Yasunori Nishiki: Seaside Town

One listen and I don’t feel I wrote enough, or well enough.

I’ve noticed that with some of Yasunori Nishiki’s compositions is that he’s quite willing to go for the dramatic push after the “lower” section, and it’s interesting until you start noticing it as, even though he generally keeps them brief, they start to feel rote more than they do inspired or interesting. Don’t get me wrong; the compositions are good and they are enjoyable, but what I’m getting is a firm blueprint and some preventing doing enough with it, but perhaps this has to do with what was requested for the soundtrack. I don’t know.

Realistically you could argue that plenty of other bands and artists do the same thing, and I do. However, there’s a difference between, say, Motörhead’s approach and Yasunori Nishiki’s.

Yasunori Nishiki’s (西木 康智) “Seaside Town” (“潮騒の鳴く街”) is from Octopath Traveler II‘s soundtrack, Octopath Traveler II Original Soundtrack.

I hope you enjoy.

Gentle sounds rattle and draw short in stretches, and guitar plinks a light quiet rhythm. Sound lifts and keeps the jaunty, cosy feel going, and strings rise. Soon it shifts into the grandiose of open spaces, and envelopes all, then suddenly stops as keys take over and descend in steps, keeping some of that energy going, but lower.

The keys then seem to dance a little, happy, but also perhaps a little wistful.

A return to the start and that smallness is still there. It’s cosy and quiet, and once more the sounds stir as the openness approaches, and once more it’s all space and open and grandiose, and there’s a beauty in this stirring and rising and expansion, and it’s all so wonderful.

The sudden switch and the keys lower, bringing everything back to where it once was, stepping down, seemingly swaying back and forth once they reach their lowest.

The sounds move toward their fading out and once they do, the song ends.

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Yasunori Nishiki: Hinoeuma

One listen. I tried to throw myself in and think about what I was writing at the same time, and I think some of it works and some of it could be better, but overall I think this represents the song well enough.

Yasunori Nishiki’s (西木 康智) “Hinoeuma” (“ヒノエウマ地方“) is from Octopath Traveler II‘s soundtrack, Octopath Traveler II Original Soundtrack.

I hope you enjoy.

A heaviness spreads out of the gentle sounds as they flow with focus. Percussion oscillates as strings tease out drama and mood, and soon the rhythm changes but the flow doesn’t. Woodwind steps as strings entangle themselves into a smooth underscoring, and the sounds rise and fall with all the energy they need.

They keep going higher, pushing up and up until no more, and they drop a little. The beginning is repeated, but with more context, and a twinkling of percussion ushers in higher sound, well above the foundation, but seemingly firmly part of it.

A switch and everything expands and it seems there’s a bit more hope now. There’s a reprise from the weight; not shaking it off, but moving beyond it, if that makes sense.

A return to the start and the sounds flow on as they did previously. There are those hints of looking forward, of not being bogged down, and they seem to grow in prominence gradually. They remain intertwined with the heaviness and they are more subtle, but they are there.

The sounds remain driven and they keep flowing forward, and they look with focus and perhaps a conviction. Once they reach that expansive moment once more, they fly onward, seemingly free, but of course it’s a fleeting moment, and eventually everything fades as the song ends.

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Steps from Shade to Sun

This photo I took with the intention of seeing how the steps would look at an angle, and I think for a first attempt this turned out okay. I also wanted to highlight their shape, and I think this photo does that well.

This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s Monochrome Madness for this week. For this one Aletta of nowathome has chosen a theme, and the theme is “Steps and Stairs“.

Participating is pretty straightforward and something I recommend. If you do, then include the tag “monochrome-madness” in your post. If not participating, then at the least check out Leanne’s photography as well as what other people submit.

I hope you enjoy.

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Yasunori Nishiki: Main Theme (Night)

One listen.

Went in, described the song. Described some of it well enough.

Yasunori Nishiki’s (西木 康智) “Main Theme (Night)” (“メインテーマ -夜-“) is from Octopath Traveler II‘s soundtrack, Octopath Traveler II Original Soundtrack.

I hope you enjoy.

Lightly keys lap whilst voice hums along next to them. A little bit of that familiar sadness creeps in, and it seems that this is a quieter reflection of the heavy dramatic. The vocals rise but don’t soar, and they they diminish whilst the keys sort of oscillate around a light pattern. Percussion comes in to gently touch, then a rising once more.

It sort of drops down as woodwind comes in to take a lead. Strings rise up and push out whilst keeping focus inward, and the dance of sounds stir and swell, but don’t rise too far.

As said before, it’s that familiar sadness. Woodwind returns, and it’s all dramatic, but it’s calmly dramatic. It looks forward and reaches out, and the sounds push and they keep moving up and down, and all pull back, and suddenly it’s just keys for a moment. Sounds stir and build around them as the keys linger on some hope, before they disappear. Soon what remains stops and the song ends.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1416: Who are they?

So I’ve got to do my writing now because if I don’t do it now, then I won’t have time to not do anything later and that’s when the real fun  begins. So I need to get this done and then move on and do something else, and move on and do something else, and move on and do something else… and you get the idea.

So I’d written about the rain earlier today, and I thought it was an interesting thing to write about at that particular time due to how heavy it was and where I was and all that stuff. Didn’t materialise properly. Now I’m writing about writing about the rain, and that’s just too much of not enough. I need to reverse the process and get on and say whatever it is that needs to be said… about the rain.

It’s about the rain! And it’s not happening right now, but I keep on trying to get the words across, but they just get worse. They don’t add anything of value. That’s the way it goes, as they say.

Now what’s really important is that I get this done so I can move on and get other things done. I need to find a way forward, and the way forward is through getting this down. Once this is down I can move on. I can move toward tomorrow. I can move toward wherever the day lies, for the day moves and refuses to stay still. Sure, it moves slow, but it does move and in moving I can only keep following it, or I can choose to not. I can choose to find some sort of stationary position and let it all wash over me. I could do that… but I don’t want to, as they say.

Who are they? That is a good question. I’ve never thought to ask, but when you’re throwing stuff against the wall in order to just get things done, you don’t really think about these things. You don’t really think about the impact that you may or may not have on the overall shape of whatever it is that you’re trying to shape. It ends up all misshapen and, really, is that what you want? Personally I don’t care much myself, but if I had to choose between some things and other things, I know what I’d be choosing, and it certainly isn’t an answer I can provide at this juncture in time as I’m just trying to find the way forward, and then get on with the getting on and writing some more, as there’s a lot of writing to do and I’m gonna have a pretty busy night if I want to get even just some of it done.

But that is all to say that writing is fun, even when it isn’t. Always something to learn and grow from and always experiences to have, and as you have them things change and hopefully you develop something better.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 04:58:31

Just tried to get this started and finished, and it’s a mess, but it was quite fun to write.

Written at work.

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Born From the Cloud Machine

I was thinking of the title when I took this photo. Probably more accurate to say that the scene made me think of the idea of the title, what with these more distinct formations being surrounded by hazier clouds.

I hope you enjoy.

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Meeting P’ung Ryong

Breath of Fire IV is a game that has what I feel is a downright inspired setting.
It’s one where it feels like the team behind it had a fascination with the idea of the world, and so you get these really strong designs throughout.

Breath of Fire IV is also a game that I quite like, and I wanted to draw when Ryu and Nina meet P’ung Ryong, the game’s wind dragon. The image here is a trace and it turned out alright. Partly it was done as practise; partly due to this moment being one of my favourites.

I started this nine days ago, and did most of the work today.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1415: A Brief Breather

So I’ve been working on things that I’m not meant to be working on today, and that’s alright. Sometimes that’s the way things go. Right now I’m having a brief breather from those things and writing this before I go back into the thick of things, as I’m about to enter the part where I deal with the nitty-gritty, and that’s going to take a while. Hope to have the last of this particular thing done in twenty minutes. We’ll see.

After that, I get stuck into the things I am meant to be doing, which shouldn’t take too long anyway. I hope. A lot of powering through and getting on, and going forward, but let me tell you, this brief break from it all feels too good. Maybe it’s time to take the rest of the day off… I wish.

There are too many things to get out of the way, but I’m getting there. I’m getting them done, and that’s a good thing… I think. Perhaps there are other, more important things to get done, but this isn’t so bad. It could always be worse, of course. What I’m doing is still learning and refining, and it helps in some ways, and so long as it helps, I’m happy.

What does it help with? Why, learning, of course!

So I think I need to keep going shortly, but I’m hoping to have this bit of rambling done so as to relax the muscles and keep the wrists flexible, and then I’ll get back into it and so on and so forth, and you get the idea.

It has been a productive day though, and I’m happy about that. I’m happy that I’ve gotten some things done, even if they’re not the things I’m meant to be doing. Too much of my time has been spent not doing much of anything and letting fatigue rule over me, so this is nice. This is good. Learning and developing, and hopefully getting somewhere with stuff. Just need to keep on working on it and need to keep going.

Once this is done and the thing I’m working on at the moment is done, it’ll be the dance of the thousands of words. Prep for tomorrow and the week ahead. Going forward and marching onward toward destiny, and getting things published. Needs to be done today before tomorrow. If it can be done, I can rest. If not, I cannot rest. A day of work takes precedence over a day of not working, and that’s not the worst thing in the world, really. I like my job, but it means I need to be less wasteful.

I needed to be less wasteful last year too, and the year before that, and the year before that… and you get the idea.

For now, I just keep on going and my break is nearly over. Time to get back into the thick of it and keep going, and keep on learning as I work.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 06:26:93

This is one of those things where I had to take a break, but keep going and so it shouldn’t be treated as much more than a sort of “steam release” bit of writing, if that makes sense. Not quite for cooling down; just to breathe.

Written at home.

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Shunsuke Tsuchiya: Earth and the Wind

One listen.

Heard this song for the first time a few days ago, wanted to write about it, procrastinated, threw myself in just now. Bit of a productive morning, and far more so than usual but I’m just trying to keep on going as there’s a lot I need to get through before tomorrow, and it’s happening and it’s nice. But anyway.

Threw myself in, wrote the below. Not great, but it feels pretty flowy to me. The song has a good sense of space to it and I don’t think I got that quite across, but I got some aspects of it down pretty firmly.

Shunsuke Tsuchiya’s (土屋 俊輔) “Earth and the Wind” (“風薫る大地“) is from the first Another Eden soundtrack, Another Eden Original Soundtrack.

I hope you enjoy.

The light notes and tones float on in, and soon something akin to woodwind plays over this airy rhythm. It seems at odds with the sounds, and yet it seems to fit quite snugly.

Soon the sounds start lifting upon a breeze, and they seem to keep going, or at least the woodwind does, and it disappears as everything else returns and anchors to the ground. The sounds stay earthy in this moment, and bass gets busy, but it seems to fit in nicely still.

Sounds return to the beginning, and that airiness is there, and once more the sounds elevate, and there seems to be some sort of melancholy, or known sadness there, even if only by a little.

That woodwind sound disappears once more, and a return to the ground to run along it in adventure happens once more, before finding its brief sense of pause before resuming once more, then the sounds fade and the song ends.

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Late Winter Harvest

This was taken toward the end of winter this year.
The flowers had bloomed a little earlier than I thought they would, and that’s a bit concerning to me. So were the bees being out.

Still, it made for what I think is a decent enough photo.

I didn’t do much with the prunus bloom photos I took this year, and it hasn’t been much time since this one was taken, but it feels like it was a long time ago, and sometimes a couple of months is a long time.

This is my submission into the three hundred-and-twentieth Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. The theme for this one is “Looking Back“.

The host of the Lens-Artists challenges cycles weekly between the following people:

Tina

Patti

Ann-Christine aka Leya

John Steiner

Sofia Alves

Anne Sandler

Egídio

Ritva

Sofia is curating this one. The next one is curated by Anne.

I hope you enjoy.

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