"First Time"

So The Pool Art Project is back with a song titled "First Time". Written by our very own Mr Shaiful "Epul" Sidek, we recently had a new line-up again. This time we began collaborating with our former schoolmates Shahril "Banchik" Musa and Fadzlee "Mok" Razak. Mok plays the bass guitar, and Banchik is our drummer. Which means i had to switch to a new department. I'm officially the lead guitarist now. It has been a while since i played the guitar for a band. The last time that happened was when i was with a band called Area 51 in 1998. It was a great band to be with too, because the line-up then were my own schoolmates and buddies as well. Just as I had my own project band way back during Psychotouch (the former band name before The Pool Art Project), Epul had his own as well called Experimental Mice. So Banchik and Mok were the members of that band, which is a good thing because i have always wanted to try working together with them. So now, the four of us working together is proof that it is the best combination so far because this song that we successfully made together, in my humble opinion, is our best work so far. It got nearly 300 views on Youtube/Facebook in less than a week. And the feedback from family and friends are outstandingly good.

So as we're hoping to do more creative projects in the near future, i honestly have to take a break from all of this for a while. I have some financial problems and also have to give more commitment to my family, and hopefully try to balance these things out. Until then, i hope my band members would understand this. Okay. Now that i got that out of my system, I'll move on to the next chapter which is the process, the post-production we went through in making this song a success (lol! But seriously, i consider it a success because for the FIRST TIME the four of us collaborated together, we actually produced a good and catchy song, and received a very good and positive feedback). The four of us got along together pretty well. The moment we started jamming together these past few months, we actually 'clicked' if you know what i mean.

So, yeah. After having many jamming sessions together, we decided to record the song. However, this time, for the FIRST TIME as well, unlike the usual drill which was to only record the drums at BOM Productions and bring it out to IZ Studio Enterprise to do the rest, BOM Productions finally had the proper equipments for full song recording, and offered a good deal. So on the 26th of April 2013, as usual, we started out recording the drums first. But before that we had to record an acoustic guitar track of the song to use as a guide for the drummer. I did that one. Then Epul added some decoy vocals to make it easier for Banchik as well. So then, Banchik did the drums successfully and to be honest, i was quite surprised to see that this, being his FIRST TIME experiencing track-by-track recording, he actually finished it in one take! Only to realize then that my guitar guide had a mistake and didn't match the metronome and tempo for the song. So it's back again to square one, to re-record the guitar guide. This time, without a decoy vocal, Banchik did it part by part. But i have to admit, he plays it with so much confidence and much better than when i was recording the drums for our previous songs. To me, he's a natural born drummer. So then, we were all tired and made an appointment for our next session. We returned to the studio on the 3rd of May 2013 to record the bass played by Mok, then Epul's 1st rhythm guitar and my 2nd rhythm guitar. We all did our parts successfully, barely reaching an hour each.

Then we returned again on the 7th of May 2013 to record my lead guitar and Epul's vocals. It took me nearly 40 minutes to complete the main solo, the decoration solo for the chorus and the theme solo after the first chorus and at the end (which u can't really hear in the song due to some errors in the mixing part. Well, nevermind though. At least the main solo and the deco solo was loud and clear). Then it was time for Epul's vocals. Before we started Epul's part, all 5 of us including Che' En the studio guy, we all participated in a 20 minute short vocal warmup class. Conducted by Che' En's friend/assistant Kak Misya, we learned the breathing technique, the Do-Re-Mi and some other pitching improvement techniques. So after that is done, Epul started to record his part. Amazingly, he did it in one take too! Props to you Mr Epul! However, Che' En needed him to sing again so that he can overlap the vocals in certain parts of the song (particularly the chorus) to make it sound dynamic. Yeah, that's what recording studios do. When they overlap two vocal tracks from the same singer, that when the singer actually sang it again accurately matching the first one, it will create this dynamic, echo-y sound, rather sharp and clear if you will. Epul did great. Suddenly, when Che' En asked us if we have anything else to add to the song, Epul came up with an idea. He suggested that all three of us (me, Banchik and Mok) sing along at the ending part after the last chorus. So we all left the control room, headed into the studio and strapped ourselves with headphones and sang together : "everything you say, everything you do" repeatedly. Quite creative this time. For the FIRST TIME we had a lyric-less but loud banging bridge after the 2nd chorus as the climax for the song, and an ending with the rest of us singing together. Such a fun, interesting experience! So, that wraps it up for the night. We all went home, and returned on the 9th of May 2013 to collect our ready mixed and mastered MASTERPIECE (lol, talk about exaggeration!). Anyway, again, it was a fun and interesting experience we all went through. And I'm very happy we did this. The relationship between the four of us is getting tighter, which is very, very important for our future projects. Regards.