Well, basically people know me as the one who only listen to Eastern music... Korean and Japanese songs are occupying one fifth of my iPod's capacity - around 25 Gb, range from pop to rock to original soundtracks of dramas and movies, and of course, the theme songs from my favorite anime also, to an extension of my obsession towards anime, from a NeoClassical genre - a Japanese cellist and singer, Wakeshima Kanon.
Because of this massive collection of songs - that equals to more than 7000 songs in my iPod as a whole, I became someone who's obsessed with its organization... Every song must be sorted according to its album, singer, released year, and genre. Japanese, Korean and Chinese songs are among exceptional as they have their own genre - of course I made them myself, so I don't need to juggle 500 albums just to find Dong Bang Shin Ki's albums that released both in Japanese and Korean. So, when I first bought the iPod, thanks to iTunes, Wikipedia, and Google - of course hours of my time in front of this screen, I managed to sort them out in less than a month though the whole process was being procrastinated many times as I'm not someone who have a lot of free times.
This whole thing of being so organized and orderly had started since I bought my Walkman E series mp3 player back in 2007. Unlike other mp3 player that I had encountered before that, this one needs media manager which is SonicStage - a software that is used for managing portable devices when they are plugged into PCs that running Microsoft Windows. As I'm running Windows Vista both in my laptop and my PC, the 4th version - the latest version of the software - as of October 2008, works just fine. But then, when my brother bought the latest Walkman B series mp3 player (this one boosts up the bass!) last week, it turned out that it doesn't need SonicStage to transfer media into it. He can simply use Windows Media Player that also functions as the media manager in Mum's Sony VAIO laptop that runs Windows 7.
2009 was when I started into Apple stuffs... I read somewhere that "An Apple A Day Keeps Microsoft Away..." and it is true in some way... When I first bought my iPod Classic, I have to download iTunes for Microsoft Windows. It looks weird - don't know how to call it actually and that's why a few months after that, and also since I'm a one-brand-oriented person, I finally decided to switch to Apple. Thus, I bought a MacBook and an iPod Touch eventually. Since the latest release of iPhone still hasn't up to my preferences when it comes to handphones, I'm still using my Sony Ericsson's Walkman phone and besides, I still have iPod Touch for the fun part of an iPhone, right? But then, because of this switch-to-Mac thing, I became more and more obsess with organizing my stuffs especially when it comes to my songs collection.
Recently, I fell in love with something new... Rather new for me actually as this thing dated in 1800s! It has to with Jay Chou, Schumann, Saint-Saens, Schubert, Listz, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Mozart, Chopin, and definitely Beethoven... Yes, it's Classical Music!
I have some classical piano pieces that I exceptionally in love with since a very long time ago - long before I even learn how to use computers! and these pieces are the only classical pieces that I know. Since I'm also a fan of original soundtracks of anime - especially UraBoku's, Kuroshitsuji and Vampire Knight - another extension of my obsession towards anime, I love listening to those instrumentals so much but only recently I have this urge to check out the Classical genre.
Since Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata is one of the small number of the exceptional pieces that I know, and since Jay Chou's Nocturne - from his 6th Album - November's Chopin sits at the top of my Billboard chart, I started my Classical journey with Beethoven and Chopin. It turns out wonderfully.
I managed to download some of their works from here and there and I really enjoy it so much.. Chopin's Piano Concertos are my favorite so far but I can say that there are so much more to explore and experience as there are a lot of things about Classical music that I just learned myself. The terms used are sometimes confusing but I just can't help myself to go deeply as I can...
From listening to the orchestra, knowing how the pieces being composed and dedicated to, trying to understand the mix of feelings while listening to every movement, the mood, the techniques used, the variations, and lots of other things, have made me remember the feeling of joy and happiness from learning something new that has long forgotten by me. Immersed in stacks of books, pens, and lab coat before had really turned me into a no-fun-person.
It also reminds me of the feeling of tranquility while sitting alone at the beach during sunsets... and also reading a good book under a tree in the park... Ah! What a wonderful feeling!
All in all, I think I'm going classic for awhile... Well, I promise I'll update myself with the latest releases of Japanese and Korean entertainment but it's going to be awhile before I can check them out...
Alright people, it's time to get back to my serial planes and drafting lessons...
