The Introductory Guide to Korean Music and Beyond

August 3, 2017 by Prisanti Leave a comment

While I still refuse to watch Korean drama religiously, I’m not reluctant listening to Korean music. I wrote posts about my favorite Korean songs and music videos before, which mostly involve the unique color of their music videos, not taking much of the music itself. So, today I intend to write one.

It’s hard to understand completely what’s make Korean music so interesting or the very first time I’ve been drawn into it. It’s like a giant black hole that sucks your soul which only give 2 options of going forward, stay on your spot or dig deeper into it. Either way, you’re already fallen into it :))

For me, Korean music is experimental. The music is often loud and usually, combines a lot of sounds and samples that put together in a really weird way. It’s non-conservative and non-traditional way of thinking, which I think is good because they bring their own color to the table. Unlike the weird vibe of Japanese music which is not afraid to smash uncommon things together (remember Baby Metal?), Korean music is still oriented towards the trend of Western Music. It’s not a surprise that EDM and hip-hop are taking Korean music like storm nowadays.

It’s mostly true that Korean idol groups are the fabricated products from entertainment agencies. But since it’s already a long way from the start of this so called Korean Wave, an idol who composes and write his/her own song is not that rare anymore. The other reason why I said Korean music is experimental, it is because there are a lot of up and coming groups with their own ‘concept’ for time to time (you’ll lose count on how many boy band, girl band, and don’t get started on how many members are actually in their groups). Some concepts may work for few groups, but not for some others. Some idol groups may find success after their first debut, while some rocketed to the chart after two albums, after 6 years, or after a video made viral. It seems that Korean music is also in the midst of figuring out the best formula to make them stay in business.

If you noticed already, I keep using the term Korean music rather than K-Pop here. I’m trying not to degrade the very existence of the music inside. While most famous Korean music is still dominated by idol groups with flashy performance, Korean music is more than just pop genre and the dance breaks. When listening to Korean music there is one rule that I always keep, if you cannot picture the music without its music video and performance, then it would probably not that good. Because in the end, music is made to listen to.

Here are a few Korean band or song, which I recently in love with and I think worth to listen to. I’m not really a dedicated fan, so if you ask me each of the band’s member name or every track’s lyrics meaning, I might not remember it completely :)) But as I said over and over again: good music is good music, no matter what genre it is, no matter in what language it speaks.

Sky Motel

July 28, 2017 by Prisanti Leave a comment

The Sky Motel stands right across the curve in mid level cloud.

10.000 feet above.

You’ll be lucky to find it, they said.

Others have given it 4.7 stars review and they are raving about the place.

Somewhere between the silent dawn and the loud sunset.

You’ll enjoy the color transition of the marvelous sky when the violet turns red and becomes pale orange.

They say it’s breathtaking as well as heart stopping.

While the view of Sky Motel is taking the top compliment, many guests also mention the surrounding atmosphere.

It is the perfect combination of silence and peacefulness.

Other keywords include terms like ‘healing’, ‘motivating’, and ‘reassuring’.

Though not many have come to actually find the exact location of the famous Sky Motel, some have been around to visit it from afar.

Hoping for another visit, to actually spend a night (or maybe day), in the property.

Therefore, we conclude the report by saying this once again, you’ll be lucky to find it.

The Cold Room

July 24, 2017 by Prisanti Leave a comment

It’s three in the morning.

And the room has never looked this quiet before.

It’s too cold and I can’t feel my feet.

This might be the longest hours we need to defeat,

with thoughts beyond space and looping playlist between our ears.

Can we really survive this one too?

How many hours left?

How the wall feels there?

All the little thoughts and the big debates.

Is it matter now?

It’s still cold and I still cannot feel my feet.

Maybe, this is the cold that will last longer than we thought it would be.

But we don’t have Pause button anymore.

Let’s survive another night so we can meet yet a warm morning soon.

A Day in Pattern Making

July 23, 2017 by Prisanti 2 Comments

Selama setahun ke belakang, saya semakin menekuni yang namanya Pattern Making. Pertama banget memulai Kawung Living, saya cuma bisa design dengan Photoshop dan kalau ingin membuat suatu produk dengan pattern yang sama, saya bakal membuat design-nya khusus untuk produk itu saja. Misalnya produk bantal yang berbentuk kotak yang ukurannya 40 x 40 cm, maka saya bakal mulai dengan blank canvas sebesar 40 x 40 cm. Design tersebut kadang nggak bisa semerta-merta diaplikasikan ke produk Mug misalnya, karena bidang areanya saja sangat berbeda. Produk Mug yang saya buat biasanya memerlukan ukuran design persegi panjang dengan ukuran 9.5 cm x 20 cm. Ada kalanya, hal tersebut menyita waktu karena saya harus mengulangi kerja, melakukan proses skala yang berulang, dll. Belum lagi karena design-nya dibuat dalam bentuk pixel, tentu ada resiko design-nya pecah kalau ingin diaplikasikan ke media yang lebih besar.

Lama kelamaan, saya merasa harus mulai belajar membuat seamless pattern di Illustrator. Kalau ditanya apa sih bedanya, gampangnya seamless pattern itu kanan kiri atas bawahnya bisa nyambung. Jadi kalau di-repeat dari berbagai arah, bisa terlihat seamless dan nggak ada bekas sambungan.

Di luar negeri sendiri, yang namanya pattern designer atau surface pattern design adalah sebuah jurusan design yang sudah umum. Salah satu kanal mereka menyalurkan hasil karyanya adalah situs seperti Spoonflower atau Print All Over Me.

Saya pernah membuat video singkat ini sebagai gambaran bagaimana step by step saya dalam design pattern. Ada beberapa teman yang menanyakan lebih lanjut tentang proses ini. Walaupun terlihat sederhana, tapi ada beberapa hal yang “teknis banget” dan cuma bisa dipahami kalau kita semakin banyak berlatih. Jadi untuk kali ini, saya mau menceritakan yang gampang dipahami, yaitu proses singkat menuangkan ide sampai bisa jadi pattern yang bisa diaplikasikan ke berbagai produk. Karena dari ide sederhana saja sebenarnya banyak yang bisa kamu buat.

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Post ini sendiri dibuat berdasarkan pengalaman saya membuat pattern sederhana dalam waktu kurang dari 24 jam di suatu weekend. Waktu itu, saya post proses saya ke IG story, jadi kebetulan dokumentasinya masih ada.

Weekend’s Treat

July 22, 2017 by Prisanti 4 Comments

Since it’s weekend, I’d love to roam across the internet, doing nothing, looping songs in Spotify playlist, repeatedly watching the same YouTube videos, and ease up any tension I had before. I think everybody does that once in a while. So here’s to another weekend, another random round up made for you.

These days, your favorite rock bands seem to find ‘new sound’ and evolve with this whole new generation. Paramore goes electronic and Linkin Park goes pop (Chester Bennington, may your soul rests in peace), bBut Blink-182 only finds their new sound by going back to their roots. The deluxe version of California consists the original 19 tracks + 11 new songs, and 1 acoustic version of their released song, Bored to Death. A generous treat for people who still prefer listening to rock instead of hip-hop and electronic music.