Author Archives: Tyler Asaoka

YouTube Shorts Add New Voice-Over Feature

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YouTube Shorts have quickly become a popular feature on the YouTube app, with it becoming YouTube’s version of TikTok.

YouTube shorts are a maximum of 60-second videos that have their section on the YouTube website and YouTube app. While they are similar to TikTok videos, there was one feature that was left out on YouTube shorts that TikTok has had since the launch of their application, which is Voice-Over.

This is a key element that makes it easier for content producers to add voice-over in the app, compared to having to do the voice-over outside of the app on programs like Adobe Audition, or perhaps even TikTok itself!

As someone who wants to go into Voice-Over, I find this feature to be a pretty neat one and one that should have been added a long time ago. It makes making YouTube shorts much simpler, as you can now record your content, edit them in the YouTube shorts, and then add your voiceover once the video is complete.

For a short explanation of how to add Voice-Over to your YouTube shorts, watch the video below:

I feel this will add a bit of a battle between YouTube shorts and TikTok, as both are looking to become the top brand for producers to post their content. By YouTube shorts matching a feature from TikTok, it could entice content producers to post on YouTube shorts. While YouTube shorts haven’t been around as long as TikTok has, YouTube themselves have been around for way longer, making them more recognizable. 

While TikTok’s global recognition only keeps going up, YouTube shorts have quickly come to try and match, and potentially overtake the 2016 social media brand. I watch YouTube shorts more because I’m on YouTube more, and TikTok has never really intrigued me the way it has for many other people. I still have it just to keep up with trends, but I can’t even force myself to use it!

Laketown Shakedown Music Festival: June 30 – July 2

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The Laketown Shakedown Music Festival will return this year (like many other Music Festivals this year) for the first time since 2019.

There were plans to have this Music Festival in 2020, but it was ultimately postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They would move that concert to 2021, but once again, COVID denied them another year of this event.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CbiM6oPF64l/

Fortunately this year, it appears that this concert will finally be able to take place!

This 3 day event will feature different music artists every day. 

The headliners for Thursday’s show are “Arkells” and “Lights”.

For Friday, the headliners are “Wu-Tang Clan” and ”Sugar Ray”.

Finally, for Saturday’s finale, the headliners are “The Glorious Sons” and “Big Boi”.

Additionally, Vancouver’s own “Dear Rouge” will be attending the Friday show. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CbaVyqYOdhj/

Vernon BC’s own “Daysormay”, Vancouver’s “Mauvey” and Victoria’s “GI Blunt” and “BRAINiac” will also be performing, but on Thursday’s show. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc1eWGlJrqY/

Many more local artists will be performing. To see the entire lineup for all the dates, check out the website for more details!

All ticket bundles are still available. Whether you’re looking to go on one day or the entire weekend, all are still available. More details on ticket bundles HERE!

Like many of the other articles I have written this week, it appears that many outdoor Music Festivals are set to go! I have written 3 articles on 3 separate Music Festivals returning for this Summer.

Personally, I am really excited to see these Music Festivals return, as they haven’t occurred for the past 3 years. Also, with COVID slowly becoming behind us more and more everyday, there’s no better time to have these Music Festivals! I would recommend anyone to go to a Music Festival this Summer, just to get back into the pre-COVID lifestyle.

Remember to still remain safe! Even though COVID isn’t spreading as much anymore, it is still around, so still remain careful when attending these events.

Lake Cowichan’s, Dan Boeckner, Set To Play This Saturday On SNL.

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Frontman of the band “Wolf Parade”, Dan Bocekner, is set to perform on this week’s episode of Saturday Night Live.

He is now a member of the band “Arcade Fire”. The band was a last-minute addition to the Coachella lineup that occurred on April 15th to April 24th. They were added to the lineup a day before the festival.

He, along with his band, are appearing on Saturday Night Live as a part of their current tour for their new album called “We”. The album was released today, May 6th, and already has a 96% like rate from Google users. 

The group is under the label called “Columbia Records”.

The band will perform here in Vancouver on November 25th of this year. They will perform at Rogers Arena, and pre-sale tickets were already available, however, the sales are currently blocked on Ticketmaster, with the next tickets now going on-sale on Tuesday, May 10th, at 10am PDT.

Bocekner is well known for forming and helping bands throughout his career. His first band that he formed was called “Uncle”, and then afterwards, he created a band called “God Shaped Vacuums”, which featured drummer Carey Mercer, who is currently playing in a band called “Frog Eyes”.

He later co-founded a band called “Atlas Strategic”, before moving to Montreal where he formed “Wolf Parade” with Spencer Krug, and then formed another band called “Handsome Furs” with his fiancée at the time, Alexei Perry.

Finally, he formed “Divine Fits” with Britt Daniel after “Handsome Furs” disbanded, and then debuted his final new band called “Operators”.

After all of the band forming, he decided to return back to “Wolf Parade” in 2016, but is now with “Arcade Fire”, like mentioned earlier.

Hoo-boy, that’s a lot of bands he has formed. I wouldn’t be surprised at this point if he was a part of a new band formation in the future!

Vancouver Folk Music Festival Lineup Announced, Headlined by Former Vancouver Resident Allison Russell

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The Vancouver Folk Music Festival will be returning in-person this year after hosting the event virtually for the past 2 years.

The event is set to take place on July 15 – 17 at Jericho Beach. Starting times and ending times have not been stated yet.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdI4HCaLC76/

This 2022 concert is considered to have one of its best lineups ever. Some of the headline artists attending this event are Asleep At the Wheel, Alejandro Escovedo, Taj Mahal and the New Pornographers.

Considered to be the main headliner of the event is former Vancouver resident Allison Russell.

Allison Russell was born in Montreal, but ran away from her home due to sexual and physical abuse from her adoptive father. She would then eventually move to Vancouver as a 15 year old.

The former member of the Vancouver-based band “Fear of Drinking” (better known now as Po’ Girl) has quite the impressive resume. She has been nominated for 3 separate Grammy Awards which were “Best Americana Album”, “Best American Roots Song”, and “Best American Roots Performance”. She did not win these awards, but a nomination alone is very impressive.

Additionally, she has been nominated for 2 Juno Awards this year. She has been nominated for “Songwriter of the Year” and “Contemporary Roots Album of the Year”. The Juno’s this year will take place next Sunday, May 15th at 5pm.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Camt0_ruypv/

It would appear that a lot of music festivals are set to occur this year! With the COVID-19 pandemic slowly becoming behind us, music festival hosts are wasting no time getting their events back up. I also covered an outdoor music festival this September a couple days ago called “Rifflandia”, where tickets went live this morning.

For those interested in attending the Vancouver Music Folk Festival, tickets can be purchased HERE!

FACTOR Canada Starts Music Festival Reopening Fund

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FACTOR Canada (or The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent On Recordings) is starting a fund to help provide financial support to music festivals that were hurt through the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the world slowly getting out of the COVID-19 pandemic everyday, the world has made great progress on reopening many public events with large capacities safely. 

With music festivals being big events pre-COVID, it appears that it is now becoming safer to host these big music events with large crowds.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CclUgNUJtpZ/

With this new fundraiser, FACTOR Canada is providing assistance to show-owners “economic recovery”, as well as “supporting the presentation of their events” and “encouraging the return of in-person audiences”.

$7 million has already been issued to the Canada Music Fund (or CMF) for this program.

Want to learn how to apply? More details are specified on the FACTOR Canada website, or click HERE! for more details.

Funding is not guaranteed for people who choose to apply, but it is worth a shot if you feel you meet the requirements.

The deadline to apply is tomorrow, Friday, May 6th by 5:00pm ET. Any late applications will not be accepted, so be sure to submit your application on time if this interests you.

I wrote a post yesterday about an outdoor music festival called “Rifflandia” happening this September. Tickets are available tomorrow, Friday, May 6th, and I have a very strong feeling that the owners of the “Rifflandia” event took a look at this fundraiser. “Rifflandia” seems to be an annual event (pre-COVID), so it would make sense for them to apply for this fundraiser, as they no doubt lost a big chunk of money by not having this event for the past 3 years.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdI4-WqueYC/

If you know someone who runs a Canadian music festival, be sure to let them know of this fundraiser to help save them money!

Rock Band “Yeah Yeah Yeahs” Release New Album & Tour Dates After a Near-Decade Break.

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New York Indie Rock Band “Yeah Yeah Yeahs” has finally made their return after a near-decade break away from music.

The album is still currently unnamed, but it is set to release this Fall season.

Along with their announced return, they just recently signed with independent record label “Secretly Canadian”.

They currently do not have a tour date for Vancouver, but they do have one planned for Montreal on Friday, July 29th with tickets still available.

But don’t lose hope if you really want to see the band. They have an option on their website where you can “Request A Show”. In other words, if there are enough people who submit a request for Vancovuer to have a show, I’m sure they would listen and come here to perform! So get all your friends and family on-board if you want to see the “Yeah Yeah Yeahs” in Vancouver!

They just released a teaser on their Instagram page for their music. Take a listen below:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdDoDZslN4a/

The band has been around since the early 2000’s, and have been nominated for 3 Grammy Awards on 3 separate occasions. They were nominated in 2004, 2007, and 2010 for the same award, which was “Best Alternative Music Album”. They did not win the award, but getting a nomination is impressive alone.

Personally, I am a big fan of when singers or bands come back after a long break. I remember when Justin Timberlake took a break/hiatus from music, and when he announced his return, it was considered huge news. I do like Justin Timberlake’s music, so when he announced his return, I was really excited! Or when Ed Sheeran took a break from music in December 2019 and came back, I had the same energetic feeling! Everyone needs a break, even these popular and famous music artists. No matter how long they decide to be on break, it’s always welcoming to see them come back stronger than ever!