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sinceileftyoublog · 3 years

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Doug Clifford Interview: Shuffle & Flow

Photo by Brent Clifford

BY JORDAN MAINZER

For All the Money in the World is a time capsule. The album, written by Creedence Clearwater Revival drummer Doug Clifford and Greg Kihn Band bassist Steve Wright, was recorded in 1986 but won’t see the light of day until the end of the month. Since then, it’s been waiting in Cosmo’s Vault--the self-proclaimed storage area for Clifford’s unreleased music--until the right time. “There’s some good music on this album,” Clifford told me over the phone earlier this month. “Right now, more than ever, we need some good music that’s uplifting and makes you feel good.” Plus, for Clifford himself, the tunes have barely scratched the surface: “To me, it’s still new.”

After Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up in 1972, Clifford released a solo album and later joined the Don Harrison Band, which also featured former CCR bassist Stu Cook. In 1995, he and Cook formed Creedence Clearwater Revisited to play CCR songs live without singer John Fogerty, who retained artistic control over CCR. Revisited’s last show was in February 2020 in Mexico, and based on what Clifford told me, that’s likely their last, at least in this version, as Clifford is suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. All in all, though, he’s ready to move on from those songs, instead choosing to look into different parts of the past. Last year, he unearthed his lost second solo album Magic Window. And now, with For All the Money in the World, released under the name Clifford/Wright, he’s beginning to revisit a series of recorded writing collaborations whose release never came to fruition.

Though Clifford/Wright was formed around the rhythm section, the rest of the band that plays on the album is nothing to sniff at: guitarists Greg Douglass (Steve Miller Band), Jimmy Lyon (Eddie Money) and Joe Satriani and keyboard players Tim Gorman (The Who) and Pat Mosca (Greg Kihn Band). The lead vocalist picked for the project was Keith England, whose emotive howl ties it all together on the title shuffle and stadium anthem “I Need Your Love”. While the first two songs sound like something you might expect to be recorded in 1986, other tracks operate under different styles and recording aesthetics. The rockabilly echo of “She Told Me So” lies in stark contrast to the ripping guitar jaunts of “Lost Pride Fever” and “Weekends” and the funk snap of “You Keep Runnin’ Away” and “Just In The Nick Of Time”. Indeed, some songs on here sound like they could be Steve Miller or Eddie Money jams, but for the most part, they sound like lost relics of rock radio, comfort food for troubling times.

Clifford hopes For All the Money in the World is more than nostalgia, though. For one, he’s “calling the shots,” releasing the album on his own label, Cliffsong Records, with a distribution deal through Bob Frank Entertainment. “It’s like a publisher’s outlet for the songwriters involved,” he said. “It’s really kind of exciting.” His hopes are that the songs do land on today’s rock radio or do well streaming so they can release it on vinyl. “I still get a kick out of it,” Clifford said about hearing his songs on the radio. Not bad for somebody who started playing in bands at age 13. And while it’s very much not a CCR album, he’s excited for CCR fans to hear it, okay with the long-disbanded legendary outfit as the connecting bridge for listeners. They might just come away with a new favorite song.

Pre-save/pre-order For All the Money in the World, out August 27th, here, and read my conversation below with Clifford, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: I was struck by the variety of styles on this album. You think to yourself, “What would music written around the 80′s sound like?” There’s some of that, but there are other sounds, too. Do you remember consciously trying to write in a number of styles?

Doug Clifford: Yes, because we were trying to get a record deal. We were the only writers in the group, and we wanted them to know we could write more than just “Bad Moon Rising”. There’s really not much in there that sounds like Creedence. With Steve Wright on bass, that changes a lot of things. It puts a different spin on it from the standpoint of the house the songs are built on, the rhythm section. It’s exciting. I listen to it as if it’s another band. [laughs] Normally, I don’t do that. Steve passed away in [2017], so we won’t do any more writing or playing, but this album is a chance to hear a great bass player and songwriter. I’ve got three terrific guitar players in there, too, Joe Satriani, Greg Douglass from Steve Miller Band, and Jimmy Lyon from Greg Kihn and Eddie Money. A guitar extravaganza. A lot of good stuff coming from this record.

SILY: Not only does the record sound different from CCR, but I heard a lot of the other projects the players were involved in, like Eddie Money and Steve Miller.

DC: Yeah, but when we were doing the writing, those guys weren’t in the band. Steve Miller is one of my best friends. He loves “She Told Me So” on this record. He sent me an email all excited that said, “I was dancin’ around my studio! You still got it!” [laughs] I love that guy.

SILY: I like songs like that, that have a little more of a shuffle.

DC: That would be [the title track], too. I love shuffles.

SILY: You’ve said people need songs like this at a time like now. When you wrote and recorded them, did you know you’d put them away for a while?

DC: Not really. If you’re a songwriter, you want to have versions of your songs that sound radio-ready instead of just [recorded on] an acoustic guitar. I produced everything that we wrote, so we had good versions of our work and presented it that way. The idea was not to put these things out as albums, but for record companies. Then you’d go out and play, and they’d send their A&R guy. Steve didn’t want to play in any of the clubs we’d have played in, and you need a band that plays, so that started the tailspin of this project. [After that,] I did a solo singer-songwriter album [Magic Window], and I did projects for areas that had overgrown forests and droughts. I had kids that were going to school. So I sort of slowed down on the music and slapped [these songs] in Cosmo’s Vault. That’s where they stayed till a year or so ago. I [finally released Magic Window], but nothing happened because...COVID hit, and it really changed everything. There’s been enough time that we’re all living through the virus that it’s time to hear [For All the Money] on the radio to make me feel good. It’s a labor of love that all songwriters have. Allowing people to hear the excellent musicianship of Steve Wright playing bass. There’s a little difference in my playing as well. It’s fun, really enjoyable.

SILY: When you were originally writing the lyrics and instrumentation, were you going for a feel-good, uplifting type thing?

DC: When you’re looking for someone to invest in you and put you on their label, you want them to like your music, too. I’ve never been a guy to write songs that make you feel bad. [laughs].

SILY: What were you looking for in a vocalist, and why did you end up going with Keith?

DC: We were so fortunate to have Keith in many ways. He was the youngest guy we were working with. I would be the guy to teach him the songs, as the writer of the words. He had to sing those words and get the idea of the song across, which is a big job for any singer. He took special care to get the essence of the song. It makes a big difference to learn the words and melody. I took extra time to write the melody, because I’m putting the words out there, and a lot of time, the melody would depend on what the words were. You have to give the singer places to breathe. I gave Keith liberty to let me know if something wasn’t working for him vocally, to sing it the way he was comfortable. He always came through. The idea of a song is like a chapter in a book. It has to have meaning and a certain ambiance and feel to it. That’s at least my approach to writing and performing, really. He nailed every song in a very professional approach. That’s not an easy thing to do, especially over 11 songs.

There are other songs in the vault from the sessions that he did. He was the only singer we had. I’d like to see success, not just for myself and Steve, but for Keith. He was the only guy on the session that wasn’t in a band that had a Gold or Platinum album, and he’s very deserving of it. I’d love to see this thing be successful on that level because I’d love to walk up to his front door and knock on it and hand him a Platinum album. He’s still trying to do it. He has been for 30-some odd years. He can still hit most if not all of those notes. He doesn’t complain about it, he just stays at it, trying to get to that spot. I’d like to see that happen for him.

SILY: This album was recorded in a number of different studios, and some tracks do sound a bit lower-fi or raw. Did the difference in sounds among the tracks correspond to the different studios you recorded in?

DC: Not really for that reason. What’s really important is trying to get an attitude out of a certain song. It is rock and roll after all. The sound of the studio wasn’t something that dictated the direction.

SILY: At what point did you decide to name the album after the title track?

DC: That song, the first time I heard it, it was one of those that Steve said, “Listen to this!” He had the chorus and the lyrics. [sings] “For all the money in the world, girl / For all the kisses in the sea, baby...” I went, “That’s a hit.” Whenever I play that song for people, they all say, “That’s a natural hit.” Being a shuffle adds a lot to do with it. Shuffles have a magic to them. You just can’t help but tap your foot. Your body moves with it. The approach to have it be a shuffle is right up my alley. Creedence didn’t ever do one, and I always wanted to have a shuffle to record. There it was! It was a natural as the first song on the record. The second one that’s out now is a different type of song, to show the album’s versatility, but I had an inkling that it might be a good idea to name it after the first song on the album.

SILY: At what point did you come up with the order of the tracks?

DC: Listening. [laughs] That’s very important. Again, they’re like chapters in a book or story. I did a lot of shuffling around--there’s that shuffle again--seeing which order played best. It took a while, but that’s something worth spending time on. You want to get it right.

SILY: You’ve said any of these songs could be a single. Do you have a favorite?

DC: [The title track] is probably my favorite for that reason. It’s simplistic in its style, and usually, those are the best ones, the easiest ones to understand, though everybody has their own understanding of music. It is art; you can look at a painting, and 10 different people can have different opinions on it. It’s the same with music. Each song has a different meaning to a different person. That’s great; that way you can touch millions of people instead of 10.

SILY: What’s the story behind the album art?

DC: The story behind the album art is my son [Grady Clifford] did it and I needed a cover. That’s it! I didn’t tell him anything. When I saw it for the first time, I just went, “Wow!” He’s very talented. He did the Revisited cover. Whenever I need art, I don’t tell him what to do. He just does it. My wife [Laurie Clifford] is an artist, too. She did the artwork for [CCR]’s first album. Very recently, she got it in the de Young Museum. They had a show of album covers from the 60′s. The Clifford family has a drummer and artists. One of the things about going from vinyl to CDs is the art is a pretty good size. I miss a lot of aspects of the packaging. I have a couple of good album cover folks within the confines of the house here.

SILY: What’s next from the vault?

DC: A project I did with the same songwriting concept. Two of us did all the writing. The other guy was Bobby Whitlock. I’ve got a Bobby Whitlock album with a group we had for a short while. Bobby’s wife didn’t like living in the East Bay. She wanted to live in the Northeast. Happy wife, happy life, so we had to split when we were close to getting a deal. Another addition to Cosmo’s Vault!

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loudlytransparenttrash · 7 years

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This Week Within Our Colleges: Part 15

Stockton University has removed a bust of its namesake, Richard Stockton, because the Revolutionary War patriot who was among the signers of the Declaration of Independence owned a slave. The school explained that the statue will eventually return to campus, with an accompanying display discussing his slave owning past. Bryn Mawr College is also separating itself from one of its former presidents, Martha Thomas, a leader of the women’s suffragist movement, because she held racist views. The college will no longer use the names of buildings on campus bearing her name. Meanwhile, University of Maryland’s marching band will no longer play the official state song of Maryland at school sporting events because of its ties to the Confederacy.

Wake Forest University will hold numerous “teach-ins” about race and racism in America, inspired by the creation of a “Charlottesville Syllabus” by a group of University of Virginia graduate students. The group which created the syllabus, sent this sweet offer: “The GSCL welcomes new graduate student members who are committed to prioritizing the needs of students most affected by the terrors of white supremacy.” Wake senior Matthew Connor said the workshops “expose many of the facets of a racist society which fuel and support white nationalism, from the Confederate statues to continued legacies of segregation." Wait, black activists demanding segregated housing, segregated graduations, segregated spaces, segregated meetings, segregated student groups, segregated protests and entire school segregation isn’t continuing legacies of segregation but a statue is? Ooookay.

We’ve heard of microaggressions, we’ve heard of macroaggressions, we’ve even heard of microassaults, now there’s a new aggression unassuming white people are inflicting on people of color: invisibility microaggression. Two professors, from Bucknell University and the University of Rhode Island, claim they are the first academics to argue that “invisibility” is a “common form of microaggression” experienced by non-whites. The professors made their discovery after interviewing just 13 women of color working at “predominantly white institutions.” From their “research,” they found one of the main examples of invisibility microaggressions is when there’s more white skinned people around them than people with the same skin color as they have... Does this not prove how desperate these people have become to keep themselves feeling oppressed? They know they are all treated equally in society, so they have to come up with new ways of being victims of whites. Imagine the advancements we could make as a country if we just got on with our lives.

Ole Miss shut down a Greek Life retreat over a discarded banana peel last week. The retreat came to a crashing halt after a student found a “lone, fresh-looking banana peel” up in a tree, thrown there by a student who couldn’t be bothered finding a trashcan. Despite the banana-tosser’s profuse apologies and agreeing to become better educated, students of color interpreted it as a racist insult and “broke into tears.” “The conversation carried on, and tensions continued to rise. White and black members of the Ole Miss Greek community shared their views on the day’s events and race relations in general but the conversation began to move in an unhealthy direction,” one student reported. “The massive discussion session wrapped up as more and more students stood and left the room, some in tears, some in frustration. The remainder of the retreat was canceled later that night.” Alexa Lee Arndt, interim director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, sent a letter to all campus chapter presidents, explaining “many students were hurt, frightened, and upset.”

Staying at Ole Miss, senior Francisco Hernandez bemoans that tailgates at his university are perpetuating racial oppression because of the presence of the Mississippi state flag. Reflecting on the university’s recent home opener, Hernandez says that Ole Miss’s tailgating area is a hostile environment because the state’s flag includes the Confederate battle cross. The flag, Hernandez argues, risks turning the tailgate area “into a giant, live-action Confederate monument.” Despite admitting “scenes of white tailgaters carrying flags and welcoming black tailgaters into their tents being common,” Hernandez says the “environment was unwelcoming to minorities” and “racial tensions” were high because of “the uncomfortable and divisive presence of the Mississippi state flag all over the tailgating grounds.” He warns, “Immediate action is necessary to avoid it turning into a giant, live-action Confederate monument.”

Fordham University has launched an investigation after students were reduced to tears by the screening of a video that debunks the 1 in 5 myth during a Resident Assistant training on sexual assault. Dean Christopher Rodgers showed two separate videos, the first was a trailer for “The Hunting Ground” which uses the 1 in 5 myth to promote the idea of rape culture on campus while the second was a PragerU video disputing the statistic. The school’s Department of Public Safety Coordinator made a statement on the matter, noting that many students “were in tears” after the PragerU video, upset by its claim that there is “no evidence that rape is a cultural norm” on college campuses. “During this video, many more students left the room, many of them women. They were in tears,” the school’s Coordinator wrote, noting that she herself was “shaking” after the video finished playing. Yes, they’re literally crying over being told they aren’t in imminent, mortal danger on campus.

Beloit College recently published a “#GetWoke” syllabus in an effort to encourage students to familiarize themselves with the anti-Trump resistance. The syllabus was created by the school’s diversity office for its upcoming “#GetWoke lecture series,” providing a “general overview of white supremacy, fascism and racism.” While advocating the benefits of protesting Donald Trump, it encourages students to listen to protest songs such as KRS One’s “Sound of Da Police,” or read texts like “Social Justice Organizing” for inspiration. Among the resources included are a “Syllabus for White People to Educate Themselves,” and another on how “All Monuments Must Fall.” When did universities stop educating and start indoctrinating?

The University of Wisconsin, La Crosse has been funding an ongoing research project that seeks to "challenge straight white college men" to become "social justice activists.” “Unless challenged effectively during college, heterosexual white men may leave college no more adept at functioning in a diverse world than when they entered,” the professors running the program warn. They encourage other white male professors to intervene in “male spaces” on campus, specifically advising them to target “fraternities” and “athletic teams” and drop the hint about “exploring identity, challenging privilege and developing responsibility for acting in solidarity with marginalized peers.”

The University of Missouri is hosting weekly meetings exclusively for “students, staff, and faculty of color” to discuss “skills for surviving and resisting hate” at the “Predominantly White Institution.” The "Healing from Racial Injustices" group will meet every Friday to share their experiences and talk about ways of overcoming and healing from the whiteness which surrounds them. The purpose of the healing group “is to provide a space to validate and affirm one another while processing macro and microaggressions.”

A University of Iowa professor claims that "white fragility is a widespread phenomena especially since the 2016 election.” In her article posted under Whiteness and Education, Professor Leslie Ann Locke suggested that “since the 2016 presidential election, it has become almost unbearably clear that white neurosis and white fragility are widespread phenomena. Describing “white neurosis” as a condition in which white people react “defensively” when they’re reprimanded for their privilege, Locke argues that such a “neurosis” corresponds with “white fragility,” a phrase describing the ways in which white people “freak out” when asked to reflect on their privilege. Locke claims that white people who grew up poor “feel a need to compete” for a sense of marginalization with racial minorities when their struggles could never possibly be equivalent. Additionally, she argues that white people allow and protect white supremacy.

The Rochester Institute of Technology recently encouraged its students to masturbate so they will feel less inclined to commit sexual assault during one of its freshman orientation programs. The slide reminded students to "Think of Roo!" - an acronym for "rub one out,” to seemingly help them overcome their urge to rape. It proudly explains “self-gratification can prevent sexual assault.”

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has reassigned a crazed lecturer to non-teaching duties after she harassed and hurled insults at students who were recruiting for the school’s Turning Point USA chapter. Several university employees, including Courtney Lawton, carried signs and called the students Nazis. Yes, college staff were protesting and calling conservative students Nazis. Lawton was recorded on camera yelling “Neo-fascist Becky right here. Wants to destroy public schools. Hates DACA kids. No KKK” while giving the middle finger to the camera.

I wasn’t going to post this next one as I originally didn’t believe it was real. As part of a new “Social Justice Collective Weekly” newsletter at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, an article asks “Should Veterans Be Banned From UCCS?” They explain, “Many veterans openly mock the ideas of diversity and safe spaces for vulnerable members of society - the LGBTQQI2SAA community.” This isn’t a keyboard mashup, it’s a real thing. The article goes on further to make its case for banning veterans, saying the military is a white supremacist organization and veterans are typically right-wing extremists.

Black and Latino student groups at the University of Florida recently protested a plan to house their organizations in one building, saying it would erase and marginalize their black and brown bodies and their cultures at the predominantly white institution. The university recently published a blueprint to build a U-shaped building that would house both the Institute of Black Culture and the Institute of Hispanic-Latino Culture. The two groups would each get their own wing of the building and simply share a walkway and elevator. But members of the Institute of Black Culture and the Institute of Hispanic-Latino Culture expressed fury at the plan. “Combining IBC and La Casita is not only working to erase the histories of the black and Latinx communities at UF, but also to further disregard the needs and concerns of students of color within a predominantly white institution,” one of the students explained.

As Stephen King’s ‘It’ gets released today, one Boston University lecturer, Regina Hansen, has suggested a different storyline for the audience to focus on: the dominance of straight, white masculinity that pervades the tale. In her published article, Hansen delves into on-screen depictions of King’s work, as she argues that his “white male underdog characters” achieve their heroic qualities “through the marginalisation of female characters, black characters, gay characters and characters with disabilities.” She adds the inclusion of mostly Caucasian, heterosexual, and non-physically disabled protagonists “can be vexing, especially for non-white, female or queer people” and it also “fails to challenge traditional concepts of hegemonic masculinity.”

The Society for Social Studies of Science wants English to stop being considered ‘the common language’ as it "send a message of insulation and parochialism to the world" as “xenophobia and nationalism are on the rise.” “While English has become favored in communications and networking across the globe, it is the official language of just a handful of countries, most prominently the United States of America and the United Kingdom, and the current policies of these two countries send a message of explicitly threatening the importance of human difference.”

Students at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst are in an uproar after a previously “gender-inclusive” bathroom was re-designated as female. Director of Residence Education Jean MacKimmie explained in an email prior to the decision that the school was lawfully required to make the change as the state’s plumbing code requires that all multi-stall bathrooms be designated as either male or female. MacKimmie also explained 135 other campus bathrooms and 122 residence hall restrooms have been designated as genderless. Students were still outraged and have launched a campaign to protest the decision, attempting to be relentless against those behind the change. One sassy little trooper, Ethan Gourlay, plans to continue to break the rules and enter the female bathroom. “Having to choose between men’s and women’s rooms is oppressive and uncomfortable. I intend to use both because gender is a lie.”

The Novo Foundation, an organization focused on women, recently awarded the City College of New York $1.2 million for a program to help "women of color" not become engineers, scientists or anything worthy, but to be "activist scholars." The program promises to “train young women of color from both immigrant and U.S. based minority communities” with the goal to “build stronger activist movements.” While organizers of the program insist that it "does not discriminate on race or gender," they struggle to clarify how exactly a program exclusively for "women of color," does not discriminate against race or gender.

Being asked your last name is offensive these days, according to George Mason University. Teachers were told to avoid using the term “last name” along with a slew of other phrases, such as “freshman” and “it is easy to imagine.” The guide also advised to include a diversity statement in their syllabi and ask students for the pronoun that “agrees with their gender identity and expression.” It also urged to ensure their syllabi are “written in non-sexist, gender-inclusive terms,” suggesting to replace ‘mankind’ with ‘humankind’ and ‘freshman’ with ‘first-year student,’ and to avoid Eurocentrism, use ‘family name’ rather than ‘last name.’ Another term deemed as excluding others was “everyone knows,” as it may exclude those who indeed don’t know.

A University of Tampa professor suggested that Texans deserve the fallout from Hurricane Harvey because of their support for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. “I don’t believe in instant Karma but this kinda feels like it for Texas,” Professor Ken Storey wrote. “Hopefully this will help them realize the GOP doesn’t care about them.” One of Storey’s followers responded to the tweet by noting that there are “lots of good people in Texas,” which he replies “Well, the good people there need to do more to stop the evil their state pushes. I’m only blaming those who support the GOP there.” He later goes on to say Trump voters in Florida deserve the same fate.

Meanwhile, more than thirty professors from Harvard and other universities were arrested yesterday after blocking traffic during a street protest in support of DACA.

#college

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shadychildgentlemen-blog · 5 years

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Book of Love by Book of Love, a review (1986)

What better way to start reviewing albums than to review a debut album? Yes, welcome to my Tumblr page, where I review albums! The debut album that I will be reviewing is Book of Love’s self-titled album, released in 1986. First, let me tell you about the band. THE BAND Book of Love was a synthpop group that was very active from the mid-1980s, until the early 1990s. The band comprised of Lead Vocalist Susan Ottaviano, keyboardists Ted Ottaviano (not at all related to Susan), Jade Lee and Lauren Roselli, in which they formed the group in 1983. They aren’t really a synthpop group that is reminisced a lot in today’s pop culture like The Human League or Eurythmics. Of course, this may be a misguided viewpoint since I myself wasn’t around in the 80s to know who was hot at the time (I was born in the late 90s) and Book of Love had a noticeable following in the dance club scene of the time. To be honest, you would hear a lot of nostalgia for A-ha or Tears for Fears before you would hear the same sort of nostalgia for this band. To be fair, the group did put some singles on the charts, such as 1985’s “Boy” which referred to the East Village’s exclusive gay bar and 1988’s “Pretty Boys and Pretty Girls,” which talked about the AIDS epidemic of the time. Book of love was a successful band in my opinion. They churned out four albums; two in the 80s, and two in the early 90s when synthpop was losing its grip as the dominant genre and grunge were taking over. The reason that I think that the band is sort of obscure in today’s world of nostalgia is due to the lack of consistent hits. Their music hit the charts every once in a while instead of very often compared to other groups. This doesn’t mean that they weren’t good; in fact, a lot of good music happens to not be on the top 40, in addition to good music being objective. THE ALBUM As I said before, this was their debut album, recorded in 1985, released 1986, produced by Ivan Ivan, also the producer for Devo and Velveteen. The album gives this group a good freaking foundation of who they are. Even the album cover, four black and white photos of every one give an introductory vibe to the LP. Throughout the collection of songs (17 to be exact, if you include the remixes to “Boy”, “Modigliani”, “You Make Me Feel So Good,” and “I Touch Roses.”) there are constant themes of love, relationship, and even lies. A softer more feminine vibe is evident in the tracks, possibly the product of the group being majority women, makes this album stand out from other synth albums of the day. Tracks such as “Modigliani (Lost In Your Eyes)” uses a lot of sensory detail and romantic language, sounding like a love letter from the Rennaisance Era being read aloud. “You Make Me Feel So Good” is basically if an appreciation post on Instagram was turned into a love song from the 80s. The lyrical aspect was not the only part that made the group stand out in my opinion. The use of peppy, bright synths, airy background vocals, and the use of non-electronic instruments such as tubular bells, gives the band a harmless sound. SONG IMPRESSIONS

Modigliani (Lost in Your Eyes)- Featured in the 1987 film Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, this track features the typical 80s synths, airy vibes, and empty drums that is gives a romantic feeling to match the romantic language of the lyrics. It is a perfect, textbook example of a standard Book of Love song if you have never heard their music.

Lost Souls- Different from most of the songs on this album, the use of more fulfilling, heavier synth drums, deep square leads and synths makes the track more intense. The song looks at relationships in a different, more negative view. The singer mentions about “lies” and how “They all lead back to you” giving a hint that her lover is a liar and that she is upset about this. They seem to be breaking up or losing one another, hence the name

White Lies- A melancholy, but rather upbeat track. The whole entire song sounds like a demo song from an old keyboard you bought at a yard sale. I get it, the song is old, but it sounds cheaply made, wasn’t one of the best tracks, to be honest with you.

Boy- 1985 single that catapulted the group to the charts for a time. It’s one of their most popular singles and more bittersweet sounding. “Boy” still uses the same lighter drum kits but uses deeper synths hidden in the background behind Ottaviano’s vocals and the Tubular bells, which kind of gave me a Motown feel (it may just be me tho), but by listening to the lyrics, you learn about how the singer wants to go to Boy Bar but faces the reality of being a girl and not being allowed and how sad or angsty it makes her feel. The melody and composition is a great companion to it.

Still Angry (Least Favorite Track)- The track contains, heavier drums, a faster beat and deeper vocals on Ottaviano’s part. I got a really quirky or cheesy vibe from this song in terms of the composition of the song. It was made out to be a more agitated tune, but what I imagined, listening to this was a pink teddy bear, coming to life and running around the room, screaming and pissed off. Sure, it may catch you off guard but do you sense any danger with a small stuffed animal? You’re probably not going to take it seriously. It also sounds more repetitive and drawn out the more and more you listen to it. The first song on the LP to get old if you listen to it a lot.

Late Show (Favorite Track of the album!!!!!)- This track is rather different from the rest of the others in terms that it doesn’t have any vocals or lyrics whatsoever. It is pure instrumental! To be honest, it is kind of a refreshing track, not to say that the other tracks were not good because of vocals, but you get to pay attention to just the sound Book of Love; light electric guitar riffs, smooth synth drum beats, some bongos, in the background… The song builds up to a climax using these instruments, including guitar solos, concentrations on each of the instruments used. As the listener hits the climax, the intensity plateaus for a bit, until it is brought down slowly until a black fade out, decorated by three square lead notes that play every couple. It is intense, but a harmless aesthetic that screams the 80s! But also screams Book of Love! You listen to it and felt satisfied by the ending, which is a good sign in itself.

SOME DRAWBACKS…

The two drawbacks I see with this album is one, instrument choice, and two, staleness. First with instrument choice. Some of the instruments, such as an instrument that sounded like an electric harmonica? Made the song “Book of Love” cheesy near the end of the song. It sounded like a karaoke rendition of a song, which is a bit ironic because it is an original song. A lot of the cheesiness makes the tracks sound a bit cheap in a way. In some other ways, it makes the album stand out more from more famous albums of that era, but overall, it can sometimes sound cheaply made. Another drawback is the staleness of the songs. There are a few songs that I still listen to after listening to this album from cover to cover six months ago. The other majority of songs get old quickly. Perhaps I just overplayed them but good music never gets old, right?

BUT IN THE END…The changing sounds of the songs, with a consistent theme (go from a dainty vibe to a more straightforward and striking vibe), can either correspond with or foil against the messages of love and relationship which makes for an interesting album. Just don’t OVERPLAY IT!

RATING…………….8

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stylespresso · 7 years

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Combining Work + Travel: How I Got Myself a Job Where I Can Work From Anywhere and Anytime I Want

“Ano bang trabaho mo?” or in English, “What is it exactly that you do?”

Surprisingly I get this question more often than the “Kelan ka ba mag-aaasawa?” one. :P If you’re following me on social media, perhaps you’re asking the same question too.

I am based in Manila. I HAVE A JOB. Yes!

Anywhere is a possible workplace. Setup up my work space in a kitchen of a hostel in Seoul, South Korea - Cristina Raposa @marsirap on Instagram

Nap is life! Sneaking in a quick nap between beach time and work. - Cristina Raposa @marsirap on Instagram

Nope, my field of work does not include beach tours. I’m not in the tourism industry neither.

All my trips were DIY, carefully planned through my obsessive-compulsive travel itinerary spreadsheet.

The answer is simple, I do social media marketing and community management as a freelancer. Because of my work setup, I do not need to clock in the office. I can work from anywhere and everywhere as long as I have my mobile phone, laptop and an ok internet connection.

First time seeing snow in Japan - Cristina Raposa @marsirap @instagram

My remote setup in a random cafe at Shirakawa-go in Japan - Cristina Raposa @marsirap on Instagram

How? Why and When? Read along as I try my best to tell my story.

I love traveling. I love backpacking. For years, I’ve always enjoyed exploring new destinations and planning everything on my own. Back in 2012, when I was still clocking in for a 9 to 5 office job, I would strategically plan my trips and vacation leaves before or after the holidays. This way I get more days off. I’m pretty sure a lot of you guys have done this too, mixing sick leaves and vacations leaves with holidays.

Snorkeling in the Maldives - Cristina Raposa @marsirap on Instagram

Avenue of Baobabs in Madagascar - Cristina Raposa @marsirap on Instagram

This clever strategy worked so well until I started to feel a little constrained. After traveling to a few destinations, I wanted to do more, see more places and manage my own time.

Without having a clear plan for a new career, I’ve decided to quit my job. After my resignation, what was clear was I wanted to get away. I packed my bags and used my back pay for a trip across Indochina, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and then South Korea. It was one of my first solo trips ever and I sure did have a lot of fun.

Jodhpur, Rajasthan in India - Cristina Raposa @marsirap on Instagram

When I arrived home in Manila, reality kicked in. I didn’t have a job. My savings were about to go empty real soon if I don’t get a job asap. I was already beginning to feel like I shouldn’t be so choosy, take any ok job wait until I’m a regular employee so I can use my leaves.

I almost gave up until a rare opportunity landed on my lap. Thanks to LinkedIn. I was given the opportunity to work for an Asian fashion social media startup. The pay was good and what’s even better is that I get to work remotely! No more clocking in, no more enduring the Manilatraffic jam. Yes to backpacking across Southeast Asia and the world, yes to surfing more waves, yes to learning new things and yes to being able to have enough time to do errands and all those adulting things. (Because yup, I’m a tita!)

Bucas Grande Island, Surigao del Norte - Cristina Raposa @marsirap on Instagram

Surfing is one of my true loves. Aurora, Philippines - Cristina Raposa @marsirap on Instagram

Another opportunity came from a virtual assistant recruitment company. For a while I worked with a few clients abroad, all on part time, 7AM to 11AM then all play for the rest of the day.

New Zealand was my dream destination since high school. - Queenstown, New Zealand - Cristina Raposa @marsirap on Instagram

Then more opportunities came. One job lead to another. From friend recommendations to online job searches. I wasn’t aware that I was getting more and more into freelancing until when I had to file as a self-employed individual for the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Registering myself as a freelancer had its jitters. I was like, “What are you sure? You want to do this for a long time? Can you pull this off? What if the clients stop coming in?” That was my paranoid mind trying to discourage me.

On a side note, freelancers have the option to not declare their earnings but the thing is you have to give a receipt in exchange for pay cheques, proof of income for visa applications, loans etc.

Temple run in Bagan, Myanmar - Cristina Raposa @marsirap on Instagram

To be honest, I don’t know when the clients and new projects will stop coming in. That’s why I make the best of what I have at the moment. I work hard and build good working relationships with the clients I have.

Freelancing or being a Digital Nomad sounds so easy, rewarding and all fun. It is, but it still requires effort and discipline to pull it off.

Playa La Caleta, Bataan - Cristina Raposa @marsirap on Instagram

Channeling Moana at Cabo beach, Burgos in Pangasinan - Cristina Raposa @marsirap on Instagram

For example, I don’t clock in 9AM to 5PM but as much as possible I try to discipline myself to wake up early in the morning to start working and see what needs to be done. Work a few hours in the morning then probably go surfing in the afternoon. Work in between travels while transiting from one location to the other.

Anyone can work from anywhere and anytime they want, however, I hate to break to you but choosing to have this kind of freedom still requires some sort of adulting.

Kuang Xi Waterfalls in Luang Prabang, Laos - Cristina Raposa @marsirap on Instagram

The saying goes, “If you want something, you’ll find a way.” I love traveling so much, I wanted to do it as much as I could so I found a way to do it while working.

I know I promised myself to explain what I do as short as possible but I ended up telling a long story of how I landed on this kind of setup. I’ve met a lot of people who’ve ask me how to do it and what is required to work from anywhere and I hope I somehow managed to shed a light on it.

Nami Island, South Korea - Cristina Raposa @marsirap on Instagram

Goa Gajah, Bali in Indonesia - Cristina Raposa @marsirap on Instagram

So anyway, let me end this long write up with a cute list of necessities every traveling freelancer / digital nomad should have. Check the proven must-have items below and let me know what you guys think!

Cristina’s Freelancer Manifesto

The Freelancer Toolkit

Discipline - Plan your working hours and make sure you stick with it. At times it’s also good to let your team or client know that you are traveling and might not be able to respond or work immediately because most of the time they’ll understand.

The Freelancer Toolkit - You need to be prepared for anything that could go wrong like having low battery, terrible wifi connection, last minute edits or client request. Everything you need to work must be handy and accessible when you are on the road.

Stay connected - Correspondence is key. The faster you respond to your clients the more they will feel at ease so it really pays to stay connected always. But at times when you can’t attend to their requests immediately, be honest and let them know that you are currently away and will work on their request as soon as you are settled. You can also let them know ahead of time on when you are out of reach.

Be professional / create work relationships - You don’t get to see the people you work with on a daily basis. At times it can be such a bore when you are always coordinating on your laptop or mobile phone so when you get to interact with them, greet them, ask how they are and never fail to say “Thank you”. However, don’t over do it nor over share!

Keep studying - In an industry such as social media, there are always new trends coming up so it pays to keep studying to improve your skills and be in the loop on what’s on trend. Think of it as an investment, you take certificate courses, attend webinars, the more you learn the more skills you acquire and the more services you can offer to your clients.

Do the paperwork - The trickiest part! I used to have a tally of who won between me vs. BIR per the number of times I visited their office to work on my requirements. Once you’ve got the registration, forms, books, filing, receipts and accountant covered, you’re good to go. Trust me, it’s worth all the trouble! :)

Learn to stay AFK - You can still get burnout when you are working on your laptop or on your mobile phone for almost the entire time so practice on having some time away from any of your freelancing tools. Especially when you are on another town or country, get away from the keyboard, enjoy your surroundings, be there and be present!

BTW guys, don’t forget to follow my travels on social media! I’m on Facebook and Instagram! :)

#stylespresso #digitalnomad #digitalmarketing #socialmediamarketing #freelancer #freelancing #workfromhome #travel #traveling #wanderlust #philippines #coworking #cristina raposa #travel philippines #world nomads

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amariemelody · 7 years

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How I Write

So I was tagged a while ago by my darling @indi-flying-with-dragons for the How I Write Series created by @lizard-is-writing, which is basically just a few awesome questions about your writing process. So! Here we go (and sorry this is so late, sweetie).

It’s kinda long, tho:

Q: Is there a snack you like to eat while writing?

Yes! I’m a big believer in satisfying the munchies-especially when you’re using Mega Brain Power in an activity like writing. I’ll snack on just about anything from popcorn and cereal to fruit bowls and ice cream.

My main go-to snack, though, is a nice, hot cup of tea. I’ve become an avid tea drinker in recent years and I love all sorts of flavors like jasmine green tea (good for calming nerves when I got a lotta work), plain green tea, English Breakfast, lemon ginger, Constant Comment, etc.

And just every now and then coffee is good, too. There’s just...something about a nice, hot beverage that helps get me in the mood for writing, y’know? ‘Tis wonderful.

Q: What time of day do you usually write?

Any time of day that’s not in the afternoon. Early mornings & night time are the best times for sure-my fingers just go flying across the keyboard.

Q: Where do you write?

Oftentimes right here, at my desk, on my desktop computer in my bedroom! But I was recently gifted a tablet for Christmas (yes, my broke ass self still cries about that), and so sometimes I’ll take my tablet and write with it on the dining room table if I feel I need a change of scenery.

Q: How often do you write a new thing?

Every couple of months or so! I try to be careful because I have this racing and whirling imagination that’s like a wild horse, and so all kinds of new stories, scenes, dialogues, etc. randomly come to me.

So I’ve since learned to force myself to wait, be patient, and see if any one of those ideas really sticks with me. And if it does, then I’ll make a little document or folder for it on my Spidey jumpdrive with a few notes. This way, the actual work I create won’t be a chaotic mess that mostly never sees the light of day.

Q: Do you listen to music while you write?

Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Music is the soul. Music is the heart. Music is the mind.

Music is everything.

I do admit that I’m pretty predictable in what type of music I listen to according to what I’m writing at the time. For example, if I’m writing romance (which is mostly what I write and read; I am a self-professed romance sap), then I’m listening to a lot of [old school] R&B and pop like Boyz 2 Men, Jodeci, Usher, Beyoncé, etc. Mostly Boyz 2 Men, tho-they the realest.

If I’m writing a tense, epic fight scene, then I have a whole playlist of instrumental music that does in fact include Thomas Bergersen and Two Steps From Hell. That same playlist serves me well when I need to get into the mood for a sad scene.

Other times, if I’m writing something that doesn’t require a lot of emotional labor for me (though it still could be romantic and/or sad!), I’m pretty free to listen to whatever I want because I already have that particular scene’s mood, tone, & direction down.

And there are still other times when I can’t listen to music because I’m writing an intense dialogue scene that must be just right. So I need to take my headphones out so that I can “hear” the characters speaking.

Q: Paper or laptop?

Laptop. Hands down. I must be able to type as fast as I think. I must. Also, hand cramps & I don’t get along well.

Q: Do you have a special pre-writing ritual?

Yes, and...no. It really just depends on what I’m about to write, my own current mood & thoughts, and what I need to do in those moments to get comfortable. And then it depends on what I need to do to get comfortable so that I can abide by my motto: Sit down, focus, concentrate, dedicate.

But if I did have to say I have a ritual, I guess it’s pretty predictable. For example, if I haven’t already, then a shower and a good, hearty meal is in order. Listening to the particular music that I need is a big bonus that helps a lot. Simply putting on my tea kettle and watching the steam & vapor as it heats the water puts me into high gear. Making sure that, if I need it, I have background noise along with the music I listen to (Yes, that means sometimes I’ll turn on a particular movie just to know it’s playing in the background even while I have headphones in. Haha...hah.)

Q: What do you do to get into the writing?

I re-read whatever part of my work that I need to! Sometimes just a scene or two or a whole chapter! Again, music is my darling love from above.

If I’m feeling really reluctant to write, then I tell myself, “Hey, you’ll feel loads better if you do! Just put your jump drive in and you’ll feel accomplished and proud of yourself. You really will!”

...And I do. I always do feel wonderfully happy and industrious when I put a good dent or two in my writing! So I always know that that feeling of satisfaction is on the other end of my writing, and thus that really helps me get into it.

Q: Do you have a reward system for word counts?

Naw, just watching my word count skyrocket & feeling that satisfaction is more than enough.

Now, sometimes I’ll bargain with myself like, “If you get to 5K, you can play Sims!” But the problem with that is that, by the time I’ve met that 5K goal...I’m so in deep that I just wanna keep writing and so I do, LOL!

Q: Is there anything else about your writing process your readers don’t know?

Oh god, I hope I don’t get judged...

I am super-duper-duper-duper-duper organized. My wittle Spidey jump drive is its own city of meticulously-labeled files and folders for each of my works.

If a particular work is so big for me that it requires its own folder, then I organize the folder with individual documents like these:

- [Actual] Chapters: Where the bulk of my work is. If my work is going to be multi-chapter, then each chapter gets its own, separate document.

-Scenes: These simply randomly pop into my head. I find this part of my folder to be especially useful because, again, my imagination runs like a wild freakin’ horse. Even if I may worry that a scene is silly, won’t work, etc., I still usually go ahead and at least sketch a script-like skeleton of it with plenty of notes so that I know where it came from in my head, where it’s going, and where, if I can guess, I think it’ll best be placed in my work.

-Research links: Oohh, I love that my Tumblr dash has actually randomly presented to me links that I can use. Just about anything that I think will be relevant to the story, I’ll keep. I’ll also put a little description in parenthesis next to it, so that I know just what it talks about, what I think I’ll be able to use it for, and sometimes even if I think it’ll be most useful or not.

In addition to the little descriptions, I also organize my links according to their subjects. For example, if I did a mermaid story, one section could be labeled “All about Whales”, another could be “How real-life aquatic tails work!” and another could be “Possible Mermaid Anatomy Diffs.”

It makes such a breeze & a snap when I come across a point in my writing where I’ll need a link. Just pull the document up, scroll through to the section I need, click the link, and voila!

-Notes/Random Brainstorming Ideas/Correspondence w/Friends: I typically just put, in bold, whatever notes I need in its corresponding chapter, next to the paragraphs, sentences, transitions, etc. that it belongs with. But if I just need huge, arching notes for the entire work, then that’s what this document is for. And of course, having a place where I remember where I talked to friends for help is always inspiring & comforting when I’m not so confident in my writing.

Well, then! That was a lot! Thanks so much if you got all the way to the end of that, and it’s totally alright if you didn’t! Happy June, everybody! :D

I tag @afro-elf, @lunaaltare, @spartanlady16, @the-omniscient-narrator, @zetsubonna, @redsixwing, @platonicharmonics and anyone else that wants to share!

#Amarie talks #Being tagged by friends is WONDERFUL!#my fanfiction #long post

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jjkfire · 7 years

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do u translate and sub the video u make urself? if yes how did u learn korean? i'm trying to learn it myself and it's so hard to memorize the letters. especially the consonants >

yes i do translate and sub them myself! haha… i learnt my basic korean from hearing my friends speak so yeah i guess i’m not the conventional learner. also! i’m in no way fluent at the language so idk if you should really be listening to my tips lmao. as in i don’t really translate much bc ya i’m not thaaat fluent.

anyway i would recommend this app called Memrise! i think it’s really good. I didn’t learn the alphabet through the app but I feel like it’s a great tool. what really helped me tho and i’m not sure if this is a ‘good’ way to learn it so be cautious when taking my advice… haha anyway what i did was memorise phrases; like the way they look and i would rewrite them on the corners of my notebook when i’m bored… essentially doodling in hangul.

take 봄날 (bom nal) for instance which is Spring Day. If you rewrite this over and over again you’ll eventually remember which letter corresponds to which character. like ㅂ = b, ㅗ = o, ㅁ = m, ㄴ = n, ㅏ = a, ㄹ = l.

or you know 방탄소년단 which is bangtan sonyeondan again you’ll know b and then ㅇ = ng when it’s at the end of a word, ㅌ = t, ㅅ = s, ㄷ = d. or choose to remember the members’ names!! like 지민 which is jimin, so ㅈ = j , ㅣ= i and you know so on! you can defo use their korean song titles as sample phrases too!

idk if this method will confuse you more… but that’s how i learnt the alphabet! um something that really helps is writing the alphabet on a sticky note and putting it on your desk or saving a picture of the alphabet and what letters it corresponds to on your phone so you can look at it when you’re trying to pass time or smth.

i guess each person learns differently but honestly the best way to memorise the characters is to continuously write them over and over again like kindergarten style or install a korean keyboard on your phone and play around with it! oh and side note ㅁ looks like a mouth… an open mouth and ㅁ is m so ㅁ, m, mouth, get it? yeah so you know try to find things to associate the letters with… maybe you’ll come up with a better one than i did haha. In any case learning a language takes time so don’t worry, you’ll get there soon!!

#replies #anon #misc #i hope i didnt confuse you anon...

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nxfury · 4 years

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Lock Down Your Laptop With OpenBSD: Part 2

So you've got a nice fresh OpenBSD install on your laptop, and you're excited to use it. However the desktop environment it comes with is absolutely horrifying to use. Following up from the installation of OpenBSD found on This Blog Post, it is time to tweak out OpenBSD to have a nice and custom desktop tailored to your needs.

I will be configuring i3 window manager, although the setup process for a more well-known desktop environment (like GNOME or XFCE) is very similar in terms of setup.

Since I opted for i3, there's a lot more manual configuration- but the reward is much greater in terms of the ability to customize it. Anyways, this machine doesn't configure itself- so lets dive right in!

Installing Required Software

I wanted for a somewhat custom look, so this is what I set out to install:

i3-gaps

i3status

rofi

rxvt-unicode

chromium (yes, it's modded by the developers)

irssi

w3m

vim

openbsd-backgrounds (because it contains the xwallpaper app)

To install these, I logged in as root and ran the following command in the terminal (once connected to internet):

pkg_add i3-gaps i3status rofi rxvt-unicode chromium irssi w3m vim openbsd-backgrounds

With this completed and out of the way, configuration of the OS is now much easier and we're ready to actually begin configuration.

First Tweaks

There's a console at the login prompt that isn't my taste, so I wanted to disable it. To do so, run:

sed -i 's/xconsole/#xconsole/' /etc/X11/xenodm/Xsetup_0 echo 'xset b off' >> /etc/X11/xenodm/Xsetup_0

The first command comments out the execution of XConsole at the login screen, while the second one disables system beeps at the prompt.

Next thing is enabling the ability to save us some battery life, since we are installing on a laptop:

rcctl enable apmd rcctl set apmd flags -A rcctl start apmd

Apmd is the Advanced Power Management Daemon, and automatically handles the power draw for your system for you.

Since I created a user other than root during installation (let's call the username joe), it's critical to give the account access to doas.

echo 'permit persist keepenv joe' > /etc/doas.conf

The doas command on OpenBSD is actually slated to be the successor to sudo on most platforms, due to it's simplicity and ease of use. Many Linux systems already provide doas as an alternative to sudo due to how well it runs, and this one line just grants the same access you would normally have when using it. However, you can also restrict the access to specific commands depending on the user.

We want to also make the user a member of the staff group, as this group has access to more system resources than plain old users:

usermod -G staff joe

While we're at it, we might as well bump up some of the resource limits even further so our system will run like a dream.

Modify the staff: entry in /etc/login.conf to look like this:

staff:\ :datasize-cur=1024M:\ :datasize-max=8192M:\ :maxproc-cur=512:\ :maxproc-max=1024:\ :openfiles-cur=4096:\ :openfiles-max=8192:\ :stacksize-cur=32M:\ :ignorenologin:\ :requirehome@:\ :tc=default:

Then, append this to /etc/sysctl.conf:

# shared memory limits (chrome needs a ton) kern.shminfo.shmall=3145728 kern.shminfo.shmmax=2147483647 kern.shminfo.shmmni=1024 # semaphores kern.shminfo.shmseg=1024 kern.seminfo.semmns=4096 kern.seminfo.semmni=1024 kern.maxproc=32768 kern.maxfiles=65535 kern.bufcachepercent=90 kern.maxvnodes=262144 kern.somaxconn=2048

NOTE: If a setting exists already and is already higher than what you plan to replace it with, don't touch it. You'll just slow the system down.

What this does is allow for larger amounts of memory to be used by the user and allows the OS to have larger amounts of shared memory.

Awesome, Now let's get suspend working! First we need to run

mkdir /etc/apm

and then append the following to /etc/apm/suspend:

#!/bin/sh pkill -USR1 xidle

We can now run chmod +x /etc/apm/suspend and it will work properly.

Reboot to apply these changes.

FINALLY Setting Up The Desktop

First things first, we will want to configure GTK because the default keybindings are that of emacs- and ~~it stinks~~ gets the job done, but I don't prefer it. To switch to more normal keybindings, run the command

mkdir -p ~/.config/gtk-3.0

and then append the following to ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini:

[Settings] gtk-theme-name=Adwaita gtk-icon-theme-name=Adwaita gtk-font-name=Arimo 9 gtk-toolbar-style=GTK_TOOLBAR_ICONS gtk-toolbar-icon-size=GTK_ICON_SIZE_SMALL_TOOLBAR gtk-button-images=1 gtk-menu-images=1 gtk-enable-event-sounds=1 gtk-enable-input-feedback-sounds=1 gtk-xft-antialias=1 gtk-xft-hinting=1 gtk-xft-hintstyle=hintslight gtk-xft-rgba=rgb gtk-cursor-theme-size=0 gtk-cursor-theme-name=Default gtk-key-theme-name=Default

Now we need to copy the default i3status to /etc:

cp /usr/local/share/examples/i3status.conf /etc

Failure to do this will cause i3status to crash on launch.

Lastly, let's configure i3 to actually launch. Open /etc/X11/xenodm/Xsession in a text editor and go to the end of the text file. There will be a portion saying exec fvwm. Remove that line entirely and replace it with exec i3. Now search for anything in this file saying xconsole and remove it (this prevents automatic launching of a console in your desktop.)

If running Intel Integrated Graphics, it may be wise to do one final modification to prevent screen tearing. To do this, run the following command:

mkdir /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d

This makes the xorg.conf.d directory. Now append the following contents to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/intel.conf:

Section "Device" Identifier "drm" Driver "intel" Option "TearFree" "true" EndSection

This configures OpenBSD to play more nicely with your Intel Integrated Graphics.

Finally, type reboot to reboot your system. You should be able to log in as your normal user and have access to i3 window manager. It will provide a "first startup" wizard to go through. If unfamiliar with i3, it is a tiling window manager that uses keyboard shortcuts to manipulate windows.

Once the configuration has been generated, we will need to configure i3 a bit further to allow for rofi and urxvt to work. To tweak these, we first need to edit our /etc/.Xdefaults file and add the following contents (note- this is the longest part of the entire task of getting a desktop working):

! === Rofi colors rofi.color-window : argb:c82d303b, #7c8389, #1d1f21 rofi.color-normal : argb:3c1d1f21, #c4cbd4, argb:96404552, #4084d6, #f9f9f9 rofi.color-urgent : argb:2c1d1f21, #cc6666, argb:e54b5160, #a54242, #f9f9f9 rofi.color-active : argb:2c1d1f21, #65acff, argb:e44b5160, #4491ed, #f9f9f9 rofi.font : Noto Sans 14 rofi.hide-scrollbar : true ! === URXVT URxvt*geometry : 80x30 "URxvt.font : 9x15 !Special Xft*dpi : 96 Xft*antialias : true Xft*hinting : true Xft*hintstyle : hintslight Xft*rgba : rgb URxvt.cursorUnderline : true URxvt*font : xft:Monospace:size=14:antialias=true URxvt*letterSpace : -2 URxvt.background : #1d1f21 URxvt.foreground : #c5c8c6 URxvt.cursorColor : #c5c8c6 urxvt*transparent : tue urxvt*shading : 30 URxvt*saveLines : 0 URxvt*scrollBar : false !black urxvt.color0 : #282a2e urxvt.color8 : #373b41 !red urxvt.color1 : #a54242 urxvt.color9 : #cc6666 !green urxvt.color2 : #8c9440 urxvt.color10 : #b5bd68 !yellow urxvt.color3 : #de835f urxvt.color11 : #f0c674 !blue urxvt.color4 : #5f819d urxvt.color12 : #81a2be !magenta urxvt.color5 : #85678f urxvt.color13 : #b294bb !cyan urxvt.color6 : #5e8d87 urxvt.color14 : #8abeb7 !white urxvt.color7 : #707880 urxvt.color15 : #c5c8c6

This chunk of configuration sets rofi (our app launcher) into dark mode, and changes the default terminal colors to be a little easier on the eyes with a dark theme instead of a eye-scorching manilla color... Only one change to go!

Wrap-Up

Open ~/.config/i3/config in your editor and go around 45 down. You will notice a section that says "Start a terminal". We want to change it's corresponding command to this:

bindsym $mod+Return exec /usr/local/bin/urxvt

This sets the i3 hotkey combo to execute urxvt instead of xterm.

Awesome! Since i3-gaps is installed, gaps between windows can be set up and configured if preferred. Otherwise, configuration is done, and you're able to install other software that you might want, such as Libreoffice, VLC, PCManFM, and other useful utilities (or games?)

Lastly, to set your desktop background, download a picture and save it to your preferred directory. In my case, it's located at /home/w00t/Pictures/wallpaper.png. Using my download location, I appended the following line to ~/.config/i3/config:

exec --no-startup-id "xwallpaper --stretch /home/w00t/Pictures/wallpaper.png"

Now my desktop wallpaper automatically sets itself on login.

There's other tweaks you can make- but this is meant to be enough to get to a system that's comfortable to work in and have an enjoyable time with OpenBSD. Until Next Time!

Source For Some Config Files: C0ffee.net

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#81a2be #7c8389 #1d1f21 #282a2e #f0c674 #85678f #b294bb #f9f9f9 #8c9440 #b5bd68 #a54242 #373b41 #de835f #5e8d87 #8abeb7 #xconsole #c4cbd4 #cc6666 #c5c8c6 #5f819d #4084d6 #65acff #4491ed

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ahmedsalmanmagento-blog · 4 years

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Consider Android App Development Even If You Have An Ios App On A Budget

Android program growth faces different challenges than iOS app development, but reaps the advantages of the Android infrastructure. But why can't I simply replicate my iOS program in Android? Do I really need to construct a new app from the ground up?

The reply to these questions is the dev work doesn't translate directly whatsoever. The slightest perceivable difference in UI to the customer takes a ton of development time. The difference in programming language means that devs cannot simply copy and paste assets between versions. It is not that this approach is impractical, but in most instances is impossible. Additionally, it is important to note the difference in markets. The kind of app that succeeds at the App Store is not analogous to that which will top the charts in Google Play.

From that fateful day the App Store launched in 2008, the fundamentals of Android and iOS happen to be in direct competition with each other. Apple telephones evolve at an incremental level. Each year's new version (with the current exception of the X) contains virtually the same attribute set, with a brand new quirk or a horsepower upgrade. IOS programs have the convenience of knowing their platform is scalable and omnipresent -- an program made for iPhone 7 will have the ability to run on the 8 as well as the 6. Apple's dedication to their core tenants has caused sleek, touch-based designs.

In 2008, Android phones did not have a modicum of ubiquity. Smartphones have become more omnipresent in the recent decades, but the gulf between Android and iPhone model variety remains wide. Android programs are built to operate on dozens of models, some still using keyboards due to the most important competitor for Android being Blackberry. This caused a new design focus on efficient interaction and navigability. Modern Android mobiles are now equipped with touch screens, but contemporary Android apps still prioritize efficiency and business over slick design.

FINDING PRODUCT-MARKET FIT

If app development was an exact science we'd all be Evan Spiegel. Unfortunately, that means there isn't any perfect time to formally"start" Android program development. The best way to forge forward would be to obey your customers and to the market.

Fueled's recommended method is to asses your current apps product-market fit. In case you've discovered a market your iOS app is presently satisfying, then you're probably in a fantastic place to think about an Android interface. Assessing this match requires numerous rounds of user testing and gathering feedback. Do this until you have a user base which does not only claims to love your product, but really uses it. Inevitably they will stay, inform their friends and followers to join, and you will acquire a populating user base that is, ideally, pleased and invested. Which means at this stage, you are going to start getting asked,"where is your own Android app?" Now it's time to reanimate your own iOS app.

Walk across new york or San Francisco and you're going to see iPhones on each street corner, subway stop and pizza joint. This might become your world, startup program developers, but you'd be making erroneous assumptions about the marketplace. While Apple could be the predominant leader in conditions of App Store revenue and hardware profit, Android phones reached peak market share of 88% worldwide last November, and always stay with the 70-80% range.

In Asian and European countries where users speak multiple languages, Android caters to their requirements. Universally, and even at the U.S., Android telephones would be the less expensive option. Sure, the Galaxy and Pixels of the world exist, but there are plenty of budget friendly options when it comes to smartphones that can run the specific same Android programs without the added dash of the best camera on Earth. From Maps to Drive, all Google services information is readily available in your phone. This feels cohesive, in which on iOS, the Google apps are separated and disjointed as they're not native to the stage. These are a few ways an Android program can dramatically increase your user base, particularly on an global scale.

The vast majority market share of the Android market does not necessarily create the App Store a bad place for an app to live: it functions as a wonderful springboard for an initial launch and can ultimately lead to a great deal of profit. An iOS app provides you a storefront using the capability to reach a critical audience of early adopters.

A key aspect of developing brand recognition is SEO (search engine optimisation ). You want your program to be discoverable through search engines, such as Google, the biggest by far. There is an abundance of methods to increase SEO rankings: the majority of these practices involving strategic keyword research and link building.

Look at the App Store. It is a closed ecosystem and, yes, you can get it through a web browser, but it resides in its own comprised world. It is hosted on a personal Apple server, in which the listings and featured programs are rigorously assessed. With the exception of a support link required from Apple (which could increase clicks to your page ), iOS downloads make zero contribution to page views and also have hardly any SEO benefits.

Should you host an Android app to the Google Play store, well, it has Google right in the name there. Having your program in Google Play puts you to Google's app indexing library. The major search engine optimization benefit from this addition is that program views convert to website page views. Meaning each"click" or gesture onto the app converts to a click in your own homepage or corresponding landing page. The more"clicks" your app has, the more popular and related it becomes, ultimately raising its rank in Google.

The immediate and most commonly cited advantage of Android apparatus is the open source nature of the platform. Open source is a platform where developers can personalize and exchange source code (additional details on how specifically Android takes benefit of the system are available here). Android program growth is often a more economical and simpler procedure on account of the environment that boosts. According to Fueled's Lead Android Developer Julien Veneziano, building in push notification performance takes half a day when building for Android. On iOS, he states, it can take up to 2 or three days. In program growth, time is money.

But on a pure financial front, the Google Play Store once again gets got the upper hand. To become a licensed publisher on the App Store, it costs $100 a year. The Play Store charges companies $9.99 a year, practically nothing. Additionally, Android devs have the additional advantage of being able to produce and test programs for their own devices for free. Using just a USB cable, programmers can upload programs directly onto their private devices to try to perform with. Due to Apple's closed-source system you cannot construct iOS programs that aren't placed on the App Store. Open source, in this circumstance, garners a creatively freeing, albeit less quality assured, approach to program development.

All these infrastructure differences can make or break a notion. Pezo, for instance, is an educational parental control Android program for children. The program is the electronic eqiouivalent of needing to do your math homework before playing your video games. Rather than locking kids out of using programs like Facebook or Angry Birds with a passcode, Pezo requires them to answer a couple of math questions upon opening the program. Apple's limitations on how programs can interact with one another imply this brilliant thought is not making it to their stage. This kind of innovation is simply viewed on Android.

Apple is famous for their refinement, but maybe not their invention. Cutting edge technician usually takes a while to migrate to Apple's hardware. That isn't to say Apple's approaches were not more nuanced and well-integrated in their platform by the time they came. The decision ultimately depends upon your product's demands.

Author Bio:

Salman Ahmed is a Business Manager at Magneto IT Solutions – an IT company in Bahrain offers quality Iphone Application Development, Magento development, mobile app development, magento migration, android app development services. The company has experienced Laravel developers for hire at very affordable price. He is a firm believer in teamwork; for him, it is not just an idea, but also the team’s buy-in into the idea, that makes a campaign successful! He’s enthusiastic about all things marketing.

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cdrforea · 4 years

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Dell XPS 13 (2020) Review: Laptop Endgame

New Post has been published on https://bestedevices.com/dell-xps-13-2020-review-laptop-endgame.html

Dell XPS 13 (2020) Review: Laptop Endgame

"The Dell XPS 13 has been the best laptop you can buy for years, and it will continue to do so in 2020."

Beautiful design

Higher 16:10 screen

Almost frameless frame

Two Thunderbolt 3 ports

Larger keyboard and touchpad

Excellent performance

Two designs have defined the past decade in laptops. The first ten years were all about the MacBook Air, which dominated the first half of the 2010s and inspired a sea of doubles. In the second half, however, everything revolved around the XPS 13 from Dell. A trend that is ubiquitous today began with the original laptop with a thin front panel and a small footprint.

However, after four years of iteration, Dell has invented something new. Something fresh. Something that takes everything I've loved about the design to a new era.

Don't call it a restart. This is the endgame of the laptop.

Design and display

More of what matters. That has always been the motto of the XPS team, but here it is more obvious than ever. It starts with the screen, which is now 13.4 inches in an aspect ratio of 16:10 and a little closer to the square than the traditional 16: 9. It is only 0.1 inches larger than previous versions, but it feels like it more. The 16:10 ratio means extra rows in my Word document, more rows in my spreadsheet, and fewer scrolls on a web page.

This results in black bars on most videos, which are usually formatted for 16: 9. However, for the person who spends most of their time on a laptop in work mode, this is a worthy compromise.

The 16:10 screen is the same one used on the XPS 13 2-in-1, which was already the leader in the class. It offers a brightness of 500 nits, one of the best contrasts I've ever seen, and excellent color accuracy.

It's sharp too. The resolution is 1,920 x 1,200, which means more pixels than on a typical 1080p screen. You will not select any pixels on it. So if you're not an image editor, you shouldn't have to choose the higher-resolution panel. The advantage of the 4K + screen is more than just the number of pixels – it also offers a wider range of colors.

It is not just the panel itself that matters. In this way, the lack of frames frames the screen. The top and sides are as small as ever, but now the lower bezel can join in. Dell uses a unique drop hinge that sits barely under the surface of the keyboard deck. A part of this bezel, which was already small, cannot be seen. It's a little trick to make the bezel look so much thinner. With the white model I tested, I made the decision to change the bezel color to black instead of white. It makes it even less pronounced.

Despite the slim bezel, Dell pushed its 720p camera module up and the nose cam is a thing of the past. It's not a great webcam, but it is enough if necessary. To use the space even better, there is now an IR camera for easy Windows Hello face recognition.

Keyboard and touchpad

When moving from the screen to the keyboard deck, the design continues to follow the philosophy "more of what counts". Not a millimeter of space was left on the keyboard deck.

The look of the keyboard can be inspired by the XPS 13 2-in-1 – if not in terms of feel. The keycaps are larger and each have less space. They now extend to the sides of the keyboard deck.

The power switch (and the integrated fingerprint reader), which used to be on the right next to the layout, is now integrated in the top right, as with MacBooks. Another small change to the layout, which I really appreciate, is the full size arrow keys left and right. Earlier XPS keyboards contained half-sized keys, with the gaps filled up and down. This often resulted in the page being accidentally skipped.

It has quickly become one of my favorite laptop keyboards to type on.

Part of the keyboard that I'm glad Dell didn't redesign it is the actual feel of the key press. Instead of following the path of the butterfly mechanisms (as with the XPS 13 2-in-1), they still have 1 mm of travel and a snappy mechanism. Since we saw that even Apple moved away from its own butterfly keyboards, Dell made the right choice here. It has quickly become one of my favorite laptop keyboards to type on.

The same applies to the touchpad, whose overall size has grown compared to the previous year. Dell has also worked to dampen the click mechanism to make it quieter. I would still prefer it to be softer, but the tracking and gesture support is excellent as always.

Ports and build quality

You will find major changes to the pages if you are familiar with the older XPS 13. Due to the nature of this edge-to-edge keyboard, there is no more space for connections next to it. There are only a few and they are now pressed as close to the back as possible. On the right side there is a Thunderbolt 3 port and the headphone jack. Another Thunderbolt 3 port and a microSD card slot are on the left.

This is a USB-C less than the previous model, which is shit. Dell is now at the Apple level of port selection and fits the MacBook Air in the USB ports. Unlike this device, I would rather have a Thunderbolt 3 port on each side than together. This makes charging easier, regardless of which side the socket is on. The HP Specter x360 swaps the additional Thunderbolt 3 port for USB-A to support older accessories.

Despite the overall stiffer feel of the XPS 13, it's now easier to open.

The sides are now covered with diamond-cut aluminum, which gives the frame a little shine and gives the workmanship overall a more stable feel. A thin layer of polycarbonate fibers covers the wrist-rest with its unique weave structure. Aside from the unibody aluminum design of the MacBook Pro, this model is well built as laptops come.

The extra aluminum adds only the slightest amount of extra weight, which is now 2.8 pounds. This corresponds to the weight of the MacBook Air and the HP Specter x360 13. At 0.58 inches, however, it is somewhat thinner than these two laptops.

Despite the robust feel of the XPS 13, opening is now smoother. What a relief. For years it was one of the few premium laptops that couldn't be opened with just one finger. One-finger opening is now easy, although I wish there was a lip to make it even easier.

performance

It's easy to look at a laptop's processor and call it good. However, the performance offers more than just a data sheet. The XPS 13 makes that clear. Despite using the same parts as other laptops, Dell has consistently worked to improve the performance of its components.

The same tricks play a role here, for example strips of Gore material with which the heat is dissipated. The processor is now upgraded to the latest 10th generation Intel Ice Lake chips.

Dell continues to raise the bar for performance.

That's not all that exciting in 2020, but again, the XPS 13 beats its rivals in terms of single-core performance in Geekbench 5 and Cinebench R20. Even the 16 GB of RAM that was included in my test device was overkill for what most people will do with this laptop. (The Core i7 model I tested costs $ 1,250, but there will also be a Core i3 option starting at $ 999.)

This is one of the most powerful quad core laptops you can buy. At the end of last year, Dell released an XPS 13 with a six-core processor, but this new model is only 7% slower in HandBrake. Impressive.

Yes, Dell continues to set the benchmark for performance. When you upgrade to the 4K + model, you have a premium photo editing laptop. That doesn't mean you should buy this laptop for 3D rendering or video editing, but for most tasks, you won't find a faster laptop of this size.

It should be noted that the $ 999 Core i3 with 4 GB of RAM is also available (although it is not currently for sale). This dual-core processor doesn't have nearly the same performance, although I haven't tested it myself. However, if you only need a laptop to surf the Internet, Microsoft Word and watch movies, the Core i3 is more than sufficient.

Intel's discrete graphics have improved significantly with Ice Lake, allowing the XPS to play 13 games. Type of.

Dell still pulls better frame rates out of these components than its rivals, but that doesn't mean it's a gaming laptop. Fortnite can be played in 1080p if you lower all settings. However, you need to cut it down to 720p to get smoother gameplay. Casual and less demanding games can be played well enough, but the Razer Blade Stealth 13 with an Nvidia GTX 1650 offers better performance.

Battery life

I have high expectations for the battery life of expensive laptops. Somehow the XPS 13 surpassed them. In our test for easy surfing on the Internet, it took over 11.5 hours. Laptops such as the MacBook Air, the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 and the Surface Pro 7 were destroyed. It doesn't quite beat the best of the best like the HP Specter x360 or ZenBook 13 UX333, but it's not far behind either.

Battery life always depends on what you use it for. At one extreme, the XPS 13 can take up to 14.5 hours to play video locally or 5 hours to do more difficult tasks. Consistent use throughout a working day should not be a problem for the average person.

If you buy the 4K + model, you can expect these results to drop by a few hours. This also makes this 1080p + model the ideal solution for most people.

Our opinion

The Dell XPS 13 is the best laptop you can buy. This has been true for several years and also in 2020. It's not an easy task if you make so many changes to an iconic design. The XPS 13 has slowly become a little more expensive over the years, but if you are that good, premium branding has been earned.

There's a good choice if you want to spend less than $ 1,000. For everyone else, the XPS 13 should be your next PC.

Are there alternatives?

There are some very close competitors to the XPS 13. If you are looking for a laptop with a 360 degree hinge, I recommend the HP Specter x360. It's small and nifty like the XPS and a little cheaper.

Another great option is the new MacBook Air. With quad-core processors and a better keyboard, it has regained the respect of previous Mac generations. However, it probably can't keep up with battery life, and performance still lags somewhat.

The Surface Laptop 3 from Microsoft is another interesting option at an affordable price, a tight thickness and a tight weight. It also offers a larger 3: 2 screen with a higher pixel density as long as you can carry the large frames.

How long it will take?

Thanks to its modern components and robust build quality, the XPS 13 is designed for durability. The standard one-year warranty is nothing special, but this laptop should last at least three or four years.

Should you buy it

Yes. It is the best laptop you can buy.

Editor's recommendations

#Dell #Endgame #Laptop #Review #XPS #Product Reviews

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musicadvisor · 6 years

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What to Know About the E Minor Chord

If you want to play Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles, you’re going to need to know the e minor chord. If you want to master the e minor chord, you’re going to need to know all about it.

What notes make up the e minor chord? Where can you find it on the keyboard of a piano? When would you use it?

In this post, we’re going to answer all of those questions and more. To learn also the D minor chord and F minor chord take a peek on our blog.

The E Minor Scale

Every scale has 7 different pitches and the e minor scale is no different. For the e minor natural scale, these pitches are E, F#, G, A, B, C, and D.

If you know anything about minor scales, you know that there are actually three types [1]. The natural, the harmonic, and the melodic. These scales change the feel of the music by raising (or lowering) pitches at the end of the scale by half a step.

You don’t have to worry about these changing pitches when you’re working on the e minor chord. They apply to the 6th and 7th notes, depending on the variant scale you’re using, and don’t affect the e minor chord.

Here’s why.

The E Minor Chord

The e minor chord is made up of a triad. What is a triad? That’s a fancy name for 3 pitches or a chord.

But which notes do you use?

To create the chord, you’ll use the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes. In this case, that would be E, G, and B.

The E Minor Seventh

To add a different effect, you can build on the basic e minor chord and create an e minor seventh chord. You can do this simply by adding the 7th note in the scale to the chord. In this case, that would be D.

Thus, the notes for the e minor seventh chord are E, G, B, and D.

Where to Find It on the Keyboard

You’re probably already familiar with the keys on the keyboard. C is the leftmost key in the grouping of three white keys. From there, the white keys advance in alphabetical order to the right until you get to C again.

The black keys provide sharps and flats. But since the e minor chord doesn’t have any, you won’t have to worry about those.

You’ll find E two white keys to the right of C. Move over two more and there’s G. To complete the chord with B, just move over two more from G.

If you want to create the seventh chord, you simply have to add D. You’ll find it two white keys to the right of B.

That wasn’t too complicated, was it?

Inversions

The e minor chord makes a lovely sound. But if you always play it the same way it can get a little boring. That’s why composers use inversions to change things up a bit.

An inversion involves playing the same notes, but mixing up the order. Thus, it is still the same chord but sounds slightly different.

For example, instead of starting on E, try starting on G. Play G, B, E and you’ll notice that the sound has a slightly more open quality to it. This is 1st inversion.

To play 2nd inversion, you simply start on B and play B, E, G. Try playing around with the inversions and listen to the difference they make.

You can further spice it up by using both hands and adding octaves and fourths. For example, try playing a 1st inversion e minor chord in the right accompanied by an octave on E in the left. Or do a 2nd inversion in the left and play just B and E in the right. Feel free to experiment and see what sounds you like best!

Chord Progressions

You don’t want to be stuck on the same chord all the time so it’s good to learn the common chord progressions. The e minor natural scale chords are as follows:

i – e minor (E, G, B)

ii – F# diminished (F#, A, C)

III – G Major (G, B, D)

iv – a minor (A, C, E)

v – b minor (B, D, F#)

VI – C Major (C, E, G)

VII – D Major (D, F#, A)

Just as the e minor chord has a seventh version where you add the seventh note on the top, each of these does as well. The seventh chords are:

i – e minor seventh (E, G, B, D)

ii – F# minor seventh flat five (F#, A, C, E)

III – G Major seventh (G, B, D, F#)

iv – a minor seventh (A, C, E, G)

v – b minor seventh (B, D, F#, A)

VI – C Major seventh (C, E, G, B)

VII – D Major seventh (D, F#, A, C)

Thus, to play common chord progressions you can play these:

i, VI, VII (Em, C, D)

i, iv, VII (Em, Am, D)

i, iv, v (Em, Am, Bm)

i, VI, III, VII (Em, C, G, D)

ii, v, i (F#mdim, Bm, Em)

Have fun playing around with different progressions and listening to how they sound!

When to Use E Minor

Now you know how to form an e minor chord and where to find it on the keyboard. How do you know when to use it?

The most obvious way is when your sheet music tells you to. But why did the composer choose to use e minor chords and the e minor key?

Because of how it sounds and the emotion the composer is trying to convey.

Minor keys tend to sound a little sad, melancholic, full of longing, or outright depressing. E minor is sad, without being overwhelming [2].

Composers use it when they want to convey innocent naivety or a bit of lament. This key isn’t as dark or depressing as some minor keys, but rather expresses a touch of sadness with a hint of hope.

The corresponding Major key to e minor is C, which is the key associated with pure happiness and innocence. Thus, e minor carries with it the sense of tears that will soon be wiped away.

Major Works in E Minor

You’re probably wondering now what songs you know that are written in the key of e minor and use e minor chords. Hearing the description in words is beautiful, so what does the music sound like?

Chances are, you’ve heard it and don’t even know it. There are several classic Christmas carols that come in the key of e minor.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

What Child is This?

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Other classical works include:

Beethoven’s Sonata No. 27 in E Minor Op. 90

Chopin’s Prelude in E Minor Op. 28 No. 4

Brahm’s Theme from Symphony No. 4

Bach’s Bach Six Little Prelude no3. BWV941

Clementi’s Sonatina op.36 No. 2 1st mvt

Rameau Le Rappel des Oiseaux

As you can see, big name composers have used the e minor key and chord. And this is only a sampling of what is available. We encourage you to check out and enjoy more music that has been written in this beautiful key. And then, sit down and start playing it.

Practicing the E Minor Chord

Now that you know all about the e minor chord it’s time to start using it. This chord is the building block for some hauntingly sweet, beautiful songs.

Learning to use this chord on your chosen instrument will open up a whole new musical world for you. Start with some classics that use the e minor chord to help develop your ear and train your fingers. In no time, you can start creating your own beautiful melodies that use this chord as a base.

The post What to Know About the E Minor Chord appeared first on Music Advisor.

from Music Advisor https://musicadvisor.com/e-minor-chord/

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sublimelody · 6 years

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PIANO KEYS AND NOTES: The Definitive Guide

This guide will show you the most essential and easiest steps you need to know about reading sheet music, piano keys, and piano notes.

First, you'll learn to know how to read musical notes on a sheet music with right-brained or left-brained approach.

Then, you'll know how to identify the exact notes on your piano keyboard.

Moreover, there are some helpful quizzes at the end to make sure you get the most out of this guide.

Sound good? Let's get started.

Download the PDF printable version of this guide

Don’t have time to read the whole guide right now?

This guide is over 4,000 words long. Save it as a PDF for reading later, or printing it out for practice

*This PDF is super friendly and nice, you'll absolutely love it!

YES, GIVE ME MY PDF

Contents

THE INFOGRAPHIC

CHAPTER 1:

ABCEDEFG and Solfege Approaches To Identify Notes On A Piano

CHAPTER 2:

The Right-Brained Approach To Read Sheet Music

CHAPTER 3:

The Left-Brained Approach To Read Sheet Music

CHAPTER 4:

Connection Between Musical Notes And Piano Keys

CHAPTER 5:

Last Thoughts And Important Points

THE INFOGRAPHIC

Click Here To See Full Infographic

CHAPTER 1:

ABCEDEFG and Solfege Approaches To Identify Notes On A Piano

If you’re eager to read notes on a piano keyboard right now, you’ll love this chapter.

Just by reading this chapter alone, you will be able to read piano notes in no time.

However...

If you're serious about learning piano (and to be good at it), I suggest you go through this guide to the end.

It would help you lay a firm foundation, not just only for learning piano but every instrument you may learn in the future.

I will further explain the reason in chapter 2. Now, let's begin to read notes on a piano keyboard.

7 Musical Notes And Their Letters

When it comes to music learning, we all have to learn the pitch names of notes first. In the simplest form, the pitch is the quality that makes it possible to determine sounds as "low" and "high" in in the musical melodies.

There are 2 most popular approaches to read pitch names of notes.

ABCDEFG Approach: In English-speaking, and Dutch-speaking countries (such as US and German), the pitch names of notes are represented by the first 7 letters of the alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

Solfege Approach: For almost the rest of the world, the 7 pitch names of notes are: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si.

So, you should choose the approach which is common in your country.

For example: If you come from the US, you should follow the ABCDEFG approach. Otherwise, if you're a Chinese, you probably follow the Solfege.

If you're familiar with Solfege order: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si, here is the table show their corresponding letters:

Sol

And here is the order of notes by the alphabet order:

Sol

So, where are they on a piano keyboard?

Let’s dive into the patterns on the piano keyboard first!

Number Of Keys And Octaves On A Piano

Both digital and acoustic piano has 52 white keys and 36 blacks keys, 88 keys in total.  These 88 keys are divided into 7 octaves.

You can recognize that a piano keyboard consists of white and black keys.

These white and black keys make up a pattern:

A group of 2 and then 3 black keys keep consecutively repeating

3 white keys and 2 black keys form a small group - I call it "small house"

4 white keys and 3 black keys form a big group - aka "big house"

So, we have the definition of an octave: It consists of a "small house" on the left and a "big house" on the right. They have total 12 keys: 7 white keys and 5 black keys.

And to easily memorize, imagine the 2 black keys in the "small house" is a pair of "chopsticks". The 3 black keys in the "big house" is a "fork".

Chopsticks and fork in an octave

So, each octave will contain a pair of "chopsticks" on the left side and a "fork" on the right side.

(The original concepts of chopsticks and fork come from dummies.com . I just made a better illustration to help you get the concepts with ease)

How To Read The White Keys With ABCDEFG Approach

To keep it simple, I won’t include the notes of black keys in this chapter. We will learn how to read them in chapter 4. Just understand that with the white notes alone, you can you play hundreds of melodies.

The first letter of "Chopsticks" is C, so the first white note in the "small house" is C (Do).

Similarly, the first letter of "Fork" is F so the first white note in the "big house" is F (Fa).

Musical notes in an octave

You can see from left to right, the order is: C D E F G A B

These 7 notes are all white keys.

Repeat the same pattern, we have the diagram below:

Musical notes on a piano keyboard (ABCDEFG approach)

Important Keys

The first white key in the "Chopsticks" is C

The first white key in the "Fork" is F

To identify other notes, just count from C or F by the following order from left to right: C, D, E, F, G, A, B

How To Read The White Keys With Solfege Approach

The first white key of the small group is Do. The first white key of the big group is Fa.

You can see the order of these 7 note in the diagram below:

Musical notes on a piano keyboard (solfege approach)

You can recognize that this pattern repeats itself.

That's it. You can see, it's no complex thing.

So, no matter how many keys your piano has, now you can identify all the white notes by the pattern above.

Important Keys

The first white key in the small group is Do

To identify other notes, just count from Do and read in your mind by the following order from left to right: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si

The method described above is the fastest way to help you read the piano notes. With that method, you’ll be able to play some easy songs in just 1 day.

And from now, I will use the ABCDEFG approach to call the pitch names of notes to make things less complicated.

Download the PDF printable version of this guide

Don’t have time to read the whole guide right now?

This guide is over 4,000 words long. Save it as a PDF for reading later, or printing it out for practice

*This PDF is super friendly and nice, you'll absolutely love it!

YES, GIVE ME MY PDF

CHAPTER 2:

The Right-Brained Approach To Read Sheet Music

There is no single method that can effectively apply to everybody.

The traditional approach of learning to read sheet music requires much effort and labor.

Many people get discouraged by following the old way of instrument learning, not just piano alone.

That’s why I bring you two approaches: The right-brained and the left-brained methods.

So, in this chapter, I will show you:

What are right-brained and left-brained methods?

Why learning basic music theory is a must?

The right-brained method to learn basic music theory with ease

Let’s get started.

What Are Right-Brained And Left-Brained Methods?

According to Healthline:

The left side of your brain controls the right side of your body. It performs tasks that have to do with logic and analysis. (i.e. mathematics or science).

The right side of your brain coordinates the left side of your body. It performs tasks that have to do with creativity, imagination, and arts.

Hemispheres of the brain

The traditional method of learning piano and most subjects in the education system require thinking logically and memorizing lots of information. It’s the left-brained method.

It’s also why people who are “left-brained” often learn piano faster than “right-brained” people.

So, if you find learning piano is difficult, it’s mostly because of the method, and not because of you.

Now, It’s time to turn the tables.

Shortly, I will show you the approach to learn how to read sheet music with the right-brained approach.

It still helps you read sheet music like the traditional method, but involved imagination and creativity.

For most beginners, the right-brained approach would be more interesting, fun, and thus easier.

Why Learning Basic Music Theory Is A Must?

This is a sad truth:

To be able to play the piano well, you must know how to read sheet music.

If you want to read sheet music, you must learn the basic music theory.

Learning basic music theory is quite the same as learning how to read.

In other words, It is studying the “alphabet” and “letter” in the music world.

I think you will 100% agree with me: "If a guy is illiterate, his life will be really, really tough."

The same here in the music world: If you know nothing about the basic music theory, 99% chances that you won’t be able to perform well on any instrument.

Also, sheet music is the “text” of the music world. Without text, there will be no book, no knowledge, and no modern world like we’re living.

You might think I’m trying to scare you or I’m just too serious, but it’s true.

Believe me, If you just try as fast as possible to play some easy songs on the piano, you’ll hardly play these songs well. Even if you did, it’s just the simple versions and the sound will be bland and boring.

Moreover, it would be almost impossible for you to learn new difficult songs and put your feeling in the melody.

Eventually, to become better at the piano, you will have to learn music theory anyway.

So, I’m just trying to save time for you.

Avoiding learning music theory will make it harder for you to progress as music gets more difficult.

In short, let me recap some points:

If you don’t learn music theory

You’ll limit yourself to only simple songs, also limit your potential

You’ll soon find that music is hard, complicated. That experience leads to a limiting belief: I’m not good at music

You’ll get bored quickly, that leads to losing interest in playing the piano. And soon, you’ll quit.

If you do learn music theory:

You’ll be able to improve your piano skills so much faster

You’ll be able to learn other instruments much quicker than normal (just like you know how to read, you can read any book you like)

Soon, you’ll be comfortable with music theory just as much as you are reading a children book or playing a piano song by heart with feeling.

More importantly, your world will broaden by expanding your languages.

Now, you got the points why we should learn basic music theory. Let’s dive into some essential elements.

The Staff

The staff is where the notes lie on.

There are 5 lines and 4 spaces between these lines. We count the order of the lines and the spaces from the bottom to the top.

Each line and space are named after a note. We will talk more about it in the clef section.

The Staff

The Treble Clef And The Bass Clef

What is a clef? A clef is a symbol, placed at every beginning of a staff. Different clefs indicate different notes.

In piano, we will use the treble clef and the bass clef.

The Treble Clef

The Bass Clef

In most cases, the right hand will play notes on the treble clef and the left hand will play notes on the bass clef.

Here is a hands diagram, which shows you how each finger is labeled.

Each piano sheet will have finger-labels on the notes. In the beginning, you have to play the notes exactly by specific fingers, according to the sheet music. We will discuss it in more detail later. (thoughtco.com)

Now, Let’s move on to the treble clef!

The Treble Clef

The treble clef is probably the most popular clef. Since almost all main melodies are written on the treble clef.

[IMPORTANT] The second line is where the note G lies on, so we call it the G-line.

Here is the sign of the treble clef with G-line is highlighted:

It is also known as the G-clef. The reason people call it G-clef because it circles the G-line.

In piano, generally, the right-hand plays the notes on the treble clef.

And below are the notes on the treble clef.

Order

Name/Note

5th line

4th line

3rd line

2nd line

1st line

The names of 5 lines in the treble clef

Order

Name/Note

4th space

3rd space

2nd space

1st space

The names of 4 spaces in the treble clef

Order

Name/Note

5th line

4th space

4th line

3rd space

3rd line

2nd space

2nd line

1st space

1st line

The name of lines and spaces in the treble clef

With the right-brained approach, we will use acronyms to remember these lines and spaces with ease:

Lines: E G B D F = Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (thefreedictionary.com)

Spaces: F A C E

The treble clef is about “people”: Boy, Fudge, and Face! And the 7 musical notes are represented by the first 7 letters of the alphabet.

Important Keys On The Treble Clef

It’s also called G-clef

The second line (count from the bottom) is G-line

The Bass Clef

The second clef we will learn is the bass clef. It looks like an ear, circles around the fourth line. The fourth line is between two dots.

The sounds of notes on bass are usually lower than the treble clef.

In piano, generally, the left-hand plays the notes on the bass clef.

[IMPORTANT] The fourth line is where the note F lies on, so we call it the F-line.

People also called it F-clef. The reason is quite similar to G clef: It circles around F-line

The name of lines and spaces in the bass clef is slightly different from the treble clef:

Order

Name/Note

5th line

4th line

3rd line

2nd line

1st line

The names of 5 lines in the bass clef

Order

Name/Note

4th space

3rd space

2nd space

1st space

The name of 4 spaces in the bass clef

Order

Name/Note

5th line

4th space

4th line

3rd space

3rd line

2nd space

2nd line

1st space

1st line

The names of lines and spaces in the bass clef

We also have mnemonic devices for remembering the names of these lines and spaces:

G B D F A = Great Big Dogs Fight Animals (thefreedictionary.com)

A C E G = All Cows Eat Grass (thefreedictionary.com)

So, the bass clef is about “animal”: Big Dogs, Cows, and Grass.

Important Keys On The Bass Clef

It’s also called F-clef

The second line (count from the top) is F-line

Ledger Lines

Now, we know all the notes on 5 lines and 4 spaces in the treble clef and the bass clef.

However, there are so many notes in music. If we just use 5 lines and 4 spaces of each clef, there are only 18 notes. That why ledger lines come in.

Ledger lines are short lines placed below and above the staff.

You can see the examples of ledger lines in the pictures below:

Notes on the ledger lines in the treble clef

Notes on the ledger lines in the bass clef

The Grand Staff

The grand staff is just the combination of 2 staves.

In piano, more often, the upper staff (treble staff) is for right-hand and the lower (bass staff) is for left-hand.

The notes show on grand staff represents how 2 hands will play on the piano.

The grand staff

CHAPTER 3:

The Left-Brained Approach To Read Sheet Music

Although the mnemonic devices above are interesting and helpful for right-brained people, left-brained ones will find it difficult to imagine the pictures in their mind.

Left-brained people usually prefer to learning the basic principles: imagine less, save more headspace, and make use of the principles for every situation.

Let’s get started with the left-brained approach.

3 Principles

1. A note lies either on a space or on a line

2. Order of 7 notes

The order of the notes from low to high: C (do) – D (re) – E (mi) – F (fa) – G (sol) – A (la) – B (si): C – D – E – F – G – A – B

The order of the notes from high to low: B (si) – A (la) – G (sol) – F (fa) – E (mi) – D (re) – C (do): B – A – G – F – E – D – C

Order of notes in the treble clef

Order of notes in the bass clef

3. Cornerstone-line of each clef

On the treble clef (G-clef), the 2nd line (count from the bottom) indicates G. G-line is the 1st cornerstone-line.

On the bass clef (F-clef), the 2nd line (count from the top) indicates F. F-line is the 2nd cornerstone-line.

Okay, let’s move to the 4-step to read notes on a sheet music.

How To Read Notes On The Treble Clef (G-clef)

Recognize that we're reading notes on the treble clef.

Remember the second line (count from the bottom) indicates G-line – G-line is our 1st cornerstone-line.

Identify the note’s position: is it higher or lower than G-line?

Count and read the note's name

If the note is higher than G-line, count from G up to the note by the following order: G – A – B – C – D – E – F…

If the note is lower than G-line, count from G down to the note by the following order: G – F – E – D – C – B – A…

How To Read The Notes On The Bass Clef (F-clef)

It is quite the same:

Recognize that we're reading notes on the bass clef.

Remember the second line (count from the top) indicates F-line – again, F-line is our 2nd cornerstone-line.

Identify the note’s position: is it higher or lower than F-line?

Count and read the note's name

If it is higher than F-line, count from F up to the note by the following order: F – G – A – B – C – D – E...

If it is lower than F-line, count from F down to the note by the following order: F – E – D – C – B – A – G...

Below is a diagram, which shows you how to read music notes:

Congratulation! By reading to this so far, you’re well-educated on reading music notes than 90% of the population!

In the beginning, reading notes with this left-brained approach will quite slow. It’s completely normal.

Keep practicing and you will soon be able to read notes like your favorite magazine or comic.

Now, let's move to the most exciting section!

CHAPTER 4:

Connection Between Musical Notes And Piano Keys

This chapter is the most exciting part where the magic happens.

In the previous chapter, you’ve learned how to read notes on sheet music.

Shortly, I will show you exactly where are these notes on a piano.

Now, let's learn how to read the black keys first!

How To Read The Black Keys (ABCDEF Approach)

Black keys are called either SHARP (#) or FLAT (♭) They are named by the closest white key to them on their left or right. The suffixes are added by:

Sharp if the black key is on the right (higher) of the nearest white key

Flat if the black key is on the left (lower) of the nearest white key.

Look at the picture below:

The notes of black keys

We also have mnemonic devices to remember the notes on these black keys:

Try to imagine:

A white key is a plate

A knife is sharp and laid on the right of the plate

A napkin is flat and laid on the left of the plate.

Now, you can see that C# is also D♭; D# is E♭; F# is G♭; G# is A♭; A# is B♭.

So, each black key represents 2 notes at the same time, and their sounds are the same.

In fact, each piano key represents more than a note. This leads us to a new definition: enharmonic.

Enharmonic

Notes are called enharmonic equivalents if they all come from one piano key.

Example: D-sharp (D#) and E-flat (E♭) are enharmonic equivalents. You can call that key is either D-sharp or E-flat. The note’s name depends on the key signature of the sheet music.

And here is a diagram showing you the enharmonic equivalents:

Enharmonic equivalents

You can see that even the white keys also have enharmonic equivalents.

We will learn more about enharmonic in another lesson. Because it would be complicated at the beginning.

For now, just acknowledge that:

A piano key is different from a piano note

A piano key represents more than a note

Connection Between Musical Notes And Keys On A Piano

The Left-Brained Method

You still remember G-line in the treble clef (G-clef) and F-line in the bass clef (F-clef), don't you?

Now, where are these 2 notes on the piano keyboard?

Connection between G4, F3 and the piano keys

As you can see:

The G-line in the treble clef represents G4. G4 is located in the 4th octave.

The F-line in the bass clef represents F3. F3 is located in the 3rd octave.

These are the 2 most important positions, I also call them cornerstone-lines. From it, we will be able to read and find other notes on the piano. (wikipedia.org)

And below is the complete diagram of the piano keys and their corresponding musical notes:

Facts:

C4 is also known as the middle C

A4 is also known as the tuning note

The right-brained method: Metal flip strategy

Here is another approach that many right-brained people found useful when it comes to reading notes on a piano keyboard:

Flip your original sheet music by 90 degrees clockwise

Read the notes by matching them with their corresponding keys

Now the flow of the sheet is from top to bottom. And the positions of the notes are really reflected with the piano keys!

(The original idea is from takelessons.com. I just made a better illustration to help you get the idea with ease)

CHAPTER 5:

Last Thoughts And Important Points

When it comes to reading musical notes and piano notes in the beginning stage, you’ll find that there are so many approaches to help you get hang of it.

If you’re a right-brained person, you probably like the mnemonic devices and the mental flip strategy.

Otherwise, you’re a left-brained, learning the basic principles to recognize the patterns and orders of the notes.

Just pick up the ones that you feel most comfortable with. For now, our goal is just to learn the basic music theory and lay a firm foundation for future improvement in playing the piano. Gradually, you’ll be so familiar with notes and it'll be like reading the alphabet. And below are the most important points you should remember.

For Right-Brained Approach

Reading notes on sheet music (ABCDEFG approach)

Names of 5 lines in the treble clef (from bottom to top): E G B D F: Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge

Names of 4 spaces in the treble clef (from bottom to top): F A C E

Names of 5 lines in the bass clef (from bottom to top): G B D F A: Great Big Dogs Fight Animals

Names of 4 spaces in the bass clef (from bottom to top): A C E G: All Cows Eat Grass

Reading Piano Keys (ABCDEFG approach)

An octave contains a pair of chopsticks on the left side and a fork on the right side

Chopsticks: 2 black keys and 3 white keys; the first white key is C

Fork: 3 back keys and 4 white keys; the first white key is F

Black keys: Sharp knife on the right, Flat napkin on the left, white key plate in the middle

Correlation Between Music notes and Piano Keys

The metal flip strategy diagram

For Left-Brained Approach

Reading notes on sheet music (ABCDEFG approach)

The order of notes from low to high (C D E F G A B) and the reverse (B A G F E D C)

The treble clef: G-line is the second line from the bottom

The bass clef: F-line is the second line from the top

Connection Between Music notes and Piano Keys

The complete diagram of the correlation between musical notes and piano keys

Now It's Your Turn

So, that's it for my guide on how to read piano keys and notes.

I hoped you enjoyed it.

Now, it's time to test what you've learned so far.

Also, if you have a question about anything from this guide, let me know by leaving a quick comment below.

Source: https://sublimelody.com/piano-keys-and-notes/

#piano #sublimelody #pianonotes #pianolessons

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luxus4me · 6 years

Link

MakeUseOf Directory http://j.mp/2E5jLya

Do you want to enjoy the greatest collection of retro video games on your TV without the hassle of buying any new hardware? Then you’re in luck, as Kodi can now access and play retro games thanks to the Internet Archive, which has a massive library of titles available.

In this article, we explain how get started playing retro games on Kodi using Internet Archive ROM Launcher (IARL). And once you’re all set up, you’ll have so many retro games across multiple platforms at your fingertips you won’t know which one to play first.

The Internet Archive’s Retro Gaming Library

Over the years, the Internet Archive has been building up a library of retro video games. As you may know, these games have previously been made available to play in a web browser. However, thanks to a dedicated Kodi add-on, they can all now be accessed via your home theater!

Several collections have been retained by the Internet Archive. These include (but are not limited to):

The MAME Arcade includes games like Outrun and Defender.

The Software Library: ZX Spectrum focuses on the popular UK home computer

The Software Library: MS-DOS includes a large collection of old PC games

Each of these libraries (and more) are accessible via your standard web browser. You could head there now, choose a game, and begin playing in seconds. And that’s really the point of this: to install a user interface to the Internet Archive’s retro game library, and enable the games with the relevant emulator.

If you’re concerned about the copyright implications of accessing the library, rest assured this has been taken into account. The Internet Archive has been granted a DMCA exemption to help archive vintage software. This is vital, as without it there could be no archival of certain games and software, even by accredited archives.

Using the Internet Archive ROM Launcher on Kodi

To access these games, you’ll need to install the Internet Archive ROM Launcher, and install an emulation back end. This means you’ll only be able to run these games on systems where you have installation permissions outside of Kodi, and a suitable emulation suite.

A PC-based Kodi box is ideal, and we have even detailed how to install Kodi on Windows, although it should also run on a Raspberry Pi-based Kodi device.

Are you ready to start? To install the Internet Archive ROM Launcher on your Kodi box, go to Settings & File Manager and click Add source. Click & None and enter

http://fusion.tvaddons.co

Name the source fusion, then click OK and return to the home screen. Browse to Add-ons, and click the box icon, then Install from ZIP file. Here, select fusion & kodi-repos & english & repository.zachmorris-1.0.0.zip, and wait for the Add-on installed notification.

You should now be back in the Add-on browser menu, so click Install from repository, then Zach Morris Add-ons & Video Add-ons and select Internet Archive ROM Launcher. Here, select Install, then wait while the installation completes.

Moments later you’ll be able to browse the complete collection of archived ROMs via the main menu Add-ons & Internet Archive ROM Launcher.

However, you won’t be able to play them quite yet…

Install Emulators to Play Retro Games

The best way to get the emulators you’ll need is to install RetroArch. With this installed, you’ll find the most stable emulators for the widest selection of systems.

RetroArch is available for Windows (95 and later), Linux, Mac (PowerPC and Intel), Android (check out Android’s best game emulators), iOS, BlackBerry, PS3, PSP, PS Vita, Xbox, Xbox 360, and even the Nintendo Wii (although you will have to hack your Wii with homebrew first), Wii U, 3DS, GameCube, and Raspberry Pi. In essence, you should be able to find a working version for your platform of choice.

Download: RetroArch

Once downloaded, install the software as you normally would. Then launch it, and navigate to Online Updater & Core Updater then select the right emulator core for the type of games you want to play. For instance, I wanted to play classic MAME titles, so I selected Arcade (MAME 2000).

With RetroArch installed and the suitable emulator cores installed, you’re ready to start gaming. However, some further configuration may be required.

Windows users will need to spend a few moments configuring the IARL add-on. To do this, first alter how Kodi treats Windows’ hidden files and folders. Go to Setting & Media Settings & General, and look for Show hidden files and directories. (You may need to change the view from Basic to Advanced in the bottom-left corner to see this.)

Next, go to back to the home screen, then click Add-ons and open the box icon. Find your way to the IARL add-on, and select Configure. Under External Launchers, select Windows, then browse to the RetroArch App Location, followed by the RetroArch System Folder. These should be, in order:

C:\users[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\RetroArch\retroarch.exe

and

C:\users[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\RetroArch\system

When these are input, go to Setup Wizard, then select Execute Setup Wizard and wait while the changes are applied. (If you’re using Android, on the other hand, all of these fields are automatically configured.)

Browse, Download, and Launch Retro Games in Kodi

Switch back into Kodi and launch the Internet Archive ROM Launcher to find games to play. As long as the right emulator is installed, you’ll be able to play games. It’s worth taking your time here, and browsing the corresponding list of games.

Before you begin playing, however, return to the upper level of the game index (for instance, Internet Archive Best Of — Arcade) and bring up the context menu.

Here, select Update Ext Launcher Command, and choose the right emulator. Click Yes when prompted to update the command, then wait for the changes to be applied. When done, you’re ready to play. Simply click Launch to start playing your retro favorites!

The game will open in a RetroArch window over the top of Kodi. Keep an eye out for the instructions, which will tell you not just how to play the game, but also some new keyboard shortcuts.

Beware Playability Issues

Note, however, that the playability may vary wildly from device to device. For instance, it may be that your usual Kodi remote is absolutely unsuitable for gaming. Keeping this in mind, it’s worth considering an alternative device, such as a game controller or keyboard.

With regard to the ROMs themselves, the Internet Archive’s game library isn’t going anywhere. So you don’t need to worry about backing the games up as they should always be available. More importantly, the default setting is that the games are downloaded and then discarded when you download a new one.

And no, you can’t save your progress, but this is the same as playing a game in your browser. The only difference being you’re playing retros game in your Kodi media center! So keep it legal, and enjoy.

If this has given you a taste for retro gaming, you could always follow this up by making a retro arcade on your PC.

http://j.mp/2GUB202 via MakeUseOf Directory URL : http://j.mp/2qAUF8X

#News

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captaindecadentbouquetrunaw-blog · 7 years

Text

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