MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO

Moving Premises and Company Expansion - Part II

2012-01-06T01:38:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Eizaz here, and this is the end result of all our hard work over the past couple of months. Everything is finally complete; all teaching rooms, offices, stage, jamming studio and recording studio all under one roof. I'll allow the pictures to do the talking!

The Mama Treble Clef board of directors and the new premises. Finally we have a photo - it's about time!

This is the interior of the store, our selection of electric guitars, amplifiers and keyboards, From Fender to Ibanez, Gibson and ESP, we've got them all!

Our bass selection encompasses entry-level basses from RM400 to professional-grade instruments costing thousands of dollars. Our in-house repairman and luthier ensures quality control throughout.

The higher range of guitars and basses go here. We carry American Stratocasters, Mexican Stratocasters, Music Man, Japanese Ibanez Prestige and the new Ibanez Premium range. We've also got a selection of Taylor acoustic guitars so check them out!

This is the new recording studio and a wicked, kicking set of drums and cymbals. We will lease the studio out for practice at RM50 per hour, and recording rates from RM100 per hour, including mixing and some minor engineering. Full miking for the drumkit and a killer room to boot!

This is a photo of yours truly at his drumkit. I've been playing for years and years on the same Tama drumkit before we moved here and I finally have a proper drumkit with proper cymbals, pedals and hardware. There is much to add on to the kit, like a cowbell and percussion but after years of waiting I finally have something proper! For comparison's sake this is what the drumkit (and player) looked like around 4 years back.

More photos of us in the studio.

And this is a photo of my partners and their lovely daughter. We've gone through so much in the past few years and I am very grateful to have met them along the way. Through thick and thin (man, when it was thin, it was THIN) we've somehow managed to reach the next level of development together. There's more to come from the team so stay tuned and please drop by - you are all invited for the grand opening!

Jack Thammarat's Guitar Clinic at Mama Treble Clef Studio

2011-11-14T19:52:00.000-08:00

Jack Thammarat Live Clinic, Presented by Mama Treble Clef Studio in co-operation with Yamaha Malaysia

By Eizaz Azhar

What a day it was! On the 11th of November, 2011 - 11/11/11 (an interesting date as well), the guitar virtuoso and YouTube superstar Jack Thammarat, winner of Guitar Idol 2009, came all the way from Thailand to do a guitar clinic for our students and regular customers.

We basically set up the stage, sound system, mixers and amps and drums and lights and everything you can imagine in the span of two days. Here are some of the interesting equipment I had to set up on the day;

You see, Jack is a newly-crowned Laney artist so all the amplifiers on the day were Laney amps. Jack's personal amp is the new Ironheart; it's a 300W monster tube amp with incredible tone and warmth. Each amplifier was miced up using a condenser mic directed at the speaker.

For the gig I used a hybrid drum kit ala Akira Jimbo style; it's basically a DTX520 combined with real cymbals and my favourite Pearl steel snare drum from the late 90s. I used the DTX for the kick and toms, mixed together and lined out into the mixer (my trusty Iron Cobra Power Glide pedals are also visible) whereas the snare and cymbals were miced up. All in all I got apretty good sound - but alas the overheads weren't plugged in for the gig and I lost my cymbal sounds! Oh well.

This was the stage setup for the day; I'm running everything through a Yamaha MG24FX mixer and a smaller cheap power mixer on the left for the stage monitors. Each channel is I/O-ed into a Roland UA-101 audio interface for mixing with Cubase. I usually mix digitally so I can save the settings and edit them easily. The house system is powered by two 1200W power amplifiers and a Behringer EQ (set to flat - didn't have time to balance everything), a crossover and a compressor. (P.S. everything here you can purchase from Mama Treble Clef Studio - call 03-95432201 and we can help you set up a stage and sound system and balance it as well.)

The bass amp was DI-ed (direct inject) to the mixer and we had 4 stage monitors. The house system was run through a set of EV 15' speakers and 18' subwoofers - I was quite pleased with the sound overall!

Guitar virtuoso Jack Thammarat gives a live clinic on the stage of Mama Treble Clef Studio. Held on the 11th of November 2011, Jack runs through some of his pieces in this video series and even jams with our in-house teacher's band at the end! It was an awesome show, with a full house of over 120 people and everyone had their photo and guitars autographed by Jack. We hope to have him here again!

Guitar: Jack Thammarat

Guitar 2: Lee Onn

Guitar 3: Mustaffa "Tapok" Ramly

Bass: Tengku Dinkhalish

Drums: Eizaz Azhar

Sound Engineer: Eizaz Azhar

Thammarat (born December 25, 1979) is a guitarist from Thailand. Best known as the winner of Guitar Idol 2009 competition. He has acknowledged the influence of many guitarists including Pop the Sun, Prart, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Steve Lukather, Gary Moore, Scott Henderson, Robben Ford, Frank Gambale, Greg Howe and more.

Finally everything comes together, and this is the result. Jack's videos are below - do enjoy the show!

Jack Thammarat Live Clinic at Mama Treble Clef Studio

2011-11-04T06:02:00.000-07:00

Jack Thammarat Live Clinic at Mama Treble Clef Studio

To our music friends and family, we have confirmed Jack Thammarat's guitar clinic at Mama Treble Clef Studio to commemorate his introduction as a Yamaha artist. It will be a free clinic and jam session. November 11th, Friday, 2:30pm to 3:30pm. Venue; Mama Treble Clef Studio, Lot 3010, 3rd Floor, Endah Parade (Carrefour) Sri Petaling, KL. Call us at 03-95432201 for more information!

Come one, come all!

Moving Premises and Company Expansion - Part II

2011-10-24T21:27:00.000-07:00

By Eizaz Azhar

So we've gone through Phase 3 of construction of our new premises and what a challenge it is proving to be. We're basically done with almost 80% of the entire project, all in the ridiculously short period of a month! Here are some photos of past and present - guess which one is which!

The new premise is enormous and presents a completely different challenge as compared to the last location. With so much space, it takes a lot of time just to get around. Communicating with everyone is an issue as for every error you make, the time factor is multiplied by five fold due to the sheer size of the store. It takes a good 3 minutes to get to the new recording studio (i.e. my office) and another 10 minutes to get it set up!

So, what exactly are we now? We will be running a music store, music school, recording studio, instrument workshop, a cafe and even a stage for live performances. It's an all-in-one center for every musical need - at least we try to make it that way!

From pianos to guitars and woodwinds and brass, strings and accessories we can now display them all. The tremendous amount of stock that we have had in our warehouse for years can finally be placed in the store, all at once and it looks like a proper showroom. We placed a large tempered glass door at the entrance where our drums greet the customer as they enter the store.

There will be weekly performances at our cafe, scheduled as soon as it opens; we will be hosting various local and international acts from time to time for our students and customers.

This is sorta how the front desk and counter looks like. Guitars surround the area, hooked on gondolas that we designed and built ourselves.

The woodwind section consists of mouthpieces, saxes, clarinets and flutes. As a woodwind retailer we have a lot of instuments and accessories in stock. A glass door will soon cover the cabinet in which they are located in. The violins and strings will also be covered in a glass panel which will further add to the atmosphere. Each cabinet has twin halogen bulbs above it to illuminate the instruments inside.

Finally we have cozy teaching rooms for our students and teachers!

This series of posts will be concluded in Part III, where everything will come together. Everyone is invited for the grand opening - do come over!

Moving Premises and Company Expansion - Part II

2011-09-25T23:44:00.000-07:00

By Eizaz Azhar

Welcome back to part II of our renovation and process of moving premises. In the weeks that have gone by, there has been a large amount of work completed - roughly 30%; the framework for the new shop is finally done as are most of the guitar/musical instrument wall hangers and installation of slatwalls. The new shop will not only consist of a music shop with a variety of instruments displayed but also a cafe with a stage and performances (by yours truly), a proper recording studio, teaching/rehearsal rooms and a jamming/rehearsal studio for rent, in a monster of a venue encompassing 13,000+ square feet in total. It will be an interesting concept to say the least, and we will probably be the only music school in Malaysia with an in-house, professional-grade, fully-equipped and miked recording studio - not only for recording but also for teaching!

Interestingly enough this lot was never intended for a commercial store; rather, it is actually an allocated lot for the food court of the shopping complex Endah Parade in Sri Petaling, hence the abundance of space. Each food stall had its own dedicated lot, which sort of made things easier for us to build individual teaching rooms since the infrastructure was already up.

A dual-layer gypsum board is build for each room and insulated in layers of mineral wool to keep the sound from leaking. This also ensures better acoustics for each room and less inteferance from outside noises.

Air-cond ducts run in and out of each room via the ceiling to keep it cool and comfortable for teaching. An issue is sound leakage through the air-cond ducts but this was kept to a minimum amount due to the mineral wool.

Slatwalls - a kind of building material that allows for hanging items for display - have been installed throughout the building.

Needless to say I am at the forefront of it all...!

To be continued...

Moving Premises and Company Expansion

2011-09-21T04:06:00.000-07:00

By Eizaz Azhar

Hi guys! Most of you may know me as a teacher in the music store Mama Treble Clef Studio and in-house musician (technician/admin guy/IT department/repairman/brute strength lifting dude/the guy you turn to when everything goes wrong and want things fixed in the shortest time possible without prior notice) among other things. I've been given the task of chronicling events that will be going on for the next good month or two. So here I am, writing this on my (infamous red-flamed decorated Toshiba Qosmio that weighs 7kg) notebook in a new, empty lot that we will be moving in shortly. Thing is, we've been talking about moving and all for quite some time now as some of my students might be able to attest to, and it's finally coming around. This, however exciting and fun it may seem - and actually is, I assure you - poses a bit of an issue to some members of the team (okay only two), particularly Ray Lee (right) and myself.

A bit about the company background; we started out as a small, miniature lot with practically 3 guitars, 2 pianos and around 50 students back in 2005-2006. Back then it was much simpler; a 300 square foot room that we basically furnished and renovated ourselves. A few years later we came up with the recording studio which we also furnished on our own, and the current 3 conjoined lots which, yes, we did ourselves. One reason was due to our budget (read; lack thereof) and simply because we didn't have much to do around the tiny store anyway, and also picked up a bunch of skills - mainly dangerous, tiring and monotonous - like installing partitions, wiring the ceiling and lighting, as well as sitting in an enclosed room with cancerous toxic fumes.

And now we're moving for a third and possibly final time to this monster of a venue, enough to house all divisions of the shop, inclusive of a recording studio, performance stage, showroom, cafe and music classes (natural disaster relief spot, emergency gathering area - who knows what else, really).

So anyway, we've had some experience in renovating and doing things on our own as you can see, but this is a whole different experience. It's a different thing furnishing a 400 square foot venue versus a 13,000 square foot venue. First of all, the cost involved is much larger, and there are some things you just can't do without spending half a year trying to pry open (i.e. the air-cond ventilation ducts which are drawn from the shopping complex's mains). Then there's the issue of decorating the space, purchasing enough stock to fill it up so that it doesn't look like the North/South Korea demilitarized zone, and finding reliable staff that show up on time and disappear when required (as opposed to random times and the worst possible moments where you feel like strangling the nearest form of intelligent life not unlike a Phua Chu Kang script).

To Be Continued....

Selamat Hari Raya AidilFitri & Maaf Zahir Batin

2011-08-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

Kepada semua murid murid dan keluarga,pelanggan-pelanggan,dealer-dealer serta pengemar muzik tanahair ,MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO ingin mengucapkan Selamat Hari Raya AidilFitri & Maaf Zahir Batin .Semoga anda semua sihat walafiat dan diberkati Tuhan.Sokonglah muzik tempatan dan sokonglah Encik Eizaz Azhar yang berkebolehan bermain lebih dari 10 alta-alat instrumen , sila tonton video music ini dan berilah komen yang positive.Terima Kasih!

MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO relocating to 13,000 Sq ft. shop lot

2011-08-20T02:32:00.000-07:00

Pleased be inform that we will relocating our shop from 2000 sq. ft. to 13,000 sq ft. shop next to our current shop (former furniture shop) Our new lot will be the top 5 biggest music shop in town.The new shop consist of 30 individual studios, 5 group class music rooms, 2 jamming studios, 1 recording studio , 1 music cafe ,meeting room, 5000 sq ft. showroom and will become the one stop musical instruments centre in Malaysia.The renovation works will begin on the 5th Sept 2011 to 15th October 2011 , therefore the amendments to the music school holiday schedule is listed below : The second schoolterm break from :21st Nov to 27th November will be schedule to : 9th Oct to 15th Oct 2011 Together we make music education accessible to everyone! Thank you and regards.

Solo Piano Performance by Siang Xi

2011-08-19T00:48:00.000-07:00

Our in-house teacher Siang Xi, member of the fusion group JUNK plays his own composition in our studio, as a demonstration of pop piano playing. Enjoy!

Flute Tutorial by Eizaz Azhar

2011-08-07T23:23:00.001-07:00

Multi-instrumentalist Eizaz Azhar runs through the fundamentals of a flute in this video. If you're just starting out, this makes a great introduction to the instrument and what it's all about. Enjoy!

Mama Treble Clef Studio endorsed Mr Razak Rahman to become Malaysia Jodyjazz spokeperson-Bravo!

2011-07-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO endorsed Mr Razak Rahman (leading saxophonist in Malaysia) to become Malaysia Jodyjazz ambassador and spoke person.We welcome him to our big family and is our honour to have him to join our company as ambassador.May his courage will motivate and cheer up our local saxophone industry.looking forward to make his first music video with MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO.Thank you Mr RAzak Rahman!

REVIEW: Jaxville Custom Series II Electric Guitar Package

2011-07-29T00:50:00.000-07:00

INTRODUCTION Guitars come in all different shapes and sizes, forms and colors - and is arguably the most personalized musical instrument of all time. They also come in all sorts of price ranges as well, depending on the player, experience and budget. Today's review will take a look at the new range of guitars from the brand Jaxville; Demon, Hades, and Zeus. Basically a guitar catered to the entry-level market, each guitar is adorned with high-quality airbrushed images which make for a stunning display on stage or in the studio.

OVERVIEW The Jaxville Custom Series II guitars are distinctive designer guitars with a penchant for the stage. There are 3 "themes" to choose from: "Demon" showcases a red-and-black theme of flames, "Hades", named after the Greek god of the underworld depicts a shadowy figure in the moonlight, and "Zeus", the King of Gods, has lightning bolts splitting the guitar apart. Each guitar is finished in hi-quality gloss finish, with matching headstock and neck. All guitars are based on a Fender design, with three single-coil pickups and a rosewood neck, 22 frets each. The review unit was packaged with a 10-watt amplifier, a soft case and an instructional DVD.

FEATURES Construction: Bolt-on Body: Basswood Neck: Maple Fingerboard: Rosewood Hardware: Chrome, covered Controls: 1 Volume, 2 Tone, 5 way pickup selector switch Frets: 22 Pickups: S-S-S Bridge: Synchronized Tremolo Pickguard: Black Finish: Hi-gloss Each guitar features a 5-way selector switch, two tone controls and one volume control to shape your sound. Every inch of the guitar is coated in shiny, gloss black with no wood to be seen, augmenting the guitar's stage appearance. The pickups emit a glassy, clear tone as expected from a single coil; rhythm playing and accompaniment work very well on the guitar. When put through an overdrive pedal, the guitar responds like a Fender Stratocaster, making it suitable for rock and even country playing. The neck is in the shape of a soft "C" neck reminiscent of a Telecaster; this guitar would be suitable for players who are comfortable with their thumb on the back or side of the neck. The guitar is slightly on the heavy side, perhaps due to the full gloss finish but in no way does the it affect the guitar's playability and balance. As for the supplied amplifier, it does a good job of a first practice amplifier to learn the basics on, but will surely need to be upgraded once the player reaches a certain skill level. The included DVD is informative and runs through many beginner issues, and is of a great help to those just starting out.

CONCLUSION After spending some time with these guitars, it can be said that the Jaxville Custom Series II guitars are truly catered for the entry-level player who is looking for a different axe to try out. The eye-catching design will surely attract the attention of those who want to stand out, and considering the market pricing of the guitar, it looks like a great bargain. The Jaxville guitar comes in a package as well, alongside an amplifier, soft case and instructional DVD. The guitar plays well, stays in tune and sounds decent. If you're looking for something unique and different for a first guitar, by all means go for it!

REVIEW: Cherub DP-900 Electronic Drum Practice Pad

2011-06-26T01:25:00.001-07:00

INTRODUCTION The drummer's world is an interesting one, with many choices. From pedals to sticks and heads, stands, gloves and all sorts of accessories, we're pretty much spoilt for choice when it comes to things to hit. One such example is the practice pad - basically a rubber pad on a solid surface, practica pads come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. The Cherub DP-900 Electronic Drum Pad is a new offering by the manufacturer Cherub. Basically an electronic practice pad, it incorporates many features for the student and professional alike, making stick practice and rudiments entertaining and effective, all in one package.

OVERVIEW The drum pad is basically a single unit, combining a metronome, rubber pad, speakers and a sensor below the pad. Made out of black plastic, the yellow rubber pad makes for a striking contrast and it is lightweight enough to be carried to school or classes. The unit has a small screw at its base for use with any standard cymbal stand which allows it to be mounted. There is also a volume control for the metronome, a headphone out jack and several buttons to control the LCD interface. FEATURES The Cherub DP-900 Electronic Drum Pad comes with 2 built-in features; a metronome and a "train" mode (you'll understand when I go through it). The metronome feature is basically what it is, a metronome so you can practice in time and tempo. The BPM is adjustable from 30 to 280, and you can select quarter notes (crotchets), eighth notes (quavers) sixteenth notes (semiquavers), triplets and a bunch of mixed articulated notes. The beat can also be selected from 0 (no strong beat) to 11 (11/4 time signature for the more, um, rhythmically-insane).

An interesting feature is the "train" feature; this mode calculates each beat on the head - sort of a stick meter to measure your speed. In this mode you can select up to 4 different times (15 seconds, 30 sec, 45 sec and 60 sec) and the timer begins after the first stroke registered. This is an excellent way to train your sticking and even makes as a challenge among friends or students! My personal record stands at 254 beats in 15 seconds (which would average out to 1,000 beats in a minute) - a long way off from Mike Mangini's record of 1,247 in a minute!

CONCLUSION

The Cherub DP-900 Electronic Drum Pad is indeed an economical way to build up stamina and speed

at the drums. For the student, this is an invaluable practice tool that every serious drum

student should own; for the teacher this serves as a mobile, portable practice surface that

can be taken from class to class (might even create some rivalry among students...!) and is

worth at least taking a look at to augment their teaching material.

The Cherub DP-900 Electronic Drum Pad can be purchased at Mama Treble Clef Studio located at Lot 3015, 3rd Floor, Endah Parade, Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur or visit their website at http://www.mamatreble.com.my for more information. Now go hit something!

Rasa Sayang - The Dispute, Controversy and original arrangement by the band JUNK

2011-06-11T23:22:00.000-07:00

The song "Rasa Sayang" is a folk song in the Malay language, familiar to all, yet is the subject of much debate and discussion. Writing this from a Malaysian point of view, anyone who has spent their childhood growing up in Malaysia surely knows the song. The lyrics are as follows;

Rasa sayang, hey!,

Rasa sayang sayang hey,

Hey lihat nona jauh,

Rasa sayang sayang hey!

Buah cempedak di luar pagar,

Ambil galah tolong jolokkan,

Saya budak baru belajar,

Kalau salah tolong tunjukkan.

Pulau pandan jauh ke tengah,

Gunung daik bercabang tiga,

Hancur badan dikandung tanah,

Budi yang baik dikenang juga.

Dua tiga kucing berlari,

Mana sama si kucing belang,

Dua tiga boleh ku cari,

Mana sama abang seorang.

Pisang emas dibawa berlayar,

Masak sebiji di atas peti,

Hutang emas boleh dibayar,

Hutang budi dibawa mati.

The structure of the song is a "pantun" (pronounced parn-toon) which means a rhyme in Malay. Basically the first verse is a sort of chorus which is repeated after every pantun, each spanning 4 sentences (in this case the pantuns used are some of the most popular Malay nursery rhymes).

The song itself is in the public domain as a traditional song and does not have any copyright, no estate, no composer - which is where the controversy begins. As of recent the origins of the song have come into dispute, with Indonesia claiming that the song originates from their country and Malaysia claiming that the song is theirs. To be honest, as my teacher said, Malaysia is the fusion capital of the world when it comes to music. From Javanese to Indian, Arabic to Chinese, Malaysia is probably the only country in the world to have such a diverse and rich cultural background. Our wayang kulit and kuda kepang, while similar are actually two very different cultures. The rhythms used in Indian music here vary vastly from the ones from India, and even the Chinese culture here is very different, down to the architecture.

It is entirely possible that the song might have originated anywhere - it could have been a Javanese folk tune, a Thai folk song, maybe even from Burma or even India - who knows, really! It is also highly likely that the lyrics have been changed, the structure and ryhthm have been changed and that the song could be entirely different altogether, over time, handed down to generations. The song enjoys equal popularity in both Malaysia and Indonesia and is taught in elementary schools and kindergarten in both nations - I believe that it's an amalgamation of both cultures and we're all brothers and sisters, really. Why the dispute is beyond my comprehension!

Having said that, this is an original arrangement (yes we own the rights to this particular arrangement - it originates from Malaysia!) by the jazz-fusion band JUNK. This is a fusion of Afro-Cuban, Funk, Javanese and Malay styles all in one. Enjoy our work!

Manuel Rodriguez Visits Mama Treble Clef Studio

2011-05-21T23:11:00.000-07:00

Hi all! It was our great pleasure to have met the great guitar luthier, Mr. Manuel Rodriguez Jr. in person! All the way from Madrid, Spain, Manuel paid us at Mama Treble Clef a surprise visit as one of their distributors in Malaysia. Manuel Rodriguez - or MR as it is affectionately known among musicians and guitarists - have been making guitars for over a century now, and make some of the world's finest handmade Spanish guitars to critical acclaim by players and luthiers alike. During his visit, Manuel discussed the aspects of choosing a good classical guitar, quality of the material and wood, different methods of handcrafting, and even regarding playing and music education. Pictured is Mr. Manuel with some of our teachers and discussing everything guitar! His stories are legendary; from starting up from a tiny guitar manufacturer to a giant corporation in Spain, we hope to be able to visit his factory one day.

In a small town in La Mancha, the region that inspired the epic Spanish novel "Don Quixote," a third generation guitar-maker is struggling to secure the future of his business.

Manuel Rodriguez III owns the century-old family business of the same name, heir to a tradition of guitar manufacturers which dates back to 1905 when his grandfather gave up fishing in Cadiz to dedicate his life to his musical passion. More than 100 years later, Toledo-based Manuel Rodriguez and Son is still making handmade guitars and exports 90 percent of its production to 120 countries. Many of its finest guitars have found their way into the hands of famous musicians, world leaders, Nobel Prize-winners and royalty. Over the years, the production process developed by Rodriguez's grandfather has undergone some changes, and while made to order and top range guitars are still totally hand-produced, the workshop now employs some mechanical processes to make production safer and more efficient. "There used to be a lot of accidents. If you see anyone in the town missing fingers or even a hand you know he worked here," went the saying. Still, the workshop requires 60 percent manpower to make its guitars, and the global crisis of the last few years has forced the business to adapt to challenging market conditions. Spain plunged into recession three years ago after a decade-long property and construction boom collapsed. Tight credit and falling demand for luxury goods forced the number of workshops down to six from 40 or 50 in just two decades. Financing can be tricky in such conditions, even for an established company with a good balance sheet, Rodriguez said. "If we go to a Spanish bank and say we're guitar-makers they ask if it's possible to make a living out of that." Manuel Rodriguez and Sons has had to reduce its staff by two-thirds in under three years in a country where the number of unemployed has risen to over 4 million, leaving parts of the workshop in eerie silence.

Yet some processes, such as the gluing of parts and a laborious binding procedure remain completely manual, making it easy to understand why the manufacturing time takes a month. "We're still using string to do the binding, there is no tool or machine to do that. We use a CNN Router to make the necks, that has helped to lower costs. Another approach has been to use machines to polish the varnish," said Rodriguez. Despite his strong Spanish roots, Rodriguez believes his American background -- he was born and raised in California where the family moved its business for 18 years -- gives him a different outlook. "A teacher from UCLA visiting Madrid asked my father if he would go to the States to make guitars, so without knowing any English, with just $100 in his pocket, a few pieces of wood and a few tools my father went to Los Angeles," said Rodriguez. For 18 years the family lived and worked in California, making guitars for Hollywood actors, lawyers and doctors. "It was a fantastic experience...and my time there has given me a vision of marketing and the world which is very different to that in Spain." Eventually, the family returned to Spain and resumed their craft, but the guitars did not sell. "We bought a truck and travelled around Europe with the Yellow Pages and knocked on doors to sell our guitars." Rodriguez, who has two small children, sees the future for this small family business as very challenging but he will insist in keeping the family business growing.Manuel Rodriguez Jr had give us so many advise on how to choose a quality guitar and explain to us about the art of making guitar.He told us to be very patient in running the classical guitar business.He will return to Malaysia perhaps during December 2011.We in Malaysia wish him all the best and may his business prosperous forever.God bless MR. Attached are photos of Mr. Rodriguez together with Mama Treble Clef Studio's staff - if you have any questions do give us a call and we will do our best to accomodate your enquiry. Together We make music education accessible to everyone!

The Malaysian Music Dilemma

2011-02-24T11:01:00.001-08:00

Untitled Document

*Inspired by the book by the great Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, "The Malay Dilemma".*

Whether one likes it or not, music is present in virtually every aspect of our lives. From the television, to the radio, to nursery rhymes or children chants to pick out the next "it" or "jadi" when playing group games, the fact is that we are never truly out of touch with music even if we wanted to; it is an essential part of human life. It is also interesting to note that when quizzed with the question, "What is music?", many people - some of which study music and work in the industry - are unable to give a definitive answer. Music is emotion, music is passion, music is creativity, music is art and so on and so forth. While all answers are correct to a certain degree, they are not strong enough to define the meaning of music in its entirety. Hence, let's all agree on a methodical definition of music (author is still a scientist and engineer at heart.)

Music is basically made of sound and silence. A neverending wave of continuous sound would be nothing more than noise; absolute silence on the other hand would also be a blank sheet of nothingness. We will therefore define music as form of art; an art form consisting of structured sound and silence, a pattern, a sketch. Within this different parameters be applied, known as harmony, rhythm, pitch, timbre, tempo and volume. Everything else pertaining to music can be placed under these parameters (chords, styles and genres, arrangement, dynamics, instrumentation, etc.) It's interesting if you look at it from a different angle; all noise is not music, but all music is noise - so think twice about the definition of the words "tone deaf" and "musically inclined"! If one can tell apart the sound of a car horn and the sound of water running, there's no reason to say that one cannot appreciate music, or even play music for that matter.

That said, as a musician and entrepreneur in the music industry, over the period of time working in the industry - as short as it may seem - the author has become aware of an unsettling gap between music, its perception and its education in our beloved Malaysia and other neighboring countries. Why is the music industry as such in this country despite our quality of life? Malaysia has an average education rate in the sense that almost everyone has gone to school (finishing it is another unrelated topic). Nobody ever starves to death, neither do terrible famines occur yearly, and we are blessed enough to never experience natural disasters, weekly riots and/or acts or senseless terror. Malaysia's actually quite a good place to live, mind you!

As a developed (some say developing - some say third-world depending on where you live) country one would expect that the artistic and creative side would develop as well. Sadly this is not the case. There is little support for the fine arts industry of any kind, be it film-making, painting, architecture and yes, music. When was the last time you saw a musician, one who can properly play an instrument given recognition? Can you name more than local 3 film directors? How many a time have our local architects won international awards for their buildings, yet nobody knows - and cares?

One would wonder why we are in this situation. We only have to look at our own local music student orchestra - if we were to put a comparison between us and a student orchestra from Thailand or Indonesia, it is almost pitiful to see our university orchestras struggle to compete with a secondary school band. Why is this so? Do we not put enough effort? Are we truly talentless, forever banished as second-rate artists? Before you get your pitchforks and torches ready hang on a second; Malaysia actually has some immensely talented individuals out there. Not many people know that a lot of the musicians on tour with superstar artists like Jackie Cheung, A-Mei and Alan Tam are actually Malaysians. Few know that back in the 80s we set the standard for production and created a new wave of fresh music that swept across the whole SEA region. Fewer know that we have top-level musicians of the highest caliber, playing in orchestras and conservatoires around the world, and even fewer have seen them play.

Back to the question - why is this so? Being human we naturally try to look for the culprit - and being Malaysian we naturally look for them to blame. We blame the government for not putting enough support. We blame the education system for not being up to standard, and teachers who are unqualified. We blame the media for not publicizing this, blame that, blame those and so on and so forth. Let's be frank, nobody's safe from this sort of responsibility, including the author himself. Everyone has their own part and a job to do. But allow him to share a story with you; there is this one student who has been playing the violin for almost two years. The violin has far outgrown her skill, and she definitely has some form of musical inclination that would show with a bit of hard work and dedication. So we recommend an upgrade, from a student model violin (around RM450) to an intermediate level violin (around RM2500) that would greatly increase her technique and sound production. This was met by the parents' reluctance that it was "too expensive" and the usual "not sure whether she'll continue to be interested in it" talk despite her natural ability. A week afterwards we learn that the parents bought a new BMW X6 SUV for the price of almost RM650,000! As parents who want their child to have a proper music education, they toss it aside like a second-rate subject. And then they raise the questions of "why doesn't this sound good", "why does the workmanship on this instrument look bad", why this, why that - geez, did you ask these same questions when you compared a cheap car with your BMW? The answer should be obvious!

Now this is not implying that the parents were terrible and had no vision and that anyone is to blame for this (they're actually really nice folks) but what suffers from all these silly issues is the music education industry, the musical instrument industry and the music industry as a whole. There is no definite answer who is truly at fault here, it's more complicated than just pointing fingers at different parties but one thing is for sure; if we do not correct this issue towards appreciation for the fine arts, we will never reach the next level of civilization that we dream of and yearn for - and regardless of any head start we have had in the past, the next generation of musicians will be outnumbered, outplayed, and outlasted by others before we even see it coming.

Just a thought...
-Eizaz Azhar

Happy Lunar New Year greeting from MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO

2011-01-29T21:45:00.000-08:00

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all students, parents ,teachers and music lovers a Happy Lunar New Year.May the year of rabbit u will bless with health , wealth and wisdom.May all of you have a wonderful weekend and drive safely.Please be informed that our music school will be off throughout this Lunar New Year on the 2nd February 2011 (Wednesday) to 8th February 2011 (Tuesday) respectively.Classes will resume as usual on the 9th February 2011(Wednesday) , Happy Holiday!

恭喜发财

Happy 2011

2011-01-01T06:34:00.001-08:00

May all your dreams come true , may this year u will bless with good health and happiness.Have a wonderful musical New Year! Once again thank you to all parents, students, customers, associates and music lovers who keep on supporting us in year 2010.We will work harder in 2011 and make MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO a one stop musical instruments hub in Malaysia.This year is coming to 9th years of MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO establishment and we feel very honour to see a tremendous grow in our company.From a very humble music studio open in December year 2002 with 20 students and now we have grow to 350 students and the figure is keep on growing.From 6 pcs of guitars and now we manage to import more than 1000 guitars in a month.We also become a few international brand distributors such as Supersensitive USA , Artec Sounds Korea, President USA, Olympia Korea , Wittner Germany , Tokai Japan , ESP Japan and many more.The distribution of the guitars and others instruments had reach as far as Singapore and Indonesia.Currently we have over 50 dealers through out Malaysia and the number is stii growing.U can even see many good publicity about our company in organising concert , making Youtube video and Mr Eizaz Azhar had successfully become the one and only multi-instrumentalist in Malaysia.He been interviewed kive by Malaysia Hari Ini recently at TV3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j31IAm7uavw

From organising a mini concert to a huge and extragavanza green syhmpony orchestra in year 2009.With the support of the Malaysia Ministry of Education and Tourism , we have successfully gather 1000 spectators to attend our Green Symphony concert in Segi University.With the participants of 40 over classical musician , this concert has been making headlines in all the local newspaper.We also participant in many charity concert with many charity home such as Rumah Cacat Penglihatan Setapak .We are grattitude towards all our music teachers who are participate in making this concert possible.Thank you.Once again , making music education accessible to everyone in Malaysia is our dream , a dream that give more people a healthy activities and make music become part of their life style.Happy 2011...cheers!

2010-12-15T18:57:00.000-08:00

MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO has been awarded by Super-Sensitive Bowed Instrument Strings and Rosin USA as Malaysia distributor.Super-sensitive has been making strings since 1930.Super-sensitive products is recognized by the violinist from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra members.Their products include - violin , cello , double bass,viola and guitar strings , rosins ,tuner ,mute,pick-up,mouthpiece and many more.Together in the picture -from left Ms Ellen ,Mr John , vice president and the president of Cavanaugh Company USA, Mr Eizaz Azhar ,Mr Ray Lee and Ms Mary , vice p...resident of Cavanaugh Company USA. Log in : http://www.supersensitive.com/

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-14T20:58:00.000-08:00

Visit our new webpage at http://www.mamatreble.com.my Multi-instrumentalist Eizaz Azhar plays his own rendition of the Christmas carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" arranged for soprano, alto, tenor saxophone, piano and bass guitar. The carol is based on a melody by the great composer Felix Mendelssohn, originally created to celebrate the anniversary of the printing press by Johann Gutenberg (also known as the Gutenberg Cantata). Eizaz's setup is as follows: William Soprano, Alto and Tenor saxophones JodyJazz HR5 mouthpieces on soprano and tenor + Rico H Ligature JodyJazz DV7 mouthpiece on alto + JodyJazz Ring Ligature Rico Reserve 2.5 reeds on all horns Merry Christmas 2010 and a Happy New Year! Eizaz can be found on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Eiza... All instruments played by Eizaz Azhar Arrangement by Eizaz Azhar Venue, facilities and instruments sponsored by Mama Treble Clef Studio and ER Studios Recorded in ER Studios. Camera & lighting by Eizhan Azhar. Mixed, mastered and edited by Eizaz Azhar. Engineered by Eizaz Azhar. Arranged and performed by Eizaz Azhar. For best listening results play video on large external speakers or a good pair of headphones as laptop speakers are unable to reproduce many of the frequencies. Mama Treble Clef Studio & ER Studios are located at: Lot 3015, 3rd Floor, Endah Parade, Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA Tel : +603-95432201 mamatrebleclef@gmail.com erstudios.my@gmail.com http://www.mamatreble.com.my http://erstudios-malaysia.blogspot.com

2010-11-16T00:19:00.000-08:00

Visit our new webpage at http://www.mamatreble.com.my The student band from Mama Treble Clef plays under the tutorship of Malaysian multi-instrumentalist Eizaz Azhar. The band consists of students of various instruments who began from scratch for just under a year, so do forgive our mistakes (and the not-so-good singing!) The band's repertoire consists of classic rock and pop songs, sing-alongs and oldies - we're just a bunch of guys who want to have some fun! The Senior Band consists of: Hamidi - Saxophone Mustafa - Bass Guitar Tommy - Keyboards Ronnie - Drumkit Eizaz - Guitar and vocals Eizaz can be found on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/eizaz.azhar Arrangement by Eizaz Azhar Venue, facilities and instruments sponsored by Mama Treble Clef Studio and ER Studios Recorded in ER Studios. Camera & lighting by Ray Lee. Mixed, mastered and edited by Eizaz Azhar. Engineered by Eizaz Azhar. Arranged and performed by Eizaz Azhar. For best listening results play video on large external speakers or a good pair of headphones as laptop speakers are unable to reproduce many of the frequencies. Mama Treble Clef Studio & ER Studios are located at: Lot 3015, 3rd Floor, Endah Parade, Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA Tel : +603-95432201 mamatrebleclef@gmail.com erstudios.my@gmail.com http://mamatreble.blogspot.com http://erstudios-malaysia.blogspot.com http://guitarempire99.blogspot.com

A Malaysian In China - Man Bai's Kau Ilhamku

2010-10-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

Visit our new webpage at http://www.mamatreble.com.my Multi-instrumentalist Eizaz Azhar plays the classic Malay song Kau Ilhamku by Man Bai at a street in the middle of Shanghai. Behind is the famous Pearl Telecommunication Tower and the latest shopping mall. Originally busking for fun, a few Malaysian tourists recognized the song and are now fans of his music - and left a few tips as well! Eizaz can be found on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Eiza... All instruments played by Eizaz Azhar Venue, facilities and instruments sponsored by Mama Treble Clef Studio and ER Studios Recorded in ER Studios. Camera & lighting by Ray Lee. Mixed, mastered and edited by Eizaz Azhar. Engineered by Eizaz Azhar. Arranged and performed by Eizaz Azhar. For best listening results play video on large external speakers or a good pair of headphones as laptop speakers are unable to reproduce many of the frequencies. Mama Treble Clef Studio & ER Studios are located at: Lot 3015, 3rd Floor, Endah Parade, Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA Tel : +603-95432201 mamatrebleclef@gmail.com erstudios.my@gmail.com http://mamatreble.blogspot.com http://erstudios-malaysia.blogspot.com http://guitarempire99.blogspot.com

MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO Appeared in TV3 MHI

2010-09-24T01:59:00.000-07:00

Today , indeed is our great pleasure that we appeared at TV3 MHI .Mr Eizaz Azhar , the multi-instrumentalist has been discovered by TV 3 for his multi talented skill in playing various type of musical instruments.TV3 has giving us a 20 minutes highlight on how Eizaz manage to handle all musical instruments in such a short period.He explained the process of the making of the youtube video to the TV3 viewers.Besides that , joining us is Mr Mawi , Yusry (KRu), Waheeda, M.Zukifly as well.To all students of Mama Treble Clef Studio , please support this video clip.Special thanks to Mr Ally Iskandar , Waheeda , Mzul,Nabihah , Nor Hidayah,Shahridzuan ,M.Zulkfli ,Allicia Lim ,Voon Onn, Celeste Luan and all our supporters out there!Together we make music education accessible to everyone!

We wish all Muslim friends - Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir Batin !

2010-09-08T19:52:00.001-07:00

Happy Merdeka!

2010-08-29T17:38:00.000-07:00

On behalf for Mama Treble Clef Studio, I would like to wish all fellow Malaysian -A Happy Merdeka .I urged everyone of you to raise your flag on this day.Let us be gratitude towards our country and community for the peace and harmony we have been enjoy all this year.Malaysia is a very unique country where we have many cultures , religions and races.Our upbringing from an ordinary Malaysian parents has trained us to become liberal with kindness and peace loving person.We always taught our children to respect others cultures and religions.We always groom them to become a very responsible citizen and teach them hate violence.Today , let us celebrate this Merdeka Day with pride and sincerity. Let us spread the meaning of Merdeka to the younger generation and may this spirit of patriotism will not fade from every Malaysian's heart.Our country future and peace start from you! - Allicia Lim, principal of Mama Treble Clef Studio

MERDEKA ! MERDEKA ! MERDEKA !

Music can make u cry -手　紙　アンジェラ・アキ　ｉｎ西宮市立甲陵中学校

2010-08-28T03:16:00.000-07:00

Musical Instruments import and export activities at Mama Treble Clef Studio

2010-08-15T19:32:00.001-07:00

MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO would like to wish all Muslim a Happy Fasting Month.

2010-08-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

Mama Treble Clef Studio Attending MTV World Stage Concert

2010-08-09T01:32:00.001-07:00

Coming soon..................

Clarinet Malaysia - JUNK Plays T-Square's Takarajima (Studio Live, HQ)

2010-07-29T03:41:00.000-07:00

The fusion band JUNK gets together in the studio for their first live demo, this video featuring T-Square's Takarajima. The band JUNK consists of 5 young musicians from different backgrounds, coming together for a shared love of the music they play, jazz-funk - hence the name JUNK. The band enjoys the style of fusion groups such as the Chick Corea Elektric Band, Fourplay, Return To Forever and especially so for Japanese jazz fusion bands particularly T-Square, Casiopea and Dimension. An instrumental group, the band maintains a healthy balance between easy listening, jazz and progressive music, something very few youth bands play. JUNK can be found athttp://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/JUNK... JUNK consists of: Siang Xi - Keyboards, Piano Choong How - Bass Guitar Brett Lee - Drums & Percussion David Chin - Electric & Acoustic Guitar Yun Xin - Auxillary Keyboards Eizaz Azhar - Electric Clarinet, Saxophone, Flute Equipment used: Eizaz uses the PV250 Clarinet Pickup and custom barrel by the manufacturer Bass Poullath. The items are available at Mama Treble Clef Studio and are very limited in quantity. Venue and facilities sponsored by Mama Treble Clef Studio and ER Studios Recorded in ER Studios. Camera & lighting by Eizhan Azhar. Audio mixed and edited by David Chin. Engineered by David Chin and Eizaz Azhar. For best listening results play video on large external speakers or a good pair of headphones as laptop speakers are unable to reproduce many of the frequencies. Mama Treble Clef Studio & ER Studios are located at: Lot 3015, 3rd Floor, Endah Parade, Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA Tel : +603-95432201 erstudios.my@gmail.com http://mamatreble.blogspot.com http://erstudios-malaysia.blogspot.com http://guitarempire99.blogspot.com

Mama Treble Clef Studio 's student Tan Hooi Ching joining the Malaysia National Youth Orchestra practice session

2010-07-03T20:33:00.000-07:00

We would like to congratulate Ms Tan Hooi Ching for joining the Malaysia National Youth Orchestra practise at Istana Budaya yesterday.She is joining as a second violinist and during this period , she will be evaluate based on her progress , skill , theory and commitment towards the orchestra.We at Mama Treble Clef Studio sincerely wish Ms. Tan Hooi Ching good luck and all the best.May her enthusiasm towards music will bring her to another level of achievement.Together we make music education accessible to everyone.

Mama Treble Clef Studio 1st term break notification

2010-06-06T02:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Students and parents, Please be informed that our music school will be off throught the 1st term break on the 5th June 2010 (Saturday) to 11th June 2010(Friday) respectively. Classes will resume as usual on the 12th June 2010 (Saturday) We would like to wish everyone A Happy Musical Holiday!

Happy Musical Wesak Day!

2010-05-28T18:17:00.001-07:00

MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO would like to wish all Buddhist in Malaysia -Happy Wesak Day! May all Malaysian use their wisdom and intelligent to understand the practice of all religion without any discrimination and prejudice.May Malaysia will continue to prosperous with peace and wealth.

(Music Malaysia) Eizaz Azhar "Trio" Jams Over Herbie Hancock's Chameleon

2010-05-27T07:08:00.001-07:00

JodyJazz Norteno Demonstration

2010-05-18T02:47:00.000-07:00

Multi-instrumentalist Eizaz Azhar demonstrates the JodyJazz Norteno mouthpiece in this video. The JodyJazz Norteño Alto Sax mouthpiece is a bright "free blowing" easy to play mouthpiece that captures the full range of tonal qualities of the instrument. The low register of the saxophone is full, round and strong, while the upper register is strong and bright sounding, and in tune. In addition, the altissimo register responds extremely well on the JodyJazz Norteño alto saxophone mouthpiece. The mouthpiece has a clean, focused sound with excellent projection, while maintaining extraordinary versatility.

Designed by Jody Espina, the JodyJazz Norteño alto sax mouthpiece, is the only saxophone mouthpiece around made specifically to meet the needs of the Hispanic saxophonist. Listening to the Hispanic saxophonists, this is an alto mouthpiece that's perfect for whatever your style of Latin Music. Saxophonists who play Rockero, Banda, Norteño, Durangense, Mariachi, Banda, Merengue, Salsa, Cumbia, will find the Norteño is made for them.

The Norteno has the bold sound of a metal mouthpiece with instant upper register response, with the control to stay in tune and the power to be heard as a lead instrument at the price of a high quality Hard Rubber Mouthpiece.

Equipment used: William entry-level saxophone JodyJazz Norteno 6 mouthpiece All equipment distributed and sponsored by Mama Treble Clef Studio and ER Studios

Recorded in ER Studios, arrangement by Eizaz Azhar. Camera & lighting by Ray Lee. Mixed and edited by Eizaz Azhar and Ray Lee. Directed by Ray Lee. For best listening results play video on large external speakers or a good pair of headphones as laptop speakers are unable to reproduce many of the frequencies.

Mama Treble Clef Studio & ER Studios are located at: Lot 3015, 3rd Floor, Endah Parade, Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA Tel : +603-95432201 erstudios.my@gmail.com http://mamatreble.blogspot.com http://erstudios-malaysia.blogspot.com http://guitarempire99.blogspot.com

We are the Official Jodyjazz mouthpiece distributor in Malaysia

2010-05-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

JodyJazz Story - What makes JodyJazz Special? Cool Stuff Innovative state of the art design and production, 3D modeling, CNC Multi Axis Machines, Craftsman detailed hand work. The Right Stuff Quality Control that only passes mouthpieces that look great, measure great and most importantly play great. That's why we have a 7-point inspection test that every mouthpiece must pass before it is approved including the magnified look test, measure test, pop test, and the all important play test. Jody Espina In 1999 Professional NYC Musician/Jazz Educator Jody Espina, met legendary saxophonist and mouthpiece maker Santy Runyon. Runyon ( see Runyon's bio) was the teacher of Espina's boyhood teacher Junie Ferrell. Jody recognized the unique energy and spirit of Santy and Santy recognized Jody's spirit and thirst for knowledge. Santy customized a mouthpiece to Jody's specifications and when Jody was in love with the mouthpiece it was Santy's idea to produce it for Jody and call it the JodyJazz mouthpiece. Word of Mouth Word got out about this special mouthpiece and orders started to pour in to Jody's New York City location. Although fully occupied as a player and teacher Jody saw the potential in a real business in mouthpieces, and over the next six years travelled to Opelousas, Louisina, seven or eight times a year. During this time Espina asked Runyon if he could prototype his own metal mouthpiece in the Runyon factory. Santy graciously agreed and gave Espina cartre blanche in the Runyon factory to work out a newly designed mouthpiece. With the indispensable help of Runyon employees Leroy Guilbeau and Blaine Moran Jody developed the ESP metal mouthpiece for all saxophones.

2010-04-28T20:14:00.000-07:00

Multi-instrumentalist Eizaz Azhar runs through the basics of a drumkit in this crash course video along with a short performance. For those who want to know what the drums are all about, and a brief introduction to the drumkit this video (Beginner's Guide To The Drumkit) is for you! The demo song is called "River Crossing" from the Drummania/Bemani series. Eizaz can be found on Facebook; http://www.facebook.com/mamatreble

Equipment used: Fender Standard Jazz Bass '09 Laney RB9 TAMA Rockstar Drumkit '00 Zildjian/STAGG/SABIAN/Turkish Cymbals All equipment distributed and sponsored by Mama Treble Clef Studio and ER Studios

Mama Treble Clef Studio & ER Studios are located at: Lot 3015, 3rd Floor, Endah Parade, Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA Tel : +603-95432201 erstudios.my@gmail.com

http://mamatreble.blogspot.com

http://erstudios-malaysia.blogspot.com

http://guitarempire99.blogspot.com

Violin Factory Visit

2010-04-24T04:14:00.000-07:00

Scarlatti violin factory visit to Tianjin, China and we manage to complete another violin making courses .This trip is invited by the owner of the violin factory , Mr Deng of The Xiosheng violin factory of Tianjin.The weather here is about 14 Celsius during our visit and we are so amazed by the violin maker enthusiasm towards their job.The violin factory have about 58 workers and divided to a few departments.They have Luthier , carpentry , vanish , spraying, storage and QC department.I must say , they are very professional in handling their job.Everyday they received orders from all over the world.Is our great pleasure to meet a few famous luthier during our visit to China and they willing to share with us all the tips in the art of making violins.The factory can produce approximately 500 violins a day.Indeed is our honour to visit this factory and looking forward to come back here again.

What is a Minuet?

2010-04-18T02:31:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! This is Eizaz here and today I'm here to talk about something called a "minuet". No, not "minute", "minuet". For those of you who study classical music I'm sure you may be wondering what the word means, especially since so many songs that we learn have it as a title!

Basically a minuet is a classical European dance originating from France. Its name is adapted from the Italian word "minuetto" meaning (small/little/delicate - in today's language, cute). The minuet is usually found in 3/4 time, meaning three beats per bar, however some composers have written quicker minuets in the time of 3/8 or even 6/8.

One of the most famous composers to expand the minuet was the Italian composer Jean-Baptiste de Lully, and after him continued by the great composer Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederic Handel. As such many of the European Baroque dances soon fell out of popularity but the minuet survived in many forms and even found its way into full orchestra pieces which are still played until today.

Perhaps one of the most famous of minuets is Bach's Minuet In G, copied from the "Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach", which was a collection of popular pieces of music at the time. It is interesting to note that Bach did not compose the music; the composer of the piece was recognized in the 1970s as Christian Petzold.

Enjoy this piece of lovely music which has lasted for centuries - and many more centuries to come!

Journey to the World of Music in Hong Kong and China

2010-03-23T01:39:00.001-07:00

Good day! I would like to share my journey to Hong Kong and China last weeks with all MTCS students, teachers and customers.First of all the mission is to visit the 12th China Musical Instruments exhibition.Before the exhibition we stop at London based Hong Kong's Madam Tussuad Wax Musuem.A day trip to Hong Kong is quite fun because of the tight schedule and cold weather. We manage to visit the musuem at 12.30pm ,about an hour ago after we landed Chep Lap Kok International airport.Is very convenient to travel in HK with systematic transportation network like MTR and City buses.The people they is very informative and quite helpful.We spend almost 3 hour at the musuem .Is an eye -opener for us , the wax statue is so real and we can't believe our eyes.Many celebraties, sportmans , statemans and legends were display there.Among them is Princess Diana, Mahamat Gandhi , Hitler, Angelina Jolie , Brad Pitt , Maddona , Mozarts ,Micheal Jackson , Elvis Presley , The Beatles ,Anita Mui , Jacky Chan , Bruce Lee , Tiger Woods and many more.We manage to take every picture with all of them.It looks so real and their craftsmanship is the finest in the world.You can't stop taking picture with them.After an amazing journey in the different attraction halls,we check out the the peak for the superb panoramic view of HK city.Later, we went to the Victoria harbour by The Star Ferry service, founded in 1888, and provides scenic views of Hong Kong's skyline for its 53,000 daily passengers to view the most popular HK TVB movie scene - Hong Kong Victoria harbour skyline.Then we took a train to China at night.

A day later we went to the exhibition hall for the World Musical Instruments exhibition , where about 350 musical instruments manufacturer, supplier, retailer ,lovers and entrepreneurs from all over China , Europe and USA had exhibit their products there.Many of the world's top brand like P.Mauriat , Selmer ,Fender ,Gibson , Cremona violins , Marshall ,Steinway and sons had their latest products display there.We can see gu-zheng , er-hu, violins , guitars, drums, pianos , woodwinds like saxophone, tuba , clarinets, African percussion , piano accessories , music books, flutes , accordion and many more.You name it , you see it.We are amaze to see their enthusiastism towards music.Everywhere people play, listen ,appreciate music .Non stop action and movement,from thousand of violins and guitars to hundreds set of drums, from classical voice to heavy distortion effect.This exhibitions is really for hard core musicians like all of you.Musicians are free to test all instruments there.You can test all violins , saxophones ,guitars and drums there and nobody going to stop u. Just whack whatever u like.I can just simply instruct any musician there for demonstration and they feel happy for it.I remember I have just call a young man to test the soprano saxophone from one of the manufacturer booth from Tianjin. Without any hesitation , he just grab the saxophone and play it , wow! This is awesome! You have a lot of freedom there.The manufacturer is happy to see you testing theirs instruments in his booth because your demo can help them sells their products.I think this is the right way in doing musical instruments business.Let the musician have unlimited test but there must be a mutual understanding where you can't simply playing around or making fun of their instruments.Belittle the instruments , sarcastism and criticism among the customers had prevented many Malaysian musical instruments entrepreneurs in Kuala Lumpur in practicing this method. In the afternoon we have stop at this Italian Luthier Marco Piccinotti violins booth and we manage to have a chat with him.He is friendly and outgoing.He invite us to his hometown in San Polo D'enza , Italy.Piccinotti is one of the top ten violin luthier in Italy where he inherited his family skills-the art of making violins.His violins price range from USD 10,000 to USD 50,000.Piccinotti is the one who try to venture the Chinese market and he even created name card ,brochure and leaflet with Chinese characters.Besides him, we met a Malaysian , Mr Lim -he is the supplier for African drums and percussions.He love African instruments and his passion towards this instruments is in infinity.He started to venture this business since 3-4 years ago and he is influcing the mainland Chinese to love the African instruments like djembes, mandinka and ngoma drums. In this expo,we manage to see a lot of latest products like the digital disc piano , colourful violins , digital accordion , digital er hu , antique violins ,latest digital tuner , distortion, stagg amplifiers, concert grand piano and many more.Of course we never seen so many music exhibitors in Malaysia before , is only happen in China , Germany & the America! For all your information , China is the biggest musical instruments manufacturer in the world now.Pearl River is the most sell-able pianos in the world and the music industry there is growing tremendously.With support of 1.5 billion people and their government together with one child policy, every parents are giving their child the best education and music education is part of their menu.I hope one day , Malaysia will have this scenario where all musicians can find their heaven here - variety of musical instrument exhibitors at same roof.We need more music educators, lovers and entrepreneurs to contribute towards Malaysia music industry especially the music education progress.Let's think about the bigger picture and work towards a better Malaysia. For us , is a great experience to visit this expo and will come back again next year.Together we make music education accessible to everyone.

Mozart

2010-03-07T21:16:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody! this is Eizaz here and I will be writing a series of articles about famous composers and their works, both for referance and for the reading interest of the students at Mama Treble Clef Studio. Today's article takes a look at the famed Mozart and the story of his life...

Who was Mozart? Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791), was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers and his influence on subsequent Western music is profound. Beethoven wrote his own early compositions in the shadow of Mozart, of whom Joseph Haydn wrote that "posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years." Mozart was born to his parents Leopold and Anna Maria Pertl Mozart in Salsburg, which is now the capital of Austria. His father Leopold was a minor composer, musician and an experienced teacher. An excerpt from his sister Nannerl's diary says: He often spent much time at the clavier, picking out thirds, which he was always striking, and his pleasure showed that it sounded good. [...] In the fourth year of his age his father, for a game as it were, began to teach him a few minuets and pieces at the clavier. [...] He could play it faultlessly and with the greatest delicacy, and keeping exactly in time. [...] At the age of five he was already composing little pieces, which he played to his father who wrote them down. Mozart's music, like Haydn's, stands as an archetypal example of the Classical style. At the time he began composing, European music was dominated by the style galant: a reaction against the highly evolved intricacy of the Baroque. But progressively, and in large part at the hands of Mozart himself, the contrapuntal complexities of the late Baroque emerged once more, moderated and disciplined by new forms, and adapted to a new aesthetic and social milieu. Mozart was a versatile composer, and wrote in every major genre, including symphony, opera, the solo concerto, chamber music including string quartet and string quintet, and the piano sonata. These forms were not new; but Mozart advanced the technical sophistication and emotional reach of them all. He almost single-handedly developed and popularized the Classical piano concerto. He wrote a great deal of religious music, including large-scale masses: but also many dances, divertimenti, serenades, and other forms of light entertainment.

Undoubtedly one of the most celebrated composers of all time, Mozart was laid to rest on the 5th of December 1791, at the St Marx cemetery outside the city of Salsburg. His birthday is celebrated every year in the form of performances and carnivals, with the 250th celebration in the year 2006.

Manager of Mama Treble Clef Studio with Deputy Education Minister of Malaysia

2010-03-03T23:04:00.000-08:00

Manager of Mama Treble Clef Studio , Mr. Ray Lee shaking hand with Deputy Education Minister of Malaysia , Dato Wee Ka Siong during a brain storming seminar at Bukit Selesa in Pahang recently.At the same time I' m showing a sign of 1Malaysia ,1Music.

Violin Fail

2010-02-25T02:02:00.001-08:00

Lunar New Year Message on Youtube

2010-02-12T19:20:00.000-08:00

Gong Xi Fa Cai

2010-02-09T15:28:00.000-08:00

Mama Treble Clef Studio would like to wish all music students,teachers and customers who celebrated Lunar New Year -A very healthy ,happy and musical New Year.There will be no classes from 13th (Saturday) to 19th (Friday) and class will resume on the 20th February 2010. May the year of tiger will gives your more inspiration and motivation in whatever you do.Remember always be positive and independence.Willing to accept mistake as part of daily life and correct it with the right attitude.Become a problems solver when problem arise .Face it bravely like a tiger and solve it mindfully and intelligently.Tigers are respected for their courage , confident and hard working.Tigers are urgent people and always in a hurry to get things done right, they usually choose to operate alone. Tigers like to work, they are hard-working and dynamic. If you assign a task to a Tiger, the job will be undertaken and accomplished with enthusiasm and efficiency. We hope Mama Treble Clef Studio's students ,teachers and customers will takes tiger's character as an example and generate more good energy towards your daily activities.Lastly , have a safe journey during this festive season.Remember to practice your instruments during this holiday as well.......Together we make music education accessible to everyone.Gong Xi Fa Cai!

2010-01-25T20:47:00.000-08:00

Some of the common damages that happens to a violin are:

* The tailpiece might break.
* The fingerboard might come unglued.
* The bridge of the violin might snap.
* The bow might snap.

Here are some tips on how to take care of your violin:

Avoid Extreme Temperatures
Do not store your violin in or near areas that have extreme changes in temperature, such as in the basement or attic. Violins are very fragile instruments, when they are continuously exposed to temperature changes and humidity, it will eventually break and fall apart.

Good Storage
When you're not using your violin, put it inside a good quality case to ensure protection. Most damages a violin undergo is because of the owner's neglect, such as placing it in areas where it's more exposed to possibilities of damage (i.e. near the sink , fridge , cars or behind a bedroom door).

Too Much Rosin
Rosin is applied to the bow hair causing it to grip the violin strings when playing. Without it, the bow hair will slide across the string without producing any sound. There are two types of rosin: Light Rosin is best suited for warm climates. It's harder and not as sticky as the dark rosin. Dark Rosin is most suited for cool climates, it is softer than the light rosin. Avoid putting too much rosin on the bow as it will drip onto the violin and cause staining.

Invest on Quality Strings
Cheap strings will cause tension on the violin resulting in cracks, warping and other damage.

Do Not Ignore Minor Problems
If you notice a slight damage on your violin, don't wait. Go to an experienced repairman or luthier immediately. Most damages that start out little become huge, not only to the violin, but also to your wallet.

Come and visit us ! We are happy to offer advice, service and sales to anyone interested in music of all kinds - from beginners to professional musicians.

2010-01-11T00:41:00.000-08:00

If you want your musical instrument to perform well, you should take good care of it. It does not matter whether is a cheap or expensive violins, thus it makes perfect sense that you should also learn how to properly maintain it.If you really love music education ,taking care violin is just like taking care your body.Appreciate your violin ,don't treat it like toys.This is an instruments that gives you unforgettable sounds.Wait for the next post for violin maintenance.Have a nice day!

The Australian Kodaly Certificate

2009-12-30T04:13:00.000-08:00

Mama Treble Clef Studio principal Allicia Lim has completed The Australian Kodaly Certificate in Music Education y on 11/12/09.This program is certified by Judith Johnson and Dr. James Cuskelly from Australia.She have a wonderful weekend with this two lovely and talented lecturer and looking forward to see them here again in Malaysia.Together we make music education accessible to everyone!

To all beloved teachers, students and customers, the management would like to wish everybody a Happy Musical Christmas and Happy 2010 !

2009-12-18T03:27:00.000-08:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Eizaz Azhar's Saxophone Tutorial

2009-11-19T21:48:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

This is Eizaz here... And I will be creating my series of tutorial videos for a bunch of different instruments. Part one is up and running; How To Play "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You" on alto saxophone! Stay tuned for part 2 and different videos coming your way!

Micheal J.Fox imitate Chuck Berry

2009-11-08T15:43:00.000-08:00

Im amazed with Chuck Berry 'The Father of Rock n Roll' commitment towards rock and roll music.His inspiration is awesome! Now at the age of 83 born in St. Louis ,Missouri,USA , he is still rocking until today.His famous songs composed between 1957 to 1959, with Berry scoring over a dozen chart singles during this period, including the top 10 U.S. hits- School day, Rock and Roll Music, Maybeline and Johnny B. Goode.His favourite guitar is Gibson ES-355 and ES125.His songs has influenced many Rock and Roll musician all around the world , thats include John Lennon, The Beatles, Eric Clapton, Everly Brothers , B.B King, Led Zeppelin , The Beach Boys and many more.He is a living legend.

Photo of the Day

2009-10-20T18:21:00.001-07:00

A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence. ~Leopold Stokowski

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. ~Berthold Auerbach

All deep things are song. It seems somehow the very central essence of us, song; as if all the rest were but wrappages and hulls! ~Thomas Carlyle

If the King loves music, it is well with the land. ~Mencius

Without music life would be a mistake. ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music. ~Gustav Mahler

Why waste money on psychotherapy when you can listen to the B Minor Mass? ~Michael Torke

Eizaz Azhar's Minus Ones Available For Download (yes, they are free...)

2009-10-20T09:39:00.001-07:00

Due to the overwhelming number of requests I have received, I have decided to put up the song Untukmu Malaysia/Baktiku Hanya Untukmu in a minus sax version for download. And yes, it's free... I apologise for not being able to produce a score as I played the song by ear the whole way through (not to mention a spontaneous solo) but you should be able to get the cues from the video clip! Thank you for all your kind comments and I will do better the next time round as well as creating more play-along tracks and videos for your viewing/playing/listening/~~profiteering/leeching/illegally selling~~ pleasure. Feel free to post comments or even a video response of your own playing and have fun! Here's the link; http://rapidshare.com/files/295580032/Untukmu.mp3

-Eizaz Azhar

Hello again! Teacher Brien's here!

2009-10-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

Hey there all you Mama Treble Clef Studio's followers! I've just started my own blog: http://www.briensax.blogspot.com/ So if you're looking for some cool stuff or tips or information on classes for clarinet and saxophone, just hop on over and take a look! Students of mine will have further access to downloads, sheet music, and more at http://www.brienstudents.blogspot.com/ So come take a look ok?! :-)

A Musical Tribute to 1Malaysia - Untukmu Malaysia Instrumental

2009-10-04T19:38:00.000-07:00

This is a musical tribute to our nation and its people. The song "Untukmu Malaysia", sometimes called "Baktiku Hanya Untukmu", is a Malaysian patriotic song composed during the early 90s. This instrumental recording of this beautiful tune is performed and arranged by multi-instrumentalist Eizaz Azhar on all instruments. Here are the lyrics to sing along;

Verse 1 Padamu Malaysiaku berjanji, Padamu ku akan mengabdi, Seluruh jiwa dan raga ku serahkan, Demi kejayaan bangsa Verse 2 Aman, makmur, damai, sejahtera, Akan ku junjung dan ku jaga, Bersatu rela jujur setia, Membela bangsa tercinta Chorus Syukur selalu kepada ilahi, Atas segala rahmatNya, Malaysiaku negara maju jaya, Baktiku hanya untukmu Repeat Verse 2 & Chorus to end

Clockwise from top; alto saxophone, percussion, drumkit, electric guitar, electric bass and digital piano-Recorded in ER Studios, arrangement by Eizaz Azhar. Video & lighting by Ray Lee. Mixed and edited by Eizaz Azhar. For best listening results play video on large external speakers or a good pair of headphones as laptop speakers are unable to reproduce many of the frequencies.

Fritz Kriesler Liebesfreud

2009-09-03T00:15:00.000-07:00

Liebesfreud (Love's Joy) by the Austrian composer Fritz Kreisler. Performed by Igor Palchikov and Eizaz Azhar in a contemporary arrangement. Recorded in ER Studios. Igor Palchikov: Violin & Arrangement / Eizaz Azhar: Bass, Guitar, Drums.

Freedom to Win by T-Square

2009-09-01T07:26:00.000-07:00

Couple of years ago when I was introduced by Mr Eizaz about this multi-instrumentalist band from Japan , T-Square , I was amazed by their song.Their song is so melodic and rhythmic with fusion inspiration.T-Square is a Japanese jazz fusion band that was formed in 1978. Its most successful lineup included guitarist Masahiro Andoh, bassist Mitsuru Sutoh, saxophonist, flutist and EWI player Takeshi Itoh, keyboardist Hirotaka Izumi, and drummer Hiroyuki Noritake. They are known for songs such as Truth, Japanese Soul Brothers, Takarajima, and Omens of Love among others. Truth was used as the theme for Japan's Formula One (F1) racing events from 1989 to 2000.The band also famous in composing many video games song such as 'Need for Speed'.

Since the band had composed many car racing song I decided to shoot my BMW car during a holiday trip to Genting Highland and I choose this ' Freedom to Win' song to merge with the video.Is really works!This song really blends with the video clip and the outcome is awesome! If you notice, there's a lot of guitar solo or heavy distortion in most of the racing ,explosive,war or any action pack movie such as Transformer -Linkin Park ,Apollo 13-Aerosmith ,Fast and Furious- Limp Bizkit.The effect of electric guitar sounds makes those movie more lively and excited.In US market ,there's a huge market for Rock and Roll band and the demand keep on increasing due to huge Hollywood movie's market.Every year ,more than a dozen of Rock and Roll band become millionaire due to their song composition around the globe.Band like Linkin Park , Green Day , Maroon 5 , Glay (Japanese) ,U2 , Metallica , Gun and Roses ,Beyond (Hong Kong) , Peter Pan (Indonesia), Paradox (Thailand) and many more had build up their fortune in few years time.So sit back and relax, enjoy this clip with Freedom to Win!

Really Love U

2009-08-27T17:49:00.000-07:00

Good Day!Let me introduce my band members for this song ,Bassist -Torro Cheng , Pianist-Eizaz Azhar , Guitarist - Voon Onn.Please excuse me for not updating the blog for a while because of my busy schedule.I being running up and down for some marketing in town.Today Im posting one of my performance video in my studio during one of my teacher's mini recital.This song called 'Really Love U' in English is made popular by Hong Kong band 'Beyond' http://welovebeyond.blogspot.com/ back in the 80s and 90s.For me , I still appreciate those song during my childhood's time.I still remember those day I listened to all kind of song like New Kids on the Block , Micheal Jackson , Man Bai , Gun n Roses,Sudirman , Beyond , Alan Tam , Phantom of the Opera and etc , and it gives me a lot of good memory that I forgotten.Sometimes I feel gratitude for my career where I can enjoy listening live music from all walks of life.Honestly , people sometimes forget what is life? I seen so many people rushing for money ,building up wealth for many many years but when they achieve it in 20 years time they themselve become too stiff to enjoy life.Let's the humour decorate your life.So sit back and relax ,don't complain too much about your life , in order to bring happiness ,you must enjoy it .Happiness is not ready made ,it is an energy comes from your own action and speeches.When is the last time u said 'I Love U' to your loves one?

The Mobile Stage

2009-07-22T05:28:00.000-07:00

The future of having concert is so convenient with mobile stage development.Just provide the musician and come on time and the mobile stage will handle the rest.Our vision is to own a mobile stage and give free concert and music education throughout Malaysia.Those who interested on making this dream come true, can email us and share your opinion and suggestion with us.May the determination and passion of the Mama Treble Clef Studio's musician and staff, this project will become reality.Together we make music education accessible to everyone.

Eizaz Azhar performed at the Road to Hollywood reality show

2009-07-20T01:23:00.000-07:00

Paying Tribute to Micheal Jackson

2009-06-28T00:01:00.001-07:00

(1958-2009)

I was introduced to the world of western music through MJ's album, Thriller, back in 1982. One of my favourite songs is 'Man in the Mirror', a song written about society and the people around him. I grew up with Micheal ,one of my childhood favourite singer, Micheal Jackson passed away on June 25, 2009 at the age of 51 years old in Los Angeles, USA. Born as Micheal Joseph Jackson, he was a greatly talented singer, composer, dancer,choreographer, producer and businessman.He started to sing in his Jackson 5 band at the age of 5 and by age 11, MJ was a superstar. At age 13 he went solo and had his first No.1 hit "Ben" (a touching love song to a rat). MJ was one of the artists who managed to combine rock, soul ,R 'n' B and modern music in all of his songs and I think his creativity and passion has influenced the music industry in the world tremendously.MJ famous hits includes thriller, bad, beat it, man in the mirror, billie jeans,heal the world,dangerous,black or white , rock with you ,earth song and etc I remember when he was in KL, I went to Concorde Hotel and saw him walking up to his Limo. I don't treat him like an idol nor I treat him like superstar - I just respect him as an honest artist, not his personality nor his private life. Whenever bad press statements about him were released, I ignored them all and just concentrated on his music. He is a genius who brought joy and happiness to all his fans around the world. I still prefer his 80s image and I believe that this black and white (11 years old) picture is Micheal's happiest moment, his face so innocent and naive.Research had shown that Micheal Jackson billie jean's moonwalking is more well-known that the first man walking on moon by American Astronaut Neil Armstrong.MJ had more than 700 million fans in the world.He is one of the few artist in the world who awarded the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice and a multiple Guiness World Record for the highest record sold and most successful entertainer at all time. Although he is no longer around but his songs will live forever.Your music will never die. May you rest in peace, King Of Pop!

Teacher Zen Lee's piano and violin student Mini Recital

2009-06-19T02:03:00.000-07:00

Mama Treble Clef Studio would like to thank all students who performed at Teacher Zen Lee's mini recital on the 13th of June 2009. About 20 violin and piano students under Teacher Zen Lee participated in the recital and it is a good experience to all the new performers who showed a lot of courage in playing. All students performed well and did their best to showcase their talents. We would like to thank all parents for their unconditional support and encouragement towards their children. Well done to Koh Zi Xuan, Koh Hui Xian, Brian Lock , Yann Fuu, Eaimman, Qistina, Chow Catherine, Eve Ng, Lian Nikki & Lian Vickki, Preston Tan, Chee Wen Yi, Helena, Ker Yee Chien, Leong Xin Yi . Please remember, practise makes perfect. To Teacher Zen Lee; keep up the good teaching - music education requires a lot of collaboration and understanding between the teacher, school, parents and students. May this mini recital give your students more inspiration and motivation towards their music education. The recital ended with a guitar and vocal performance by Mr. Eizaz and Mr. Voon Onn singing 'Kau Ilhamku'.

*Picture by Ellie Chea

Together we make music education accessible to everyone!

Music competition

2009-06-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

Hey you all, Brien signing on again... Well, a couple of updates, the WCOPA competition is over and well, iunfortunately yours truly is not on a plane to Hollywood in July. But it was a memorable experience neverthe less and I certainly made some great friends... OK, now to all the followers of Mama Treble's Blog, there is a music competition going on at Sunway Convention Center on August 29th. Closing date for entries is on 10th July. For Everything to do with it visit http://www.myof.org.my/ The sum of it is that it is a music competition for all instruments including piano, voice, guitar, and percussion, and it has several categories of competition ranging from Preliminary Grade till above Diploma. Genre is classical or Modren /JAzz, in Solo or chamber ensembles. Well on a personal note, now i'm on holiday and enjoying myself. :-) MUsic lives forever... Singing out now, Brien Chia

Co-Sponsor and Co-Organiser souvenir presentation by VVIP to Ms Allicia Lim ,Principal of Mama Treble Clef Studio

2009-06-13T00:23:00.000-07:00

From left Organising Chairman Mr G.T Tan, Deputy Education Minister Dato Wee Ka Siong, Secretary General of MCA Dato Wong Foon Meng, Principal of Mama Treble Clef Studio Ms Allicia Lim and MCA Youth Selangor Dr Kow Cheong Wei posing a picture after the souvenir presentation to co-sponsor and co-organiser for 'A Green Symphony' concert on 7/6/09 at Segi University. The concert was attended by a 1000 strong crowd held in-conjunction with the World Enviroment Day and jointly organised by MCA Selangor Youth, CMG Sound And Light, Pro-Star, Segi University College, ER Studios and Mama Treble Clef Studio. The concert entitled 'Movie Spectacular' attracted many music lovers from around Klang Valley. "I have seen many orchestras before but I never felt this excitement especially the Star Wars theme song, amazing! Two thumbs up!" - Ms Lai from Damansara "A once in a lifetime concert, world class musicians with wonderful theme songs" - Mr Hisham Ali from Ampang "Normally I see the orchestra with my wife and I feel sleepy but this concert made me excited!" - Mr David Lee from Rawang

Green Symphony Concert Finale-Paying tribute to all musician

2009-06-12T23:26:00.000-07:00

Thank you all music lovers! The planet would be very lonely without you. Your enthusiasm and effort is the greatest merit of all - may this concert will bring you to another level of success. Together we shall make music education accessible to all Malaysians.

Oskar Musaev singing 'Believe' from The Polar Express Soundtrack

2009-06-10T02:24:00.000-07:00

Wonderful voice! Oskar Musaev singing 'Believe' from The Polar Express Soundtrack during 'A Green Symphony' concert in Segi Unversity College recently. The song 'Believe' was written by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri was nominated for Best Original Song at the 77th Academy awards, sung at the 77th Academy Awards show by Josh Groban with Beyonces Knowles. It gained a Grammy Award in 2006. Mr. Oskar, I don't think you sound like Josh Groban but you sound better than him with your own style.

For the concert, it ended with a memorable experience when everybody was overwhelmed by the acoustic sound of the music performed. I personally feel very touched with the commitment and passion shown by all musicians. My daughter asked me to buy the Phantom of the Opera and Jurassic Park DVD after the concert - do you see how influential music is? Music had generated positive energy to the audience and brought happiness to all on that night. This the right way, to everybody let go of rank and file to enjoy the music. Seconds seem like hours, do you remember the movie 'Titanic'? The last part when the ship completely sank? Remember 5 musicians still playing double bass and violin untill the last moment, giving their best performance to the panicking crowd running upside down? You may think this only happens in movie but I don't think so... I believe these kind of musicians are out there. A Green Symphony musicians are part of them. Finally, after 3 months of preparation, the concert is over with success. You guys keep up the good work, one day you will become a shining star. A heartfelt thanks to all who made this happen:

Dr. Kow, G.T. Tan, Allicia Lim, Mayya Musaeva, Oskar Musaev, Eizaz, Kevin Tew, Dat'o Chia, Wong, William, Buck, Alice Wong, Sook Luan, Jasmine, Mrs Tan, Chee Seng, San San, Dato' Kayoom, Datin Sarah, Jason Kok, Mandy Kaw, Mr Quah, Mee Ling, Leng Li, Retallick and many more. I salute you. Thank you for your unconditional support towards this concert. Together we make music education accessible to every Malaysian

-Ray Lee

Teacher Alice Wong's Musikgarten Mini recital

2009-05-31T02:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday is Teacher Alice Wong Musikgarten Mini Recital proudly present by Mama Treble Clef Studio.The participants seem to be very excited before their performance.We have kids as small as 5 years performing in this mini recital.We are proud to see all of them play very well, and the most important is the commitment and passion they shown during their performance.We would like to thanks the parents for their precious time and unconditional support towards the school and the children.With the co-operation between parents ,teachers and the school management towards Musikgarten programme ,we believe we can create a better understanding and inspiration among the students.We also would like to thank teacher Alice Wong for her great teaching and commitment toward this programme as well.Lastly to all participants -Goh Li Zhe , Lee Zi Jing , Hazel Chan , Lai Jing Ern , Eugene Phang , Chan Li Yen and Goh Li Fang keep up the good works and remember practise makes perfect.Together we make music education accessible to everyone.Thank you!

A Green Symphony road show at Jaya 1 , PJ

2009-05-22T20:55:00.000-07:00

A Green Symphony, a musical concert that will be shown this coming 7th June 2009 did a Publicity & Awareness Campaign in Jaya One, Petaling Jaya. The main objective of the campaign is to create awareness to the public about this event. I’m sure the show will be a great show & those who will be joining, will definitely enjoy themselves there.The campaign was pretty happening & hot yesterday. 8TV crew members also came to make the campaign more merrier with some contest going on in Jaya One and if you win the contest, you’ll get some prizes, cool? Yea, it is..The performance started by Madam Mayya Musaeva on keyboard and 2 violinist. Then there was a brass band that played few songs and followed by Mayya Musaeva by playing the violin. She played superb sound with the violin.It was indeed a fun & exciting preview with with the musicians. If you’re keen to join the musical concert,

do visit the “A Green Symphony” official blog now and get your ticket. The cheapest ticket for the night is only RM10!! The concert will beheld at Segi College, Kota Damansara, 7th June 2009.Later on, the last performance by Eizaz Azhar and the band made the entire place even high & hot by playing funky & modern music. It was all about the music and the entire lead musician was Eizaz Azhar. He played the saxophone & clarinet yesterday and everyone enjoyed the show.

Wilson Lema performing with his ancient Quena

2009-05-19T05:33:00.000-07:00

Wilson Lema or 'Southern Spirit' was born in Ecuador, South America and is currently living in New York, USA. He is a full time performer for 12 years and has given many performances throughout USA, Canada, Europe and Asia. His major is in 3 instruments; the quena, quenacho, pan flute and cidar flute, all of them made of bamboo and cedar wood. The native American Flute is an instrument known for its simplicity, it focuses more in the spiritual realm than the technical. There's liberation in its limited five hole construction which frees the player to focus on deep levels of expression. His music ranges from pop, native American and Inca melodies. Basically his songs sound very traditional, soothing and soulful and are normally recorded in Nashville,Tennessee USA. His famous hits includes "Ancient Dreams", "Cherokee River", "Inca Trail", "Sacred Love" and "Dreams Of The Wind". His music is a testiment of his life and his ancestors. We hope that these songs serve as a tribute to the past and mother earth. May the hunting sound of the native American flute inspires you to step back from the busy world and contemplate the deep and lasting truths of our existance.

Hey People, make music!

2009-05-18T01:55:00.000-07:00

(picture shows the RTM2 crew shooting a TV programme with Brien Chia playing his clarinet for the World Stars: Road to Hollywood reality show recently. Brien Chia was one of the finalists for this programme and outclassed hundreds of hopefuls nationwide. For everybody's information Brien Chia is also a first clarinettist for the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and is talented in other instruments like guitar,p iano, saxophone and keyboard. Mama Treble Clef Studio Firstly, I'd like to introduce myself. You could call me Brien, and I'm a saxophone and clarinet teacher who's really proud to be affiliated with Mama Treble Clef Studios. I'm writing this to thank Mama Treble for inviting to be a contributor to their blog. As perhaps some of you may have known, Mama Treble Clef Studios has been expanding online. just google it to find out! And i am deeply honored to be able to contribute to this important development. How should i start? NOw as you can perhaps infer from the posts below mine, Mama Treble Clef Studios has been getting really active in providing quality oppurtunities for budding Malaysian music lovers to further learn, perform, and enjoy music, from all around the globe. My congrats to Miss Grace and her proteges for their successful event! Now isn't sharing the music what we all strive so hard for? Now, as for me, I've had a long and fruitful relationship with Mama Treble Clef Studios, and am assured with its quality of service, classes, and even sales! we here at Mama Treble Clef Studios emphasize on the upmost enjoyment and effectiveness in our teaching, and we strive to make sure that you, the student, or fellow performer, or concert attendee, or wannabe student, enjoy the best results and most memorable experiences from learning or playing or jamming with us. So, with the Upcoming "A Green Symphony" concert just around the corner, i'd urge all of you who so happen to glance by this blog, to come, and help us, and yourself, make music. signing out, Brien

Teacher Grace Tan's Mini Recital

2009-05-17T05:45:00.000-07:00

Teacher Grace Tan Mini Recital organised by Mama Treble Clef Studio. The purpose for this mini recital is to encourage all the young students to perform in front of a crowd and at the same time gather around to discuss their passion and enthusiasm on violin education. We always emphasize on music students gathering, enable them to make friends and to form an ensemble or a band. Every teacher from Mama Treble Clef Studio will arrange a mini concert twice a year. From this mini recital , we can see them practise endlessly and try their best to face the crowd. We always believe that music education will grow based on four aspects;

1) Teacher. A teacher's role is to teach, inspire and correct mistakes.

2) Music School. The centre/school will give them a proper venue, motivation, organise concerts & workshops.

3) Friends. Friends give them support, offer companionship and become an audience.

4) Parents. Parents also give them encouragement, support and financial back up. These four aspects will either make or break the student, not only in music education but also towards other subjects.

Photo 2 - The principal of Mama Treble Clef Studio presenting a bouquet of flowers to Teacher Grace Tan after the mini recital. The participants also received a certificate of attendance from Allicia Lim. We would like to thank all the students, parents and teachers who took part in this recital. Thank you to Sook Luan, Voon Onn, Cheng Ping Xuan, Allicia, Grace Tan, Goh Li Fang, Qisthina, Chai Wei Qi, Kenneth Chin, Chia Tze San, Kevin Wong, Hooi Ching, Hui En, Eng Shen, Mandy Lee, Matthew Lee, Anindya and Eka. You played very well and keep up the good work!

Remember practice makes perfect. Cheers!

Improvise with students from Sekolah Menengah Pendidikan Khas Cacat Penglihatan, Setapak

2009-05-16T22:31:00.000-07:00

This video was taken during our joint sponsorship with Standard Chartered Bank on 28th April 2009 at Sekolah Menengah Pendidikan Khas Cacat Penglihatan, Setapak. Eizaz has fun with the blind students and jams the John Lennon song 'Let It Be' without any rehearsal. The students really can play just by hearing along without mising any beats. All of them looks so excited for the next song!

These blind students are gifted with improvisation skills but for those out there, blessed with healthy eyes, please utilise it and don't create excuses that you have no time to practise. No time to read score, no time to polish or maintain your instruments, no time to perform, too shy to play - then what's the point of you coming for music lessons? If really force by parents and merely come to fulfill your parents wish, then you are just fooling around with time and money. We are here to teach you not only to play music but to become more indepedent in whatever you do. Treat music education as like your daily life. If you can create thousands of excuses not to practise your instruments than you also can create thousand of excuses not to do your school homework. If you can create excuses not to attend music class than you can create excuses for something else. So often, we hear from students ,"I want to stop music class because of school exams," and then they dissappear forever.They create excuse. How many students are really fall in love and understand music? Even the parents themselves create excuses and support their children. Now we know why Malaysia never produces champions in any fields, because to become a champion y ou must go through a lot of hard work and obstacles. Never give up under any circumstances.

We are not here not to teach you to create excuses, but we are here to teach you to become a problem solver! Your string just broke? Try to fix it by yourself. Instruments out of tune? Try to tune it yourself.

Never say the words, "don't know", "cannot", "not sure", "very hard" etc. These words will lead you to nowhere. You must say, "I will try my best", "OK", "no problem", "I'll check it out". These are positive words that lead you to somewhere. Imagine a blind man can play better than you? What is your excuse? Believe me, a little change will bring you tremendous results.

Junk playing "Omens Of Love" for the upcoming Green Symphony Charity Concert

2009-05-12T05:25:00.000-07:00

Eizaz and Toro Cheng performing Live at RTM2 with Aswara Big Band

2009-05-03T02:09:00.000-07:00

Well Done! Eizaz and Toro Cheng playing saxophone and piano respectively during the TV2 programme 'A Jazz Tribute to Malaysian Songs' in front of the Information and Cultre, Art and Heritage Minister live.

3 years old Lee Shen Shuen performing with live band

2009-04-27T23:55:00.000-07:00

Good Day to all parents, friends and students! I would like to share with you about this recording. Shot 6 months ago,me and my 2 daughters, Lee Shen Shuen 3 1/2 years old, Lee Shen Yi 7 1/2 years old and Lee Voon Onn (my youngest brother) were jamming in ER Studios. At first I decided to have a quick jam with my brother and suddenly Shen Shuen grabbed the mic and said she want to join us. Without any hesitation we welcome her. She suggested that she want to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, so we find the chord and for the first time she can come in without any errors! We just continued... And she followed the rhythm and finished the whole song. We are surprised at her ability in catching up the melody of the music. She sings well, we never train her to do so. We never push her to learn any instruments and always let her be herself (except learning Musikgarten). At Mama Treble Clef Studio we always believe that, sometimes the unconditional love given by the parents has the capability to make your children become independent. Your love has the ability to inspire them to become more creative and to make them more vibrant. Don't ask for return when you give or buy them things, your kids are not a tool for investment. Look at below for a better understanding in nuturing your child in music education:

1) Never belittle your child’s efforts. 2) Don’t threaten to stop his lessons if he doesn’t practice. Threats can work during periods of high motivation in music but may boomerang during a “growing pain” period. The day may come when he will remind you of your threat and insist that you make good on it. 3) Don’t criticize your child in the presence of others, especially the teacher. The teacher has skillfully built up a good relationship with your child, and his loss of face will tend to undermine it. Speak to the teacher, and only the teacher, privately about problems. 4) Your financial investment in your child’s music lessons pays its dividends through the skills he acquires over the years, not by the amount of his classes, nor in how much he plays for you or your guests. 5) Remember you are giving your child a music education for his artistic use, for his self-expression and development, and for his pleasure. Don’t expect him as a child to be grateful for your sacrifices. 6) Try not to prevent your child from upgrading his or her instrument when the instrument cannot cope with the child's capabilities. Doing so will only result in slowing down the child's progress - if the parent has doubts, a brief discussion with the principal is encouraged. 7) The child's gratitude will come years later when he or she can play and enjoy music as an adult.

8) Respect their decision. Make them feel that you give them right to choose and speak.

9) Not to pamper them with rewards in everything they do. They will end up materialistic.

10) Don't criticise others in front of your children and vice versa, you will potray yourself as a sarcastic and hypocrite.

These golden rules not only make your child to become good in music education but as a human being. Let them grown up to become a person who can contribute his or her wisdom and intelligent to the society, not someone who abuses his or her wisdom and intelligence as selfish individual. Thank you for viewing!

* Lee Shen Shuen is using a Samson Q8 microphone

Kevin Wong,Wong Hui En,Tan Hooi Ching Violin Rehersal

2009-04-26T02:49:00.000-07:00

Teacher Grace Tan's students in action.Well done for the first rehersal for next mini recital! They are all using violins between RM400 to RM1,000, and are able to produce a wonderful sound. These students really have passion and determination towards their music education. We are proud of you. Guess what strings they use? Strings made in China of stainless steel cost around RM18 per set. These strings sound very sharp and vibrate a lot of steel overtones. It is advisable to use synthetic core or semi-synthetic core violin strings to create a good, round tone.Allocate more budget more strings. We at Mama Treble Clef Studio always emphasize that you don't always rely on expensive instruments to produce a good sound - sometimes you must master the fundamentals then you move on to expensive instruments.

It does not mean we encourage you to buy 'ciplak' or 'cap palang' instruments but we recommend you to buy a good student instrument to start up with. Branded instruments will not neccessarily produce good sounds or be of good quality. It may be of a good brand but you must test and listen first, as everything depends on the quality control of the instrument. Of course branded instruments are expensive (and expensive means better quality control, manufacturing, R&D, etc) but sometimes unbranded instruments can be better (depending on instrument, however; electronic equipment such as keyboards, mixers and speakers must be of a good brand in order to function well).

Listening ability is a must and do not be attracted by the outlook of the instruments. The first criteria to choose an instrument is by the sound and playability, and apart from a few other minor issues that should be the priority and not the brand, colour, outlook, design, etc. Sometimes a slight modification on the instruments will make sounds different, sounds better. We don't want to commercialise music education in Malaysia and make it an expensive affair. For beginners, you can always buy an average RM 350 to RM1000 (if you have the budget) and change the strings (recommended brands are Dominant, Pirasto, D'addario, Thomas-Instfield) If your violins falls under RM1,000 category, do not use the original strings on the violin that you bought (at least not for a long period).

Cheap violin always come with cheap wood and laminated plywood. When it comes to tuning, expect the tuning pegs to give you a lot of trouble as the tuning will go flat and the tuning pegs will bounce back because of the low quality of the wood. It can, however be modified and be made better... The golden rule still applies to everything though; what you pay for is what you get. You can fine-tune and polish up some aspects of a cheap instrument but some aspects are built in - i.e. a Kancil can always be modified to be faster than a Mercedes, but the interior and build quality can never be changed.

The country of the manufacturer is not an important issue when choosing violin (especially when you are on a low budget). Many people prefer violins from Germany & Italy but let me tell you, many of the European countries are importing violins from China as well, just rebranded it and make it "European". For your information, China has emerged as the largest violin manufacturer and exporter in the world! Genuine European violins are very expensive, ranging from USD5,000 to USD 40,000.

Dominant series violin strings are one of the most widely-used synthetic strings. A highly flexible, multi-strand nylon core makes these comparable in sound and feel to natural gut. Its multi-strand perlon core offers the tonal warmth of gut, without its disadvantages. Made in Austria. Various models are available with a price range between RM140-RM190.

Pirastro as the world-wide leading manufacturer of strings has gained extensive knowledge since 1798. During all this time gut strings have been considered as the most beautiful sounding strings. However, the violists’ expectations to easiness of handling made gut strings to be less accepted. Today Pirastro offers an alternative to the needs of violists with its new Passione for viola: The gut string for the 21st century! Please read below the product description. Pirasto Tonica , made in Germany has upgraded string construction, livelier open and direct tone, with less side noises. Recommended to all violin students, price range between RM120-RM18o.

Video above: Pachabel Canon in 'D' violin practise and rehersal. Kevin Wong, Hooi Ching Hui En is using the F.Scarlatti version of violin. Eizaz on drums, Mr Cheng on Bass guitar and Benny on keyboard. Check out the next video next week! Thank you for viewing.

Mama Treble Clef Studio Co-Organiser for the upcoming Charity Concert 'A Green Symphony'

2009-04-20T22:50:00.000-07:00

Clockwise From Left Conductor: Mdm Mayya Musaeva Saxophone & Clarinet: Eizaz Azhar Double Bass: Dahlia Diyana Violin: Liu-Yi Retallick Violin: Wong Lu Ee Trombone: Mustaqim Abdullah Good News! Dato Seri Ng Yen Yen, our very own Minister of Tourism of Malaysia has confirmed that she will be attending 'A Green Symphony ' charity concert organised by the MCA Selangor Youth alongside the Istana Budaya Youth Orchestra on the 7th of June 2009. We are calling all music lovers throught Malaysia to join us to make this concert a memorable event for everyone. Check it out! The objective of the Green Symphony concert is simple;- To create awareness on how our lifestyle is affecting the planet- To showcase young local talents- To create an exciting event for the youth of today to enjoyThe concert will be held in SEGi College Kota Damansara from 6:30PM onwards. There will be a variety of different shows ranging from hip-hop dances to local bands and of course the stars of the show, the National Youth Orchestra and its members.

Eizaz Azhar Makes It To The Semi-Finals of the Road To Hollywood Reality TV Show

2009-04-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

Mama Treble Clef Studio in-house teacher and multi-instrumentalist Eizaz Azhar has managed to reach the semi-finals of the Road To Hollywood reality TV show! Congratulations Eizaz, we are very proud of your achievement! Catch him at 10PM every Tuesday on RTM2! Videos coming soon...

Johnny B. Goode played by Mr Eizaz Azhar on keyboard, sax, bass and guitar

2009-04-17T06:25:00.000-07:00

Amazing! Next clip Eizaz will play clarinet, percussion, saxophone, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards and flute at the same time. Stay tuned!

Trinity Exam Syllabus Briefing

2009-04-16T06:16:00.000-07:00

Pix 1-On the 8/4/09 , we invited Mr Eugene Lim from Trinity Malaysia gave out teachers a briefing on Trinity London Exam Syllabus.The briefing last about one and a half hour with slide presentation ,and the response is very fruitful.The briefing attended by 10 music teachers from Mama Treble Clef Studio.The briefing ends with a souvenir presentation by Allicia Lim, the principle of Mama Treble Clef Studio to Eugene Lim. Pix 2- A copy of the Trinity Exam Grade 7 Piano Syllabus (Teaching Notes) book

Musician & Teacher List

2009-04-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

Mama Treble Clef Studio Management
Principal: Mdm Allicia Lim
Showroom Manager: Mr Ray Lee
School Administrator: Ms Chum
Music Consultant : Mr. Eizaz Azhar
Showroom/Studio Supervisor: Voon Onn

Teachers
Guitar/Bass: Mr Eddie Lee, Mr Mustaffa Ramly, Mr Chan, Mr Tan Howe Qin, Mr Eizaz Azhar ,Voon Onn
Piano: Ms Zen Lee, Ms Allicia Lim, Mr Toro Cheng, Mr Eizaz Azhar
Musikgarten:Ms Alice Wong
Violin: Ms Grace Tan, Mr Ashkan ,Ms Allicia Lim, Ms Zen Lee

Keyboards: Mr Toro Cheng, Mr Eizaz Azhar
Saxophone/Clarinet: Mr Brien Chia, Mr Eizaz Azhar

Drumkit: Mr Eizaz Azhar
Band Co-Ordination: Mr Eizaz Azhar, Toro Cheng

2008-07-15T00:22:00.001-07:00

Pix 1. Lee & Allicia , the founders of Mama Treble Clef Studio

Pix 2. International Steinway & Sons piano artist Adam Gyorgy from Hungary having a chat with MTCS principal Ms. Allicia Lim

Pix 1. Allicia Lim with Ms Karin Greenhead , Principal Lecturer in Dalcroze Eurhthmics, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, United Kingdom.

Pix 2. Lee having a chat with Prime Minister Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at Education Exhibition in PWTC 2006

Pix 3. Lee with former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir

Company Profile

MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO was founded in the year 2002. As of today, the establishment consists of over 300 music students, and a dedicated team of staff willing to take on any challenge. Mama Treble Clef Studio offers a comprehensive list of music courses, event management, recording , performing, musical instruments trading and talents training.Our established music examination all under international bodies such as the Musikgarten USA ,Trinity London, Kodaly Australia,London College of Music ,ABRSM schools of music from United Kingdom. We provide comprehensive of music lesson like piano, violin, guitar, keyboard, musikgarten , saxophone, flute, clarinet, drum and percussion.

Pix 1. Recording and Jamming Studio

Pix 2. Ms Alice Wong having an enjoyable time with her Cycle of Season students

Pix 1. Merdeka Celebration with students and parentsPix 2-Mr Eizaz Azhar , the multi-instrumentalist & first clarinettist of Malaysia

Pix 2. Mr Eizaz Azhar , the multi-instrumentalist & first clarinettist of Malaysia

National Youth Orchestra (Orkestra Simfoni Remaja)

It is our great honour to have Mr Eizaz Azhar, teacher and supervisor of Mama Treble Clef Studio appointed as Principal Clarinet to the National Youth Symphony Orchestra. A young and talented multi-instrumentalist, Mr Eizaz Azhar is plays Clarinet, Digital & Acoustic Drum, Flute, Saxophone, Bass Guitar, Keyboard and Piano. From left: Ms Allicia Lim, principal of Mama Treble Clef Studio; Ms Azy, Clarinet player; Mr Eizaz Azhar, National Youth Symphony Orcherstra First Clarinettist.

Pix 1. Mr Eizaz Azhar & Mr Alfyan at Istana Budaya

Pix 2. From left Mr. Eizaz Azhar , Ms. Mayya Musaeva, OSR Conductor, Mr.Mustafa Fuzer Nawi, NSO Conductor. Picture taken at Istana Budaya.

Pix 1. Mr Eizaz Azhar jamming with his friends at Istana Budaya

Pix 2. Eizaz with Simon Phillips, the world renowned drummer for super groups such as Toto, Steve Vai, Olivia Newton Jones.

THE INCA MELODY..... MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO proudly presents Mr.Wilson Lema, an American also known by his Native American name 'Southern Spirit', is a performer at his own country with rich traditional music. Born in Equador, Wilson has played his instruments for over 12 years and has given many performances throughout the United States from San Francisco to Manhattan, Europe , Asia and Malaysia. His three main instruments, the Quena, Panflute and Sidir, all descendants of Native American instruments are all used to perform his music which ranges from popular hits to ancient Red Indian and Inca melodies. He now lives in New York as a performer. "I come here to promote my lovely traditional Inca song to all of you. I hope these songs serve as a tribute to the past, to our mother earth and the great spirit", said Wilson. We at MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO are proud to present Mr.Wilson "Southern Spirit" Lema.

Pix 2. Mr Wilson Lema posing with MTCS staff and students after his mini-recital

MTCS 2008 Concert Theme Black & White

Pix 1. Clarinet Trio by Azy , Brien and Eizaz

Pix 2. Piano solo by Foo Cheng Shin and Chin Kar Men

Pix 1. Excellent performance by Kevin Wong and Grace Tan on violin

Pix 2. Brien Chia from Malaysia Philharmonic Youth Orchestra on clarinet and Eizaz Azhar on keyboard

Pix 1. Ms Allicia Lim conducting the children choir during the 2008 concert

Pix 2. Wong Hui En and Mr Lim
Pix 3. Brien Chia on clarinet solo

Rock Out 2008

2008-07-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

Pix 1 Mr Wilson Lema from Ecuador playing his traditional instrument, Quena .Believe me,his music will calm your soul. Pix 2 The Casablanca showing their skill in alternative rock. Pix 1-The Double Abuse performing their superb sweet child O mine from Guns 'n' Roses and Reptilia from The Strokes.The band members are Sharifah on drum , Syabil on lead guitar and vocal. Pix 2-The Crazy Avenue band, Eizaz on drum, Mikeru on vocal, Jay on lead guitar/back-up vocal, Evan on rhythm Guitar, Biff on Bass. Oops....why Micheal Jackson come to Rock Concert? I think he's so desperate for job now.Everybody listen to Rock nobody listen to his song. Mikeru on vocal ...singing Stay away.Amazing performance. Pix1 -Band members waiting for their turn on stage. Pix 2-The crowd waiting for their idol on stage. Pix 1-The Crazy Avenue band member , Evan with his designer wear from Isocks.Cool .....they perfrom Laruku's song Stay Away and Mika Nakashima's Glamorous sky.One of the best dress at Rock Out 2008,Congratulation! Pix 2-Supporters waiting for their favourite band to perform. Pix 1-Evan .....is the man. Pix2-The Octane...Ming Hui on vocal , Seng Chai on guitar and Eizaz on Drum MTCS Teacher's Club playing the complicated T-Square and Casiopea numbers.Excellent guitar & drum skill.Mr Mustaffa on guitar , Mr Tan Howe Qin on Bass Guitar and Eizaz on Drum.Keep it up! Performance by MTCS Teacher's Club Participation in Sek. Men. Keb.Bandar Baru Seri Petaling Chinese Singing Competition Pix 1-Mr Brien Chia from Malaysia Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Eizaz from National Symphony Orchestra posing with students from SMK BB Seri Petaling Pix 2-Posing with SMK Bandar Baru Seri Petaling Chinese Singing Competition winner

MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO

Moving Premises and Company Expansion - Part II

Jack Thammarat's Guitar Clinic at Mama Treble Clef Studio

Jack Thammarat Live Clinic at Mama Treble Clef Studio

Moving Premises and Company Expansion - Part II

Moving Premises and Company Expansion - Part II

Moving Premises and Company Expansion

Selamat Hari Raya AidilFitri & Maaf Zahir Batin

MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO relocating to 13,000 Sq ft. shop lot

Solo Piano Performance by Siang Xi

Flute Tutorial by Eizaz Azhar

Mama Treble Clef Studio endorsed Mr Razak Rahman to become Malaysia Jodyjazz spokeperson-Bravo!

REVIEW: Jaxville Custom Series II Electric Guitar Package

REVIEW: Cherub DP-900 Electronic Drum Practice Pad

Rasa Sayang - The Dispute, Controversy and original arrangement by the band JUNK

Manuel Rodriguez Visits Mama Treble Clef Studio

The Malaysian Music Dilemma

Happy Lunar New Year greeting from MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO

Happy 2011

Merry Christmas 2010

A Malaysian In China - Man Bai's Kau Ilhamku

MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO Appeared in TV3 MHI

We wish all Muslim friends - Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir Batin !

Happy Merdeka!

Music can make u cry -手 紙 アンジェラ・アキ ｉｎ西宮市立甲陵中学校

Musical Instruments import and export activities at Mama Treble Clef Studio

MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO would like to wish all Muslim a Happy Fasting Month.

Mama Treble Clef Studio Attending MTV World Stage Concert

Clarinet Malaysia - JUNK Plays T-Square's Takarajima (Studio Live, HQ)

Mama Treble Clef Studio 's student Tan Hooi Ching joining the Malaysia National Youth Orchestra practice session

Mama Treble Clef Studio 1st term break notification

Happy Musical Wesak Day!

MAMA TREBLE CLEF STUDIO would like to wish all Buddhist in Malaysia -Happy Wesak Day! May all Malaysian use their wisdom and intelligent to understand the practice of all religion without any discrimination and prejudice.May Malaysia will continue to prosperous with peace and wealth.

(Music Malaysia) Eizaz Azhar "Trio" Jams Over Herbie Hancock's Chameleon

JodyJazz Norteno Demonstration

We are the Official Jodyjazz mouthpiece distributor in Malaysia

Violin Factory Visit

What is a Minuet?

Journey to the World of Music in Hong Kong and China

Mozart

Manager of Mama Treble Clef Studio with Deputy Education Minister of Malaysia

Violin Fail

Lunar New Year Message on Youtube

Gong Xi Fa Cai

The Australian Kodaly Certificate

To all beloved teachers, students and customers, the management would like to wish everybody a Happy Musical Christmas and Happy 2010 !

Eizaz Azhar's Saxophone Tutorial

Micheal J.Fox imitate Chuck Berry

Photo of the Day

Eizaz Azhar's Minus Ones Available For Download (yes, they are free...)

Hello again! Teacher Brien's here!

A Musical Tribute to 1Malaysia - Untukmu Malaysia Instrumental

Fritz Kriesler Liebesfreud

Freedom to Win by T-Square

Really Love U

The Mobile Stage

Eizaz Azhar performed at the Road to Hollywood reality show

Paying Tribute to Micheal Jackson

Teacher Zen Lee's piano and violin student Mini Recital

Music competition

Co-Sponsor and Co-Organiser souvenir presentation by VVIP to Ms Allicia Lim ,Principal of Mama Treble Clef Studio

Green Symphony Concert Finale-Paying tribute to all musician

Oskar Musaev singing 'Believe' from The Polar Express Soundtrack

Teacher Alice Wong's Musikgarten Mini recital

A Green Symphony road show at Jaya 1 , PJ

Wilson Lema performing with his ancient Quena

Hey People, make music!

Teacher Grace Tan's Mini Recital

Improvise with students from Sekolah Menengah Pendidikan Khas Cacat Penglihatan, Setapak

Junk playing "Omens Of Love" for the upcoming Green Symphony Charity Concert

Eizaz and Toro Cheng performing Live at RTM2 with Aswara Big Band

3 years old Lee Shen Shuen performing with live band

Kevin Wong,Wong Hui En,Tan Hooi Ching Violin Rehersal

Mama Treble Clef Studio Co-Organiser for the upcoming Charity Concert 'A Green Symphony'

Eizaz Azhar Makes It To The Semi-Finals of the Road To Hollywood Reality TV Show

Johnny B. Goode played by Mr Eizaz Azhar on keyboard, sax, bass and guitar

Trinity Exam Syllabus Briefing

Musician & Teacher List

Rock Out 2008

Music can make u cry -手　紙　アンジェラ・アキ　ｉｎ西宮市立甲陵中学校