This past week I had some extra free time, so I felt like pulling out the old midi keyboard and playing some melodies. The beauty of having a midi keyboard is the ability to adjust the sound that is outputted to virtually anything you can imagine. This is due to the audio being generated through a computer and not by the keyboard itself. For more information on which midi keyboard I use or the feature set it has, please refer to my other blog post "Tools and Software." I'll list a couple melodies I've been working on and practicing within this post.

Keyboard Melodies 

The following video is a melody I've been practicing. That is most known for it's pivatol role within the kingdom hearts series. As it is present in every game of the series.

Kingdom Hearts - Dearly Beloved by Yōko Shimomura

 

The next audio clip is a mash up of a couple melodies I have been practicing from various games, that I recorded during a single session. One of the melodies within is something random I came up with during the session. I'll list the melodies in order of when they appear.

Legend of Zelda - The Lost Woods by Koji Kondo
Random melody I played --------------------------------------
Kingdom Hearts - Riku's Theme by Yōko Shimomura
Dark Cloud 2Battle for the Future by Tomohito Nishiura

 

      //Frostixa

I’m like a chameleon when it comes to photography, as I experiment with many different styles. My favourites are macro, candid, food, night, and lo-fi. The primary photography tools I utilize are my DSLR (A Nikon D3100), and Photoshop. Every day I see opportunities to capture moments with my camera, and I absolutely love editing photos. The freedom you have with all the various effects you can achieve is incredible. I’ll go over my favourite photography styles in more detail, including some examples I’ve taken.

Macro Photography
Macro photography consists of extremely close-up shots. Usually taken of objects that are small in size. Essentially the goal is to have the object dominate more than 50% of the frame. Achieving a solid depth of field effect is key to creating a great macro shot. You want the background to be blurred, causing the focused object to pop in extreme detail. Lighting is also very important as always with photography. It’s sometimes difficult to get proper lighting between the subject and the lens, as the lens occasionally casts a shadow. A good overhead light is key to prevent this issue. 


Candid Photography
This is my favourite style when it comes to social gatherings. Being able to capture people in the moment without preparation allows for completely natural photos. It allows people to appear relaxed and feel at ease, showing their true colours within the photo. In my opinion it’s one of the purest forms of photography as you are capturing life as it happens. 



Food Photography
Simple still life shots of food. It consists of selective focus on tilted plates with good and extreme close ups. You can make food look incredibly appealing through this form or even make one of their stand out features more prominent. A strong depth of field is a good trick to use to make food pop off plate more. Bright lighting can cause food to sparkle making it more appetizing as well.


Night Photography
Night photography is exactly what it’s called. Photos taken outdoors between dusk and dawn. This allows for the choice of artificial light, long exposure etc. You can get some really unique effects at night such as light paintings.


Lo-Fi Photography
Recently one of the upcoming trends in the photography world is lo-fi photography. This is partially due to Instagram popularizing retro filters. Lo-fi means low-fidelity and refers to giving the impression of low quality. Such as toy cameras or pinhole cameras. It’s very stylistic, and acts as reminder of how easy it is to create perfect photos today in the digital age; as back then it was not uncommon to have plenty of noise present in photos due to technical limitations. 

//Frostixa



Since as long as I can remember I've been interested in the arts. However the one that always stood out the most to me is music. I love listening to, producing and studying it. I find a life without music would be a difficult and sad one. It’s what gets me through each day and depending on which genre I listen to, it can motivate me as well. This is why I’ve chosen to delve deeper into it. I’ll share a condensed version of how I design a track in this blog post. 

[Refer to my other blog post about tools and software for more information on what I use to produce.] 

The key to producing music is to stay organized and create a plan of attack before you begin. Find your inspiration and think of a story you’d like to tell. If you focus too hard on the technicality of sound, you’ll lose the emotional aspect. This is why it’s important to envision some sort of world or situation and create sounds that tie with it. In my eyes if a listener is not engaged within the first 10 seconds they'll most likely change songs, so make it interesting! Producing in this mindset allows you to maintain a set direction and not stray off the goal.

Once you decide upon what story you’d like to tell, the next step is to design the track. A good workflow I like to use involves drawing out the song before I begin. I'll usually start with the orchestral strings and lay out the foundation. Afterward adding in the percussion and bass. Once the mood and overall structure is set I begin to draw out the details. Little things such as sound effects and noise to create and add suspense to the songs. Once the orchestral layer is completed I being to overlay the electronic parts. Synthesizers, samples, voice clips and those bass drops that seem to be so popular these days.

After the song is completed the task is not yet completed! Mastering is the most important part of sound design, as it divides the good from the bad. Even if you have produced something incredible, if it sounds muddy and distorted no one will want to listen. The key to a good master is to create a professional sound-stage and have crystal clear sound. You want the listeners to feel comfortable with headphones and not squint their eyes or mute the volume. Mastering is done through various programs, and is simply performed through the adjustments of the equalizer, volume spectrum and limiters.

Once mastering has been completed it's time to save, export and share the song with the world!

//Frostixa
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