What I'm up to in 2024!
November '24 Song of the Month:
Always - Daniel Caesar
Always was a song that has been really close to being my song of the month for a couple months now, but it's finally getting its time to shine. Another calming song, I think the coolest part about this song is the percussion throughout. For the different sections -- chorus, prechorus, verses, bridge -- the percussion changes, almost making it the surprise factor of the song as opposed to the vocals. I would almost describe it as the percussion is very "reactive" in this song which is really interesting and not to common. What I mean by that is if you were to hear this song paying close attention to the percussion, its main use isn't to keep the beat of the song, rather it is being used similar to any other instrument. My favorite little segment of this song comes right between the prechorus and the chorus with drum transition. The rhythm of it sees it start really quickly and then slow down making it seem as though we are falling into the chorus which I think is really interesting.
October '24 Song of the Month:
Sleep Well - d4vd
Making Sleep Well my song of the month for October was arguably one of the easiest decisions I made this month, partly because of a busy schedule, but also because how great the song is. It's really interesting because it seems as though the song begins with an out of tune guitar until the vocals come in, then everything clicks. In fact, this seems to be a bit of a common theme throughout the song in that if you isolate each part -- whether it be vocals, guitar, or anything else -- the song sounds somewhat incomplete. When combined though, they all blend seamlessly together. The background throughout the song, especially because of the heavy reliance on a trumpet, makes it seem as though its one of those old love songs. It's a really calming song with the way that the percussion sways you back and forth with the beat, almost like a lullaby.
September '24 Song of the Month:
Ride - HYBS
Ride is probably one of the least complex songs in this entire set of songs, and that isn't a bad thing by any means. In fact, I feel like the simplicity of this song is what made it my favorite of September. To be completely honest, September was a pretty hard month -- I had to adjust to college life without a lot of my friends, I had to balance a significantly heavier courseload, and figure out how to make the most of my last year at Purdue. So with all of this chaos, hearing a really calming, simple song, like Ride, made it a lot better. There are still some really cool details in this song which really make me smile listening to it, specifically the some of the subtle vocal filters they apply at different moments. For example, in the prechorus, when they sing "come and ride with me tonight", it almost sounds like it's being played from a cassette and they are trying to relive an old memory. These small nuances are like little easter eggs in the song and they really make it worth listening.
August '24 Song of the Month:
Die With A Smile - Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars
It feels criminal that it took 16 months for me to have a Bruno Mars song as my song of the month as I consider him to be one of my favorite artists. But boy, was it worth the wait. With the retro guitar and the general message of the song, it feels like this song has been out forever. With the kind of mysterious beginning, each artist does such a great job on their verse, changing their tone based on what they are singing. This is seen in my favorite part of the song when Bruno Mars sings "I'd wanna hold you" really passionately and then back off to calmly follow it up with "just for a while". It makes it seem as though even though he really wants to be with you, he would still be gentle and loving. In addition to this, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' voices blend together really nicely, making it hard to pick apart each of their tunes in the song. Even though this song was released just two weeks ago, I have listened to it at least 35 times.
July '24 Song of the Month:
It's All Coming Back To Me Now - Céline Dion
Not a new song by any means, but this song is still incredible. There are so many interesting things that go on in this song but I think what really makes this song unique is the tone with which Céline Dion sings this. If I am being completely honest, this song is not particularly complicated nor does it require a large vocal range to sing, but the fact that anyone who attempts to sing this song will likely still fall short of performing it as greatly as Céline Dion did shows just how much emphasis is put on her tone throughout the song. She is so expressive with every word she sings, it really reminds me of a song from a Disney movie. This starts from the very beginning of the song, alternating between singing each line powerfully or softly, and continues with a really strong prechorus followed by a chorus that slowly builds up. As she continues singing, you can almost feel the strong feelings of love in her voice and I find it really fascinating how she is able to take us on a musical journey as well as an emotional one.
June '24 Song of the Month:
One In A Million - Rex Orange County
Before I say anything, if you do listen to this song, please grab yourself a pair of headphones so you can truly appreciate the funky bassline of this song. Now diving into why I chose this to be my song of the month for June, I think it's a really simple love song that is written incredibly well. My favorite line in this song, and arguable the most important, "you're one of one, one in a million" is so cleverly written. While both statements in the line mean the same thing, the numerical contrast makes it seem like "whatever the context, you are always unique" which is such a beautiful way of expressing your love for a person. Additionally, in the background of this song, you hear a piano line which almost sounds a tad bit out of tune. And what's interesting is normally songs have high quality instruments that are perfectly tuned, which implies that this was an intentional choice. It's a really fascinating one as well because with the slight imperfection of it, it almost makes you feel like you're in a dream which works nicely given that this is a love song about the person of his dreams.
May '24 Song of the Month:
Less Than Zero - The Weeknd
The thing that I find most interesting about this song, which is perhaps the reason I love it so much, was the stark contrast between the tone you get of the melody of the song compared to the tone of the lyrics. If you were to listen to the karaoke version of this song, you would likely think it's a pretty happy and positive song. On the flip side, if you were to only read the lyrics, you'd think it's anything but. With the combination of the two, it gives you the impression of acceptance, in that the person knows about the issues they bring, but they are working to change. To harp on the positivity in the of the background, I find it especially fun how you can hear a entire G-major scale going up a couple times just to reassure that feeling of happiness and growth. It repeats before each chorus and is followed by another G-major scale an octave higher that cements this feeling.
Graduation!!
I GRADUATED COLLEGE!!! This past May, I graduated from Purdue with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science with 5 concentrations: Machine Intelligence, Software Engineering, Security, Algorithmic Foundations, and Database and Information Systems as well as 2 Certificates: Applications of Data Science and Entrepreneurship and Innovation. I am so grateful for the experience I had at Purdue as I was able learn so much about the subject I love. I was also able to try so many new and different experiences like attend hackathons, go skydiving, figure out how to do laundry, and try so many new foods! But best of all, I got to meet such incredible people! I am so happy to have shared so many amazing moments with them from laughing all the way to debugging!
April '24 Song of the Month:
Shouldn't Be - Luke Chiang
I don't quite remember when I heard this song for the first time, but it was so hard to get out of my head once I heard it. In a month where I had a lot of stress (finals, projects, etc) the simplicity of this song was incredibly calming. With just a piano and drums in the background, there is a real emphasis on either instrument. The percussion has a rather repetitive beat that has you gently sway back and forth while the piano plays some of the jazziest chords I've heard. In addition to this, I love the change in the audio in the prechorus. The sound quality transitions to make it seem as though you are listening to the song through a phone call which kinda just hits you by surprise.
March '24 Song of the Month:
Broke - Samm Henshaw
This is such a fun song to listen to! With its unique rhythm, funky chords, and the accompaniment by the trumpets, you just can't help but enjoy it. But for me, the thing that made me fall in love with this song was the harmonies in the chorus. Unlike other harmonies, the harmony in the chorus are parallel to the melody of the song. Additionally, with the great blend between the harmony and melody, it adds another layer to the song which gives it more depth. Another thing that I really like about this song is the texture of Samm Henshaw's voice. With the variation of raspiness in his voice and the emphasis on some of the words, you can really tell what he is trying to say, even if you don't pay attention to all of the lyrics.
February '24 Song of the Month:
Lose Control - Teddy Swims
Choosing this song as my song of the month was arguably one of the easiest decisions I had to make -- in fact, it was between the piano version, the strings version, or the original. The riffs and runs throughout the song are so beautiful and so much more elaborate than what you typically see in most songs. Adding to this, the roughness of his voice adds to the pain that he is trying to convey through his song. I still remember hearing this song for the first time when I was walking to class and I was immediately intrigued. As soon as my class ended, I made sure to listen to it on my walk back as well to better understand the different parts of the song.
January '24 Song of the Month:
West Coast - One Republic
Starting the year off with a really cool song, one of my favorite things about West Coast is it's chord progression and how it accompanies the melody of the chorus. Upon hearing it for the first time, it gives a sort of positive mysterious vibe that draws you in, but the way it does this is pretty neat. The chorus is broken down into two parts where each line gets repeated. The first two lines ("I've been dreaming about the West Coast" and "Found some places that I don't know") plays around with the root note (a note that typically gives a sense of comfort) and the minor third note (a note that typically gives an uneasy feeling). So, for the first line, they accompany the melody with a chord that places an emphasis on the root note and then for the second line, they play a chord that emphasizes the minor third which creates that slightly uneasy feeling. In the second half of the chorus ("Give me the sun for just a year" and "I'll kiss the sky and disappear"), they do something really similar. This time, the melody focuses on the minor sixth (another note that gives an uneasy fealing) and the perfect fifth (a note that gives a comforting feeling). However, this time they swap the chords to first play the slightly uneasy one and then resolve the chorus with a more comforting chord to drive home the sense of positivity in their otherwise mysterious sounding chorus. Aside from that, I think the vocals on this song are great -- the lead vocalist does an amazing job switching between his chest voice and falsetto which is rather difficult.
BoilerMake XI
This past weekend (1/19 - 1/21), I directed BoilerMake XI, Purdue's largest hackathon along with the rest of the BoilerMake executive team. Being 36 hours long, there were several components of the event that we needed to plan such as application logistics, the mini-events that occurred throughout, swag, judging formats, and more. Though brainstorming ideas for the different components was a lot of fun, it became challenging to ensure that everything would be feasible and within the budget. Fortunately, I was working with such a wonderful and talented group of people that BoilerMake meetings became something that I really looked forward to. In addition to this, the executive team played an integral to make sure that the hackathon ran as smoothly as it did. Even though we ran into a few hiccups during the event, we were able to quickly pivot and figure out workarounds to ensure that our hackers and sponsors had a great time at BoilerMake XI. Ultimately, we were proud to have hosted around 350 hackers who created about 70 fascinating projects along with 10 companies who generously sponsored our event.
