Todos concordamos en que los tiempos de pandemia que experimentamos hace poco, nos afectaron profundamente en muchos 谩mbitos. El no poder socializar con nuestros amigos y familiares fue muy dif铆cil, y aunque la tecnolog铆a y los medios de comunicaci贸n nos permitian cierta conexi贸n, muchos a帽orabamos reunirnos y pasar un rato agradable con nuestros seres queridos. Sin duda alguna, aquello fue un trago amargo del cual todav铆a nos queda ese sin sabor de toda la tristeza, nostalgia y soledad a la que muchos estuvimos expuestos.
En mi experiencia, me toc贸 vivir solo durante todo ese tiempo y la mayor铆a de mis familiares viv铆an lejos, lo cual aunado a las restricciones por el caso pandemia pues no me brindaba un escenario muy animoso que digamos. Si bien la m煤sica era mi fiel compa帽era en todo momento, tambi茅n me hac铆a falta el poder estar con los dem谩s. Debido a esto, una prima m铆a cre贸 un grupo para conectarnos de forma virtual, y as铆 en ciertas noches reunirnos entre familiares y amigos para compartir un rato. Nos serv铆a para saber c贸mo estaba cada miembro de la familia, y tambi茅n para darnos apoyo y 谩nimo ante el inquietante ambiente que cada uno de nosotros viv铆a aislado en su hogar.
We all agree that the pandemic times we recently experienced affected us deeply in many areas. Not being able to socialize with our friends and family was very difficult, and although technology and the media allowed us some connection, many of us longed to get together and spend some quality time with our loved ones. Undoubtedly, that was a bitter pill to swallow and we still have that bitter taste of all the sadness, nostalgia and loneliness that many of us were exposed to.
In my experience, I had to live alone during all that time and most of my relatives lived far away, which together with the restrictions due to the pandemic case, did not provide me with a very encouraging scenario. Although music was my faithful companion at all times, I also needed to be with others. Because of this, a cousin of mine created a group to connect us virtually, so that on certain nights we could get together with family and friends to share a while. It helped us to know how each member of the family was doing, and also to give each other support and encouragement in the unsettling environment that each of us lived in isolation at home.
Recuerdo que una noche, una de mis primas estaba hablando sobre lo que har铆amos cuando todo aquello pasara, y entre planes e ideas surgi贸 lo de hacer un Karaoke familiar. A la mayor铆a nos gusta la m煤sica, y por eso nos pareci贸 una magn铆fica idea. Pero despu茅s de todo aquello, estando yo meditando en dicha idea de pronto me pregunt茅 a mi mismo: "驴Y por qu茅 no lo hacemos ahora?" Fue algo que autom谩ticamente puso a andar mi imaginaci贸n, a fin de lograr un evento que nos permitiera compartir una actividad similar a la del Karaoke. Pas茅 toda la noche tratando de inventar algo, hasta que pude dar con algo que al principio parec铆a extra帽o y dif铆cil de poderse llevar a cabo.
All铆 fue donde naci贸 el "Emoti-music". Se trata de un juego en el que, a trav茅s de los emoticones se transmit铆a el tema de una canci贸n. La idea principal era que los mismos emoticones te llevaran a pensar en una canci贸n en espec铆fico, por lo cual tu conocimiento musical y tu habilidad para descifrar el t铆tulo se pon铆an a prueba. Para eso, recuerdo que hice una lista de algunas canciones muy conocidas por todos, entre merengues, salsas y baladas los orden茅 hasta obtener un top 10. Admito que mientras m谩s desarrollaba la idea m谩s c贸modo me sent铆a con algo que surgi贸 de la nada, as铆 que a la siguiente noche puse manos a la obra. 驴C贸mo ser铆a el juego?
I remember that one night, one of my cousins was talking about what we would do when all that was over, and among plans and ideas came up the idea of making a family Karaoke. Most of us like music, and that's why we thought it was a great idea. But after all that, while I was meditating on the idea, I suddenly asked myself: "Why don't we do it now?" It was something that automatically set my imagination in motion, in order to achieve an event that would allow us to share an activity similar to Karaoke. I spent the whole night trying to come up with something, until I was able to come up with something that at first seemed strange and difficult to pull off.
That is where "Emoti-music" was born. It is a game in which, through emoticons, the theme of a song was transmitted. The main idea was that the emoticons themselves led you to think of a specific song, so your musical knowledge and your ability to decipher the title were put to the test. For that, I remember that I made a list of some songs well known by all, between merengues, salsas and ballads I ordered them until I got a top 10. I admit that the more I developed the idea the more comfortable I felt with something that came out of nowhere, so the next night I got down to work. What would the game be like?
Unos 15 minutos antes mand茅 un mensaje por el grupo a fin de que estuviera la mayor cantidad posible de personas, lo cual fue excelente porque a la hora establecida ya estaban todos conectados. 驴De qu茅 se trata el juego? Era lo que muchos preguntaban, y fue a trav茅s de un audio donde les expliqu茅 la manera de hacer la din谩mica. En s铆ntesis, ellos deb铆an adivinar el t铆tulo de la canci贸n que cada juego de emoticones guardaba, pero adem谩s de eso ten铆an que cantar por lo menos un pedacito de la canci贸n. El acierto deb铆a ser doble, as铆 que todo ser铆a a trav茅s de los audios. Recuerdo que la n煤mero uno era esta:
*馃惢馃槾馃槾
About 15 minutes before I sent a message through the group so that as many people as possible would be present, which was excellent because at the established time everyone was already connected. What is the game about? That was what many people asked, and it was through an audio that I explained to them how to play the game. In short, they had to guess the title of the song that each set of emoticons contained, but besides that they had to sing at least a part of the song. The correct guess had to be double, so everything would be through the audios. I remember number one was this one:
*馃惢馃槾馃槾
Al principio les cost贸 un poco asimilar la idea del juego, pero luego empezaron a llover los audios. Entre errores y aciertos la cosa cada vez se hac铆a m谩s divertida, y todos empezaban a participar una y otra y otra vez. De hecho, para que fuera m谩s din谩mico les dije que pod铆an decir cualquier opci贸n sin orden ni preferencia, as铆 que con el paso del tiempo se ve铆a cuales eran las f谩ciles y tambi茅n las m谩s dif铆ciles. El primer audio que dijera el t铆tulo correcto y cantar谩 un pedazo de la canci贸n era el ganador, y esto lo hac铆a muy divertido porque en ocasiones cantaban muy bien pero no sab铆a el nombre del cantante o del grupo musical 馃槀
*馃馃拑馃暫
At first it took a while for the idea of the game to sink in, but then the audios started pouring in. Between mistakes and successes, it became more and more fun, and everyone started to participate again and again and again. In fact, to make it more dynamic I told them that they could say any option without order or preference, so as time went by they could see which were the easiest and also the most difficult ones. The first audio that said the correct title and sang a piece of the song was the winner, and this made it very funny because sometimes they sang very well but I didn't know the name of the singer or the musical group 馃槀
*馃馃拑馃暫
Obviamente como yo fu铆 quien invent贸 todo esto, hice el papel de conductor del juego. A medida que pasaba el tiempo las opciones ya eran menos, y en algunas tuve que dar pistas para que pudieran tener la respuesta completa y correcta. Al principio pens茅 que con 10 era mucho, pero luego que todos entendieron el juego dicho n煤mero se qued贸 corto. Al final, fueron casi 30 minutos de total diversi贸n, un momento que muchos agradecieron por lo divertido que fue compartir de esa manera. Al final nadie estuvo pendiente sobre qui茅n fue el que acert贸 m谩s, sino de la cantidad de audios graciosos que a煤n despu茅s de aquella noche todav铆a segu铆amos escuchando y recordando.
Si bien la pandemia me priv贸 de compartir con amigos y familiares por un tiempo, tambi茅n me brind贸 la oportunidad de inventar algo como lo que ahora est谩s leyendo. Atesor茅 dicha experiencia, y hoy la recuerdo con much铆simo cari帽o. Tambi茅n aprend铆 que a煤n en el peor de los escenarios nuestra creatividad puede estallar de una forma inesperada para dar vida a momentos muy especiales.
Obviously, as I was the one who invented all this, I played the role of the game's conductor. As time went by the options were fewer, and in some I had to give clues so that they could have the complete and correct answer. At first I thought that 10 was a lot, but after everyone understood the game that number fell short. In the end, it was almost 30 minutes of total fun, a moment that many were thankful for because it was so much fun to share in that way. In the end, no one was looking at who got it right the most, but rather at the amount of funny audios that even after that night we were still listening to and remembering.
Although the pandemic deprived me of sharing with friends and family for a while, it also gave me the opportunity to invent something like what you are reading now. I treasured that experience, and I remember it with great fondness today. I also learned that even in the worst of scenarios our creativity can burst forth in unexpected ways to bring very special moments to life.
Gracias por darle valor a esta publicaci贸n con tu tiempo y atenci贸n.
Hasta pronto.
Thank you for giving value to this publication with your time and attention.
See you soon.
