Category Archives: Music and Technology

5 Tools for a Better Car Audio System

Let’s face it: Sometimes your playlist is the only thing keeping you from insanity during a traffic jam or a long, dull commute. So doesn’t it stand to reason that your car audio should be optimized for perfection? Here are five great tools for turning your vehicle’s standard audio equipment into a state-of-the-art system.

Car audio

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Is Radio Advertising Still Effective?

With the boom of social media in the past few years, one would wonder if traditional advertising in newspapers, on television and on the radio is still as effective as before. If I have to pick one from these 3 mediums as the most influential, it has to be radio advertising. No wonder there are media people who still offer this, including Howard Stern advertising, and many companies remain eager to run ads on air.

Listening to the radio

I admit, I haven’t really listened to the radio except during power outages. However, there are many instances in my daily life that I get a chance to listen to the radio. Every morning, my dad listens to the AM radio to listen to commentaries about the news. Whenever I’m commuting, may it be on a jeepney, taxi cab or bus, I get to listen to the radio as the drivers usually have their favorite station playing in the background.

Car radio

In my experience, and I believe many people can relate, though I’m a very visual person,  I easily recall things that I hear. I have crazy imagination too, so radio advertising would be very effective in getting the message across with people like me.

And I’m sure millions of people across the world, or even in my own country, would agree with me that radio advertising is still effective in terms of recall, especially when someone I know, like my favorite DJ or radio jock, delivers the advertising scripts. Our brains are programmed to remember things we hear, almost as much as what we see.

How about you? Do you think radio advertising or traditional media is still as effective now that we have various social media networks? Share your views!

Filipinos Love for Videoke

We Filipinos are known to be extremely fond of singing. Heck, parties here in the Philippines are not complete without videoke or just plain ol’ singing along songs we’re all familiar with.

Because videoke is a part of our tradition, I’m not ashamed to admit that we actually have our own videoke system at home. 😀 No, it’s not the machine where you’d insert coins and pick a song. It’s just a music player connected to our TV and huge speakers. We have a CD with a wide selection of songs. We bought it and it’s a real videoke VCD filled with songs, and it even includes a song book. Cool, eh?

We only use regular microphones since we have a very good sound system. It would’ve been cool if we had akg microphones to get a more authentic sound when we sing, eh?

Here’s a photo of my cousin singing her heart out when we had a cousins-only get-together last year (oh I miss them!):

I remember hosting all-night parties at our old home in Navotas and my friends will sing all throughout the night, to our neighbors’ dismay. 😀 I even recall someone throwing us bottle caps ’cause it was already 4am and we’re not yet done. 😀

We were supposed to buy Magic Sing last year, but chose not to since we’re pretty satisfied with our videoke system now. I wish there’d be Adele songs though. 😉

The (Loud) Music Lover in Me

Last week was Coke’s Concert ng Bayan. My brother and I were supposed to go to, but had to cancel because of a prior commitment. We were really hoping to be there when thousands of music lovers and our favorite bands and artists gather round to party away. The last time we watched a concert was when the Black Eyed Peas were here. We needed a night out after all the things that’s been keeping us busy the past months.

I remember back in my late teens and early twenties, I used to go out a lot with my friends who were in a band. There was even one time I performed (vocals) with them. We’d stay up ’til the wee hours of the morning rehearsing at their makeshift studio at the drummer’s home. Yes, you read it right. I used to sing and perform, but it was one of those things that I outgrew. Still, I miss watching a live band play music. I remember all that loud music, bass pumping and head banging gave me a certain high.

Nothing beats the sound of live music. It might not be for everyone since it can be really loud. I remember not enjoying it the first time when my then drummer boyfriend brought me to watch his band play. I got really stressed ’cause I wasn’t used to all that loudness. Eventually, though, I grew to love it because, in my opinion, bands are more creative now when it comes to expressing themselves in music. I’ve seen these bands use Groove Tubes to equally amplify the notes they’re playing, compose songs in a drop of a hat, and make every moment seem like you’re in a music video. 😀 I’m not kidding!

My bro and I are now on the lookout for the next concert we’d be watching. I’m hoping one of my favorite foreign acts will perform here again, but I’m okay with any local band playing. It’s hard being single amongst my friends who I used to party with. I think I need new and younger friends! 😀

A Gift Idea for your Music Geek Friends

I used to be in a band back in college (can you believe that I’m one of the lead vocals? :D) and there was this one time that we had a gig we’re playing for a close friend of ours. The place was a bit small so we couldn’t bring any of our instruments. Our drummer thought of recording and mixing our music on his laptop computer and we’ll just use it in our performance. We all thought it was a cool idea and so we went for it.

I can’t remember exactly what program he used, but it’s some kind of software where you can recreate the sounds produced by different musical instruments, particularly the drums set. We were pretty satisfied with the result and our performance was a hit. It was actually a birthday celebration and everyone enjoyed our mix. So, we did that for a couple more of our gigs before I had to leave the band ‘cause of some personal reasons. But, we still communicate through Facebook and chat.

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