STEREO
Not the best set up, but hooked together to my liking. Each component from a different era. In my living room, I have a Yahama receiver with a USB flash drive port from when I invested in my first house and an Audio-Technica turntable from when I was back in the Air Force. Also, in my office, I have a computer built to my specifications and an LED Samsung monitor. And a good pair of Logitech speakers from my Air Force days.
What came first? The music or the writing? Before I even started writing, I remember car rides with my mom when we would sing along to songs from back in the 1980s. When I was riding with my dad, he would often ask me who was that singer or rapper.
RECORDS, CDs, CASSETTES, MP3s
Fields of generations of music ranging from different eras. Fields of them! My collection is what makes me the toast of the town to the cool kids. Funk, R&B, New Wave, Rock and Roll, Rap, Jazz, Classical, and et cetera. I miss the days of making mixtapes. Nothing screams solidarity than handing a fellow music lover a mixtape that was slapped together on a Memorex cassette. I remember buying Memorex blank tapes by the pack at the local department store, Venture’s. I miss those days and wouldn’t mind reliving those moments.
SPOTIFY
The older I got, more of my friends became digital. Thanks to Facebook, we get to stay in touch and learn what’s going on in each other’s lives. I would still be in the St. Louis-Metro East area and another friend will be in another state who has settled down with a family and a well-paying gig. Through the realms of Facebook and Twitter, they will know what I am listening to via Spotify. For the readers who are oblivious about it, Spotify is a music streaming, podcast, and video service that provides digital rights management–protected content from record labels and media companies. I came across Spotify roughly a couple of years ago. I thought to myself, this is cool. I learned I can share digital playlists to many friends I met over the years. One night, I had an epiphany. Over the years, I would pick a song from my physical music collection to go with the piece I was writing.
One night, I had an epiphany. Over the years, I would pick a song from my physical music collection to go with the piece I was writing. Now, with this site, I can use the same idea via Spotify! Unbeknownst to me, I was ahead of my time! All I needed to do was refresh myself with basic coding. I learned basic coding a little over ten years ago when I started blogging. Now, a bigger field to go wild and crazy with a playlist and not worry about time constraints like I did with blank cassettes. If I opened a pack of the tapes I have in my storage room and connected my old dual-cassette player to my computer, I’d have music for hours. The only thing I will have to do is create a playlist dedicated to the time of each side of the cassette.
SOUNDTRACK
Immediately after I wrote down the ideas and played around with the rough drafts, I would go through my music, both physical and digital, collection to find my soundtrack. It was a crazy time. I was juggling both my job during the day and a house flip in the evening. I used every spare time I had available. In roughly three weeks, a soundtrack was completed. To avoid going too crazy with it, I decided to put together twelve songs as a playlist and label it as a volume. The same motif will be applied here with the entries to have a good flow going. It helps to keep things interesting. Until the next time, devoted readers, live long and prosper!
For song of the entry, here is Gary Bartz with Funked Up!