"Ketiadaanmu"

The Pool Art Project - Ketiadaanmu

Ketiadaanmu is a song i made when i got married to my beloved wife in 2009. She was out of town for a few days and i really missed her, so i came up with this song and recorded myself playing it with my electric guitar, using my videocam. Once i also presented it to her using my classical guitar and we recorded it with her own cellphone. Now, after three years, I've decided to give it a proper studio recording specially for her as a birthday present. Well, belated birthday present that is. I didn't get her anything last year so yeah, here it is.

This is my first malay song for the project. Some of the concepts of this song was actually adapted from a song by an American band, specifically its guitar plucking and the use of a harmonica. The combination of these two really caught my attention, which inspired me to create this song. The harmonica decorates the guitar plucking beautifully. They really go together well. However, this time i had to do the project alone. My friend Epul recently got a job in Sepang, quite far from here. So he couldn't be around for this one. Plus, it's really a song for my wife. So i figured i better do it on my own.

So on 10/01/2013 i started out recording the drums at BOM Productions. Yeah, the same drill. I had to utilize both studios, Bom Productions and IZ Studio Enterprise for this one too. It's quite a hassle but i just didn't feel like searching for a new place to record. So i finished recording the drums in an hour. Four days later after some editing and touch-ups by the studio guy Che' En, it was ready for me to collect. The next day (15/01/2013) i brought the drum track to IZ Studio Enterprise. I spent time recording there from 5pm to 9pm doing all of the remaining parts except for the vocals. I started with the bass guitar recording. Then i moved on to the acoustic backing guitar. The sound of the acoustic guitar was so mild you can barely notice it in the song. After that i took pretty much time on the electric guitar, especially to ensure there were no mistakes in the plucking and strumming. Electric guitars are so sensitive that it can pick up even the slightest mistake. Also i had to carefully choose the type of guitar effect most suitable for the song. Then to finish it off, i added the harmonica and tambourine.

Later, on 21/01/2013, i went back to the studio to record the vocals. Well, i think it went smoothly i guess. I don't know. I'm not really a good singer. I never see myself as a singer. For some strange reason I've always hated listening to my own voice when recorded. Nevertheless, someone's got to do it. So, after singing my heart out, it officially wraps it up for the day. My part was done. What's left next was for Acap the studio guy to finalize the song. Oh, while I'm at it, he's also the lead guitarist of a band called Summer On September. He was actually kind enough to take the trouble of adding some background keyboard effects to the track, which makes the song sounds even better. A million thanks to him. The final step was for him to do some editing, mixing and mastering. Later the song was successfully completed on 24/01/2013.