Big Bannana!

After a long practising session I wanted to have a snack to ease the diet pain and I found a HUGE banana! I thought it looked really strange so I made a video about it ... Let me know if you have ever seen a bannana as big as that one!

Jam Session, 24th of April

After two weeks of a long vacation, we finally came back to start rehearsing once again. Today Tefa, Rasha, Bishoy and I met at Studio 32 and got the wheel back turning again.

We went there on time but there was no one in the Studio so we had to wait for about 20 minutes in the darkness of the staircase until somebody finally came to open the studio. During that time Bishoy expressed his frustration of the day light savings, poor guy feels he is either forced to relive a bad hour or to give up a potentially good one. haha.

The only song that we've practised as a whole was Swamped for Lacuna Coil. It has been a regular part of our setlist for the last couple of gigs and it came out solid. What we focused on was bits and pieces from our original tracks Ma'at, The Apsis of the Seeker and Kemet. The idea was to try to come up with new drums lines and synchronize our playing which has been basically almost all that what we've been doing recently.

As usual I've had great time jamming. It's always good to see my Children from Enraged! Can't wait till next week end (Loads of shit to do then!)

Later on I went with Rasha to Wave Studio and got us two tickets for Wyvern's Album Listening Party this Thursday in Cairo Jazz Club (The 3oth April). As of today there are some tickets still available so make sure you contact Marawan (marawanshaaban@yahoo.com)

Embedded with this post a video from our Jam. So check it out!

Beauty and Talent

I've wanted to write about this for a while, since the frenzy started, but I was either not in the mood of writing or swamped. I am on campus now and I have to wait for around 30 minutes until its time for the bus departure so here it goes.

The frenzy I am referring to is about the Singer Susan Boyle who appeared recently on "Britain has got talent". Susan Boyle has a very good and powerful voice but it seems to me that the frenzy is about her goofy look rather than her actual talent. On MBC4 a couple of nights ago there was a report on CBS about Susan and the interviewee's jaws dropped and seemed to have some difficulties in grasping the notion that ugly women can sing!!!!

a7a ya3ny, what the fuck?! Since when has good vocaling become so strictly associated with having good looks? Who said, to begin with, that most of those good looking singers have talent? I mean imagine that notion applied here, Haifaa Wahby would then be the greatest vocalist in the world.

It's unfortunate how pop culture blurs, what seems to me, a very basic concept. Singers use their vocal chords to sing, erotic dancers shake their asses and models ... well look thin and anorexic. That being said; I'd much rather see people appreciate this singer for her talent and not because they are surprised that someone who looks like Mrs. piggy can sing. Swine!

The video has got more than 1 million views so unfortunately I couldn't embed it. Here is the link to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il5TBgD9kHI

Hookah addiction and singing!

Does smoking affect singing?

I've had this discussion with a couple of my friends. My good friends Maynard and Eslam both believe that smoking doesn't affect singing. In fact, many vocalists do smoke and sing beautifully. For me, however, its a different story. I am an avid hookah smoker and I've tried to quit so many times but so far I couldn't beat the addiction. The problem isn't just addiction (which some argue isn't that drastic compared to cigis) but I've also developed a psychological dependence on it and quite frankly I love its taste and to smoke generally.

The problem is my chest hurts now. My lungs create sputum and I have a horrible shortness of breath. That is neither good for singing nor anything else of course. I've noticed that after 5 weeks of total smoking cessation, my lung capacity has increased drastically and my range expanded. May be some smokers haven't gone through my experience yet and may be they won't.

I recommend trying to stop smoking or not starting at all if you want to improve your vocaling. Damn, why are many good things in life harmful? Oh well ... There you have it!

Home session #2 (11th of April, 09)

Following up on yesterday's jam Omar, Tefa and I gathered at my place to practise. The guys came at noon, Omar was hungry and devoured two medium size Chipsy packs on his own! Tefa was loaded with Enjoy Extra to get us through the day. Poor guy didn't drink the Chocolate Milk because Omar wanted it. I ended up drinking it since Omar seems to have forgotten about it >=) Muah muah muah!

We practised particular riffs from our songs The Apsis of the Seeker and It's War. What we focused on, though, was the drums pattern of Kemet of which we usually played randomly before and as you may probably think, isn't such a good idea because we end up not knowing when exactly to move to the next part. The time signature of the intro is 3/4 so it was confusing a little bit for Tefa and to us as well to figure out the best part to include a drums break in the pattern. Omar actually came up with it while Tefa was ordering McDonald's for lunch! Thumbs up Omar!

We improvised a little on some chords and Omar was fascinated with some Metallica riffs including King Nothing, Enter Sandman and Wherever I May Roam (Aiwa 3ala el assl dawar!!). I played a usual chords pattern that I like to strum and utter some depressing dialogues (Baba! Baba! Heya Mama feen?!) lol ... Omar then came up with a twist and it became more sinister!

All in all it was fun. We had a lot of laughs and made some progress (well little actually). Omar and Tefa also messed around with a coloring book that Rousha got me a couple of days ago, Amameer wallahy ya atfal! Our excess in laughter made me remember when some Egyptians say "Kheir Allahuma Agalu Kheir" when they laugh too much since they believe that something bad might follow up. So the discussion turned into about how Ancient Greek beliefs about the law of compensation got mixed up with our culture. In all faireness though, it doesn't take the law of compensation to make things ugly since Tefa rides on his Vespa everyday! Poor Omar actually went back home on Tefa's Vespa which I am sure was a very thrilling experience for the poor fellow =P !

"Matnazelshy reglak 3ala el ard mahma 7assal, 7atta law et2alabna" said Tefa. La2 very comforting fe3lan, hayawdy reglo feen tayeb? Ma 3aleena. Everyone is fine don't worry!

Ok there you have it the latest update(Of course all of you die hard Enraged fans, a couple of hundred of thousands were eager for this update.). As usual there is some videos attached, so check it out.

Jam Session #2 (10th of April, 09)

I just love Friday! The streets aren't crowded, and there is usually much less noise. It does feel peaceful, I wish everyday would be a friday! Today we had a jamming session in Studio 32 (I love Ganoub, but man! Not having to cut the distance from Mohandseen to Nasr City is just wonderful).

Bishoy and Ashraf got stuck in traffic (Strange for a friday eh? =P), so Rasha, Tefa and I warmed up with Sweet Home Alabama! It's simple but has a great traditional vibe (I wish I could borrow Dr. Phil's accent for one day and sing this song!).





When Bishoy and Ashraf finally came we rehearsed the core of our usual setlist (Nemo, Swamped, Ma'at etc...) and it was okay, more or less. The songs feel empty without Omar, really. I just hate it when someone is missing! >=(






Bishoy discovered today, by the end of the jam, a new rendition of his infamous annoying debana! I've uploaded two videos from the jam on Utube. They're also embedded in this post so check it out! The icing on the cake was having a nice Hookah smoke with Bishoy in a nearby cafe'!




Who said jamming is only fun when there is an upcoming gig? Good times! Good times!

Check out those videos!



Annoying Debana II !!!!

Practising Tip #3 (Dealing with Frustration)

Practising could be a lot of a fun especially when you're trying to learn a challenging riff or an orgasmic lick. It doesn't really matter how difficult the practise material "should" be. If its hard for you, then its challenging even if it is a simple transition from Aminor to Eminor for example.

Regardless of how much fun practising could be, it often comes a great deal of frustration alongside. Yesterday night I felt so frustrated when practising I actually punched the pillow a couple of times to blow my steam off. I am not denying that I need serious psychotherapy but the frustration that may come with practising is real!

So anyway I thought of trying to come up with ways to overcome it which I hope you could also find relevant.

1) Be realistic. Playing an instrument is pretty much like weight lifting. Regardless of how many years you've been in the gym, if your record in bench pressing is 50 kilograms, it's wise not to try to lift a 100 kilograms. In other words, try to understand that playing technically demanding riffs is a result of a long process that won't happen overnight.

2)Unless your surrounding family members or friends are exceptionally tolerant, practise alone. Most people can't appreciate the endless repetition of an iron maiden riff.

3) If you have got the hang of the riff but need to repeat it gazillion times, I recommend doing it in front of TV. The point of doing that is not to feel the time passing by. For me just the mere idea that I need to repeat a riff for an hour fries my brain.

4) Separate life problems and practising difficulties. Mixing between the two will most probably make you end up punching pillows and chewing on your tongue.

5) Even if you've not nailed the riff just right, trying to do so will most certainely develop your picking, hand synchronization and sense of timing. So even if you've not seen a remarkable improvement yet, don't give up. Nothing goes wasted!

Do that and maybe you won't end up like me punching pillows, biting on your tongue and looking like this the following morning.

Home Session # 1 (4th of April, 09)

Today morning Omar, Bishoy and I met at my place to practise together. The idea was to synchronize our playing and take notice of our individual playing style's shortcomings.

So what we did basically is repeat a certain pattern, in the case of today, picking a single note and playing it together and then building on it until we play a more complex pattern.

One of the first things that we had to address is the mental separation between the right hand and the left hand . It is a basic skill but it really becomes more challenging as you increase your speed and the complexity of the pattern you are playing. Its also more challenging when you try to play with a group of people since a fraction of a second of delay would stick out, and well that is not good. The practising session ended with a Mario Kart Double Dash challenge! Woohoo!

Check out those videos from the home session!

Jam # 1 (31st of March, 09)

What would you do if you need to jam and Ganoub remains to be out of service still? Well opt to other studios, of course! Today Bishoy, Rasha, Tefa and I booked two hours in Studio 32 in Mohandseen to try jamming with Ashraf Majid on keyboards (He played as a guest member in Instrumental Therapy's last gig in El Sakkiah).


I was skeptical about the quality of the studio but I was happy to find out that they've actually improved a lot. The cymbals weren't cracked to start with, the service was really good and quick, and in no time we were ready to jam. My only complaint that the big room is expensive to rent (45 pounds/hour) but I guess for people living around the area paying an extra 10 pounds in a nearby studio is worth saving the effort of travelling Nasr City studios!


We tried to play couple of songs that we usually cover such as Nemo for Nightwish and Swamped for Lacuna Coil, and it went well I'd say. The vibe was really positive and I had loads of fun.


Besides jamming once again with Enraged, I was especially excited for trying out the new riffs for the song I've been writing recently. It does sound much better with a drums line! Our dear camera woman, Rasha, has taken a video of part of it. It doesn't end very well in the video but it's fun to watch anyway =P



Also don't miss out Bishoy's annoying "Debana" notes!