MUSIC

* Welcome/ My Compositions

2022-02-22T02:22:00.017+08:00

Hello, and thanks for dropping by.

This site was established to provide a download hub of my original compositions and current projects for my listeners.

Below are my compositions to date. To listen as streaming audio, simply hold the ctrl or shift key and left click on the title. To download, right click and select 'save link as'.

Comments are much appreciated! You may contact me at faye.kang@msn.com.

Album 1: The-Butt

1. Dance of the Dead

Originally called 010 because it was my 10th attempt at composing. Named after my favourite arcade game series 'House of the Dead'.

2. Hell Ride

About riding the minibuses in Hong Kong. FEEL THE EXPERIENCE!

3. Heart Racer

Dedicated to my awesome dad, whom I am very proud of.

4. Today's Your Day

Dedicated to my wonderful mom, whom I love so very much.

5. Humour Yourself

Dedicated to one of my best friends, Lum Han Yet.

6. Kicking Leaves and Pebbles

Perhaps my favourite song of the album.

7. Strange Matter

Jan and Nava named it 'Strange Fecal Matter'. I had to censor it.

8. Jordan

Dedicated to my best friend, Jordan. I love him like a brother.

9. Purple World

Dedicated to Michael Wong.

Album 2: Brought to you by the number 2

1. A Brother's Love

Dedicated to my awesome and loving brother, Daniel.

2. Perspective

Written for my beloved brother, Owen. I want him to know that when the melody in life sounds sad, it really depends on how you look at it.

3. Strength

Written when I was really upset about my concept of life.

Lyrics and intended meaning:

Do I have to be so strong?
This is not who I am.
[Directed at my family and friends. They keep trying to encourage me to do things that are good for my future, but I really just want to give up. I am that sort of person.]
If only time could stop for me,
[I have too much to do and so little time. If only I could stop time to solve all the problems at my own pace.]
You know I would be
With you on the sea.
[The person here is rather symbolic. It could be the activity you love. For instance, the person here could be my guitar. The sea symbolises separation from the world, from society.]

'Cos there would be no one
To tell us
What we have to do.
[Continuing the separation from society theme, society wouldn't be able to put pressure on me to conform nor stick labels on me.]
We could always be
Together
On the same boat.
["On the same boat" is quite a well known idiom. I extended it's meaning from 'same situation' to 'mutual understanding of each others' situation'.]
And if the waves don't bring us back to shore,
[If in the end we don't find a solution (the shore), i.e. in the worst case scenario...]
Know that I am
With you till the end.
[We would still support each other until... the end.]

Do I have to be so strong?
This is not who I am.
If only time could stop for me,
You know I would be
With you on the sea.
[Repetition of first verse also represents that I keep thinking about this matter.]

4. Echoes

A project done with Jason Tan, 'ma homie and bro'. He is so black :-)

This project started when Jason was going to leave Malaysia to further his studies in New Zealand. He wanted to write a song for his friends and he asked me for assistance.

Composer: Faye Kang
Lyricists: Jason Tan & Faye Kang

Lyrics:

Every memory that we shared
Builds a picture of what friendship means to me.
Every moment that we spent
I'll treasure.

Even though I knew we'd go separate ways,
Never knew that it would be so soon.
Every moment that we spent
I'll treasure.

I guess I've always wanted things to stay the same,
That things would never change, between us.
I thought the laughter would never end,
But I know they'll soon be echoes.
Soon they'll be echoes... [running through my mind]

5. Xhon Shatter

One of my favourite compositions. I am really proud of this one.

6. Don Mungone's Walk in the Park

Written for Tomasz Plominski's film. I was 'hired' to write the music for his film but we lost contact. (Tomasz, I miss you very much!)

Album 3: Tree

1. Double Cheeseburger

About my love for double cheeseburgers.

2. Speeding Ice-Cream Van

My favourite part is the ending. Watch the accompanying video here.

3. The Friendly Misanthropist (Background Track)

About how I can't live with people yet I can't live without them. It's a personal song.

Lyrics:

Whose shoulder
Do I cry on
When there's no one here?

I like my
Time alone
But I need someone who cares.

They say they'd listen
But how do I know
They won't use it against me?

After the story's told
Are they still listening?

In this world
You need a friend
Who has your back.

To place trust
It's a risk.
Pretend I don't care.

4. Xhon Shatter II

The continued journey of the little warrior, Xhon Shatter.

5. Shah

A song for my good buddy, Shah.

6. Fowl Dunce

The title of this song was picked by Janson Chah. It's sort of a private joke.

7. The Farm

The very beginning of the song sets the scenery. The camera zooms up on the hills and approaches a farm. On the farm, the animals are busy doing their own things. Like the chickens - they're clucking about, eating their chicken feed, laying eggs.

The camera scans the farm - more chickens are doing the same things. But because they are a little noisy, the farmer comes out. And all is quiet on the farm until he goes back in.

The chickens continue doing their daily tasks. The camera zooms up on a different animal - ducks swimming gracefully in the pond. The farmer, annoyed by the animal racket, comes out and gives the animals a warning.

He shoots and kills one of the ducks. The remaining ducks are sad. They mourn for a period of time. But all returns to normal for life goes on. The camera zooms out of the farm as the song fades.

8. Her Thoughts

For mommy dearest - I hope you'll always love music.

For those who play the piano and wish to play this piece, the score is available here. I'm guessing it's about Grade 3 standard.

9. Ladeela

Mmn... different. I love this song!

Dance of the Dead, Hell Ride, Heart Racer, Today's Your Day, Humour Yourself, Kicking Leaves and Pebbles, Strange Matter, Jordan, Purple World, A Brother's Love, Perspective, Strength, Echoes, Xhon Shatter, Don Mungone's Walk in the Park, Double Cheeseburger, Speeding Ice-Cream Van, The Friendly Misanthropist, Xhon Shatter II, Shah, Fowl Dunce, The Farm, Her Thoughts, Ladeela by Faye Kang is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Hong Kong License.

The Making of 'Penguins'

2008-10-08T00:12:00.009+08:00

The landlords went out. I decided to take the chance to record the 'Happy Birthday' song but there were problems with the syncing.

In the end I came up with the 'Penguin' song! I was just improvising and I imagined penguins. I hope to make the song into a music video. Niz will be the animator for my video!

I recorded the song with my phone just in case I forget it later. (Disclaimer: the video shown below is therefore not a performance but just a record for future reference.)

Read the subtitles :-)

Q: Why does it sound fun but serious?

A:

Production of the Animation

:-D

GCSEs - Music

2008-10-06T02:12:00.001+08:00

This entry is part of my reply to question 6 of the FAQs.

Click on the song titles to hear them.

I had to write about my compositions as part of the coursework submissions. You may laugh at my songs and what I wrote about them, but keep in mind I was 14 at the time!

The following information about each composition was required:
a) What the form is;
b) What inspired you;
c) What instruments did you choose and why;
d) What difficulties did you find; and
e) How does the music reflect the title.

1. Materialistic

"The form of this piece is ABACA, which is a Rondo form. I think that most people tend to compose in a binary or ternary style. I aimed to make my composition different and thus I used the Rondo form. I also used this form because I thought section A was quite ‘catchy’ and would keep the interest in the composition if used throughout the piece.

In my previous attempts to compose, I failed to use dynamics and expression and make it sound like what I wanted it to. I also wanted to join some baroque elements together in this composition. For example, I tried to include a baroque sounding sequence in bar 19 (section C). I also tried to join the sections smoothly, sometimes adding transitions. My aim for this composition is to create a strong sense of rhythm without the usage of drums. I feel that I have achieved this goal, after asking listeners for their opinions.

*The marker put a big red 'No'.*

The two instruments I chose include the electric (clean) guitar, and the electric bass. I feel that they are both very closely related, like that of the right hand and left hand of a piano player. I enjoyed working with the bass because I felt that the bass was a good accompaniment instrument. The bass plays a very important role in this composition, as it provides the rhythm sense I aimed for. I also chose the guitar because it is an instrument I am very interested in, apart from the piano and the violin.

I felt that the most difficult thing about this composition is how to make it musically structured. I wanted the piece to be rich and full of ideas and something easy for the ear to hear."

2. Bodily Functions

"The form of this piece is ABACA, which Rondo form. Because I have used rondo form in ‘Materialistic’ and decided it was quite effective.

The instruments I chose were two electric guitars, an electric bass and drums. I know how to play the electric guitar, (and bass is almost the same concept) but the drums are different. I created this piece to experiment with the drums. I also liked to try out the “fills”.

Some difficulties I found in creating this piece, was that I didn’t know how to play the drums or to put it down on paper (using a program called Sibelius). It was also difficult to make the “hiccup” parts sound like hiccups. I solved this problem using the drums and the bass.

Amazingly, I think the piece actually does reflect the title it holds. The ‘story’ (or structure) of this composition is as follows:

- Heart beating slowly
- Heart beating normally
- Walking
- Jogging
- Heart beating faster
- Heart pounding
- Hiccups
- Hiccups not stopping
- Holding breath
- Heart pounding
- Heart beating normally
- Heart beating slowly

Each part of the ‘story’ is 4 bars long, therefore relatively easy to follow. Although the ending was quite different, I thought it was a playful way to conclude the composition, and I also wanted the listeners to enjoy this composition.

*The marker again put a big red 'No'.*"

3. Major

One day before the due date for all 3 songs, I started working on 'Major'. The teacher said the third song had to be different from the other two. So I wrote a baroque-styled piece. (God, I love the genius that is J.S. Bach.) It took me only 2 hours to write this song, as I had no choice but to rush.

Unfortunately, I can't find the write up for this song in my archives. Something tells me that the marker put another big red 'No' on it though.

* Frequently Asked Questions

2008-10-05T15:34:00.005+08:00

Does curiosity really kill cats? I believe so... but have no fear, I am not curiosity. Ask me anything!

1. Why do you have such weird album names? You're nuts.

Thank you for your honest opinion.

'The-Butt' is a play on the word 'debut'. I like to imagine some people pronouncing 'debut' as 'dee butt'.

'Brought to you by the number 2' is just an imitation of Sesame Street; how at the end of the show they'd present numbers and letters to help kids learn things they already know.

'Tree' is a Malaysian/ Singaporean joke. Most people there cannot pronounce the number 'three', or they can but they're lazy so they say 'tree' instead.

Basically, I am not a very original person when it comes to thinking up names for my albums or songs. "What you see is what you get from me".

2. Why is this site called 'The Music Stream'?

Actually it's another play on words. My Chinese name (in pinyin) is 'Jiang Wei'. Jiang (Kang) means 'river'. So I thought 'stream' is pretty similar to river and it represents flowing water... like how I keep composing and the music just streams! Also, my music is available via online streaming. Lame, haha.

3. Can you write a song for me?

I could, but the real question is 'would' I?

4. Would you write a song for me?

Probably not.
:-)

5. Can I offer some constructive criticism?

Honestly? No. If I want some, I'll ask for it.

I am happy with the way my songs are. If you don't like it, you don't have to listen to it anymore! I compose for MY enjoyment. I just thought I'd share it with anyone else who likes it.

I also want to point out that I am not a performing monkey. So don't tell me I suck at rapping or singing because I only do it to show the music. That's why most of the time the recordings are from the programme I use for composing. I only 'perform' for that personal touch (A Brother's Love), or when there's singing because the programme can't sing for me.

Don't tell me to "use Microsoft Sam". I'll cry if he sings better than me!

6. You said 010 is your 10th attempt at composing. What about the previous 9?

Good question. Well I can tell you that the first 9 were probably experiments. When I was 14-15, I was studying for the GCSEs - General Certificate of Secondary Education. One of my 10 courses was Music. Part of the requirements for this course was submitting our own compositions.

In the end I submitted 3 songs:
a) Materialistic;
b) Bodily Fuctions; and
c) Major.

I shall post a special blog entry on these songs. In case you were wondering, my final grade for Music was an A! But pretty much everyone got an A.

Thanks for asking!

* Current Projects

2008-10-05T14:57:00.008+08:00

Announcement: I have decided to put an asterix on blog posts that will be constantly updated. I may also take down links and files.

Current Projects

1. Happy Birthday (for Teh Tarik Boy)

2. Rap (w/ Jason Tan)
Faye's version.
Jason's version. (It's HILARIOUS <3)

3. Gamemo_5 (w/ Jordan Jenkins)

4. Song for my mom
(I'm not entirely satisfied with it yet but it's pretty much completed. My performance of the song is terrible because I can't multitask. And my recording programme has syncing problems.)

5. Penguins
When the landlords are not at home, a rare occurence indeed, Faye does something evil.
SHE PLAYS THE PIANO!

Penguins. Out in cinemas, never.

Click on the titles to hear what I've/ we've done so far.