I'm a beginner DM running Lost Mines of Phandelver for a group of 4 newbies, and they have a party "familiar" who is really just one of those goober characters that the party thought was funny and convinced them to join. His name is Goblin Jr, appropriately named that because he's about half of the average height of a goblin. He poofed into existence as a joke to be a referee in a wrestling match against Klarg, the bugbear from Chapter 1 of LMOP. The party had to leave him in Phandalin when going to Cragmaw Castle, and didn't have time to pass through the town again on their way to Wave Echo Cave so he is still there. Sildar and Gundren departed at the beginning of the dungeon (to make my life easier), and the party requested Sildar to convince Goblin Jr to make a journey from Phandalin to Wave Echo Cave and reunite with the party. I thought this would be a great idea for a one-shot, and it would help my players explore other classes/characters since most have only ever played their current one. I was hoping for some general advice for designing and DMing one-shots, and was hoping we could brainstorm some ideas. Alternatively pointing me in the direction of any resources for this would be helpful too! I'm also wondering if a certain party member should play Goblin Jr? I feel like they should have their own unique characters, but then I don't really know what to do with him. Him being a DMPC makes the most sense but I like to avoid those if there are better alternatives. Any ideas?
Firefoxjazzbox 1 year ago • 100%
Anyone care to ELI5 this for me? This seems like a big deal but I have no idea what it means lol.
NFL
[Rapoport] The #Giants and star RB Saquon Barkley agreed to terms on a new 1-year deal worth up to $11M, sources say, as Barkley gives himself a chance to beat the franchise tag.
jazzbox 1 year ago • 100%
Hmm. Any insights as to why this is different than a franchise tag? This feels a bit underwhelming
Me and my buddy are trying to put a set-list together with the theme mentioned in the title. "Unassuming places" is intentionally a little vague, but the idea is that feeling of "damn, I did not expect a song from this [insert piece of media] to be that good," or when you sit down and *really* listen to something you are surprised at well-composed it is, or songs that sound simple and reach a wide audience, but are actually a lot more complicated under the hood. Some examples of the sounds we're going for are: - Disney tunes like [Someday My Prince Will Come](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xOiKNFcbfU) and [Bear Necessities](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASi7lyg5gRI) - Children's songs/show themes such as [Castaways by the Backyardigans](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOtXFVyP_hk), or the [iCarly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFALPwUrWcw), [Arthur](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIXbQLwAor4), and [Flintstones](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJY64KjBBpE) theme songs - Songs from Nintendo games (really the epitome/inspiration of this list) like [KK Jazz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNtZElH9OZA) and [KK Bossa](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjI-XaaIrdw), the [Eterna Forest](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw8OOD3XcCI) and [Littleroot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im6tbN9SZXs) themes, [Hateno Village theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj07-YU5cTk), or the [Underworld theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox2Fjp9oeAI) from Super Mario Bros. You might also be able to call this list "songs geared towards children but are actually good" but I feel like that has more of a nursery rhyme-ish connotation and I'm hoping to branch out of that. We're a guitar duo with a jazz background, so songs that could potentially fit that mold are preferred, but I don't want that to hinder anyone from giving suggestions! I'd love to see what anyone can come up with.
Me and my buddy are trying to put a set-list together with the theme mentioned in the title. "Unassuming places" is intentionally a little vague, but the idea is that feeling of "damn, I did not expect a song from this [insert piece of media] to be that good," or when you sit down and *really* listen to something you are surprised at well-composed it is, or songs that sound simple and reach a wide audience, but are actually a lot more complicated under the hood. Some examples of the sounds we're going for are: - Disney tunes like [Someday My Prince Will Come](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xOiKNFcbfU) and [Bear Necessities](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASi7lyg5gRI) - Children's songs/show themes such as [Castaways by the Backyardigans](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOtXFVyP_hk), or the [iCarly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFALPwUrWcw), [Arthur](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIXbQLwAor4), and [Flintstones](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJY64KjBBpE) theme songs - Songs from Nintendo games (really the epitome/inspiration of this list) like [KK Jazz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNtZElH9OZA) and [KK Bossa](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjI-XaaIrdw), the [Eterna Forest](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw8OOD3XcCI) and [Littleroot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im6tbN9SZXs) themes, [Hateno Village theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj07-YU5cTk), or the [Underworld theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox2Fjp9oeAI) from Super Mario Bros. You might also be able to call this list "songs geared towards children but are actually good" but I feel like that has more of a nursery rhyme-ish connotation and I'm hoping to branch out of that. We're a guitar duo with a jazz background, so songs that could potentially fit that mold are preferred, but I don't want that to hinder anyone from giving suggestions! I'd love to see what anyone can come up with.
Me and my buddy are trying to put a set-list together with the theme mentioned in the title. "Unassuming places" is intentionally a little vague, but the idea is that feeling of "damn, I did not expect a song from this [insert piece of media] to be that good," or when you sit down and *really* listen to something you are surprised at well-composed it is, or songs that sound simple and reach a wide audience, but are actually a lot more complicated under the hood. Some examples of the sounds we're going for are: - Disney tunes like [Someday My Prince Will Come](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xOiKNFcbfU) and [Bear Necessities](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASi7lyg5gRI) - Children's songs/show themes such as [Castaways by the Backyardigans](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOtXFVyP_hk), or the [iCarly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFALPwUrWcw), [Arthur](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIXbQLwAor4), and [Flintstones](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJY64KjBBpE) theme songs - Songs from Nintendo games (really the epitome/inspiration of this list) like [KK Jazz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNtZElH9OZA) and [KK Bossa](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjI-XaaIrdw), the [Eterna Forest](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw8OOD3XcCI) and [Littleroot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im6tbN9SZXs) themes, [Hateno Village theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj07-YU5cTk), or the [Underworld theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox2Fjp9oeAI) from Super Mario Bros. You might also be able to call this list "songs geared towards children but are actually good" but I feel like that has more of a nursery rhyme-ish connotation and I'm hoping to branch out of that. We're a guitar duo with a jazz background, so songs that could potentially fit that mold are preferred, but I don't want that to hinder anyone from giving suggestions! I'd love to see what anyone can come up with.
guitarsjazzbox 1 year ago • 100%
I don't listen to those bands much so I can't give you specific answers, but I'll try to give some general advice -
The slow but steady way is to learn as much music in that genre as possible. Eventually you'll start to naturally sound like what you're learning/playing. If you're goal oriented, do your best to learn an entire album inside and out. Be able to play the entire thing by heart. The real goal here though is the journey, not the destination. When it's not fun anymore, quit and move on to a different one. Maybe come back to it later.
If you want to accelerate the learning process, transcription and analysis will take you a long way. For example, what are the chords? How are they voicing them? How do they change and move from one another? What is the key? Are all the chords actually in the key? How is the melody structured? Is it busy or sparse? Outlining chord tones? What is the tone/timbre of the guitar? Of the other instruments? Of the song as a whole? How does that affect the song? Would the feeling of the song change with they changed? What is the rhythm of the guitar/melody/drums/bass. What is the instrumentation? The tempo? The arrangement? What emotion does this song make you feel like and why? What is the songs identity? For most of these questions, if not all of then, there are no wrong answers. Right answers only require a good faith argument and evidence to back it up.
When you've found answers to some of those questions for a handful of songs, what are the similarities and differences? How significant are they and how do they affect the song?
With all that being said, remember -
- This is not a quick process at all
- No matter how hard you try your songs will sound different. That's not only completely fine and expected, but its encouraged! Take ideas from your fav songs and mash them up. Do random shit on top of it. Experiment! Be different!
- Again, not a quick process at all
- These things should be fun, and don't do them if it feels like a chore. Music is fun! That's why we play! Don't lose sight of that with some arbitrary goal like this in mind.
I know that's a bunch of word vomit so if you'd like me to expand on any of this I'd be happy to.
TLDR; learn more songs and try to articulate why you like them :)
No Stupid Questions
Into which pocket do you place your phone?
jazzbox 1 year ago • 100%
Same, except I’ll clip my keys onto my belt loop like a janitor lol. Keeping them in my pocket with my wallet gets too bulky and they feel safer clipped in.
Gamesjazzbox 1 year ago • 100%
This is pretty anecdotal but I’m pretty sure they’re relying on Anti-Cheat only temporarily, just cause of the huge influx of users in such a short time period. Feel free to correct me tho
jazzbox 1 year ago • 100%
Like others have said, it’s influenced heavily by both Battlefield and Squad and I think it’s the best of both worlds.
I love that, in Squad, you need to be so tactical and team oriented and communicative; but it can get overwhelming if you just want to relax and/or have no military experience. Battlefield is fun if you want to shut your brain off; but nobody really works together, sometimes for the worse. I think Battlebit scratches both of those itches really well.
Plus the art style makes it so even with 254 players all in one server it still runs smoothly on my midrange-for-2018 rig lol
No Stupid Questions
What was so special about the Apollo app?
jazzbox 1 year ago • 100%
I’ve been trying out Wefwef today and, while I agree it’s amazing, I’m hoping that it eventually develop its own character. I’m very slightly worried a Apollo-clone will discourage Christian from making his own Fediverse/Lemmy app… but primarily it just makes me miss Apollo more :(
That said, I’m super excited for its future
Applejazzbox 1 year ago • 100%
Yeah I’m using it as I type this and it is incredibly similar, almost eerily. I’m kind of hoping the developer gives it it’s own unique character and soul in the future. Or since it’s open source (I’m pretty sure?) someone else can.
But with that being said I still strongly recommend so far
I want to explore and learn more about snare tones, and was curious to hear some favs around here. Bonus points for describing how to get that sound :) I'm a recording engineer and would like to experiment with any ideas people have! For me personally I love the super tight and muffled sound of JD Beck's snares, [like in this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XN3PxVS5SQ). Seems like he usually tunes it super high and mutes it with random objects. Putting things like splashes to mute the sound AND have another percussive voice is really smart too. I'm also a sucker for super open and crunchy snares, like the one in the beginning of [black enuff by redveil](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5laMdec9KU). Tuned a little high(?) but letting it ring and compressing it until it distorts. It's just so ANGRY
Worldbuilding
[Kotokontu] Four elemental golems.
jazzbox 1 year ago • 100%
I love the Pokemon Legendary Titans inspo! I think the water golem is my fav.
What program did you use to make these?
I've been a musician for quite a while but finally bought myself a drum kit. As a guitarist I know not all practice is good practice, or at least productive practice. For example, practicing scales up and down the neck will help learn those scales... but can make soloing sound super robotic. Was hoping to get some advice for being productive while practicing rudiments, but any other practice advice is welcome too :)