Monday, April 22, 2013

Updated 4-22-2013 circles: 2013-4-22 Music album


How Steven's HiFi quality music come about?
He new songs are all composed recently just for the album, starting end of last year.

Opening intro: After a 10-year absence Steven returns this year to the music world to plug his new song, An Understanding.  A lapse of 10 years, Steven still persists with his love of music, in June he will release a new music album of hi fi quality.  Among the songs Steven composed and wrote five of them, so just how passionate Steven is for music, we all understand.  What make Lok Lok (hostess) curious is why made Steven decide to invest in a hi fi quality (fa siu dip)?  Let's invite Steven who put in his all into this album after a 10-year absence.

S: At first did not think to make a hi fi album, just a normal album of new songs.  But my album supervisor, Acky (?), he himself is into hi fi album, moreover, his recording studio is also adequately equipped to make one, and he himself also designs superior music.  He has experience and credential to enable me to produce an album of this superior (hi fi) standard. When the idea was proposed to the investors, they were willing to budget for it.  So that how the totally new hi fi album came about.

H: Understand that 5 of the songs in the album are composed by you. 

S: Yes, quite tough.

H: So, are some of them already composed prior to this or are they all newly composed just for this album?

S: They are all newly composed for this album.  The preparation started end of last year.

H: Wow! That's quick

S: Can be considered quick.  The album supervisor puts in most of his time producing this album, and me too. Everyday, we start at 6 pm to begin the recording.  In actuality, can't start the recording at 6 pm right away.  He has to (bo?) mike, choose the mike, and pick the mike for what I use.  It is not until around 8 pm that we can go into the studio to do the recording.  The pre-recording run-thru is like attending a class.

H: Because of high standard?

S: That, and also because I knew nothing about hi fi recording, so he had to explain details to me, not unlike attending a class.  So the actual recording usually starts around 9 pm and lasted into the night around 3-4 am everyday.  This way we can fully utilize our time.

H: After the album is out, can also publish a book on how to produce a hi-fi superior quality music album.

S: That is up to the supervisor.  For me, I can only take care of composing and writing the songs, and my own singing.  I'm grateful that the supervisor is satisfied with my vocal.  That the mike used can fully display my full vocal.  He said that all my singing broke two of his mikes.  If the song is more emotional I might have to sing a bit more aggressively, so he had to adjust the mike to accommodate the loudness.  And have to use different for different style of singing.  The process was very enjoyable.

H: The plugged song is 心照 (An Understanding) , and it is also composed and written by you? And you have a pseudonym as Yi Ngau. (2 Buffaloes). Why?

S. My friends also asked me the same question - Who is this 2 Buffaloes? I said you know him well. Who? Me?  Actually I first took on this name when I shot A Journey Called Life - just to be more low-key because it had been a long time since I wrote lyrics.  

H: Any meaning to it?

S: There is meaning to it. In mainland 'two' ( 二; er) means slightly 'dim' as in dimwitted, not as a derogative but more of an offhanded remark , and ngau (牛, niu) means 'great', 'terrific', 'amazing' etc.  Together 2 buffaloes -- amazing idiot.

H: Thank you, Steven Ma.  Best wishes.

No comments:

Post a Comment