#i limited myself to lyrics from the videos i already have downloaded | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kbsd · 3 years

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not sure if you’ve answered this before, but what’s your process look like when you make an amv? i’m just curious and in constant awe of ppl who can make videos like you do :)

hello all!!! i have answered this before and i have a vid help tag with other asks i’ve gotten about stuff like this! but i’ve gotten several more messages along these lines so i’m just going to answer a bunch of them together (under a cut since i love to ramble about editing lol). i do just wanna say i’m definitely not the authority on video editing and obv everyone has their own techniques!

edit: i just finished typing all this up and it’s SO long so sorry in advance LMAO god bless anyone who reads this entire thing

so i work in news tv and we have a very specific workflow for writing scripts, sourcing video, producing, and editing. i’ve just applied that to making amvs! for every video i make, i copy the song lyrics into a google doc and adjust them to match the song i’ve cut (i often will trim songs for time and/or content purposes). then i start planning! i’ll mark down what clip i want to use for each lyric next to that line, and any sound bites i want to use (with episode numbers!). i’ll color code between video and sound bites and lyrics, so my scripts end up looking something like this (for my honeybee amv):

doing the planning ahead of time makes everything much easier when it’s a video that spans the whole show or involves a lot of sourcing, like honeybee or sports analogies. that way when i get to the actual editing process, i already know what i’m going to do and have a game plan. for videos like happy ending or believe it or not, where i’m mainly just pulling from a few episodes, i can just plan it in my head as opposed to writing it all down, and produce as i edit. obviously i do make in-the-moment decisions while editing—sometimes a shot doesn’t work the way i thought it would, or i go where the video takes me—but planning ahead definitely helps. i know some people use spreadsheets as well, with columns for lyrics, video clips, and sound bites if applicable. once you find a system that works, it actually goes pretty quickly.

as for sourcing clips themselves/finding clips within episodes, i talked about that here and kind of here. the short version is that transcripts are a must, and the supernatural wiki is hugely helpful by cataloguing all the hugs, prayers, phone calls, etc. in the show. gifmakers that tag episode numbers on their posts are your friends. it gets easier the more video you make—that’s another huge reason i make the google docs for each video (even the ones i plan in my head, i end up going back and making a loose script with episode notes just for reference). if i can’t remember where something is but i know i used it in another video, i can easily reference past scripts!

i also cut all my videos in the same project in premiere pro, so i can flip between them easily. instead of checking a past script, i can just go to the video sequence itself and copy the clip i’m looking for! this was especially helpful when i match cut together the 5x18 and 4x22 wall slam shots for my bestie video, and then stole it from myself for honeybee hahaha. at any given time i have at least 8 sequences open:

because of the sheer volume of videos i make, it’s worth it for me to download the entire show—i have all 327 episodes in HD, plus deleted scenes. if you think you’re only going to make a few videos, i’d start with scene packs. you can usually just google “destiel [or whatever ship/character you’re looking for] scene packs” and there will be any number of ones you can download. if you need other specific scenes, you can always download/torrent individual episodes or screen record netflix (that’s what i did before i got HD download links). i’m happy to share my links if you DM, but be warned it’s a lot of disk space (about 500GB on my hard drive). someone also compiled every destiel scene, downloadable here.

having every episode already loaded in premiere for all my projects also makes it a lot easier to source clips. once i use a clip in a video, i’ll put a marker on the episode file, so that after a while i have most of the important scenes/lines marked to easily find them. to give you an idea, this is my episode file in premiere for 12x10 lily sunder has some regrets (markers at destiel scenes, the car fight, hot girl cas, etc.). markers are the green tabs along the bottom:

premiere also lets you color code and name markers, so ONE DAY i will go back and color code them all. the ones above are all the same color, but in a perfect world, i’d have a myraid—for destiel shots like hugs, touches, looks; for important pieces of dialogue; for action shots; etc. but for now this works ok for me, so that’s a project for another time!

between detailed scripts, one giant premiere project, markers, the wiki, and my own memory, i have so many points of reference that i can usually find any clip i need in about 2 minutes max. sound bites are often harder to start out, or tiny specific shots i haven’t used before, and that’s when i turn to tumblr gifsets or beloved mutuals to crowdsource. but if you’re as obsessive about marking/keeping neat scripts as i am, it gets easier and easier with every video you make. that’s part of why i’m able to cut videos together so quickly. (also i want to stress i do this for a living and have to produce/edit a new piece for my show every day so i’m used to it. and compared to constantly updating content/sources and news that changes every day, 327 highly documented episodes that never change are much easier to handle hahaha)

this is all great for me since i make so many videos and plan to continue doing so, but if you’re only making a few, this level of work isn’t worth it imo. really it’s all about developing a system that works for you. whatever you do with episodes/sourcing, though, i cannot recommend planning things out in a script ahead of time enough.

everything i just mentioned is producing, though. for the editing process, i usually do it in this order:

music first. any parts i want to cut, i make sure it all sounds smooth

then soundbites. i usually try to weave them into the lyrics—i have characters talk in breaks between lines or instrumental sections as much as possible. i’ll sometimes go so far as looped/extending an intsrumental part to make room for the soundbite i want there lol. if i do have dialogue over a line, i do the sound mixing/levels at this point as well to make sure everything is audible/one doesn’t overpower the other. (also i always include the video that goes with these bites when i drop them in, and decide later if i want to show the character speaking or have other clips cover the dialogue)

once i have all the audio locked in, then i bring in all my other video clips. sometimes i edit completely chronologically, sometimes jumping from section to section—it depends on the song or how i’m feeling

double check sound mixing. i usually listen to my videos through a few times, with headphones and without to make sure it’ll sound good no matter how people watch it

once i have picture and audio lock, i go through and color correct my clips. i’m basic and just use lumetri color in premiere, and usually just play with brightness, saturation, temperature, and tint until i like it

render and export! :)

i always have several audio tracks, but i try to keep my video tracks condensed. i’ll drop clips on a V2 level, and edit a section there, and drop the whole chunk down to V1 so i know it’s finished. that way when i leave and come back i can know where i left off/what’s done/etc. to give you an idea, this is the timeline for my what the hell video:

i always render as H.264 with high bitrate, and make sure to check “render at maximum depth” and “use maximum render quality” for the best quality. i’m sorry, but i don’t know what the equivalent options are in final cut, imovie, kdenlive, etc. i post on youtube mostly so i don’t have to sacrifice quality, but usually just using a lower bitrate will get you under the tumblr file size limit and it’ll still look good.

as for the anon who asked about “polishing”: first of all, thank you!! second of all, it’s in the details. all of this is a matter of taste and my own insanity, but here are some little things i always try to do:

after i color correct, i blur out any credits from the starts of episodes. i use gaussian blur for this, but really any blur tool works

as much as possible, i avoid clips where we see a character’s mouth move but don’t hear the words. in tv/film we call it “lip flap” and i just think it looks messy. also i’m trained to avoid it at all costs at work hahaha. it’s more for serious videos that this matters a lot to me (e.g. i think i did a really good job eliminating lip flap in my happy ending amv)—for comedy videos i don’t sweat it as much

i put audio fades on the start and end of every single audio clip i use, even if i don’t think i need it, to make sure everything sounds smooth

i use markers for timing, especially in action-y videos like what the hell. i’ll put a marker on the clip i’m using at the exact moment a punch lands, and in the song on the beat. if i have the magnet/snap in timeline tool on i can just easily snap them together instead of having to spend time finagling it

this is such a small thing but i dip/cut to black for a tiny bit at the start and end of every video. this way if i post with tumblr video player, there’s black between the loops, and it gives you a beat before the video restarts. i do this even on videos i post on youtube, just because i think it looks nicer/more professional

this is 1,500 words so i’m going to stop myself before i pull something. if you have follow-up questions feel free to ask and i’ll continue to add them to the vid help tag, but any more questions about sourcing clips or my process in general i’ll just link this post going forward. anyone who made it this far, i am sending to a telepathic kiss. thank you for reading and happy editing!

#i typed this all up at 4am so i'm just scheduling it to post sometime today #ask #vid help

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that-was-anticlimactic · 3 years

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interests tag

i was tagged by @capt-snoozles es and @sheimagineddragons :)

MUSIC

Fave genre?

theatre !!! i listen solely to theatre and cartoon music [i.e. mlp songs, steven uiverse sings, etc...]

Fave artist?

uhhh my favorite musical is aladdin and my 1.5 favorite is a chorus line and my second favorite is come from away if those count haha

Fave song?

always: high adventure from aladdin broadway | idk why, but this song always helps me calm and down and take a breath and ground myself no matter what i’m feeling.

at the moment: safer from the musical first date

Most listened song recently?

nothing left to lose from the tangled series but like... the danish version...

and i listen to chant from hadestown a lot too oops

Song currently stuck in your head?

heroes on fire from kipo and the age of wonderbeasts

5 fave lyrics?

"it’s addictive the minute you let yourself think / the things that i say just might matter to someone” - you matter to me, waitress

"only one dad / only inspiring one son / edward, you’re done / writing your perfect tale / telling the perfect tale / it was a perfect tale” - what’s next, big fish

"but wishes are dreams and dreams are pretend / so science and reason win out in the end / science says you’re dead and gone forever / reason says i’m talking to the air / but something in my heart / some secret hidden part / illogically insists that you are there / somewhere” - if i believed - twisted

"and though the people around me / their mouths are still moving / the words they are forming / cannot reach me anymore / and it is quiet / and i am warm / like i’ve sailed / into the eye of the storm” - quiet, matilda

"i’m the son of poseidon / i never asked to be / but i’m the son of poseidon / now face the tide / inside of me” - son of poseidon, the lightning thief

[bonus] “i love a lilting line of lyrical alliteration / who doesn’t love alliteration?” - i love the way, something rotten

BOOKS

Fave book genre?

uhhh i don’t think i have a specific genre, but anything that talks about the morality because i love that kind of analysis

Fave writer?

uhhh it changes, but i usually say chris colfer or edgar allen poe

Fave book?

the land of stories, chris colfer / an author’s odyssey, chris colfer

the lost hero, rick riordan [look it’s my favorite one...]

murder on the orient express, agatha christie

heart of redness, zakes mda

king lear, shakespeare

Fave book series?

the land of stories series by chris colfer :)

Comfort book?

angels at the table - debbie macomber

Perfect book to read on a rainy day?

how to speak dragonese, cressida cowell

Fave characters?

goldilocks / conner bailey, land of stories series

piper mclean, heroes of olympus

camicazi, how to train your dragon series

ron weasley, harry potter series [love ron, not the author tho]

matilda, matilda

5 quotes from your fave book that you know by heart?

"be brave, children. courage is the one thing no one can ever take away from you” - land of stories

"there’s no such thing as im-POSSIBLE, hiccup, only im-PROBABLE. the only thing that limits us are the limits of our imagination” - how to train your dragon

“i like it when somebody gets excited about something. it's nice” - catcher in the rye

“self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin as self-neglecting” - henry v

“do you think, because i am poor, obscure, plain, and little, i am soulless and heartless? you think wrong! — i have as much soul as you, — and full as much heart! and if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, i should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you” - jane eyre

“so matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. these books gave matilda a hopeful and comforting message: you are not alone.” - matilda

TV AND MOVIES

Fave tv/movie genre?

uhh pretty much any cartoon tbh

Fave movie?

the my little pony movie (2017)

the lego ninjago movie (2017)

finding neverland

coraline

Comfort movie?

the my little pony movie (2017) [once watched it six times in one day]

the friendship games

Movie you watch every year?

the my little pony movie (2017) [i watch it once a month over zoom with my internet friend shannon]

Fave tv show?

the hollow

avatar: the last airbender

kipo and the age of wonderbeasts

lego ninjago: masters of spinjitzu

my little pony: friendship is magic

miraculous: tales of ladybug and chat noir

psych

Comfort tv show?

the hollow [specifically s2 ep6, dead end]

Most rewatched tv show?

the hollow

my little pony: friendship is magic

miraculous: tales of ladybug and chat noir

5 fave characters?

sokka sokka sokka sokka sokka, atla

vanessa, the hollow

cole brookestone, ninjago

nino lahiffe, mlb

benson, kipo and the age of wonderbeasts

varrick or bumi ii, legend of korra

hehe this took awhile, but this was fun :)))

okay so uhh, imma tag [with no obligations so sorry if you were already tagged], my fellow thespians @bisexuallsokka and @bobisahandsomeskull as well as @leesbian42 and @fixationsbigandsmall

#corey rambles:)#tag game #twas fun hehe #i have a lot of feelings

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writeroftheprompts · 5 years

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Back to School Tips

A lot of you might be going back to school soon (like me) or have just started. Since I’m starting my fifth year of uni (it’s a six year program 🙃) I figured I would share some of my findings. These things have gotten me through four years of university so far while working part-time with a great GPA, decent sleep, and time for myself. School is damn hard and I’ve made plenty of mistakes and had plenty of break downs but it doesn't have to be as bad as it seems.

Plan. Your. Shit. Listen, listen, I know this is what everybody and your mother tells you to do but there’s a reason. The thing is you need to plan ahead as much as you can in the best way that works for you. The next four points are about planning and getting organized and it’s what works best for me so maybe it can help you or you can incorporate some of those points in your own technique. But whatever you do. Plan your shit.

Use a calendar. If you are in college/uni you probably have a syllabus from your classes that breaks down what your readings will be and at least roughly when assignments and tests will be. In September an essay that is due in mid October seems like a far away problem, and realistically it is, but that doesn't mean it can't help you plan. Go through the syllabi and mark down when each things will be due. I like using the calendar app on my phone/laptop and make a different “calendar” for each subject with a different colour so that I can see everything easily. This can help you see things better at a glance and help you plan other things that pop up in the future.

Break down your time. If you can break down your time into specific chunks of time it will help you focus on that task and also allow you to rest. For me, I plan what I’m going to work on during my commute to campus (I take transit) and depending on my schedule I’ll also plan out chunks between classes or specific chunks when I’m at home. The key is SPECIFIC chunks, not just “On Tuesday I'm going to do X”. These chunks keep you accountable to yourself so you don't keep procrastinating it later in the day, help get your mind set on the task, keep you organized, make the task seem more manageable by creating a limit, and also help you allow yourself to relax. If you tell yourself “I’m going to work on my paper between 11am-1pm” and you buckle down and do it for those hours, then you can rest easier and not feel as guilty during your down time that you aren't working on something else now. You planned what needed to be done, assigned the chunk, and now it’s time to relax. Breaks. And. Rest. Are. Necessary.

Build a routine. I like to plan out 1-2 weeks ahead of time. On Sunday I will plan out my studying for the next two weeks, as best as I can because there are always unknowns and things that pop up, and then the next Sunday I’ll plan out the following week. This means that things won't sneak up on me. It takes a little trial and error at the beginning of the semester but eventually I find a routine where, for example, I will do the weekly readings for one class on the Monday commute and another after lunch on my day off etc. Extra chunks are left over for assignments and things that aren't regular weekly tasks. Sometimes those chunks are left free (or for getting ahead if I want), sometimes on really busy periods I have to create more study chunks, but at least I have a routine to know what needs to be done when.

Be realistic. So how do you actually assign these chunks? Underestimate yourself. Seriously. You think you can create that whole presentation in two hours? Give yourself more time. Maybe it actually takes less time in which case, congratulation, but if not you may be putting yourself in unnecessary stress. I actually like to make my own due dates for assignments a day or two before it is actually due. For example, if I have a research report I will plan out chunks for outlining, a few for writing and researching, editing and then actually write in the plan, highlighted, FINISH REPORT on the chunk I intend to finish so I can make sure I’m on track. Then I’ll add an extra chunk just in case but I don't actually expect to need it. It’s a fail safe for when something goes wrong or there’s something unexpected. Again, breaking down your time like this will keep you organized and on task when you need to be, but also help you see that all work you have to do isn't as all-consuming as it seems. You’ll be okay.

Here is a post I made a while back about research tips.

Use the library. Duh, right? But this is more of a money saving tip. This might not be too helpful to everyone but since I’m in English and History a lot of my readings are from novels and books that are readily available at the library. Rather than buy all the books, I try to find them at my university library or even my local library. I still have to buy a lot, especially textbooks that I’ll actually be using all year or in the future, but for that $20 novel I’ll only need one week I get it from the library. Those little books really add up and I save a few hundred every year. You can even use OverDrive which will connect to you free ebooks and audiobooks you can access through your local library. Best part is it is completely legal and you can download them on your phone with the app so you can read whenever you have time and the book will automatically be returned when the loan is over.

Find the study environment that is right for you. This will be different for everyone. For me, I work best when I’m alone and with background sound. This is why working on a bus, in a noisy student centre or with instrumental music works well for me (music with lyrics is distracting). Some people need silence. Some people like study partners to bounce ideas or even just sitting at the table with them, but for me I know that sitting with friends will inevitably lead to chatting. Sometimes it’s nice just to talk over ideas but when I really need to focus I know being alone and with an instrumental playlist is the best way to go. Be honest with yourself and others about the environment you need to be successful.

Don’t be afraid to speak up when you need help. Your professors, teachers, and TAs are not evil (usually) and they usually do want to help. I won’t lie, going to office hours can be a little nerve-racking and it isn't always super helpful but when it is it has made a huge difference. These people have been learning, working, and teaching in this field way longer than you have and they can help make sense of your jumbled paper thesis or unravel a lecture you didn't really understand. Also, if you go to them with work done and they can genuinely see you are trying to take the course seriously, they can help you with due date extensions if you really need them. Be honest when you aren't understanding something because, trust me, the confusion and stress will just keep building. If the person you go to is worth anything as an educator they will help you and will understand that this stuff is hard and appreciate that you are trying your best. (Sometimes they’ll even give you the inside scoop on future assignments or test 😉)

Also, speak up to work managers or other people you are accountable to. It’s best to book off time ahead of time when you know you’ll be busy but it doesn't hurt to respectfully ask when you need help. Sometimes you’ll get a no, which sucks, but sometimes you’ll get a yes. Talk to friends or family too fi you have commitments that you know won't be good for you. Be respectful and honest about what is happening and they’ll understand. They may even be able to help out.

You can’t write a real paper in one day. Yeah, I’ve seen the memes and videos of people being like “Lol, teachers always say I can’t write an essay the night before. Challenge accepted!” You can’t do it. You just can’t. Maybe in high school but I don’t recommend it. Or maybe you are a superhero and can properly come up with an interesting thesis for a 12 page paper and organize all your points and find the minimum required seven outside peer-reviewed sources and write the damn paper, cite, and edit in one day but...I sure as hell can't. Just don't do this to yourself. See above planning tips and research tips to do this properly and with minimal stress.

Colour code. Having organized notes can go a long way. When I’m actually writing them in lecture it can hard to make them look as clear as I want but I try to at least make subheadings and bold if I can. When I have time I might go back and clean them up a bit. When I’m studying I colour code. Most profs and teachers will give you an idea of main course themes and topics maybe in the syllabus or in outlines at the beginning of lecture. Some even give Key Terms! Take note of those and keep them mind while studying so you can colour code pieces of information by topic or theme. This will help you later on when you are trying to find a piece of information and also make links between the information that will give you a deeper understanding of the material.

Learn to forgive yourself. Like I said in the intro, I’ve made mistakes. I’ve gotten grades I’ve been disappointed with or been late to something important or overworked myself or a bunch of other things. You are trying your best. School is HARD. If you are starting post secondary now it is very common to have your grades drop and it’s not because you are terrible at what you’re doing or not trying hard enough it’s because this shit is fucking hard. You’ll get there, you’ll get the feel for all this newness and you’ll realize that you’re doing okay. When you make a mistake, do what you can to correct it and learn from it, but then accept that what has already happened can't be changed and you can only forgive yourself and move forward.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. I can probably physically eat five full bags of salt and vinegar chips in one day but it will probably burn a hole through my stomach. I can work myself to the bone and pull all-nighters and keep studying through the tears but I shouldn’t. You might think you can work yourself to the brink repeatedly but you can't. You will burn out. If you wouldn't do something physically unhealthy like downing an obscene amount of salt and vinegar chips just because you can, you shouldn't do something that is going to break you down emotionally and mentally. Ask for help and do the best you can while still maintaining some healthy boundaries.

#school tips #going back to uni #I wish us all luck

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neopuff · 4 years

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hello, i hope you're having a good day!! i was wondering, do you have any tips for making amvs? like, what programmes you use, how you handle the timing, etc. thank you for all the fun edits you make!!

hi!! sorry for the delay in answering this, i just wanted to take the time to answer it thoroughly and i kept forgetting lol & thank you! i already typed this once and tumblr made it disappear so i apologize if anything i say comes out short ‘cause i’m just trying to remember all that i typed before lol

ok so ill just go through my general editing process in Vegas, i dont know any other program well enough to talk about it at length:

(disclaimer: this is just how i do it, i dont watch tutorials and my editing friends and i don’t watch each other edit often so i would assume that my way is very different from other ways you’ve probably seen! i might even do something in a very stupidly hard way, please feel free to tell me if theres an easier way to do anything lol)

1. Song: So skipping past the “choosing song and ship/character/show” theme, I’ll dive straight into CUTTING THE SONG! I’m not about that Editing The Entire Song life, and neither is most of the editing community anymore, so I cut it up into a shorter thing that I’m better equipped to edit to. I’m just using a random example but here I’ve taken this long ass song and turned it into this:

(the next step just kind of depends on my mood, or ill do both, doesnt matter)

2-A. Subclips: if im making a shorter video or a video where i’m not 100% super familiar with the footage, i will immediately start making subclips using the episodes ive already pulled into the project. if it’s a ship/character that i’ve edited before, i’ll just go to Import->Media from Project and import the subclips i made previously. either way, subclips are there!

2-B. Sheets: for ships that i know very well/have a lot of footage/im concerned about potentially repeating something, i will go to Google Sheets/Excel and take the lyrics im editing to and put them in column A, separating by pauses in the singing. then i put corresponding footage i think will go well in column B! im often not super specific because i know the beats are gonna be different than i remember, so i usually stick to referencing whole scenes instead of specifics moments. here’s an example:

3. Clip placement: Then I start placing clips down! Below is how I organize my timeline tho I know a lot of editors who put the music on top, this is just how I like it. I also keep a single muted audio layer in between for the video footage’s audio and then I’ll delete that layer when I’m done (or sometimes I don’t, it doesn’t really matter)

I think it’s good to hit the beats as much as possible, it makes for a more dynamic audio-visual experience! In general I try to make my videos so that, if I didn’t add any zooms or typography or coloring, it would still be a good amv. And don’t limit yourself to just one layer, you can have as many layers as you’d like and put clips on top of each other (cookie cutter/changing the layer to dodge or add or screen or whatever) is a good way to mix things up

when I zoom in you can see I’ve got some variety already in my transitions, I know I use that motion-blur-zoom a lot these days but I still try to mix it up and keep my brain invested

4. Typography: After all the clips have been placed (or most of the clips, ofc sometimes I’ll want to add more later) I move on to typography! I’m lazy so the first thing I’ll do it just put down unedited text where I think I’ll want it to go. It just helps me organize myself. Then I’ll pretty up the text afterwards.

Typography isn’t necessary for a good AMV, but really nice typography can really spruce things up. I’ve only very recently gotten confident in my text editing skills, and I just kept watching typography done by editors I really like until I figured out what they were doing. My recommendation is to just KEEP ADDING EFFECTS! Convolution kernel, gaussian blur, mask the text so it appears from angles that the transitions wouldn’t be able to do - of course there’s gotta be a limit for taste, but just add stuff until you like how it looks. Also changing the blending style of the text layer is good, dodge and difference are my go-tos for typography layers.

5. Transitions: I don’t go crazy with transitions, but it’s fun to mess around with them. You don’t want too many crazy/different transitions, you want them to match the mood of the song and the type of beat you’re hitting. I usually ensure that all similar beats in the song have the same transition type on them, bbbbbbut that’s cuz I’m overly obsessed with parallel structure. There’s plenty of fantastic AMVs where they just go ham and do whatever types of transitions they want to in each part of the song and they make it work just fine

(next step, once again, kind of depends on my mood lol)

6-A. Zooms: Time for zooms! I usually just use the pan/crop for zooming, but often I’ll incorporate Sapphire FX BlurMoCurves or NewBlue AutoPan, especially if I’m trying to zoom typography with the footage at the same rate. I try to keep my zooms short and slower, I mean obv it just depends on the song but yeah. There’s a lot of different ways to do zooms so I recommend experimenting and just playing around with different effects

6-B. Zooms...but different: Another way that I’ll do zooms which is definitely pretty different (but this is what I do for crossovers like 95% of the time because I am laaaaaaaaaaazy) is I’ll drag the project into a new project timeline and start editing it there. It’s similar to how After Effects works and it makes it easier to put effects overtop of multiple layers without having to pre-render anything.

So you can see I’ve just pulled in the .VEG file and popped it in the timeline! So this way I can add zooms and transitions without worrying about layers. And if I see a mistake I need to fix, I can just go back into the original .VEG file and edit it, and it’ll be edited when I come back here. So it’s much easier than pre-rendering or trying to do zooms on a lot of layers. To be clear tho, this doesn’t work well if you have a lot of fade transitions, it’s best for sharp transitions and it’s great when you’re using Sapphire FX BlurMoCurves a lot.

7. Overlays: After that I’ll add more typography (or if you didn’t add any earlier, you can add some here overtop of the new project file) that kind of goes on top of everything. And then I’ll add any overlays or objects or whatever else I wanna add! I’m not someone who uses a lot of backgrounds cuz I don’t have a background-creative-brain so I stick to simple overlays at the most.

8. Coloring!!! This is very sad but I only JUST learned a few weeks ago that you can add coloring/effects to your entire video with this button here, so in case anyone else hates watching tutorials as much as I do here’s where I’m talking about:

This shit would’ve made my life so much easier throughout the years lol But alas. Anyway so for coloring there are some effects that are popular for any colorings you’ll find on YT (but you can certainly just download some, Riverdale editors in particular share a lot of really great colorings but you’ll find them anywhere in the live action editing community):

Channel Blend, Color Curves, Color Blend, Color Balance, Convolution Kernel (best for live action footage or footage that isnt very crisp), Color Corrector Secondary

These are all just fun to mess with. Channel Blend in particular is something of a mystery for me, I haven’t studied it fully to understand what I’m doing so I mostly just mess with it randomly until I like what I see lol

9. Render time! First render, anyway. Usually there’ll be some random problem in the footage or something and I’ll have to either go back into the project and fix it OR if I’m feeling particularly sour (or maybe if I’ve rendered like 3-4 times already) I will just take the finished render and manually remove any errors, stretching out the good footage to cover my tracks. You’d be surprised how often I end up doing that lol

And then it’s good to post! I primarily render as .WMV but I also go for .MP4s every once in a while. If I want to upload it to Twitter I’ll do an .MP4 but it’s a new thing for me so I’m still stuck on .WMV mostly.

Anyway I hope this answered your question at least a little bit, I can go into more detail about certain parts of this if you’d like!

#anon asks #carro answers #sony vegas #magix vegas #editing #long post

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jandhstudies · 5 years

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Tips to learn the Korean Alphabet (Hangul)

Hello everyone! 🐰👋 I got a few requests from people asking for advice on how to study and learn Hangul (한글). This is based on my experience and what helped me, so I hope this can somehow help you guys 😊❤️

What I do first is write organise all the consonants and vowels in two separate sections such as this. So if I find myself a bit lost or confused, I refer back to this chart.

Now writing it important and romanisation is possible. But I do not recommend it as the writing cannot transfer well into how the sound should be.

The way I learnt how to pronounce these syllables correctly and help me memorise the alphabet, I watched a YouTube video. I recommend visiting her channel if you haven't yet!

Miss Mina Oh has a YouTube channel known as "sweetandtastytv". As of now, she currently posts many videos of her travels and food reviews, but I recommend to also check out her older videos.

I learnt Hangul through her video lessons :)

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In her descriptions, she also shares practice worksheets of her lessons to help you apply your learning. I recommend to download and print these worksheets, if possible or write them down in your notebooks.

Also, do not have any music or any other video playing while watching this.

I often slowed down my progress in learning because I had so many distractions or I'd pause the video often to write down notes. This would lead me to lose concentration and not fully immerse myself into the lesson.

I honestly would recommend to do the following.

1) Drilling technique 🗣️

Watch the video once.

Pay attention and repeat out loud when she writes or says the syllable.

Do not take any notes yet.

Just listen and repeat.

2) Practice listening👂

Play the video a second time but with lower volume so it doesn't distract you when you are writing down notes.

Think of it as background noise, unconsciously you could possibly already pick up some syllables as she speaks or when you're writing them down in your books. This could stimulate your memory as you will probably already recognise sounds from listening it the first time.

Honestly I still struggle with pronunciation but practice makes perfect. Keep going and you will master it ❤️👍

3) Production 📝

Copy/download/print a worksheet.

You can remember the consonants easier by repeating them with a single Vowel. I recommend the Vowel "ㅏ", as its the easiest to learn with.

Here is a quick video of me showing how I organised mine.

(Apologies for the not so good quality and filming, I'm very camera shy😭 I will probably do a better video on this topic and post it on YouTube for you guys.)

You can do this to learn consonants, double consonants and vowels :)

4) Have fun! 🎶

If you want to get more creative, you can try to sing the Hangul characters!

A very quick way I learnt at least half of the basic Hangul consonants with Vowel "ㅏ" is through J-Hope's rap in "Boy in Luv". If you're a BTS fan, this could make it a bit more fun for you to learn.

Song by BTS and lyric video by Hamtaro Gasa. I wish to share the video with audio but unfortunately I can only have one video per post. Apologies!

Another fun way is to sing Hangul with the melody of the alphabet~🎶🎤

5) Test yourself 📑

I know this is pretty common knowledge but it really does help!

I suggest to do worksheets often. Maybe learn half of the consonants first. Then when you are comfortable, learn the other. Practice the vowels, combine them once you're happy.

What I did was write down all the syllables on a whiteboard, hung it up on the wall and checked it every now and then. This made it easier and quicker for me to learn it as I had the information near me instead of using a lot of my time searching online.

Every few hours I would test myself reading the syllables out loud. Its okay if it's hard to recognise it at first, take your time~

6) Read, Write, Check 📝👀

I think this method is a common activity to people. My teachers did this to learn new vocabulary in English when I was really young. I tried applying it to learning Korean, and have positive results! 😊

First, read the syllable you are learning. Try a syllable with one consonant and a Vowel.

Pick one or a few from the diagram. Then place a sheet of paper over the character and make sure its not visible to you.

Write down the syllable from how you remember it.

Finally, check your answer by comparing it to the diagram. Do this often and it will really help you memorise~

If you remember any other activities you were taught when younger, try to see if you can apply them to learning Hangul or Korean! 🤗

7) Further Study 📚

Once you're comfortable and want to improve your speed in reading either the characters or words, I recommend these methods...

You don't necessarily have to understand what you are reading at the first time, so don't feel pressured. This is more to help you recognise hangul~

Maybe you enjoy kdramas! 🎬 Why not download and print the script of your favourite kdrama? Although this is more towards intermediate and advanced learners, I think it's useful for beginners so they can enjoy reading ❤️

Or maybe you like listening to Korean music! 🎵🎧❤️

Here's a website that has most Korean songs in Hangul format. This will help you recognise the sounds your favorite idol sings the next time you listen to their songs~ 👂

Follow some accounts on social media~📱

Most social media apps have a character limit, so the messages are usually small and simple to read 📖

8) Apps!

Here are a list of apps I recommend. Some are more practical for learning Hangul while others will help you learn Korean in a fun way!

9) Take breaks

Please remember to stay hydrated, eat and don't worry about the time it's taking you to learn it. Just focus on the material and please don't compare your progress with others as this would cause you to lose confidence and motivation. 💪

Love and take care of yourself. Let your mind rest to process everything you've studied and continue when you can~🤗❤️

I recommend the pomodoro technique! You can search this technique and maybe you will feel more comfortable applying it to your study plan. 😊

This is the end of the post hahaha

Sorry its taken so long to post this. Tumblr kept crashing for me whenever I tried posting, so this is the 4th time trying to post it. 😂

Also, this is based on my experience and what helped me learn Hangul and progress on my Korean. I hope some of these methods help you. Feel free to adapt them into any way that helps you. We all learn differently and at different pace, so please remember to not be harsh on yourself.

If you have any other questions, suggestions or your own experience learning Hangul that you think will be useful for others, feel free to reply to this message! Let's help each other in our language journey~

Take care everyone, good luck and see you again soon!

-Hayleen 🐰❤️

#korean langblr #korean language #korean study #korean #korean study blr #korean study blog #korean studyblr #korean worksheet #korean practice #korean studies #hangul #Langblr

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bloodraven55 · 5 years

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Video Editing Info, Tips & Tricks

So I’ve had a couple of people ask about my video editing and I figured it couldn’t hurt to do a post just giving some basic info and advice to anyone looking to get into it. Now I’m by no means an expert yet and there are many far more talented editors than me, but I like to think I’ve reached a point where I might be at least vaguely helpful so here we are 😄

First I want to talk a bit about software, because that’s probably the most boring part so best to get it out of the way first. There are lots of great pieces of software out there for editing, of all various types and prices and levels of functionality, and the most important thing is to find one that works for you. A lot have free trials even if they’re paid, so I’d recommend making good use of those until you settle on one you feel comfortable using and does what you need it to.

Personally I use a mixture of several programs to make my edits. My primary editor is Final Cut Pro X, which I use for the vast majority of my editing. But I also sometimes use Motion (also from Apple) to work with 3D environments and Pixelmator to edit images which I then use in my videos. I would suggest probably getting used to a main 2D editor first before you consider tackling something like Motion, however, and even I am still getting to grips with that, so I’ll leave those two to the side for now.

I also used iMovie in the past as a starting place for my early videos, and while it’s limited and wasn’t sufficient for me, something like that might be everything you need, so I would definitely advise checking out the free or at least cheaper options before jumping to something more expensive and finding you only use a quarter of the features. Beyond this I can’t speak about specific other pieces of software that I haven’t used myself, so all my advice from here on out will be general and can apply to anything you’re using.

Anyway, first things first, let’s start with what you need to make an edit. Before anything else, you need an idea. The song you choose should combine with whatever show, character, pairing, etc. you’re using footage of to have some sort of effect— to tell a story, to send a message, to highlight some perspective or parallel that hasn’t been approached in the source material, or just because the lyrics fit well with whatever’s happening in the show. But what it shouldn’t be is a bunch of unrelated clips stuck over a random song with no cohesion.

Next you need to get an audio file of the song and video files of whatever show(s) or episodes you want to use. If you already own the song you can just copy the file you already have and use that, or else buy it or just download it off of YouTube. Similar thing applies for the video clips— if you have the episodes, you can just copy the files or rip them onto your computer if they’re on DVD or Blu-Ray, or otherwise you can buy them or download them.

Once you have your basic audio and video to work from, you’re ready to start actually editing. The first thing you want to think about is the length of the clips you use. They need to match the pace of the song, or else the video will look very weird. If the song is fast, use a greater number of shorter clips, and if the song is slow, use a smaller number of longer clips. And if the speed of the song changes during the track, then apply those two points to vary the length of your clips as the speed of the music varies too.

Next is timing, which ties into the last point but is a little different. You need to time your editing with the rhythm of the music. This means doing things on the beat rather than off the beat. For example, you use an effect, or add an overlay, or transition between clips, on the beats of the song. If there’s a steady tempo to the instrumentation then you could use it as a marker for when to transition between clips, or if there’s a cymbal crash etc. you could put a quick, sharp effect like a flash or a pulse of the screen and so on.

Finally is the effects themselves, e.g. overlays, text, etc. You want to match the effects to the tone of the song so that the video feels like it fits with the music. So if the song is fast and electronic for instance then you might want to choose glitch effects and electronic style fonts, but if the song is a slow piano ballad then you might want to choose slow motion or black and white/other colour effects and handwritten style fonts.

Anyway, that’s about all I can think of to start with off the top of my head. Obviously these are just some beginning tips so if anyone wants me to talk more about any specific aspect of video editing or ask any particular questions then feel free to send me an ask or DM and I will try my best to help 😊

#video editing #raven rambles about random details

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fortheloveofcringe · 5 years

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Dear Taylor Swift,

I wasn’t one of the fans who started during your first album, but I’m a Swiftie 4 lyf. You taught me lots of things and if you have time, kindly read this. I’m Hambert, I live in the Philippines and because of you, I honed my very own way of painting pictures through words because of your dedication to create an experience through literature and music. Back then, I was just a gay kid who loved K-pop music and wanted to just be in my own comfortable space, but I had so much to say, and was afraid of being ridiculed for it. I listened to your songs from your self-titled album and Fearless but I wasn’t a big fan, yet. But I appreciated the fact that no matter what you crafted, you always made sure that you focused on little things that made us excited and happy to be alive, plus the vivid scenes that you painted in my mind as a listener, it made me feel that no matter how limited my experience was in my subjective reality as a poor single mom’s child, you made me understand that words written from the heart will have more power than the words written in fear and hate.

I started becoming in love with your sweet careful storytelling during the Speak Now Era. I remember the cold day when someone shared online the prologue from the insert and that day changed the way I think about messages and the process of communication.

I started becoming serious with writing after reading these words from you, “There is a time for silence. There is a time waiting your turn. But if you know how you feel, and you clearly know what you need to say, you’ll know it. I don’t think you should wait, I think you should speak now.”

However, I am not proud to admit this but due to poverty, the only way for me to listen to your music back then was to download every track on YouTube that was uploaded on a random channel, obtained through a video downloader, played through a knock-off $3 iPod sold on the streets of our city and somehow, it was a sick pleasure.

That time was the first time you came to our country too, and I remember being spiteful of my truth, for being poor, that I was not able to attend such things and support you the way I wanted to support you in terms of artistic value. I felt ill knowing that this was how I was consuming your hardwork. So at an early age, I made sure I was able to find little jobs here and there to ensure stability, not just to support your craft but this circumstance also catapulted my belief in smart work and ensuring that my dreams wont be stuck in my head.

I was able to earn and make a living because of the drive I had, wherein that drive, that fire was sparked by your multi-colored lyric matchsticks, that lead to a rainbow blaze of desire to love my life despite being depressed at the same time for several circumstances, I can’t believe that was possible, to be able to still stand with bleeding feet.

When Red came out, I was already able to purchase your music and help my family, and you will never know how proud I was to be able to hold your Cd’s. It just felt so liberating to hold cold cash in my hands, too, for the first time in my life I felt so powerful. But it compromised my studies, I never liked being in school anyway, and I never was happy because the weird thing about life is that nothing will save you from yourself no matter how strong you think you are, and all I had was music to make me feel less alone and weak. Music stayed when people left me. When my father had 7 gunshots on his neck, my older brother, dark and frozen in his bed after cardiac arrest and my dear grandma who died in front of me because of complications caused by age.

The pain was so quick, but forgetting was so long. I have many red memories from different timelines, it made me guarded and when you released RED, I could have not been more thankful to you for being the boat that carried me through the oceans of pain and led me to a shore of peace, and acceptance.

I resigned from jobs that time, however. I’m not going to lie to you and say everything was fine by listening to you, but you helped to ease the pain I was going through. This was, as I call it my “Red light” moment, like in the traffic lights, I had to be still and re-assess.

Then Typhoon Yolanda (or Haiyan) was the worst thing that happened next in my reality. It took away a lot love and life from people around me, I remember my walk around the city after the deluge and I saw zombie-like people with no direction, I was heartbroken to see that, and it took your music away from me. I remember a rotten ache inside of me, a scream of useless anger when your cover inserts were covered in mud and the CD’s were flaking iridescent cracks. It’s crazy that no matter how much you value and protect things, there will always be occurrences when they will be taken away, just like that. My family was lucky that none of us got hurt, though, the scenes in my head from that storm, made me bitter. To see how these can just happen. My heart was turning to stone at every turn. I worked in different islands to recover. I had jobs where I was helping people out but nothing inside was healing.

You released 1989 and somehow, it started a culture of meditation in me. I made a deal with myself that if I recover what I lost, I would treat it with, let say, a sacred treatment. My way of listening to your music has changed. I never had actual fellow Swifties around me, so when you release an album and it gets delivered to me, I have a party for one. This party doesn’t start until I clean the WHOLE HOUSE, I read the lyrics and the notes you share, and then I take a long bath to make sure I’m ready to consume the gourmet of sonic cohesiveness. What I’m saying is that these practices, induced by your art, has made me reconnect with my peaceful, artistic self, the one who I almost lost because of everything that has happened and also because of the changes. To tell you frankly I just love a clean house, now! kinda helps you with thinking when the insides are a mess.

When I saved enough and when my aunts and mother were able to support me, I went back to school. When you started the Reputation Era, I was already in my 2nd year in college and I became an Editor-In-Chief in the student publication office. I worked hard day and night, I won a gold medal at the Tertiary Schools Press Conference for it and I was so proud of myself. I became somebody for a hot minute, but you were right, people do throw rocks at things that shine and it made my life hard. I had the power to publish anything over anyone at school, even the corruption and the malpractices and it became a threat to the people above me. People started fighting me, accusing me of things, putting me in situations that I felt so trapped I couldn’t do anything but just stay at home. What I built from hard work, crumbled down because of crab-mentality. They dismantled my reputation. I had no explanation to anyone. I felt weak even If I knew I can fight, I know it’ll just make things worse. I had a full scholarship at that time, friends and student staff who adored me, but for my sake, I dropped everything.

I stopped studying. You release Reputation. You made an album of what exactly what I was facing. The lonely anger and the brimming flame of revenge raged, but that album came as an expression of healing for me. I didn’t feel so alone with what I was going through because of that. Reputation was the rain I needed to soften up and turn flames to smoke and disappear in the dew of a new day.

I met a lover too, for the first time in my life, and after six months he broke my heart. I made hundreds of poems out of it, because you taught me that no matter what you go through, prose, poetry and music will always be my friend. I am no longer a captive of my own darkness, now I just see iridescent skies. NOW, I just know, that the love and the kindness I give to myself will help me live longer. I don’t know what experiences will occur for me during the Lover Era but I can guarantee you I am brimming with hope and happiness now that it has begun, and oh, I’m back in college ma’am!

I met a Lover from myself and thank you for sharing such a wonderful, dawn of an album to us. Thank you for Lover.

I am not hoping for this to reach your attention, but I have faith with the way our universe works, especially when it comes to love. Thank you Taylor.

A Lover,

-Hambert

#Lover #Taylor Nation #taylurking #taylor swift #taylorswift #taylornoticeme

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basement-office-log · 6 years

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Some Thoughts about BTS...

So... this is basically, the story of how I got in and out of the BTS fandom. (Okay not exactly out because I’m still casually following them nowadays)

How I discovered them is ironically, like many of you, through youtube. It was just before the Run era I guess??? (around the end of 2015). Like somewhen between the Dope and Run era that I got in the fandom.

I guess I can consider myself as one of those depressed fans (lol), I actually remembered there was a option in the BTS fan survey around their BS&T era(???) that said “are you the kind of person that is easily depressed” and I ticked yes.

Almost instantaneously, I fell for the song “Butterfly” it was just the prologue that released back then. The MV was beautifully made, with a sad happy yet depressed undertone, perfectly described how I’m feeling back then.

I first noticed I’m depressed back then in 2015 (let’s be honest, college makes everyone depressed), more like “ahh so this is what being depressed is”.

And what now... I’m writing this after a tiring long day at work so things may jump back and forth...

Both their HYYH albums, I had gone through countless late nights listening the tracks on repeat, those are still my favourite albums up till today. Beapsae, instead of partying, that was the song that kept me awake till 5 a.m. ahh those memories... Same with Dope, I did not read the english lyrics until the hundredth repeat lmao. I was actually expecting the song to be about how cool I am, come to oppa and I’ll make you the princess kind of lyrics but ehh boi you surprised me with those raps hmmm.......

And... Jungkook, I did not like him when I first got into the fandom, to be honest. Because he’s younger than me and also he’s the center, main vocal of the group, despite the youngest. I remembered I was like, wow cocky brat isn’t it. Hehhhhhh but I grew to like him over time anyway, he’s cute, talented, good looking and all but still, it would be hella a headache if I were to have a younger brother like him.

It took me a year to like Jungkook because... The more I look at stuff, he’s just a regular boy, growing up, working hard, trying not to disappoint his parents and people around him. In a sense, aren’t we all just like that? There really is no reason to hate.

Another member is Jimin. He’s another member that I don’t quite like when I just got in the fandom. We all know that he acted a bit flirtatious during his debut days, up to the Danger era, honestly, his eye make-up makes me feeling uncomfortable to look at him. That’s the first thing. The appearance and the way he acts, in no way I’m trying to say he’s ugly, because if I were to compare myself to him, umm I probably looked like a bum lol.

It took me a lot longer to like Jimin, it’s until the Spring Day era that I thought, alright Jimin is charismatic and cute, admit it. Hah yea... Now, this is when the second stage of not liking Jimin comes. I started to fear him. It’s weird I know, why would I scared of “the mochi of BTS” Let me tell you why.

It’s scary to see how hard a person can work, that his goal is probably more important than his life. It makes me think that I am not and will not be a person like this, living is more important than what I am achieving. I wouldn’t want to risk my life doing things, however important that thing might be. Well people said, you will never achieve your goal like this if you don’t put your life on it. But I don’t care about that, but at the same time I’m feeling guilty about that.

It might be a Korean thing, we all know Koreans worked insanely hard because of society standards. Or it also could be a Jimin thing, Nevertheless, this man have my respect. The respect that I keeps me away from accepting him.

I’m kind of in the neutral range with Suga, J-hope and Jin like they are cool, fantastic, great people.

-----

This is almost 24 hours later, since the last paragraph. Again, a long and tiring day, after work, prolly a few minutes away from losing consciousness (a.k.a. falling asleep lol)

This shit is going to be very VERY long, nah it doesn’t matter because no one is going to read this anyway, even if I tagged BTS below, I’m writing this for myself.

I’ll just briefly talk about RM and V before going into my main topic today, (all because I cut myself off yesterday to hit the hay ekkk).

Rapmon bro, the reason why I decided to look into this group is because of his mixtape. I have 2 of his tracks in my old phone back then, everything was gone when my phone literally died a few months back. (The whole album is available for free download anyway so its all good) I have no interest in hip hop or whatsoever back then, but I became interested in hip-hop just a little after listening to his mixtape album. He is really someone I look up to, honestly, it’s no easy job to be a leader, not just in idol groups but just in every field in general. I tried becoming one because my mother always expect me to be one, after a few attempts (it was back in high school by the way) I thought it’s just not my thing, I’m more of a following instruction kind of person, I do my part and make sure everyone is okay. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to become a leader like person. In the future, maybe... But my depression went really downhill these days, so I’m not sure if that day will come. But I do aspire to become someone like him.

V or I prefer calling him Tae. He is my first bias. His existence just screams “RELATABLE” to me, (minus his looks) He seemed to be struggling with words whenever he tries to say something. That also is something I had to deal with on a daily basis. It’s like when you have good looks, everything you did is cute, but for me, it’s more like an annoyance. So I tried to keep quiet as much as possible. Nevertheless, I just hope that I will meet someone that will understand the way I talk like the other BTS members did with Tae, have a best friend like Jimin and... yea.

BTS hmm the annual sit and talk for part of their BTS Festa thingy, it’s called the Dinner Party this year hmm cool. I stopped watching after the first 30 minutes, for the exact reason why I also did not watch more than 5 minutes of last year’s sit and talk.

We all know that, they had achieved tremendous success for the past few years. A lot of their songs often circle around their hardships and what fuck the haters?? If that make sense. Whenever they have talks like this, I always bail myself out there, and yea I never install Vlive back after I got this new phone because there really is no reason to catch every live and Run BTS episodes now.

This was not long before the DNA era, I always found myself having thoughts like:

“So you have started to avoid BTS hmm?” Yea right, took me a while to admit. I used to not miss a single notification. There is no more random videos on the BangtanTV channel as they get more and more popular, there is just backstages and really just back stages and behind the scenes of their daily schedules and tours. It shows that they are working hard, really hard. Which leads me to the next question.

“It feels uncomfortable isn’t it, comparing yourself to a worldwide famous group of artist?” Hmph. I worked hard, really hard. I even live by the motto, do or die. But that doesn’t seemed to be enough. People around me, always told me that I should push myself more. I DID, I REALLY DID, BUT WHY CAN’T YOU SEE IT.

“But BTS can, why can’t you?” I’m just going to work harder, I tell myself. I don’t have to face the same pressure as BTS did, I’m having it way more easier. But at the same time, there is seven of them in BTS, but there is only one me.

The voice at the back of my head, you are not helping.

I swiped away all notifications from BangtanTV ever since.

Because seeing them having each other around reminds me how am I not going to have friends like this, how I’m never going to achieve this much. But mostly it reminds me how lonely I am.

By the time the Mic Drop remix released, I started having what I called the depressive episodes. I think I’m going to describe them as a waking nightmare, all the thoughts in my head are killing each other, fighting for the limited space in my head. Which ever thought that dominate my mind is the winner. I stared into blankness, tears and snots all over my face, hyperventilating while finding excuses to tell people what happened to me if anyone ever sees me.

Honestly I don’t think people is going to read this... but the tag is down there just for the slightest hope that people that come across this will know that, ahh there are people like this out there too... Some of you might think, this is pathetic, attention seeking but at the end of the day, I just want some closure for myself. I need to admit that, no matter how much interviews I watch, how much memes I’ve seen everyday, they are not going to be my friends. They will forever be the people in screens, and I belong to the 97% of the population that will lead a normal life.

Here I am, the Fake Love era that comes to a close. I can’t even bring myself to listen to the whole album, because chances are, some of the lyrics are going to trigger the shit out of me. Same goes with Suga’s mixtape, J-hope’s mixtape.

I really miss the days where they made simple love songs like the ones in the Dark and Wild album. Blanket Kick is my personal favourite.

I’m sure there are still a lot more that I had in mind but I just forget what is it about to include in this. I’ll get a part 2 done when there is time.

BTS now just feels like the popular kids I went to school with, now graduated from a school named ARMY, they are like the ex-classmates I bump into once in a while. Thank you, for the best 3 years in my life. I had lots of laughter, times that I forgot about my sadness and your warm words that took me through difficult times. You are the reason that I survived until today and also the trigger of some of my episodes.

SInce it’s already past midnight, I wanted to say Happy 5th debut anniversary, stay healthy (to both BTS and ARMY out there) be happy and may you all be reaching higher and higher till you celebrate your 10th anniversary. (or maybe longer)

*Just a sidenote, as a Malaysian fan, I’m just going to keep calling Rapmon, Rapmon because RM is our effin currency, I don’t want to be reminded of money issues whenever I thought of you. As far as I know, you do have a beautiful name as your mother definitely did not named you Rap Monster. It’s just that stage name exist for a reason. And I think I know at least 5 Jins in real life, so the wide shoulder hyung is just going to be Kim Seok Jin in my head haha yea.

#bts #unpopular opinion

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whnvr · 4 years

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Brain Drain

Chaos Equations & Proceduralism: Chaos Equations. I think I may be obsessed. A video published by CodeParade - a channel which explores proceduralism within code & computer generated, as well as machine learning - covers the topic. As always I am fascinated by generative and procedural art forms. Procedural artwork refers to art that has been generated algorithmically as opposed to manually; generative artwork refers to art that has been generated by the use of autonomous systems. Brian Eno is famed for his use of generative procedures within his music writing, as is Bowie - who’s ‘cut-up’ technique of cutting up newspaper clippings and extrapolating lyricism from them could be considered generative. I see generatism and proceduralism as an ultimate back-and-forth collaboration between chance, machine, and man. To me, proceduralism does not just stop at the output. It can be fed back in, twisted around, cut up and used as material for more ‘manual’ processes, or an array of other approaches. The sky is the limit. CodeParade have published a tool that allows users to create their own Chaos Equations which I am going to be downloading and having an experiment with at some point in the near future. Defining My Creative Processes: I believe this to be a perfect instance with which to define what I am drawn to as a practitioner within my creative practices. In short, I believe that I am drawn to ‘play’. Every creative impulse I receive is based upon seeing something new that I get to play with, be it AI, Unreal Engine, proceduralism, generatism, or anything else. These Chaos Equations are a prime example of this. I think that may be why I would like to ‘make it’ as an artist, so that I can lead a life of play. This may also be the key to hacking my own creative process in order to build creative success: to recognise that struggle within one part of my process may mean that that part is not playful enough, therefore the solution may be one of ‘finding a way of making it playful’. Take mixing for example: the process of arranging different elements in a song so that they are in balance with one another. Aguably, this is the most formulaic part of the music creation pipeline. How can I make mixing feel less like work and more like play? Or finishing projects as another example: how can I gameify completionism so that I produce a higher array of releasable works. Journaling has altered the way I make discoveries. Discoveries which I make through this process may not outnumber the amount of discoveries I would normally make on a day to day basis. However, through having somewhere to record those discoveries I find that I am paying them more mind than I ever would have before starting this process. Therefore, I am getting orders of magnitude more benefit through feeling as though I am making abnormally more discoveries than when I am not journaling, despite the quantitative difference - the same amount of direct input/output - likely being the same. Along that line of thinking: play is but one of three flow states I have discovered for myself through these journals that may allow me to ‘hack’ my creative process. The other two are ‘breaking through the morning’s creative block by writing these pages so that when I come to doing the actual work I am already in a flow-state’ and the type of ‘creative problem solving’ I experiened on my Unreal Engine 4 Serene Terraces realtime demo that I did on the July the 6th of allowing the problems presented within one creative step to guide my actions during the next. The benefits of journalling are already apparent to me, though not immediately, if I simply examine my wider life. On the 6th I put out my first piece of work, done via my own two hands, for the first time in over half a year. A piece of work I wouldn’t have done if it were not for journalling. So, even though this journaling process takes up more time than just about any task during my day, the fruits of my labour are more numerous than from a time where I simply did nothing and had all the time in the world. Next Steps: So with all of that in mind, today I would like to try to make an entirely generative, procedural piece of art with AI-generated music, procedural sound design, chaos equations, and sound/parameter driven visual movement - taking a break from learning Unreal Engine to just, simply, play.

#8.7.2020

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lydiaplain · 7 years

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before turning 30

...................Things in my mind...................

getting older:

it’s something that never stops actually. but somehow, it’s a phrase tied up with ‘stop making mistakes’ or ‘only responsibilities now, you’re a grown up’... you know, like ok, you did it, it’s complete, you’re done.. you’ve grown up.. now you don’t have rights for mistakes, there’s no room for that... ....although, I don’t remember myself as a kid being allowed to do mistakes! I did mistakes constantly, always being punished for not being a ‘good kid’.. but always wondering ‘why isn’t what I did a good thing?’.. and now that I’m 29 I think, none of those things was a bad thing.. it’s just that in the ‘grown-up world’ kids are the ones that make mistakes, and the grown ups are the ones that know what’s best.... ...now I understand, parenting is not the easiest thing.. (I still want to adopt a cat, but haven’t felt ready yet for the responsibility of another living creature...) ...no parent has a ‘hack-book’ to know how-to-do-the-best... they’re just kids that were told no mistakes allowed anymore, because they’re done growing up...? ...but they still do grow up... ...it’s not about AGE.. it’s about LEARNING! mistakes.. what are mistakes? when you hurt other people? when you hurt yourself? how do we determine where to stop ‘hitting’ ourselves with absurd rules that don’t make any sense? ...responsibilities is something that we learn as we grow up... I imagine older people that I see ‘hurting’ other people ‘by mistake’ as the ones that haven’t admitted yet the learning process of the years.. they want to be kids.. and maybe they’re just freaking out... because life goes such quickly.. ...I’m not sure if the ‘grown up’ thing as a state of mind is something that is a 100% realisable...

friendships:

there are people I know for so many years are still my friends. and also people I met recently... and I appreciate the love and respect between us, as human beings. because above all the thoughts we make in our heads about the people that surround us, there is something that holds the relationships together... (no it’s not love.... love is something very personal and very intimate, you feel it, you give it.. not demandable, not negotiable) ... it is COURTESY. (nobility, politeness, civility, gentleness, kindness).... I remember my grandmother saying about a relative person that had no good relationships with the family: “If I see them in the street, I’ll say hello, or goodmorning, or goodevening, as a fellow citizen.” I always admire her for these noble thoughts of hers... she taught me how to love other people as human beings... even if in some cases you have to keep yourself away, just to stay safe from some people (because they may do stuff that are harmful to you).. even then, you want them to be well, you wish them a good life. ... human relations are hard. many try to manipulate others... tactics and tricks on ‘how to make others’ do something (using specific words, specific actions, specific silence)... such a disappointment these people are to me... no respect to the freedom of the others.. ... you prove your love to the other by respecting their right to freedom... ... you don’t like someone? ..it’s ok... just, leave them alone.

my art, my music, my job:

...I get lots of good comments and love from people that listen to my music and the ones that support my art.... and this helps a lot with the self-critisism-thing... because there are times you don’t believe in yourself, and there come people and tell you things about you, and how your work helps them, and how much you already are offering to their lives... and then you feel that there’s a beautiful and honest communication here that comes through art.. and becomes real love.. and you feel so much better, and you find the strength to keep going and ... smile.. :) ...Well, ok, the first reason you make art is YOU. You do it because ... you CAN’T not do it. Your life is bonded with art. You live through art. You breathe in music... You create art to BE. You exist through art.... And then, there are all these people coming to you and telling you all these wonderful words.... and you receive this GIFT of communicated art. You learn that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. :) ...I also, get enough ‘hate-messages’ (mostly male-’musicians’, some of them seem to be involved in music...) from people they disagree with my views and prefer other paths to follow.. so they choose to send hateful messages that often contain sexist-misogynist comments about how I do my art and why I should stop... (they’d like that, wouldn’t they?) ... Of course, I often feel insecure about my choices.. (well, yeah, I know, everybody is insecure about their life choices...).... why? ...surely not because of the critisism I get.. (critisism with legitimate arguments is always welcome, because it opens healthy dialogs upon arts and culture, and expression, and humanity and philosophy)... ...mostly because of myself... you know, self ambitions, dreams, plans... aaaand also watching other people’s choices and every-day lives (some of them in the music industry, some of them in arts, some of them doing ordinary jobs)... because you know, we like to compare ourselves with other people... ...and I have these existential-crisis-situations that always (till today) have lead to this point, with me keep doing what I do, and being satisfied with my choices (which I’ll re-think soon as usual) ...and I keep being inspired from artists like @amandapalmer and I keep going on my independent road, accepting the fact that money is veeeery limited, but artistic FREEDOM is not!..and I enjoy that freedom, I keep being myself.. ...there are things I’d like to do, and always they come up like ‘unsatisfied dreams’ and they ...’ruin’ my mood... and then, I realise again that maybe some of them choices I’ve turned down because I didn’t really wanted them.. and that where I am today is where I chose to be... ...and then I say to myself: “it’s ok to choose what you want to choose, and it’s also OK to change your mind..”... because, you know, we beat ourselves up for things we chose in the past but we are afraid to LET GO, and we keep being miserable.. it’s not right.. self-hatred doesn’t lead anywhere. and ourself is the ONLY things that belogs totally to us.

...taking care of yourself doesn’t mean being selfish. :)

creativity:

I’m in a time when there are not any ‘huge’ projects planned.. (although I’ve already thought of starting a 3rd zone in some point, because I have songs for it.. but it’s still a draft idea conceptually.. )... however there are MANY ‘small’ projects that I haven’t completed yet and I’m trying to manage to put them in line... because, I admit, for most of them time is passing by and “I’m very late”... I should have completed at least 2-3 of them by now:

...the “WRITE A SONG WITH ME” project: it’s a song co-written with people that joined my patreon until January 1st, 2017. I have the ‘starting’ music. I have my lyrics. I have my patrons lyrics. I just have to keep it going... and COMPLETE it..!

...the “WATERED BODIES” project.... it’s a music video I’m making for my same-titled song.. I’m gathering tumblr-artist-artworks for it.. (I’ll make a related post about this soon, so I’ll call you guys that make art here on tumblr again for action)... it’s not a forgotten project... it’s stil there.. and it still needs artworks!..

...the “Live from the Black Hole (vol.1)” album + the bonus song with a video for YouTube....! it’s a celebrative album about the 1 year of ‘Black Hole’ live videos I’ve been uploading on YouTube since March 2016. I’m already uploading videos for the 2nd year of the series, and I HAVE to make the video for the bonus song... !... I’ve started it... but there’s a lot of work to be done there too.. (this bonus song is not published anywhere yet, ONLY shared with my patrons on patreon.com/lydiaplain)

...2/3 artworks in canvas I still haven’t done yet. they’re paintings I wanted to make as gifts for my first patrons, when I completed 1 year on patreon. (another celebreation). 2 patrons still haven’t got their artwork-gift... (which they didn’t ask, but I want to give... haha :D I’ll let them know as soon as these gifts are ready)

...another music video for one of the songs on my “Lights” album...

...more video-shootings: I have to send some frames to Influence (hip-hop artist from the US) for our collaboration in a song included in his upcoming album.

...I want to make another collection-album with experiments / cover songs of other artists. I already have the first one: them, artists (vol.1).. (my patrons have it already as a free download)... I’ve noted down some songs I like.. and there are also some songs that are suggestions from other people (patrons and friends)

...piano progress: I’ve already re-started to practice regularly, and also, I’m uploading updates about it on patreon for people that would be interested to follow my routine and thoughts.. it’s actually blogging about my life as a pianist.

...I also added another tier on patreon where people can send me their performances so I can send them my comments and advice from my point of view and my experience as a qualified piano teacher and musicologist. It’s the one called “I will listen to you”. ...I get many messages from people asking me to listen to their work and give them a review with my opinion, and I really don’t have the time to listen to all of them. But I’m a teacher. So for now, patreon seems the best platform for this kind of lesson-requests.

Did you manage to read it all? :D if you did THANK YOU!! I appreciate the time you spent.. time is precious.. I’ll turn 30 years old soon... We’ll always wonder ‘how did time pass so quickly’... like it’s something we can catch... well, we’ll never UNDERSTAND it fully... we always live the NOW... all the yesterdays are stories, all the tomorrows are dreams...

life is now. live it now.

youtube

#thoughts #artists on tumblr #every day #30

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swimintothesound · 7 years

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Poptimism, Complexity, and Musical Stockholm Syndrome: Why Some Albums Grow On Us Over Time and Others Don’t

One of the biggest musical revelations of my life, like many things, came from a podcast. It wasn’t a cool song or the discovery of a new genre, but a conceptual framework that changed how I viewed the entirety of music.

The statement, born of a drunken video game discussion, found one of the hosts outlining his definition of pop music. His parameters weren’t based on the artist’s popularity or the sound of their music, but rather something that you could “hear once and enjoy.” He went on to elaborate “I didn’t even like most of my favorite albums the first time I heard them.”

I’m paraphrasing massively here (because I don’t remember the exact quote, episode, or even year), but this general notion is something that has stuck with me for almost a decade. It’s a bit of a roundabout way to define the pop genre (which I still love and appreciate), but it’s also a slightly snobby framework that looks down on an entire genre while simultaneously glorifying your own taste. So sure it’s problematic, but I also don’t think it’s entirely wrong. Pop music is scientifically designed to be catchy, appealing, and broad, that’s inherent in its DNA.

Still, the more I thought about this framing device, the more I found it to be true. I especially latched onto the host’s claim that most of his favorite albums were “growers” he found himself enjoying more over time. As I searched through my own music library, I realized that nearly all of my favorite albums were ones I’d listened to dozens of times and seemingly got better with each listen. In fact, most of them were records that I thought nothing of or flat-out dismissed at first but eventually grew to love. Oppositely, there were dozens of other albums (pop or otherwise) that I’d listened to once and forgotten almost instantly.

So this theory seemed to hold water, and it’s a filter that I’ve used to view music through for nearly a decade at this point. Recently the idea of albums being “growers” brought up online and spark quite a bit of debate. There’s one side that subscribes to the “grower versus shower” mentality, and another that views this behavior as simply subjecting yourself to an album over and over again until you like it. As with most everything, there’s truth to both sides and neither is truly “right.” So I’ve spent some time mulling over this framework, asking people about it, and gathering opinions from both sides of the fence. I’ve uncovered ten different inter-connected elements that are at play within the “grower” concept. I’m going to outline each point below along with personal examples in hopes that I arrive at some sort of conclusion or thesis statement in the process.

1) Denseness and Complexity

One of the biggest arguments in favor of returning to albums and the concept of “growers” is the idea that some genres/bands/records are so musically complex that they encourage it. Whether it’s lyrical, instrumental, or contextual, sometimes there is so much going on in a record that it’s impossible to take everything in on first listen. Take something like Pet Sounds or The Seer where at any given moment there are dozens of individual components all fighting for the same sonic landscape. You can listen to Pet Sounds once and “get it,” but repeated listens reward the listener by allowing them to slowly discover everything at play in these carefully-layered songs. It’s like crossing things off a list; once you know the lyrics you can pay less attention to the vocalist and focus on a different element of the arrangement. You can keep revising an album and delve deeper each time until you have the full picture; one that was impossible to see the first time you listened.

Meanwhile, pop music is almost always internationally bare. By remaining surface-level (both lyrically and instrumentally) pop songs are easier to grasp at first pass. This allows pop artists to more easily fulfill their primary purpose by transporting a single supremely-catchy hook or chorus into the listener’s brain. As a result, the pop genre as a whole actively avoids things that could “distract” the listener because those experimentations and imperfections are often things that risk detracting from the core message that’s being delivered. That’s not to say pop songs don’t require skill to make, just that they avoid anything too “out there.”

Take Katy Perry’s “California Gurls”: it’s a song that I adore, but I’ll be the first to admit there’s almost no substance to it. The main elements at play here are Katy Perry’s voice and a warm radiating synth line. There’s a guitar and bass laid underneath these primary elements along with a handful of ad-libs from both Mrs. Perry and Mr. Dogg, but those the closest thing to musical depth that this track offers. Much like the music video, “California Gurls” is a synthetic and sugary-sweet pop song that exists to convey a single straight-forward message. As a result, you have a song that’s catchy due in large part to the fact that it’s presented in a barebones way. By being lyrically or musically complex you risk immediacy, so you must present your song in a pointed way so as to embrace catchiness.

So obviously sheer mass and complexity are major factors in this debate. Some of my favorite records are indeed sprawling epics that I’ve essentially bonded with over the course of several years. Records that have drawn me back in time and time again and improved my impression of them in the process by developing a unique and ever-changing relationship with me. A musically-dense record will always be more rewarding to return to because it rewards repeated listens and allows the listener to pick up on something new each time. Meanwhile, a pop track may keep a listener coming back for the earworm factor, but won’t necessarily be as deeply rewarding the same way that a “complex” album would be.

2) The Unknown Factor

Sometimes there’s a mysterious, unknowable X-factor that keeps you coming back to a record. Even an album you don’t like can draw you back, if only to pin down its ephemeral magnetism. This has happened to me in 2012 with Carly Rae Jepsen’s megahit “Call Me Maybe” and (after dozens of listens) I’ve since pinned it down to her unique delivery of the goosebump-inducing line “and.. all the other boys.” Early on in his excellent 150-page CRJ-based manifesto, Max Landis does an excellent job of breaking down the song’s undercurrent of distress and subversion, but the point is in 2012 we, as a society, were collectively drawn to this song for some reason.

Sometimes it’s as simple as a weird vocal quirk, other times it’s an attention-grabbing instrumental moment, or a riff that gets stuck in your brain like jelly. In any case, these unique moments aren’t limited to one genre and their ear-worminess plays a huge part in why we return to a piece of art.

I’ve done this with countless songs. Sometimes I’ll find myself listening to an entire album just to experience a single moment in full effect. Sure I can listen to Hamilton’s “Take a Break” in isolation, but it’s only when I listen to the entire play from the beginning that I fully tear up at the song’s implication within the larger narrative. Moments in the song like hearing Phillip’s rap, coupled with Alexander’s growing distance from his family, and dark multi-leveled foreshadowing, are all made more impactful when the piece is taken in as a whole. We don’t get to pick the little things that draw us in, but this search is one of the most rewarding aspects of music appreciation and discovery.

In a third case (I’ll fully-delve into deeper this December), up until last year, Sufjan Stevens has been an artist that I wanted get into. Thanks to a serendipitous iTunes DJ Shuffle back in high school, I became infatuated with exactly three of his songs and I spent literal years listening only to these three tracks until I was ready to explore the rest of his discography.

The Carly Rae Jepsen example proves that there’s still room for these moments in a pop song. Experimentation and subverting expectations can reward the artist in unexpected ways, but if there’s not something there to make the listener curious enough, then it’s unlikely that they’re going to go back and try to figure it out on their own.

3) Critical Acclaim, Message Boards, and Peer Pressure

Like it or not, critics play a role in dictating taste within culture. I suppose it’s less like “dictating” and more like influencing, but I think we’ve all been swayed by reviews at one time or another. Whether it was being convinced to stay away from a bad movie, or giving a record a spin based purely on universal acclaim, critics have an undeniable impact on our cultural landscape.

I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. At worst it will make you more hesitant, and at best you might give something a chance that you never would have known about otherwise. I did this with Kanye West in 2010 following the release of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, after its perfect Pitchfork score and placement as their best album of 2010. Aside from Eminem, I’d never really listened to any hip-hop in earnest, but this level of praise couldn’t be a coincidence, right? I downloaded the album, gave it a reluctant spin, and came away from it mostly underwhelmed.

As a side note (before I get called out) it’s worth noting that I didn’t have any context for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy at the time. I had no idea about Kanye’s background, or what the album represented within his career. I also had no real appreciation for the record’s layers upon first listen (circling back to Point #1) but I went on to rediscover and genuinely love it in 2016. The point is I picked up this album solely because of critics.

Continuing the Kanye West anecdotes; I’ve already written about how the internet’s reaction to the release of Yeezus spurred me to give the album a shot. I still didn’t get him. For whatever reason, I gave the album another listen a couple months after its release and suddenly everything clicked. I loved Yeezus and soon found myself venturing back through Kanye’s discography from the beginning. I’d like to think that I came to love Kanye of my own free will, but the reason I gave him a chance in the first place (and the second place) is because of other people. Whether it was a “reputable” journalistic source like Pitchfork, or simply witnessing the unbridled joy of hip-hop heads on an internet message board, I could tell I was missing out on something, and that kept me open.

4) Personal Context, The Language of Genres, and The Passage of Time

After “discovering” Kanye West in 2013, he was the sole hip-hop artist I listened to for some time. I would casually browse forums and keep up on large-scale movements within the genre, but it wasn’t until years later that I would find myself delving deeper into the contemporary rap scene. By the end of 2015, I was listening to everything from leaned-out trap, conceptual double albums, absurdist mixtapes and even Drake. Soon I found myself listening to goofier (then) lesser-known acts like Lil Yachty, Lil Uzi Vert, and Desiigner. I can guarantee you that I never would have latched onto any of those guys if it wasn’t for Kanye breaking down my personal barriers and dismantling my hip-hop-related hangups. It took time for me to go from actively disliking hip-hop to embracing it wholeheartedly, and that’s a journey that can only happen over time.

While your personal journey within individual genres matters, there are also things like general knowledge and maturity at play too. Once I got out of that shitty high school ‘everything that’s popular sucks’ punk mentality I opened myself up to dozens of new artistic directions. I gained a new appreciation for things I’d previously despised, and I began to understand why things like MBDTF were important. It’s a combination of open-mindedness and cultural awareness that comes with age, and one that I hope never slows as I get older.

Maturity is an uncontrollable factor that’s hard to pin down, and impossible to quantify. I’ve experienced “musical maturity” as recently as this year with the Fleet Foxes. They were a member of my generation’s pivotal “indie folk movement” and I consider them one of my gateway groups, but despite their importance, I’d never really considered myself a fan. And it’s not for lack of trying, I own all their albums, gave them multiple chances throughout high school and college, but I had always found them interminably boring. I didn’t see what other people saw in them… until this year. With the multi-month build-up to 2017’s Crack-Up, I found myself giving into the hype and giving their older albums another shot for the first time in years. To my surprise, after a handful of half-passive listens I really liked everything I heard. All three of their previous releases grew on me over the course of several weeks, and I became a fan like that. I can still see why I found them boring in high school, but I think the real reason is a lack of maturity. I now have the patience and appreciation for the kind of careful, measured indie folk they’re making, and that openness has rewarded me with hours of enjoyment.

Circling back to Point #1: it’s often hard to fully grasp an album on first listen, and sometimes a record’s complexity doesn’t allow it to truly grab ahold of you until years down the line. In a way, this is also a point against pop music since so much of it “of the moment” it tends to age worse. It’s a genre that’s by nature the most tapped into pop culture, and as a result, it’s harder to go back and enjoy older songs when A) you’ve heard them thousands of times, and B) there’s more recent stuff that’s more tapped into the current sound. It feels like there’s more of an “expiration” to pop music which means it’s not necessarily as rewarding to venture back to.

5) Streaming, Permanence, and Getting Your Money’s Worth

A semi-recent extra-musical factor at play in this discussion has to do with how we consume music. Up until about a decade ago the process was 1) hear a song 2) go buy the album at the store 3) listen to the album. With the rise of iTunes, YouTube, and more recently, digital streaming platforms the entire process has become flattened. A song can come to mind, and we can pull it up on our phones within 30 seconds. You can hear a song at a bar, Shazam it, and add it to your digital collection within an instant.

As a result of this, albums as a concept have been diminished in both stature and importance. You have people like Chance The Rapper releasing retail mixtapes, Kanye West updating his albums after release, and Drake releasing commercial playlists. But on top of these (somewhat arbitrary) distinctions, there’s a layer of increasingly-pervasive accessibility. You can hear about an artist and have their discography at your fingertips within seconds. You can read about a new release and be streaming it by the time that it takes you to finish this sentence. That freedom has forever changed how we consume music. Comparing this on-demand accessibility with the “old ways” of going to a store and buying a physical record, it’s easy to see how the times have changed.

As a result of this shift, people are less committed to albums. If you don’t like an album you can play another just as quickly. We can jump ship with no loss at all. We’re not connected to the record, so it’s easy to abandon.

Funny enough, with the rise of streaming we’ve seen a near-direct correlation with the rise in the popularity of vinyl as it’s on track to be a billion-dollar industry this year. These are people that want and miss that physical connection with their records. There's an undeniable difference between listening to an album on Spotify and hearing it come out of your vinyl player at home. “Warmth” and all that bullshit aside, this is an example of the format influencing our listening habits. If you’re using Spotify and don’t like an album, you can easily stop streaming and jump to any of the millions of readily-available alternatives.

Most importantly, when streaming, there’s also no reason to “justify” your purchase because we haven’t dropped $20+ on a piece of physical media. If you bought a record and didn’t like you’d damn sure try to listen to it more than a few times because you invested in it, goddammit!

There’s also a pattern of familiarity at play too. Every time you open Spotify you’re given the choice between something new and something that you already like. If you gave an album a shot and didn’t like it, you’re now given a choice between that and something you know you already like. So why would you ever opt for the thing you don’t like?

Reddit user nohoperadio explains this phenomenon and the wealth of choices that we have in the modern music landscape:

“Those pragmatic constraints on our listening habits don't exist, and we have to make conscious decisions about how much time we want to devote to exploring new stuff and how much time we want to devote to digging deeper into stuff we've already heard, but every time you do one of those you have this anxious feeling like maybe you should be doing the other. It's only in this new context that it's possible to worry that you're listening wrong.”

It really is an interesting psychological door that’s opened with our newfound technological access, and analysis paralysis aside, it explains why some songs draw listeners back by the millions. Drake’s “One Dance” is the most streamed Spotify song of all time with 1,330 million plays. It’s a good song, but not that good. It’s an example of a song achieving a balance of accessibility and pervasiveness until it becomes habitual and self-reinforcing. That’s something that only could have happened in the streaming world.

6) Fandom

Up until now, we’ve mostly been talking about this framework within the context of “new” albums, but what about when you already have context? What about a non-accessible release from your favorite artist?

This has happened to me with many albums over the years. I wrote a 7,000-word four-part essay that was mostly just me grappling with my own disappointment of Drake and Travis Scott’s 2016 releases. For the sake of talking about something new: The Wonder Years are one of my all-time favorite bands. I’ve written a loving review of their second album, and I plan on doing the same thing with their third and fourth releases as well. After a trio of impactful, nearly-perfect pop-punk records, the band released their fifth album No Closer to Heaven on September 4th of 2015. While it’s not an “inaccessible” record, it’s easily my least favorite from the band and a far cry from their previous heart-on-sleeve realist pop-punk. It took me months of listening to the album to fully-realize my disappointment, and even longer to figure out why. I’m still not sure I can accurately explain why Heaven doesn’t gel with me, but that’s not what this post is for. The point is I’ve subjected myself to this album dozens of times racking up nearly 700 plays at the time of this writing. In fact, it’s my 19th most-listened-to album of all time according to Last.fm, and that’s for an album that I don’t even enjoy that much!

I was driven to this album partly by my frustration and confusion, but also my love of the band. I’ve enjoyed literally every other piece of music they’ve ever recorded, what made this one so different? I guess 700 plays isn’t something you’d afford even the most promising album, but this is an example of the listener’s history influencing their own behavior and desire to love an album. It’s trying to make an album into a “grower” when it may never be one in the first place. That leads nicely into #7…

7) Instant Gratification, Uncertainty Tolerance, and “Forcing It”

The most common argument I see against the concept of albums as growers is the idea that the listener is “forcing it.” This is problematic mainly because everyone’s definition of “forcing it” is different. Some people have a specific number in mind ‘if you listen to an album three times and don’t like it, then you're forcing yourself’ others base it on feeling ‘if you’re despising every second of an album, then just turn it off. Otherwise, you’re forcing it.’

The idea is you force yourself to like something out of pure habit or by subjecting yourself to it over and over again, eventually becoming hostage to something that you didn’t really like in the first place. To me, this is the meatiest discussion point here because it’s such a multifaceted issue. I’ve already discussed this concept within the context of Drake’s Views, but to briefly recap: I loved his 2015 album If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, and he had a killer summer with What A Time To Be Alive and a high-profile rap beef. I was beyond hyped for his next release in 2016 but came out of my first listen incredibly disappointed. Over time I grew to like most of the songs, presumably from sheer repetition, but I still recognize it as an album that isn’t good on an objective artistic level. So is this forcing it? I never hated any of those listens, I just grew to like the album more after time had passed, but I still don’t think it’s good.

I’ve done the same thing this year with Father John Misty’s Pure Comedy. After an impeccable 2015 release and a meta months-long interview-laden lead-up to the record’s release in April I, again, emerged from my first listen disappointed. I have come to enjoy the album more over time, especially after giving myself a break from it and seeing some of the songs performed live. So maybe these two cases just have to do with unrealistic built-up expectations and already being a fan (Point #6) but no matter how you look at it, I wanted to like these albums and kept subjecting myself to them.

At any rate, the biggest flaw with this argument is that everyone’s definition of “forcing it” is different. Unless someone’s making you listen at gunpoint, there is no force. You can stop at any time and you shouldn’t feel pressure to like something just because. But I fully recognize someone could see my listening history with Drake’s Views and say “my god, why would you listen to an album you’re lukewarm on that many times? That’s torture!” but I guess what’s torture for some is simply passive listening for another.

For a more scientific perspective, this youtube video details some of the crazy behind-the-scenes factors at play in making pop music particularly pervasive. Everything from the radio to Urban Outfitters to fucking memes spread music and have the ability to make something exponentially more popular. This circles back to “forcing it” because you may have no power in these cases. God knows after years of the same retail job I grew to hate some songs that were otherwise great just from sheer repetition. It would make sense that this then becomes “forcing it” since you have no power, but sometimes even that can circle back to genuine love if you build enough positive associations over time. I may not like “Hotline Bling” as a song, but god knows I’ve upvoted enough memes featuring the turtleneck-clad Drake that I enjoy something about it.

Furthering the pseudo-scientifical discussion of articles I that don’t have the intelligence to write of research: this blog (which cites this study) discusses “addiction economy” and explores the profiles of “explorers” and “exploiters.” The primary difference between the two groups is their propensity for either delayed or instant gratification. The study explores the idea that technology has accelerated this process which (in a music context) circles back to Point #5 of streaming’s role in our listening habits. Why bother trying to listen to something “difficult” or “weird” when you can have the instant hit of euphoria that comes with a bouncy non-offensive Taylor Swift song?

I really think this one comes down to what you’re in the mood for. If you have the attention, time, and necessary background, why not explore something rich that you may love? But if you just want something quick and easy, just put on the Spotify Top 50 for some background noise. It becomes the musical equivalent of a hearty homecooked meal versus a big, greasy fast food burger. One may be objectively “better,” but it’s not always right for the situation.

8) Expectations and The Initial Approach

Another factor that exists outside of the music itself is the listener’s initial approach. If you go into any art with a preconceived notion you’ll either be surprised by the outcome or have your beliefs confirmed. If you go to a shitty movie expecting it to be shitty, you’ll emerge thinking “well duh.” The inverse of this could also be true (a shitty movie turning out good, etc.), but the real discussion here has to do with the viewer’s initial expectation.

I do think with music it’s rare that you’ll do a complete 180 in either direction. The most likely case of a “grower” is generally a record that you go into not knowing anything about and then some unknown factor (Point #2) keeps bringing you back. It’s also true that you could dislike and album and over time come out liking it (as I did with Views). And while it’s a rare occurrence, I suppose an album could also be a “shrinker” that you love on first listen, but grow to dislike more and more.

Circling back to genres, I think pop music tends to be a shrinker more often than not. It’s something that’s (by nature) immediately accessible but slowly drives you mad with each repeated listen like a screw tightening into your skull. We’ve all been there (especially anyone with a retail job) but I can’t think of a single occurrence where I’ve done that to myself of my own free will. Oppositely, I know people that only interact with music by listening to songs until they’re absolutely sick of them. That’s not how I prefer to interact with art mainly because I feel like there’s only so much time in the day and so many other things to listen to, why force that upon yourself?

I think that the listener’s starting point is a huge concept. Reddit user InSearchOfGoodPun outlines his thoughts on the initial approach and the impact of time on your listening experience:

“My personal opinion is that if you listen to almost anything enough times with a receptive attitude, you will start to appreciate it. It might not become one of your favorites, but you'll like it for what it is. In any case, at the end of the day, you like what you like.”

The key phrase here is receptive attitude. If you aren’t listening with a receptive attitude, then you’re forcing yourself. Then you’re just making it unenjoyable no matter what. I think this is one of the biggest points in this whole write-up and a key indicator of who you are as a consumer of art. It’s all about being receptive regardless of your starting point.

9) The Language of Genres

Jumping back to Kanye: it was a long and winding road filled with lots of resistance, but despite my own hangups, I now consider myself a hip-hop head. I listen to the genre constantly, I’m up on the “newcomers” and I find myself devoting an absurd amount of time to researching the realm’s happenings each day. I wouldn’t have cared that much without Kanye, and I wouldn’t have discovered half of the shit that I currently love without Yeezus breaking those barriers down.

I’ve spent this entire time talking about albums as “growers,” but it’s also possible that this concept could be applied to entire genres too. I mean, after all, a genre really is like a language you have to learn, and I was fortunate enough to have Kanye as my teacher. Through his discography, I learned about the genre’s history, who its major players are, as well as the language, cadence, and frameworks that it uses. In another sense, it’s almost like “building up your tolerance” to something you previously didn’t understand or couldn’t grasp.

I’ve detailed my own history wading into genres like hip-hop and indie, but it makes sense that this personal context would impact how we would interact with albums through the broader umbrella of their genre. I wouldn’t have understood hip-hop if I jumped straight to Migos. Everyone has a starting point for their musical taste, and it spreads outward from there. Pop music is an easily-accessible taste, but most other genres take a little bit more of an adjustment to get used to. Certain albums or genres are just objectively less-accessible, and harder to get into as a result.

In fact, it could easily be argued that exploring a genre could be the biggest decider on whether an album is a “grower” or not. Contextualizing a record within a larger space can help the listener and understanding it better and appreciate it more. Listening to one album multiple times might be the exact opposite of the correct approach, because while the listener may not like it, they may find something musically adjacent that’s more up their alley.

10) Songs Versus Albums

For the sake of furthering the discussion outside of albums, it’s also worth zooming down to a micro level to look at individual songs. While I tend to listen (and think of things) in terms of albums, it’s undeniable that songs are the main component at play. In fact, a single song is probably the reason for you checking an album out in the first place. Thinking “hey I like this one thing, maybe I should check out the rest” is how I’ve discovered most of the music in my library.

But this same framework of “growers” can easily be applied to songs too. When listening to an album the first time, occasionally only individual songs will jump out at you right away. I love Lost in the Dream by The War on Drugs, but for the first dozen or so times I played the album, the only song I could remember was the opener “Under the Pressure.” That song had a memorable chorus, a catchy riff, and a driving rhythm. It alone is the sole reason I kept coming back to the record, but each time I put “Under the Pressure” on I’d find myself thinking ‘ah, I’ll just let the rest of the album play.’ Eventually, the rest of the record revealed itself to me and individual songs emerged from what was once an amorphous blob of sun-drenched heartland rock.

I did the exact same thing with Young Thug’s breakthrough 2015 album Barter 6. I’d already had a passing interest in Thug thanks to his previous collaborative efforts with Rich Homie Quan, so I gave Barter a semi-attentive spin and left underwhelmed. After a glowing Pitchfork review (Point #3) I gave the album another shot but couldn’t find myself getting past the first track. In a good way. I kept relistening to the album opener “Constantly Hating” and every time I tried to move onto something else, this transfixing opener drew me back in. Soon Barter 6’s second track grabbed me just as hard. Then the third. Then a single. Then a late album track. Eventually, I was listening to the whole thing front-to-back and enjoying every song. Individual songs are a viable path to an album becoming a grower, and while I don’t like digesting albums piecemeal, sometimes that approach can allow an album to creep up on you over time.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, there’s a difference between feeling lukewarm on an album then giving it a few more chances and hating an album but feeling like you’re obligated to listen because you “should” like it. Usually, there’s some redeeming quality that brings you back, God knows there’s plenty of albums I’ve heard once then forgotten forever.

Patience is key, and that receptivity can lead to an album becoming better over time. With pop music, I feel like there’s an individual tipping point that everyone hits where you go from fully-embracing a song to actively combatting it. We don’t all have the time or patience to devote ourselves to “difficult” albums, so sometimes the road less traveled is less appealing.

After writing all of this, I’ve come to the conclusion that my initial theory is a flawed. Like many things, it’s not universal. There’s no one “right” answer or perfect framework that applies to all of music. This theory still works on a case-by-case basis, but there’s nuance to every genre, artist, and song, and this broadness makes it hard to view music through such a broad lens.

If anything, a big takeaway is that there’s no one “better” genre, just different fits for different people. With all these possible elements at play, it’s easier to see how someone could gravitate towards one easier genre meanwhile a different person has cut their teeth in a different genre and has a more developed understanding of its intricacies.

And whether you look at it as “a grower” that gets better over time or a “shrinker” that driver you more insane with each listen, there is a point at which you are “forcing it” but (again) that varies from person to person. The only absolute is that there are no absolutes.

The truly compelling part of music is the way that you interact with it. What you bring to the experience and how you interpret the artist’s work. Whether it’s going track-by-track or listening front-to-back, or listening to one single song until you’re sick of it. Music is special because of what we project onto it. The memories we make around it.

It’s obviously incorrect to view all pop music as shallow, just as it’s incorrect to view all rock as deep, or all rap as thuggish. Everything is on a spectrum, and your perspective within the genre, the artist, your life, and the world all come into play when listening.

I don’t think there’s any defined “conclusion” to arrive at, just many different elements to keep track of. These frameworks can help explain why I like A while you like B. The absolute most important thing to take away from this is to keep an open and receptive mind.

I’ve recently come to the realization that my dream job, the one thing I really want to do, is to share things that I love with other people. To spread art, joy, and love in hopes that someone else is affected by these things the same way that I am.

That requires an objective mind, but you still won’t ever like everything. And that’s okay. You shouldn’t have to.

I think sharing things and spreading love is productive for the world.

It’s the most positive impact we can make on the world around us.

It’s spreading beauty.

Both being able to see why someone likes something and being able to share your own experience. It’s the one universal. The human experience. We all have unique perspectives, thoughts, and lives. Sometimes sharing is the only thing we can do.

Art is a bonding agent.

What we add to it is the special part.

Remain open.

Share your love.

Additional Reading and Citations

As the Roots Undo by Circle Takes the Square Doing Good in the Addiction Economy Internet Explorers (Not Exploiters) Is Pop Music Holding You Hostage? The Mozart-like Complexity of Carly Rae Jepsen’s Biggest Hits Reddit Indieheads Discussion Thread A Scar No One Else Can See The Secret Science of Pop Taster’s Choice: Let’s Talk About Love

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twoontheaisle · 5 years

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A Rediscovery

I first encountered Adding Machine at the Minetta Lane in New York in 2008, where it was helmed by David Cromer. (Who I didn’t really know at the time, but fell in love with and sought out his Our Town at the Barrow Street the next year.)

The show has always stuck in my mind (I will past my review of it at the end of this post), but until recently I had never sought out the original cast recording, assuming, I suppose, that an off-Broadway production wouldn’t release a cast recording. But when Ann Miner, my editor at TalkinBroadway, let slip that it’s one of the CDs she always keeps in her car’s player, I immediately downloaded it.

This is not a recording filled with pretty melodies, though there are a few lovely ones. What it is filled with is great drama, wonderful (and heartfelt) performances, all in an expressionist style that perfectly matches the mood of the story. The music seems to mirror the emotions the characters are feeling: regret, despair, longing, anger...

What’s more, the show’s themes - of technology changing faster than most humans can adapt to it, profit above all other business motives, the disposability of individual humans to achieve capitalistic ends - are as timely today (perhaps even more so) as they were when Elmer Rice wrote the play (of the same name) upon which the musical is based. I was especially moved by a moment when the anti-hero of the show, Mr. Zero, is at a baseball game and the crowd begins to shout “Kill the umpire!” As Mr. Zero joins in, it becomes unclear whether he is shouting “Kill the umpire!” or “Kill the empire!” Given the authoritarian, capricious nature of his workplace, I tend toward the latter.

All of this is a long way of saying if Adding Machine is ever revived near you, don’t miss it. Until then, pick up the cast recording.

Now, here’s what I had to say about the show in 2008:

“Although the music in the new operetta at the Minetta Lane, "Adding Machine" sounds nothing like what Van Morrison would write, a line from one of his songs comes to mind: "Precious time is slipping away -- you know you're only king for a day. Doesn't matter to which god you pray -- precious time is slipping away." For Mr. Zero, the beaten-down anti-hero of this brilliant new work from composer Joshua Schmidt (with lyrical assistance from Jason Loewith), his precious time has already run out. He just doesn't know it yet. Zero hates women. At least his shrill wife, Mrs. Zero. He does seem to have a soft spot for Daisy, the younger woman who assists him at work. Daisy and Zero are a team of calculators: she reads the figures from sales slips, he writes them down and adds them up in his ledger book with a fountain pen. But who needs human calculators when the brand new adding machine (the work is based on a 1923 play by Elmer Rice) is there to do the work faster, more accurately and at a far lower cost? The story is highly melodramatic, but told in a highly expressionistic style. I don't want to give away much about the story itself, because I hope you'll have the chance to see it yourself. Though I'm not generally a giant fan of recitative, or the talk-singing that often links songs within an opera or operetta, this production seems to have found a way to make the recitative both more musical and more dramatic. Then, when a more conventional tune pops up, like the delightful, romantic "I'd Rather Watch You," it seems to glisten even brighter. I loved almost everything about "Adding Machine." Every scene, every sequence seems to have its own visual signature, its own way of building the story from the inside out. The lighting (kudos to lighting designer Keith Parham) is bold, elegant and edgy, the sets (Takeshi Kata) are simple but effective, and the video projections (Peter Flaherty) add dimension to scenes without calling attention to themselves. The performers are top-rank, with big voices and a sure presence on stage. All are terrific, but Amy Warren (as Daisy) deserves special mention for treating us to her big, sweet voice. When she opens her mouth, you know she truly feels what she's singing. Director David Cromer also deserves praise for his powerful and efficient storytelling. The opening scene, with Mr. and Mrs. Zero in bed -- with the set designed in such a way that we in the audience feel we are looking down at them from above -- quickly establishes the claustrophobia and limited options in Mr. Zero's life. Then we are immediately thrown into Zero's work life, with a brilliant, rhythmic fugue of boredom as three calculating teams call out the numbers that fill their days, AND the dreams that fill their minds. "Adding Machine" never lets you really get comfortable. There is always some new way of expressing an emotion or calling attention to lost opportunities. Yet it's an entirely pleasurable evening. I found myself smiling over and over at the cleverness of a lyric, or the way attention was called to a character's emotional state, or how a tune will swell on a completely unexpected line, as it did on "and then came the leg of lamb!" The story -- like most operatic works -- is a tragic one. I don't think I'll spoil the show for you by saying that Mr. Zero does not end up in a happier place. But you will, if you make your way to the Minetta Lane Theatre for "Adding Machine."”

#adding machine musical #david cromer #minetta lane theatre #talkinbroadway #cast recording

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qasian-tech-support · 7 years

Note

Answer every question that ends or begins with a 1 or a 3 (sly smile)

1. What is you middle name?

Muega-Azekiel. My mom's from the Philippines and apparently it's a tradition to give a son his mother's maiden name. My parents are also somewhat religious (not like *too* religious. What I mean by that is if I were to say that I was, like bisexual or asexual or even an atheist, they wouldn't pull the "YOURE GOING TO HELL" card.) and my dad wanted me to have the same initials as my brother Shauz. One day in church, the preacher was talking about Ezekiel and my dad was like "Hey, why don't we just change the E to an A?" (Also, a little freebie about me: my initials spell SMAD.)

3. When is your birthday?

It's really easy to remember! It's 2/22/02 (DD/MM/YY).

10. What shoe size are you?

About 10 1/2 US Male

11. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

I own most of the shoes that I've worn growing up, but if you mean the ones that fit me and that I actively wear, 3; a pair of old white tennis shoes, a newer pair of black canvas flats, and a pair of flip flops

12. What was your last dream about?

I couldn't explain it if I tried. My dreams get weirder every day. Sometimes my head's like a goddamn television that's channel surfing. (I vaguely remember a shirtless guy running down a street flailing his arms though??? I've never seen the dude before, I don't think.)

13. What talents do you have?

Self deprecation and over complication (have you read my bio). Though, I'm not really sure. I guess remembering some video game trivia, but not necessarily when I need to.

14. Are you psychic in any way?

Even though I'm a variety trainer, I like to think of myself more of a grass or water type trainer, but I don't mind the occasional Psychic type addition to the team. Gardevoir's a great example.

15. Favorite song?

Fuuuuuck. Why are these so tough??? I can't really think of a specific one, but Rolling Girl feat Hatsune Miku (produced by wowaka) stands out. The lyrics are like one huge "big mood poem".

16. Favorite movie?

Already answered ^_−☆

17. Who would be your ideal partner?

Someone who would understand why I do and don't do some things. I'm not the best at communication or communicating my emotions/what's on my mind. Someone who would share my love for things like video games and other things. But in all honesty, I don't really know.

18. Do you want children?

At this stage in my life, I'm not really sure.

19. Do you want a church wedding?

Maybe??? Again, haven't really thought about it.

21. Have you ever been to the hospital?

Only through visiting people so far.

23. Have you ever met any celebrities?

No, none that I can think of

30. How many pillows do you sleep with?

Two. One really long memory foam one and a comfy Pikachu pillow.

31. What position do you usually sleep in?

Have you ever seen the stereotypical crime scene victim outline? Like that. But I move around a lot, so I sleep on my sides or on my stomach often.

32. How big is your house?

5 bedroom (originally 3; my dad built onto it around the time I was born), two bathroom, single floor. I live in a relatively small town in Tennessee, so houses tend to be a little bigger than I think you would see in cities.

33. What do you typically have for breakfast?

Schools started back up, so I either have a bagel or waffle.

34. Have you ever fired a gun?

Only BB guns. I haven't fired a real gun.

35. Have you ever tried archery?

Yeah, I like it, but I don't have easy access to it since I don't own a bow that's my size.

36. Favorite clean word?

[Why are these so tough?] Like in general or as an insult? I guess zero because it's one that I use commonly. As an insult, walnut's pretty high on the list (cough, @biggest-gaudiest-patronuses , cough).

37. Favorite swear word?

I say "shit" a lot. It can have many different meanings depending on how you use it. Excitement ("Holy shit!"), despair ("shiiiiiit...."), surprise ("Shit!!!"), fecal matter ("shit"), et cetera.

38. What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep?

I know I've spent 24 hours without sleep, but I feel like I've gone longer before...

39. Do you have any scars?

I've got some across my lower back from going through a crawl space too fast at my grandma's. As for any others, it depends on if I've had an extremely bad day recently; once winter starts, I feel like I'll have more and it'll be more frequently (can't wait for long sleeve season).

41. Are you a good liar?

When I want to be, yes. I'm able give some things the status of "near fact" in my head. What I mean by that, is I'm able to say some things as easy as if they were the truth. I also try to remember details in my lie and not go too outlandish.

43. Can you do any other accents other than your own?

Not well. I used to be able to copy Scottish accents somewhat well. I also went through a BBC phase, where I could mimic British accents fairly well, if I do say so myself (probably not though).

51. Are you scared of spiders?

Yes. The thing that scares me though is I'm not able to tell if they're venomous or if they bite. When I was smol, my elementary school nurse had a chart of spiders in the nurse's station and whether or not they were poisonous. They were in such good detail, too. THAT'S the kind of stuff that can scar a child.

53. Favorite foreign food?

I've already answered 52 with General Tso's chicken, but for the sake of variety I'll say something else. I really like lo mein, but I've been trying to get into sushi recently.

61. Do you sing to yourself?

Oh fuck yes. If the song is in a language that I can't speak, expect some passionate mumbling. Even if the song doesn't have lyrics, you can expect some rambling wubs, doots, na's, bops, boops, and da's.

63. Biggest Fear?

I don't really know. I guess dying without my life being meaningful or not having an impact in someone's life (maybe one that could've helped bring them success) is high on the list.

71. What makes you nervous?

Lots of things. I'm not going to make the list too long, though. Being around new people, small talk irl, and messing up big time come to mind. Oh yeah, being new in a place where a lot of people are already used to the swing of things also makes me nervous and can set off my anxiety. I had that problem when I first joined Reddit, when I first joined Tumblr, when I rejoined Tumblr under this URL, when my friend made me get Snapchat, and when I downloaded Discord. However, it may take one, two, or a few people to help get me going; those people I have a tendency to cling to.

73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes?

Sometimes (I assume it means when I'm not blatantly proofreading something for someone). I try not to be a dick about it and I try not to when it isn't needed. Like, if someone uses your instead of you're or its instead of it's, I try to look past it. After all, English might not be their first language and it can just make you look like a douche. And as for correcting facts, I try to make sure that I'm correct before I go accidentally spreading misinformation.

81. Can you roll your Rs?“

No. That's a main reason why I'm taking French I and not Spanish I.83. How fast can you run?

"FAST AS FUCK, BOIIIIIII!!!!" jk. I used to run somewhat fast (faster than most people I know), but only for limited distances. I'm not sure if I still can.

91. Do you like your own name?

Yeah, I would say so. I mean, yeah I like my irl name, but I prefer Zero when I'm on the internet.

93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child?

I'm not really sure. I like to think that I would understand more if I had a son, but I think that having a daughter would rock just as much.

100. Color of your room?

It's like a tan.

Thanks @homestuckorbust !!! It was a lot of fun!

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uclaradio · 7 years

Text

Maple Syrup’s Vera Williams Speaks Out About Their Latest Music Video “Maybe Someday (I’ll Have a Friend)”

Written By: Elizabeth Hsieh

Post Date: 2/16/17

Currently studying at UCLA as a foreign exchange student from New Zealand, Vera Williams of Maple Syrup was quick to plunge herself into LA’s music scene by creating two new bands and playing constant house shows throughout California. For those who have not yet heard of Maple Syrup, their sound embodies that new wave of gritty, melodic punk combined with the sound of dirty guitars and momentous bass lines. Even as she is separated from the band back home, she continues to make moves in her musical career, with her band just recently releasing a music video for their single “Maybe Someday (I’ll Have a Friend)”. Check it out below.

youtube

Who is Vera? Who is Maple Syrup?

My name is Vera. I am currently a student at UCLA and I am from Wellington, New Zealand. Maple Syrup began about 4 years ago in Wellington, with myself and Jerry Ramirez making absurd folk mix tapes. We eventually got our friend from High School, Tarquin Smith, on drums and Lukas Jury on bass, and developed a much heavier sound. Since then, we’ve played shows all around New Zealand, released an EP and have recorded a soon-to-be-released record, which this single is off of.

What was the inspiration behind the video?

I remember I got the idea in the middle of the night. That’s usually when I get my best ideas. I’ve always liked one shot videos with minimal editing. Its fascinating to watch action play out sort of live in front of you, like in Radiohead’s “No Surprises” video! Our band is very much about the coming together of the sublime and the ridiculous — and I think the video is inspired by that concept.

How was the creative process of making the video? Were there any difficulties?

We spent the day after Christmas rehearsing the video from start to finish with all of the cues - from the lighting, to when each object would be thrown on me - until we had it perfect. That got pretty tedious because of how messy I ended up getting, and we had limited resources (e.g. one pack of cigarettes) and only one shot to get it perfect. Our plan was to just roll with it if something went wrong, but luckily nothing did. When I beat up Jerry at the end of the video, what you can’t see is that he is lying in a pile of squashed cigarettes mixed with maple syrup and water.

There are weird objects being thrown at you during the video. How did you decide on what objects to include?

Each one had a different reason. Some were chosen in direct reference to the lyrics (e.g. the cigarettes and the paint brush). Others were chosen purely for visual effect (e.g. the toilet paper, the egg on the head, the bucket of water). Then of course there is the Maple Syrup reference with the pancakes! Each object also has its own symbolic purpose as well, I suppose.

Your character undergoes quite a drastic change in attitude during the video. Can you talk about some of the symbolism behind that?

My interpretation is that it’s about someone who is going through life passively, not letting anything affect her. In the song that’s expressed by the passive way I sing harsh lyrics, and in the video by my lack of a reaction to having various objects thrown at me. When I’m pushed over the edge, I finally expresses myself and assert my power by getting revenge. I’m sure everyone will read the video differently, though. There is no correct interpretation.

So would you say there is a feminist angle to the video?

Definitely. I think that, as women, we are expected to deal with a lot and be able to just get on with it and not burden others with our feelings. Our ability to do that so well is a testimony to how strong we really are. At the same time, it’s important to liberate yourself from those expectations and express who you are and how you feel. I think my character is pretty chuffed with herself once she does.

How can we stay tuned for more info about the upcoming album?

We already have two singles out which you can listen/download free on bandcamp. We update everything on Facebook and you can follow our Instagram for regular nudes @Whoismaplesyrup.

#maple syrup #ucla #uclaradio #uclaradio.com #who is maple syrup #maybe someday i'll have a friend

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womenofcolor15 · 4 years

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ADD TO PLAYLIST SUMMER 2020: Megan Thee Stallion, Buju, August Alsina, Roots Virtual Picnic, Toni Braxton, DaBaby & MORE!

2020 has been hell, but we JUST officially made it to the summer. And there’s new music to add to your playlist to continue getting us through the most foolish year to date. New bops from Megan Thee Stallion, Buju, August Alsina, Toni Braxton and more inside…

Hot Girl Summer 2020 is HERE! And you can thank Head Hottie Megan The Stallion.

View this post on Instagram

GIRLS IN THE HOOD OUT NOW EVERYWHERE

A post shared by Hot Girl Meg (@theestallion) on Jun 25, 2020 at 9:08pm PDT

It’s the official first weekend of the summer and the Houston Hottie made sure to give her hotties something to turn up to – even if we are in quarantine. Well, some of us.

After landing at the No. 1 spot on Billboard for her "Savage Remix" with Beyoncé, the Stallion returns to the music scene to kick off summer 2020! The 25-year-old rapper released her new track "Girls in the Hood" at midnight and the hotties are already cutting up. The beat samples Eazy-E’s classic track “Boyz-n-the-Hood" and it's the perfect vibe to turn up with your girls while doing hood rat things.

"Girls In The Hood" is a street-smart ode to the area Megan grew up in and the pride in being a product of her surroundings. A celebration of the lifestyle and energy of her community, "Girls In The Hood" features all the hallmarks of Megan at her finest; playful lyricism, hard hitting delivery, and a self-confident vibe. Using the track to celebrate her culture and her blackness, Megan has created an anthem reminding girls worldwide that just because you’re from the bottom, it doesn’t mean you can’t come out on top and keep it real the whole way.

Take a listen below:

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The Savage x Fenty ambassador (who shouted Rihanna out on the new track) has been nominated for five BET Awards, which include Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, Album of the Year, and Video of the Year. She's also set to perform during the awards show which is set to air live on BET and CBS at 8pm EST.

Also...

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#UPSIDEDOWN2020 AVAILABLE NOW!

A post shared by Buju Banton (@bujuofficial) on Jun 25, 2020 at 9:05pm PDT

Reggae dancehall artist Buju Banton is back!

The Grammy Award winner just dropped some new bops. He released his 13th studio album titled Upside Down 2020 via Roc Nation. This year certainly has felt like we've been upside down for sure. On the album, he has features from Pharrell Williams, John Legend Stefflon Don and Stephen Marley.

Earlier this year, Buju was featured on the Bad Boys For Life soundtrack, which was produced by DJ Khaled.

Check out Buju's track "Cherry Pie" featuring Pharrell below:

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You can listen to the album on YouTube here or download it wherever you get your music.

Another album that dropped today...

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THE PRODUCT III: STATEOFEMERGENCY OUT NOW ‼️ LINK IN THE BIO

A post shared by Yungin' (@augustalsina) on Jun 25, 2020 at 9:03pm PDT

August Alsina is back! The R&B singer just returned to the music scene with some new music from his new album, The Product III: stateofEMERGEncy.

Fans were gifted 27 tracks from the singer with features from Lil Wayne, Yo Gotti, Juicy J and Tink. It's been almost four years since he last dropped an album, so his fans deserve all of the tracks he provided. On the album, he shares the difficulties of his lifetime and tribulations he has dealt with up until now. In anticipation of his album, Alsina spent the week prior to his release dropping a new single daily, giving his fans a taste of what’s to come with “NOLA,” “Rounds,” “Work To Do,” “Sincerely” and “Deliver Us.”

August represents so many touch points within Black America right now: healthcare given his struggle with rare auto-immune disease, socio-economic issues, police brutality, and Black on Black crime -- which is seen throughout the 5-part documentary series and heard within his new album.

You can take a listen below or stream it wherever you get your music:

Also...

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Have y’all caught up on the first 3 episodes of #stateofEMERGEncy? Episode 4 and new music tonight at 12am EST/9pm PST. #TheProduct3

A post shared by Yungin' (@augustalsina) on Jun 23, 2020 at 4:48pm PDT

The New Orleans native dropped a five-episode docuseries on YouTube titled “stateofEMERGEncy: The Rise of August Alsina” — which debuted earlier this week.

“I’ve been working. Been working on myself, my family and my health,” Alsina said. “While on my journey I’ve discovered that life is like one huge puzzle w/ limitless pieces. I’ve been putting the pieces of my puzzle together — with my new music and documentary, stateofEMERGEncy."

You can check out all of the episodes here.

As for more new music....

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Toni Braxton teamed up with Missy Elliott for a remix of “Do It.”

On the track, Toni pulls inspiration from her own experiences and shares advice for anyone struggling with the decision to end an unhealthy relationship. Well, she's not singing about her own relationship. Back in April, Toni said she and her fiance Birdman are getting married THIS year regardless of the Coronavirus pandemic. They have been engaged since 2018.

Toni & Missy bring a fast-paced tempo to the remix while reiterating the Grammy winner's encouragement to leave a toxic relationship by rapping “let him know I gotta do it, ��cause he already done and blew it.”

On collaborating with the living legend, Missy stated, “Toni’s team reached out to my manager and asked if I could produce a remix for her next single. They said, ‘Hey if Missy wants to rap on it we would love that too.’ So they sent me the record and my boy Hannon and I, sped the track up to a mid-tempo and re-arranged the music. To be honest, I was scared to send it because anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a huge fan of Toni Braxton! I’ve worked with so many legends. I’ve even worked with Tamar. But I had never worked directly with Toni before. So I thought, what if she hears it and says ‘oh HELL NAH Missy done messed my record up.’ But thank God when she heard it, she loved it and hear we are! Now I can say I finally worked with the living legend—Ms. Toni Braxton.”

“Do It” with Missy Elliott is the latest single from the "Braxton Family Values" star following her multi-Grammy nominated album, Sex & Cigarettes. Take a listen to her newest musical offering above.

New visuals....

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Rapper DaBaby just released the video treatment to his hit single “ROCKSTAR” featuring Roddy Ricch. The Reel Goats-directed visual comes as the single continues its chart-topping reign: earning DaBaby his first #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and snagging #1 on Rolling Stone’s Top 100, while approaching #1 at Rhythmic Radio. The song also peaked at #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop, Hot Rap Songs, Streaming Songs charts and in several international markets.

DaBaby is getting it. He also recently released a Black Lives Matter Remix, adding his voice to the conversation surrounding the current hot-button social justice issues. Watch the “ROCKSTAR” video above.

More new music....

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6pc Hot EP coming soon... but check your mailbox wed

A post shared by black (@6lack) on Jun 22, 2020 at 12:23pm PDT

Singer 6LACK just released his new EP, 6 PC HOT, which features production from Timbaland, Fwdslxsh, Gravez, STWO, and more as well as one guest feature from Lil Baby.

Aside from the music, he has some good news to share as well.

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6lack on black business starting tomorrow through the weekend, you can order a “6pc hot” meal from atlanta’s black owned @therealgoodfellas and recieve a free bottle of my @600_degrees hot sauce with your order. special thanks to @postmates

A post shared by black (@6lack) on Jun 25, 2020 at 3:14pm PDT

Fans can enter an augmented reality chicken shop pictured on the EP cover because, COVID-19. It can be found by searching “6pc hot” in the IG filter search menu. A link to the filter is available HERE (to be opened on a phone). Once selected, a 3D shop will launch through the camera to share pictures and videos. The AR shop was created by Jackie Carlise, a 3D motion designer who recently graduated from School of The Art institute of Chicago. She created it using the Spark AR platform.

For Atlanta fans, 6LACK has partnered with Postmates, the leader in delivering nearly anything on-demand, and local favorite restaurant Goodfellas, a Black-owned business, as a part of his 6LACK on Black Business initiative. Exclusively on Postmates this weekend, customers can order a custom 6LACK wing item from Goodfellas for $6. Through Sunday June 28th, customers who order the 6pc Hot wings meal will receive a free bottle of 6LACK’s new hot sauce “600 Degrees."

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limited edition 6pc hot merch available now purchase 3 items and you’ll receive a free bottle of @600_degrees shop.6lack.com

A post shared by black (@6lack) on Jun 26, 2020 at 10:18am PDT

For Los Angeles fans, 6LACK will be sending his new hot sauce directly to their doors starting 6/29 via a friendly robot.

Also...

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Raptress CupcakKe released her new track "Discounts." And social media is feeling it:

That new cupcakKe pic.twitter.com/MErYHreYto

— Karla (@onlynickilove) June 26, 2020

me after listening to Cupcakke Discount pic.twitter.com/ZUJQttrol7

— nodafuc (@Nodafuc) June 26, 2020

And she already picked out who she wants to be featured on the "Discounts" remix:

I want DaBaby or Nicki on "Discounts" remix ... I'm speaking this shit into existence right now ‼️ We are #16 right now on the iTunes chart I never been this high up . Please keep purchasing this may can be my first #1 on iTunes‼️

— CupcakKe (@CupcakKe_rapper) June 26, 2020

Craving live music because 'Rona ruined summer festivals? The Roots Picnic has gone virtual, and we're checking that out tomorrow night!

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Most of us are still chillin’ in Club Living Room until the Covid foolery dies down (again). So we’re hitting up the @rootspicnic @whenweallvote virtual experience tomorrow night. You?

A post shared by TheYBF (@theybf_daily) on Jun 26, 2020 at 2:08pm PDT

First Lady Michelle Obama's When We All Vote teamed up with The Roots to party with a purpose. Because we're not just staying mad anymore about everything going on. We're taking action at the polls after the party....

Here's some more music that dropped today to add to your playlist:

More new music out now:

Jack Harlow - Whats Popping (remix) ft. DaBaby, Tory Lanez & Lil Wayne

88GLAM - New Mania (tape)

G-Eazy - ESH (album)

Bankrol Hayden - Pain is Temporary (album)

August Alsina - TP3 (album)

Lonzo Ball - BB (album)

Lil Gotit - What it was ft. Future

— HIP HOP FACTS (@DailyRapFacts) June 26, 2020

Masks On and Happy Summer!

Photo: Megan's IG

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2020/06/26/new-music-to-kick-off-summer-2020-megan-thee-stallion-buju-august-alsina-toni-braxton-dab

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