Music Poem II

Music makes me cry
Music makes me laugh
Music makes me smile
Music makes me tingly
Deep inside
When i hear music
Life comes running after me
Music is the only reason
Why i can stand on earth
Music makes cry
Music makes me laugh
Music makes me smile
Music makes me tingly
Deep inside
Music brings me back to life
Music is the only reason i live

by Naani Aslam

Guitar Hero #3: John Petrucci

John Peter Petrucci is an American guitarist and songwriter born on July 12, 1967. He is well known as one the founding members of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He has appeared in G3 tours together with Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Paul Gilbert several times. GuitarOne magazine has ranked him as the 9th Greatest Shredder of All Time.

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, speed is not the only determining factor for a guitarist to be called “great”. Though Petrucci is well know for his speed much like Paul Gilbert, the thing that I like the most with his style is his wide harmonic vocabulary. This gives him the ability to write melodramatic pieces. I like listening to his solo album, Suspended Animation, for these reasons. I’m not really a Dream Theater fan: but I really have to say they are damn good! In terms of the mood of his compositions, I like to compare Petrucci with Paul Gilbert. I think Petrucci mostly has melodrama and anger in his music while Paul Gilbert has humor and joy. But of course, this is subjective. I’m living in a free country right?

Movies about Musicians

Besides listening to music, one if the things that I like to do for stress relief is watching movies. Sometimes I even forgot that I was just watching a movie. It almost felt like I was a spectator who follows the people on the scenes. But after I see the empty pop corns and the scrolling credits, it’s back to reality!

It’s easy for me to be “in” the movie. It involves a lot of imagination and I really have to convince myself that it’s not a movie. Well, this is what a movie experience should be (at least for me). It could be easier to have this euphoric sensation if we are in a movie theater with those “Dolby digital surround sound” and “wide movie screens”. Just yesterday, I watched this movie called “Mr. Hollands Opus”. It’s a very inspiring movie about a music teacher who changed the life of his students without even knowing it. How I wish that I can put the movie theater experience at my own home.

We are lucky enough to be living in the digital age! Home Theater Systems are not the thing of the past. This technology comes in different price ranges. You can check out online stores to look for something that suits your budget. This would probably be one of my priorities when I do find a decent job!

If I have the money today, I’d definitely buy a plasma television and watch my favorite movies all over again. And since I’m a musician, some of these movies involve a lot of music. These includes:

The Pianist - Based on a true story of a Polish pianist during the holocaust.
Amadeus - Based on the life story of Mozart. Some of the scenes are fictitious.
Immortal Beloved - The Life story of Beethoven
Il Castrato - An Italian movie about the life of a male soprano named Farinelli.
The Red Violin - A fictional story about a red violin.

Some of these movies are already released in Blu-Ray. We still have to wait before other titles are released in this format. As of now, we have to rely on its predecessor – DVD. But if you’re like me who only watch movies on my laptop: why would you get the Blu-Ray format? You won’t appreciate the Blu-Ray technology if you don’t have a high resolution screen and a high fidelity audio system!