Life in Pixels

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  • Rahman’s Oscar: Why Technology isn’t Everything

    I was delighted when I found out that my music role-model, A R Rahman, won an Academy Award® for his work on the best song (Jai Ho!), and musical score for the Oscar-sweeping Slumdog Millionaire.

    Rahman, the prolific Indian Cinema composer whom Time magazine named the “Mozart from Madras”, is widely known for his use of high-end technology to aid him in producing his masterpieces. In fact, it has been noted that his studio in Chennai is full of Apple computers sporting powerful music production software.

    But what strikes me as interesting, is that Rahman rose to fame without using all this high tech gadgetry: his work on Roja was critically acclaimed as breathing new life into “filmi” music.

    Therefore, Rahman uses his technology just as a tool; a means to ease his workflow.

    This is an important concept that I feel is often misunderstood by many aspiring artists, and not just in the musical field. Take graphic design as another example: you can have the best graphics software package (i.e. Adobe Creative Suite 4), and yet, without a design sense, skills, and a thorough understanding of the software, your work could look terrible – even though it was created using thousands of dollars worth of tools.

    I find myself shaking my head in disappointment when I see some of these aspiring artists “splurge” out on expensive tools, because I know that they’re wasting their money; they’re misguided.

    Whilst nobody can ever master any form of art, traditional skill is essential to fully succeed in a particular field. Technology is just one tool that can help you to quickly get the work done.

  • Obama’s win important for the world

    I am delighted at the Democrat’s win of the White House, and congratulate Barack Obama! Although not American myself, I have been supporting him this entire year, and believe that his term in office is an important one, not only for America, but for the world.

    His positive attitude towards his work, and the many policies he believes in, are beneficial to America, and the world.

    I am excited to see what this vibrant, fresh President shall do in his term of office – this is certainly a very rare occasion when I turn my attention towards politics – and foreign politics at that. But it is exciting and of great historical significance.

    Here’s to a successful term, Mr Obama, and all the best!

  • So… Battling Dragons and dealing with an iPhone

    I guess I’m a bit late to announce that I’ve finally gotten Brisingr, and the undeniable fact that it’s A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!!!!!!! Christopher Paolini (if you somehow stumble upon Life in Pixels), you have done a sterling job and I think you’re an amazing author. Keep it up!

    And then, I guess it’s apt to now announce that I’ve gotten the iPhone 3G. It’s awesome, but… it still has a few flaws, like the fact that Java is yet to grace it. However, this is no problemo, as I have read many reports (from, of course, reputable sources) that Sun Microsystems is developing a version of J2ME for the iPhone and should be available soon from the App Store.

    iPhone is really cool, especially the multi-touch features. I’m still getting used to the touch-QWERTY keyboard, but it’s neat nonetheless. I have also found (from Google) a great way to make ringtones work with iPhone (without having to buy them from the iTunes Store).

    I’ve yet to try this out, but here’s the process:

    If you own an iPhone, you’ll know that in order to put custom ringtones on it, you need to buy the song from the iTunes Store. Now, if you’re somebody like me, you’d probably think it riddiculous to have to re-pay for a song that you’ve already bought, if you go (like me) the “old-skool” route of buying an entire album on CD (shock-gasp-horror! Yes, I actually buy compact discs!! lol). So, this method makes it easy to use one of your existing songs on your new iPhone or iPhone 3G. It was discovered by a member of the MacRumors forums.

    You see, iPhone ringtones are in .M4R format. So, all you need to do, is rename an existing .AAC song in your iTunes library to have the extension of “.m4r”. Then, when you load it up in iTunes, it should have the little bell icon, which indicates it is ringtone-ready. Sync up your iPhone, do the relevant processes, and you’re off!!

    Any questions? Feel free to post on the comments below and I’ll gladly assist you (where I can, that is 😉

    And finally, a recent story I’ve completed for English will be going up soon (most likely in .pdf format because it’s so long). Look out for that very soon (probably sometime this week).

    Until next time, take care!

  • Review: “Viva la Vida” – Coldplay

    There are times when waiting for quality really pays off. This is certainly the case with Coldplay’s latest offering to their loyal fans and newcomers to their amazing sound (like myself).

    I’ve heard some of Coldplay’s previous hits on radio, like Speed of Sound and Clocks, but I never really considered to buy an album of theirs.

    Until now. Viva la Vida, according to Wikipedia, was recorded in Spain, Latin America and Barcelona, hence the strong Spanish influence in the vocals. It is also noted that Coldplay recorded in unconventional means, by apparently experimenting with acoustic guitars in various churches in Spain. This created the unusual, yet amazing sound that makes this album stand out from the rest.

    The alternative-rock band has also gone for a very different approach than on their previous albums, as Viva la Vida is very melancholic, and of course, combined with their trademark soundscapes, makes it a sure hit.

    This album had me hooked right from the first track (Life in Technicolor) with this intro song’s lively acoustic guitar combined with a subtle element of sadness that I guess the synths provided.

    Cemeteries of London, track 2, has got to be my favorite song, along with Viva La Vida and Violet Hill. It’s a real melancholic song, wih a dark, ominous feeling. The Spanish guitar in this track is AWESOME!!

    Violet Hill, another of my favorite tracks, has a very medieval feel to it, with the lyrics talking about carnivals, cathedrals, war and religion. There’s some great guitar work in this song by Jonny Buckland, whith superb guitar-fuzz effects used in the riff and the awesome solo.

    Brian Eno, who previously worked with U2 and was trivial to their success, has once again proven his talent in producing an amazing album, and Coldplay is a fantastic band that is definately now one of my favorite artists!

  • Being a demigod is sooo awesome!!

    Wow, I just saw that the last time I updated my blog was about a month ago! Apologies for the negligence, but I have been very busy with school work lately – our workload is really piling up as we draw nearer to Term 4…

    Anyway, I’ve just finished (like, 30 mins ago lol) the latest Percy Jackson and the Olympians book – The Battle of the Labyrinth. What an awesome book! As my title says, “being a demigod certainly is soooo awesome!!” And, of course, I can’t wait for the fifth book. Just read on Wikipedia that Book 5 will feature Artemis and the Hunters once again, and I have a feeling that I know what Nico means at the end of the book (pg. 342 in Puffin edition: “‘I’ve found out some things. I want to make you an offer.’…”) Of course, I won’t say anything as yet, and after all, it’s just my little theory and who knows what Mr Riordan has in store for us!! 😉

    It seems that, after reading some awesome book, I always feel inspired to write a story of my own. Alas, due to time constraints and me being lazy sometimes (lol) I never end up writing it. Well, this time, I feel that some change is in order, and I am definately planning and collecting ideas for what could be a very fun project – something that may just involve you, the reader of my blog! But everything is just a wisp of ideas right now, and I’ll have to give it some time to materialize into an awesomeness-filled reality!

    Oh yeah, and I know I’ve said this countless times before, but: “I’m going to try and constantly update my blog”. It’s a bit hard for me with the workload, but I’m going to try my best to do so.

    And finally, before I sign off, I’m planning to read the new Artemis Fowl next (The Time Paradox). However, I may need to order it from my bookstore, as they don’t seem to have it. So, in the meantime, if any of you guys have read it, please tell me what you thought of it! Just drop me a line in the comments of this post. Muchos Gracias, amigos! (Much appreciated lol)