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aivi

@aiviwave / aiviwave.tumblr.com

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(art: @aggelic-yiok)

hi everyone! my record label, infloresce records, is hosting a charity music festival to raise funds for trans folks in tennessee. we've been working super hard with 50 volunteers across our music community to organize this event. it's going to be amazing!

for steven universe music appreciators, me and @surasshu will be performing "love like you" in our signature piano+chiptune style, featuring 92 steven universe fans. (thank you to everybody who submitted vocals to our open call on twitter!)

@rebeccasugar and @jeffthatnoise will also be performing!

festival details & full schedule can be found here ♥

my label crew and i chose to collaborate with the chattanooga trans liberation collective because they are an organization that serves queer folks in tennessee through direct action. tennessee and other parts of the south are being hit hard by anti-trans legislation, and we want to support trans people out there any way we can.

so let's raise a bunch of money for trans livelihood!

see you saturday at twitch.tv/infloresce!

#infloresce records#trans rights#steven universe#charity#fundraising#music festival#digital fusion#chiptune#electronic music#jazz#indie classical
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meanwhile...

(video alt: a music visualizer with simple black lines that show what piano notes are being played, and a background gradient of airy colors that evoke a morning sky.)

#piano#music#original composition
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dreaming of summer  and hopeful days under a calm morning sky over a borrowed home on a borrowed street

#music#sketch
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“The Question” Steven Universe 

music by me / mixed by surasshu (based on "Stronger Than You" by Rebecca Sugar) 

strings performed by Jeff Ball

#steven universe#music
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"Being Human" (End Credits) from Steven Universe Future 

Listen on Spotify. 

Written by aivi & surasshu, Rebecca Sugar Sung by Emily King

Drums - Roger ‘Rekcahdam’ Hicks Bass - Travis Kindred Guitar - Edwin Rhodes Synths - surasshu Piano/Keys - aivi 

Mix - James Roach Master - Piper Payne

When composing this track, I thought about how I used to feel when driving my car on highway 80. Freedom--all the possible roads, alone and finally feeling like myself, listening to my burned CDs. Uncertainty--where am I going? Is there any place for me? 

#music#steven universe
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"The Frog Prince”  (Cover of "The Prince's Adventure" from For The Frog The Bell Tolls)

Composed by Kazumi Totaka Cover arrangement by me All parts performed & sequenced by me

Last Christmas, my friends did a Secret Santa gift exchange where we made songs/art for each other! By luck, I got @surasshu and covered "The Prince's Adventure" as a gift for him. ♡ 

I tried my best to work in musical details that I thought he’d enjoy, such as odd meters, swing rhythms, a melodic bass line, chiptune, and inspirations from j-jazz. Technically, his wishlist said “a cover from Link’s Awakening,” but I thought it’d be fun to pick “Richard’s Villa” since it’s the same song as “The Prince’s Adventure”! I also referenced “Mabe Village” at the end, the first cover we ever did together. Surprise! ♪

Source: SoundCloud / aivi tran
#music#cover#personal
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Primary Language

When I was growing up, there was a language gap that existed between me and my family. I used to feel sad about it, convinced that I’d linger on that missing part of my childhood for the rest of my life. But everyday I’m a little more grateful, because I’m recognizing how that experience shaped my path as a musician.

I relied on music notes to be my words, when my childish, broken Vietnamese could no longer keep up with my emotional and intellectual growth. When the powerful English words that I learned in school couldn’t be used at home, and I had nowhere to practice vocalizing my thoughts.

Language shapes so much of your brain when you’re growing up. My understanding of my world felt so flat and uncertain. I remember feeling like a floating particle in the universe as a child, searching for answers that I didn’t know how to formulate questions to.

Those feelings poured out of me when I sat in front of my piano and spoke through my fingers. Ever since I was young, instrumental music connected deeply to me in ways that lyrical songs couldn’t begin to penetrate.

Musical notes are how I tell my stories, and express what’s in my heart. They are my primary language.

#aivi says#personal
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Happy New Year! I hope 2020 has been treating you well. I started my year by ordering a custom mechanical keyboard with special text for my favorite Cubase commands and Cherry MX Brown key switches! It’s so cute and satisfying to use and I’ve been typing obsessively since I got it.

I’ve been reflecting on how much I miss smaller joys in my life. Composing music for myself, for fun. Moving at a slower, more explorative pace. Wondering, “How would it sound if I pressed this button...?” and trying it. Part of why I got a mechanical keyboard for myself is because I miss writing personally like this. ♪ 

I’m at a transitional point in my life where I’m finishing long projects, starting new ones, and thinking a lot about what comes next. I’ve been daydreaming about things I want to do, and feeling nervous about whether I can do them. I’ve told myself that 2020 will be my year of “less doubting, more doing!” In the meantime, I’m working on cleaning up my website and posting things that I’ve forgotten to in the flurry of the last few years.

I’ve hardly had a moment to pause and reflect on everything that’s happened over the past decade. Thank you for supporting my music all this time. I’m so grateful to be here. ♡ 

#aivi says#personal
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