Stroly BLOG

Hi! My name is Kaoru. I’m a photographer, illustrator and one of the designers here at Stroly. I’ve created some maps too, which you can find Here

I have many hobbies, like photography, watching movies, reading manga, paint, etc, but if someone asks what is my favorite, I would answer that it’s music! Even though I do not play any instruments myself, I like it a lot and I frequently go out to listen to live music or attend music events.

How about you? Do you like music? Do you listen to music on a daily basis?

I listen to music quite often, especially when walking around my hometown, Kyoto. I like to walk and enjoy the views even though I have a very nice bicycle.

A Map Playlist, the Combination of a Map and Your Selections of Music

Many times, I notice that my walking speed matches the BPM(Beats Per Minute) of the song I’m listening to at the moment. Then, landscapes I’m familiar with start changing before my eyes, matching the mood of the music, making me look at them in a different way.

I like to call this the “Music Video Phenomenon” because I feel as if I’m playing a role on my own music video.

This came up in a conversation with my friend, and we came to the conclusion that music somehow reflects regional characteristic unconsciously. My friend once told me she felt awkward listening to a Japanese traditional music in Egypt. Egyptian or similar seemed to fit more. You may have experienced this feeling when listening to music from your country in foreign places. This conversation with my friend became lively, and we came up with an idea of combining a map and music and make a map playlist.

And here it is! (Ta-da)

The map is for KarasumaOike~ShijoKarasuma~KawabataShijo~KawabataOike where are vibrant and key areas of Kyoto. Of course, the symbolic Kamogawa river is included.

For each intersection, I registered Landmark Pin and added music that I think most likely represents the place. The selections of music are mostly from artists born or actively playing in Kyoto, the Kansai region or suggestions from my friends. I also included music that really matches to the places regardless of the birthplaces of artists.

Here is a little tip for finding a source of music. When you add songs to Landmark Pins, I recommend you to use this open audio platform,SoundCloud.

You can use YouTube indeed, but I think SoundCloud has more music videos available from all over the world. If you are interested, you can upload your own song for streaming. I also tried Spotify, but you need to be a subscriber to get fully access. If you would like to support an artist, you can go for Spotify and contribute to the total number of views.

How to Create “a Map Playlist of Your City”

Step 1

Create an account for SoundCloud (easily done with your facebook account if you have one).
Search or browse for artists or songs you like.
Once you find a song, click [Share] and select [Embed].
Copy the Code shown on the screen.

Step 2

Open your map in the Stroly Editor.

Step 3

Go to [LANDMARK].

Click [PLACE]

You can add Pins when the selection is shown in yellow.

Step 4

Click on the map, then you can add information to the Landmark Pins. You can choose language settings from six languages which are Japanese, English, Chinese(Traditional and Simplified), Korean, French and Spanish.

Change [Simple mode] to [HTML mode].

Once you change it to [HTML mode], paste Embed Code copied in Step.1

Click [Preview] and [OK] if the screen shows the information correctly as follow.

This is how you add music to Landmark Pins.

Remember to click [save as draft] and [Publish] everytime you edit information. You will lose everything you entered if you forget this process.

Lastly…

I created the map playlist of Kyoto because I think it’s interesting to express and share the way I experience Kyoto. During the process, I found the possibility of using a map more as a media where I can include content curations such as an artist’s profile and release information of each song.

Give it a try and see what you can do with Stroly maps!