Here’s the energy with which I’m entering 2024:

When I got Ableton Live I said to myself that that would be the last music-related purchase in my life. It has everything I need and more. And yet here I am. I got FL Studio and I’ve been playing around with it and LOVING it. I think something about the workflow just works for my ADHD brain. You create a bunch of patterns and then throw them around a timeline and call it a song. It can be the same with Ableton’s Session View, but it just feels different. And the Piano Roll, duuuude. The hype is real. Many of the stock plugins are also amazing. They look like WinAmp skins (ugly AF), but I love that. I’ve yet to actually make a full track in FL, but I’ve already gone much farther than I ever got in Ableton with writing music. Ableton is still probably my go-to for ambient music and working with found sounds, but for everything else I think it’s FL. FWIW I tried making an ambient track in FL and it worked out for me as well… so who knows, maybe I’ll be selling my Ableton license and have FL be the DAW that I focus on and try to fully master. Also the YouTube content from musicians who use FL is wild. I think I’ll share a playlist sometime next week. It’s hilarious. ...

Lost count of how many I’ve started. This one’s the newest.

I have been hardcore reading these past couple of months. I went from having read 4 books in 2023 to 14 in the span of 60 days. It started with joining a book club where we were all reading Infinite Jest (that’s still in progress), but as I was reading that, I also started reading other (easier) books to keep the momentum going. And then I re-discovered audiobooks. And then I got a library card and had access to more ebooks and audiobooks. And now here we are! I also got a new Kindle for St. Nicholas day, so that’s kept the motivation high as well. I’m really hoping I’ll be able to carry this energy with me into 2024 and maybe have at least one year in my life where I read 50 books (if I survive a whole other year)… Thanks for tuning in, Toni. ...

“This class will probably ruin movies for you.” That was the first thing said by my teacher during my first film class in high-school. Basically, creating the habit of analysing (and often “over analysing”) movies would ruin them for me. Movies would no longer be something I can just shut my brain off for and enjoy. He was right. Now the only movie I can just “chill and enjoy” is some purposefully dumb comedy or action blockbuster — everything else comes with “baggage”. Like, I can’t just sit down and watch Everything, Everywhere, All at Once because that’s a Good Movie™️ and I gotta look at all the good bits and think about them and analyze them. It only got worse when the trend of video essays started on YouTube. This “analytical mindset” was suddenly everywhere and it was ruining my life. Here’s how I got around it: Instead of trying to analyze the art I think about whether it was fun to make. If it looks like the director/musician/artist had fun creating this gift for me — I can turn off my “analyze the art!” voice and just… enjoy the ride. It’s a super subtle shift, but god damn it’s made my life so much easier. It’s difficult to turn off the pretentious part of my brain once it’s been activated, and this “distraction” is the best. Thanks for tuning in, Toni P.S. Before I leave, here’s a list of things that I think were probably a blast to make for (almost?) everyone involved: ...

This week at work was intense, but I’ve also been doing a lot of “thinking” and “planning” and “brainstorming” for a few creative things I’ll be doing on the side as part of my whole “year of winding up/down” yearly theme. Work The company I work at was part of a conference/expo thing, and as the marketing person it was up to me to work on a lot of the creative elements in preparation for it. It was rather short-term in terms of planning, but I think what we managed to come up with was pretty decent (AFAIK we were the best-looking booth at the event, so that’s something). BUT this meant that I was working multiple consecutive 10-hour days trying to get some videos edited/motion designed (by myself!) to play on the screens at our booth. Turns OUT, I’m way rustier at the whole video editing thing that I thought I was. It doesn’t help that I’m in my first few weeks of using Apple Motion and yet I signed myself up for making 10 short videos/product demos using motion. So… Bit off a bit more than I can chew, but I made it work. Creative Shit As I said in an earlier post, my two main areas of focus are music and video/motion design. So, while my “work” pretty much took care of the video element, I was left with doing music in whatever time I had left. AND I MANAGED to actually make a little song and upload it to Soundcloud. It’s not amazing, but I wasn’t going for amazing. I’m mostly really pleased that I actually got it done and pushed past my own… idk… fear? Yeah. I’m glad that I pushed past my fear and still put it up somewhere on the internet. Who knows, maybe one of these days I’ll make something that I’ll actually deem worthy enough to put up on streaming services! But speaking of music: Music I watched a bunch of music theory videos on Friday while I was decompressing from the intense working days. I’ve tried learning music theory before, but it never really clicked. But this time I found a person on YouTube who is fucking amazing at explaining all the little bits in a way that makes sense and made all the prior experience I’ve had with theory “click” into place. It honestly felt like that scene in The Matrix where Neo learns kung-fu. I gotta share this with you: {{< youtube “sWAaJF9Wk0w” >}} Other Stuff This video got me more fired up to actually get goign on all the creative shit I’ve planned for this year. I spent 10 years putting all this off, and if I don’t do it now… I honestly think I’ll never do it. {{< youtube “5L1HvcFtCjo” >}} And, uh… I think that’s mostly it for this week. It was mostly work and barely any play. But I’ve been dull, so I’ve got nothing to lose. Thanks for tuning in! Toni. ...

It’s been a slow week. Basically regrouping from the dificulty of the previous week. But also I put a song up on Spotify/Apple Music and that’s a capital “A” Accomplishment for me. Work Now that the conference/event is over, it’s time to get back to the “foundational” marketing activities of SEO, writing blog posts, creating various templates for SMM and stuff. Music Put up a track on Spotify and Apple Music. I mean, it’s the same song that I put up on Soundcloud the week before, but now that it’s on streaming services it feels “official”. I’m sure you understand what I mean lol. Movies I ordered a cheap projector so now I can watch movies on a “big screen” but at home. It’s great. So far I’ve watched Leave the World Behind and the first half of Saltburn (right up until the bit where it starts to get really weird really quickly) and started watching the BBC Sherlock (despite having a “no tv-show year”, but… with 90-minute episodes it’s almost like a movie? Besides, it’s, like, a mini-serries, technically, right?). It’s a bit blurry (again, cheap projector), but the size of the picture makes up for it. Plus, I get to watch it in bed comfortably instead of the livingroom couch (which I fucking hate). Other Stuff Combinging my current obsession with music and my self-diagnosed ADHD to look for/watch videos like this one: {{< youtube “_-h1tKqKQ34” >}} So yeah… IDK. It’s been a slow week. A bunch of stuff happenned, but nothing to write home about, you know? So, few highlights isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I’d rather have a slow week than an intensive week that overwhelms me and fucks me up for an entire weekend. Thanks for tuning in! Toni. ...

Hi! My first song is out on Spotify! Listen here. I’m mostly proud that I somehow gathered enough courage to actually share this. Hopefully as I learn more about music I’ll be putting out better songs. But TBH this one has grown on me.

The first CD I owned was the Shrek OST. I got it to go along with a boombox that I was gifted. A Philips AZ1575 and MAN I listened to a lot of music on that thing. It had that wheel thing for volume control which was a as close to an iPod as I could get at that time. The Shreck OST was a no-skip collection of music. I had my favorites (Reputation, All Star, Stay Home), but there wasn’t a song on there that I’d skip anyway. I don’t know that it influenced my taste in music (like, it wasn’t the “foundation” of my tastes the way Eminem Show or A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out were), but it really set the bar for all the playlists that I would make once I had the ability to burn CD’s and (later) put stuff on my MP3 Player. ...

I recently discovered (literally not five minutes ago) that it’s possible to edit github repositories through a web interface? With all the push/pull/commit bullshit as well? Absolutely incredible.