Music in Singapore?? Are you sure?

[kevinlimse]

I have got a few questions to ask all of you.

1. The site slogan says, 'It's music in Singapore' From what I have been seeing so far, the only feeling I get is 'It's band's music in Singapore'. What has happen to other forms of music?

2. Where is their space? So what 'It's music in Singapore'? I am sure people in Singapore plays the piano, violin, blah blah blah...

3. Rock and othere genres are so prominent here, actually that is an under- statment. It is all over the place, only guitars, keyboard, vocalist, blsh blah blah. Where is acapella groups? To begin with?

I am sorry to sound so harsh. But sometimes do look at what kind of a slogan you have given yourself. If I were too be an foreigner looking at this, I wouldfind Singaporeans very myopic and narrow minded.

 

[MichaelAngelo]

it just happens that its more "mainstream" for many of us to turn to rock/metal, and coming here isnt an offence right? What i mean is that many of us turned to rock/metal and then formed bands, then came to know of this website, so we come here. No, its not a conspiracy of a major group of people to turn this into a rock/metal site, it just so happened that many musicians that came here are into those limited genres. :? please dont get upset about it.

 

[Vaiyen]

kelvinlimse: yours is a moot point. Anyone who plays any kind of music or instrument, even the skin flute, is free to come here. The demographic on SOFT reflects the trends in S'pore's music culture.
A better question to ask would be: why is S'pore society like that? Instead of using SOFT as a scapegoat.

So, what do you play kelvinlimse?

 

[MichaelAngelo]

yea, because by phrasing your questions like that, it makes it seem like we are in the wrong for merely being into our favourite genres and coming to soft.

 

[mulyadi]

I feel that music need not be 'closed' off to just playing instrument, but also enjoying it as a whole. While kevinlimse has a point there, that we're pretty much centered around 'band' music, and not so much around classical music, or even other genres..eg. techno? fusion? That's because the demand here is pretty much around the guitar, and eventually the band scene.

The site slogan says, 'It's music in Singapore' From what I have been seeing so far, the only feeling I get is 'It's band's music in Singapore'. What has happen to other forms of music?

If you search the threads carefully, you will find that there are people who's started threads on classical music, electronic music recording and stuff. They're not as 'alive' as the other threads, the guitar/drum/bass/effects/bands threads, as they don't have the same demand/following as these few topics. However, I'm sure that SOFTies will not mind if there are developments in these areas of music, and if there are a following who wants to discuss this topic.

2. Where is their space? So what 'It's music in Singapore'? I am sure people in Singapore plays the piano, violin, blah blah blah...

As a SOFTie, i think i can claim this, that they are allowed to start a thread under the other topics, and i'm sure that James will create a special section for them if the demand is great too? Right? It's just that, the people who are passionate about this, is not 'too into' posting on SOFT, but of course, they are welcome to do so. And to reinforce your point again, yeah..are violinist/pianist the only musicians around in singapore? of course not. =)

3. Rock and othere genres are so prominent here, actually that is an under- statment. It is all over the place, only guitars, keyboard, vocalist, blsh blah blah. Where is acapella groups? To begin with?

Well, same point, all genres are welcome in here, and yeah...while it's true that guitars, and some other forms of music take the centrestage here, it's rather due to the demand, not due to it being discriminatedly promoted in this website.

If I were too be an foreigner looking at this, I wouldfind Singaporeans very myopic and narrow minded.

I'm a foreigner, and before getting to know people on SOFT, my impression of Singapore Music were Stephanie Sun, that kinda style of music. If you get my drift.

And to say that 'singaporeans very myopic and narrow minded', i think that there's an irony in that. But i shall not say it out. I believe that in whatever society, there are different types of people, people who are open-minded, people who are myopic and stuff like that, and that it's NOT good to stereotype. I'm indonesian, and you may say that indons are bla bla bla, but that's what i may NOT be. And ... yeah...

Well, maybe it's just that you mind the 'tagline' of SOFT, but it's something that we're proud of, and yeah, though it may seem to be an unpleasant one, we're all one big family here, and yeah, we learn from each other a lot. Lessons not only musically, but also in the school of hard knocks, life.

So, whatever disagreements about 'music' and all, let's put that aside. Welcome to the forum, and we hope to see you around more often! Maybe if you're interested in other forms of music, you can ask around here, who knows, there may be people who are also interested in the same genre as you are, and you can even gather more people to talk about it here. Yupz, we'll welcome you with open arms. =)

Happy SOFT-ing!

MuL

 

[turbochicken]

heyheyhey,

there ARE a cappella stuff on soft!

though i can't from a group with just myself...

 

[Frummer]

hey im a flautist?

counted or not?

there are concert band ppl here....jazz musicians...quite a variety...no doubt it could expand...but it require us ( the people ) to make it work.

making this forum to wad it is is an accomplishment we all ...especially james have reached...no doubt

any further expansion will of course be lovely

cheers!
intro?

 

[kevinlimse]

Ooh.... I am facing mixed replies....

Interesting... But I feel there needs to be a change to the slogan... This is definitely music in Singapore, just not bands only...

Oh well...

Forming group for acapella? Count me in... I am actually singing too...

What instruments I play ar... hmm

Anything Keyboard, is playable by me. I specialise in the classical realm.

Strings, violin and guitar.

World music, cimbai

Chinese music, currently trying to appreciate.

Voice, baritone- acapella and choir

Oh ya, don sound so serious la...

But are you sure this site reflects the music trend and culture in Singapore? I think that is over- rated...

 

[ixora05]

Okay, in the first place we need to think: is this site MEANT to reflect the musical culture here in Singapore? The tagline might be "it's music in singapore"--it's not, "ALL music" in Singapore, right? Do think about it. Classical music doesn't feature prominently here because classical musicians generally have other sources to go to, and classical music tends to focus more on the solo whereas you notice in an online community music that's played in a group might tend to take centrestage. I personally think the slogan is fine. changes can be made to the forums themselves, calling for a simple change in slogan doesn't improve much, to me.

 

[mulyadi]

But are you sure this site reflects the music trend and culture in Singapore? I think that is over- rated...

well, what's the music trend and culture in Singapore exactly like? Is it more to the pop scene? the idol scene? the classical scene? the jazz scene?

i think it's a little hard to pin down a society's trend and culture. Let's take a look at the States, you can hardly say that the whole of america is crazy over metal coz they have a huge following, or that the boyband scene is bustling there coz they have like millions who turn out to see them. Yupz...it's a much smaller scale in Singapore, and well, as i've mentioned earlier, there's just not much demand around SOFT for other forms of music to flourish. It's not reflective at all of the music culture, coz in the first place, right now, people who are more 'into' the band and rock music scene are active in this forum.

And yeah, it's MUSIC in Singapore. IT IS. =)

and for changes in the forum, i feel that the current setting is fine, well, there are always room for improvement, but if you're talking like having a specific 'forum' for all the styles of music, there has to be a demand for it, coz bandwith is not cheap, and with the current setting, other forms of music has to be 'pushed' to the 'general discussion', coz there's just not as much demand for it as the guitar/other forms of music, eg. sound engineering, etc.

but again, all these can change, if people show enough interest for these forms of music to be chatting about it in a forum, and have a big enough 'loyal' follower who will post. Yupz....

 

[soft]

kevinlimse, thank you very much for the feedback. honestly, your question has been on my mind for a very long time. personally, i would like to see music makers from different genre and background come togather and share their experiences here on SOFT.

we need people to make this happen though. how can we reach out to these other genre?

 

[blahblah]

I have got a few questions to ask all of you..

did soft.com ever state that pianists/violinists/cellists cannot come here? no. they are all free to come and it all boils down to whether they themselves want to come so why don't you post this question to those people instead? you are more than welcome to set up your own forum of your choice of musical genre here but don't force others to accept your own opinions because then you'll be the narrow minded one, not them. :wink:

 

[DoubleBlade]

Well James what you need to do is to have a strong foundation in the forums. What I mean by that? You need to encourage SOFTies both old and new to actively participate in forum threads relating to other types of music , for example classical , techno , jazz. You can be a rock musician but that does not mean that you are only entitled to talking about rock music. I think it would be wise if rock musicians could interact with the jazz/classical musicians. At least there's some form of interaction between the 2 different types of musicians and both parties can learn a thing or 2 from each other....

What I've noticed in SOFT is that it is lacking in classical and jazz musicians. To actually coax a handful of these musicians into joining SOFT is already a major challenge. You introduce SOFT to them , they sign up , talk about the kinda music they specialise in , post up their music on OM section and get limited replies as a result. Then they start to wonder why is it rock musicians get more attention as compared to them? :roll:

 

[blahblah]

i'm sure classical musicians have their own forums and such maybe not in this location though, if you observe there seems to be quite a sizable following for classical and jazz music especially amongst adults for the latter and they may choose to stick to their own forums which probably appeal more to them? hey its free game but again it all boils down to personal choice..why don't those who want such discussions set-up their own board and promote it to their brethen?

 

[Lombardo]

Actuallly there`s a acapella festival in singapore every year.
My personal fav is one called akatones.

Jazz/blues/classical acapella sort of music is actually quite prominent, and active here. Perhaps if you are looking at soft forum, yes there are perhaps lesser musicians here discussing on that.

But in sg context, it is quite prominent, iam sure there are many other forums on acapella/classical sort of music.

But of course it`ll be gd if more awareness and chat is made availiable in soft forum ...right james :wink:

 

[mikemann]

I got no problem with the slogan. It's just a very minor issue, to even pay attention to that, shows that we got nothing better to do than to just randomly create a topic to argue about.

Lets do a comparison. I create slogan "Cola - quench your thirst".

Innocent and honest right??

If someone comes up and say: "Not completely true, cola has a lot of sugar and other substance in it, you get thirsty again very soon, so I don't agree that it quench your thirst."

Why not do things on a more positive note, like James say. How to get people in the rest of the general music community to be more proactive. I believe the others are around, just not as active.

Give suggestions.

 

[getz]

yo lombie nice to see ya in this forum..thought u r only active in mindseye forum :roll:

 

[fgl]

getz...mindesye forum is dead man..

 

[Lombardo]

hahahaha i miss the term lombie ;p


btw getz u are...???

nah i ll rather not partake anymore...too much anger/un-neccesary flaming and childish remarks kekeke.


And ive always been a supporter of soft forum.....*glance at james*

 

[DoubleBlade]

Actually I too have nothing against the slogan but I agree upon the fact that discussions on band music dominates the forums. I have nothing against such form of domination mainly because there is just not enough jazz/classical/composers to obtain that "balance" in the forum.

It's just that there is just not enough classical , jazz , composers who participate actively in the forums. I'm very sure that there are lots more other kinds of musicians who sign up on SOFT but play other kinds of instruments for instance the violin , flute , cello etc AS THEIR PRIMARY INSTRUMENT but upon seeing the amount of discussions relating to the guitar,bass,drums,keyboard , they see it as no point discussing about their craft since majority of the active SOFTies plays either the drums , keyboard , guitar or bass. I've not come across an active SOFTie who plays the violin , cello , french horn AS THEIR PRIMARY INSTRUMENT...

I hope maybe James can liasion with certain organisations in organising outings for SOFTies in jazz/classical/instrumental music so as to get our SOFTies to appreciate other forms of music and this is a music forum after all....

Cheers