Through my eyes at a weakened moment..

A road of frustration i'm taking,

a life of monotony freaking the hell out of me,

alone in a room without anyone to talk to,

is it the sins i've done that's haunting me in this dark room..

Hit a car a today trying to inflict pain to another,

backfiring of an incident made me look at my life through pain,

where's the reason to fight when fighting only kills you in the end,

why should a life be about conflict when it only inflicts pain to your soul..

If you think your life is important then your life isn't,

more you think about it less it will realize,

let go of your pride, idologies and live a life of true emotion and compassion,

make someone happier than they are now and breath their happiness..

Shut your eyes and talk to your mind and ask yourself about your day,

have you done anything worth while making this world a better place,

if you dont strive to be better what is the meaning of your life,

man is born to evolve through their mistakes through their sorrow through their self-rightous idosychrocises..

Music all around my ears filling me with emotion, loneliness, making the dark room darker,

the love for music stranded between lack of money and respect for my neighbours,

how do you overcome grief of not being able to do what you can do the best,

life seems to so much harder when you know that you cant do what you can do best..

A life undefined.. A composition for the lost heart..

A life of lonely roads, 

I see the path infront of me, 

It's never ending, 

Do i know where i'm going,

A life undefined unknown to me..

Wind is light but it sways me,

Taking me with it to the place it dies down to be born new,

A place of birth a renewal of life,

Where life is so complete so serene..

Walking through a field of flowers,

Unending wilderness of the heart,

Roaming this world alone searching for that light,

A light that may never come that may never find you..

You search for that eluding truth,

Life of meaning to define you soul,

It's like that piece of sunshine you hold in you hand,

Never stays until you learn to let go..

Green grass reminds me of home,

But is that my illusion talking,

What makes my life tick, what makes my mind flow,

Tell me what am i to do find my soul..

A small baby cries for her mommy,

Miracle of life beholds me,

Holding me tight melting me,

This world is a crazy place every nook and cranny..

My latest addiction - Exercise Powerball

Been a very bad week for me. First of all my rear springs of my Panda (my car) has broken after few drift attempts. Secondly I'm been sick since Monday and been totally on antibiotics and bedrest. 

No matter how tiring it is I never stop taking up my practice pad and playing a few drum rudiments at least 10 or 15 minutes a day. It just gives a burst of energy which simply worsens my sickness at night :(

Anyway enough about myself. I'm here to tell you about this awesome ball I got from heaven (well actually it was just randomly given to me by a collegue for absolutely no reason). He was just giving a small demo on how it works and I was just intrigued by all of the neon lights and the way it made his hand move. 

So I took my chances on this crazy looking ball. It was almost totally blue. with a transparent rubber strip going through the middle. It had a digital meter at the top giving a few statistics which I had NOOO idea what of! I was told how it was supposed to be "started". Put a string into a little hole at the bottom which seemed like a wheel and turn the wheel around few times so that the string will go around it and pull hard at it so that the wheel will turn.

Man, it was just unbelievable and I was instantly hooked. This ball was making my hand sweat by just that pull I gave on the wheel. More I made my hand move in a rhythmic motion faster the ball spun and harder it become to hold it. I was hooked and if I could think of superlatives I would use them to describe the immenseness of this addiction :)

I've been playing with this ball for the past two weeks non-stop. It's soooooo addictive. It builds muscle and for sure it will make my drum strokes wayyyyy moreee powerful. It's just awesome.. The best creation I've found in a... well everrr...! Well maybe after the creation of drums maybe.. :)

This ball is nothing more than a Toy Gyroscope. It uses the fundamentals of a gyroscope and from thereon the theory just escapes me. My math day's are forgotten and I just can't be bothered figuring out how exactly it works but I know that IT WORKS!!!

It's been said that the Powerball helps drummers to build strength in the wrists and forearms and I tell you this thing really really does!! I really can feel a strength gain by just using it for like 5 minutes a day for 2 or 3 weeks. Specially your fingers become hardened and powerful you end up getting a rock like finger tips.. It's just awesome for guitar players as well as it really exercises your fingers and wrists and if you work hard even your arms and shoulder areas.

Just try it, I don't think it's that expensive. Give it a try and see.. If anyone has already tried they'd know what I'm talking about.. All my pals whom I have surprised with this ball have been hooked instantly. I think it's just a phenominal discovery..

What do you think, Coldplay copied Joe Satriani in their song?

Joe Satriani has filed a lawsuit against Coldplay for copying his song from his 2004 album "Is there love in space?". But this is a tough lawsuit. Musical plagiarism is a tough one to convict on but still I think it might be a good lesson for musicians who'd think of copying another less known musician for a few bucks.

For more on the actual case you can go to:

http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/joe-satriani-speaks-about-coldplay-lawsuit-185914

Joe Satriani's reasoning for the outburst is, in his own words, as per "MusicRadar":

"It was a love letter to my wife, Rubina – a simple, direct expression of feeling.That I spent so long writing the song, thinking about it, loving it, nursing it, and then finally recording it and standing on stages the world over playing it - and then somebody comes along and plays the exact same song and calls it their own."

Well, if you like music you wouldn't care who copied who because they both sound beautiful. Just one of those songs that would just make you get up and go do things....

But being the guitar lover I am yes I side Joe Satriani not just cuz he's one of my guitar heroes 2nd best in the world after Steve Vai in my opinion - melodically the best I've heard but, because he made his song "If I could fly" in 2004; 4 long years before Coldplay did. 2ndly it simply sounds the same if you listen to them. 

Just take a listen and see (viva la vida 1:10 and if I could fly 0:49). But don't skip. Listen to Joe's song from the beginning, trust me you'd love it if you love beautiful melodies.

Still don't believe me? Check this in depth analysis of the underlying chord progression of the two songs by this music teacher on YouTube. 

Whatever said and done I love both the songs but a bit more love goes for the Joe Satriani's :) :).

But the fact of the matter is, there's a crowd that accuses Joe Satriani of copying the "alleged" melody. This is such a far fetch plagiarism accusation compared to the Coldplay case but I do see the similarities though. This is a tough one..

Signing off..

HR

Best Cover I've heard in a while (Men at work - Down under)

I'm normally not a major mainstream music fan and specially the money oriented TV singing contests like American Idol but I randomly find some awesome talents here and there.

One artist of that sort was Chris Daughtry whom I think is one of the best vocalists I've ever seen. His range and presence onstage is just out of this world! Another was Susan Boyle of Britain's Got Talent and it gets me all melted each time I see that video (a video with almost 54 million views). A real inspiration for all of us who think it's all too late now....

Today a few minutes ago I found this. A guy who found music to escape a life of wrong doing and I instantly fell in love with this version of "Down under". Check it out and you'd know what I'm talking about. 

Soilwork - What do you think?

Hey guys a quick post. I don't want to get caught to my boss while typing this so I'll keep it really short!

Enjoy.. This is one of my favourite bands.. I love this song...

Favourite drummers of all time

Been a long week for me even though the week just started. World's been a bit cruel to innocent me. But the music cheers me up. I just started listening to Tool's 2001 album - Lateralus. As awesome album with unbelievable drumming.

Songs like Schism, The grudge, The Lateralis just stick in your head just because of the drum track. Any drummer should be a fan of Danny Carey; a genious in the drumming world. World renowned for his unique style of playing; very much based on off-beat feel. In this album he makes use of his newly improved double-bass techniques (as of 2001) to his greatest advantage.

That reminds me; who are YOUR favourite drummers of all time?

Here's my list:
1. Vinnie Colaiuta (independant, though he played for mega deth in the system has failed album)
2. Daniel Erlandsson (arch enemy)
3. Richard Christy (Death, Iced Earth)
4. Dirk Verbeuren (soilwork)
5. Danny Carey (Tool)
6. Carter Beauford (DMB)
7. Dave Lambardo (Slayer, Testament)
8. Per Möller Jensen (the haunted)
9. Jojo Mayer (awesome, I've his DVD and I've improved so much in the past few months thanks to this guy)
10. Tommy Igoe (another DVD guru of mine and he's awesome)

As you might have noticed my inspiration is of a large pool of music genres and I think that's key for a drummer to be an unique as possible. If a drummer sticks to a single genre all his lifetime he's as bland as the next cup of badly brewed coffee..

The 6/8 beat. What makes this beat such an irresistible beat for us?

I don't know what makes us go crazy when we hear the simple 6/8 beat in songs. What makes this beat such a hit? Has anyone got any clue as to what aspects of this beat is so catchy?

Any psychological explanations? In Sri Lanka you go anywhere you'd notice people moving their head to the groove each time a baila song is being played.

I want to know why???

Compilation: Best of Andy Mckee

The best of Andy Mckee in my opinion. 

Listen to each of them carefully if you dare.. It's just beautiful.. These songs take you to far away places where no war, politics or fear exist..

Hachi signing off.