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Marcato

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Blog Entries posted by Marcato

  1. Marcato
    NO I am not music-dead!
     
    I am still working on music, believe it or not! I have been silent for just about 2 months now due to a combination of Schoolwerk and my next big orchestral piece; The Symphony of Travesty.
     
    So you know, I decided to take a break from intense dramatic orchestra and since I'm on vacation in palm springs I went ahead and whipped something up... something that I'm very proud of considering I used lower quality instruments than usual. o_O
     
    https://pony.fm/tracks/1557-flame-dance-starlights-theme
     
    There you have it. Celtic!
     

     
    But Marcato, what's with the poll?
     
    What? I thought that was obvious...
     
    So I have been jumping around between a couple different genre's of music lately, and this celtic piece was a little more out of the ordinary for me. (Despite my absolute love for the violin.) The genre's I usually compose in are as follows...
     
    Cinematic Orchestral:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKZh1pI4q0M
     
    Piano + Orchestra Accompaniment
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRCW27_2dNY
     
    Pure Piano
    https://pony.fm/tracks/628-history-of-the-crystal-kingdom
     
    Those are the main ones.
     
    The other one is Symphonic Metal:
    https://pony.fm/tracks/204-one-thousand-years-ago-pre-live
     
    Basically, the poll exists because I want to know what you all want to hear. What sort of genre's do you prefer? What kind of music that I make do you prefer?
     
    Also, the first question is asking about celtic music. Do you all think I should make more celtic-style music? Fiddle, flute, guitar, etc?
     
    Please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments, and answer the polls! Thanks all!
  2. Marcato
    Pretty much all of us know about the Princess Molestia blog on tumblr, and the drama that has ensued as of late. But for those who don't here's a recap.
     
    The Princess Molestia blog is an ask blog with images revolving around Princess Molestia (And Gamer Luna) who is a suggestive version of Celestia, as one can guess. This blog is/was extremely popular, apparently to the point children were seeing it.
     
    A "campaign" recently opened up called "Down With Molestia" targeted at taking down this blog. I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure they succeeded. Naturally drama ensued on all of this. People agreeing, people disagreeing, etc.
     
    Here is my opinion on the matter... (WARNING: WALL OF TEXT AHEAD. PREPARE TO READ.)
     

     
    I’ve got very mixed opinions about the whole thing.
     
    The DWM topic is extremely controversial, and I normal try to avoid things like this, but I think this hold significance that I’d like to provide my personal thoughts on.
     
    The Molestia blog is/was an odd twist on a character intended to be a role model, a mother figure. Celestia was a character written to appear as someone a child could relate their own parents with. As a result the blog could be taken in two different ways.

    As a make-fun or insult towards the original character.
    As an ironic twist to the original character as a joke.

     
    Is it safe to assume the latter? I think that’s quite easy to say. Bronies, collectively are often very friendly, accepting and respectful. (Although let’s not assume this is the case for all.) Basically what I’m trying to say is that the Molestia blog was not intended to be directly offensive to the actual character and her fans, moreso a gag or joke and twist to her name. She could practically be considered her own character.
     
    I think now’s a good time to re-iterate the phrase “Love and Tolerate.” Many of you are likely sick of it, and I will say that there comes a time when tolerating isn’t an option, but this isn’t one of them.
     
    The person on the receiving end of this Molestia hate/attacking is in fact still a human being, I wish for nobody to forget that. (And frankly they shouldn’t.) I don’t know about you, but when people attack or hate on something that’s essentially my creation or my work, I am directly affected and feel like I’m being insulted myself.
     
    This has been brought up before, but here’s the term I feel may be going on here. Bullying. I despise it with every fiber of my being. It is something I wish for nobody to experience, ever. (Despite that being impossible.) It made my life a living hell in middleschool. That said I feel the over-drama of all this Molestia stuff is far, far too extreme.
     
    Now let me cover my other perspective… the single concept of Molestia is overall, disconcerting and a complete inappropriate contrast to Celestia. If children are indeed seeing the blog and growing familiar with it, that is a definite problem. A terrible problem.
     
    I’m personally a disliker of R34 as a whole. (There I said it, I ain’t gonna sugar coat it.) From what I have seen of the Molestia blog, there is quite rarely (Correct me if I’m wrong) any actual R34. There is some highly questionable content, most certainly. Regardless I don’t consider it R34 until there’s a display or use of sexual parts.
     
    Fact is, I think the Molestia blog is being batted on way. Too. Much. The artist still has free will, despite whether or not you disagree with the concept. I even disagree with the concept myself, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to attack it and slaughter them. It’s their artwork, their content, they do as they will with it.
     
    Tell me, all those attacking Molestia. What about actual R34? You don’t want to attack that because it’s a bigger beast? Because it’s far less narrow and less likely for children to find? Thank God for that fact, but frankly if you’re going to attack Molestia (of all the NSFW blogs out there) then I find that extremely odd and self-righteous.
     
    My final opinion is this; Leave them alone, whether you dislike it or not. There’s obviously been action taken already. If you’re that uncomfortable with the blog and fear for children seeing it, express that concern respectfully, calmly and with care. Don’t assume the author is not caring towards who may see his blog. There’s only so much they can do themselves, especially using tumblr.
     
    Their best option would be to start it up on a site with much more control over it’s NSFW population and viewing.
     
    (The same post was made on my tumblr, in response to a question asked. Find it here: http://www.marcatosound.com/post/58517416091/you-support-down-with-molestia-care-to-discuss-or )
  3. Marcato
    Hello MLP Forums!
     
    So, in celebration of Feld0's birthday, I'm doing something very special this weekend. Some of you may remember way back in October when I composed Feld0's theme as part of a group of themes I composed for some of the MLP Forums staff.
     
    https://pony.fm/tracks/124-feld0s-theme
     
    This was months ago, and I have significantly improved since then. During this time, Feld0's theme has still been one of the tunes I am most proud of. Why do you ask? The main theme is catchy, fun, and adventurous. I thought it turned out pretty good for its time. In fact, so much so, that I still find myself randomly playing it at other times on the piano.
     
    I've decided, that it's time this theme got a make-over. No, more than a make-over. A complete rewrite and remaster.
     
    By this, I mean I'm going to fully orchestrate this piece with drums, full brass sections and mastered strings sections. Think something a little more like this preview I posted recently...
     
    https://pony.fm/tracks/690-the-world-of-equestria-prev
     
    And this, I'm doing all in the course of a single weekend. That's right, from start to finish. I'm going to rewrite this song from a blank file, using the same themes and get it all done within about 48 hours time.
     
    But that's not all. I'm going to be livestreaming the entire weekend of music. I'm going to spend all that time on the livestream working on the song, with only breaks for food and maybe to do something important. Otherwise, very long livestreaming and music hours!
     
    The livestream will start May 3rd at 7:00 PM (PST) and end May 5th at 9:00 PM (PST)
     
    The livestream can be found at this link here. It is open to all and I encourage everyone to come listen as I re-make Feld0's theme to match the quality of work I'm doing now a days.
     
    If I finish early I will continue the stream by working on other music, and possibly playing live music on piano and/or violin!
     
    So everyone make sure you tune in! It's going to be a very musical weekend!
  4. Marcato

    So... what next?

    By Marcato,

    Alright guys, so I really want to confirm something here. People seem to really like my piano pieces, and they're really easy to make, while I feel that my more orchestral-ish works don't carry as much interest.
     
    So I want to hear from you guys,
     
    What do you want to hear next? Would you like to hear another "History of X" piece, like this one?
    https://pony.fm/tracks/628-history-of-the-crystal-kingdom
     
    Or would you rather get another orchestral piece like this one here?
    https://pony.fm/tracks/339-marcato
     
     
    (Keep in mind though, there is a commission that needs doing before I finish a new song like this. )
  5. Marcato
    So this morning I woke up thinking to myself. "I'm in the mood to do some singing..." Then I thought "What if I did some vocal covers of brony/pony songs for a change?" I quickly decided I wanted to do a vocal cover of my favorite brony song, Discord, by EuroBeat Brony. (No, not the living tombstone one, the original.)
     
    So, I spent all morning (and a portion of the afternoon) recording, practicing and mastering (sort of) this little thing I whipped up as my first vocal cover in history.
     
    https://pony.fm/tracks/414-eurobeat-brony-discord-vocal-cover
     
    Yes, it's bad in comparison to the original. Yes, I am an ambitious tenor singer, and this was difficult. Yes, there's some parts that don't sound that great... But I'm dead tired. And this is a live and learn experience really. If I do another vocal cover I'll probably take a little more time.
     
    Either way I had fun making it and I like the results. I hope you'll like it too, even though it's not very good. x)
  6. Marcato
    So I did some testing today for cinematic quality of music. Basically making things sound more like a recorded orchestra, instead of a virtual set of instruments. Not quite perfect, but significantly better than the quality of Sombra's Stand way back when.
     

     
    Just thought I would share it with you guys.
  7. Marcato
    So recently I've been a massive Touhou nut. Playing touhou, listening to touhou, watching crazy lifeless people like myself master Touhou beyond belief... etc!
     
    I became such a huge touhou fan I thought to myself, "I wonder if I could make a touhou style song..." and naturally, from the title alone "Fate of Life ~ A Heart of Blazing Fire" I created an entire fan game! Okay not really, it's a fictional fan game that I will detail on in another blog post.
     
    https://soundcloud.com/silverdest/fate-of-life-a-heart-of
     
    A basic backstory to this would be I made a fan character named Rottenae Kyurenji (Pronounced Row-ten-A Cure-en-jee) This character is the final boss of my fictional game, and that's all you need to know for now. The song is written as such to suit a final battle, at least in a touhou sense. Most touhou music is just epic and heroic in the final boss battles with the exception of
    of Touhou 11. 
    Anyways, this is quote a twist for my usual orchestral style music! I decided to try out video game style music, and I think it turned out pretty good. Better than I expected. It took more time exporting the song and it's previews than actually writing the piece come to think about it... either way it was fun making it, and fun trying it out in one of the Touhou games by replacing the BGM!
  8. Marcato
    Hey all! I just completed a new (and rather unique) commission today! This commission is @@Electrobolt's theme!
     
    https://pony.fm/tracks/344-electrobolts-theme
     
    This one is a little bit of a sidetrack compared to my usual orchestral and symphonic works, none the less it turned out pretty great, and although not perfectly accurate to old NES music standards it's still a good result in my opinion. This commission was paid for by Key Gear as he appears to be requesting themes of some RP characters...
     
    Next up is Vim's theme, a character owned by @@Key Gear and paid for by Key Gear as well! (Gee he sure does order a lot of music!)
  9. Marcato
    One thing I've always been dissapointed about in the MLP universe, is the lack of a Celtic parallel. I love the celtic nation, especially the music. (Oh course maybe I'm just a huge fan of violin) So I decided "hey, why not make a celtic-like piece?" I was in the mood, and began whipping something up.
     

    Played by the Ponyville Symphony Orchestra
     
    Lots of fun making this one. I called it marcato, because almost all the instruments are in the marcato playing style, meaning it's playing quick and accented. I like to consider myself accented and someone who tries to stand out, which is why I have the username Silver Marcato.
     
    Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this piece as much as I enjoyed making it!
     
    Cheers~!
  10. Marcato
    Well everyone, it's been a while hasn't it? Well guess what, after a bit of a pause I finally finished something. And that something, is the first song of my upcoming album titled "One Thousand Years Ago"
     
    https://pony.fm/tracks/204-one-thousand-years-ago-pre-live
     
    This is, however, not the final product! When I say finished, I mean finished writing the song. Four different things actually need to be recorded, and that's vocals, violin, lead guitar, and bass guitar. Currently the violin acts as both the vocals and the violin in this version, but soon in a long time there will be a live version.
     
    As a symphonic metal style song, it might not appeal to everyone, but I at least recommend listening to the last 1 minute of the song, because that's the best part! ;P
     
    Anyways, thank you all for your interest (if you're reading this) and I hope you'll support my future compositions with encouragement!
  11. Marcato
    Alright, so currently I'm stacked with 4 commissions, with many more to come as I have been warned. (Keeeey Geeeeaaaaaar! *Shakes fist at sky*)
     
    Now this is normally a sign of good business and respect for my work, however each commission takes a significant amount of time out of my daily life and schedule. Not to mention I'm not exactly earning that much. (Albeit more than I would otherwise.) My average take away from these commissions is $25, as 20% goes to the forums, which I have no intention of changing.
     
    Now the onslaught of commissions I have received ever since I completed the first one has made me realize that maybe I should be charging a little more for the amount of time and result of my work. For only $25 you can easily get a very professional sounding song from me. This is with 5 instruments and 2 minutes in length.
     
    However what many of you don't know is that I'm almost cheating myself behind the scenes.
     
    Let me take a look at my latest commission for Alex_Night.
    5 instruments,
    4 different kinds of drums - 1 symbals, 1 bass drum, 1 snare drum, 1 timpani
    2 different brass - French Horns, trumpets
    2 different kinds of violins - soft and hard
    4 different kinds of strings - soft, hard, quick and cellos(bass)
    1 Piano
    As you can see there is a lot there for just 5 instruments. Now the strings, violin and piano are no big deal. I'll happily count strings as all four of those different kinds as it's just for articulations. Even violin is just two different articulations.
     
    However percussion is huge. No song is complete without it, and they are each their own instrument. Until now I have counted all percussion as 1 single massive instrument.
     
    Brass is also two instruments in itself. (Usually more for a full brass section.) So really that should be two instruments instead of one.
     
    Ultimately, that should equal 9 instruments in total. However instead it is equal to 5. This is a problem that I'm fixing now, probably to a lot of dismay. Drums I'm not going to be so merciful about price wise. From here on out every 2 different drum types will count as one instrument, with the exception of the timpani being one on its own. Every kind of brass instrument will also be counted as a single instrument, instead of all brass being counted as one.
     
    This would ultimately raise the price of the commission used as an example, from $25 hiked up to $31.
     
    There will be one final change however. I am also raising the per-minute price. Currently, every minute of the song is worth $5. From here on that will become $7.
     
    Ultimately this would make the total price from $25 hiked up to $35!
     
    Now I hate to come across as arrogant, but the original price was placed because I am an amateur, and thus I shouldn't ask for as much. However the quality of my more recent works sounds far too professional to fit such a small price. So thus, from here on all commissions will cost more.
     
    I hope you'll all understand and I will be adding the changes to the commission thread.
     
    ~Silver Arrow
  12. Marcato
    Well now I've done it.
     
    Having acquired a high quality microphone, I realized an amazing opportunity had arisen. So, I made this.
     
    https://pony.fm/tracks/123-feld0s-theme-live-piano
     
     
    To quote what I initially wrote about the track on Pony.fm
     
    There you have it, the whole story. I apologize to all of you that the quality is still not AMAZING. I do plan to find a way to improve my recording in the future, and I hope that you'll all support me with cheers as I attempt to get things working.
  13. Marcato
    And so my true commission progress begins!
     
    My first commission, a request from the forums friendly neighborhood alien chicken, is a song based on a mystery theme. It took a long time (longer than it should have) but it's finally completed!
     
    https://pony.fm/tracks/99-pony-mystery-theater
     
    This is now my second (completed) pony related track and has proved much better than I originally expected. Thanks Scoots!
     
    Now I have two slots open in commissions, and with this one completed my inspiration for commissions has skyrocketed. Now is the best time to order a commission because I am on a roll right now!
     
    Next on the list; Tich's adventure-y folk/celtic-ish song!
     
    EDIT: Pardon the terrifying error it will be fixed soon. Feld0's on it.
  14. Marcato
    December 27th, 2012
    A day that changed my life forever.
    It was an average day. Christmas having just ended and the reunion with my mothers side of the family over, it was now the first completely free day since Christmas Eve. Naturally I used the free time to go out into the field and practice some shots with my BB gun. A wonderful present that was and I'm getting the hang of it really fast. It's more of a rifle than a hand gun, but I've got the aiming of it down. The next thing I proceeded to do was purchase an ice cream at McDonalds. Having walked the distance, my brand new BOSE headphones made it a quick trip, listening to the same song on repeat for a good half an hour really sped up time from my perspective.
     
    Unfortunately that was the last time I would be buying an icecream for quite some time...
     
    As I made my way back I saw a massive billboard with a message or advertisement of some kind. In giant letters it wrote "Scientists want you to help them! Sign up now at 1-800-966-2437!" The advertisement bore a picture of Uncle Sam in a lab coat, which I thought was pretty clever. I smiled briefly and continued on my way back.
     
    Suddenly my phone buzzed and I pulled it out. My friend Caleb had sent me a text message. It read "You wouldn't believe the things people have done in reaction to 'the end of the world.' People are selling all their belongings" I rolled my eyes and sent back "They did the same thing when that one man predicted the rapture." I put my phone back in my pocket and kept walking.
     
    I stopped at the intersection and waited for the "go" light, telling me it was safe to cross. As I was waiting however, a car suddenly sped through the red light, narrowly missing another car. I heard the driver of the car that was nearly hit swear out the window, and then he continued on. The car that went past me was a silverado. All black, much like my dads truck, but not quite as shiny and new.
     
    I walked across the road when the light said I could do so, and looked out beyond the market place I was right beside. As always I could see mountains from here, and the beautiful peak of Mt. Baker loomed in the distance. It was shimmering white as it seemed to do all year round. On this clear day it was an amazing sight. The only thing that was missing was a sunset...
     
    Right as I was thinking that though, I heard a scream come from a nearby store. I turned my head quickly and saw a small crowd of probably 20 people come running out. In my confusion I cautiously approached.
     
    I couldn't believe my eyes.
     
    There inside the store, was something I thought I would never see. It was the sort of thing that made you stop and think to yourself "No way, I must be dreaming. There's no way this can be real." Of course, there was no doubting that it was. There on the other side of the store window, was a huge sign reading "75% off all electronics!" I almost ran towards the store in excitement, but then I noticed something else in the store. I blinked briefly and squinted to try and make it out. On the floor was a spatter of blood.
     
    My eyes widened and naturally I approached slowly to see it. Only a few meters away from the store now, I kept behind a bush in case there was some sort of crazy murderer inside. I slowly raised me head and looked in. There was no one inside, but suddenly I heard what sounded like a moan of pain. I dropped all concerns about a murder and ran to the window. I heard a cough and the sound of something moving. I ran into the store and looked over the table where customers normally take their purchased items.
     
    Once again, I couldn't believe my eyes.
     
    On the ground was a man, presumably the shopkeeper, or whoever was operating the till at that time. He was struggling, trying to get up. There was blood all over the floor beneath him, and he reached up and grabbed the table. I quickly grabbed the phone to dial 9-1-1 emergency, but something stopped me.
     
    I realized what had stopped me was the hand of the very same man bleeding to death. I turned and looked at him. He had a stupefied look on his face and his jaw hung down. His shirt was torn open and bloody, and his eyes were filled with fear. He looked me in the eye and said "Run...!" At first I paused and thought "What? Why would I run! I can still save him if i call an ambulance!" He let go of my hand and collapsed on the table coughing.
     
    I watched horrified as the man seemed to die in front of me. I looked around frantically and decided "Screw it, I'm calling the hospital!" I began to dial 9-1-1 when once again, something stopped me. But this time, it wasn't the man. It was my own mind stopping me from finishing. My eyes were frozen on spot as something come out of one of the aisles. I took a moment to process just what I was looking at.
     
    There staring at me, was another man. His clothes were bloody and he seemed to limp towards me. His eyes were glazed over and his mouth hung open stupidly. He moaned as he approached.
     
    It took way longer than it should have for me to recognize what was happening.
     
    The word echoed in my mind for a moment. "Zombies..." It clicked and I dropped the phone. It clattered onto the desk, only held by the springy cord. My eyes wide, I began to back up, but a bloody hand suddenly landed on my shoulder. I whirled around and there was the shop keeper, giving me the same look the other man, or zombie, was giving me.
     
    I didn't have time to yell for help, as what I had learned back from Tae Kwon Do flashed into my mind instantly. Of course, fist and foot would do nothing on a zombie from what stories and fiction had told me. But it sure was useful for getting that thing to let go. Hitting the zombies arm with my forearm, I broke free from the hard grasp and ran out the door. I ran until I reached the other side of the market and looked on.
     
    I looked around and saw similar things in other stores. One or two men or women limped around in the stores, some walking out the doors. The terrifying realization hit me and Caleb's earlier text flashed back. The word apocalypse came to mind, much like the zombie, and I put the two together.
     
    "Zombie Apocalypse."
     
    I froze a moment and double checked. "What are you thinking?" I asked myself. "It's completely fictional. It's far from real." I thought. But the evidence kept fighting back. I couldn't help but laugh nervously to myself. "So 'the nutjobs with the signs were right the whole time...'" I said outloud, quoting the movie 2012 which me and Caleb had just watched last Friday on the 21st. "What are the odds..." It was a strange reaction, but I decided there wasn't much time to act as more and more zombies seemed to pour out of the stores.
     
    I ran away from the market and thought out something quickly. "If this is really happening, and they're based on the fictional ones we always heard about, I better start formulating a way of survival!" You know that moment when adrenaline kicks in? This was the moment.
     
    Barely even thinking I ran down the street at full speed, down hill, dodging any other people as I went. I didn't have time to warn anyone, I had to prioritize. My first destination was home. I had to get tell my family what was going on whether they believed me or not.
     
    Then it struck me, how do I make people believe what I'm telling them? Being the daredevil I am, I turned around and ran back to the market, pulling out my phone. I switched to the camera app and got ready to snap a picture. When I arrived I was surprised by the amount of "people" wandering throughout the parking lot. I took 1, 2, 3, 4 pictures, and began making my way back.
     
    What a foolish move it was to try and grab pictures.
     
    On my way back I met more Zombies and realized there was no way I could get through them. Panic set in and I flipped open my phone and began writing a text message to everyone I knew. "You're not going to believe this, but it's legitimately happening." I attached the pictures which were far too real to be fake and got the heck out of there.
     
    "Well what now genius?" I asked myself. "Shelter, a place to hide, a place to stop and think." I answered. The safest place I could think of was deep within the park and forest. I figured Zombies are usually attracted to light and sound right? So wherever there is less sound and light, there will be less zombies.
     
    I took off once again at full speed towards the nearby park, heart pounding and head spinning. "This isn't where I'm going to die. Not now. Not a chance."
  15. Marcato
    Hey guys! Check out something I have begun work on/started testing and screwing around with!
     


     
    I think it sounds awesome, but the instruments could be better quality. :/ Too bad I don't have any much better than this. The drums in my opinion are AMAZING though!
     
    EDIT: Well crap, soundcloud seems to have borked up my drums... Ah well, they still sound alright.
  16. Marcato
    http://soundcloud.com/silverdest/orchestral-preview-1
     
    Hey look, I spent the last hour making this. Just a snippit of something I'm working on at the moment.
    Lately I've been listening to a lot of orchestral/cinematic music, so naturally I take notes and start learning how stuff works out there. This is what I've learned in the last few days.
    (Drums will be added if my computer lets me. @~@)
     
    Instruments tend to pop in and out often.
    Volume fluctuates frequently. (Wasn't implemented much here.)
     
    More to come soon!
  17. Marcato
    Hey everyone!
    Silver Arrow here, and we all knew this day was coming, but I'm going to talk to Feld0 soon about starting commissions for music compositions!
    However before I do, I need some opinions on a few things. I need to determine some prices and I'm not entirely sure what would be good. Here is the layout I have so far.
     
     
     
     
    So what do you all think? Too expensive? Too cheap? Other opinions?
  18. Marcato
    So, yesterday night I decided to make some music because I was bored. Thanks to Chaotic Discord who was showing me some music I was inspired to make some random piano playing. This was the result.
     
    http://soundcloud.com/silverdest/classical-piano-one-shot
     
    I think it turned out nice. Could have been better but it was just a one shot thing I did on the spot. Expect more music, regarding Chaotic Discord in the near future!
  19. Marcato
    Hey everyone, welcome to Silver's first rant!
    Okay let's be serious, this is more of a look at advancements in amazing technology. This mainly focuses on how commonly certain things are found, sizes, prices and etc. The first technology we will look at is Cellular phones!
     
    Cell Phones

    Phones, cell phones in particular, have changed in such a drastic matter it isn't even funny. Well, it is if you consider how versatile, easy to use, and portable they have become. At least for most people. Other's absolutely hate how there are next to no buttons and everything is touch screen based. This is understandable because some people have large fingers and they can't press the tiny things on the screen that are supposed to be buttons. They end up hitting multiple numbers at once. But that's besides the point.
    Cell phones have advanced at an alarming rate. The first really neat thing that was added to them was likely colour screens, followed by flipping open and shut, having an entire keyboard on them (be it sliding or built in), gaining touch screens with increased resolution and finally a little more recently 3D screens. Now how you can merge touch screens with 3D without giving your customer headaches from attempting to press something that appears as though it's behind glass is beyond me, but either way it's a very impressive trend. (A trend Nintendo and other game companies seem to be slightly farther ahead in.)
    Now I am not a professional about information like this so don't take all my info as immediate fact, but more as a general idea and reference. I'm just someone who likes to vent about things like this.
    A closer look at these phones!
    1997
    Very large, and brick-like. Tough and durable, with large bulky antena's. (Some of which could be extended.) Often quite plain, very little difference in colours. Basic keypad with start, and end call buttons. Volume sliders on the side and power plug.
    Digital screens that had very little variety. Showed the time, and some basic phone functions like call quality, volume and etc. Black and white if you want to call it that.
    Quality wasn't the greatest, often was difficult to hear and microphones got jammed with dust and little things from elsewhere. (Same with the speaker.) Speaker could only be heard when right by your ear.
    2000
    Phones became slightly smaller, and more compact. More appealing design and set up, far more portable. Volume, keypad, call buttons and navigation were a standard. (To an extent.)
    Screens still digital, but contained a little more. Distinctively brighter, and easier to see.
    Quality was still around the same.
    2002
    All in all not too different from 2000. A little more unique design around it, meaning shape and colour layout. Mic's were placed on the under side of the phone, possibly to prevent sound interruption by people's cheeks rubbing against the mic. Buttons had backlights for easier seeing in the dark. (On some phones.)
    Screen was now in colour! Gasp! Very low resolution, fairly clearly pixelated.
    Quality was steadily improving as cell reception and phone technology advanced.
    2005
    Crap just got real.
    Phones were often made to flip open and shut, this way larger screens and still fairly big keypads were available. Things like sleep mode became VERY present from when the cell was closed, so as to use less power. Flip phones had screens on the front so you could view basic information without opening the phone itself.
    Resolution improved and screen sizes were distinctly bigger thanks to the beautiful folding phone. Far more options were available such as browsing the internet, head phones were more commonly available, and largest of all likely camera's. More graphical and colourful games were available. Texting took off.
    Quality greatly increased and mic's were in various places based on the phone you were using.
    2008
    Full sized keyboards were available, some in slide form, others in standard. Flip phones fell out of interest and all in all phone size began to increase again. Texting was made easier with these keyboards, and unique navigation systems became available.
    Touch screens began to become a thing. Touch screens were now something actively seen in phones and astounded many people. Resolution became even higher and more vivid with wider colour ranges a visually appealing graphics.
    Calling wasn't as common since texting became so successful, yet quality still improved. ("Fewer dropped calls!" To quote hundreds of billboards I have seen on road trips.)
    2010
    Holy smokes slow down!
    Touch screens became standard and almost every phone had them. Smart phones became widely popular by this point. Phone's became almost nothing but one to four buttons and all screen. (With some slide out keyboards.) Incredible data networks for browsing the internet at full quality and applications for doing what you want developed by many people other than the phone provider.
    Almost all screen's are touch screens, beautiful graphics, astounding games and things to see and explore on your phone and on the web as mobile sites grew high in popularity. Things like facetime were invented where you could talk with someone and see them as you do so.
    Built in speakers were widely common so you could play things out loud as well as talk from a farther distance. Progressed quality from things like 3G and 4G.
     
    Okay, once again this is all based on what I have seen. The years are based on the picture above, and aren't necessarily exact. Just around the general area. Don't take all of this as fact, because some of it probably isn't. :U
     
    I will likely write a post about handheld gaming eventually too. Just not now. @.@
     
    (I think I will also add, this is partly me practicing writing long stuff and providing information based on my assumptions. Please do not rage at me for screwing something up.
  20. Marcato
    Hello everypony!
     
    So lately I've been fairly productive (as some of you may know) and one of those things that recently popped up was an idea for an OC that came to mind. This OC is named Anaphora.
     

     
    Currently this character is Marcato's (My ponysona) older sister. While Marcato's skill lies in music and the like, Anaphora's skill lies in writing, vocabulary and creating stories. She's also a bit of a closet dweller, in that she rarely leaves her home. Only when she feels it necessary. She frequently begins writing novels and stories, but never gets them finished. In fact that's what she spends a large amount of her time doing.
     
    Oh right, and she comes a little short of "stereotypical nerd." She likes technology and modern advancement and industrialization a lot. Geez she's even got the glasses for it.
     
    Unfortunately sometimes she can get a bit down. She often has difficulty socially and hates herself for this, and frequently will be found contemplating what she's going to do the rest of her life. Her only remote job is working at a video store. She doesn't have a lot of drive, and that's partly her own fault because she's always so negative about herself, but Marcato frequently encourages her to take time to use her skill and develop it into something amazing.
     
    Nonetheless she still enjoys doing what she currently does, working at a video store and writing when she's got free time. Some day she hopes to become a true novelist.
     
     
    Thus, this adds another character to Marcato's family! (Or what I'd consider his family anyways.)

    Okay, so maybe the filly in there isn't actually a real 'family member.' But she might as well be considering how much she follows Marcato around, and how much she depends on him.
     

     
    So that's the main portion of this blog entry... the other thing I wanted to share with you all was this. A preview of an upcoming song, a sequel to the song "Harmonize" that I recently finished and uploaded!
     

     
    Part two of what I call Celestia's Struggles, Travesty. The heart wrenching battle between siblings...
     
    Having completed Harmonize, which detailed Celestia and Luna's battle with Discord, I decided to immediately move onto another song I've had in mind for some time now, this being Travesty. You all should be able to guess what this song is about.
     
    https://soundcloud.com/silverdest/travesty-preview
     
    There's your preview, have a listen to the main theme of the song. (Before the action kicks in! )
     
    I'm not going to share much about this song, It's only just been started!
     
    P.S. If you want to hear the first song, you can find it here: http://mlpforums.com/topic/67286-marcato-sound-harmonize-celestia-and-luna-vs-discord/
  21. Marcato
    https://pony.fm/tracks/1089-foalhood-finding
     
    So this happened.
     
    Inspiration has been high lately for me on soooo many fronts and on soooo many levels! A rediculous amount of thought and positive attitude for music, animation, art and coding has arisen for some odd reason! This is likely a direct result of my enthusiasm and excitement over purchasing this bloody amazing thing right here. (Which is arriving in the mail today.)
     
    Anyways,
     
    This is a song I wrote for a flash animation I'm currently working. It is inspired by the concept of young fillies exploring a library and having fun doing so. (Canterlot has quite a large library after all!)
    With the idea of 'childhood' innocence and an upbeat happy tune I think I managed to capture the element quite well. I can't wait to finish the flash animation. I was originally not going to post this until I was done the animation but I changed my mind... because I just can't keep my music to myself.
     
    I can't begin to describe how happy I am with this piece! Recently I've been feeling down that I can't capture emotion, feeling and atmosphere in my pieces. Lots of doubts on my own music.
    I wrote three songs in the recent time (two of which are unreleased) that proved myself wrong, this being one of them.
     
    I hope you all enjoy this song as much as I do... It's likely the most 'fun' and 'upbeat' sounding piece I've ever written. (Perhaps only rivaled by Marcato.)
  22. Marcato
    So hi guys!......
     
    Yeah it has been a while hasn't it. I've been on quite a long silence compared to usual in terms of music. Why do you ask? Projects and projects and projects and projects. They have a habit of starting and never getting finished. However this one... this one managed to hold my attention long enough and I completed it.
     
    This song, is inspired by Celestia and Luna, and was written like their themes. The brighter (and arguably happier) first part, is Celestia's theme, while the darker (perhaps more determined) second part is Luna's theme.
     
    https://pony.fm/tracks/879-coda-of-eternal-eventide
     
    I hope you all enjoy this song, I know I love it dearly... it's been lying around a while, and I only now gave it the glory it deserved.
  24. Marcato
    Hey everyone!
     
    As very few of you probably know, I am actually a big writer. I love doing a lot of writing about fantasy sorts of stories, and have had a lot of ideas inspired by my two favorite authors. (Tolkein who wrote Lord of the Rings, and C.S. Lewis who wrote Narnia.) One thing that always amazed me about their stories, is that they created entire worlds. They made up history, locations, history for said locations, and even more beyond that. Sometimes even entire languages. This has always been a mind-blowing concept for me, and as of last summer I began researching it.
     
    Since last summer I began work on a novel series labeled "The Ytrialum Records"
     
    This series was inspired by Tolkein and C.S. Lewis (and to some extent various anime/manga) and revolved around a world I created called "Ytrialum" (pronounced it-try-uh-lum) I slowly began work on this world's history and how it worked, including the creation of a system of magic, and a basic history and thesis on where the world came from and how it's creation went about. (And faintly delving into a much deeper concept I'll expand on in a moment.)
     
    This evolved into the first novel, called The Ytrialum Records: Keepers. (Classic fantasy novel name as I discovered after I finished it, noticing three other books in my school library with the name "keepers") I tried sending it to one publisher, who rejected it. Fair enough. I'm an amateur author and I doubted my book or books would ever reach bookshelves anyways.
     
    However my true talent I think lies in my creation of ideas, concepts, and yes, worlds.
     
    The Ytrialum world is very vast, and although the map admittedly isn't very big, the other features of the world that I have developed (and some not listed on the visible map.) make up it's complexity.
     
    Recently, I began to develop an idea for the creator of the world. (Think of him sort of like God, Aslan, something along those lines.) A concept came to mind when I made plans for the final book. This concept evolved into something larger when I wrote a short-story, involving a conversation between the main enemy of Keepers, and the creator of Ytrialum, titled "The Tyrant and the Angel."
     
    This concept, was as follows. The creator of Ytrialum is not God, however he could have gained his powers because of a previous life before he created Ytrialum. It's pretty far fetch'd, but I personally am finding it great fun to work on it. As this has developed I discovered something...
     
    In order for the creator of Ytrialum to have a prior back story, there must be another world that he lived on himself. This world, has earned itself the name of Bylitta. (by-lee-tuh)
     
    I only recently began work on this, and what I'm going to be doing over the next couple blog entries is post my progress as I create a new world (almost) from scratch. This world will be different than the first one. Big time.
     
    I know most of you people aren't that interested in reading a 16 year old highschool students ramblings of his concept and ideas, but I figure some people may be interested in it. If you guys like Lord of the Rings and Middle Earth I think you may find this interesting.
     
    I'll also be drawing some pictures and concept art for a few things as well, so I'll be posting those with it when they come available.
     
    So with that, I shall begin writing and story-boarding for this new world.
     
    Here's a list of how I'll likely split the blog.
    Entry One: System of Nature & World Itself - What is the norm? (This'll be large)
    => How fantasy driven is it?
    => Does it involve magic?
    => Does it involve mythological/made up creatures?
    => How was the world created?
    Entry Two: Geography & Time Periods - Location, advancement, etc.
    => What sort of locations does the world involve?
    ===> Natural geography?
    ===> Settlements and cities?
    => Time Period?
    ===> Is the world locked in an eternal time period? (E.g. Like Middle Earth)
    ===> What Time Period?
    Entry Three: Races, Civilizations and Culture(s) - How do people live?
    => Are there different kinds of people?
    ===> What differences?
    => Civilizations?
    ===> Who gets along with who?
    ===> How are they different from each other?
    => Culture?
    ===> Clothing?
    ===> Buildings and architecture?
    ===> Preferences?
    ===> Religion?
    ===> Language?
    Entry Four: History
    => BUCKING HISTORY
    Entry Five: Wrap Up

    So there you have it. Big plans.
    I'll be going over this stuff for a little while before posting it online. Brainstorming and such will be frequent.
     
    I'd appreciate it if you guys could leave opinions to let me know if this even interests any of you.
     
    See you all soon! (Or not so soon!)
  25. Marcato
    So guys! Wanna know what *I've* been working on these last couple days? Yes. Couple. As in I wrote this in just three days, something I'm still trying to recover from. @~@
     
    https://pony.fm/tracks/628-history-of-the-crystal-kingdom
     
    This entire song was largely experimental, and originated from a commission I was working on. However both me and the commissioner felt it wasn't suiting the aim, so I scratched it and adjusted it a little and continued it on anyways. I was enjoying myself as I wrote it so much that I wrote all four minutes of it in three days. I was spending a *lot* of time on this thing.
    Anyways, yes, it's yet another piano piece! This one however was written with the history of the Crystal Empire in mind. I imagine this almost being a story. The first dramatic part, is the Crystal Empire's fall and the coming of Sombra. The second part represents the Crystal Kingdom being hidden. The third part represents the kingdom returning, and the Mane 6 (namely Twilight and Spike) saving the kingdom along with Shining Armor and Cadence.
    Either way I hope you all enjoy this unique little(ish) piece I whipped up, I know I'm pretty surprised with how it turned out. Better than I expected really. ^_^"
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