Friday, November 26, 2010

FM





Before the mp3 player was the discman. We were already pirates then and we used to download our music from Napster. When Napster was ordered to shut down, other file sharing sites took over. What we did was download the mp3s online and then burn it in a compact disk. Kapag may out of town trips, kalahati ng contents ng bag ko ay mga audio cds.

Before discman was the walkman. It was the age of the mixtapes. Naabutan ko pa yung makikinig ka ng radyo, tapos irerecord mo yung songs na gusto mo iplayback ng paulit-ulit. It pisses me off when the dj suddenly speaks before the end of the song. Mas lalong buraot kapag nagrerecord ka ng song at tahimik yung buong room, tapos biglang may kakausap sa iyo.

Tracing back the source, everything started with FM stations. Kaya naman nang mauso ang portable audio players, unang na-imbento ang transistor radio. Funny thing is I thought FM stations will become obsolete in a few years. The rise of music videos and mp3 players will beat the hell out of the djs.

Epic fail ang aking prognosis.

I see a lot of people with their ear phones plugged in their ears these days. Noong una akala ko na mp3 players ang sakbit nila. The truth was revealed when Globe gave me a new phone. The phone has built-in FM receiver so I tried to use it one day. Sawa na rin kasi ako sa mp3s sa iPod ko.

I got hooked immediately and I started listening to the stations once again. First on my favorites is U-Radio. Kapag Saturday naman at late ako nag-work out, naka-tune in ako sa Big Fish Radio. Then there was NU-107 but it was replaced by the hell sent Win Radio. (Pinag-iisipan pa ba yan? No Brainer Lolz.)

This entry serves as both a belated prelude to the four great FM stations that I listen to and how my taste in music defines my personality. Pero sa totoo lang, the entry was inspired by a photo I saw in a website a few nights ago.

Tamang wow effect lang.



batteries not included




The photo serves as  a gentle reminder of how far innovation took humanity for music to become more portable.


photocredits:  boredpanda.com



8 comments:

Work-at-home mom said...

LOL I can so relate to the first part of this post. I used to sit beside the radio, finger on Pause, waiting with bated breath for my favorite songs to come on, and hoping that damned DJ would stop stalking soon enough for me to complete the intro and shut up long enough, at least, until the end instrumentals.

Ano nga ba yung mga ni-record ko nun? "Supersonic," tsaka "Mga Kababayan"!

Anonymous said...

Nostalgia.

Bawat galaw ko kailangan may radyong tumutugtog sa tabi ko... Matutulog, kumakain at kahit kapag nagaaral. Yun yung era ng EHeads at Rivermaya.

Dami ko ring pina-burn na CDs noon. Pero nung natutunan ko ang online piracy... Yun na!

Kampai!

Désolé Boy said...

i remember when i was in elementary, i would record songs that are being played on FM stations on a blank tape that my mother bought for me.
.
.
mostly they're eraserhead's.

Yj said...

nostalgic....

naalala ko tuloy, dahil wala ako pambili ng songhits, inaabangan ko ipatugtog sa radyo ang fave song ko at mabilis ako magsusulat ng lyrics... siguro mga limang beses ko aabangan ang isang song bago ko makumpleto isulat yung lyrics... yaiy

casado said...

nung bago ako d2, panay bili ko ng walkman, iba iba ahhaa, paliit ng paliit, mas cool..then ung nag naging discman, tumatakbo sa park, nka dscman, kahit ngawit ka, cool pa rin tignan bwahhaha..

ngaun me instances pa rin ako na nakakatyempo ng isang older lady or gent na nsa gym me hawak na discman (lol) or tumatakbo sa park, bitbit pa rin ang discman ahaha..

& lol @ YJ - ginawa ko rin yan dati :)

paci said...

at least there are still stations that my ears could handle. a big NO! to loud mouth dj's and corny jokes.

my-so-called-Quest said...

tama. i remember the days na magiintay ka sa radio then record the song. tapos mababadtrip ka kapag nacut ng dj yung kanta or may magsasalita habang patapos yung kanta. haha

gregory said...

haha yeah, i rememeber waiting on the radio, my blank casette inside, pause, record, and play buttons pressed down, my finger on the pause button, ready to unpause when a favorite song plays. i remember even having this casette with just one song recorded again and again, filling sides a and b. hilarious. i miss those simple days. these days, you want a song, you get it ASAP. convenience can strangely become an inconvenience, and strangely, inconvencience is a thing to be missed probably because of the process that leads to gratification. now, it's all instant gratification!