#how to make autotune sound better

[eyivibyemi]

✧ I won’t really write descriptions for these, but see original post tags for explanation/commentary on the song snippet ✧

#love the goofy improvised lyrics of this one actually #like parts of it almost sound serious or something but then it's just gibberish and you're talking to a coconut #at least I picture it that way. though I guess you could think it's about like.. a person/creature CALLEd coconu #t. I saw it as like.. literally talking to just a coconut. #ANOTHER one that seems vaguely familar to me though... hhgh.... hopefully not a tune just directly from somewhere #not that it would matter much anywa probably. look at the second part of the description for the 'boiling the beef again' song for #thoughts about that. which I already just typed and don't want to type them again lol #but general 'ideas i always have when songs sound familar to me' things #so on and so forth yadda yadda #also still like my refusal to use real instruments whenever possible gbjhbjh #I just genuinely still do not understand music programs at all or how to put the little digital instruments together #if I can just make a beat with my mouth or something I will always choose to do that instead unless I'm specifically experimenting #with something lol.. #though my incompetency at music programs is probably evident anyway with how like.. all of the audio sounds #no autotune. no taking out background noise. no filters or anything that might actually make it sound better. just slap reverb on it #sometimes on the default settings and thats it. #theres a freedom to that though #don't over think it. who cares. ramble about coconuts and hit export. peace and love on planet earth #beepo tag

[sorenphelps]

I've hopped on to the rockstar AU bandwagon so hard that I just had to make more fanart, which somehow turned into a full post explaining further the scoring chart and my detailed Marauders Band AU headcanons with a lot of sample music linked!! It's long so I hid it under the cut, enjoy and please share your thoughts, I'm desperate!

Sirius has a powerful, deep, and a little raspy voice, with quite a large vocal range (might have minor difficulties with the very high notes). He can play a lot of musical instruments: guitars (acoustic, electric, bass), piano, and drums if it’s absolutely necessary. He picked up a tiny little bit of violin too from his brother, and tried some wind instruments too, but never really got the hang of them. His preferred style of music is all kind of rock, but he is opened to new genres. He is an adequate composer, but he is prone to overdramatize his works and lyrics, his real talent is his charismatic vocals. Samples: x x x x x

Remus has a softer singing voice with an average range, generally higher than Sirius’ and not as charismatic. His kind of music is more alternative and chill (sexy even), focusing more on the actual technicalities and lyrics. He can play a cello (electric too) and a bass guitar perfectly, and he learned how to play other instruments too, so he would feel “caught up” to his friends’ levels (even though he is the most proficient bass player ever, and his lyrics are basically high-end poetry, which can be paralleled by only Sirius on his best days). He likes to incorporate unconventional solutions to his music (e.g. autotune effects, weird traditional instruments, etc.). Samples: x x x x x

James is bad at singing, he has a very average voice with quite a small vocal range if any. However, he can play a lot of musical instruments (his preference being the drums) and is a talented sound engineer. He is the best composer among his friends, he has the most experimental style. He has very creative ideas, and is best at helping his friends to make music together, enhancing their individual strengths and transforming their shared talent into something better. Samples (including a bonus collab he composed for Lily & Sirius and a collab with Remus): x x x x x x x

Lily has a very feminine, soft and even angelic voice, which is best paired with either a folk-ish alternative music style or rock/metal. She has the kind of voice, which just enhances any “epic” music with heavy guitar riffs or drum solos, basically anything, which is just very characteristic and theatrical by its own, and would be very overwhelming if for example Sirius would sing in them with his also very charismatic and powerful vocals. Lily is a very skilled piano player and singer with a wide vocal range, her songs are usually get picked as soundtrack for fantasy video games. Samples: x x x x x

Peter is more interested in classical music and the business side of music, he is a surprisingly adept talent scout and manager. As he is missing a finger, the musical instruments he could play is very limited. He is secretly a very skilled opera singer however. Samples: x x x

#marauders #sirius black #remus lupin #james potter #lily evans #peter pettigrew #fanart #art by lau #lau draws with a tablet #rockstar au #band au

[jmdbjk]

Set me free. A battle cry.

I still think it’s too soon for me to be voicing my thoughts on Set Me Free Pt. 2 but there’s so much going on in my head I have to let some of it out. I’m not an expert on music, the writing or production of it, or on choreography, or on K-pop. What I am is an appreciator and observer of art. And I attempt to express in words my emotions and thoughts while viewing the art. 

First of all... OH MY FUCKING GOD.

Now that I got that out of the way, I want to say I am so proud of Jimin: #1 on U.S. iTunes with all those other releases happening at the same time. And #1 Trending Now on YouTube. Also I think I saw fastest 100 #1′s on iTunes globally EVER (thank you for correcting me). But I know these charts are not the motivation behind his art.

So it begins with some angst with dramatic choir vocals... building up to a crescendo. The music includes a siren-like sound... things are getting critical. The dancers writhing and mimicking screams, invoking chaos, turmoil, pain and anguish.

And then Jimin appears suddenly and the dancers at once jump into order... chaos/order. 

It’s like Jimin’s own psyche with the two sides fighting within. 

The choreo tells the story of the lyrics: “I wandered in a maze, Hennessy and night.” On a path searching for the prize/end and especially these past few years, living a life full of luxury. We know Jimin is a night owl (maybe that is too literal of an interpretation perhaps). 

The autotune vocals add texture and are reminiscent of different voices talking in his head. It’s like using his own voice to role play his different emotions/colors within him: “Finally free; AH YEAH, AH YEAH; I’m standing at the edge; NOT YET, NOT YET; I won’t look back; NOW YEAH, NOW YEAH; fly away, butterfly, finally free” ... 

The choreo here where he mimics a butterfly with his body, fluid and lithe. I literally expected him to levitate during this dance move. 

“Going insane to stay sane. Raise your hands for the past me. Now set me free.” This is where I literally cried. Oh, Jimin.  

The dancers representing the world around him... at the same time are the confines of his vocation as well as his comrades... part of the constriction and also his saviors. His freedom as well as his box. Chaos and order.

At 1:52 the scene goes dark and one of the dancers reaches over to Jimin’s torso and I am assuming at some point, we will see this is deliberate for a reason. When the lights come back up they are a different color, colder, Jimin’s torso is bare with the words of the poem marching across his body in very straight orderly lines (needless to say, my jaw hit the floor).

It is as if the color of the light represents both sides. Hot chaos. Cold order. I think this part of the song is his inner turmoil. It has a different voice. Very angry. Very aggressive. Nothing like the Jimin we’ve known up until now.

The dancers pointing at him, his naysayers. That’s right Jimin, tell them to fuck off. He’s played by the rules up until now. It’s his turn to flip the table and upend what we’ve known. And wow, he succeeded.

The dancers lifting their fists and arms as if in triumph.

Jimin letting himself be offered up to the sky...the lifting and reaching for the sky/heaven.. higher and higher...  

The resurrection of New Jimin at the end. The direct defiant stare at us. With his back to us. What is he saying? He’s moving on? Are we following? We better get our fighting gear on and go. 

The visuals, his attitude. So many elements: the numerology, the golden spiral (fibonacci sequence), the set mimicking the panopticon. A prison. Caged like a beautiful bird. A place he entered of his own free will but ended up being a place where he was put on display to be criticized and judged for not being what everyone thinks he should be. 

Knowing some of Jimin‘s history, knowing a little bit about his personality and seeing how all of this has come together in this piece of art he’s created just makes me appreciate him even more as the deep thinker he is, a highly talented artist, singer, and dancer, and especially a deeply feeling human being. 

I don’t ever recall anything like this making me overcome with shock or being moved to tears or being made to feel so many different things in the span of three minutes and forty-four seconds as I did last night. 

The nature of art itself is to draw out your emotions. To move you. I was moved.

I am 100% certain on each subsequent time I listen to this song or watch the music video there will be something that will elicit something else within me and inspire another different thought or feeling.

And I know it could be because Jimin‘s solo work was so highly anticipated, so talked about and we didn’t know what to expect. We know he’s been working on it for well over a year and finally seeing the climax of it all, or at least the beginning of the climax, was very overwhelming to me. I mean, promo starts for Like Crazy tomorrow. LET US BREATHE! NO! BRING IT ON!

#jimin face #set me free pt. 2 #he blew me away #as expected #as JK would say OH JIMINNNN!!!!!

[meraki-yao]

So here's the thing

The first time, first time that I saw Nick in my life, ever

Was this video

(yes I'm a two set violin fan)

Nick, babygirl, I love you but you... don't know how to play the violin

The thing is Nick's previous films misled me on his musical skills so much! There's this that made me think that he didn't know music but turns out he's great with a guitar and a piano

And then there's me listening to his cover of "Somebody to Love" in Cinderella which for some reason sounds so damn autotuned, which made me think that he can't sing, but then I got into RWRB and went to check his IG and OH GOD HE HAS THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL

Still wondering if I'll do like a reaction post of Cinderella 2021 if I have the time. I showed my sister some bits and she gave some pretty memeable quotes such as her commentary on Princess Gwen's ballgown made my Cinderella (and these are direct quotes):

The flesh colour makes her look naked 

this looks like a bad attempt at a toga

When I thought of the necklace thing, I was thinking should I say chest or boobs?

so maybe we'll do it together? Idk

Either way, thank God Nick's doing better projects now (and hoping for the same for Taylor as well)

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #nicholas galitzine #henry hanover stuart fox #henry fox mountchristen windsor #high strung #johnnie blackwell #twosetviolin #rwrb rambles #this post is all over the place lmao

[the-musical-cc]

A HANDY GUIDE TO KNOWING WHICH FRANKELDA ENGLISH DUB YOU ARE WATCHING BY SOMEONE WHO'S GONE THROUGH BOTH:

It's been brought to my attention that some, ahem, unofficial streaming sites have the old english dub done in what was likely a severe time crunch by a studio that... wasn't really prepared for the task back in 2021, rather than the new and improved one released at the beginning of this month, which results in people meeting excitement over the english version with puzzlement and even indignation having experienced the former rather than the latter.

Here's a few pointers to help you spot which one you're watching:

Titles. @figmentedjedi brought it up in a post already but the 2023 dub has Frankelda herself read it where the old one has Herneval do it.

2023 dub has inserts for anything shown in screen that is written in spanish and otherwise incomprehensible without translation, included the titles of the stories Frankelda reads.

New dub consistently and constantly misses loops and just leaves characters flapping without anything coming out. The best example to this is Nemo's counter during the Gnome's song, where he's very clearly singing but nothing can be heard.

This is where the whole 'Old dub didn't really have any involvement or even revision of the Ambriz Brothers' comes in stronger but you know how the show's title is 'Frankelda's Book of Spooks'? Well, there they call the creatures in her stories 'Scares' for reasons I still can't discern, my best guess is they didn't really have any quality control on board with the project. Long story short, if they say 'Scares', it's the old dub.

If El Coco calls himself 'Boogaboo' and is autotuned AF in his song, you're watching the old dub. New dub has him introducing himself with both El Coco and The Boogeyman and has the same voice actor that voiced him in spanish doing the song. Trust me, it's night and day.

I feel kinda bad about pointing this out because I still insist the actors in the old dub seem to me to have been doing the best they could with what they'd been handed and this seems to have been completely on the production... but the english in the old one is rather clumsy. To be clear, in order to translate from spanish to english, you are often better off pretty much rewriting the sentence AFTER having understood it in it's entirety because the grammar and even the sentence structure can be vastly different between one another, so translating literally and word by word often results in complete nonsense or at least very, very awkward wording both from english to spanish and viceversa. This wasn't done here and it results in a lot of times where understanding what was said takes you a bit because the structure of the sentence was all wonky.

That aside, grammar as a whole wasn't as thoroughly consulted as it could have been. So there's quite a bit of fumbles. The ones I remember the most is the Mermaid saying 'All these innocent childs' and Nemo saying 'Chores' instead of 'Homework' (Tarea can both mean homework and stuff you do around the house so that was probably where they got confused) The new dub is a lot more competent in this aspect.

This one's more of a nitpick I guess but in the old dub they have no idea whatsoever of how to pronounce some of the kids' names. Tere becomes Terry, Uli becomes Julie.

They also call Pan de Muerto 'Bread of the Dead', which... it's not that it's bad but who even calls it that? We don't call Croissants 'Crescent moons' so I see no reason to, and if you have no idea what Pan de Muerto is, that name makes it sound unpleasantly like something made FROM dead people. 'Day of the dead bread', which is used in the new dub is not only clearer to what it IS, something that is consumed in the Day of the Dead, but they use it alongside the original name because that IS its name. I never understand when dubs want to completely erase the cultural identity of what they are representing, and they did a wonderful job going around that in the 2023 dub where the old one even calls them 'Breadrolls' at one point.

This is where I insist the actors at least had some idea of what they were doing for the most part but the old dub adds some reactions that were never there for the original latam track and weren't put in the new one either.

Both Totolina and Francisca's grandma in the old dub sound like they're trying for a really posh british accent (Which is hilarious in context, as it was Francisca's DAD who came from... I wanna say Cornwall as it seems more likely given the time period and provided lore, but her mother's side of the family are locals to Hidalgo.) where the new dub has a very neutral english. She is also voiced by Debra Wilson, and particularly 'You can transform', the witches' song, takes full advantage of her range and energy.

This one's even a little bit obvious but the new dub was released with a visual remaster, making it so the old dub is only available with the old visuals. The newer one is, then, only available with the remaster. Here's a couple of pics for comparison of one of the moments where it's the most evident.

Pre-Remaster:

Post-Remaster.

Finally (And this should make it a lot easier.) the songs are wildly different between one version and another, and you can reference what the new dub versions are easily because they've been posted both on Spotify and Youtube under the Water Tower Music account and the Frankelda's Book of Spooks topic. If the songs don't have those lyrics, then you're watching the old dub, simple as that.

Hope this helps and happy watching! Do watch the original with subs if it's at all possible because, I insist, it's amazing.

#Frankelda #Frankelda's Book of Spooks #Sustos Ocultos de Frankelda #Cinema Fantasma #Cc rants

[twoset-updates]

[100623 hong kong vip meet and greet audio recording + transcription]

link to recording: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV19h4y1G7zp/

transcription of Q&A section below:

notes:

transcription/translation has been done to the best of ability; some parts were unclear due to noise, slurred speech, etc. 

note that as there is no video, there may be missing context from facial expressions or gestures.

any participants’ names mentioned are not written here as we do not know how their names are spelt.

those asking questions are referred to as Q[number].

approximate time stamps have been provided at intervals.

minimally edited for clarity. (they say “um” way too often.)

00:19

Staff: So we’ll first start off with a Q&A session, and afterwards it’ll be a signing, of course, there’s... so I’ll give the floor to Brett and Eddy. Thanks.

Brett: Thank you, thank you. [away from the mic] Can you guys hear me? [into the mic] Do I need this? This is better?

Eddy: Hi. Oooh.

B: Okay, we can use the mic.

E: I wanna see if there’s autotune. [sings offkey]

B: That’s a A?

E: [sings note] That’s an A. [sings again] Anyone with perfect pitch? No? No? Okay. Oh, in the front, nice. [sings again] That’s an A, right?

B: That’s an A?

E: Just checking, nice, nice.

B: [sings note]

E: Sounded a little bit sharp.

B: [sings the same note in a lower octave]

E: That’s sharp.

B: That’s not an A. [sings again in a higher octave]

E: That’s an A, but it’s sharp.

B: A-sharp.

E: No, it’s not A-sharp.

B: Okay, I’ll stop embarrassing ourselves.

01:14

B: Well, everyone, thanks so much for coming. This, we’ve actually been in Hong Kong for a few days now, right?

E: Yeah.

B: Um, it’s been like, five days? Six days? Can’t remember. It’s been a– This whole week has been a blur, because we’ve been preparing for our very first concert—tomorrow—of the tour. And it’s actually a special one ‘cause it’s with the HKFO orchestra, right? And so there’s a lot of moving parts, and this week, I don’t know, Eddy, what has been your favourite part of food in Hong Kong, so far?

E: I don’t know, I think Hong Kong just has some of the best, you guys have some of the best food in the world.

B: I have to agree, like—

E: And it’s not just like, Hong Kong food, it’s like, all different cuisines. Like yesterday we had a buffet, and it was just like...

B: Everything was there.

E: All the different styles, I’m like...

B: We even had pizza. And it was pretty good.

E: Yeah, and we even had like chicken rice, and like, [quietly] to be honest, I think it was better than Singapore, but... [normal volume] Can I say that? [laughs] Yeah, so I think the food here’s been great. The weather’s nice, actually. I know people think it’s really hot, but, y’know, Australia and Singapore also get pretty hot, as well, so... We’re used to it, I think. Yeah. 

02:33

E: Um, so yeah, it’s been really crazy, and we’re really– we really want to– I can’t wait to show you guys the show, but we– we think we should keep most of it a secret. I am just curious though: okay, raise of hands, who here plays an instrument? [pause] Nice. Okay. Can I– I’m curious, who– Keep your hands up if you have done, like, a music exam before, like ABRSM. [pause] Nice.

Brett: [laughs]

E: I think you guys will enjoy tomorrow’s show, then, ‘cause it’s– we wanted to– it was inspired off, like, we want to make it kind of relatable to what it’s like being a music student growing up, but... Yeah, I don’t know if there’s anything you want to say before we go to Q&A.

B: [mic malfunctioning] Does anyone– [inaudible] Hello? Hello? [mic works again] Hello? I think I can– [quietly] I think I accidentally turned it off. [normal volume] Anyway.

03:33

B: Did anyone go to our last show?

Fans: No.

E: Oh, wow.

B: Well, no one– no one came back. [fans laugh] Well, this might be your first and last one, too! [laughs]

E: Oh, no.

B: No... Okay, no, it’ll be fun. We can’t say too much, but Eddy kind of hinted at what it might be like, so I think I’m super excited. It’s also like, when it’s the first show, it’s– we never really know what’s gonna happen, too. So it’s kinda just, we’re gonna get thrown into the stage, just see just (a) pit of people, and we’re gonna just go from there, see what happens.

E: Yeah. Um, I mean... Yeah, ‘cause it’s like, we try to come up with a script, and a storyline, right? And we put in, like, jokes that we think, or we hope, are gonna be funny. But again, like you guys will be the first ones to hear this. So I’m really hoping there’s not gonna be like, dead silence, just like, no one laughs at your joke—ugh, just die on the inside, right? Nah, I think it’ll be fine.

04:38

E: Should we open up for some Q&A?

B: Yeah.

E: I’d love to chat with anyone that has some questions. Okay, lady there in white first?

Q1: Actually I have two questions. Number one is, your YouTube channel has been established since 2014, and that time you came in that your dream is to bring classical music to more people, and continue to inspire the next generation. Now, I think your dream is come true, right? So, then, what’s your next career path? What will you do, say, after twenty years? Still the YouTuber? Or do a few, some music school to educate the young– [inaudible, fans cheering] Ling Ling School.

B: I don’t know, I think Eddy wants to become a TikToker next. [laughs] Just kidding.

E: I’m too old for that, man. [laughs]

B: That’s a really good question. I don’t know how to answer that. I think...

E: I think if anything, you should show them your, uh, Arigatou dance, that you’ve been practicing.

[fans cheer]

B: [laughs] Let’s not preempt anything for tomorrow.

E: [laughs]

Fan: We can sing it for you!

B: [laughing] Oh, no no no.

Q1: [inaudible] Professor in Hong Kong.

06:06

B: Oh, professor in Hong Kong. Okay, look, I think for– [sighs] it’s tricky, because if you asked us ten years ago, what we would do, and say, ‘Look, we’re gonna make YouTube videos, or do these skits online, or tour over the world,’ we wouldn’t have believed anyone, right? We wouldn’t know. And one thing is for sure, is we never really know what would happen in ten years. We can only kind of guess where we’re going, kind of like, which direction we’re going. 

And we’re r– Actually we’ve– First of all, we’re really fortunate to have people watch our content, and then doubly fortunate to have people also inspired to pick up an instrument. Like we’ve seen that countless of times, wherever we go. I don’t know how it happened; I think, maybe we’re just someone there that... I mean, when we were growing up, we were basically watching violinists like Oistrakh online—like, black and white. That’s all we had on YouTube. And I remember my lap—like my violin’d be on my lap, I was watching, (and I’d) like play (the violin), trying to copy the violinist. But there wasn’t actually any YouTubers, like, in those times.

07:10

But in the future, I think educators is also definitely something we wanna do. Definitely always trying to—what’d that say?—make the pie bigger, or something. Like, so more and more people can come into classical music. And I think, I feel like, it’s not just us, it involves a lot of– more people as well. So, more– I mean, the last three years, there’s been a lot more classical music content creators. Which is a good thing. We’re bringing into more awareness that classical music is something that is just generally good for us, yeah—all the practice we do. And it has– I think it has good value, since practicing, you know, hard work, discipline—these are the things that we learn being a classical musician. Um, yeah, hope that answered your question. Um, [laughs] I just–

07:52

Q1: And the second question is, so, will you have the pressure from like, negative comment? Especially when you have, sometimes, [unclear]. How do you handle the haters and release your tension?

B: Wait, I just heard, what did I– is it back pain? Or–

Fans: [laugh]

B: Oh, Blackpink! I heard back pain!

E: Yeah, my back’s a bit sore, like– [inaudible, fans laughing]

B: I legit heard back pain.

E: [laughs]

Q1: So, how do you handle the haters, and like, let it out?

E: [groans] I mean, do you wanna answer that one?

B: I mean, I get back pain.

Fans: [laugh]

E: Like I think... Let me quickly ask Paganini. Because it wasn’t us, so it’s Paganini that had all the haters. So now, I’ll quickly call Paganini. 

Yo man, Paganini, how’d you handle the haters? [pretending to be Paganini] I just flex on them with my Paganini 24 Caprices! [inaudible, fans cheering]

08:56

Um, I don’t know, I think... I remember very clearly that day that we posted the video. And the first one or two hours were just, like y’know, Twoset subscribers, fans, watching it. They were like, “Oh, this is so clever, this is funny,” right? And then I remember at the time, we posted around our, like, midnight. So I was like, “This is kinda too calm. It’s like the calm before the storm.” I was like, “I’ll try to go to sleep,” but I couldn’t sleep that night, I was just like, “I feel like something’s gonna go off.” But eventually, y’know, after lying in bed for one or two hours, I fell asleep. Then I remember [laughing] when we woke up—

B: [laughs]

E:—it’s like, all my phone notifications (going), “DING DING DING DING DING DING DING!” I was like, “Oh my god.” And then so I remember reading through (the notifications/comments). And, to be honest, it’s like we kind of– I mean, we know how the internet works, and we expected the possibility that this would happen. So when it did happen it was like, “Okay, fair enough.”

10:00

I think, the– I did think one thing that caught me off guard at the time was, I was shocked at how much they went not just at us. ‘Cause I knew they were gonna come for us and say things about [inaudible]. But I was shocked that they came for everyone we knew. So I remember at the time, we met, like, James Ehnes—that soloist—the week before. And they were like, threatening him. They were sending– and he– I remember he, like, messaged us, and he’s like, “Who’s Blackpink?” ‘Cause he had no idea, and we were like, “[groans] Okay.” So we had to explain all that. And I remember the time they were trying to cancel our Mendelssohn with the Singapore Symphony, and so that was a little bit, like, shocking.

10:47

Um, but I think, I don’t know ‘bout you, but for me, it’s like... it was like– Okay, so first of all, when all the hate started coming in, I remember thinking, first of all, a lot of it was, like, kind of not very... intelligent comments, right? It was just like, vomit emojis, and poo emojis. I’m like, “Okay, I haven’t really read anything that’s legitimate,” you know, so I’m like, “Okay, that’s okay.” But then, I remember, like, it was really interesting to see, during that time, my– our close friends really stood up for us. So I think that was really... thankful. I mean, ‘cause you still feel it, right? You know it’s gonna happen, you know it doesn’t make sense, but you still kinda feel like, “Whoa, what is–” There are these people telling us to, like, literally do all these bad things and stuff, right? So I think it was cool, just how, like, our friends supported us, and be like, “Oh, just don’t listen to them.”

11:46

And then, obviously, I remember there was, like, after six hours, then a bunch of positive– you know, a lot of Twosetters came to support and defend us again. And that really helped, seeing people, like, stand up for us. I think it was really funny too, like then– it became like a fan war, as well. Like, BTS ARMY people were standing up for us, and I was like– I don’t know, it became like a battle between them, and I was like, “I have no idea what’s going on, this, like, K-Pop thing,” but um, yeah.

12:17

I think, going back to your question, how do we handle the hate? I guess... yeah, like, it just helped having friends and knowing that– and having, like, fans support us. I think that was the most important thing. I think if everyone was telling us what we did was bad, then I’d probably actually have a existential crisis. But you know, we had friends that was like, “No, I think what you did was fine, don’t worry about fans”—like you guys, you know—“it’s okay.” And then, also just knowing– ‘Cause I think also knowing, deep down, I think what we did was, like, it wasn’t... wrong. Like, I think– I mean, come on, standing up with– The whole theme of the song is like, you have to, at a certain point, stand up for your own values, right? And so, deep down, I– we believed in what we were saying. And when we looked at the comments, no one made us change our mind, because every comment was just like, poo emoji, so I’m like, “Okay, I think we’re still in the right,” y’know, so... yeah. That’s my perspective, I don’t know about you.

13:25

B: Uh, I think I forgot everything, it’s just [inaudible, fans laughing]. No, okay. It’s the same, I– Look, “haters always gonna hate”, we all know that line. And that was definitely, like, the most we’ve ever gotten. And Eddy was right. I remember watching the video, also kind of lying in bed. I was thinking, “I should probably go to sleep, this video... took a while to work it out.” And nothing happened, I was like, “Oh wow! Eddy, I don’t think we went hard enough.” No, I’m just joking. I’m like– And we did have a lot of iterations of the...

E: The lyrics.

B: The lyrics. So the one that we put out was actually quite mellow, [laughs] [unclear] what we had. But we did think that our original one was too far, so we’re like, “Okay, no, let’s just turn it back.” But like, it’s just another... you know.

E: It wasn’t us, it was Paganini, by the way.

B: Yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, it’s, uh, Paganini, yeah, yeah. And then Mozart kinda just pranked Paganini the whole time, too, so.

14:29

[staff speaking inaudibly]

Yes. Oh, okay, okay, okay, sorry. We gotta get on to the next question. So sorry, let’s get on to the next question. [Brett and Eddy talking at the same time, Brett laughs.]

E: Do you want to choose? [Brett speaks inaudibly] Um... I don’t know, you choose. I picked the one before.

B: White mask.

E: White mask? 

[some people speaking, trying to identify which person]

E: Okay, yeah.

Q2: Hello, Brett and Eddy.

B: Hello.

Q2: I’m [name], and I have been a fan since the Ben Lee video, in 2019, and–

E: Since which–?

Q2: The Ben Lee video.

B: Oh, Ben Lee video– [inaudible, fans laughing]

E: Sacrilegious.

Q2: And it’s really a dream come true, to get to meet you in person. And so I would like to ask, out of the many videos that you have made, except for those million (subscriber) drops, do you have any particular videos that you like the most, or you feel (are) very memorable?

E: Mm. Um, sorry, can I just check, uh–

[commotion, sounds like some kind of accident happened]

Someone: You okay?

Q2: Yeah, I’m okay.

15:43

E: Okay. Um, “out of all the videos which ones we feel are memorable”, is that the question, right? [pause] Okay, this is recent, like, just ‘cause it’s fresh off my mind, but actually the video we posted yesterday. I don’t know if you guys saw, it was really fun. But we got invited to a univer– our old university, to be adjudicators. That was really... it felt really special to us, because it was where we studied, and we both did the competition before. And, uh, I didn’t win it, so.

Fans: [laugh]

E: But now I’m the adjudicator, so I was like, y’know. But I think that was really fun. There’s so many that I really like. Have you guys seen the video with, um, where we spoke Chinese, and the two spoke Korean, Hyung and Angie? That was really funny. And like, “ddongssa”, and we thought that was rosin? I really like that one. I don’t know, Brett, do you have any that stick out for you?

16:49

B: Uh, for me– Okay, that adjudication video we did, posted a couple of days ago, was special. One that stuck out straight away was the Among Us video we did for the Mendelssohn octet. I don’t know if you guys seen that one. That was really fun, especially playing with other people, and trying to figure it out, all that stuff. So that was definitely special. And... what else is there...

E: We did a video with HKFO actually, this week. And that was a really fun one, so–

B: Oh, that was it, that was good.

E: I’m pretty excited for that as well. Yeah, so many (videos), I don’t know. It’s like, it’s been ten years of making videos, almost. I think this is our tenth year, right?

B: Yep, [inaudible]

E: Yeah, so um... yeah.

B: The back pain is real now.

E: Yeah, the back pain [inaudible]. Yeah. Any other questions? Uh, yes?

17:47

Q3: Actually, it’s you guys who inspired (me) to study music next year. And I have grant to study abroad, to UK, [inaudible]

E: Oh, nice. Exciting.

B: Oh, congratulations.

Q3: Thank you.

[fans clapping]

Q3: And I want to ask, what’s suggestion would you guys give to someone who’s going to study music?

E: Uh, can I ask what instrument you play?

Q3: Trombone and piano.

E: Trombone and piano... I don’t have– I don’t know trombone advice.

B: I’ve never heard of that combo before, trombone and piano. Do you– Do you have a– Do you have one that you like more?

Q3: I think trombone.

B: Ohhh......

Q3: ‘Cause, like, the ratio of female and male trombonist is, like, one to nine. So I–

E: One to nine?! Wow.

Q3: I’ve only met around, like, five female trombonist in Hong Kong. But, yeah, but imagine it’s like, 100 people who play that.

E: That’s true, I’m trying to think about all the orchestras we played in. How many female trombonists have we seen?

B: None.

[fans laugh]

E: Queensland Symphony was all guys. Sydney Symphony?

B: None. They’re all–

[fans laugh harder]

E: Wow.

B: They’re all, they’re all usually on french horn.

E: Yes, usually.

B: Female players usually play on french horn.

E: Or trumpet, [inaudible]

B: Or trumpet, yeah, trumpet and french horn. Trombone, wow, you’re a first, I guess.

19:17

E: Actually, can I ask? How do trombone players view tuba players?

Q3: Can you repeat that?

E: How do trombone players view tuba players? Is it kinda like violin and viola?

Q3: Yeah, it’s like violin but it’s– there will be a few notes in one position, and you need to memorise them.

E: Okay.

Q3: Yeah.

E: Interesting. Yeah, I don’t know. What advice would you give, going to study in the UK?

B: You gotta book out all the practice rooms in advance. I know a lot about students’ struggle with that overseas, like UK, or the US.

E: Oh, what school? Have you– do you know that?

Q3: Um, that is [name] School. It’s a girls’ college–

E: Oh wow.

Q3: –and I got the scholarship

E: Oh wow. ‘Gratulations.

B: Lowkey flexing. [laughs]

20:02

E: Um, I think... hmm... I don’t know, I don’t know how to give, like, advice very well, ‘cause I feel like advice is always best when it’s like specific to your situation, that’s why–

Q3: So like, what would you suggest to adapt to this new environment?

E: Oh, okay. Adapting to new– you mean, in a different country, or in like a music school?

Q3: Music school, yeah. And I think it works in different countries, as well.

E: Mm... I think, um... My mind’s blanking, [unclear]

B: There’s like, numbers coming out of his head. [high pitched calculation noise] [laughs]

20:50

Okay, I’ll say something. I think when you go– are you going by yourself?

Q3: Yes.

B: Okay, I think, first, definitely meet– you’ll meet a lot of people, right? And always try to get with the community there, the people around you. Because I think when we’re studying, the one thing that’s important is about the people you spent the time with, right? So all the musicians are there, they’ll make you practice, they’ll keep you kind of in check. It’s definitely important to kind of mingle with them, and– I assume you’re, might have to try and get used to the lifestyle there? I mean, I don’t know what the lifestyle is like, but I know that brass players also drink a lot. [laughs]

Q3: Stereotype!

B: [laughs] Sorry. And you’re doing two instruments as well, so definitely... This is like a Sophie question, ‘cause she plays violin and piano, quite well.

E: Yeah.

Q3: I played violin before but the teacher was–

B: Whoa.

Q3: –so weird, that playing the [unclear], like, throw the [unclear] or something, if I play wrong notes, yes.

B: Was your teacher a Blackpink fan? [fans laugh] Just kidding, just kidding.

21:54

Okay, like, look, yeah, I– look, you have to just go with the flow. I know definitely it’s going to be chaotic at the beginning, but just know, after a few months’ time you’ll start settling in. I know when I first moved to Sydney—this wasn’t studying, but when I went to play with the Sydney Symphony—it was very chaotic. Just– I checked my schedule, like, everyday, just trying to make sure I’m on time. But after a while you get used to the flow, and then I think your normal practice routine will be back. So just– if you– it might be stressful at the beginning, so it should be alright, eventually.

E: Yeah, I think it’s just really exciting.

Q3: Yeah.

E: Sounds like a really big step in your life, and just, I think, make the most out of it. I don’t– You seem like you know what you want. You seem... I actually don’t think there’s much advice, other than just to enjoy it as much as you can. You will look back when you’re our age, thirty, like us, going back to uni and be like, “Those were good days.” So yeah, have fun!

Q3: Thank you.

22:57

[inaudible speaking]

E: We’ll go for a few more questions? I think we’ll go for a few more questions, yeah. Thanks. Uhh, Brett, choose.

B: I don’t– uhh, one in blonde.

Q4: I’m so nervous, I typed the question down on my phone, so I will [inaudible]. Since you guys started running your YouTube channel as a hobby, and it turned into a second profession other than being a violinist, I want to know how do you keep the passion alive to work in this situation? Because I’m also turning my hobby as a kid, drawing, to my future career. I’m going to attend art school this year, and I got into my dream school this year! Hooray! Uh, and, so I just wanna know– uh, so I’m already starting to see drawing as a work that has to be done, and I lost the motivation to draw as passionately as before. So, how do you balance– how do you balance it? And how do you [inaudible]. Thank you!

24:01

E: That’s a great question. Brett? [fans laugh] You guys are asking some really difficult questions, actually. That’s a very deep, philosophical... I think we need Wise Yang Sensei, with the life advice.

“How do you keep motivated when your hobby becomes your work,” is your question, right? Um... I think, for... Okay, I think for us, it’s about remembering why, and not losing sight of that. So it’s like, why do you love doing what you do?

24:52

And because it’s... it’s tricky, right? Because we always have to balance things with, kind of, reality, you know? I can’t– Sometimes, once it becomes your work, you have to meet deadlines, you have to work with clients, and sometimes clients might want this or that. And, you know, it’s part of what it’s like to make it your work. But I think if it feels like you’re losing motivation, maybe it’s time to kind of– rather than facing outwards, kind of go back inwards, and reconnect with the reasons why you love doing this—like a “why do you think it’s a good thing”.

25:38

That’s been it for me. I think, like, for example—I said this all the time—like, with YouTube as well, it’s like, it’s easy to fall into that frame of, like, “Oh, as a content creator we’re just chasing views, and then making content.” And there’s definitely been times where we felt the pressure to just make a video to keep making videos, or to make sure we get views, ‘cause if we stop making videos then it’s the internet and people forget about us in two days, you know, things like that, right? 

But then, at the end of the day, it’s like... You know, we did take some time off, and that was scary at the beginning. And then we realised, “Oh, it’s okay, people are still here.” And over time, you kind of decide, “Well, okay, these are the type of videos that we do want to do, because we know we’ll genuinely have fun. And then some video ideas, we know, probably will get a lot of views, but it’s just not something we want to do.” And then so, we’re like, “Okay, y’know, might be a good video but we won’t do it.”

26:46

So, I guess it’s to strike that balance between the job, or what you have to do, and fulfilling what you want inside. And if you don’t feel good, always just to– it means the balance might be a bit too much that way, (so) just kind of (pull) back a little bit. I don’t know if that answers your question.

Q4: Yes, [inaudible].

E: Alright, thank you.

Q4: Thank you!

E: Do you have anything to add?

B: No, I think you answered the question.

[all laugh]

27:12

E: Sweet. Any more questions? Uhh, I saw you raise your hand? Yeah, in black.

Q5: Thank you, Brett and Eddy. What is the most significant critiques you received from your comments, and how do you take that and make improvements? Maybe each one of you?

E: Ooh.

Q5: Thanks.

B: Full of vomit emojis.

Q5: So Brett, you cannot say, “Eddy, you answer the question,” okay?

[all laugh]

E: That was a critique right there.

B: [laughs] Critique. Most significant critic– criticism.

E: I think the most significant critique on comments is, “Eddy, stop doing paper in scissors-paper-rock.” But I never learn from that—I keep doing it anyway. I don’t know, I feel like... I can’t actually think of any off the top of my head. Most comments I can think of have always been so positive. Um... Can you think of any?

B: I honestly can’t. I think– in terms (of) criticism, most significant criticism...

E: Gonna pull out the comments to our latest video.

B: Yeah... I–

E: [laughs]

28:31

B: I mean, when you say criticisms, without the “comment”, I start thinking about me being in my violin lessons—my teacher saying this and that. But in terms of online, it usually feels like... It’s actually just a lot of positive comments usually, honestly. I know a lot of people—you know, we have like, 100 positive comments, one bad comment—people are gonna zone in on that. But we’ve kinda gotten used to that? And we just been treating comments as a feedback, for us to see what people like, what they enjoy. And in fact, I’ve really enjoyed some of the comments people make. Like, they make really clever comments, or– things like that gives me a laugh. And that just keeps us going, doing our own thing. Um, and– I don’t know if there’s a specific one, but I also enjoy reading a lot of– ‘s not really criticism, but when people have a story to tell in their comments. Like what they went through, what they’re doing, how they got here, what things have been happening, you know—these things kind of help us– well, they inspire us to keep, kind of, doing what we do, so. I don’t know if I really answered that question, but yeah.

E: Yeah. Yeah, I can’t think of any negative comments of the top of my head as well, but I was just quickly scrolling through, just then. And there’s so many funny– you guys come up with the funniest comments. Someone was like, “If you can adjudicate slowly, you can adjudicate quickly,” ‘cause we took so long adjudicating that day. But yeah, I think that’s... yeah.

30:04

B: Are there any more questions? Uh, the pink.

Q6: Hello, Brett and Eddy, I specially flew here from Chengdu to see you, so I wanted to hear the both of you speak Chinese (Standard Mandarin)—

B: [groans]

Q6: I wanted to ask if you have any plans to tour Mainland China this year, and do you have anything you'd like to say to fans in Mainland China? Finally, I'd like to welcome you to Chengdu to look at pandas and eat hotpot.

E: Oooh, hotpot.

[B and E discuss inaudibly]

B: I only heard "eat hotpot".

Q6: Are there any cities you want to go to; any tour plans?

Someone: Any plans for tour in China?

Someone else: In Mainland China!

B: Oh, right!

E: Brett, I thought you were practicing your Chinese, why don't you understand?

Someone: And do you have any preference, for the cities?

31:08

B: Ohhh, okay okay. Do I have to answer in Chinese?

E: Yes, she said she wants to hear us speak Chinese.

B: Uhhh, I like to eat hotpot. I would like– I would also like to go to Ch– Chen...

Q6: Chengdu.

B: Chengdu.

E: Also, I want to—what was that city we went to last time—Guangzhou. We want to go to Guangzhou.

B: Oh, right. I forgot.

E: Yeah. We’re not sure, we were thinking we could do it next year, maybe, but the plans haven't been, like...

Someone(?): Confirmed.

E: Confirmed, yeah, we haven't confirmed them. We just have some ideas. Also, maybe Shanghai? I think Shanghai—

[fans cheer]

31:59

E: Oh wow, okay. Yeah. Because the both of us have been to Shanghai; Brett went with the Sydney Symphony.

B: No, it was to Beijing.

E: Oh, you didn't go to Shanghai?

B: We went to Beijing.

E: Oh, so it was Beijing.

B: Right. [fans laugh] Yeah.

E: Oh. Wait, so have you been to Shanghai?

B: Nope. [fans laugh] I want to go though.

E: I've been before, I joined a tour group with a friend. And I remember, was it Pudong, Puxi, or something? You know there's that river—

Fans: Huangpu River. [T/N: Pudong and Puxi are districts to the east and west of the Huangpu River respectively.]

E: Huangpu River. And so many people were taking wedding photos there! Everyone was—I remember there were weddings everyday. Yeah, there were like five people getting married, I'm like, holy moly. Yeah. So maybe Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou; we really want to go, yeah.

Q6: Is there anything you want to say to the fans (in Mainland China)?

E: Thank you for all your support, and we'll continue to practice 40 hours every day. Yeah, cool.

33:15

Like, it’s 5:10, maybe two, three more questions?

B: Okay.

E: Maybe it’ll go to 5:30 [inaudible]. Yeah, uh, few more questions, yeah.

B: Uh... okay.

Q7: Okay, I come from Guangdong, and I will [inaudible].

E: Oh, nice.

Q7: Yeah, and I will ask the third question from my friend, I’m a [inaudible]. She asked, is tomorrow allowed to take any pictures during the performance?

B: If you’re allowed to take pictures?

E: Taking photos during the performance...

B: I think so...?

Staff: Not during the performance.

B: Oh, okay. Yeah, not during the performance, but...

Staff: Afterwards.

B: But afterwards.

Q7: But afterwards. Okay, [inaudible], thank you.

34:06

B: Okay. Do you have another question? Uh... in the white [inaudible]. Yeah, third row, yeah, yeah.

Staff: Sorry, which one?

B: [unclear]

Q8: Uh, hi.

B: Hi.

Q8: I am [name].

E: Hello.

Q8: A casual question: so I am really into MBTI.

B: Oh!

Q8: So, I really want to–

E: Oh, I love MBTI too!

Q8: Yeah, yeah, I love– I really want to ask you guys, what is your latest MBTI test results?

E: Can you guess? What– Do you know what we are, in the past?

Q8: I? Uh, no, I think Eddy is E.

E: I’m E? Think I’m a E? Guess what we are!

B: Oh, if you know, don’t tell her! Just let her guess!

E: We’ve talked about it online before, so if you know, don’t tell her.

B: Don’t tell her, keep your mouth closed, keep quiet!

Q8: Yeah, but like, because MBTI changes, it always changes.

E: Oh, okay.

Q8: Yeah, so some– for some people it always changes, so I would really want to know that– did your MBTI change, of any sort?

35:04

B: Oh, I guarantee Eddy hasn’t changed. [fans laugh] It’s very potent. Okay, guess– do you want to guess Eddy’s first?

Q8: Uh, I?

B: Yep.

Q8: S?

E: Maybe? Just keep going– [unclear] it’s okay!

Q8: IS... F... Is it F? No, it’s T– No, I think it’s T. [laughs] Uh... IST... P?

E: ISTP? That’s not–

B: Pretty close!

E: That’s the yellow dude, right? ‘Cause I [unclear] their colours. Is it yellow, or is it blue?

Someone: Yeah, yellow.

E: Yellow, he’s yellow.

B: Yellow, okay.

E: ISTP... He’s the guy with the toolbox, I think... With the tools, the drill!

B: Yeah, the drill.

E: Yeah! Close, close—I’m actually a INTP.

Q8: Ahh, okay.

E: So I’m the purple scientist, who just like– yeah, just stays in my room and practice all day.

Q8: That’s good, that’s good.

36:12

E: Yeah. How about Brett? Can you guess Brett?

Q8: I... N...

B: [laughs] She’s on the spot.

Q8: Yeah, you put me on the spot!

B: IN...

Q8: FP?

B: Wow, you’re very close on both.

E: Close, close.

B: I’m actually ENFP.

Fans: Whoa......

B: Whoa, why is it like “whoa”?

E: You know what’s a really funny story about this, actually? Even Brett didn’t know he was extroverted, in the beginning. So when he first found out he was ENFP he’s like, “What?! I’m not extroverted!” And then our friend was like, “An introverted wouldn’t yell so loud.”

B: [laughs] I remember that.

E: Yeah, he was like, “What?! I’m not extroverted!”

B: Yeah, [unclear] “The introvert would not do that.”

E: Yeah.

B: And I think I was telling everyone I was...

E: You thought you were INFP, initially thought, too.

B: Yes, yeah. And I was telling everyone, I was like, “No, I’m introverted, I’m introverted!” And [unclear] was like, “...dude.”

E: [laughs]

B: “An introvert would not do that.”

E: Yeah. So you’re very close, actually, yeah.

Q8: That’s good, thank you–

37:20

B: What are– what are yours?

Q8: Oh, mine is–

E: Oh, I wanna guess!

Q8: Yeah, sure, guess!

B: [inaudible] gonna guess?

Q8: Yeah, I’m going to turn you back right on the spot!

E: Um... I think you are...

B: [quietly] How are you gonna guess?!

E: INFP.

Q8: No.

E: Aw, damn.

B: My turn, my turn. So I have one-in-fifteen chance.

E: Yeah.

Q8: Sixteen.

B: Sixteen?

Q8: Oh, no, sorry, fifteen, yeah, sorry.

B: No, one-in-fifteen, right? [to Eddy] You said INFP, right? No no–

E: Actually–

B: –no no no no no no no no let me– shhhh.

E: What colour do you think she is?

B: Uhh... ESFP.

Q8: Right. You’re–

[everyone cheering in shock]

38:08

E: Damn.

B: You know what gave it away?

E: What?

B: I think the way she dressed, it’s very outgoing. “Look at me, woo!”

E: ESFP... ESFP is the yellow one with brown [inaudible]

Q8: Yeah, it’s the Entertainer.

B: Wow...

E: Makes sense, makes sense. Nice.

B: Wow.

E: There’s uh, charades telepathy.

B: Do I get bubble tea?

E: [laughs]

Q8: Sure, sure! [laughs]

B: [laughs]

E: Nice.

Q8: Thank you!

E: Cool, thank you. That was a fun question.

B: [inaudible] we do one more question? Do we have time?

Staff: Maybe two more?

B: Two more, okay, cool. You can pick.

E: Um, alright. In the back, there?

38:51

Q9: Just a normal question: What’s your favourite movie, and why do you recommend it? Or which one do you think is the best use of classical music or violin?

E: Ooh, a movie.

B: That use–

E: Best use of classical music or violin.

B: Dude, that’s not a normal question, that’s a hard question. Whoa, that’s... Favourite movie...

E: That’s tricky. I’ll be honest, I don’t watch that many movies, so already that’s a bit hard for me.

B: Does anime count?

E: Yeah, I was gonna say, I watch anime. 

[fans say it counts]

E: Anime... but then there’s not that much anime with classical music. Obviously there’s Your Lie In April, there’s Nodame... They’re not really movies, they’re like series, right? What movie would you recommend, Brett?

39:59 

B: I’m still thinking, just– I’m not sure yet, I just– It’s– Okay. I have favourite movies. But the classical music part, it’s... I’m not sure I have one that sticks out.

E: Yeah.

B: But, uh... Grease– There’s always all time favourites, like the ones from... You guys know Inception? It’s been a while now, right?

E: Mhm. I like Inception.

B: The dream in a dream—that was pretty cool. In fact, actually, there was an anime that had that, called Paprika. Right, Paprika?

E: Mhm.

B: They had the same concept, with the dream in a dream. But in terms of classical music, I can’t really access that right away.

40:37

E: Yeah, nothing sticks out in mind, I just remember the bad ones, and like, not good ones. But, I mean—I actually haven’t watched this movie—I’ve heard The Pianist is really good. I’ve been meaning to watch it, but I haven’t gotten around to it. Apparently it’s really good, The Pianist.

B: Oh, The Pianist.

E: Yeah. But apparently, it, like, makes you cry. I hate watching movies that make me cry, ‘cause then I’m just like, a mess. The most recent movie that I watched that made me cry—have you guys seen Coco? (The) Disney movie? I know it’s not classical music, but it’s a very musical movie as well, and dude, that movie wrecked me. It was like, so sad, so.

B: I didn’t know that.

E: Right, ‘cause you think Disney’s like, just for little kids and stuff, but it was like, full deep. And it’s about music, and stuff, so. Yeah, that was a cool movie. I don’t know if that answers your question.

Q9: Did you guys watch the new Spider-Man movie?

B: Oh, I haven’t seen it yet.

E: Wait, which one is the new one? But is it the one with the three (Spider-Mans)?

Someone: Across the Spider-Verse, it’s the animation one.

E: Oh, no, I haven’t watched it. Is it good?

Q9: It’s really good.

E: Ooh, okay. Cool, we’ll keep that in mind. Thank you, thank you.

41:56

B: Oh, one more question. Uh... Okay, in the front.

Q10: Hi, I’m [name] and this my girlfriend, [name].

B: [laughs] You guys saw that? He just put his hands all like...

Q10: Well, we are both violinists, and we’ve been dating for, like, five months. And I just have one question, that, um... Do you guys, like, get competitive all the time?

B: Wait, wait a second. Is this– are you asking for a friend, or like...?

E:  Is this relationship counselling right now?

Q10: Friendship-wise, but like, do you get competitive all the time, and like, arguing who being the best– who being the better one? And if yes, how do you overcome it and deal with it?

B: So... does she ask?

Q10: I ask this question.

B: Ohhh.

E: Somehow I feel like the question’s not really about us.

[laughter]

 43:03

E: I don’t think we really do go competitive. Even like... okay, even back in uni, where we had some competitions where we’re against each other, we were never, like, competitive, you know? In the sense that we would still play for each other—like before our competition, we’d be like, “Hey, can you listen to my Mozart?” Or I’ll play my thing for you and just, you know, listen to each other, gives each other some feedback. I know there were definitely some students that were a bit more, like, weird about it. I remember, um...

B: Actually, for me it was similar. For the competitions, it was always about just making it through. Like, “Oh, you’re next, ohhhh.” I always thought about “Oh, who’s going first, who’s going second,” you know? And you can start playing these mind games with yourself.

E: Yeah.

B: So we don’t really get competitive. And honestly, I feel like I’ve never had the capacity to be competitive when I walk on stage. I just get really nervous, and I’m just trying to make it through the whole piece.

E: Yeah, same. It was almost like we’re both sharing the pain of going to this competition together, it’s like...

B: Yeah, but it’s not about us, so...

44:17

E: Oh yeah, that’s right, this question’s not about us. That is interesting though, actually. I have heard, you know, about musician couples. I don’t know, though. I don’t know what to say, Brett. Wise sensei, Yang-sensei. [laughs]

B: Okay, look—do you guys get competitive?

Q10: Sometimes.

B: Sometimes! Ohhh!

Q10′s girlfriend: Because we’re very, like, close in, like, level, and we’re gonna go to, like, university soon, and we’re both gonna study music.

B: Wait, so– but are you guys competing in the same university?

Q10g: Probably.

B: Probably? Have you got in the university yet?

Q10g: We have got in, and we both have full scholarships.

B: You both have full scholarships...

Q10g: And the same teacher.

E: Okay–

B: Whoa... Okay, this is– okay–

45:07

E: This is– okay, I have two ways of thinking about this, actually. I have the practical answer, which is interacting in normal day life. And then I have, like, the bigger picture—what I think about relationships.

So, I think, in life, meeting people that are genuinely close, that you form, like, life-long relationships with, is something that is so rare, and so meaningful. And that, to me, is always gonna be more precious than winning some competition. Like someone that you can trust, that you know that you guys will support each other. 

45:48

And so for me, like for people– like, for Brett, for example—like, I think it’s always that you should want the best for the other person, and you should also know that they want the best for you. And so, you know, if you see someone else exceed—even if, let’s say, for example, he won the Bach Prize and I didn’t, for example—even if in the moment I feel a little bit, like, jealous or envious—I’m not saying I did, I don’t remember how I felt, but if I did—I think at the end of the day, you should still commit. And there’s something you can practice, actually. Just practice being like, “No, I’m going to congratulate them, I’m gonna feel happy for them, because I want the best for them.” I think that’s really important, if you want to have a long–term– not even just relationship, like, a friendship, like a close friend, you know.

46:47

B: Yeah, I think you made a good point, like– Envy consumes you, if you’re not careful. Because it’s all inside you, you know. And there’s nothing to gain from envy—there’s literally nothing there, it’s just– you harm yourself inside. And it’s like Eddy said—yeah, envy happens? That’s why it’s one of—what’s that, like—seven deadly sins, or something. Like it happens, but it’s part of us to try and practice a way out of it, you know.

So you might feel it. It’s okay to feel it, you don’t have to be like, “I feel envy. Oh my god, I’m a bad person. Oh my god.” Just kind of be like, “Okay, well, it’s there, but I’m not gonna act on it. And I shouldn’t respond to it. I just look at it.” It’s like, “Oh, hi, envy. How’re you going? I’m going back to practice.” Just ignore it. And then, what Eddy said—it’s like, you practice congratulating the other person.

E: Mm.

B: So– and that’s– You’ll find that’ll help you in the long run, because then both of you, or who you’re congratulating, will help each other. And they say, “If you wanna go fast, you go by yourself; if you wanna go far, you work as a team.” So that’s really important.

47:52

E: Yeah. Even in the– I mean, even... Actually, that’s a really good point, right, like, when you’re young, it might feel like it’s just about who plays the best, who practices the most, who wins competitions. But actually, later, when you’re actually touring—and y’know, we meet a lot of soloists as well—who you know does matter a lot. And even if you’re the best player, if you just piss everyone off ‘cause you’re so competitive, no one will want to work with you. So that’s really important. Um, and–

B: He’s just– [laughs]

E: [laughs] Okay, but– [laughs] on a more day-to-day, practical level, I think—‘cause like, I have heard stories about this—I think the main thing is if someone else is practicing, don’t give advice unless they ask for it.

B: Oh yeah, don’t do that.

E: Don’t just walk into the room, be like, “Yo yo, I think your B-flat’s a bit out of tune, I think you should uh, work–” Like, don’t do that, don’t do that!

B: [laughs] [unclear]

48:53

E: It’s funny, though, ‘cause I’ve– we know, like, musicians that are musician couple—it’s a really common thing—and the insecurity... I have heard from– especially from couples where maybe one of them is more ahead in their career than the other one, it can feel like–

B: Or they’re in a string quartet.

E: String quartet is a big one as well. So, it’s– yeah, it’s not–

B: Oh, you guys in a string quartet?

E: Like it sounds funny, but it’s actually a tough challenge, and I hope– I wish you guys the best. Yeah.

Q10: Thank you.

E: Cool.

B: Alright, I think that’s it, right? Thank you, everyone!

E: Thank you, everyone, thank you!

49:34

Q&A session ends here. remainder of the video contains audio from the photo session, and op’s conversations, which will not be included here.

#twosetviolin #twoset violin #tsv in our eyes #tsv world tour #tsv in hong kong

[apocalypsemotionstudio]

PORTAL FANS: IF UNIVERSAL PICTURES BUYS VALVE'S MOST PLAYED GAME PORTAL/PORTAL 2 COPYRIGHT, WOULD THEY MAKE AN ANIMATED MOVIE OR A LIVE ACTION! :0 SUPER CURIOUS TO KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS (keep yourself respectful and out of any kind of unnecessary drama plz)

| My personal statement/thoughts:

+ I honestly think GLaDOS would look super terrifying like a gigantic Kaiju since she's canonically super big and powerful enough to scare the shit outta of us. I also think Ellen McLaren would do an unbeatable amazing job as best voice actress ever. It is known that GLaDOS is the best written character so hopefully they (Universal Pictures) don't ruin her essence. If they do I would kms/j.

Imagine a Kaiju sized female prototype staring at you with her super realistic design. Absolutely scary and STUNNING OVERALL! I can't wait to see the official concept of Universal Pictures about how would GLaDOS look like realistically!

| About Chell? She would literally be Natalie Artemis (Monster Hunter's movie actress). I always have seen Natalie as Chell from Portal. Why? Because she's close to her physical appearance and action movie behaviours. She must train herself to not speak a single word since Chell is canonically mute because she refuses to talk to machines and robots (mainly due to she's kind of angry and pissed).

| I don't know which actor would be super cool for Doug Rattman. I'm sorry. But if that's the case, the movie should have a prequel because Rattman has been being a survivor of one of GLaDOS's attacks and people do deserve to understand better the lore behind this amazing videogame. Isn't it?

| I don't know how social behaved is Stephen Merchant but if he's sociable enough he would have a lot of fun trying new quotes for the animated/live action movie of Portal. Wheatley would look super but super realistically animated by professionals and his voice would sound kind of robotic (with some autotune in the background of his original voice). Anyways I can't wait to see his concept artwork made by Universal Pictures!

| The turrets, Prima Donna turret and others would be wildly amazing and super realistic. The turrets would be quite more dangerous than the game and I bet they would change their stay-here behaviour to one more scarier: making the turrets run over their legs to catch and kill their targets easier. That would be a terrifying challenge for Chell. What do you think?

• OMG PLEASE LIKE AND LET ME KNOW WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS I'M EXCITED HAHA * dies*

#portal 2 #portal #portal 2 chell #portal 2 turrets #portal valve #portal 2 fanart #portal art #portal au #portal 2 glados #glados #turrets #universal pictures #concept idea #live action #animated movies #movie idea

[trickerys-domain]

Y'all ready for my hilariously candid unpopular UMK ranking!

Obligatory preferace that I'm just an opinionated bitch. This selection is overall really strong and I'm very much excited for the live show. I think a lot of these songs will make or break during the live. I also think there is an odd disparity in the obvious budget and set quiality for the 7 music videos. Almost like they had a different line-up and some songs were last minute replacements.

I also did not factor in whether a song would do well in eurovision at all because frankly rn I do not care.

This ranking will also probably change so like who cares, I'm ready to enjoy a great liveshow full of people who give a shit about their art.

Ok, here we go!

7. Vox Populi - Mikael Gabriel

The general sound of this one is fun and easy. Good filler or backgroud music. Like if it came on in shuffle I probably wouldn't skip it. However, the lyrics are like really bad. Especially in context of the seeming general opinion of this man I am seeing. Also, this man is strategically pandering and a. Its not working, b. No on seems to have noticed. The use of Matti and that obviously käärijä influenced face in the music video smacked me on first watch. He is capitalizing and I'm very curious to see what he does with the live. Not excited, just curious.

6. Dancing with Demons - Cyan Kicks

I liked Hurricane better. There its been said. I do enjoy listening to this but I forget about it a lot. It also took me until basically now to kinda remember what it sounds like. Meanwhile I can still think of the Hurricane chorus 2 years later having not listened to it since UMK 2022. I do think Cyan Kicks has a really good fun sound, I just don't vibe with this song all that much.

Also, this bears no weight on my opinion of either song. But I need to call out the hypocrisy I've been seeing online. I've seen so many people comment that they don't like the amount of autotune Sexmane uses in Mania and then go on to say how much Dancing with Demons showcases Susanna's voice. Like...... there is so much autotune on Dancing with Demons. It will not sound like that live. And that's fine, its clearly an artistic choice that fits with their musical style, like Sexmane. But pls just sit with that for a bit before complaining about the, frankly much less, autotune in a rap song. Tangent rant over.

5. Kuori Moi - Sini Sabotage

This is where my ranking will probably swap a lot. This song is really catchy and I ingeneral like this type of music. I call it chill sex. This is also a very fun unserious song and video played straight, and I appreciate that. I am worried about something with vocals this chill live. They're good vocals, but very intentionally monotone and if the staging isn't engaging it might fall flat. This song is mostly at 5th place because I dont have anything bad to say about it, but it doesn't stand out quite as much as some of the others. I adored her interview tho.

4. Paskana - Sara Siipola

This is a great power ballad while still being upbeat. It doesn't drag. The vocals are great. The music video is great even while being very simple. The lyrics and message are really really good too. This song gets stuck in my head a lot and I think it is, on a technical level, the stongest song this year. I really hope the staging supports the song but with how raw and peeled back the vibe of the song is it will be difficult to make staging that is engaging without being distracting.

3. No Rules! - Windows95Man

Pure unashamed 90s nostalgia schlock. This is very much the type of trashy eurodance I enjoy, so home run for me. I think the staging will be very fun, but maybe too much. Or it will be organized chaos like Portion Boys last year. Speaking of, this is definitely this years silly fan fave that will be well received but probably not win, a la Portion Boys and Teflon Brothers. For being trashy eurodance, I do think it is construced very well. It flows and it actually written well, its bad on purpose and it is successful. Is it the most original or masterful, no. It is very enjoyable and fun and low pressure, yes.

2. MANIA - Sexmane

This one gets stuck in my head the most. Good beat, good flow. I really like the sound of the chorus, including the auto tune. The lyrics hold more than I think comes across initially and you can tell Sexmane really connects with this song the way his voice delivers even in the studio version. This is the song that I'm most excited to see live because I wanna know what kind of staging he pulls out. Side note: I think it's really funny that the brother called Sexmane is less sexual musically than the one just called Isaac.

1. Glow - Jesse Markin

This is just a really phenomenally written and positive song. It is really nice to have some good classic rap at a competition like UMK. The flow is impeccable with his rapping too. There's a lot of American artists who can't write that well in english. The message of this song is really uplifting without feeling hollow because it recognizes you gotta actually work at being in a good place. Jessie is someone who knows exactly who he is as an artist and person and that translates into the song. Also Alpaca!

I think the the songs that have the biggest chance of winning are Paskana, Dancing with Demons, and No Rules!

But truly I have no clue how this will go. This is a very evenly matched line-up both in quality and fan reception. The live perfomances will 100% decide the outcome.

#places 5-1 were all genuinely difficult to decide on #UMK delivers quality every time #umk 2024 #umk24 #I do really hope they keep UMK going no matter the fate of eurovision #i think competitions like this are so good and important just to showcase the talent in your own country #i mean theres a reason sanremo and festivali i këngës have been going for so long #long post #I have opinions apperently and I didn't realize how many until I wrote this #if anyone wants a full rant on my opinion of autotune as a plague in modern music in general let me know #i do not have an issue really with how its used in any of the UMK songs #its just an overall gripe I have with today music

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

https://x.com/louiestream/status/1728960764097261792?s=46&t=3v6fUO8HxEhcPbcR8Jxopg

this makes me so much more proud of louis than i already was (which is like. the proudest i have been ever of anyone) because yeah i do love his voice on mitam but he was clearly straining to reach this note on eotd and you can hear it. the whine/moan at the end is hot to me but if they had toured this album and he had tried to hit this note it would’ve hurt him. like, comparatively, the high notes in btm are very similar but sound worlds healthier and more supported.

i feel like that just goes to show how hard he’s worked to improve and utilize the unique aspects of his voice in a healthy way that’ll be better for his voice in the long term. and then if you compare that to H’s performances of toxic or hopelessly devoted to you - who has (imo) relied on his misplaced confidence in his abilities and lack of regard for the health of his voice instead of focusing on longevity. his vocal chords sounded like they were toast to me back in 2015 if he didn’t start caring and i think we’re hearing the ramifications of that now

I agree with you to some extent, and I’ll add a few thoughts, if you don’t mind. Here’s the audio.

The thing about laying down vocals for MITAM is that … I just don’t think they put that much finesse or care into the act of recording. They tried their best, they wrote the songs that they could, but they were writing while touring and recording in hotel rooms, recording in the middle of the night after a full concert, recording while mentally and physically exhausted, and at times drunk or hung over or high because they had zero down time.

Their voices also sound nearly destroyed. In the same song, End Of The Day, Harry sounds like he’s pushing high notes out of a throat that was fried to a crisp. The notes sound like they came from a tortured animal.

Louis’ voice in I Want To Write You A Song was literally two vocal cords beaten to a pulp, rubbing on a sanding belt. I bet it took him weeks to recover.

They wanted to finish the album so they could push out a release in November, a month for big sales. Harry wanted to start his solo career. The album was heavy on autotuning and Julian Bunetta’s overproduction. It sounds heavy and noisy. Drag Me Down’s lyrics, compared to Strong or Love You Goodbye, are perfunctory and cliched.

But the album still had some real gems because 1D is 1D; their voices sound good together.

To your second point— regarding deliberative work on vocal quality.

Louis had lost so much confidence in his voice between year 1 and year 5 of One Direction that he really had to work to dig himself out of a confidence hole. Vocal cords are muscles and singing is a sport, and much like golf or baseball, yips happen. You lose control of your voice and suddenly your falsetto is gone, your chest to head transition is crap, your intonation goes off the road.

Louis is still in the process of working it out, but here’s the thing.

Even while admitting that he’s scared out of his mind, that he’s shitting bricks, that he always second-guesses himself in the first 30 minutes of a concert, Louis is fearless.

Louis sings songs like Too Young and Bigger Than Me live, in an acoustic setting, at radio stations and on television, with no electronic amps covering up mistakes or second takes.

Louis never, ever lip syncs. It’s live, with live voices and live instruments, every time.

Louis shows us the process of rehearsals. He doesn’t have to do rehearsals, and he doesn’t have to take each concert seriously, but singing is a sport, and it requires a warm up, and he does it.

As I said, Louis is still in the process. He still has moments where intonation is off, but his voice is better than it was, it is more expressive and more theatrical. His recordings are better now. He is able to tour and do three consecutive nights of 100-minute shows without ruining his voice. 80 concerts this year, and more to come. If I know Louis, I know he will continue to strive for better.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Suga Ain't Sweet

This post is kinda 18+ so if you're underage please do me a favour and skip this one.

I don't do this ever, but I'm in a mood and I want to talk about Yoongi. He's my bias, if that isn't clear by now. I usually don't talk about him or any of my biases, because I know I sound deranged and definitely unstable when I talk about them. But I've been getting some asks, D-Day is around the corner and after those concept pics I'm here to give you a sample of what loco BPP sounds like. I ask for your forgiveness in advance, or you could, you know, deal.

Lol.

I'm streaming/listening to D-2, from the top of the album down, and I just listened to People play after Burn It, and almost came. That's why I'm here really. To tell you that man is so raw it's impossible to think he hasn't been getting some for years. Everything about Yoongi, from the kind of music he makes to the way his eyebrows move, screams to me he's a pro at playing hide-the-salami, Korean style.

Listening to Suga on D-2, he sounds the way salt and bitter tonic tastes. You get what I mean? He sounds like that gooey milky-white thing he's shoving into the song.

Suga ain't sweet.

And he makes sure you understand it.

He serves cock in every song. C.A.W.K. Nearly every song this man has ever made is filled with the most naked greed I've ever seen in a man. The most honest sort. It makes Yoongi seem more vulnerable than the rest of the members, to me. I mean, Namjoon and Hoseok are just as shameless but at least they moderate those impulses better than Yoongi, at least so far. Maybe in D-Day we'll see a more mellow Yoongi but somehow I doubt it lol. Jimin and Jung Kook sometimes give me the sense they have the potential to express their shadowed thoughts as well as the rapline do, but out of every member, Yoongi's approach is often my favourite.

To quote what I've seen another Suga bias observe:

"Have you noticed how the posters are having consistent glitch affects with D-Day having the most distorted version?"

I'd noticed the same thing, how that glitch in his album design has progressively worsened. In the past on this blog, I've talked about Yoongi's love for distortion: autotune, pitch and sample distortion, chaos and fragments are his favourite tools to play with because it's how he makes sense of the mess inside him. And even within that mess, I recognize that while self-loathing is one thing you'll occasionally see in his work, self-pity is a whole other thing he certainly has no time for. The result of Yoongi's process is cathartic release and progressive evolution towards a more whole and healthy version of himself. In his music, Yoongi breaks it all apart, fragments himself beyond recognition, kills his own alter-ego, to put it all back together again into something that feels more right, more honest, and more just.

Everything about his music feels very much to be all him, it's bitter and salty and nothing about it is sweet. Except the aftermath which to me feels like post-orgasmic bliss.

It's how I feel listening to the production on Burn It, which makes me almost grateful Yoongi has said he'll try out more acoustic / folk / classic rock sounds in his next project. Like yes please something easier to take in at once, cause D-2 is so heavy. It's so bitter and so salty. It's so him. So him it's difficult to take it all in at once. It's too big, too thick, too heavy… too much. But somehow it fits and it feels incredible.

I hope that Yoongi gives us sweet on D-Day, but if he doesn't please don't look for me, because I will be managing my sanity very carefully during that period.

Goodluck and godspeed to us all when D-Day drops.

(You're lying to yourself if you think you're ready for D-Day)

*

(I just... fuck, I'm such a goner)

#min yoongi #suga #agust d #D-Day #d day is coming #bts #gush post #also a disclaimer in case I go radio silent in the next few days

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Kotlc gang on a road trip

Fitz - he’s driving to everyone’s absolute terror, alternates between murderous road rage that nearly causes him to run a family of four off the side of the highway and yelling back at everyone whenever they make even the slightest bit of sound. Which is hard because they are constantly making sound. When they finally get to the motel he collapses into his bed for three hours and then immediately begins planning out how far away the next stop is.

Sophie - she’s in the middle at a window so she can stick her head out like a dog and definitely hits people with her hair by accident. Eats all of one specific snack everyone wants ten minutes later and nearly jumps out of a moving car at all the glares she gets. In charge of the aux and she alternates with Tam, but as they have basically the same music taste its always just emo/metal music that gets played w the occasional side of ear bleeding autotuned pop.

Biana - she and Marella and Linh are here to judge all the food even if its just plastic like pizza at a 2am gas station stop. They act like food criticis and make Fitz even more murderous. Changes her makeup - from foundation to eyeliner to lipstick - like five times despite being in a moving, shaking car. She’s directly behind the passengers seat and puts her feet up on the headrest constantly and it drives Dex crazy which is a feat in and of itself. She’s the only one who isn’t tired when they get to the motel and decides to ‘go exploring’.

Maruca - in one of the back seats, generally listens to music and ignores everyone but occasionally just yells something to start a fight and fades back whenever she gets bored. Has her own collection of snacks she’s only sharing if people ask nicely and so far only Marella has noticed this. Is sadly dragged by Biana to ‘go exploring’ when they get to the motel, but also cannot sleep anywhere unfamiliar so it wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

Tam - alternates control of the aux with Sophie and whenever he plays songs you can see the Black Parade flash through his memories. Gets pissed at everyone for being too loud and tries to sleep but hits his head on the window from all the bumping and invents five new death threats. He’s in the middle, squashed between Sophie and Biana, and has to alternate dealing with Biana’s makeup kit and Sophie’s snacking. By the time they get to the motel he just disappears and they find him sitting in a bathtub brooding to Teenagers.

Linh - like I said, she Marella and Biana are just here for the food. She comes out of this road trip with a new appreciation for digital art and an addiction to 7/11 road slushies. Probably asks everyone to play ‘I-spy’ all the time to everyone’s great despair. Awful at handling road trip boredom, but she forgot her headphones so her options are either draw or bother people so she happily does both. She somehow finds a pool near the motel and tells everyone someone has been murdered there once and no one is quite sure how she knows.

Marella - at the back between Linh and Maruca and is only here for food and chaos. Is the main person Fitz yells at when he nearly crashes the car for the 100th time. She nearly gets them beat up at a gas station when she cusses out some guy in a pickup truck. Is the only person who brought sufficient reading material and is also the only person who can read maps, which is a shame given she’s all the way in the back. They get stopped by the cops at some point and she tells them to fuck off. Its a miracle she hasn’t been arrested yet ngl.

Dex - he’s in the front seat as the only guy who knows how to work a gas pump, an ATM, change a tire, or anything about mechanics. He sadly doesn’t know how to read maps and yet goes ballistic whenever he thinks they’re even a bit off course. Is the only one who can match road-rage Fitz in sheer energy tbh. By the time they get to the motel he’s so drained he just passes out and then accidentally scams someone on his way to get breakfast.

Keefe - he hid in the trunk and was determined not to let anyone know but also has to stop for the bathroom every fifteen minutes. Is accidentally a backseat driver but in the worst way possible and is the cause of 90% of Fitz’s road rage. Biana tried putting eyeliner on him while he leaned over Linh and now it’s smeared all over his cheeks. Tam once threatened to tape him to the top of the car before they realized he would probably find that fun.

#kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #sophie foster #fitz vacker #biana vacker #keefe sencen #dex dizznee #maruca chebota #linh song #tam song #marella redek #road trips #kotlc headcanon

[justasmallbloginabigklainefandom]

Guess I'll also rank all the Glee Christmas songs

I blame you, @thnxforknowingme. Although, I will switch it up a bit. First off, I am sober, second off, I am completely fucking ignoring Previously Unaired Christmas' songs (except for one) cause that entire episode is dead to me, and third off, I do want to rank the album ones as well cause I always listen to the albums.

I am also vaguely ranking them on song choice, quality of the performance, and simply whether I like it. This is very unprofessional and biased. It might not make sense.

Let's start with the two separate songs, that fall outside of the ranking.

Hounourable mention: Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah - Glee, Actually

I also think it should kind of be its own thing, since it's not a Christmas song. It is catchy, though, and Puck and Jake sound great together. And it's nice of the show to acknowledge that there are characters who do not celebrate Christmas (looking at you, Rachel!) (I mean, Tina is also canonically Jewish, but she was never positioned as the big Christmas lover, like Rachel).

(Dis?)Honourable mention: Rocking Around the Christmas Tree - Previously Unaired Crisis

Aka, the only PUC song that I willingly listen. It's not the best song, but it is fun enough.

And now, the ranking:

35. River - Extraordinary Merry Christmas

Boring. The only song that is basically an instant skip for me. It isn't even on my Glee Christmas Spotify playlist. I don't know why. It just doesn't do it for me. Even when I first heard it at the episode's FLF, it just felt like a big pot of meh. Add this to a storyline of Rachel just... showing off... and it's not my thing. Like, I know I shouldn't care about the storylines for these episodes, since it's all about album sales at the end of the day, but it doesn't make it any better.

34. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - A Very Glee Christmas (album)

This song is just kind of weird? But it's also just fine. I do like hearing everyone sing on this one. And is this the only time Dianna appears on the album?

33. Merry Christmas, Darling - AVGC

Huh. It almost seems like I have a vendetta against Rachel Christmas ballads. It's just also a bit meh to me and to be honest, I can't take it seriously cause I keep playing the SIMGM Finchel break-up scene in my head while listening to me. ("You said you'd never stop being friends with me!!!!" "I never thought you could make me feel like this." "NOOOOOO-" "Hey, town down the autotune." "Oh. Sorry. Nooooo.")

32. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Glee, Actually (album)

Yeah. My vendetta continues. I actually didn't realise it until this moment. I like it. It's just fine. But that's it. It's just fine.

31. O Christmas Tree - AVGC (album)

Same here. It's just fine. Matt sounds great, but there isn't much to say.

30. Do You Hear What I Hear - EMC (album)

And same here. Look, we've reached the section of "fine, just fine" songs. I am ranking them mostly on how much I like the voices at this point, cause at the end of the day, all are just fine.

29. Blue Christmas - EMC

Also just fine. This does that the benefit of having a touchy storyline attached to it.

28. The First Noel - Glee, Actually

Same here. Fine. Melissa sounds fine.

27. Do They Know It's Christmas - EMC

I am a sucker of group numbers and it sounds great, but yeah, the song itself is kind of questionable. I agree with Jenna that it's very white saviourism. As if people in Africa don't know the concept of Christmas exists.

26. You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch - AVGC

k.d. lang sings this as a special guest and it's never acknowledged it the episode. I don't have much to say, but I just find it genuinely funny and it fits the whole Sue the Grinch vibe.

25. Last Christmas - AVGC

This song fits the storyline but for inside-joke reasons, I cannot take any version of this song seriously. But it sounds nice and Lea and Cory sound great.

24. Joy To The World - Glee, Actually (album)

Another song that's just nice to listen to. It's better than the "just fine" category, but this one (and the next two) are also just in the same category of "I like listening to it, it's good, that's all I gotta say".

23. Little Drummer Boy - AVGC (album)

I just like Kevin's voice.

22. Angels Have We Heard On High - AVGC (album)

And I like Amber's voice the most!

21. The Most Wonderful Day of the Year - AVGC

It's a nice opener. I think from all the openers, it's my least favourite, but it's just fun. I do prefer to listen to the episode version, mainly because I think Dianna sounds great in it. Like, I obviously also love Chris's voice, but Dianna's little additions are adorable.

20. My Favourite Things - EMC

Look, Glee made it a Christmas song, now. It's just very cute.

19. White Christmas - Glee, Actually

Yeah. Here is my big unpopular opinion. White Christmas just feels fine. The main reason it's not lower is because I am a Klainer 12. I think this duet just feels a bit unbalanced, as in, it's mostly Darren, so it's not really a duet. I do like the jazzy sound, but it's just nice.

18. Christmas Eve With You - EMC (album)

Yes, they wrote another original song that year. Honestly, this one is surprisingly good. Can't believe it made me care about Wemma for once, but Matt and Jayma sound really good together.

17. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Glee, Actually

It does work in the story! That's the main reason I like it. It wraps up everything nicely. But apart from that, it's also just nice to listen to. It's really soothing.

16. Welcome Christmas - AVGC

Same for this one. It sounds nice. The chorus is great. That's it. Also, this song isn't on the album!

15. We Need A Little Christmas - AVGC

This one just makes me very happy. I also just dance along like they did in the episode. It is funny to me.

14. O Holy Night - AVGC (album), Swan Song

The triumphant return of the Rachel solo. Questionable storyline aside, I actually think Lea sounds really good here. It feels like this was the emotion she was aiming for with the other ballads. (But also... Rachel, you're Jewish.)

13. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - Glee, Actually (album)

Ah. Cory's solo. After he died, this passed around with people freaking out about a "hidden Cory solo!", but no, it was just always on the album. He sounds really lovely here, together with the chorus in the back.

12. Santa Baby - EMC (album, cut from episode)

Naya sounds great and God, I wish they had kept it in, cause the performance is really well done as well.

11. Jingle Bells - AVGC (album)

Look, this is just a lot of fucking fun. I am a bitch for upbeat songs and this is just a bop. Like, the glee ladies had that dreadful ballad on this album, but the guys got to party.

10. Jingle Bell Rock - Glee, Actually

I just like this song in general and Chord sounds fun. The accompanying storyline was... weird, though, but it's season 4, everything was weird here.

9. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - EMC

Sure. Why not. I like how Cory and Mark sound together and I really like the instrumentals of this song as well.

8. Let It Snow - EMC

This is just a lot of fun. Darren and Chris sound great on it and there's the nice instrumental and it's just jolly! And of course, I am a Klainer 12.

7. Christmas Wrapping - EMC

I unironically adore this song. Like, it objectively isn't the best song, which is partially because Hemo was never the strongest singer in the cast, but for some reason this one is really doing it for me.

6. Feliz Navidad - Glee, Actually

I am a sucker for Kevin's voice. It's weird. I know. But I think you need to see it as an intentional goofy thing. I always want to dance along to this one.

5. Extraordinary Merry Christmas - EMC

I vaguely recall Darren saying he dislikes this song, but I disagree. It's fun, it's upbeat, but it also doesn't sound like some trashy pop Christmas song (in my opinion) and Lea and Darren sound great together.

Now it's getting difficult. These four are just amazing.

4. Silent Night - Glee, Actually (album)

This is my favourite song of this album. I just remember being moved when I first heard it and that feeling has always sticked. I am usually not the person who likes ballads. I like the upbeat stuff more, which might've become apparent in this list, but this one just got me in the feels for some reason.

3. Deck the Rooftop - AVGC (album)

A mash-up! It's just a really good mash-up and it sounds like everyone is having fun while singing it. I think this is my underappreciated gem.

2. All I Want For Christmas - EMC

This song was made for Amber. She sounds so fucking good in it. It's also a great opener (even though we know it was supposed to be the closing number).

Baby, It's Cold Outside - AVGC

Come on. I am a Klainer 12, after all. But I think even without the Klainer aspect, this is just a really good cover, which is probably why stores still play it. And honestly, it's ballsy to have two men sing this universally known love song in 2010. They sound so good together, too.

#lil glee things #lb 2023 #no one asked for this but here i am

[stitchkiss]

i’m honestly not feeling 1989 (taylor’s version). im on my fourth listen so far and i feel like i might like it better the more i listen to it and it becomes more familiar, but t.v. just doesn’t hit like the original. there’s WAY too much autotune, the songs are SO echoey (bad sensory for my ears) and i can ignore that sometimes but it’s so prominent, and it’s just so flat. like the music is hyping me up but taylor’s voice sounds like it rarely changes pitch. it’s like her enunciation is missing from half the songs. the reason why i love her music so much is because you can hear how into her songs she is since it reflects in her voice. it sounds like she isn’t excited for a good chuck of her songs and it takes away from the experience (ootw is the best example i can think of so far where this stick out). her voice isn’t as intense as i needed it to be. and it’s so quiet? i feel like she’s so far away and the music kinda overpowers her. i also feel like she isn’t using her voice to her full potential. like she’s holding herself back on certain lyrics that she didn’t before. she’s using too much voice control for pop music that it makes her sound cut off and meek instead of clear and confident (this stood out the most to me during i know places).

she has range but this re-recording doesn’t exemplify that. i’m not trying to be a hater and i do genuinely like this album but it just doesn’t hit like i expected it to

#if this was my favorite album i’d be more upset but it’s not even top 3 lmao #tayor swift #1989 taylor's version #stitchkiss

[nobrashfestivity]

I was a little flip with “half of” because I was speaking to the fact that CGI has AI elements to it. And I’m not going to become a blog of arguments and get into when people say “but GGI...” because of course, I understand there are many talented people working in that field doing great work.

I think what your friend said is interesting, and they probably don’t teach lighting the way they used to because technology hastens obsolescence. 

I think in movies the initial thing that, again, comes from the idea that when you cut costs the investors make more money (Or so the theory is). In movies you see over the years, for instance, more and more green screen to take the place of extras used to do who were very expensive to hire, so the CGI crowd was born. There’s nothing terrible about this particular example, they used to do with with camera tricks and stock footage, but I really started noting technology interfering with movies when they started to get into the cgi backgrounds. I think it really transformed fantasy movies and allowed people to have better looking sci-fi sets etc, but then it became an issue of using it everywhere BECAUSE YOU CAN. Sometimes i see movies and think “You really didn’t need to animate that sweat drop”.

I think this is the autotune syndrome. When no one remembers what a human voice really sounds like they don’t miss it. There’s huge pressure on engineers for recording now to live p to the autotune and quantizing standards they believe the public expects. So, this is my round about way of addressing your second point, which I believe may be true but happens in the following order:

1- Digital technology makes exposure and contrast issues easier to correct.

2- Put more money into the people that know how to use these programs because it’s far cheaper to correct things than have a whole crew waiting around while you fix something.

3- Now the money people don’t want the best lighting people cause it’s too expensive and it’s “Fix it in post”

4- Now, with less demand for this skill fewer people learn the skill

5- Now no one knows how to light a movie so that have to fix it in post

I don’t know if this is specifically true about lighting but it’s absolutely true about many other art production skills.

Now, i’m not a complete luddite, some of this is progress can be good, new tools can be amazing but I think the autotune analogy applies, because the music industry was ecstatic about these technologies as it meant  you no longer had to spring for expensive vocal coaches and ghost singers. Now, you could hire a model with mass appeal and not have the pesky problem of teaching them music skills.

Sorry for the ramble @sourdoughlil

#personal #Questions

[zot3-flopped]

oh my god , I had completely removed this… urgh! forum popjustice com/threads/louis-tomlinson.62253/post-4997532

Some highlights:

So just to recap - can't sing, can't dance, music is total hogwash, stage presence of expired milk, card-carrying 'real music' bore, could throw a stone in any TopMan branch and hit 20 better looking guys....anyone care to explain what the point of him is?

He is an entitled, rude, defensive and clearly somewhat dim little brat with no good music to back him up. The sooner his label gives up and he disappears the better.

But Louis has always hidden behind this idea of being "sassy" to be a complete trash human being and as much as it will amuse me when he inevitably only proves how bad of a singer he is, it's whiteness working yet again to keep this idiot famous and even richer.

He's literally the worst member out of 1D and I don't know why he's being sold as a solo artist when he can't sing for shit and looks like a squinty gecko.

He was totally obnoxious in that video where he smoked pot with Zayn. He was so full of himself I wanted to punch the screen. There really isn't enough autotune in the world to make him sound listenable.

Doesn't he have a history of being a bit ignorant? I also recall something about throwing chicken nuggets/food at fans. I mean, Bieber has been just as unpleasant, or worse, but Louis Tomlinson is a... shockingly new level of talentless with absolutely nothing to offer artistically, creatively, etc.

Stop comparing people to Louis it's offensive to even Camila. The worst singer I know sounds like nails on a chalkboard but Louis somehow manages to sound worse than that live and on record.

#louis tomlinson #louis tomlinson vocals

[yogoodfella]

ARC-V Month Day 16: Actually, he would say that

@arcvmonth

Alright, I know last post I told that the salt prompt was the next one I'd work on, but that proved to be more than I could chew. I need it to be accurate and thorough, so I'm delaying it for now, and I'll do easier, more lighthearted stuff.

I... At the risk of getting too off topic, I'm gonna mention the Monsters (mostly Melodious) a lot in these headcanons. After all, who else will? Still gonna have actual ARC-V characters here and there (Yuzu)

You know that I do Duel Spirits, so it makes sense that they have the Spirit World. The Melodious' home is a Conservatory, not a stage. They are performers who seek to soothe the souls of whoever listens (this is based off Cross Duel flavor text, RIP)

The Spirit World itself is kinda like a dreamworld crafted by the humans' desires in the real world. That's how we can get the new Melodious Fusions, the Synchro Superheavies, and all the new forms of Odd-Eyes, the performapals, and such.

Now, there's some implications that Aria and Sonata are related, as they gently hold hands to perform their techniques such as Tribute Summoning. Also Sonata is never seen without Aria. They're girlfriends. Based off of that, there are other ships of mine in this new world: Canon/Solo (graceful, but also tough with a short temper/ a cheerful, playful ball of positivity) and Mozarta/Cat Dancer

Elaboraring on the latter, Mozarta trained Cat Dancer to control her power and have her combined with the grace of a performer, as the Dancer's form wasn't refined at all. With that, Cat Dancer evolved into Panther Dancer and beat Mozarta at last, scarring her with vertical marks down her eyes, which she keeps as a reminder that she has to attain personal growth as well, and thus a rivalry, and love, was born. (She's the only maestra to have those marks in her body, and those are kept as Bloom Diva)

Oh yeah Cat Dancer's essentially Goku. Starts off as Blue Cat, the strongest of her kind, and trains more and more to protect the other Lunalights. There, she fused with Purple Butterfly to become Cat Dancer, which is SSJ1. Panther Dancer could be considered SSJ2 and Leo Dancer SSJ3.

Sorry if I bored you with that, let's get to the silly/cute stuff

The Melodious are open to new genres of music. Yuzu shows them, via Bloom Diva, some other musical trends that the Monsters have fun of. One time, Yuzu showed a famous song to Bloom Diva, who was endeared by it but also kinda confused. When she met the other Melodious, she found out that Serenade, Sonata and Solo were doing the Caramelldansen, much to many's shock.

Not all experiments were good. Yuzu had a Duel with a Duelie Club students who used autotune for her songs. It was so bad for the Melodious, it got turned into their favorite insult when they think something is really fake.

But some were great! They had an exchange program with a band of traveling performers of light and sound known as P.U.N.K.

Bloom Diva's pot is actually her feet. It's like her shins have turned into roots that could somewhat move beneath the pistil of the flower platform she's in. Nobody really knows why.

After some demonstrations by Yuzu and Mikiyo, Aria tried to emulate the more modern, idol style, as she thought that would boost her confidence and make her more open. It... Didn't quite work out, but the try was definitely appreciated.

Elegy got significantly better at performing once Yuzu's adventures were over. The Melodious felt they were affected more by her tragic, gloomier songs, and Elegy doesn't really elaborate why. Turns out, Yuzu's misadventures gave her a lot of new material and she's somewhat embarrassed of it.

Harmonia's still trying to get Melodious Pendulums to the Conservatory to this day. Sadly, her efforts seem to remain futile.

Superheavy Samurai Brave Masurawo is actually a statue built by the other big Superheavies in Gongenzaka's honor. Superheavy Samurai Prodigy Wakashi is a little flutist robot built by the little guys as "Masurawo's best friend".

The Lyriluscs, as you may know by my fics, are girlscouts. They were always that way as with these ideals, they've worked together and grown stronger together. Nightingale only takes the messages to heart...

While Promenade Thrush is strict about the respect of the rules. Heck, sometimes, when it's particularly bad, she turns into Sergeant Hartman for a bit.

The Windwitches can come in two forms: humanoids and constructs. Humanoids talk as a person would, but constructs only communicate with dings, bells and chimes. Winter Bell adds whistles.

I'm sure there's more I could put, but I'm a bit tired. And next part... Is gonna be a big one, let me tell you.

#yugioh arc v #arc v #melodious #arcvmonth2023 #arcvmonth #yuzu hiiragi #bloom diva the melodious choir #fanfic