What is up Music APPRECIATION!!!
Welcome to the Season Finale of the Season of *Myka-Trying-To-Do-TikTok*
Thank you very much for hanging out with me this season and for helping me get some views on the videos. The medium/platform is a beast. I’m not sure if it’s my cup of tea, but I gave it a solid try.
The past couple days, I put together a video compilation of a bunch of videos that I took while in Japan. I set the WHOLE thing to transition with a remix I made (unofficial, bootleg). Because it was/is an unofficial bootleg and it contains copyrighted material, the video wouldn’t post with the music :/
So, to counteract this problem, I decided to chop the video up into a part one/two and feature music that the platform had available.
SADLY, the full *vision* isn’t available to the public, but if you would like to see the video, shoot me a text/email/call/pigeon and I’ll be sure to send it over to you.
Without further ado, the FINAL video of this season.
The Video:
Last Thoughts:
I learned a LOT this season.
Most of that “learning” came from being pushed way out of my comfort zone. It was less in doing uncomfortable things, but more so just realizing the actual amount of “work” needed to make something comprehensive on such a short time (using primarily free time).
The thing about shooting film is that it really is the more the merrier. Unless you’re very deliberate and you know EXACTLY what you want. And there’s this thing where as time goes on and the deadline gets closer, the ability to actually capture film seemingly diminishes exponentially. As in, there were a lot of times where I would mentally set aside some time on Tuesday and Thursday to film. And then Tuesday would come and I’d get a little - but then I’d tell myself, “alright, you have Thursday so just get the rest then.” And then something would come up on Thursday and suddenly I’m scrambling to make due with what I have.
On top of all that, the desire to make my own music too? . . . . BOY did I over shoot that one.
All in all, this was a lot of fun.
To recenter a bit, this project is “Starting with Music Appreciation” as in everything shared here is meant to raise, heighten, give, the experience of appreciation. For me, trying something new and realizing just how hard it is, that raised my appreciation of it. For filmmaking, for tiktok, for music makers, all of it. Humbling, enlightening, and lots of fun. Will I continue on TikTok? Probably. Will I continue with the music angle? Probably not. UNLESS I have a song I want to share.
But again, thank you for being here with me and for reading, watching, and listening.
Updates:
SO! Next week. New season. But first! Some important updates.
UPDATE #1
I am in the process of revamping my personal website which more or less will be a mini-magazine. “Starting with Music Appreciation” is my first adventure into substack/weekly writing. In addition to that, I have two other newsletters I run on a weekly basis. One is a personal productivity/journal one. The other is a philosophy/psychology one.
All three of these mini projects, I will be tightening up a LOT and really trying to productize them in terms of reaching a wider audience. They’ll still be written by me and *hopefully* will still feel like my voice. But I’m going to take a more serious/structured angle with it.
That’s a long and convoluted way of saying - Music Appreciation will be tightened up and going under a soft “restart.” Starting next week, we’ll go all the way back to zero in terms of ideas.
“what is music?”
“what is appreciation?”
“how to appreciate music?”
That approach. And all of this is meant to provide a more useful/helpful framework for readers in trying to increase music appreciation. Format wise I’m still working on it, but I’m thinking that it’ll be more bite sized smaller, reads focused on different elements of music in an attempt to build everyone’s comfort with the different terms and how to hear them.
In my time in Japan, something I noticed at restaurants was how much they want you to know how to enjoy the food. That is, for something like dipping ramen, they’ll have little diagrams that show you how to eat it properly. Or for things like a restaurant where you can catch what you’ll eat. There’s education x entertainment and ultimately they try to cultivate an experience that gives you something.
For music, I think there’s a lot of that left off the table. A lot of times the difference between liking a song could just be a matter of knowing (or not) how to enjoy the song. So that’s what I want to get into. A digestible, entertaining way of learning how to appreciate music more.
All in all, this won’t be a huge difference for the long time readers, just something worth noting.
Update #2
And! All of this is pertinent because . . .
*speaking it into existence*
I’m still hard at work trying to bring my music listening experience to life in Hawaii.
For recap, in Dec 2021, I won a mico grant to do a pop-up music listening experience in Kaimuki. The idea was much of Hawaii’s musical history (bands from the 70’s/80’s and older) is only accessible via recordings. And because many people only listen to stuff via streaming or on crackling radio stations, they truly haven’t “heard” or experienced the depth of that music or that culture.
The best way I can describe it is like, imagine your best friend or your significant other’s voice talking to you in person. Now imagine that voice on a broken radio crackling through with static. Which one conveys more emotion? Which one allows more communication? Of course you say, in person sounds better.
Yet, despite this, most people are hesitant on realizing that music, much like your best friend of significant other, is dramatically effected by the medium its being played on. Most people can hear the discernible qualities they’re familiar with and they’re okay with that resolution - song lyrics, the melody, etc.
But a lot of the times, radio or even streaming - it is akin to hearing only a PART of the otherwise full message or idea. And that’s the idea and the importance of sound quality I want to help give people the experience of.
Through a series of WILD and unforeseen circumstances, I have access to a RIDICULOUSLY incredible sound system. My goal is to find a home for it and craft a bar around it (mostly to subsidize the cost of having this be a relatively public exhibition).
So! That’s in the works.
And a lot of this . . . . started with Music Appreciation.
Anyways, more details will come to y’alls as I have them.
Thank you very much!
See you NEXT WEEEK,
MYKAAAAAA
Bonus:
The song I WANTED to use.
Aloha, MYKAAAAAA!
Congratulations on making it through another season! I love the way you are "failing" FORWARD and learning as you go. We are all works-in-progress!
Shakas!!
Mr. A