Weekend Warrior Powers Up

I am not a professional musician. I don't have a performers license nor do I belong to a union. Playing music for Likha is more craft than trade since I don't expect any significant income from our gigs. But it's still a hobby to which I've welcomingly devoted many years.

I still remember the first time I heard live music for the dances. It was in the early 90's, when a few musicians from Southern Califas came up to play music for UCB's PCN. I remember being utterly blown away by the wafting melodies, counter melodies, and palaboks of the rondalla! And the percussion! The percussion playing put me in a trance which left an eternal mark in my soul.

From there on, I was the proverbial sponge, soaking up every little drop of music that came my way. CD's were still new back then, so I had copies and copies of cassettes filled with music from Bayanihan, PCN's, and other groups. I wore headphones to sleep, putting my WALKMAN on auto-reverse, hoping that the music would seep into my ears and somehow would find their way into my hands! And I carried drumsticks all over the place. I remember meeting people on campus, and having them say, "Oh yeah, your're the guy with the drumsticks."

THEN to join companies with actual instruments!!! Bliss be told! Asik was the first piece that I taught myself to play. I would play and rewind, play and rewind, again and again. Not only was I listening for the melody, but I would tweak the EQ to hear the gong and drum lines.

THEN it was hooking up with Angelo, someone who's shared my passion for even longer than me! He even has a bigger collection of music than I do. It was with Likha and Kuya Rudi that I started to grasp the theory of dynamics as it pertains to LIBOG!

THEN the Pasacat peeps came on board and now we were a gaggle of musicians! Bryan put us all on a new path, introducing the rondalla.

Our music ensemble has grown and developed! I'm really proud of the way we gel and read each others cues. I'm also really proud of how we now try to switch instruments.

Lately, I've been wondering where do we go from here? To name a few things, we are experimenting with programs like Finale to score not only string pieces, but percussion as well. We are also starting to branch out and put more emphasis on the music alone. Last Fall we had our very first Rondalla concert. We have started participating in collaborative that expose us to different experiences. Recently we had great melding with KP for their PAGSILANG show. Next Spring, we are supposed to hook up with this group.

During the KP show, we once again had the opportunity to work under the technical direction of Kuya Jun. He is a professional. Technical direction is not only his craft, but it's his trade as well. He knows how to work with different theaters, different crews, and different machineries. He knows the trade jargon and uses it. As a professional, he is also highly critical. Kuya Jun REALLY challenged us during this show. He forced us to rethink how our music fits with the dances and also the presentation as a whole. He had us on stage for practically two days straight! At times, it was frustrating on top of tiring. But we rose to the challenge, and became better musicians because of it. In fact, that challenge was one of my most memorable experiences of the whole trip. Kuya Jun gave us a glimpse of what professionals do. As a weekend warrior, I'm glad we held our own.

We aren't professional musicians, but our paths seem to head that way.