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Whirlwind

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  1. Whirlwind

    Drumming Is Magic: A 6 Year Introspective

    By Whirlwind,


    Fandom memories
    Around 6 years ago I started making drum videos playing along to songs from within the My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic franchise.
    This includes the movie, EQG, and A New Generation (G5). I have since referered all of these videos as a series called "Drumming Is Magic".
    Six years, 22 renditions, and more to come. It's no surprise MLP made a significant impact on me. But the soundtracks and music is what inspired me to
    go further with music and expand my music vocalbulary. It's fun looking back at some of the older drum covers I did way back in the day and seeing how far I've coming with
    drums and the series on my youtube channel. It's still amazing that my most viewed drum performance on my channel is the first Time To Be Awesome drum rendition uploaded September 2017.
    I'm happy that the significance of my playing has made others entertained but most importantly made me happy that I could be inspired but something by a show about little pastel horses.
    So what's the next step for Drumming Is Magic? Well... I ain't stopping soon. My ultimate goal was to make a drum rendition to every song from the show. As ludicrous as it sounds that idea still sits in the back of my head.
    Although that thought seems to be creeping back in and I still have the urge to make more of it ^^.
    Throughout the course of 2022 I've been in limbo of what want to do with the whirlwind youtube channel. I said this many times over the years that "I don't consider whirlwind studios as pony youtube channel" but really it's where about 80% of my subscribers came from. This past year I've seen a big music growth by exposing myself to the music scene in my city and in not fandom oriented contexts.
    The bottom line is I don't know what the future will take me with my non fandom content, But I will continue to persue what I love best and work in more drumming is magic videos

    There's my random thought of the day. Here's a complete playlist of what I have so far with Drumming Is Magic from oldest to newest. Would love to hear your favorites
     
  2. Whirlwind

    Fandom Memories: Isn't It Great To Be Different?

    By Whirlwind,


    Fandom memories
    In this first post of fandom memories, I thought I'd talk about one of my favorite songs to come out of the brony fandom that's not only hit me super emotionally once, or twice, but three times over the timespan of nearly 8 years. Forest Rain's music has been one of my favorites and Great To Be Different holds a special place in my heart.
    I've divided this into three parts on when this song hit me.
    1) Discovery: 
    It was around July 2013. I had been a brony for 5 months at that point and was diving into fandom activities. Most of which was fan animation and pony parodies. But after watching the top ten pony videos list I noticed the honorable mention was BronyDanceParty's animation to the song Great To Be Different by Forest Rain. Needless to say I watched it and have never felt more joyful to have a fandom anthem tell me that it's okay to be who you want to be. I had felt kinda insecure at 15 years old watching my little pony. But that song especially told me it's okay to be different, it's okay to accept yourself of who you are. I didn't loop back until around 2015 to where I had started following a number of brony musicians and really started to dig into Forest Rain's music.
    2) It comes in full circle: by around 2018 to early 2019 I had displayed my musical talents as a drummer/percussionist. I made drum covers to some songs from the Friendship Is Magic series (Which I later coined the name drumming is magic) as well as some of my favorite non-fandom music. The thing is that I was eager to play on stage with an artist being the drummer. Flash forward to spring of 2019, I had received a message from my friend Drummershy saying that Forest Rain was looking for a drummer to play for Everfree Northwest in May of that year. I sent a very welcoming message introducing myself and in turn was given a compliment saying that she really enjoys my drumming and would love to have me on the drum kit. As a fan of Forest Rain's music and looking over the setlist for the concert I was super excited to play some songs I listened to over the years while also playing some new songs. I sat down and Practiced, and I mean....PRACTICED to make sure I was going to make this concert something special (no pun intended :-)
    Great To Be Different was one of the songs in the set and my heart was ready to melt. As simple of song it is to play, the emotional impact it gave me over the years listening to one of my favorite fandom songs brought more ambition for me to make this concert memorable for everyone. 
    Here's a glimpse of that concert: https://youtu.be/PT4sE386xX4
    Forest Rain and I developed a strong friendship ever since then and has considered me as her drummer for now on. 
    3) It's comes in full circle A SECOND TIME: The third trip of the song Great To Be Different comes more recently over a two year span. 
    In summer of 2020, I went down to my friend's recording studio at Wolf Sound Fresno where I had also tracked the Miscommunication drum cover and a live version of the song River by Slightly Amiss and Djhon Mema (which has yet to happen). In between that I was approached my now close friend Lamoni as he wanted to throw together his own great to be different cover. This first idea didn't end up going through, but I still held onto the multi tracks from that session. Flash Forward to around April 2022 I get word from Forest Rain Directly that she's inspired to work on a 10 year anniversary of Great To Be Different. Without hesitation I sent the multi tracks from this session and production started to take off.
    To put in perspective of how much joy I had when tracking this in 2020 originally as a cover and then ultimately for as a 10 year remake...It's just too real to even speak. 
    Here is a result of the 10 year anniversary of Great To Be Different. 
     
    At the end of the day. Forest Rain will continue to inspire me, and this song has definitely carried me over the years. 
    Thank you all for reading this. 
     
  3. Whirlwind
    I've shared this with some close friends and members of my discord server, but for those who don't know. I have pony based dreams. Not as frequent as they used to be, 
    but they still happen periodically nowadays. But this dream I had from a 30 minute nap was super deep and soul inducing. I just have to share it.
    To briefly summarize of what I remembered, I fell asleep listening to the album nuovo morceau subrosa by Electronic artist BT.
    Which is a drone/ambient album full of luscious soundscapes and granular synths. 
    During my slumber I was transported to a different dimension. I started in equestria as I layed down under some trees neighboring the everfree forest
    until a calming wind which ended up getting more rapid was able to take my pony body and levitate me into another portal. 
    A scene in the blissful cosmos. Having no idea where I was, I didn't care as I heard gentle sweeps of ambience fill my soul 
    and feel every frequency tremble down my body. 
    I look up and see Princess Celestia holding me in her wings. They were soft, elegant, and soothing as she looked down upon me. 
    My conscious fell deeper as I've never felt this relaxed. I start picturing all the events surrounded with my experiences with My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. 
    This included imagery from the show, convention experiences, dream like landscapes, and even a brief moment of the mane 6 being surrounded in my presence. 
    As these images begin to fade, I look back towards Celestia as she calmly states "Memories might fade over time, but we will always be around in your needs" 

    Around this time my alarm went off, I slowly began waking up from this peaceful dream in doing so everything seemed to fall out of focus 
    and somewhat vanish and that's when I officially woke back up still listening to music in my headphones.

    This is something I'm still feeling and thinking about it. I want more of it. I should do something with it.
     
    Just something I wanted to share. 
  4. Whirlwind

    It's Been A Good Minute

    By Whirlwind,


    updates and life events
    Hello Everypony, It's been a good hot minute since I last made a proper blog update on the MLP Forums. I'm talking nearly 4 years 
    And to catch up on the folks and friends I made here on the MLP forums, I'd thought I'd share a semi-detailed summary on where I am today, what I'm doing, and to update here that I still exist lol. 
     
    Music
         What I'm doing most these days is focusing a lot on music and sound production. My goal is to be able to make a better income out of music whether it be live or in the studio. Drums is still home base for me 
    and I've been expanding my horizons with different styles of music as I'm now part of an online melodic metal band "Alicore". Paired with the drum session work, I've slowly been building a workflow to collab for 
    musicians and my own projects.
         I've also been very productive in my self-released electronic music as Whirlwind as I am currently working on my next full-length album of music. I hope to continue making music inspired by MLP. Things have been kind of tricky bouncing back and forth to non-pony and pony projects.
     
    Building a community
         Another focus I've been doing is building a community with my skills, interests, and services. Currently the Whirlwind Studios Youtube channel just hit 1,500 subscribers and it's been on a steady incline as of late. I know
    these aren't huge numbers, but for those here that like what I do I really appreciate your time to enjoy the things I love doing. The fact you took time to enjoy my videos is everything I could ask for. 
    And though Youtube isn't my sole priority nowadays thanks to the tyrannical bullies at Google, I've been on a roll with weekly uploads and connecting with friends in my semi-private discord server dedicated to the channel. 
    My end goal is to build Whirlwind Studios into a working income and reach out to real world clients and hopefully give back with the skills I can provide with music, sound production, and recording. 
     
    On Other Social Platforms
         This is the point to prove I'm not silent everywhere. I'm mostly active on discord in terms of brony fandom activities. My discord tag is Whirlwind#5744 if you want to give me a poke in case some old friends on here 
    want to chat and catch up. I also use Twitter sometimes as an extra form of reach from the channel and post some of my "bloggish" thoughts and studio updates there. 
    Outside of that I'm on instagram under my real name and for Business Inquiries I'm always available on email.
     
    Still into pony?
    You are Celestia Damn right I'm still into My little pony! I still Love MLP:FIM the same way as I did getting into the fandom. 
    That being said, for projects and future releases has been kind of hard to really focus on mlp. I've been building that bridge right between non-fandom related content and fandom related content.
    But I'm still very into pony.
     
         Thank you all for taking the time to read this entry. I don't normally use the mlp forums anymore, but there are certain people I've met on here and I think it's good to catch up and keep this profile active. 
    Hope you all have a happy holidays and a happy new year.
         -Whirlwind 
     
     

  5. Whirlwind
    I'm back on the MLP forums.....for some time as I'm posting this. I just decided to revisit and "old friend" loaded with a bunch of people I also made friends with on this site. 
    But to all the people who know me on here you might be wondering (or maybe not) "Where did Whirlwind Go"? Well, this blog entry will answer your questions. 
     
    1) Life Changes: The obvious response is my life at the moment. I'm currently in a part of life where it's branching off into many different directions. Like the root of a tree, the taproot continues to grow, with supporting roots to make it grow better. For Starters I've been through multiple jobs. I've worked from volunteering at Church to working at two convenient stores for sometime, and currently getting a taste of what I want my career to be. I'm currently an assistant running coach for the intermediate school I went to. It really is an AMAZING place to work at! Helping/coaching kids at the things I Love to do. On the side, I've been laying down various plans to reach my career path and school plans for the future to come. 
    2) Different forms of communication: For the past year or so, I've been kind of making friends in a different way. I know some of the people reading this found me from different places of social media such as Youtube, Twitter, or even Facebook. But one of the main reasons why I kind of kept my fandom interaction a bit low key was that I would get too distracted with larger community based sites that it would make a change in my behavior in a bad way. It's kinda getting to the point to that I'm falling into a different range of people in this fandom since I make Youtube videos and make music so much. But that being said, I still would pop into EqD or MLP forums just to see whats going on.
    3) Music: Piggybacking to what I said in life changes, Music is also making a big change in my life. Not only just by performance or career figures, but also getting involved with different kinds of people. Being a live performer in music and a composer really takes you to different places in this world. I've made friends with local musicians as well as online. The community database for music is ENORMOUS! And that's another reason that made my absence to MLP forums and kind of secluding myself from the brony fandom a bit. Which leads me into the next reason....
    4) New Interests: Yup! aside from music and making youtube videos, I've been finding new hobbies that I've been exploring and getting involved with different communities. I'm INSANELY addicted to physical fitness now. Distance running is my main forms of exercise, but now I'm weight training, mountain bike riding, and sometimes even swimming to challenge myself physically and mentally. I've found a number of people that i've connected with and built friendships through exercise. Another Hobby i'm starting to pick up is photography and modeling. I've been really interested into visual arts lately especially int the photography department. I've been exploring the world and taking pictures that not only look beautiful, but also give emotion. 
     
    So Uhh yeah.....If you managed to read all of that, then I hope you understand my absence from the mlp forums as well as larger parts of the brony community. 
    One thing that is still true though. I will remain a brony for the rest of my life. But even life offers many different things for your heart to explore. Anyways. Feel free to comment below or ask any questions about me. Thanks guys!
     
  6. Whirlwind
    At the beginning of the month I was at one of the lowest points of my life. However in recent days and maybe even weeks, I discovered what reality was starting to shape me into. And with the beautiful love and kindness from my amazing pastor, he had managed to understand how I felt and how to deal with my inner depressions and sadness. I kept talking with him on subjects dealing with rest and spiritual healing, and just by talking it out made me understand who I was and this was beginning to make me think on who I want to be. As I prayed to God with my pastor, me, and my best friend I no longer had to embark the pain. The pain was slowly draining and I became more aware of my inner emotions.
    From each day there on it slowly but surly keeps getting better and better. I'm starting to feel the love and tolerance from my closest friends in real life and some even online. Each day I spend at least an hour reading the Bible. Spiritually I'm getting healthier every day and it has such a wonderful feeling that I sometimes couldn't even imagine myself ever feeling well in a while.
    However the best of the best happened 5 days ago when I was at the church taking the main stage playing the drums for my worship band in front of 100's of beautiful people who show their expressions under Christ. After that service I talked with one of the pastors. I told him that I've always wanted to project my life into others. Whether it's my distance running stories, life lessons, or Christ I am getting the opportunity to become a leader to my church's high school camp on the Stockton river delta.
    I grew up going there and witnessed the most amazing things ever. But being able to be a leader and knowing younger kids, just is amazing dream that can come true.
    The future is so bright!
  7. Whirlwind
    A special message to everybody I met and every Staff member on the MLP Forums.
     
    A long time ago I was supposed to do a drawing for most forum users I made great friendships with. But School being the biggest priority I only got 4 of them done out of the 10.
    But you know what, The brony fandom and this site community is by far the greatest gift I could ever receive. I don't have many friends in real life, and it feels so much better to have a group of friends for you to comfort me everyday. I am LITERALLY crying tears of joy writing this entry, but seriously. Thank you very very very very much for accepting my friendship and a super big thank you to the staff who keep this place a second home for me.
     
    You guys make me the happiest person I could ever be. I give all of my love in return to the best place I ever found.
    Thank you very much, and happy holidays.
     
    -Whirlwind
  8. Whirlwind

    Entry # 26 ?

    By Whirlwind,

    Entry title says most of it already.
     
    For a VERY long time now, I have been wanting to do things to contribute to the fandom (just for fun)
    or even start thing with youtube in general. The major problem with all of this is equipment, software and
    a few other things. But I don't know how to start things on youtube without busting a bank.
     
    My main things I want to make videos on youtube is for roller coaster reviews, my little pony comic dubs/fanfic read, show reviews and analysis and much more...
     
    But I don't know where to start. Do you have advice
  10. Whirlwind
    I've been going through many life situations in the past month. And one of those has to deal with God. I realized that there is much more in life to come. And though my moods aren't exactly great all the time, or that I'm not updated with the show sometimes, I've held the friends I know here to the closest to my heart.
     
    I have been really glorified under God. And the Glory he has, gave me friends from church in return. I've never been so thankful in my life to achieve this. And even though I'm having a hard relationship with my family right now, I believe that my purpose is to spread the word of Christ, friendship, and Love.
     
    I am more than thankful to find amazing people on this site. I will be a part of this fandom forever. But what I really want to do is make the world love one another, even when I can get lonely sometimes
  11. Whirlwind

    Entry #21 Music Updates

    By Whirlwind,

    So recently I've been having thoughts on turning my bedroom into a home recording studio. And I've been doing research for the things I would need, and i realized that it is pretty Possible to do this!
    Because I have a pretty decent sized bedroom. I'm able to fit my drum kit in there
    And all I need would be a mic kit, some acoustic panels (to control the sound of the drums) and mic interface. because I already have the drum kit, my laptop and recording software.
     
    I've already imaged it to see if I could pull it off. And I can barely do it, my only concern is keeping the wires from the mics out of the way.
    This will be really cool! I can record drum tracks for people seeking for drums for there music and probably make a little bit of money. And I can record for bronies who make music Too!
  13. Whirlwind
    I may have only been on this site for around 5 months, but the amount of people I got to talk to
    and helped escape my darker time frame from before makes me be thankful to you people here
    I don't have that many true friends that mean a lot to me, but seeing what some of you people have done to me makes me feel like I have a brother/sister. I love talking to people here. Not just about the show but about our daily lives. Thats what make me connect with you guys here.
     
    I just wanted to say, Thank you. Thank you for everything.
    You guys have made me better person and opened the door to new friendships
    It really does mean a lot to me
  14. Whirlwind
    Well. Today was a very happy day today.
    I am pleased to say that I am out the door from high school!!!
    12 years in 1 school district finally meets the end of it's run
     
    Graduation for me is June 9th
    I am ready to take on reality
  15. Whirlwind
    A lot of great events happened over this weekend. I went to Pin-A-Go-Go (one of the nation's largest pinball conventions) and this year was better than last year I must say.
    So here is a recap of the weekend

    During me and my father's 3 hour drive, we encountered a field of Windmills.

    We arrived to hour hotel. And I can't forget about "road trip ponies" again. So I brought Luna with me


    The sign/banner says it all. Let the fun begin

    I like this machine in many ways
    It has a great gameplay It has a rather familiar name

    My dad almost bought a Whirlwind at one point but bought a "Dr. Dude" for a better deal


    "Uhh. It's okay. You don't need to beat Fluttershy at staring"

    I love this game too. It has a classic/vintage look and feel, while using modern elements to make
    Funny back glass btw

    Did I mention how humorous the theme is!?!

    Apart from mass produced machines, there are some people who take it to a new level
    Like this AWESOME Archer pinball machine.
    I had a chat with the owner and said, "It's still a work in progress, but I like how everybody enjoys it"
    I also did. And to add a bonus, Archer is another TV comedy I love.

    Pin-A-Go-Go 2016 marked it's 20th anniversary. And this year is easily the best one
    can't wait for other game shows to come this year
     
     
     

    " Th th th th th Thats all folks!"
  16. Whirlwind
    So apart from my outstanding mental effort from last week, I've reflected on myself A LOT!
    However I still have a few more races to come before High School ends.
     
    I will be running in college, but even so. Running has and will keep on playing a big role in my life.
    I live it, breathe it, and Have the soul for it. I still feel like I can compete for at least 5 more years and Maybe even more! But for right now, Out of all the things I struggled through and had to live with,
    I have decided to write a book on myself.
     
    I don't know when to start it, but I expect it to be finished by the end of June. (by that time I'm out of high school)
  17. Whirlwind
    Okay. So today has to be another great day in my life, It's kinda hard to believe it. But I managed to overcome my disabilities in my race I ran today (West Coast Relay's). I did not beat the time I set a few weeks ago, but finished with a 10:04 3200m (2 mile) and placed 9th. But! there is something that made me happy this race, but it requires backstory.
     
    So about my personal traits. I'm going to say on These forums that I have Motor Tics.
    Motor tics is a neurological disorder in which a person can make various twitching, repeating phrases, or mental disability. For me, I have a twitching type disorder with my neck and sometimes my jaw. So, the usual outcome whenever I have motor tics during a race, makes me feel defeated and mad at myself thinking that tics made me slower. Some races, (like the one I ran my best at) I do not have motor tics and I absolutely perform incredible.
     
    So going to today's race I had, I was very into it, I had a great first mile and going onto lap 5 I started Having neck twitches, and my jaw was very tight and I was moving all over the place. But by the last two laps, I thought to myself and I quote "BULLSHIT!" And my keyword that went through my head was "SURGE" so I pick myself up (still having bad motor tics) and sooner than later, I'm back on track
    I finished the race tumbling on the track but got up soon afterwards. I didn't say a single word for 5 minutes and thought to myself. And As soon as I got back to my stuff I said out loud. "I Just Ran my race and beat out the Impossible" Sure I didn't run my fastest, but I learned today that i ran my hardest. I did everything I can to beat out those Motor tics and I will never forget how the outcome felt.
  18. Whirlwind
    So over last weekend I announced I was gonna be doing a big race taking place in San Leandro California, (just south of Oakland) So here we go!

    We started on the road to The Golden Gate bridge

    Yes. That is a GOLDEN Mercedes SLS AMG Black series for all you super car people
    (enough cars, More Pony )

    We made it to golden gate. Here is my beautiful face

    Our Team being silly

    Me, My Coach, and my good friend and team mate Charlie Sawyer

    Back in the Streets of San Fransisco, we went down Lombard Street (The crookedest, twistiest, city street in the world)

    We then went on the bay bridge to get to San Leandro where we would stay for the night and run the next day (Yes it's a bad picture )

    Pre-race fuel: Scrambled eggs cinnamon roll, annnnnd BLUEBERRY MUFFINS!

    I'm gonna start a chain of photos for blogs called "Road trip ponies" or "Travel Ponies" by taking an pony plushie I own with me and tag a photo with it in

    Here is Luna Waiting for me to race as she over sees the the track :comeatus:

    Well. I wish I had more photos of me racing, but I had a great trip with my team
    Be back with another race blog soon!
  20. Whirlwind
    Well. Today was my second invitational track meet.
     
    Today's track meet was REALLY REALLY RAINY! I ran the 2 mile in the pouring rain and somewhat ended up running great

    I ended up doing the 1600m (1 mile) and the 3200m (2 mile)
    The 3200 is more of my main event, but today I seemed more focused on the 1600m as I set a new personal best time of 4:36 in 1 mile!

    I am very impressed with my performance today. I hope to break 10 minutes in the 2 mile next week
  21. Whirlwind

    Entry #3 The Big One!

    By Whirlwind,

    I've been away in Southern California all weekend at Knotts Berry farm!
    Glad to be back to share what the experience was like
     
    I was with my family supporting my 14 year old sister and her cheer team at a national competition held at Knotts Berry Farm
     
    Here is Silver Bullet. My favorite coaster in the park. This inverted roller coaster is intense all the way through!

     
    Another Great ride in the Park was Supreme Scream (The best Turbo drop ride ever! )
    It carries you up 310 ft. high, then drops you

     
    Too Bad Ghostrider was closed
    Back when it opened (1998) It was ranked the #1 wooden coaster in the world! But over time it just didn't run as well as it used to. Thankfully, the park is doing a MAJOR rehab on the coaster's track to make the Ghostrider re-live it's former glory!

     
    Found Some Aurora plushies of Applejack and Rainbow Dash at a store in the park
    Why? Because ponies

     
    Here is me waiting for Xcelerator The parks launched roller coaster

     
    And to end it, I some what met "the best ride operator ever!" At supreme scream
    Long story short, she saw me both days I was there. I started talking to her about stuff and got a selfie with her

    well thats my weekend for ya
  23. Whirlwind
    I enjoy being single. I can't stand my parents bashing me for not having a girlfriend (in a nice manor)
    But it makes me feel uncomfortable even with their nice advice. But I'd rather stay single for a few more years
  25. Whirlwind
    Hello. I am glad to announce the official scheduling for my very own Christmas party Watch2gether celebration.
    This Watch2gether will consist a pony video playlist I created myself.
    I will also host a Group Skype call to stream with the videos to those who have skype. (I'll message some for those who want to do that)
     
    But If you want to just watch videos, feel free to join the stream. I will post a link on the forums this Saturday December 10th
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