I was a MA/MST student at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Accoustics.
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It has been a while since my last entry. I have had some musical experiences in the meantime: First, a few weeks ago I went to downtown Hamamatsu with one of the other interns and one of the places we stopped was the Yamaha store. I tried out a C3 grand, a C6 grand, and a 10 million yen Boesendorfer piano. I'm extremely out of practice nowadays, but it was exciting nonetheless (I believe this was the first time I have ever played a Boesendorfer). The weekend before last I went to Kyoto with one of my coworkers. One of the places we visited was a 名曲喫茶(meikyoku kissa). This is a kind of coffee shop where they play classical music and you're not allowed to talk. The music is on records, and played over a rather elaborate speaker setup with interesting baffles. I really enjoyed it. There were several people there, reading things or having something to drink or just relaxing. They were playing Tchaikovsky's Romeo & Juliet Overture when we came in, which was really nice to listen to in its entirety. Last weekend I went to Akihabara with a different coworker and one of his friends. We stopped by Dear Stage, a combination jpop idol live house / restaurant / bar. The first floor has a small stage where singers perform (imagine something like professional-level karaoke, complete with choreography). The second and third floors are bar / restaurants where the singers double as waitresses when they're not singing. It was, well, it was very cute. There were オタ芸/ヲタ芸 (otagei), fans who dance and yell out phrases at certain times during the songs. Sometimes they would overpower the singers! But it seemed clear to me that the singers and the fans appreciated each other a great deal. It was fun! Next week a couple of the other interns and I will get to tour Yamaha's woodwind and piano factories, which I am looking forward to a great deal. As for my music, I finished one chiptune but I'm planning on making a four-piece mini-album and want to post the entire thing at once. So no uploads yet. But I haven't forgotten!