Intertain: Chapter 19

The year 2023 has been eventful and life-altering. I am grateful, however, to be able to host an Intertain session in December with my wife-turned-sister May, ending the year on a positive note.

My old friend and drummer Hans attended our gathering for the first time. He lived in San Francisco before, but has since returned to Sydney with his family.

My little sister and vocalist Shona came to check out what we do around here too. She is the second sibling that I gained months back when things were rough.

From St. Barnabas Broadway, we had Jingle visiting us as well, a girl with a peculiarly musical name. She brought along a friend named Mary, who came only to spectate.

Theme: MUSIC

I played a music clip to set the mood: the famous train scene from Life Is Strange: Before the Storm — Chloe shares an earphone with Rachel as they ride on a freight train while skipping class together. The emo teenagers listen to “Through the Cellar Door” by Lanterns on the Lake.

In the olden days before we had smartphones, being able to carry music around was something special; and sharing that with someone else has always been a show of trust and intimacy.

My sincere hope was that our sharing of videogames, music, wisdom, and friendship was also going to be experienced through a similar spirit.

What does your taste in music reveal about you?

GAMING

The first game in our line-up was The Artful Escape, described as a cinematic platformer set in the fiction town of Calypso, Colorado. I nominated Hans, a fellow metalhead to give it a fair go.

The story of the game tells of Francis Vendetti, a young guitarist living in the shadow of his late uncle and local folk music legend Johnson Vendetti.

Francis is a little lost. He is by default expected to carry his uncle’s torch, but his heart lies elsewhere. He dresses like a drifter, but sounds like a space opera, inducing anxiety with the tonal disconnect.

After having a few epiphanies, however, he decides to create the most elaborate persona the world has ever seen. That night, he is visited by a mysterious alien that grants him a magical guitar before sending him to meet with an intergalactic rock star named Lightman.

The new guitar possesses power to transform the environment. I think Hans enjoyed this section — as did everyone watching — where he was able to light up the entire town like it was Christmas via shredding on the axe. Subsequently, we ended the playthrough right before embarking on a journey across the dilated pupils of the cosmos.

SHARING

In getting acquainted with people, I find it quite helpful to know their tastes in art and entertainment. My eclectic taste in music, for example, shows that I much appreciate diversity. Teenage years spent listening to Visual Kei, in particular, reveals my roots and my personality: colourful, flashy, defiant, alternative… I am a very emo character, to say the least.

Throwing the discussion to our group, we learned that KJ went through multiple phases — death metal reflected his rage, classical music his mad genius. Later, he became more sociable in liking dance tracks and K-pop (him being Korean, after all). But he always returned to gaming music.

Daniel also brought up a few types of music, mentioning that his preferences change in accordance with his mood and what he is doing: high energy songs for when he is pumped; softer, background tunes for when he needs to concentrate on work.

May shared her appreciation for praise music in the 90s, which featured more catchy brass sections. This genre accompanied her during the years of spiritual formation, and helped define the distinct, passionate worshipper that she has become.

Lastly, Shona said that she admires jazz, but cannot sing it. I could relate to her being drawn to things beyond our proficiency. Jazz is my struggle too; I can hardly compose it, and so I respect it.

WISDOM

Our group took a gander at the very last psalm in God’s word, Psalm 150.

Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre,
 praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe,
 praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.

All things have been created through Jesus; and all things have been created for him. Music is surely no exception. The Creator deserves praise, and music is instrumental to that end.

Various musical expressions are mentioned in the psalm above. Just as every tongue shall confess Jesus is Lord, I hope to offer up praise and declaration in different forms of existing musical genres. This, I believe, is one reason God has called me to be a music composer.

But whatever you might be doing, it is always important to find one’s own voice, not just become someone else’s echo. We learned that from The Artful Escape, which also contains this neat quote:

An artist’s job is not to give people what they want, but it is to give people something they could never have imagined.

Is maintaining a sense of rhythm important for your life?

GAMING

Rhythm games tend to appear in people’s mind when they talk about the musical gaming genre. These are titles that challenge players to press buttons in time with commands displayed on-screen synchronised with the rhythm of a backing track.

While many games may get a little hectic in this genre, Melatonin stands out as a rather minimalist experience. The levels constitute hand-drawn dreams depicting simple activities, using animations and sound cues to keep the player on beat without any intimidating overlays or interfaces.

We rallied several participants. Jingle dreamt about food, tapping the space bar to gobble burgers, pizza slices, and donuts flying across the skies with her mouth. Hans dreamt about shopping with credit card in hand, swiping along with luxury items placed in a pattern reflecting musical notation.

Then KJ dreamt about money, catching coins as they fall, using two directional buttons to control either the left or right hand. Shona dreamt about dating, swiping left or right on a cute dating app.

All these levels tested their sense of rhythm to the beat of vibrant tunes.

SHARING

A few quick, but insightful points were made following our play.

Jingle highlighted the resilience that develops when maintaining a healthy routine — keeping steady rhythm helps when one is faced with life’s hurdles. KJ echoed this thought, comparing such process to rowing a boat in a storm. Some wise words from both of these friends.

WISDOM

I proceeded to give a short presentation to tie things together and further illustrate the significance of rhythm in music, as well as in life. This little quote kicked off the exploration:

Art is how we decorate space; music is how we decorate time.

Indeed, music is an art expressed in time, with rhythm being its most essential element. For you may compile and mix together any notes, chords, or sounds, but if there isn’t an underlying rhythm to the variables, there is no music. I showed the video “Laundry Beats” to exemplify how defining rhythm is the key step to transforming a bunch of ordinary sounds into actual music.

Every genre of music also has their own set of unique rhythms serving as the structural patterns and musical language, whether we’re talking about jazz, rock and roll, or rap.

In looking at the bigger picture, we see that humans have a deep connection to rhythm, even from the very beginning when an unborn child experiences their mother’s heartbeat. After all, our bodies are living, breathing, vibrating tempo machines. And activities we do — from basics such as walking and speaking — are also performed with distinct cadence and flow.

Ultimately, the world we live in, as it spins through the cycle of seasons and dances in tune with celestial bodies and systems, unveils much evidence for the Creator’s love for all things rhythmic.

As technology advances, are you enjoying music more?

GAMING

Back in the days, my friends and I used to play Guitar Hero games with their proprietary plastic guitars. The series eventually moved away from such peripherals and started integrating real instruments. With this as the backdrop, I introduced Spin Rhythm XD to our group.

This is a title focused on electronic music, a genre that rose after rock and roll. I brought out a small, but genuine DJ MIDI deck to demonstrate how it can be used to function as a controller for play.

In a sense, we’re looking at a fairly conventional rhythm game, as notes, lines, and other indicators move toward the judgement line in sync with the songs. But instead of button presses, the player would utilise the DJ turntable to spin, tap, flick, and scratch their way through juicy, urban beats.

Of our participants, veteran gamer KJ the DJ got the hang of it the quickest.

SHARING

Technological advancement has made music very accessible for contemporary listeners. Daniel reminded us about growing up in the early days of the internet, of our efforts invested into hunting, downloading, and organising MP3s as part of keeping the hobby alive.

His more mature wife, Jennifer, dialled further back to the pre-internet days where people must visit stores and libraries to attain music (apart from the radio) — the selection would have been limited, and many shaped their tastes around what was available. The challenge in the process also added meaning to the enjoyment of music, and made each endeavour much more memorable than having easy access to every existing song in human history within the palm of your hand.

On another note, KJ lamented on the lack of soul in today’s popular songs. The truth is that making music has never been easier; technological progress has indeed allowed some artists to be lazy and derivative in their work. As a composer myself, I am both thankful for the powerful tools that are available to aid my musical production, while remaining wary of any “side effects” they may bring.

Let us not forget that the use of artificial intelligence is also on the rise, especially in creative fields. Only God knows where humanity is headed in all of this rapid change.

Who is your muse that inspires songs of strength and healing?

GAMING

Ever wondered what a synthesis between a musical film and a videogame might look or sound like? Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical offers one possible answer.

The ancient Greek gods and idols have survived into the modern era, but are beleaguered by eons of conflict and existential drama. Acting as their last living Muse, young vocalist Grace now finds herself in the role of helping to figure out the future for the pantheon.

I gave the controller to Jennifer, as she entered a scene set at a farewell party hosted by Aphrodite. Being overwhelmed by past trauma, the goddess of love wanted respite via passing on her eidolon, akin to reincarnation by choice. Her memories would return, but not before years of ignorant bliss.

The Muse, however, possessed the power of song — not just from her own breath, but also through inspiring soulful music within subjects. The game presented dialogue choices to Jennifer during one musical number, affecting its musical style, lyrical focus, and the fate of the characters. We watched and listened as they sang their hearts out, in search of a resolution for their deep-rooted troubles.

WISDOM

Ancient China affirmed the healing power of music: the written character for “medicine” is but “music” written underneath the “herb” particle. In other words, they recognised medicine as music in edible plant form. Traditional Chinese medicine utilises the pentatonic scale in therapy.

Switching over to a biblical example, our group read from 1 Samuel 16, where King Saul sadly lost the Spirit of the Lord (due to disobedience), and was afflicted with a tormenting spirit that filled him with fear and depression. What could one do in such a predicament? How about some good music?

“All right,” Saul said. “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him here.”

One of the servants said to Saul, “A son of Jesse from Bethlehem is a talented lyre player. And not only that, he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the Lord is with him.”

So Saul sent messengers to Jesse, saying: “Send me your son David, the shepherd.”

Jesse then responded by sending David to Saul, along with a young goat, a donkey loaded with bread, and a skin of wine. David went to Saul and entered his service.

Saul liked David very much, and David became one of his armour-bearers. Then Saul sent word to Jesse, asking: “Please allow David to remain in my service, for I am very pleased with him.”

And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the lyre. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away.

When it comes to spiritual battle, it would seem that the lyre is more powerful than the sword.

We closed out the session with a few verses from Psalm 40:

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me; he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the dark pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.
He has given me a brand new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see his deeds and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.

In modern usage, the lowercase muse has no strict ties with Greek goddesses, but refers to a person that serves as someone’s source of artistic inspiration. In light of what’s declared in the psalm above, we can confidently say that God is more than worthy to be our divine muse.

May the Lord, as the Creator of music, inspire songs of strength and healing within us — new songs that draw many others to witness his amazing deeds and follow the rhythm of his heart!

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Attendance [9]: Ayk Iano, Daniel Lee, Hans Leonard Widjaja, Jennifer Chu, Jingle Chu, KJ Jang, Mary Yang, May Chien, and Shona Liu.

Giveaway: The Artful Escape to Hans Leonard Widjaja, and Melatonin to KJ Jang.