Yasunori Nishiki: Dear Travelers

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

One listen.

I think that, from what I wrote (I wrote this one a few days ago; none of the writings from songs of the same soundtrack were shared on the day they were written), I was thinking more about the emotional content than what the sounds were doing, and I think that, considering the type of track this is, doing so worked well.

This is probably the last song from this soundtrack that I’ll cover for a while. Mainly I did this batch of songs as I wanted to remove the soundtrack to save some space, but wanted to cover some of the songs first. Might get it again some point down the track. Not sure.

Yasunori Nishiki’s (西木 康智) “Dear Travelers” (“旅人たちへ”) is from Octopath Traveler II‘s soundtrack, Octopath Traveler II Original Soundtrack.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Gentle and fragile are the keys as they tell their story. In this story, a reflection of what has been, and perhaps what will be. The time has passed and memories are as such, and time continues on.

Perhaps an emotional moment; one of relief and reflection, as paths change and lives move, and threads are untangled. Or maybe they aren’t. It’s not melancholic; not bittersweet, but it is happy and sad.

On one hand the keys look back and on the other they look forward. They almost reminisce, and they play their delicate tune, with both heaviness and lightness, and they soon fade as the song ends.

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Yasunori Nishiki: Ruins Immemorial

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

One listen.

This one came easy, and the drama of it felt more fitting too. I think I was able to get enough down, and overall there’s a decent idea of the song.

Yasunori Nishiki’s (西木 康智) “Ruins Immermorial” (“悠久の遺跡”) is from Octopath Traveler II‘s soundtrack, Octopath Traveler II Original Soundtrack.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Keys rise in a quiet, and more keys, much higher up start echoing down, seemingly dancing. They take careful steps, but they are not hesitant. Soon strings fill the space between, and they seemingly reshape some of the melody.

A rising of percussion, and so does woodwind, and all the expansive sweep of the drama becomes apparent. It reaches through a past and pulls to the present in a slow and graceful movement as sound spreads out its dramatic motion, revealing a beauty of the passage of time whilst pressing upon a slight urgency.

All returns to the start, and it’s almost as though the ticking of a clock, or at least a demarcation of the passage of time, even when the strings come to fill the space once more.

That sweeping reveal returns, and in it that urgency seems a little more apparent now, but also a slight lifting of weight. The space seems to breathe, almost, and it seems to come alive, or at least that’s implied.

Eventually, however, the sounds begin to fade out and the song ends.

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Flowing Sound

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

A couple of nights ago I was photographing toe who were performing in Sydney. Decided to play around a bit with shutter times, got this one. During processing I realised it wasn’t as good as I thought, but I still like it. I like the sense of flow that comes through.

This is my submission into the three hundred-and-twenty-first Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. The theme for this one is “Intentional Camera Movement“.

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

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

I recommend joining the community and participating in the challenges. They’re pretty straightforward whilst allowing room for interpretation, and provide a good way to think about photography in general. If not, however, then at the very least you should check out what others submit to the challenges.

I hope you enjoy.

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Yasunori Nishiki: Gloomy Grotto

Posted on October 19, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

One listen, and here I swerved off a bit, though maybe it doesn’t seem like it. I think it’d be better to say that I swerved away from how I wanted to write, but that doesn’t matter too much anyway as I think the result works well enough,

This song doesn’t go for the sweeping and dramatic, or at least blatant dramatic, and perhaps it’s unfair to say that Yasunori Nishiki does that dramatic moment a lot. Perhaps. I realised during the listening of the soundtrack this song is from that it feels really long, probably because it’s a little over seven hours, but it feels long well before reaching the end. That is a lot of music to compose and I respect the commitment to the work, but I don’t think the album makes for a good listening experience unless you break it down into parts.

Yasunori Nishiki’s (西木 康智) “Gloomy Grotto” (“仄暗き洞窟”) is from Octopath Traveler II‘s soundtrack, Octopath Traveler II Original Soundtrack.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Low and seemingly murky notes, though perhaps they’re just, and only, quiet.
Keys are deep and the woodwind plays with a gentle waft, whilst strings pluck carefully.

Soon the strings replace the woodwind and stir and spread. A glittering of percussion briefly heard whilst the strings play through this stuffy space.

The unease lifts to focus on keys and light percussion for a moment, and the space is still whilst the moment holds here. Then it returns to the downbeat stuffiness.

And perhaps that’s the best way to describe this, as it does sound stuffy, as though the space has remained untouched for a long time and it has not had much circulation of what we think of as fresh.

So the strings stir once more, but they hang low to the ground, and they once more had followed the woodwind, and that unease remains, and once more it lifts when the moment focuses on the keys and percussion, and it seems it’s a glimmer of light before returning to the dark, where the sounds fade and the song ends.

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Yasunori Nishiki: Seaside Town

Posted on October 18, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

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

Posted on October 18, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

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

Posted on October 17, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

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)

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

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?

Posted on October 15, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

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

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

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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