Man Kidal of Lefthanded
Best rock guitarist...
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15 comments:
YES!! Man Kidal - Malaysia's undisputed guitar demi-god!
The question that always troubled me is - why are our international-quality local acts not going international?
why do those who have the ability and ambition to go international have to go overseas and prove themselves? Why can't our talent stay in Malaysia and sell to the world from here?
Good question? Let me try to answer that. There is no question that our local musicians are very talented, and some of them have abilities to match any international act or individual musician. The problem is not the talent ; just because you can play guitar like Jimi Hendrix, even when you play it exceptionally well 'lefthanded' or right for that matter, it is still a guitarist playing guitar like Jimi Hendrix, or a band that plays and sings like Queen, etc. I digress for a moment and ask ourselves to take a look, at lets say from such diverse cultural differences although from one continent, namely Africa, Youssou N'dour, Salif Kaita, King Sunny Ade, Cesaria Evora, Cheikh Lo, Cheb Khaled, from Europe where electronic music was first brought to prominence in the 70's via Kraftwerk, Neu, Tangerine Dream and Can (although more rock based), and from the Caribbean which spawned not just numerous reggae stars and bands, but a whole genre of it's own starting from Ska to it's later watered down versions of 'white' reggae ala The Police, and the Japs starting with in the 70's Stomu Yamashita and later the seminal Yellow Magic Orchestra spawning the genius of Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Like i said the problem is not talent or the talent pool, the problem is ideas, cultural milieu and production. These 3 reasons are all of course interconnected.....i will write more of this to you later...
i prefer Arwah SAMAD...he is the man behind lefthanded.
Yes, Arwah Samad was a great guitarist and composer too. Lefthanded Better than Search and Wings?
Sorry, Man Keedal is just another clone of Yngwie Malmsteen... there are already hundreds (if not thousands) of Malmsteen wannabes around the world. This guy even dresses like Malmsteen.... and that is sad!!
Check out Ritz from Metalasia... he's technically awesome.
Samat and Man Kidal are good. But personally I think Hillary Ang is better.
Try viewing www.samtriggy.com or YouTube search for "guitar malaysia" or "samtriggy".
CHeck out this humble low-profile guy. He is lefthanded, righthanded, and can play 3 guitars at one go! He plays the OUD (gambus) too.
You name the music genre..he got it all. ROck, asli, jazz...!!
Kidal is a cool guy. I think he is great.. but I greatest?... hmn... I still think it is Hillary Ang
Man Kidal's playing technique can be broken down into two types (and perhaps a sub type or two) and a electric guitar-specific timbral technique.
For the former there are:
(1) strings of single notes (i.e., melodies)
(2) very fast runs of multiple notes -- when you see his hand moving up and down the fingerboard
For (1), he plays in a connected (legato) style with plenty of vibrato (making a single note vibrate) and grace notes (where a note is preceded by a brief neighboring tone). Both of these techniques are acquired through years of experience w/ the instrument. A novice has a difficult time playing vibrato, and usually plays grace notes in a clunky (non-fluid) manner. One can find this type of technique among better string players in all genres from Yo Yo Ma to Hamzah Dolmat to Grant Green. In this non-accompanied piece, it is hard to judge issues of timing, that is, how he would execute in an ensemble where there was a collective upholding of a main rhythm. (Drummers and bass players are not the only ones responsible for a group's 'beat').
His fast runs (2) are partly virtuosic, but in a different way. They are more acrobatic, relying upon the synchronization of both hands in a fast and even manner. The picking hand moves up and down (or I prefer small circular counter-clockwise movements) just as the fretting hand plays an extremely well rehearsed pattern (his 'habitus' as Bordieu might have put it) of finger sequences, attained through practice of scale patterns at ever increasing tempi. If one observes closely, it is clear that he executes these w/ less than perfection as 'shredders' often do. But perfection is not the point; this is a texture that he interpolates both to break up that of (1) as well as to show off his 'chops,' and establish his musical creed.
Finally, electronics plays a large part in how he executes his technique. Imagine that he did this on an acoustic guitar w/ nylon strings. There would be a different response from the strings. I remember (from when we worked side by side in the early 1990s) that he used very thin gauge strings. This gives him added speed and agility. I am sure that if he practiced on the nylon string guitar, he could produce a reasonably close performance, but not quite 'all that.' Another factor is volume and feed back. I personally find it more impressive (sorry Man) when I see this style (or any aspect of this style) performed acoustically because it requires more from the performer both in terms of precision and finger strength. The echo of the reverberation effect and the feedback of the audio compression and amplification do much to hide small errors. This is fine, and again, it is part of the genre.
One last aspect that I find interesting is the way that a left-handed, upside-down (for me) guitar affects playing style. No matter what, there are bound to be different approaches to playing that are exclusive to that type of guitar. (I would have to ruminate on that for a while to have any comment.)
All in all, this video shows that the guy can play, albeit in a predictable harmonic and melodic style that relies entirely on 'stock' technique that is most likely copied verbatim from one or multiple sources during the course of his musical upbringing.
But don't we all.
hanya dua duit hamba (.02)
LR
Anon 1:10
"ideas, cultural milieu and production"
Looking forward to your thoughts.
But as far as I know, there are more than 10 Taiwan-based, Malaysian mega popstars. They could not get the time of day here, so they dropped everything and flew to Taiwan for a shot at the big-time. It started almost 20 years ago with Eric Moo as one of the pioneering stars from Malaysia.
Of late, we have Malaysian, Taiwan-based megastars such as Michael Wong & Victor Wong (both singer-songwriter-producers), Fish Leong (ballad queen), Cao Ge, etc. They have a huge following in the Chinese-speaking speaking world, commanding premium prices for appearances and sold-out concerts everywhere they go.
Datuk Siti Nurhaliza is easily one of the best singers in the region. Jaclyn Victor could give the divas on American Idol a serious run for their money. And Liang has a very soulful voice that beats Justin Timberlake hands down. Misha Omar is a power diva almost in the league of Whitney and Celine.
As for local styles, I believe we have an abundance of that. Acts with a very unique sound would be OAG, Sheila Majid, Zainal Abidin, and lately, Yuna (whose thoughtful acoustic folk-pop is a brilliant breath of fresh air).
Even our aging rockers Search and Wings have only grown better and better with age!
As for composers/producers/musicians, we haver the likes of Aubrey Suwito, Mac Chew and Helen...can't remember her surname.
What we have to offer in Malaysia is so much better than the bland American hip-hop / pop nonsense we are contantly tormented with on the radio!
What I'm wondering is, what is it about our Malaysian culture that can't recognise and nurture talent? Why do Malaysians have to go overseas to get that? It is a huge loss to our country. And it's not just about our singers too. Too many from our huge talent pool can only find their niche overseas.
Imagine the millions in revenue generated by our overseas-based international artistes being generated within our country. Imagine the inspiration they could give to other aspiring artistes. Imagine the spillover economic effects.
What a sad state of things...
Dear Eyes,
I think part of the answer to why "Malaysian culture" (what exactly is that, by the way?) "can't recognize and nurture
talent" is that this has been the domain of media companies, not the public.
Local so-called talent is nurtured mainly for making money. Your mention of Chinese and Malay performers (I personally
think the expression 'artiste' should be reserved for those who walk around wearing a beret and carrying a painting
palate, but I digress) illustrates a type of marketing strategy, not an untapped or unappreciated resource.
American popular music is successful because it is (a) often ground breaking and trend setting, and (b) well produced.
Malaysian popular music tends to be in the follower, rather than leader mode, in both cases.
It is not a recent phenomenon -- this pak turut syndrome -- but one that has begotten commercial media since the
bangsawan era, if not earlier.
P. Ramlee, as talented as he was, did not build a career on originality. He copied foreign styles (or copies of
copies), many of which were the 'bland..pop nonsense' of the era.
Nothing wrong with that, but to glorify those, ahem, artistes that you mention, while criticizing American ones is a
giant contradiction.
If you want to make a critique of 'culture' as a call for change, then look first at the control over the economy. The
cultural production is just a symptom. I am quite certain that if the calls were loud enough, 'they' would give you
whatever crap you ask for.
Be careful what you wish for.
LR
LR
"to glorify those, ahem, artistes that you mention, while criticizing American ones is a giant contradiction."
I'm merely saying that if American crap can be earning millions of dollars worldwide, why shouldn't our superior-quality acts be marketed well enough to earn equally well? And those that ARE earning their millions, why do they have to be based overseas. Why can't they be based in Malaysia?
American music is groundbreaking and well produced? Well, i believe the producers I mentioned can match the Americans. But I hardly think that their music is groundbreaking. I find it hard top differentiate between the various singers on radio nowadays.
Most new American acts don't need a distinctive sound nowadays to succeed, they just need a manufactured "look". Which is why many of the true talents in American music remain under-appreciated while crap acts succeed, like Akon (high-pitched frog voice) and Sean Kingston (out-of-tune who sings like he's got stones in his mouth).
As for Malaysian originalilty...I'm not taking the high dround here to wish that we produce a defining style that takes the world by storm like reggae (although the pop-etnik type might have a shot with the right exposure - just like Bollywood's Hindi-pop).
Malaysians don't have to be absolutely original to succeed, we just need talent - and we got plenty of those! Forget originality, just aim for equality!
Why don't Malaysians have the confidence to conquer the world (or at least stand shoulder-to-shoulder) when based in Malaysia? I think the answer is that the mindset of "Malaysians are inferior to the Mat Salleh" is so prevalent that we don't even bother to fight for our place in the sun!
Those who refuse to accept their country's judgement on the commercial worth of their talents have to go overseas to be appreciated, nurtured and marketed properly. As in the case of the Taiwan-based Malaysian Chinese singers I mentioned.
In fact, I only know of one international talent who is based in Malaysia. I forgot his name but his a Chinese songwriter with several Chinese-language hits under his belt.
LR, your comments seem to reflect this peculiar Malaysian "inferiority complex" too. Your "pak turut" comment seems to be saying that since we cannot claim to be superior to others in some outstanding original way, we do not deserve to be successful.
Again, my point is merely - American CRAP acts are already internationally successful! Why can't our class acts be?
Dear Eyes,
Let me first say that I understand and appreciate your points. I concur that commercial music is "manufactured" and that the flotsam of mediocrity obscures true talents," though 'talent' is, at the very least, a subjective way to look at this issue.
I don't agree that Malaysians have an inferior mindset because I don't believe in a common Malaysian mindset, any more than a common American one. The fundamental issues are economic. While Malaysian performers may be equally able to compete in foreign markets, Malaysian media companies are at a disadvantage (see, for another example, the Malaysian auto industry).
Hollywood and Bollywood are as much real places as they are imaginary ones. Performers go abroad because that is where the markets are centred.
If you were a skinny kid pulling curtains in bangsawan theater, but had a good singing voice, you had to go to Singapore to become a P. Ramlee. If you were a (different) skinny kid playing folk guitar in the Midwestern US, you had to go to New York to become Bob Dylan.
And so on... Those who stay in Malaysia remain provincial in this paradigm.
Celebrating Malaysian music, and wishing for the whole world to be able to as well, does not make it a practical goal in the commercial manner that you propose. But current changes can inform future media strategies.
Local performers now penetrate world markets in one of two ways: through the established system of large media companies, or through 'democratizing' internet media such as YouTube, etc. Still, these are not mutually exclusive; there are symbiotic relationships between the two, and in a global capitalist economy, I am not too sanguine about prospects of a truly level playing field.
But that is not my point really. I ask you to consider the 'function' of music in local and global communities?
And compare that with the function of music in past rural and urban environments.
Is it strange that older forms like wayang kulit, menora, makyong, jikey, and others are now anachronisms?
Those forms were appreciated for more than their slick production values or talented singers (though, no doubt these were also important in their own way).
Music (and folk theatre, etc) created communities of performers and audiences and united the two in larger ways that were entertaining, but just as importantly, they were didactic. There are lessons to be gleaned from past examples.
What meanings are reflected in contemporary popular music?
The answers to this question, and the way that we answer, are constantly changing. For one, the overriding value placed on material profit (unfortunately) shows a good deal about our societies.
Is this the reason you want Malaysian performers to succeed in a global market?
Please forgive anything I have written here if found offensive or inarticulate.
LR
LR
I appreciate your points. I neither find you offensive or inarticulate. oerhaps we are approaching the question from different perspectives.
Of course, our traditional arts have a place and should not be forgotten. But neither do they have mass commercial appeal.
Modern music is a business. In many cases, the business has over-ridden the music. And that's why we see good looking performers spewing rubbish and record companies foisting their wares onto the gullible masses.
To me, there must be a happy balance between the two. If a person has genuine talent that is marketable, it should be marketed!
It's impossible that Malaysia does not have the infrastructure to promote our artists. We are represented by all the major music labels in the world. All it takes is someone with the conviction to sell the act to his bosses.
While you correctly point out that certain countries are artistic centres, they did not become that way overnight. Again, using the Taiwan example - they did not become a pop powerhouse until about 15-20 years ago. The industry was built from the ground up.
That's something that I see is just not happening here in Malaysia.
Eyes,
My point about traditional arts was not intended to be a call for their preservation or otherwise. I was just pointing out that popular forms in the past had particular social functions just as those of today do, albeit different because of the modern contexts.
You can build as much infrastructure as you like. You can even build a whole city devoted to music production and call it Iramajaya or something stupid like that. It doesn't mean that the market will follow.
Do not assume that local performers are not being promoted to major labels for international markets. They are. So why hasn't the world taken notice?
Perhaps because they really aren't as talented as you suggest.
All the local artists you mentioned -- I won’t name names again -- are mediocre at best. Seriously.
I could go into detail why I feel this way, devote page after page to analysis of their musicality from every aspect (it is one of my professional occupations), but why should I bother when the market has spoken by not buying in?
You are probably itching to say that American artists are equally mediocre. I agree to a large extent, but what are you competing for then?
Again, looking at American pop, since it does have such a major presence around the world, it is not the mediocre that are the most interesting, but the trends that precede them.
A brief historical survey of popular music in America will show you that at the root of each musical period or genre, there was some really cool stuff going on:
There were early ragtime, stride piano, and Dixieland before the bland foxtrot orchestras (cf Paul Whiteman).
There were Fletcher Henderson, Basie, and Ellington before Glen Miller.
...Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis begat (to some extent) Anka and Sedaka.
There was Hendrix before 70s rock/metal bands, and Bambaataa and Flash before 80s hip hop fragmented into worse and ‘worser’.
...and so on...
My question is: where are the Malaysian pioneers? Can you name any?
Consider why dangdut has such international appeal, or Hindi film for that matter.
I think the answer may be that Malaysians really don't care about music. Sure, they like to listen to it (even those who don’t or can’t admit it), but it has quite negative social connotations for a number of reasons. Music is not viewed as 'important' here. Elementary music education here is a joke (and not a very funny one).
That's all for now. Thank you for this discussion.
LR
……………………………………….
Just to comment on something you mentioned regarding Taiwan's recent emergence as a "pop powerhouse." Prior to Taiwan, there was Shanghai -- the (pre-war) pop powerhouse of its day. So a tradition certainly existed in the region that reached markets all over East and Southeast Asia, the shift to Taiwan was merely a shift to another entrepot in that respect.
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