So the FREE FREE / SUPER MUSIC MAKER single came out a few days ago. Instrumentally and emotionally, FREE FREE wins. FREE FREE is definitely more epic and has a lot more sentimental value, but for fun factor and lyrics, I'll have to give it to SUPER MUSIC MAKER. Thanks to the awesomeness that is the contemode community on LJ, we've been blessed with romanized and translated lyrics of the above songs (FREE FREE translations coming soon...).
I love the first comment from limejam, the translation collaborator: "And I totally think [Nakata] wrote SUPER MUSIC MAKER for Ami....to sing about himself."
The lyrics make me want to make an english version of the song. They also inspire me to stay on track of my hobby and to one day achieve my goal of making a track that actually has potential.
Don't mind the slideshow but here's SUPER MUSIC MAKER.
If you know me personally, you know I'm a geek. Not a specific geek but I tend to have my feet and hands all over the place. I have a lot of gadgets, I love building computers from scratch, I like customizing, I blog, I compose, I game, I'm a fanboy, etc etc etc. I guess you could just say I'm a tech geek. Sounds about right.
Anyway, my biggest pet peeve is when people have great technology but don't use it to potential. I guess one can say if it works... why mess with it but at the same time, you're not experiencing it the way it should be experienced. You're not getting your money's worth. Sounds like nothing I suppose but it just bothers me so. I was freeloading off of visiting some relatives a few days ago and noticed a few things - They have an ok Sony microdisplay (can't remember the model name or type but it can do up to 1080i) but not a single component/DVI/HDMI cable was running through the house. I noticed this because my cousin and I wanted to watch a movie except the way their media center was wired was ... ridiculous? I didn't want to touch anything because I tend to forget to change things back to how they were (now that I think about it, I left their TV in normal resolution and didn't switch back to stretched. lol). I couldn't figure out how to access the DVD video. They didn't take advantage of the multiple inputs on the back of their TV and just piggybacked a bunch of stuff... Also, they didn't have a surge proof power bar, just extensions plugged into extensions. I was scared for my life. They have a Wii as well but it's hooked in composite in the front A/V ports as opposed to the back ones though they don't take the console anywhere. They didn't even have their Wii connected to their wifi and it wasn't updated nor did they take advantage of the free Internet Channel Trial. I ranted to sis about this and she said internet on the Wii? Maybe she doesn't need it or wouldn't use it. BAH! That's besides the point. the trial was FREE. There's no downside to having it there. Maybe you want to show a youtube video to your friends but don't want to have to surround a small monitor or don't want to have to TV-Out. Finally, they don't have an HD cable box - just digital cable via coax - and they watch their 4:3 formatted channels in 16:9. omg. omg. OMG. I HATE it when people watch things out of proper resolution. Why do you like watching short, fat people?
So anyway, after experiencing that, I felt better coming home to my setup. Everything's where it is and doing what it should. I was on stickam one night and was trying out new camera angles and I was doing an over-the-shoulder type view of my setup while I was on. I got a lot of comments about my dual monitor + laptop setup. Everyone thought I was running 3 computers. I had to answer so many questions about it and explain a lot of things. Which leads me to this post. Though I don't know if I actually am, I feel as if I'm using all of my technology to potential. It suits my needs nor am I doing anything too over-the-top. My hardware isn't the greatest but it gets the job done. Let's get started shall we?
Starting off with the desktop itself. I'm running an Intel P4 2.4ghz with 1.5GB ram and an ATI Radeon x1650 Pro 512MB all on a Asus P4S8X-X. Everything's running stock with no OCing. I have 3 ATA HDDS - 160GB, 80GB, and 60GB. The 160 is split into 2 80 partitions. Everything's scattered all over the place though I try to keep things as organized as possible. I need more DVD+Rs. I have 2 monitors, an LG1710S and a Dell M782p. I game on the CRT. I use Ultramon as a multi desktop manager. Their wallpaper options are better than standard Windows options and swapping the main monitor and turning off secondary couldn't be easier with the systray icon. As for peripherals I'm using a Saitek Eclipse keyboard and a Logitech G5 Laser mouse. Both are quite lovely. Speakers are the Edifier M3300's. They're alright. As for headphones, Sony MDR-V300's. Quite excellent. I love walking around Toronto with them since they're bulky but not TOO bulky.
I have an old 30 something inch tube TV in my room for watching movies and playing consoles (PS2). I have composite cables running to the TV from the back of my desktop. I have a small audio system hooked up to the audio out of the TV and have the TV speakers turned off. Any speakers are better than TV speakers. Too bad I can't triple head but that'd just be too much. The TV is at the foot of my bed so it's comfy to watch movies and such.
As for games, I'm currently playing CS:S, Doom3, Prey, NFS:C and ITG. I have a Logitech Nascar wheel I got for $10 refurb @ canada computers. lol. Works like a charm. For ITG, I have a USB->PS converter for a Dualshock2 controller. Everything else is good old WASD. I use firefox as my browser (I'd go through all my addons but that'd take forever. Maybe if someone was interested enough to comment about it, I'll post it there), iTunes as my music player, VLC for videos, Virtualdub for editing and reincoding, 3GP Converter for converting to mobile devices, Azureus for torrents, and manycam for webcam software (thanks Christine!). For music production, I use FLStudio7 and utilize both monitors by stretching the window over both screens. I'm using a Roland PC-160 midi keyboard just to play around for melodies but I end up just pointing and clicking the notes in Piano Roll instead of recording it on the keyboard. I have timing issues and my compy can't handle < 30ms with enough instruments loaded so the lag is kinda bleh.Here's a pic of one of my latest projects. http://www.box.net/shared/hmy8u43gyh if you're interested in what it sounds like. It's a remix of Tommy february6's Love is forever. Quite a cute song. I just Hardcored it.
For stickam, like I said, I use manycam since it has a lot
of source options like showing desktop, playing movies, showing still
pictures, etc. It's not bad for being free. I have a Dynex DX-DTCAM
which was pretty blow at first since it was supposedly mac compatible.
It wasn't from the get go but since then, Dynex posted new drivers on
their website so now it works fine in XP and OSX. I couldn't get it to
work in Vista. As for audio in, I use my iBook (which I'll get to
explaining later) as my jukebox and route the audio in for the room to
the line in on my soundcard (being my iBook audio). If I'm not
streaming music, I'm using my Logitech Desktop Mic to talk or usually
just remain silent. I have a Creative Soundblaster Live! 5.1 card
though I should buy a better one. I'm looking at the X-Fi xtremegamer
card. We'll see what happens.
Let's get started on the mobile front, shall we?
I
have an early 2004, 12" iBook G4 with a 128MB so-dimm in the ram
expansion slot. Running Tiger. It's basically my school / IM / jukebox
machine and useful for when I'm doing something with the desktop and/or
don't want to take up any more resources and just need to do a quick
websearch. It kinda does the job but I'm looking to replace it. Not
that I have the money though.
I also have a PSP which I use as
my portable media center. I only have a 2GB card but it's ok. I have
about a dozen music videos and 1.2GB of music. I'm running M33's 3.52
CFW though I'm waiting for wildcard's CFW to be more... stable. The
recovery menu looks sexy and I love the SCEP menus built in without
having to run a prx plugin. I'm just wondering if it uses the sony
no-umd driver as well. Dying to get a PSP slim so I can TV out my vids.
Hrm. That sounds like that's all of it. Any specific questions about my setup, just ask.
Maybe I'll add more pictures to this post if I feel like it later...
Update:
This is the one song to rule them all for this summer - "Suzuki Ami joins Nakata Yatsutaka - FREE FREE"
I honestly haven't listened to any Suzuki Ami since Delightful and Eventful and I haven't really heard much before that. I must acquire her discography now. She's really reminding me of Sowelu in the PV. Must be the short hair. They have similar facial structures, especially when Ami is inverted, that's when I really see it. I really don't have to say much about Nakata. He's my hero. He's got the musical midas touch. Being a fan of his work even got me talking to one very special friend. :) Anyway, about the song...
There are only a few songs in the world that have reduced me to tears. This song happens to be one of them. Why? I don't quite know. Something about the melody. Something about how Nakata brought the instruments together and made them orgasm underneath Suzuki Ami's very sexy vocoded vocals. The vocals during the bridge and the chorus really play on the heartstrings. Something about the vocals and instruments just doing what they do bring tears to my eyes. I can't explain it. I still need to do the whole blasting in the car thing to really hear every instrument.
The PV itself is very sexy. I love lights. A room full of them + a sexy lady dancing oh-so provocatively = yum. I can't really understand much of what's being said due to heavy use of the vocoder and my Japanese recognition isn't as great as it could be. That goodness for friends and fan blogs.
Thank you Suzuki-san and Nakata-san for making my summer.
