音時雨 ～Regentropfen～

Who can make a bass voice sounds perfect?
Kenji Kawai.
I've been into his music world for pretty a long time. The rich arrangement of the whole orchestra must be one of his features. Another feature can be the using of human voice. No matter for chorus or solo works, the great integration of human voice and instruments attracted listeners. To me, recently, I just realised, Kenji Kawai could be the first modern composer I noticed who could make superb works for the bass.
In May or so, I found Kenji Kawai's newest (?) work "Sound of GANTZ PERFECT ANSWER". I loved it. Then, I knew that there was actually another Gantz existing -- "Sound of GANTZ".
I was impressed by them.
Now, GANTZ series is in my always played music list.
However, the very stimulant (?!) among all tracks to me,
was the main theme of GANTZ,

The bass, the melody, plus the arrangement, the drums... nothing but awesome (pounding on the table)! *0*

KENJI KAWAI I LOVE YOU~~~

-- Therefore, due to my curiosity, I tried the live action movie tonight.
Out of my expectation, the movie is good, really good (though may be too exciting and sometimes scary ^^;)!
It's still mainly a SF, not a thriller -- I do love both genres. Being seriously scared, I'll keep watching (like how I behaved toward Higurashi xD). I mean, though there are lots of rubbish movies, you watch and forget soon, for this one, I won't forget. Its world is interestingly attractive. I was planning finishing watching it tonight, but, it's too late and I have other plans tomorrow! >_<
But, but, tomorrow evening, I can finish it! Probably together with "Another GANTZ". Hmmm... what I got was only the first part of it, don't know much about it though, I HATE spoilers!

Hey, I was supposed to watch KOKIA's the 5th season concert DVD tonight! OTL
Well, the next weekend... ^^;;

I'm not a website-editing mania, but I do love customizing. It was a kind of old idea, to get my blog a customized 404 page.
Why?
Because that's fun. I really don't believe people will get a shortened link to my site and then see my own 404 page. xD

However, as you know, blogger doesn't support it. So we have to find a way to hack -- the most benefit to use a service without full control is you can always learn to hack. Thus, to solve my need, I googled and got the answer quickly. Pretty much of people want this feature, so even though blogger doesn't allow it, the users win.
Well, not perfectly though.

Buuuut,
this is how my own 404 page look like:
click and give a try!
A BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH!

I was actually inspired by this: How to: Create a BSoD-like 404 page
When I saw this post, I would want to try it on my own blog, because that's so cool!!

I could only use google sites since I don't have a real host (lame, but still fine!).
For the first time, I tried to change everything into blue. But, the stupid system footer, the text in it couldn't be changed -- google sites would be awesome if you could use fully customizable css/html -- then I had to use a silly way to solve the issue: put more enter's under the 404 content. But, when I realised when you get redirected from a wrong link, it goes to this subdomain plus the same wrong suffix (don't know what the term is so just let me call it like this, if you don't understand, ignore it. xD), I had to move the 404 content into user footer region, and...
I'll stop telling more. Wanna know what I actually did, press CTRL+A on the error page
Then I was done. I tested a few wrong links, it works well. But, it didn't work in some cases, like, for each post's individual link, the broken link can't redirect to the error page, and you see the lame blogger-defaulted 404.
Anyway, I can't do anything beyond what I have done. Like what I said in the beginning, I don't believe people will even get a broken link to my blog at all. So,
MY CUSTOM 404 PAGE WAS REALLY MADE FOR FUN!
Yet it wasn't a bad experience; I learned a new kind of hack! :P

p.s. during the setting of the error page, it underwent an unstable time. For a while, my blog couldn't direct the naked domain to the www. version. I reset it in my DNS manager for a few times, then it worked (and stopped working shortly again). When it seemed to be back to normal, I was told that chrome (also IE, don't know about firefox, my computer naver has it!) couldn't access my blog (with or without www.). Ahhh, how lame complicated DNS actually is! However, for some unknown reason, Opera could access it all the time while the other browsers couldn't.
Therefore, my conclusion is:
OPERA IS THE BEST~<3

Rainy days again~
Lovely, but really, it's cold.
Summer has gone long time ago (though I've never thought we have real summer days! xD), and we had got a couple of rainy days again, with the late (?) autumn coldness.

In the past month (I have to admit that I was too lazy busy to write), I did get several things to post here as a piece of life backup.

I watched "Break Blade" a few weeks ago. The reason, you know, because of KOKIA's songs. That's actually a good movie, but probably I won't watch it again. Its storyline is too sad. Ahh, I don't wanna see people dying!!! >_<

Kalafina had a new album released, the title is.... (I actually forgot). At the first time of listening, I even didn't finish playing all tracks. Gosh, simply because Kalafina has been too much off-orbit already. There were not so many songs I liked from that album, and that's true that I didn't play their songs for months. My passion for them has disappeared (completely, at least mostly).
Another volume of soundtrack from Puella Magi Madoka just released. Hmmm, as usual, not too much impressive at all. I know, Yuki you want to lose your "old" fans!

Anyways, I'll end my complaint now.

On last Friday, I had a long talk with my boss. That's crazy. If I didn't make the decision to end the talk on Friday, we would still have to continue on Saturday. Oh, noes! I want a whole weekend!
So, when we finished in that day, it was....

↑ this time. lol

Yet I was happy that we finally finished. xD

Now, I want to change my blog background again. Since winter is coming, it would be good to use an image with a cold hue. Then, I found this:

Got it when I searched for "nebula". I just love cosmic views!
I don't know if this picture will fit. I'll see tonight. :3

KOKIA's "new" album, her outwork collection "pieces" was released on August 24th.
Well, to her fans, this isn't that "new" anyways.
Why?

Got it?
Except for track 7, "Nageki no Oto", NOTHING IS NEW!!! :sqeh: This is a good choice for people want to get all her dispersed works in one album. These outworks are from "Phantom", "Break Blade", "Bungaku Shoujo", and "Ar Tonelico III", oh, yes, also "Dragon Nest".
Just... It's so cute to see Masumi Itou/Hikaru Nanase's name showing here in two ways. :sqlove: Thus, you can see, this album is actually not only KOKIA's outwork collection, but also the collection of her collaboration with Masumi Itou (hmmm, let me just use this name from now on). Talking about composing and arrangement, Masumi features in her excellent arrangement of strings, as well as her unique taste to make all instruments sound clear, gentle and harmonic. Delicate, sensitive, sometimes splendid. That kind of effect, no any others could achieve it.
But... this album, I have to say that I don't want to call it as an "album". The order of songs is sooooo weird! Songs were just put together by where they are from. It's a good way to arrange songs in your music library, but it's NOT for a collection album! :sqhuh:

Therefore, to get good junctions, I made a rearrangement for these songs, plus another two Masumi-arranged works that were included in her "REAL WORLD". Now, at least to me, the order looks much better~

BTW, look at the total length -- 1:13!! It's just a normal album's length! Superb~ lol

So, now, let me do a tiny review to this album plus two extra "pieces". :sqwah:

1. 言の葉/kotonoha/words
The introduction begins gradually, the entire pace is slow and stable, and KOKIA's voice is gentle and sweet, which all make this song as the best "opening" song.

2. Transparent
This song has a pretty cold feeling, yet its pace isn't fast either. Although, the strings of the second half of this song is stretching out, the song ends in a similar feeling as its opening, not too fast, still stable, so it's a good contrast to "kotonoha". Thus I put it as the second.

3. Insonnia
The whole song is peaceful, like a lullaby. Here, Masumi's arrangement is the "second type", which features in harmonic, clear and gentle. Following "Transparent", this song is turning listener's feeling slower and slower, slow down, so we can be ready for next one.

4. ヲモイ/omoi/feelings
It's probably the slowest song among all tracks I listed above. It's only a "duet" of KOKIA and the strings. Here, low ranged strings, like cello and double cello are shimmering out. Without violin soaring above, low tunes can also be so wonderful.

5. EXEC_REBIRTHIA=PROTOCOL/.
Alright, after a few slow songs, let's go back to normal (?) speed. KOKIA's introduction will bring you to the upper heaven, enjoying the light from Heaven. Drums begin to play a more important role now. KOKIA's chorus is becoming richer and more glorious. Listen, violin here is really soaring! XD

6. Fate
Yes, now please enjoy KOKIA's splendid chorus echoing with the same splendid strings! KOKIA's main melody isn't that fast, yet as a contrast, the background sounds are rather intense. The end of either each phrase or the entire song is clean -- so clean that you just want to listen to it again, to feel the pure grandeur of sound.

7. EXEC_COSMOFLIPS/.
This song has a similar way of arranging, as well as chorus. The only difference is KOKIA's main melody has the same speed as the background, which enhances the tension. Here, I think, Masumi's arrangement is absolutely brilliant! "It's the conversation with highly developed life forms." I don't care about such settings of game itself, but just from the liner notes, I believe this song just different, that can attract your soul in less than one second.

8. 沈黙/chinmoku/silence
After previous songs grandeur, the environment goes slower again. This song's ambience is also like "Transparent". But this time, the background piano and others are giving a middle-paced rhythm. I remember that someone ever commented KOKIA's back-voice "I wanna embrace you" is so sexy~ XD

9. ジュゴンの空/Dugong no Sora/Dugong's Sky
Don't you think both of "Transparent" and "chinmoku" have the feeling of ocean? If those two are the bottom of the ocean, this "Dugong's Sky" is the surface of the ocean. Actually, except for the speed, the feeling of songs is the only reason for me to put this song here. By the way, the sound effect is very well-made, and... 7:22, this is the longest song as well as the first non-pieces song. ^^;

10. あなたと出逢って/Anata to Deatte/Since I met you
Slow, slow down again... the sound fades out in track9, then fades in track 10. Its arrangement is like "Insonnia", sweet and gentle, can be a good intermezzo, to give us a break (from the super rich strings' world XD).

11. 音の旅人/Oto no Tabibito/Traveler of Sound
I love Masumi's folk-styled arrangement! Without the overlapping strings, it's completely another world in this song. Instead of a soaring violin, there is a flute; no cellos, only the drums are whispering. A silent night under the starry sky, on the sand.

12. 光の中に/Hikari no Nakani/In the Light
Continue to track11's ambience, now it's daybreak. "Hikari no Nakani / In the light". To be honest, I would NEVER think this is from Ar Tonelico if just listen to it individually. Instead, I more like to say, this song is full of KOKIA's style. Beautiful, full of emotion.

13. 嘆きの音/Nageki no Oto/Sound of Sigh
KOKIA's godly chorus is back, with the shining brilliant strings. The only "new" songs of the album, the only one I really expected.
I do love this song. So much, so much.
Strings as the background sound, are not standing out anymore, but just playing in harmony with drums. The only clear part is KOKIA's voice. With a touching lyrics, this song is nothing but perfect.

14. KARMA
This song is the first collaboration of KOKIA and Masumi, right? Here, I was attracted by the amazing string for the first time. Ohh, the chorus parts are so hard to catch, yet so sensitive to respond the main voice. The drums are echoing with the upper high pitched strings. Among them, KOKIA, using a middle ranged tone, chants the unforgettable melody.

15. Road to Glory～for Dragon Nest
Finally, we come to the last song, Road to Glory. Although this can be a good opening song as well, I still want to use this as the end.
Because, I can never, never forget the scene of her concert "OTO NO TABIBITO" in 2010. It's not the end, it's another beginning. With Masumi's grand strings, this song begins in brilliant resonance, and ends in glaring harmony.

Strings, counterpoint, harmony... the endless topics about Masumi's arrangement. She has her own amazing soundtracks, and she also has so many marvelous songs. KOKIA, I think I don't need to say anything more. Her songs are the best healing voice in the world. Then, when the two meet each other, the sparks of miraculous melody are now born.

picture taken from Masumi Itou's blog
KOKIA × 伊藤真澄 最高です。

I'm feeling it's winter, yet it's AUGUST!!!
Oh, gosh, but today is only 8 degrees! Raining all the day. :downfall: So COOOOLD! :chill:
I won't mind cold weather if I don't need to go out though. :sit:

Anyways...
About recent?
Maybe you've noticed, now my blog is all in my new favorite font: Meiryo. The entire page looks much cleaner and neater, no? xD
Other pages, including "drawings" and "photos", have been modified. Plus a few template modifications. Kind of like another blog maintenance, right? :constru3:
Before, I had individual blog posts for them to collect links. But now, to reduce useless blog posts, I just inserted the external links to where they should be, like deviantART and picasa pages. To reduce posting the same thing at different places is also to reduce my work on maintenance, 'cos now what I need to manage is only the links! Much better than before, really, though I more like the previous way to put everything under my blog... but I know, I'm using a blog service, not a real website host -- that's not a good idea to use a blog like a website -- yet I realised it just now! lol
I also want to change my blog template again (background image only), but it will get myself into another re-adjusting of page colors. So troublesome... I'll leave it in future, sometime... -___-

That's about blog. In last week, I was super excited by Akiko and KOKIA's new songs -- why these two are always showing up together? ε- (´ー`*)ﾌｯ -- "空蝉 (Utsusemi)" and "嘆きの音 (Nageki no Oto)". So, like usual, I got something from scrap. Counting the time being distracted, I worked on this image from 2PM to 7PM. lol
The fact is, I still have two drafts done earlier than this one... -_-||
But, it got proven that KOKIA and Akiko RULE! :yes:

@pixiv

inspired by 志方あきこ (Akiko Shikata)'s「空蝉 (utsusemi)」and KOKIA's『嘆きの音 (Nageki no Oto)』.

Actually, in the very beginning, I was just going to draw for "utsusemi", and that WAS what you see here. However, in the second day, I got KOKIA's newest song, and, I realised how similar the two songs are. Not of melody, but of only ambience. So, while looking for a background image, I didn't choose a summer-ish pic, instead, I got this one, snow and maple leaves.

btw, I can feel lots of (?!) shoujo-ai elements in the songs, especially "utsusemi" (sorry, Akiko! =w= ), and ... I got the title of this image in the very end, kind of taken from the lyrics.

p.s. original psd file containing only characters is 21.9MB xD
p.p.s this is the only one I've done so far that has the same design, ratio for either "featured version" and wall paper version. so, I'm not posting another link to the wp here.

Okay... time for DragonNest again!
They are finally releasing the new class "Academic"! I'm waiting for that!! She is so MOE~~~<3
I think, just for "MOE" I'll play one! Maybe two, since there are two subclasses, one is physical and the other one is magic. Yet currently, only the physical one was released. However, I do love those skills, and I do want to try the other subclass with magic attack. So, probably two... well, if I have time, of course. ^^;
In brief, Loli FTW~ :burn:

I should have more to write here, but can't remember what they are (*bricked*).
So, here, I'll use an awesome video to end today's -- August's last -- post.
It's just awesome. :bow:

I was doing some recording yesterday afternoon.
Originally, I was working on "Brave Song". I've been working on this song for almost a month, but it's just didn't work well. Does my voice range not fit the song? I don't know, but before I get a final version, I'll still keep doing this. -_-
So, when I got tired, I wanted to try some other songs.
Then, I saw the file, binaria's "花紺青".
Right, this one!
I've said before, I have a complex about this song. First, I couldn't draw a good image for it, because it's so formless; second, I couldn't sing it, its duet and chorus are... also formless so it was so hard to catch the back melody.
So my first trying of this song is a big fail. lol

Yet it was so fun. I really like to do multi-track recording, and enjoy the effect when I listen to them together. I do love trying the back melody (if I can get the melody), to me, back melodies are even more beautiful than the main melody.
However, I know the first try was crappy. I need to re-do it sometime, maybe this weekend.
Things I need to refine:
- a better timing for the main melody (Annabel's part)
- a more synchronized back voice, also make it more stable
- for duet part, need to control my voice to gain a similar volume for two parts (Nagi's first part, then Annabel's second part)

Hope I can get a better version and replace this crappy first try (that's why I disabled everything for it, since I will hide it soon or later!)

Alright, the newest thing I want to mention in this post, is...

It was begun from that I found how to parse game resource files. To unpack them, then you can read everything, like webpage's source, then you can just DIY as much as you want.

Yet it's not that easy in case of Japanese Interface. That was not a long story but I don't want to mention too much. Have been tired from last night's debugging. xD Briefly, some lines in the JP uistring.xml didn't work, and after detecting region by region, I found the problem lines.
By not replacing only that region, all others worked just superb. Here is how my game now looks like (all my gears' endurance decreased to zero, with only 700 Magic Attack, and 8000+ CT, I finished the bosses with only two hits: the lv40 + the lv50, you know what they are!! :P)

I'm so satisfied now! xD

So, here, I attach all commonly used tools here, just as a backup.

DIY is so fun!!
(I need to learn some perl...)

The second thing, though I should have mentioned a few days ago...

In last week, from this year's NatsuKomi, I got this album.

"深夜の怪談ラジオ (shinya kaidan no radio)"
That's ghost stories!
Like what Annabel said in the interview, I also love ghost stories, even being scared, I will insist to finish reading them.

This album, the first time I didn't realise how "creepy" its OP song is (lol). Why? If you read the lyrics... I think I should spoiler here (the last phrase *cough*), do it yourself!!
and its ED song is so good. I love Annabel's voice, and the melody. :3

So, to give people who don't understand Japanese, I wrote its basic story plots and posted them here:
http://www.pocchong.de/backyard/shinyakaidan.html
and I'm NOT responsible for any misunderstanding, typo, detailed description, etc. also, the interview (tr. 7) wasn't translated, since I'm lazy. m(_ _)m

Ohhh, almost forgot to say. I got its booklet 5 days after the first try of the album. Yet, I did get a drawing in draft, which is "a bit" like its own back-cover... coincidence? not bad though. xD
I may draw it soon, don't know when though. ^^;

AND....
I feel like that I have something others to write here, but I lost my mind, so, I'll leave them in future posts. =3=