardly quirky. Then I go, ah, so that’s what it means to be an Asian version of Conan O’Brian. I learned something there.

I’ve even been told once when I performed something at an audition by the casting director I acted like someone I had no real idea is at all. In fact I can’t even remember that name of the reference. I want to cause that’s how I learn. I learn from understanding other people’s observations of what I do both good and bad.

A wonderful drama teacher once told me, whenever someone gives you a critic, it’s an observation and take it as that. They are neither right nor wrong, it’s their observation. It has nothing to do with accuracy if I said he sounded like so and so and I heard such and such as long as I really did hear that. You don’t have to agree with me. It’s not meant as a compliment or an insult. It’s just what it is, an observation.

So in the end I just want to say I lose either way. Every musician has supportive fans and jealous fans of their rivals I walked into this knowing this but why am I still doing this? I love Second Life Live Music and I am not jealous. Absolutely nothing to be jealous about. I know what I do and I know those who like me will like me. I also do know that I have a lot to lose cause I can turn off potential fans who may like my music if I didn’t write something bad about someone they loved.

I don’t want to ruin anyone. I want people to improv. Use those Second Looks and invite me back once you’ve improved. If you are serious about your music, that would be the thing to do. We are in a closed off environment. This is your chance to learn and grow and get some honest feedback. Trust me you fans are not telling you the truth, and they won’t no matter how hard you try to pry it out of them. They feel supporting you is to tell you that you’re amazing. I’m supporting you by telling you what you need to hear so you get your act better and move up and get more fans.

I don’t want people to live in a bubble when it comes to their music. It’s not safe. Every bubble burst. Mine was busted soon after high school and it hurts. There is truth to the higher you are the harder you fall. If you really love the artists you support, perhaps a little reality check once in a while isn’t all that bad. The reality is the world is a huge place, there’s a lot of music out there that puts even the best of us in here to shame. I point out everything here that I observe so everyone knows who they are and what they do and do them well. That’s how you succeed in real life. It’s really hard, and I had a lot of trouble doing that and am still working on it. It’s a lifelong process really but very important. Know thyself everyone.

Original Music Review: Blindboy Gumbo

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music
Blindboy Gumbo’s Original Music

I picked Blindboy Gumbo to be the first to review because he invited me to a second look at his concert after reading my first review about his music. He was also one of my very first review so my perspective have definitely shifted as I grew here. Come on, you can’t expect me to come out right off the bat and know exactly where I stand on everything. Every critic has to start somewhere and every critic grows as they gain more experience.

I can also tell you that this is going to be a rather long post because I am going to dissect things more in depth since I am not on the run trying to figure out what’s going on in a live setting.

Blindboy also invited me back to hear another one of his concert live where he performed the entire set of his original music. It’s awesome that he did this concert and I think it’s actually a pretty solid set. He has his own sound in his music that does carry over from song to song. A lot of that has to do with the way he plays the guitar to create a sort of pedal point trance like feel to his music. It does feel like he finds a sound he likes and then go with it.

There are some songs that I liked and were rather catchy and got to my head and some songs that were just alright. But hey that’s pretty true for most artists’ albums anyways. There’s the hit singles and then there are the others. You just need that one song to catch everyone’s attention.

His songs have a folksy quality to it…

…which I will attribute it in great part to his voices and the way he sings many of the songs he did. But he does have songs that stretch out to more bluish or other areas as well by borrowing elements from those genres. But they still retain the pedal point like feel to them that still makes it rather distinctively Blindboy.

I want to thank Blindboy though for inviting me to the concert where he decided to only perform his original tunes. It is very hard to do that in Second Life and draw an audience. The truth is many of us say we support live music, but in truth we are just out there partying. We are not really supporting these live musicians. If we are truly are supporting musicians in Second Life, we should be requesting them to perform their original music and not covers. When you ask an original artist to perform covers after cover, you are saying to them their music is not good enough for you. You are telling them that I don’t want to hear your tunes, but the tunes of some other artists. That is not support. When you show up to their concert when they perform mostly covers but fail to appear when they perform their original music, that is not what I call support! That is being selfish. So thank you everyone who actually showed up to Blindboy’s all original live concert. Those are the ones who are truly supportive of Blindboy.

This type of behavior goes all across the board in all genres of live music in Second Life and it has got to stop! That is how music dies when we don’t support new music. I know because that’s what I see in the world of Classical Music. It’s having serious problems because music stopped for many Classical Music lovers at 1950 when Bartok died. Don’t tell me you support Second Life music if you don’t ever show up to all original all new concerts. No one should ever request an original artist to do a cover period. That is an affront to their original music. An original artist should do a cover when they feel that this song is so special to them that they want to pay their respect and share it with their audience. I learned that listening to Canton Pop concerts as a kid. These artist (even though they don’t actually write their songs but are usually given songs to sing) usually only cover songs that they love so much that they decided they wanted to share it with their fans.

Don’t get me wrong, if you don’t want to listen to their original music that’s absolutely acceptable. There are people whom I do not want to listen to too. But I don’t pretend to support that musician because I go to only their cover events. I don’t call myself a supporter of those musicians if I don’t support their original shows. However I am guessing that a lot of you do actually love the artists you go even if it’s usually only for their cover music.

Back to Blindboy’s original music. Most of my review will be based on the stuff he uploaded at his thesixtyone.com account since it’s not really fair to talk about a piece of music with just one listen at his concert.

Blindboy does have some memorable tracks and some that could really get in your head if you heard it a few times. Particularly memorable for me was his song Monday Morning. The song really works well between the instruments and his voice. The hook really is very catchy and he’s got a very good bluegrass feel fused with a contemporary rock feeling that gives it a rather electric feel. The harmonies in this song are very simple blues type progression but the production of the music adds a lot to the song and boost up the worth of the song. His electric guitar solo is actually very refreshing to hear in the middle of the song as he doesn’t try to do a huge show and flash pass. Rather he takes the opposite route and gives you this really laid back blurb of a solo that is true to the song and distinctive enough to keep me interested.

The biggest problem Blindboy has to face with his music especially in this recording is to create that top 40 quality recording. Without that kind of sound, it’s extremely difficult to get the attention he needs to bring light on his music. Monday morning is really catchy, by far the catchiest of them all in terms of a hook. But the vocals are not rock solid. There are just little flaws throughout that just say he’s not there yet and still needs work. I have absolute respect for a work in progress, but this is a tough world of music we live in. The overall audience in the general public does not care for imperfection when they are used to perfected studio sounds. By no means am I suggesting to cheat and manipulate the vocal tracks as so many artists do. I think Blindboy can solidify his voice and should. I am certain he’s working on that too. I’m merely pointing out what I heard.

The other song that has a lot of attention by Blindboy is “sleeping in the ground,” which has a fantastic feel to the singing. He’s got a nice sound going on with the well worked instrumentals and a highly reverbed voice. Normally I don’t like all the crazy reverb voice but sometimes it works and here I think it gives it something interesting to listen to. But I also don’t think it’s the best sounding reverb and precisely what he’s going for. I think it’s close but something about it isn’t quite absolutely right. There’s still a bit of mismatch between that and the instrument. I do however enjoy this song. I like the way he sings it, but again similar little minor vocal flaws keeps the song from being a bigger hit then it probably can be. I think I would also like to hear an unplugged version of this song as I think it would be very fun.

“Hold me down” demo version has a very wonderful guitar opening that I thought sets up the song very well. It made me want to hear more. The song is a pretty song and has a wonderful haunting quality to it. But I am not sure the way he’s singing it is the best way to get the feeling of it. His accent got a little in the way of this song even though I like his accent in his other songs. But for this song I feel like it would be better if it were sang more simply, you know with that all too overused airy voice. Well I think it’s actually needed here in this song. Other then that the song is a really good song, so good actually I actually sort of want to sing it for fun myself. If I had the music I’d probably take it over to my piano and then sing it right now.

With “broken bones” he again has a very good guitar lick going for him that sets up a fantastic groove. He actually has really nice catchy guitar licks going for most of the songs he does. “P.L.C.” has a very memorable opening that got me interested. But with all his songs though they are good, the problems in his vocal techniques is getting in the way. I think it is something that can be fixed though with a vocal coach to sit down with him to clean them up to get a great recording.

I think Blindboy has very nice originals going for him and I hope you all check out this mix of country and rock that really has something to offer. They do need to be polished vocally but as they are right now are still pretty good songs to listen to. I would support Blindboy as he continues to work out the vocal issues and finally produce that’s a perfect recording of these great songs of his.