Blog: music

Sounds of San Francisco

2024-08-30 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

This is a black swan
Delores Park

This is an interactive post featuring audio

I love San Francisco. It is unique with different sounds. You never know what you're going to hear around you! It could be someone who is having a great or someone who isn't doing so well. Sound provides an identity of a city. I've noticed some patterns or sounds I only tend to find here.

Something I enjoy doing is recording the sounds of San Francisco. It could be as simple as recording near Powell Station or the Mission district. These sounds were recorded using an iPhone 12.

Here is a small sample of sounds. Enjoy!

Bluegrass Concert - Click to Expand!

One of my good friends plays the banjo. He's a great banjo player. If you like bluegrass he's the person to talk to!

Bluegrass was foreign to me until my friend taught me so much about it.

Taking the MUNI- Click to Expand! I really, really enjoy taking public transportation. Not only is it better for traffic, and reduces pollution. The MUNI (and BART) stations are great places to get some audio recordings. It feels great to have for San Francisco and the uniqueness of its underground tunnels.

Public Conversation - Click to Expand! Wherever I turn, I hear conversations ranging from, "What are we having for lunch?" to "Let's go to grab a drink!" It's nice to hear people talking and enjoying each other's company through conversations in public spaces such as buses, on the street or simply sitting down on a bench.

Street - Click to Expand!

There's something so beautiful about hearing the background sounds of cars, people walking, bikes, the wind, etc. Growing up it was very quiet growing up in a small midwest town. I enjoy the "naturally" occurring city street sounds.

📍 This post was written in my apartment in San Francisco.

Recording Song Covers

2024-06-20 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

three friends hanging out Three friends hanging out

Back in Elementary, I was in this friend group who enjoyed music. This must have been in 2009? (That was a long time ago!) When you're a kid, you slowly discover music that you enjoy and not enjoy. What better way than to expose yourself to other individual's tastes in music? I would hang out with Abraham and Luke. I'd say, they influenced who I am as a person and the direction of my musical tastes.

Abraham grew up in Colombia and moved out to my hometown in Nebraska. Luke grew up in Hawaii and had moved to Nebraska a year before. Both Luke and Abraham played the guitar. I was super excited to have friends who had come from cool places!

I was the only one who didn't play the guitar, much less have a passion for playing an instrument. My friends at the time still took me in and accepted me into the group. It was super duper to watch live shows in my friend's basement. They used to play covers of Subline, Linkin Park, and Bullet for My Valentine.

At that time frame, I was very interested in photography and videography. I always carried my Sony Cyber-Shot with me because you never know when you would need to get that cool shot. You're probably thinking, "That's some lame point in shoot!" When your parents buy you a camera, you have to work with what you got! A camera is a camera!

Question time!

Can you guess which role did I play in my friend group? If you guessed the camera guy, you win a cookie! Do you like internet cookies? I don't know how to share a real cookie via the internet.

I would record their guitar sessions on my camera. It was a pretty cool experience getting blasted with hardcore metal while figuring out the best way of recording! I learned important fundamentals of video recording. I focused on stabilizing the camera, considering lighting, and audio clipping (which I had no control over). Not only was I enjoying myself but also I learned a lot.

One of my favorite memories when we weren't in Luke's basement was walking to get pizza. Living in a small town, things are relatively within walking distance.

As time went on friends came and went. We all went our different paths even though we lived in the same hometown for years. I am thankful to have hung with these guys for a few years. I hope these guys are happy and living fulfilling lives.

Here are a few videos that I recorded.


Another s

Lights - Ellie Goulding

2024-03-08 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

Lights by Ellie Goulding cover

I'm excited for this weekend. I'm catching up with some friends and simply hanging out. I'm really excited for Saturday. I'm singing with the Sacramento Pop Choir along with fellow students of mine at the Sacramento Pop Choir. I'll sing along with other baritones/tenors to the song, Lights by Ellie Goulding. I forgot how much I enjoy this song. It's been a while since I've formally studied music. The music teacher at school got me going again! Kudos to her!

Singing makes me happy. I am not that good but I can sight read and understand how sheet music works. I have done for many years. Over the last few months, I've started to practice music formally again. There is something so magical about reading music and interpreting it. I'm also supporting my students who want to learn more. They are so talented. Wish me luck or I'll say to myself, "Break a leg!"

[Verse 1]

I had a way then
Losing it all on my own
I had a heart then
But the queen has been overthrown
And I'm not sleeping now
The dark is too hard to beat
And I'm not keeping now
The strength I need to push me

Today is a Wet Day in Sacramento

2023-12-02 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

It is a rainy day outside in Sacramento. It's not pouring but wet.

In French you say, "C'est humide"

That's the post.

My Apple Music Replay'23

2023-11-30 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

In response to James G on Spotify Wrapped

Earlier this year I wrote a blog post what I'm listening on repeat. I'm that person who doesn't use Spotify. I left Spotify a while ago. I instead use Apple Music does something similar to Spotify Wrapped. I honestly didn't know that Apple Music had a feature to share. Now it's time for the results my Apple Music Replay'23 (the Apple equivalent to Spotify Wrappted) to shine. It was interesting because I had to launch my browser to get the Replay'23 instead of it being in app. It was easy to share on social media as images. My listens ranged from mid/late 2000s to more recent. I really liked listening to The Submarines. I'm a sucker for the song Brightest Hour.

This coming I would like to discover smaller indie bands and attend more concerts to get out of my cycle of repeating and getting too comfortable with the things I listen often.

I really like Jo's Post on what she listened to on Spotify. I love what you listened to this year and how you organized your post!

I read Henrique's Post on what he listened to on Spotify. He made me remember that I need to give my vinyls a little more love (or a spin) and decrease my listening minutes on my phone.

I know I have an interesting taste in Music but I like listening to alternative.

Well here you go! Enjoy!