drop no.9 ~ december 2023
Short reflections on hitting and missing goals, a violin cover of "Once Upon A December", and an 8tracks playlist that saved my life.
Despite being one of my most low-effort uploads (it doesn’t even have a proper thumbnail for goodness sake!), the YouTube algorithm decided to boost this cover and it’s done pretty well.
Speaking of doing pretty well on YouTube, I reached my goal of hitting 500 subscribers before the end of the year! 🥳 Dare I hope to reach 1000 this time next year?
I don’t have a highlight reel of this year, which has truly been full of ups and downs. It has been a year of discovery and re-discovery of the self. At the end of every year, I reflect on how the year went and how I’d like the next year to go. The problem with this year was I didn’t check in with those reflections and goals regularly. Last year I had some revelations about my professional life which I completely forgot about in my pursuit for financial stability. In 2024, my goal is to turn over a new leaf that aligns with who I am.
Here’s a poem I wrote about my 2022 that still rings true for me as 2023 draws to a close.
A year of many highs and lows I will carry the successes to get me through the nights I will carry the failures to help me grow I will carry each moment to remind myself to live each day as if it were my last I will carry every person I connected with to the end, in my heart
{ 3 drops of golden sound }
Featuring 3 anime tracks from an 8tracks playlist that lifted me out of dark moments when I was younger.
“I Can Never Forget Today” from Your Lie in April
Composer: Masaru Yokoyama
I am a big fan of this soft arpeggiated piano synth with layered strings sound that many animes tend to have in their soundtracks. So simple yet so effective. I credit this particular anime for reinforcing all my reasons for not wanting to enter a classical music conservatory even though my main instrument is the violin.
“Adults” from Haikyuu!!
Composers: Yuki Hayashi, Asami Tachibana
I was obsessed with this manga/anime in high school, to the point of being in a Skype group chat with other fangirls from around the world. I admit that I never noticed the soundtrack (the swimming anime Free! stood out more to me in that regard) until I heard this piece on the playlist.
“こころの音” from Ao Haru Ride
Composer: Hashimoto Shota, Osaki Keiko and Tsutsumi Hiroaki
I know I’ve read this manga and probably watched the anime at some point but I can’t for the life of me remember what actually happens in the story. The beginning is Ghibli-esque but it builds to a beat/bass drop that is typical of the pop-rock inspired soundtracks of contemporary animes. Something about it reminds me of whimsical childhood fantasies that either evolve to become new dreams or persist to become reality.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading and I hope to see you again in the new year! Here’s an old picture of me my mother found while going through old albums at my grandparents’ place. \(^o^)/
LoL,
rae