Thingermajjigs & Flibbergabbers

The iPad isn't just for web browsing and playing games.

Pair any iPad with the Alesis iO Dock can turn into a looper, a separate effects pad thingermajjig for your voice and/or for your guitar, a digital instrument you can use during live performances (Legit - you can even turn it into a turntable), a midi controller, and even as a portable studio! You just need to download the right apps. Trust me, Garageband isn't everything. 

OH! It has 48 volts of phantom power,  so it can definitely run your favorite microphones.

For more details on the Alesis iO Dock, click here for the product page.

The app you see down below is VoiceJam. It's an interesting looper. One cool feature it has is that you can interchange any two audio banks and fade out the tracks. I'm still studying this one. Hopefully Raleene will be patient and persistent enough to learn this in time for our next gig!

And now for the photo junkies...

 These two flibbergabbers belong to the iPad camera connection kit.

One has an SD card slot while the other has a USB slot. If you're more responsible than I am and you actually keep all the contents in the box your camera came in, you can connect your camera directly to your iPad with the USB cord thingaling.

 What it does is import/move your pictures to your ipad. It's pretty neat if you're into quick uploads and if you don't exactly want to or can't lug around your laptop while travelling. It's a cool and cheap alternative (Php 1,300 or roughly around $30 for both) to buying the new wifi cameras like the "smart cameras" that Samsung is selling. 

If you're like me and can't take good pictures no matter what smart or auto setting the camera is on, there's a plethora of photo editing applications you can choose from in the app store.

Speaking of apps and fully utilizing your Apple products, did you know that you can create, import, save, and edit word, excel, and powerpoint files on your device? Docs Unlimited is the shizz, yo. I had it on my phone first and it helped a lot with school.

Other music-y applications you might want to check out:

Figure

Soundprism

Voice Synth

Tabletop

MIDI Guitar

Ral's currently doing a project using the new iPad setup. Her first solo-ish recording! All that's left is a chunk of the vocal track and we'll be able to post it online. :)

My pen is mightier than your sword.

A couple weeks back, Ral and I both bought Adonit Jot Pro styluses. There are numerous drawing applications available, but we've taken a liking to Paper by FifyThree. Here are some things I drew on Ral's iPad:

   

JOT PRO + PAPER BY FIFTYTHREE

Ral during Bloggers' United 3

Aivan (Ral's boothmate) wanted me to draw him.

JOT PRO + SKETCHBOOK PRO

Sadly, Paper by FiftyThree doesn't have a mobile version

iPhones are hard to draw on ☹

JOT PRO + SKETCHBOOK EXPRESS

There's no desktop version of Paper by FiftyThree either. *cue single tear*

Surprisingly, the stylus works with the Macbook trackpad!

 

Obligatory derp drawing

Note to self: When you want to draw more characters like this, don't draw in class.

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Okay fine, I might end up investing in a proper tablet sometime in the future. The stylus' compatibility with the track pad is cool and all, but it does limit your movement which, consequently, will affect your productivity. But if you're the kind who draws for fun and is in no need of proper equipment, the stylus+trackpad/iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch combo is more than enough. :)

Everyone should start drawing or doodling. It soothes the soul. There's no wrong or right way to doodle. Just let the ink flow and your thoughts flow with it. If people can rant through speech and song, you can most definitely rant through colors and lines. Or you could throw paint at the wall or crush crayons onto a canvas. Whatever floats your boat. We all have our own unique ways of expression.

✌♡☞

Peace, love, and poke thy neighbor

TOYCON 2012

Last Saturday, instead of having dinner, brother and I ended up in ToyCon. Our priorities are ace.

Chubchubs.

This guy was the first to welcome us.

He deserves all the awards.

Hit the jump for more pictures and words.

"Practice makes perfect!"...

...says the one who's skilled enough to attain perfection. Which is also the same person who doesn't and will never exist. Ever. Because humans will never be perfectly skilled in anything because there's always room for improvement and, well, we just aren't wired that way, dammit.

School started a couple of weeks back (for those of you who don't know, I'm finally taking up Music Production in Benilde. Yay!) and I took it upon myself to practice with Logic Pro. I don't even know if what I'm doing is right. So far, I have these two tracks:

I'M NOT YOUR TOY by La Roux

Tempo's off in this one. It was meant to be a raw-ish vocals + guitar track (as made evident by the shitty tem- oh wait, my tempo's always shit). But things happened and I ended up having too much fun.

I DON'T WANNA MISS A THING by Aerosmith

This was initially supposed to be another auto-tune adventure (much like the Banana song), but it seemed too sincere of a song to auto-tune. Does that make sense? I didn't want to "taint" the song with my stupidity. I'm not implying that auto-tuned tracks are stupid, it's more of... the act of me auto-tuning things means I don't take certain songs seriously (POTATO-NA~). But since auto-tuned vocals are cool to some extent, the treatment was used on the back-up vocals.

I figured it'd be easier to practice on covers since the song's already structured a certain way. All you have to worry about is making it your own.

It was fun toying with midi instruments.

Finally.

Late-ish update, but better late than never.

IT'S FINALLY HAPEPNGING BITCHESSFSDZZDZ!!!11!!!!1~1

After fighting for it for close to a decade (long story), it's finally happening. I'm finally taking up Music Production! Huzzah!

It took a lot of time, effort, and a lot of God-given bitchslaps accompanied with lessons and realizations to get me where I am now. No way in hell am I screwing this up. As internet as my witness, I will do everything it takes to excel and glorify The Big Guy Upstairs. Whatever. It. Takes.

AUTO-TUNE ABENCHOORS!

Saw this video months ago:

And I just had to make this

The lyrics aren't spot-on, but hey, I wasn't born a minion.

I've always disliked auto-tune, and I never thought I'd ever use it. But around two years ago, whilst toying with Garageband, I thought it'd be funny to auto-tune my voice and write a song over the drum track that the program automatically inserts and loops for you when you create a new project. Here's a screencap of the post

Curious as to how it sounds like? Click me!

This song is going to undergo some major tuneage tweaks before its rebirth into the interwebs.

❖

This definitely isn't going to be my last auto-tune abenchoor. Mehehehe.

"I'MMA PUNCH YOU SO HARD, THINGS POP OUTTA YOU"...

...is what I yell whenever I get a hold of unused cards, and it's all because of this baby right here

Thank you, Cine! :) Thanks for the photos, too. I'm glad you know I can't do photography. Mehehe.
You're the best [insert word to describe what you are to me] ever.

♥

Keeping the ball rolling~

So apart from the album (which will hopefully be done around May or something), I've been lucky enough to collaborate with other musicians and form new bands. It's time that I step out of my comfort zone (a.k.a. beside or hiding behind my sister), explore the rest of the world and take on musical endeavors alongside other musicians.

So far, I have two new bands...

YOUR FACE

Your Face was conceptualized when Vince (full-time drummer of Vinnie and the Hello Kitties, part-time lesbian wannabe) and I drank too much coffee. We thought it'd be cool to have a band called Your Face and hear people talk about us.

"Your Face sucks"

"Your Face could've done better"

"I love Your Face"

"Your Face makes me cry"

"I want to see Your Face tonight"

"Is Your Face DTF (down to funk)?"

"What can Your Face do?"

"Your Face lights up my day"

etc.

That's... that's basically how we came to be. Because we were high on caffeine. #TrueStory

HOUSE OF HAMSTERS

Reese (1/2 of Reese & Vica; ) and I have been meaning to start something together for the longest time now. When we finally got around to it, we sat our bums down and agreed that we would make the most out of our ukuleles (in other words, we can't wield our other axes during gigs). And then we decided to name ourselves "House of Hamsters" because, well, it was the name we liked the most when we consulted this one band name generator online. This band serves as the outlet for all the songs we can't sing with our other bands.

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Apart from doing covers, both Your Face and House of Hamsters will be working on writing original material... In the future. Not necessarily in the near future because we don't exactly know what the future has in store for us. So for now, we'll be focusing on finding our sound. And we plan on doing so by covering a buttload of songs.

I'm really glad I got to collaborate with other musicians. After almost 3 years of being exposed to the music scene here in Manila, it finally happened. And I'll be sure not to limit myself to these bands. If an opportunity comes up, I'll do my best to take it and conquer it. God knows I've had enough of wasted opportunities, fearing the unknown, not trying hard enough, and giving up faster than I can scarf down chocolate. Have you ever seen a vacuum cleaner suck up cookie crumbs from the carpet? Imagine a monster vacuum cleaner gobbling up, not only the crumbs, but the entire carpet and flooring as well. Imagine all of that happening as soon as you switch it on. Yep, that's equivalent to how quickly I give up and the intensity of my discouragement when I do.

This year will be full of musical badassery. I'll be sure of it.

Musical. Badassery. Fo'. Shizzle.

ALBUMALBUMALBUMALBUMALBUMALBUMALBUM!!!

SO YEAH I'M RELEASING AN ALBUM SOON.

LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN!!!

SO THESE ARE THE THREE SONGS FROM THE ALBUM THAT I'VE RELEASED HERE ON ZE WONDERFUL WORLD WIDE WEB. YOU WON'T BE HEARING THE REST OF THE SONGS UNTIL THE ALBUM COMES OUT.

ARE YOU AS EXCITED AS I AM?!?!

NO??

Okay.

Seriously though, I'm really happy. It's finally happening!

❖

Excuse me while I express my gratitude for the existence of this man right here

Carlos Castaño a.k.a. Keyeh Kehrlehs

He bugged me about recording with him. He bugged me a lot until I finally gave in. I don't know if he used the whole "help me with a song" thing to lure me into his studio, but I'm glad he did it.

He just had his 3rd album launch last night! And it was livestreamed on Youtube aaand captured and uploaded for those who weren't able to watch it/for those who want to watch it again. Here it is:

So proud of you, man ♥

SCREW RESOLUTIONS, I'M MAKING A WISH LIST

Since resolutions don't exactly give me the push I need to do better throughout the year, I thought that maybe it'd do me good to put my materialistic human nature to use.

Instead of creating a list of things I want to practice or achieve, I've made a list of things I want to be able to give myself at the end of the year. Said list is a cross between a wish list and a new year's resolution list. In working towards getting what I want when the year ends, I hope I establish new (hopefully) good habits and ethics.

To make things more interesting, I've included reasons as to why I want these goodies. I'm more than excited to let you guys in on how shallow my interests really are.

Let's get started!

(click on product names to go to their product pages)

iPhone 4S

Because I need me some Siri to organize my life~ and because I need to let go of my dying 3GS. A couple more years (or months...?) and it'll be obsolete. Other than the 4S being faster performance-wise, almost all the apps I need/want aren't compatible with my phone, and the camera on the 4S kicks major ass.

MacBook Pro

You can never go wrong with a Pro, bro. I've discussed this with dad, and I might be getting one as soon as I go back to school. I need a badass music-making machine that I can bring with me wherever I go. My desktop computer's pretty awesome, but I'm almost always out of the house. It'll be easier to work with other people if I can take my workstation with me.

LomoKino

Since my hands are too shaky to take still photographs, might as well give this 35mm movie camera a try.

Hello Kitty Sewing Machine

Because I.... just because. The Martha in me longs for it. And I'm tired of stitching things by hand.

Roland CS-10EM Binaural Microphone Earphones

If you're familiar with the concept of 3D sound/binaural recording, you'll understand why I want a pair of these. You can manipulate frequencies and replicate the whole 3D audio thing with programs, but nothing can compare to the real deal. And it's easier when you get to record the audio the way you want it. You fuss about technical stuff less.

Zoom H2n

What I lack in equipment, this mic makes up for in versatility. This thing is basically 4 microphones in one. It can run on batteries, has internal memory, is capable of editing audio (divide, normalize, and encode), supports SD cards, and can be used as a USB microphone. Check out this product page to read up on the other features and specs. This shit's legit. And since this can run another plug-in mic, pairing this up with the Roland Binaural Microphone Earphones will get you ace recordings. 3D audio recordings + portable audio interface that sports 4 kinds of microphones inside of it. Do the math.

Korg nanoSERIES2

I know you're gonna judge me for wanting these MIDI controllers, but I CAN'T HELP IT. Midi tracks are both overrated and underrated in a sense that people use them too much and, at the same time, people don't use them enough. Okay, I'm not making any sense. I guess musicians just need to find a balance if they ever consider using midi tracks. It's kinda like dancing the robot - don't overdo it or you'll look like an idiot/an ass/an idiot's ass. 

MicroKorg Synthesizer/Vocoder

I've always wanted to have one of these. I doubt I'll be using it for live performances any time soon, but it'd be nice to learn how to use one properly before actually bringing it out and showing it off during gigs. Plus, I think it's time I learn another instrument well enough to be able to compose on it.

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Here's to hoping I learn valuable lessons and not just focus on getting everything on the list!

Because S&R is a Magical Place

One thing I hate about grocery shopping is that I end up wanting to buy the entire damn supermarket. I can't help it, everything looks so good when I'm shopping with mom/dad/someone who can afford all the shit I want.

Seriously though, look at the pictures again and tell me you don't want to buy everything in one go.

And this is why I'm fat.