My Life: The 10-Year Cycle

There was one morning that my dad opened up such an unusual observation in our life. He stated that my dad went to Tagum City around 1977. Then after 2 months since I was born in the said city, we transfered to Davao City, and that was in the year 1987. When I was 10, my family moved to Cagayan de Oro due to some reasons. And last year 2007, in one September morning (if I'm not mistaken), my dad opened up such an unusual observation in our life (as I've stated above), and thought of where are we going, as if thinking of where will destiny bring us. Then I recalled of my personal calling I've received from the Holy Father four years ago. To make things short, I made a decision to serve Him fulltime in the year 2007. Together with my younger brother, we applied to be God's fulltime servant son in our church after our 9th Internatinal Youth Congress 2008.

And so here I am today, studing and living in a very peaceful compund where heaven has been literally brought down from heaven. Hallelujah!

What I've Done: The Original Transcription

The Los Angeles-based rock band released the carrier single, "What I've Done", from their third album, "Minutes to Midnight". It was on April 3, 2007 here in the Philippines when it happened. And a few hours from its release, I tried to transcribe the musical intsruments, especially the piano and guitars. Luckily, I've made it, as shown on my official ultimate-guitar.com contribution.

But the problem is that, I certainly don't know that I can make money out of the transcriptions that I have contributed through my very own blog. In fact, some of them are one of the top results in search engines(e.g. Google, Yahoo), (I don't know in some other countries and territories), just like those serach tags enumerated below:

* believe me chords
* remember the name chords
* what i've done chords

You can easily identify them as mine for some reasons:

1. It is from ultimate-guitar.com
2. My name "Rudolf Abunda" is included in the submitted transcription.

And what makes it worse is that, some people have literally plagiarized it, as in they do the copy-paste stuff. Sometimes, they even delete my name, which is always included in my transcriptions.

My Name: The Weird Equation

There was one Saturday that I had a chat with my friend, and we talked about scuh name stuff, like definitions of certain names, etymoligies, etc. It came to a point wherein we talked about my name. My name goes like this:

(First Name)
Rudolf - German
Valentino - Italian

(Middle Name)
Valderrama - Spanish

(Last Name)
Abunda - Spanish

Therefore, they are all European in terms of their origin. But my friend had a funny twist regarding this. 'Cuz she equated my name like this:

1 German + 1 Italian + 2 Spanish = 1 Filipino

Then I said to myself, "Well, she's got a very witty idea out of my name." 'Cuz even though my full name is definitely European in nature, I'm a natural-born Filipino.

Major Minority: The Blog Name

I used to wish of having a blog, and one of my problem is the name of my blog itself. I thought of a concept for the name that will suit my personality. There were lots of them, until I came up with the name 'Major Minority'. Simply because most of what I'm posting in my blog is not a major feature in the media, thus making it a part of the 'Minority'. And those ones are some kind of such stuff having a very big, or 'Major' importance, thus combining those two words into one phrase: 'Major Minority'. Or the other aspects, because there are such 'major' topics featured in the media, but the 'minority' side of a certain topic is what I'm writing. Plus, the other side of the concept is the contrast between those two words, like 'vertical horizon', 'fort minor', etc. And as you observe, the adjective comes first, then followed by the noun.

Singaporean Grand Prix: The Frist Ever F1 Night Race

For the first time ever, Singapore will have its very own Formula One Grand Prix circuit. Plus, it's not just gonna be an ordinary race, but a night race. Yup, the very fist night race ever in the history of Formula One Championship history. According to the official Formula One website, the said night race schedule is designed for the Eurpoean audience. Let's check it out what's in store for all Forumla One fans.

Boston Celtics: The Strongest Team, Now Getting Stronger

This year, the Boston Celtis is the strongest team so far, due to the fact that there are now two more All-Star players added in this team, and they are the 11-time NBA All-Star Kevin Garnett from Minnesota Timberwolves, and the 3-point specialist Ray Allen from the Seatlle Supersonics, alongside Paul Pierce in his another year with the Celtics, and some other players who were added to this team, which added depth and versatility to the said team.

But what will make the Celtics stronger this year is that, the 1-time All-Star Sam Cassell is added to this team from the Los Angeles Clippers. In fact, he just officially signed to the Boston Celtics on March 4, 2008, thus making this team having 4 All-Star players in one team.

They are now getting stronger than ever before. And now the questions are:

1. Will they have the right chemistry after Cassell is added?
2. Will they make it as the 2008 NBA Champions?

Linkin Park's Trademark No. 2

G sharp minor
Just like C sharp minor(C#m) and D sharp minor(D#m), this minor key is also commonly used by the said rock band. And here are those songs:

(Hybrid Theory)
Forgotten
By Myself

Inside the 'Meteora' album, there is no track played on this key.

(Minutes to Midnight)
Shadow of the Day

E minor

In 'Hybrid Theory' and 'Meteora', majority of their compositions are played on minor keys with sharp in its name(e.g. G#m, C#m, D#m). And E minor(Em) is one of the minor keys used by LP with no sharp in the key name itself. Below is a list of such tracks:

(Hybrid Theory)
With You

(Meteora)
Breaking The Habit

Unlike their fisrt studio albums, more than half of 'Minutes to Midnight' songs are played on keys with no sharp in their respective key names. And one of these is E minor.

(Minutes to Midnight)
Given Up

Wikipedia: The 'Freedom' Encyclopedia

Wikipedia has been a very big help for me, just like what others have experienced. But what makes Wikipedia bad is that, it can be anyone, as long as he or she has an Internet access.

I've been a Wikipedia user for months, but what makes me mad about it is that, many people vandalize it with unsourced, unreliable and biased statements, which violate the Wikipedia rules and guidelines.

Take a look at an article of Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy in Wikipedia and its history. It's just one of the hundreds of thousands of unreliable articles with unreliable sources. Please help Wikipedia polish those 'vandalized' articles.


And what makes it worse is that, if you search for a certain thing through search engines(e.g. Google, Yahoo), a Wikipedia article related with the search keyword is placed on the first page of results. And in most cases, it is placed on top.

And I'm not so sure with the 'fundraising' stuff inside Wikipedia. They raise funds for what? They say that 'Help Wikipedia share the gift of knowledge.' How can anyone help share the gift of knowledge if such unreliable articles are still posted on the said online encyclopedia?

There are lots of negative stuff on Wikipedia to share with. If you want to know more, there's a Wikipedia article on the Wikipedia itself. Better check it out.

Louie: The Drum Hero

I was still in the 3rd level when I played drums to represent the school once again, but this time, for an interschool cheering contest, not for a band battle. There I found myself that I really wasn't good enough to rock the world, unlike the guy whom I've met during that time, and his name is Louie. He showed me the way to play the drums wherein he's gonna rock the crowd. Yeah, he really rocks the crowd with his mesmerizing drum lines, groovy beats, breath-taking solos, dynamic and powerful playing style, all rolled into one. In fact, he has won the hearts of lots of people in my school, and many consider him as a drum hero, as I do.

And because he earned a very good reputation, majority voted me to back off, and the drum hero will play for the school, instead of me. When the hero and the choreographer told me that I'm not gonna play the drums for the upcoming competition that time, I found myself that I had a sort of a hidden pride. Yes, a hidden pride. For I wasn't able to stop from crying as a result of the pain inside of me after hearing that, in spite of controlling myself from crying out. But I was lucky enough to play for the school once more, out of my request, and we made it as champions, out of God's grace and mercy! Praise His Name!

Classical Guitar: The Gift

When I had joined my classmates to feast with the festival in the district of my classmate's house, I tried to play the guitar owned by my classmate's borhter. As I played, I wished to have one of my own.

And it did.

I arrived home, and then my mom approached me and asked me, "Guess what's inside the box?". Even though I don't know what's inside, but I answered her "Guitar?". Then she opened it. And much to my surprise, it was not just a guitar, but a classical guitar. Since then, I parcticed to play guitar everyday as possible. Unlike the drums, I've gone through lots of sweat, pain and tears in teaching myself to play guitar before I have achieved the nessary attributes of a guitar player.

The journey continues as I focus more on my classical guitar, which I know the Almighty One has given me, than any other instrument. But still, I cannot consider myself a guitarist, because I never did, unlike many others who considered me as such.

Drum Set: The First Instrument

My interest in drums started when i was still 11, after seeing a drummer playing the drums in our church. My drummer life started when I became a school drummer, under the Drum and Bugle Corps, even though I don't belong to those members of the said corps, making me somewhat like a special drummer, becuase I play the drums for the Glee Club in our school's yearly Catholic masses, in spite of the fact that I'm not a Catholic. I thank the Holy Father for through my 5th grade adviser, who discovered my abilities as a drummer, she brought me into the majestic world of music by telling me about the drummer thing for the Drum and Bugle Corps as a 'special drummer' for a backing band of the Glee Club. Even though I am focusing on the guitar right now, still the drummer in me is still showing itself without me meaning it.

Linkin Park's Trademark No.1

C Sharp Minor
Before "Minutes to Midnight", Linkin Park frequntly plays songs on C sharp minor. And they are as follows:

(Hybrid Theory)
One Step Closer
Papercut
Crawling
(Meteora)
Hit The Floor
Faint
Figure .09
From The Inside

In most cases, Chester, the group's frontman, often sings first the G# note on the chorus of the above songs.

D Sharp Minor
This is one of the most often used keys by Linkin Park. And here is a list of songs played on D sharp minor(D#m):

(Hybrid Theory)
Points of Authority
In The End
A Place For My Head
Pushing Me Away

(Meteora)
Easier To Run
(Minutes To Midnight)
No More Sorrow

Influences

As a musician, I have lots of influences. My dad shared me some Beatles stuff, and I really love them. My mom also loves the said British band, but she prefers the Carpenters more than the Fab Four. One of the greatest classic Filipino artists, Apo Hiking Society, had their music played on Philippine radio just like many other classic Filipino and foreign ones. At the height of my dad's career as a disc jockey in my hometown, Davao City, The Eraserheads were a huge success at that time. When I was still in the 5th grade, my parents bought Don Moen cassette tapes, and those ones really inspire us, and we loved to listen those songs over and over again. Together with those Moen materials were some jazz music, especially the instrumental ones. After the era of "manufactured" pop artists, the Linkin Park fever came like a storm, and their music caught my attention. In fact, it was the first time that I became a fan of a loud, heavy rock band. After LP's comeback with their second album ,"Meteora", I tried to make songs of my own, together with a classmate of mine. The music that I've made were heavily influenced by Linkin Park. Later on, I tried to make pop ballads to get out of my conventional LP-influenced style of music.

Then college life came. When I was able to form a band of mine, we were able to make comedy rock music, in our very own Cebuano language, out of making a single one in a certain practice session. When I decided to quit, I formed an another group. And this time, we wrote serious rock ballads in English language. But still, I wasn't contented, until I rediscovered jazz music. Since then, I slowly rediscovered some of my favorite artists when I was still a kid and disovered some new artists and genres, making me a better musician.

And so, here are my influences as a musician:
The Beatles
The Carpenters
Apo Hiking Society
Don Moen
Linkin Park
etc.

And the newly discovered music artists:
Jeff and Sheri Easter
Gaither Vocal Band
Eric Johnson
etc.

Music Structure

I've just started creating a blog with a help from my dad's former officemate. Many people have invited me about this thing called "blogging". I really love criticizing music, especially its music structure. I have a lot of stuff to share with, and I'm proud to say that I've not found even a very single thing describing the music structure of a certain music artist, particularly Linkin Park. Because I'm so familiar of LP's music structure, my posts will be more on the said rock band. But there's one problem. As said by those who invited me about this stuff, I'm gonna earn out of what I'm gonna post on my blog. And I don't know how to earn out of those stuff that I have made, until the day that I found one of the former officemates of my dad, and he shared me some details regarding with this stuff.