As a composer and arranger in the Philippines for over 12 years now, I can confidently say that I have mastered the basic process of composing music. They say that with the advent of the digital age, anyone can now compose music because of readily available home recording tools. While I definitely agree with this statement, yes, anyone can make music, BUT not everyone can make it brilliant and long lasting. Using loops over and over again gets old fast and won’t advance your technique and skill. Not to mention talent, not everyone has this as well.

Diwa’s Home Studio

With that said, I will now discuss three basic steps in creating your own piece of music. Read more.

So you’re buying a violin, but you have no idea how to choose the right one. Let me help you with that. Aside from being a composer and arranger, I’m also a violinist, in fact I hold lessons to select students here in the Philippines.

Now before you jump the gun and buy that shiny red violin, think again. There are a handful of factors which you must carefully consider before purchasing a violin, and physical appearance alone doesn’t quite cut it. I’ve enumerated them for you. I asked my colleague, violinist and blogger Liza to give some of her opinions as well. See the list after the jump! Read more.

I’ve been getting lots of inquiries from friends both pro musicians and enthusiasts on what sites are good sources for sheet music. My colleague, musician Earl Drilon suggested that I make a blog post about this since it can benefit a lot of readers.

I’ve long ignored this topic. As a composer and arranger, I rarely need sheet music of existing songs and pieces since I mostly create my own music. Sheet music is mostly needed by session instrumentalists who usually play music-on-demand, such as members of cover bands who constantly need to update themselves of the latest hit songs.

And so, I did some rounds in Google and here are some of the notable FREE sheet music sites I’ve seen. Read more.

We continue the discussion of Digital Audio Workstations (DAW). Last time I discussed some DAWs that I recommended for the PC. This time around, we’ll talk about the Mac. Most industry professional composers and arrangers prefer a Mac over a PC, it’s not different here in the Philippines.

Macs are usually more stable, and with stability comes reliable data integrity. You wouldn’t to accidentally lose those 16 bars you just recorded when the system crashes do you? Read more.

Here are some basic recording tips for guitarists who plan to record their guitar tracks. As a Filipino composer and arranger, I’ve also recorded live guitar tracks from time to time. Though I’m admittedly not very technically proficient in guitar playing, I’ll share you some of my knowledge on how to make your guitar recording sound professional.

Read more.

A Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is your basic software for recording, editing and mixing audio data in your computer. I am no real expert in detailed, bit by bit specifications but I do know what works for me and majority of digital musicians out there. Mostly by trying out the softwares myself and reading online.

I’d like to classify the DAWs in two categories, PC and Mac. Read more.

Creating an online portfolio is integral to promoting your music online. As a composer and arranger in the Philippines specializing in online promotions, I made it a point to make a serious online portfolio via my website.

Why should one make an online portfolio? It’s the fastest way you can direct a possible client asking for samples of your work, without having to meet personally. In lieu of that, I’m going to share with you the basic tools which you can utilize in building your portfolio.

The first tool I’ll discuss are online music players. Read more.

Here’s another repost from my old blog. Throughout my career as a composer and arranger in the Philippines, the demand to invest in better audio equipment became iminent. And thus I’ve taken the first basic step in building my own home recording studio. This article is for all of you who are music enthusiasts, audiophiles and any interested party.

So what’s the first step that you should take? For me, it would be investing in your basic audio recording equipment. Read more.

This is one of the important topics I’ve learned as a composer and arranger in the Philippines. This is actually a repost from my old blog but since the topics fits here, I’ll share it with you.

So you’re a songwriter/composer waiting for your next musical idea, but is currently experiencing “composer’s block”? Well I have just the tip that may help you. I have here a basic list of what you need to be prepared while waiting for that one idea. Read more.