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Hello hello! Recently, I had a conversation with my daughter about the finer things of cell phones, and I told her that I love Samsung products. Something that was shared with her late father and my husband (Who is currently resting in peace, so I guess Samsung's also work as a memento?), and my son. I think even my extended family too, come to think of it... Anyways, I told her that I enjoy apps that are necessary for me to use and add more fun and glitter to what I would like to do. This is not to say that Apple's iOS phones or even other Android phones are incapable, but rather, Samsung was at the right place at just the right time when the decision to move from a cute cell phone to a more robust one kicked in. I wanted a phone that could call, allow me to write notes and make drawings; Basically do it all. When the Palm Pilot first emerged, I absolutely loved them. The only drawback at the time was not being to actually call someone. When I became knowledgeable of Samsung's Note linage of "phablets", more specifically the Note 3 a few years back, I didn't even hsesitate the offer to have one. I have not used another cellphone since. Fast forward to now. I still have that phone, and to be honest, I am writing this article on it. I became ill a few years ago, and still battle bouts of fatigue. I gave up writing for these last few years because I knew I did not have the stamina to sit and write and edit and then proof-read for many days. In addition to not knowing how I can write without weighing down my children with yet one more responsibility, I embarked on a journey to find in my mind adaptive technology. Now, I know that I am not the only person looking for this type of technology. Others have their own reasons of course, but I am extremely grateful to be able to find said technology like this kinda-old smartphone. It has a friggin' stylus, by the way. "Gee, that sure sounds neat that you found what you wanted," some of you may be thinking. "That's a load of horse poopoo," is probably the line of thought for others. "Writing articles on a phone? Awesome! What apps would yyou recoomend?" is the train of thought I'm fishing for. That is actually a good question! My two top favorite 2 apps that I use to write, edit, and proof-read my writing with are called Speechnotes and Otter. I enjoy the simplicity in the use of the apps; I launch it, begin speaking, and the magic happens. I did use Dragon Talking Naturally years ago, but was never satisfied with the accuracy level. Nothing personal against Dragon. I loved the idea of being able to transcribe my thoughts and be able to edit them accordingly. With Speechnotes, I speak my article, take a nap, wake up, and open up the app and begin proofreading the article. It pretty much works like a standard text editor. One can make changes like creating paragraphs, correcting spelling mistake by accessing the keyboard, and save it. Something cool to note, is that the article in progress can be exported as a text file to my computer, and then I can do more editing from there if need be. You can also attach these files directly to e-mail too. I want to say that Speechnotes is a pre-installed app, but that is sadly not true. However, Samsung does have the standard voice assistant. While researching more information on this app, I found out that there is online version of this software as well. All of the simplicity of this software, but now on browser. That means you don't even have to download it. I can honestly say this a well made, simple to use software. When I initially went searching for an app for this type of work, I found quote a few interesting-looking ones. But, about a week ago, I saw notable mention another app called Otter. I had never heard of it, but I was definitely interested,so I searched for it and found it. Otter also offers an online version of their app(which is great for those with no free memory in their devices.. Like me) that is easy to access and add your information to. You can record your basic notes, as well as conversations. There is a very quick step involving recording your voice for the software to recognize, and that is it. The app is also available for iOS, so they can get some love too. The software's interface is very simple and clean. You can edit, copy, and playback what was recorded, like it should be. Just lovely. So ultimately, I feel that SpeechNotes and Otter are the best tools for writing and proof reading. The best music to write to is a question I get a lot from others. I always give a simple answer such as " it is really up to you to decide, it is a matter of personal taste.
Many parts of my day are full of noise so a lot of the times I actually write in silence after I meditate for the day. I like silence. Well, at least now I do. Once upon a time I had so much mind chatter, Things about what will I do next in my life to how I felt insulted by another Author who I didn't know of and how much of a busy body she was, making what appeared to be a nasty insinuation based off her generic knowledge of me. There are other days when I remember being extremely happy with my achievements. I look at my children and wonder how soon will the world see their greatness. On and on my mind used to go. I would think about my illness, will I ever get better to the point where I can function most of a day. How many naps or just sleep hours will I go through today. Anyway, the point of the article is to look at what type of music is best for writing. In the past and continue to do so today use music to create a mood shift, a way to mentally focus and sometimes just for the ambiance. Up first is a list of websites that give you nature sounds, white noise, brown noise, coffee shop sounds, piano bar etc. I am more familiar with Noisli and Simply Noise however as you can see new sites are always being developed. Another way to find ambient noise is to do a search on YouTube where I am sure some artist have uploaded their music. Ambient Sound Websites I am familiar with: 1. Noisli https://www.noisli.com/ - has a chrome extention as well. 2. Simply Noise https://simplynoise.com/ 3. myNoise https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/ 4. Ambient-Mixer.com http://www.ambient-mixer.com/ As a general rule though my choice for music to write to has to fit the following 4 criteria: must be classical in nature (or instrumental versions of popular songs, meditative (or at least loop-able with out disturbing my mind space), ambient or with little to no words. However, to get myself interested in writing in the first place I tend to turn to my favorite songs or genre that I like most that help me change my mood when it needs altering Light Rock artists such as: Anita Baker, Tony Braxton, Luther Van Dross, Barry White, Dianna Ross, Smoky Robinson, Phil Collins, AHA,Tears for Fears, Hall and Oats, Barry Manilow, Lou Rawls etc I use these when I am preparing to get getting started. Songs with words make it hard for me to concentrate since I love singing in general (I am good at by the way, did 1 public appearance in the 90's) and singing along to these goodies although makes me feel better will just send me on a spiral of avoiding writing. Usually I listen to these songs when I brew my cup of coffee, and set up my snacks for writing. Usually it is hard for me to get started. I set in place rituals to make the process a bit easier. When I do get going I can keep a steady pace. The other genres of music I listen to while I am writing down ideas or working on open projects (in no particular order) fall within the following 5 categories 1. Video game soundtracks My daughter and son actually introduced this concept to me about a decade ago. I had a no secular music listening policy because it seemed that all the music at the time was quite sexualized, and profane. Both children were younger then and I felt that the years for exploration come when you reach adulthood, and there are quite a number of years for that. Moreover I felt that the younger years are the years a child uses to develop their character and slowly get to know and form ideas about themselves. Outside world influence will inevitably happen but with a solid grasp on what one wants you can navigate the supposed pitfalls and attract friends associates and interactions that are in line to your deepest desires. Both children sought out the music files within their favorite games loaded them into a playlist and I have been listening alongside them or on my own since then. -MOTHER 3: some classical music samples are featured within the songs from Shostakovitch, Satie, Batman theme, Cannon in D etc. Songs as Magypsy Party for example is a remix of Cannon in D -Sonic: even the ones with lyrics on low I focus on the melodies and or positive thought of the songs especially when I feel I am accomplishing things way too slowly. -Fallout 4: good blend of 40's and folksy jingles created for the game. Isn't ironic that such a sad time, war even in real life created some interesting styles of music? - Katamari D'Amacy: songs like the "The Moon and the Prince" other light -hearted pieces 2. Jazz and Fusion Funk: Songs such as "Hatsu koi" by Toshiki Kadomatsu, artists like Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck (Take 5),The Heavy ("How Do You Like Me Now") Miles Davis, etc 3. New Age and Celtic: Artists like Yanni, Enya 4. Time Period Music: 50's-80's 5. Swing (Electro Swing) Big Band: Performers such as Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway, Glen Miller, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton (technically Jazz Musician) While I am actually writing the category that I use the most is Classical and Alternative Classical including Opera: Edvard Grieg, Mozart, Chopin, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Bizet, John Williams (Star Wars) Night Wish ("10th Man Down") etc. Performers such as Andrea Bocelli, I prefer French written Operas because the music seems a lot more light hearted in music. To roll out a smile on your face remember this oldie but goodie? Enjoy! So do you have your MUST listen to music for writing? Would you like to share? Please do in the comments below
My 11 songs that inspire me to write are a strange mix of music genres. I enjoy this mix because I like listening to different pleasant sounds and because as I write or toss ideas around I try to pick up my pace a bit every day.
Usually I listen to these songs when I brew my cup of coffee, and set up my snacks for writing. Usually it is hard for me to get started. I set in place rituals to make the process a bit easier. When I do get going I can keep a steady pace. In light of a serious desire to finally do this blog thing correctly, and just finishing up all of the projects I have small bits and pieces of the completed goal I present without a further ado my list of 11 songs to inspire me to write: "Gonna Fly Now" (to get me going) "Race To Win" Ted Poley (from Sonic Rivals 2) “I Can See Clearly Now” by Jimmy Cliff "Carmen" Georges Bizet "Cannon in D" Pachelbel "The Marriage of Figarro" Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart "Claire De Lune" Claude Bebussy "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" Edvard Grieg "Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor" Johan Sebastian Bach "Classical Gas" Vanessa Mae Version "Benny Hill Theme Song" when I finish to help me clear thoughts When I am feeling the above is really not helping me, I turn to the following bonus items. I am usually in a good place by then :) -Pure Moods CD1 (Gregorian chant,irish songs, indian chants etc) -Vaessa Mae's classical music compilation especially her first cd The Violin Player (1995) Do you use music to get you inspired to write? Do you have any other ritual to get you inspired to write? You can share those ideas below. |
AuthorMalka Maxwell is an Author and Publisher. Archives
November 2018
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