User:Breakdown16

Working on Accel World project.

Finally decided to give myself some individuality. Turned out to be a long essay, huh? Will update if I feel like it.

Current interests

• Otaku subculture: Pretty much a given. Not that heavy a consumer though; I usually watch 0-1 currently airing anime per season. I occasionally dabble in light novels (only Accel World so far though) and visual novels, but almost never manga.
• Piano: Oh, piano. Below, I dedicate an entire section of my bio to it.
• Learning/practicing languages: I like foreign languages in general, although I’m only studying and practicing Japanese in earnest at the moment. I have varying extents of knowledge of Mandarin Chinese (traditional characters ftw), French, and Japanese, but the only language in which I’m fluent is obviously English.
• Mario Kart Wii: At first glance, it seems to be something out of my character because it’s a “normal” game, but there’s more to MKW than meets the eye. SCs, strats, clan wars, tournaments...sigh.

Other things I like: sleeping, eating, swimming, 音MAD/YTPMVs (find them hilarious), Japanese culture in general.

Past interests

• Music rhythm games: Got hooked on music games from FFR and Stepmania; played those somewhat intensively from about 2007-2009. More recently, I played Beatmania IIDX and BMS (doubles mainly) for a little less than a year and a half (haven’t played since January 2013). Really like Konami’s Bemani series. Maybe I’ll get into it again when I have the time/interest - I really can't let go. I’ve also dabbled a bit in jubeat and DJ Max Technika and have a tried a very tiny bit of other games. I'm also surprised there's not as much overlap between otakus and music game enthusiasts (at least in the western world) as I thought there would be, but whatever. I suspect it's due to a lack of market for import gaming and the gradual death of the arcade in the west. (Ｔ＿Ｔ）
• Speedcubing: Back in about 2008-2010, I got down to mid-, low-20s for 3x3 and low 40s for one handed.

Music

I have my certain idiosyncrasies regarding music. I prefer actively listening to music in order to better appreciate it, to note its subtleties, and to be able to critique it better. People should also at least know the names of the songs and artists I like - for this reason, I don't really like certain people's practice of half-listening to the radio.

Now, it may be hypocritical for me to say this, but I also don't like some people's tendency to listen exclusively to certain genres or types of music (for example, only pop, only mainstream music, etc.). I believe that every style and genre has something to offer. Depending on one's personal tastes, one may gravitate towards certain genres more than others, but that shouldn't mean one should shirk those other types of music altogether. Why I said that I was being hypocritical is because the majority of what I listen to is Japanese in some sense, whether it's Japanese vocals, Japanese composers/arrangers (even for the non-vocals), Japanese style, and so forth. I would defend myself by saying that 1) within the Japanese sphere I listen to a wide variety of genres, and 2) I do appreciate other sources of music; I just don't prefer them to as great an extent.

Anyways, haven’t been keeping up with music lately, but…

• Trance: Especially J-trance. Will always be the foremost love of my life. The energy, invigoration, and clarity of trance really is quite something.
• Instrumental: Especially piano arranges. Will always be tied for with trance for #1. Music doesn’t have to be blasting loud to be expressive. In both trance and instrumental, there’s a wide range of emotions that can be expressed without necessarily needing vocals. One of the disadvantages of vocals is that vocals in a certain language don’t necessarily speak the same way to everyone. Nonvocal music overcomes this shortcoming and is much more universal.
• Touhou arranges: ZUN is a god of composing. While most derivative Touhou arranges are only mediocre, there’s also quite a number of gems out there. While I love Touhou music, I'm a heretic in the sense that I'm not really interested in the danmaku or fighting games though (sorry hardcore Touhou fans).
• Doujin ongaku: Some of the works out there, both originals and arranges, are exceptional to the point where I prefer them to releases by labels.
• BMS: I fail to understand why BMS music is so underground and relatively unknown when some of the originals out there are so mind-blowing. This overlaps heavily with the trance section.
• Vocaloid: To some extent, I like Vocaloid music. It’s hard to find songs where the singing is of acceptable quality (i.e. reasonably realistic), but again quite a few diamonds in the rough. Also like Vocaloid covers.
• Classical: I don't go out of my way to listen to it, but as a pianist I try to appreciate (good) classical music when I hear it. There's too many classical pieces that sound uninspiring to my (contemporary-biased) ears, but on the whole one can learn a lot more about music and music theory from the great composers of times past than from the dime-a-dozen generic tunes of today. If I may say so, Chopin is quite the genius.

• Artists
  • SHIKI: Former BMS musician and god of trance. At one point my favorite artist (maybe still is), but currently only doing vocal rock arranges, which doesn’t really suit him.
  • onoken: If I had to vote for “most talented musician” in terms of composition and originality, it’d be this guy or xi. So many diverse styles, with a sense of individuality and uniqueness standing out in all of them. Piano, trance, collab J-vocal…all-around talent. Also has done some BMS, pop’n music, and anime soundtrack (Accel World!) arranges. He and 三澤秋 make a stellar combination.
  • xi: BMS artist. Cool trance and jazzy stuff.
  • OSTER Project: Liked her old nonvocal works more, such as the piano etudes and trance works. Primarily has (had?) a jazzy style. Moved on to Vocaloid mainly though, so I’m bummed.
  • 三澤秋 (Aki Misawa): 切ない歌詞が…　J-vocals. She’s sung some very sentimental, heartfelt pieces. Some are less remarkable than others, but overall I love her voice. Has sung some Touhou vocals, and respect for writing her own lyrics. Also, to quote someone, “she’s as pretty as her voice.”
  • ZUN: Again, god of composing, anyone? Very catchy stuff, both Oriental style and otherwise. There’s a reason he has a huge following fandom. Imperishable Night will always have the best soundtrack for me.
  • 天音 (Amane): Primarily Touhou remixes - mainly trance as well as plenty of techno, euro rave, dance, hardstyle (am I using these genres correctly)? Overall, a cool style, though many of his songs feel generic. But also plenty of astounding works. Has a few BMS files.
  • SUN3: cool remixes of everything - mainly Touhou but also anime- and rhythm-game-related stuff. Often throws in a touch of originality, which I like. Techno, trancecore, hardstyle, etc. Heavy on the BMS releases (and especially doubles, yay).
  • Others: syatten (for the BMS trance)

• Vocalists
  • 三澤秋: Crystal clear voice, like that of an angel. Again, sentimental pieces.
  • Lia: Well-known in the anime-related world. Strong and mature.
  • リツカ (Ritsuka): Covers Vocaloid and other songs. Amazing at holding high notes.
  • 小宮真央 (Mao Komiya): Retired doujin singer. BMS, Touhou vocals too. Wide variety of styles; flexible.

• Vocaloids: IA (voiced by Lia! <3), 巡音ルカ (Megurine Luka)

Wish I could learn

• Art/drawing: Though I’m not an image hoarder, more than once I’ve drooled at some masterpiece on Pixiv. I really have no artistic skill or depth perception or any of that.
• Ambidexterity: Though not all that useful, a pretty cool skill.
• Singing: I admire good vocalists, and being able to sing well would help with music transcriptions if I ever felt up to it.
• Whistling
• Cooking: Guys should learn to cook too.

Not interested in

• Most fan fiction
• Most English/western/live action media
• Most games aside from the ones aforementioned (again, sorry to diehard Touhou fans).
• 2chan and 4chan: Too depersonalized, too rough, impossible to find what you're interested in. Wipes the boards clean - what's the point of that, how are you ever going to get anywhere like that? I'll stick to forums, thank you. Wish the Japanese used forums instead too.

Piano

Used to hate it and never practiced, which I somewhat regret now. Now, I practice a lot (for fun) but never seem to get better. You know how sometimes people will humbly say things like “Oh, I’m not that great” when they’re actually fairly talented? I can safely say I’m a very clumsy pianist. There’s not a single piece I can play “fluently” with few mistakes, let alone no errors, no matter how simple the piece is. I wonder if this is possibly related to my lack of artistry (see thoughts about art/drawing).

I also don’t have much knowledge of music theory; something else I should work on, I guess. Oh, and I need to learn how to sing, as mentioned before. I actually did try to transcribe something once, but it’s been at a standstill for forever.

Currently, I learn mainly Touhou arranges. I also have an interest in songs from music rhythm games, Vocaloid, classical, and anime/related media. Not taking lessons at the moment.

Favorite pianists (haven’t been mentioned in the music section)

• 化け猫 / 猫娘 (bakeneko/nekomusume): Oh god, where on earth to start? Jaw-dropping cosplay. Homemade dolls. And she has the most ridiculously perfect form of any pianist I’ve ever seen, no kidding. In that respect, her level of attainment’s similar to that of professional concert pianists. She knows how to put on a performance. Her performances also have a very creative or complex accompaniment (for non-pianists, that’s usually the left hand’s role), unlike many (she doesn’t usually arrange it herself, though). Complex doesn’t necessarily mean hard, mind you. She does have a unique style of mixing in other songs. Does lots of Touhou arranges, with the occasional piece from a different source such as 凛として咲く花の如く from pop'n music. Wait, what, she draws too?
• まらしぃ (Marasy): Everyone seems like to like him, and I do too, to a certain extent. Anyone would be jealous of his ability to play by ear and make a quick arrange in less time than it takes to cook instant ramen. Seems to favor Vocaloid nowadays, which isn’t a bad thing in itself, but the problem is that so many Vocaloid songs are not that interesting to listen to and don’t have that much potential as a piano arrange. Basically, don’t know source song = not interesting. Also, his left hand can be amazingly bland at times. But again, quite a few masterpieces here and there: コネクト and ネクロファンタジア are stunning. In terms of pure speed, also probably one of the best out there. Does Vocaloid, anime, Touhou, music rhythm games, and occasionally other stuff. Lately, though, I haven't been impressed with his lack of originality.
• ジャム: His performance of 竹取飛翔　～ Lunatic Princess was one of the greatest or perhaps even the greatest source of inspiration and motivation for me to get back into piano. Too bad his old videos don't have a higher picture quality. 少女綺想曲　～ Dream Battle is amazing: he seamlessly melds two overlapping voices together, often changing and crossing hands in the process.

Arrangers

• まらしぃ: See above.
• 朋夜 (tomoya): Complex piano arranges, sometimes ridiculously difficult or impossible without two pianists. Touhou, originals, anime, and more. Sometimes, it doesn’t sound very melodic, but there is undoubtedly a certain level of complexity in his works.
• ようか (Yohka): Inactive since 2009 and last truly active around 2007 (sadface). Believe she’s female, but no solid proof. She wrote a piece of text once about how all too often arranges of things like Touhou and whatnot are made the quick and dirty way: right hand = melody and left hand = simple accompaniment. It struck me deeply. She really knows how to bring out the beauty and full potential of a piano. Again, complexity. Mainly Touhou, with some other stuff.
• 紅葉月梛葉 (Nagiha Momijiduki): Makes very difficult, transcendental (is that the right word?) Bemani arranges that are usually quite beyond my level. I've tried one of his easier arranges. Also does a few Touhou arranges. This guy deserves more recognition for his thoughtfully arranged pieces.
• Others (TBA)

There’s other transcribers and arrangers out there on whom I keep an eye, but since I don’t have as much to say about them that will be all for now.