Let’s be real, we wouldn’t make a product we don’t use ourselves. We are always about finding things to do in new places, having a local adventure, or meeting new people.
However, this past weekend, I was under a strict schedule and I didn’t have time to get lost in time and space. I was in Philly but, I needed to go upstate…aaand I was starving. So, I decided to use Shuflix, find a new brunch place, have a quick eat, and speed off.
One of the first shake results was the Hungry Pigeon. At Shuflix we hate judging books by their cover which is why we avoid the ranks and the ratings in our platform. But, you have to admit, the title of the place is fantastic… who wouldn’t want to learn more about the Hungry Pigeon?? Suffice it to say, my friend and I were sold by how close it was to our current location …aaand it’s awesome name.
When we entered, we were greeted by one of the waitresses with a smile. The place was great. The people were kind, welcoming and genuine. The windows are tall and wide and so the decorative walls get tons of sun. We ordered the breakfast bowl, a sandwich, a side of toast, a side of bacon, aaand their morning beer. Yes, that’s right, they have a morning beer! It’s incredibly refreshing. It’s some mix of beer and other things…I actually didn’t ask (which I regret). However, I also don’t regret not asking–the mystery of not knowing what’s inside also makes it appealing to me. Either way, this magical drink is tasty AF and everyone should try it.
After we ate, we left the hungry pigeon with happy stomaches. It’s always fun to have mini local adventures no matter how short they are. In a local adventure, you get to meet new people, new places, and new experiences. So, if you are ever wondering what kinds of fun things you can do near you… Shuflix is a good place to start (shameless plug 😛 ).
Happy Shuflixing!
p.s. if you have a story of a fun spontaneous adventure, shoot us an email! (it doesn’t have to relate to shuflix; we want to hear stories of all kinds!)
We sometimes ask our beta users to tell us about their experiences using Shuflix. Basically, we love hearing about any user adventure. The feedback we get has been helping us improve the up and coming update we’ve been talking about.
We thought it would be cool to start posting some of the many emails/messages we’ve gotten from our beta users!
Here’s Ben’s Adventure:
Hey Bayo,
Since you like getting feedback, here’s a recent experience of mine:
I was walking to the megabus stop in NY with some time to spare. I used shuflix and found this cool coffeeshop called Think Coffee. It was perfectly situated because it was on the way to the bus stop (I attached a pic of the place). I think I’ve been to one of these in Manhattan, but I’m not sure. Anyways, I ordered this drink called the Spanish Latte. Try the Spanish latte!! It had a layer of condensed milk at the bottom that combined well with the coffee. I’m wired right now, and it feels great. Next time I’m walking to the megabus stop and I need coffee, I know a place!
-Ben
We’re always super happy when even an adventure as small as finding a coffee shop happens because of Shuflix. We LOVE feedback. The little sloth face on the app (bottom right corner) exists there so that you guys can communicate with us whenever you want.
This is Think Coffee’s NYC twitter account in case you guys want to follow them!
Think Coffee in NYC near megabus station found with shuflix
With Shuflix, we want to provide the best resource for finding things to do to anyone, anywhere. Wouldn’t it be great that no matter where you are, you could find all the cool spontaneous events and places near you? For example, if you are visiting a new place for the first time, you’d be able to experience it like a local– always having things to do for fun. To become a BETA tester or to stay up to date with us click here. You can also stay up to date with us by submitting your email to the hello bar at the top of this site.
The internet is going crazy. Is this real? Is this FAKE?
This video, titled Alive 2017, was found with mysterious code:
There was a tour in 1997, there was a tour in 2007… and since then Daft Punk have been enigmatic on whether they would ever tour again. They’ve release albums, they’ve composed for films…. everyone has been thirst for Alive 2017…
What do they mean? They are decodable coordinates!
AND THESE ARE THE TOUR LOCATIONS (if this announcement isn’t fake):
Daft Punk Alive 2017 Tour LocationsEurope
Dublin, Ireland
Barcelona
Madrid
Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom
Lisbon Portugal
Glasgow, United Kingdom
Paris, France
London, United Kingdom
Leeds
Nîmes France
Düsseldorf, Germany
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Turin, Italy
South America
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
San Paulo
Santiago
Buenos Aires, Argentina
North America
Miami
Los Angeles
Seattle
Chicago
New York City
Las Vegas
Mexico City
Monterrey
Montreal
Asia
Kobe, Japan
Osaka, Japan
Tokyo
Chiba, Japan
Australia
Melbourne
Perth
Brisbane
Sydney
I don’t know who did it first, but the idea is that these numbers are in octals (a numeral system), then they must be converted to hex (another one), and from hex to text. Check out this code found on one of the YouTube comments by Justin Steven:
% cat dp_decode.py
#!/usr/bin/env python2
import struct
s = '15034056 16032466 15420062 13431465 14431040 10006412 15230456 15230067 15020060 13430462 15634040 10020015 02432060 13433461 14434040 15632056 14030065 16220040 03205062 15227067 15430467 10034060 13430471 14234040 10020015 02431464 13430065 14431040 14230470 13431064 14633440 10020040 03205063 15227066 16034465 10030463 16227066 16230467 10020015 02425515 23651105 03205105 35271157 34062440 30267144 10040563 32260415 02420011 02206412 10004502 30271143 31266157 33460440 02204515 30262162 32262015 02404523 35071141 35063157 34462055 35270157 33426501 35467556 10004525 33464564 31262040 22664556 31662157 33220011 03205011 23064563 30467556 02250157 34472165 31660554 10004411 23671541 32660440 02245141 34060556 10006412 02246101 03205111 34462554 30267144 10042165 30466151 33406412 23667145 32271157 10004502 34460572 32266040 03205040 02251743 33620120 30272554 33620011 03205040 02251541 33472151 30263557 10004415 02420011 20472545 33467563 10040551 34462563 10004501 34463545 33472151 33460440 02206412 23467562 35064040 20266545 34464543 30206412 10004515 32260555 32220011 25267151 35062544 10051564 30272145 34620011 03205105 35271157 34062415 02420011 21666141 34663557 35620011 25267151 35062544 10045551 33463544 33666440 02206412 10004520 30271151 34620011 21471141 33461545 10004415 02420011 23067556 31067556 10004525 33464564 31262040 22664556 31662157 33220011 03205040 02246145 31262163 02206412 02247356 33262563 10004506 34460556 30662440 02206412 10004504 77071563 31266144 33671146 10004507 31271155 30267171 10004415 02404415 02404501 33271564 31271144 30266440 02247145 35064145 34466141 33462163 10004415 02404505 34661550 13271565 34426501 33075145 35072145 10004514 35274145 33261157 35271147 10004511 34462554 30267144 10004524 35271151 33420011 22272141 33074440 02206412 23467562 35064040 20266545 34464543 30220011 23067563 10040556 31662554 31271440 02252556 32272145 31020123 35060564 31271440 02220040 02206412 02251545 30272164 33062440 02220015 02404503 32064543 30263557 10004415 02404440 02241541 33460544 30220011 03205040 02246557 33472162 31260554 10004415 02420011 23462567 10054557 34465440 20664564 36220011 25267151 35062544 10051564 30272145 34620011 03205116 33671164 32020101 33262562 32261541 03205011 23060563 10053145 31660563 10004525 33464564 31262040 24672141 35062563 10004415 02420011 23262570 32261557 10041551 35074440 02220011 23267556 35062562 34462571 10004440 02206412 20271551 30206412 10004513 33661145 10004512 30270141 33420011 03205011 20664151 30460440 02206412 03205101 35271564 34460554 32260415 02420011 23262554 30467565 34467145 10004501 35271564 34460554 32260440 02206412 10004520 31271164 32020011 25006412 10004502 34464563 30460556 31220011 03205011 24674544 33462571 10004415 024'
print "".join([struct.pack(">I", int(x, 8))[1:] for x in s.split(" ")])
% ./dp_decode.py
48.8566 2.3522
51.5074 0.1278
40.7128 74.0059
25.7617 80.1918
34.0522 118.2437
35.6895 139.6917
+MORE
Europe and Asia
Barcelona Madrid
Stratford-upon-Avon United Kingdom
Lisbon Portugal Osaka Japan
LA
Ireland Dublin
Oneiro Brazil
S Paulo
Santiago
Buenos Aires Argentina
North America
Miami United States
Europe
Glasgow United Kingdom
Paris France
London United Kingdom
Leeds
Nes France
Dsseldorf Germany
Amsterdam Netherlands
Esch-sur-Alzette Luxembourg Ireland Turin Italy
North America Los Angeles United States
Seattle
Chicago
Canada
Montreal
New York City United States
North America
Las Vegas United States
Mexico City Monterrey
Asia
Kobe Japan
Chiba
Australia
Melbourne Australia
Perth T
Brisbane
Sydney
EVERYONE, get excited—-because everything is about to change for Daft Punk Alive 2017 (if this isn’t another community hoax). Do you know how exciting this is for the spontaneous adventurist… an opportunity to see Daft Punk live? I grew up listening to Daft Punk but I was young and was living in Costa Rica, a tiny country, occasionally visited by big names. Now, that I live in the USA, this could be my chance to finally see them live. Finally!
We should all be on the lookout for the actual dates. Comment here if you learn anything!
Cheers and happy Daft Punk Alive 2017 (hopefully)!
P.S. for those interested in spontaneous adventurism, go to our main site and sign up for our newsletter. We are becoming the best resource for finding fun things to do, wherever you are in the world! Check us out: https://shuflix.com (you can also download the app on the app store—- and just like Alive 2017 is exciting this year, we are having a huge update. SO BE READY FOR IT by signing up for our newsletter! )
Much more simplified huh? Trust me, it may not look like much, but the laptop alone can pack a powerful punch. Many of today’s famous pop artists have been able to pack that punch with this wonderful tool/box that keeps getting flatter and flatter. We’re talking about artists like Avicii and Martin Garrix with FL Studio or Opia and Goldwash with Ableton Live. So… beware of the laptop , and more importantly, who ever wields it.
In this behind the scenes of our startup, Shuflix, I’m going to briefly go through how I made the jingle for this commercial (aka my process for making music with Ableton):
First is first. Where did the video come from? The video was masterfully edited in After Effects by Serg to welcome the visitors to the Shuflix website. The video was then passed on to me with the ultimate quest to find the ultimate jingle. I started searching for some fun songs because the video looked fun and upbeat. As I was searching, I paused and I thought, “hmmmmm… what if I wrote the jingle?” And thus, I got to work! (Disclaimer: I get a tiny bit technical, but I promise it’ll be digestible!)
The Mood
I am a firm believer in the magic born when music and video are put together. So, trying to pick the right feel for a visual stimulus is hard because what is right? I mean.. truly right?
When I was a wee lad I used to play this game called CokeMusic—you had a character and you’d mix loops together and make tracks. You’d then go to a map and play your mix! Thumbs up from peeps around the world would get you points. They had tons of electronic piano loops that always reminded me of summer (because that’s when I played the game). So, I thought to myself… “why not make a jingle that features an upbeat electric piano?” In fact, for nostalgia’s sake, I used one of those loops long ago to create a track with a friend. This time, however, I took out my trusty Akai LPK25 midi keyboard and jammed my heart out. The result: the very simple rift you hear at the very beginning of the jingle. (And no, Akai isn’t paying me… yet)
(Btw, we have some great video content coming your way when we do our official launch. The vids will have amazing backing tracks from some awesome composers including: Nathan Prillaman, Holder, and Joey Pecoraro!)
…Anyways, I started the jingle with two minor chords that progressed into a major chord. The reason for this was that resolving with a major sounds good but also gives this uplifting feeling of resolution and happy that we all love. I wanted to give that uplifting feel because the video itself is quick (it’s only 25 seconds!) and it’s exciting— I mean, with a single shake of the phone you can explore things to do from the thousands of activities near you! What’s not exciting about that? But, an upbeat rift is not enough to enhance the video’s excitement. I also need an upbeat beat!
The Rhythm
For percussion I put together some shakers panned all the way to the right, some bongos also panned to the right, a hi-hat rhythm panned to the left and a funky house beat with no pan. The panning widens the aural space and gives you the illusion that the sounds from the instruments are coming from different directions, almost as if you are right there listening LIVE !
The bassline was fun. At the very start of the jingle, we have a step-wise bass rhythm–commonly known as a walking bassline. Imagine each note ‘walking’ from one note to the next at each quarter note. Now this changes at the ‘mini drop’ to a funky less-on-point bassline. Now, imagine that each note is no longer walking from one to the next, but instead is dancing.
Finally, I added a kick drum that would perform as the classic Four-On-The-Floor. This classic kick on every beat of the 4/4 time signature gives it that Disco dancey feel. You feel it right? But wait, that’s not enough. The kick is drowning amongst the other sounds. So, in order to have that kick bounce out to the ears of the audience, there’s this thing called sidechaining. I cheat and instead of sidechaining sounds to the kick, I just manipulate their gain directly (aka I change volume without a compressor) to give the illusion that the kick is ‘ducking’ out the frequencies of the other sounds. This effect is what turns your shy head-nod into a full “I don’t care who sees me, I’m gonna dance because I’m beautiful!!!!!”
Jk. This jingle shouldn’t make you dance. It’s meant to keep you staring at the video clip forever. Mwahahah.
Jk again. I restrained myself from adding too much bass. So don’t worry, your head won’t ExPLodE. At most, it will nod aggressively (Remember this?).
This is a pic of the layout and Master Chain.
Flourishes And Organization
After the main stuff is set, I added some flourishes and started organizing the jingle. The flourishes were simple, not overly complicated. I added a little bell twinkle at the very beginning because it helps set a happy mood.
I then added an underlying counter melody to the electric piano at a higher octave than the main rift. The counter melody shadows the chords of the main rift, but follows it’s own rhythm.
I then added another electric piano, patched it up with some reverb, some compression and most importantly, overdrive. The overdrive gives it the girthy distortion you hear a little bit after the walking bassline first comes in.
I added claps to act as snares. I added a beautiful flute sample whose frequencies were stretched to create the tiny anticipation you hear right before the ‘mini drop’. To soften the harshness of this stretch, I added some reverb. I added a tiny trumpet rift to accompany the latin/disco style rhythms. And as a little filler to provide an analog ambiance to the jingle, I added a vinyl scratch sample from Joedeshon available here.
Mix and Master
The last steps involved mixing and mastering the jingle. Ideally, you send the jingle to someone to mix it and then you send it to someone else to master it. At this point you’ve listened to the song so much, it’s hard to hear it as an external observer. However, this jingle isn’t about to hit the BBC’s Radio 1 Charts. It’s just a jingle. So, we can afford to slack off a bit. Heheh.
So, the mixing: To sum it up, I used Ableton’s EQ8 to de-emphasize the frequencies that weren’t essential for each of the tracks in order to make room for the other tracks that required those frequencies. For example, I lowered the gain on the mids of the hi-hats to make room for the electric piano since its the high frequencies of the hi-hats that catch our attention. I also added a bit of distortion to the bass guitar and EQ’d it to stand out a bit (learn why some frequencies appear to be lower in volume than others here: Fletcher Munson Curves)
For the master track, I added a chain composed of EQ8, a compressor, a saturator and a limiter. This was enough to boost and glue the different tracks together! Yay! (Oh, I also added a filter to create the effect right before the ‘mini drop’).
Hi there! You made it to the bottom of this post. Congrats! As reward, watch this video to see what the pros do everyday in the studio (it’s 1 minute long):
