Catchy Songs: is there a science?

Catchy songs can be great! I mean that one good song over and over in your head for the rest of the day, or week, or two... it's the best feeling ever, right?
No not really. It can be a real concentration drainer, it can keep you up at night and it can annoy your loved ones.

What makes a catchy song?:
Don't have a song stuck in your head?
Don't be shy... go ahead and choose one!
Your welcome!

Pink Fluffy Unicorns

Pedobear

North, South, East and West

Surfin' Bird

Conga

The science behind catchy songs:
Technically, there is no science behind making a catchy song, but here are my findings on why songs can be catchy.

They aren't whole songs:

"The sticky songs we call earworms engage what psychologists call the Zeigarnik Effect: our tendency to experience intrusive thoughts about things we start and don't finish. A song's catchy hook or chorus is particularly prone to intrude your thoughts if you don't know the next verse, leaving them unfinished in your mind." - Lifehacker

More evidence!

The songs that get stuck in people's heads tend to be melodically and rhythmically simple, says Daniel Levitin, [...] It's usually just a segment of the song, not the entire thing from beginning to end... "What we think is going on is that the neural circuits get stuck in a repeating loop and they play this thing over and over again," Levitin said. - Lifehacker (again)

So if you create a song that is simple, has a decent, steady beat, and when played it feels incomplete.
Then you have a catchy song!

How to get rid of a song stuck in your head:
Now that you have a song in your head, let's try to get it out!
Use any of the following methods. Become your own experiment!

Learn the lyrics:
Find the song by using Shazam or Soundhound,
Write down the lyrics,
Write down a different songs' lyrics,
Talk out the lyrics,

Distraction Method:
Play a different song,
Do a puzzle (specifically, anagram),
Stop your own thoughts (try to not think),
Earwurm,
Unhearit.com,

Other:
Give in and listen to the song on repeat,

My experiences:
I got a song stuck in my head while doing this post! So here's what I did.
First I decided to read all the lyrics. Done, It's still in there, but with all the lyrics.
I listened to another song, it worked, but now there's another song in my head.
I read some research on how to get songs out of your head and the songs went away, for now...
It's an endless loop!

Here's some food for thought:
What if songs are always playing in your head whether you are aware or not!?

What is the most annoying song that has gotten stuck in your head?

Nightcore: Chipmunks at a dance club

Nightcore, I first thought this was a band. In actuality, it's a type of music, a genre, that can be summed down into fast techno beats, anime girls, and chipmunk voices.

Nightcore is most commonly known as a band but Nightcore is really a branch of happyhardcore. It involves taking people's music that have meaningful lyrics and changing the tempo and changing the pitch. Anyone can really do it. 

So pretty much anyone can create a Nightcore tune. That can be really good, or really, really bad thing.

The first song I heard that was considered Nightcore:

There are great remakes, then there are horrible remakes.
Nightcore. I do not know where you come from, but you are mostly in the latter category.

How to be considered a Nightcore song:

The song!:
Songs that seem to do the best are songs that already have fast paced beat. Pop, hip-hop, and Techno songs are good genres for this type of music. Depending on the creator, they can make or break a song.
The Good:
Some songs are just so much catchier after they become a Nightcore. Or they become even better.
This one is Maklemore's "Thrift shop"

This one's interesting. It's a Nightcore version, of an english dub, of a remake of Japanese videogame song. It's called Bad Apple. So it's a remake, or a remake, of a remake! Regardless, I really like this one.

The not so good:
Most of the time, all that nightcore creators do is speed up the song and bringing the pitch up. No beat or techno. All based on the songs original tune and beat. It can make, but mostly break, a song.
Here's Gangam style, Nightcore style:

The WTH?:
Sometimes, there are songs that makes you go 'Really? you made this into nightcore?"

This is from Les Misrables, Castle in the Clouds. It's cute, different, but just sounds like a chipmunk/doll singing.

Length:
Apparently they like to do a lot of 1+ hour song mixes too:

How to make a Nightcore song:

What you need:
A song of choice
An anime image
Audio altering software (ex: Audacity)

The Name:
Nightcore songs usually have the name "Nightcore" somewhere in the song title of song description. It's to differentiate the original song from this 'remake'.

The look:
Mostly all of these have some sort of anime girl, or guy, featured in the video, mainly as a background picture. Why this is prevalent throughout the genre I don't know. If you wanna make a Nightcore song, find a picture of some anime characters, or make your own.

I'm so Nightcore now!

Programming:

The most simplest way to create a Nightcore song, is to tweak the pitch and speed of the song. That's it. The only free program that I know of that does this is Audacity.

So there you have it, now you can be one of the thousands of Nightcore creators!

Nightcore. Or more correctly; sped up, chipmunk sounding, remakes of songs that appeal to ravers and anime fans! Do you agree? Or maybe I'm wrong, comment below!

A Legend most Brutal

Rated M for Metal

Brutal Legend is one of those games I feel that this game isn't really known as well as I think it should be. It's an awesome game. It's tactical, comedic, and has Heavy-Metal music and influences throughout the game. What more could you ask for?

Even promoted by Dethklok!

"The game, a hybrid of the action-adventure and real-time strategy genres, includes Stage Battles in both the single-player and multiplayer mode, where the player must command troops to defeat their foes while defending their own stage." -Wikipedia

Gameplay:

"Everything in that general direction must die!"

You play as Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black), "one of the best roadies" for "one of the worst metal bands", who gets transported to another world where trees have exhaust pipes and BDSM-like demons have enslaved humans. (They also have a beer tree).

[...] Much of the game takes place in an unnamed world inspired by heavy metal music, created by, according to the game's mythology, Ormagöden" - wikipedia

Weapons:

You decapitate enemies with his axe "The Seperator", his Flying V guitar can cast magic spells, such as lightning bolts and melting faces, while riding a hot rod that Eddie builds called "The Druid Plow", a.k.a. "The Deuce".

I mainly preffered to battle enemies by either using the cars' upgrades, like the rocket launchers, Guitar solo's like Face Melter (it was one of my favorites), or just maxing the axe's strength and slicing away!

Wanna go for a ride?

Quests:

While not busy slicing enemies and running over porcupines with your hot rod, you can also complete side missions such as racing, helping out an ambush, turning your car into a ballista, and helping a cannon operator shoot targets. There are also these bound dragon statues you can release for more health points and other boosts. You can also perform jumps and look at important landmarks. All of these events help you gain Fire Tributes which are used to upgrade your weapons and armor.

 I found that exploring the world itself was fun, there are a lot of hidden references to Metal all throughout the game. These quests were a main part of my game-play, I always ended up dying for some reason, then I found out how to get more health from releasing bound dragons, so I ended up mostly roaming the map looking for the 100 dragons!

Don't mess with this kitty.

Stage Battles:

The tactical part of the game comes into play in the main story-line. Using real time strategy, you directly control Eddie to defend a giant stage where new allies spawn. Eddie is able to control the entire army to follow, attack, or defend a point, and can use specialized squads of specific units to perform certain task. Until a specific objective is completed, like destroying the enemy stage, you create an army by building merchandise booths on "fan geysers". Once enough fans are collected, you can summon different allies, each using a certain number of fans. Upgrading the stage to allows you to summon more powerful allies.

Before each major battle be sure to talk to each ally, you get to learn more about the characters and maybe have a good laugh.

Sequel?

Often, the best games are always the first ones, and as much as I love this game and hoped for a sequel, unfortunately I am saddened to read this news.

"Double Fine believed they were given the go-ahead to develop a sequel to Brütal Legend after the game's release, and had invested a great deal of development time towards this, but were later told by EA that it was cancelled.^{[52] [...][...]}As of 2013, Schafer is still interested in a sequel to Brütal Legend, but would require appropriate funding and resources to make it happen as an independent developer.^{[51]" - wikipedia}

Overall, the game is great to play for anyone who loves strategy-tactical games, the humor of Jack Black and/or Heavy Metal music. I feel this game needs to be played for it's awesomeness. So let me know what you think. Have you played this game, or want to play now? Leave a comment and follow my blog.
Til next post!

As Seen On TV: The Commercialism Spammer

As Seen On TV: The Commercialism Spammer

I noticed the other day one of those 'Perfect Pancake' pans. I thought, 'Are people really that lazy to perfect something as simple as a pancake?'. I mean, yes, I would enjoy a perfectly stacked pile of pancakes, but they're going to be eaten within a matter of minutes! Truthfully, I would see this pan only really being used in an Ihop.

Personally, when I see As Seen On TV product, I approach it with a lot of skepticism. As much as I like my life to be easier, I don't think we need a whole lot of these contraptions. Is society really becoming so dependent upon production lines that will eventually no longer be self sufficient?

I agree that some of these inventions are ingenious, but do we really need them? To quote from an article I recently read from Thought Catalog.

"We’ve been led into a culture that has been engineered to leave us tired, hungry for indulgence, willing to pay a lot for convenience and entertainment, and most importantly, vaguely dissatisfied with our lives so that we continue wanting things we don’t have. We buy so much because it always seems like something is still missing."

So to fill in the gap, we buy, buy, buy! One main reason As Seen On TV products are so appealing is that they promise to provide convenience.

Save a buck:

I find the As Seen On TV commercials extremely funny. That's probably why I consider their products a joke. Unless you want to laugh at your own expense, here are a few products I consider unnecessary:

The Stealth SSA:

This product is basically an amplifier, while making it look like you're wearing a Bluetooth headset. The thing is, would you really wear this everywhere you go? Like, for example sitting down at the table. If you did it would look pretty rude. Also, what if you have difficulty hearing in both ears? Now you're wearing two "Bluetooth headsets" and just look silly while doing so. I think hearing aids are a smarter step and just skip this product altogether.

Slushy Magic:

I've read a couple of reviews before actually commenting on this one. I assumed that the cubes were a one-use thing, rather, they are these gel ice-cubes that you reuse over and over again. I have a problem with the the constant shaking to getting your slushie. You'd end up with a cool drink and tired arms.
Get a slushie machine or just go and buy a slushie at your local super market, provided that they have any. Or to be super cheap, take ice-cubes and use a blender!

Old Brooklyn Style Lantern:

Lets face it, this product is just for show and nothing more. I really like this design and the old fashioned look, but you can get a similar LED lantern for about the same price or less in the camping section at Walmart.

Alternatives to As Seen on TV products:

Sometimes ASOTV products are great and should be bought, other times there are better alternatives. Here are a few products I felt should be reconsidered and/or swapped for something else:

Pillow Pets, Pillow Pet Dream Lights, Tummy Stuffers:

I agree that it's a unique idea for a stuffed animal to also be a pillow, backpack or nightlight, but these and other similar products are only out to get your money because of the Pillow Pet craze. Disney Pillow Pets anyone?
You can easily buy any other stuffed animal and I bet you that a kid somewhere will sleep on it like any other pillow. I have one friend who did just that when he was a kid.

Wuggle Pets

This is basically stuffing your own stuffed animal, that's it. If you wanted a real special experience for stuffing your own animal, there's Build-A-Bear Workshop, or even just sewing your own stuffed animal (for people who are old enough to play with needles, scissors, and sewing machines!).

Pocket Hose

For $20, you can buy a much longer hose for the price of this retractable one.
The only problem I see with this product is what this material is made out of. It looks and feels like it's some sort of fabric, and fabrics tear. If there's a rip, your hose won't be at its full potential.
Also, another flaw I possibly see is the expand/contract feature. If after so many uses, the hose doesn't retract? You're now stuck with a plain regular hose now. Think of it as an elastic band, it won't stretch back to its previous form after so many stretches.

Will you buy?:

Really weigh the pros and cons when buying ASOTV products. Ask yourself 'Will I be able to use this product in more ways than one?' 'Is there an alternative way to get this result without this product?' And most importantly, 'Do I really need this item?'

What do you think? Are As Seen On TV items a joke? Do you have any As Seen On TV items you love/hate?