alex rosetti vol 5 + mc;dd commentary sources

2 files changed, 38 insertions, 21 deletions

diff --git a/album/homestuck-vol-5.yaml b/album/homestuck-vol-5.yaml
index 30d51c4..c107159 100644
--- a/album/homestuck-vol-5.yaml
+++ b/album/homestuck-vol-5.yaml
@@ -283,9 +283,9 @@ Referenced Tracks:
 - Showtime (Piano Refrain)
 - Harlequin
 Commentary: |-
-    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> (composer)
+    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> (composer, [Tumblr](https://albatrossthesoup.tumblr.com/post/20545830112/my-vol-5-music-commentary), excerpt)
 
-    This piece is one of the strongest examples of how much better my old music could have been if I had used better samples. But I had nothing but cheap stuff at the time, so I think this one suffers a lot. Personal regret aside, I composed this as an ode to John, so it features the themes from [[track:showtime-original-mix|Showtime]] and [[track:harlequin|Harlequin]]. I wanted something big and dramatic, so I went the semi-orchestral route, and completely transformed the context of the two melodies I used to suit the mood of the piece. In particular, Harlequin seems almost unrecognizable unless you're paying attention or have a good ear. I think its attempt to come off as big and noble is a little heavy-handed at times, but it would definitely be a fun one to come back to and update.
+    This piece is one of the strongest examples of how much better my old music could have been if I had used better samples. But I had nothing but cheap stuff at the time, so I think this one suffers a lot. Personal regret aside, I composed this as an ode to John, so it features the themes from [[track:showtime-original-mix|Showtime]] and [[Harlequin]]. I wanted something big and dramatic, so I went the semi-orchestral route, and completely transformed the context of the two melodies I used to suit the mood of the piece. In particular, Harlequin seems almost unrecognizable unless you’re paying attention or have a good ear. I think its attempt to come off as big and noble is a little heavy-handed at times, but it would definitely be a fun one to come back to and update.
 
     <i>Sollay:</i> (anthology artist, [Tumblr](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/159969890431/sol-lay-my-second-piece-for-the-vol-5-anthology))
 
@@ -369,9 +369,9 @@ Referenced Tracks:
 - Chorale for Jaspers
 - Squiddles!
 Commentary: |-
-    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> (composer)
+    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> (composer, [Tumblr](https://albatrossthesoup.tumblr.com/post/20545830112/my-vol-5-music-commentary), excerpt)
 
-    I've always considered the creation of this song a "classic story". It came about in a strange, almost fateful way, and I think the final product reflects that. It was the first thing that [[artist:toby-fox|Radiation]] and I worked on together, and it was through Hardchorale that our friendship started. He approached me with a MIDI file he had made, intending it to be a sort of "boss battle" arrangement of [[track:chorale-for-jaspers|Chorale for Jaspers]] in the style of [[track:harleboss|Harleboss]]. He asked if I would be interested in producing it, since at the time he was just starting out and had no means to do so. I agreed, Chorale being one of my favorite Homestuck tunes. So I produced it in a DAW to make it sound "good", and relative to the MIDI file it sounded great, and we were both really happy with it. Radiation got [[artist:michael-guy-bowman|Bowman]] to record some heavy metal meows, which he apparently almost got kicked out of his apartment for recording and claims to have video of, though I have yet to see it. Once I found out it was going to be on Vol. 5, I added a section to it (roughly the last third of the piece) and at the very end sneaked [[track:squiddles|the Squiddles theme]] just because I could. I realize that was more of a narrative than a commentary, but it's the history behind this piece that I find fun to talk about more than the piece itself.
+    I’ve always considered the creation of this song a “classic story”. It came about in a strange, almost fateful way, and I think the final product reflects that. It was the first thing that [[artist:toby-fox|Radiation]] and I worked on together, and it was through Hardchorale that our friendship started. He approached me with a MIDI file he had made, intending it to be a sort of “boss battle” arrangement of [[Chorale for Jaspers]] in the style of [[Harleboss]]. He asked if I would be interested in producing it, since at the time he was just starting out and had no means to do so. I agreed, Chorale being one of my favorite Homestuck tunes. So I produced it in a DAW to make it sound “good”, and relative to the MIDI file it sounded great, and we were both really happy with it. Radiation got [[artist:michael-guy-bowman|Bowman]] to record some heavy metal meows, which he apparently almost got kicked out of his apartment for recording and claims to have video of, though I have yet to see it. Once I found out it was going to be on Vol. 5, I added a section to it (roughly the last third of the piece) and at the very end sneaked [[track:squiddles|the Squiddles theme]] just because I could. I realize that was more of a narrative than a commentary, but it’s the history behind this piece that I find fun to talk about more than the piece itself.
 
     <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer)
 
@@ -559,9 +559,9 @@ Sheet Music Files:
   Files:
   - 'Crystalanthemums - Purple1222119 (piano score).pdf'
 Commentary: |-
-    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> (composer)
+    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> (composer, [Tumblr](https://albatrossthesoup.tumblr.com/post/20545830112/my-vol-5-music-commentary), excerpt)
 
-    I composed this one intending it to be the theme of Jade's land. This is the reason [[artist:erik-scheele|Jit]] has gone on the record as saying [[track:crystamanthequins|Crystamenthequins]] was intended to accompany Jade's island being destroyed/her entering her land (I'm pretty sure that's how he described it) was because of this song. It's actually a really simple tune, and I've wanted to expand on it for ages but never got around to it. The entire piece consists of the same simple chord progression, but it's a good, if played out, progression. That and the beautiful harmonies one is guaranteed to find with it is why I think this is one of my more popular songs. It's not as well-composed as I'd like it to be, but it is definitely catchy. And [[artist:toby-fox|Radiation]] was responsible for the name, jokingly calling it "crystalanthemums" after I described it sound like a crystalline flower. I decided that was as good a name as any, and I've had the pleasure of infecting its two remixes with such silly-sounding titles.
+    I composed this one intending it to be the theme of Jade’s land. This is the reason [[artist:erik-scheele|Jit]] has gone on the record as saying [[Crystamenthequins]] was intended to accompany Jade’s island being destroyed/her entering her land (I’m pretty sure that’s how he described it) was because of this song. It’s actually a really simple tune, and I’ve wanted to expand on it for ages but never got around to it. The entire piece consists of the same simple chord progression, but it’s a good, if played out, progression. That and the beautiful harmonies one is guaranteed to find with it is why I think this is one of my more popular songs. It’s not as well-composed as I’d like it to be, but it is definitely catchy. And [[artist:toby-fox|Radiation]] was responsible for the name, jokingly calling it “crystalanthemums” after I described it as sounding like a crystalline flower. I decided that was as good a name as any, and I’ve had the pleasure of infecting its two remixes with such silly-sounding titles.
 
     <i>Chumi:</i> (anthology artist, [Tumblr](https://chuchumi.tumblr.com/post/159546207889/heres-my-entry-for-the-volume-5-anthology-i-was))
 
@@ -738,9 +738,9 @@ Art Tags:
 - Prospit
 - Derse
 Commentary: |-
-    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> (composer)
+    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> (composer, [Tumblr](https://albatrossthesoup.tumblr.com/post/20545830112/my-vol-5-music-commentary), excerpt)
 
-    This is exactly what it sounds like. I went for a whimsical, dreamy feel with this one, expressed through the 3/4 meter, waltz patterns, Lydian mode, and ringing, bell-like timbres. There's not a lot going on in this one, though I think it's charming in a childlike way. It was the first piece I made upon my return to the music team (I was in it since the beginning, but never made anything worthwhile and left for a few months since I was starting my first year of college)
+    This is exactly what it sounds like. I went for a whimsical, dreamy feel with this one, expressed through the ¾ meter, waltz patterns, Lydian mode, and ringing, bell-like timbres. There’s not a lot going on in this one, though I think it’s charming in a childlike way. It was the first piece I made upon my return to the music team (I was in it since the beginning, but never made anything worthwhile and left for a few months since I was starting my first year of college).
 
     <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> (composer, extra comments in reply to a Tumblr question)
 
@@ -894,7 +894,7 @@ Art Tags:
 - Davesprite
 - LoHaC
 Commentary: |-
-    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> (composer)
+    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> (composer, [Tumblr](https://albatrossthesoup.tumblr.com/post/20545830112/my-vol-5-music-commentary), excerpt)
 
     I based this off a short tune I wrote as a composition exercise. It turns out the tune was really short, since this song clocked in at a little under a minute. I had intended it to be associated with Dave, hence the style and Hip-Hop sounding lead. Not much to say about this one either other than I should definitely use this theme in the future for something more worthwhile.
 
@@ -1285,9 +1285,9 @@ Art Tags:
 - Frog Temple
 - Ruined Earth
 Commentary: |-
-    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> (composer)
+    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> (composer, [Tumblr](https://albatrossthesoup.tumblr.com/post/20545830112/my-vol-5-music-commentary), excerpt)
 
-    I consider this an important piece to myself, but not to Homestuck music in general. Actually, it's probably the lowest quality thing I have ever released as Homestuck music. It's just sloppy. But there's a bit more to it than that, and that lies in its instrumentation. This was the first piece I ever composed where I explored colorful and playful orchestration. The xylophone and pizzicato strings that I was playing around with would become my bread and butter a couple years later. I'm not currently known among the Homestuck musicians as being an orchestral composer, but I've reached the point where there's nothing I like composing more than fully orchestrated pieces. At least as far as soundtrack music goes. And not just fully orchestrated either, there's a certain sense of color I love exploring and I like making lighter sounds despite using a bigger and more imposing ensemble. I haven't released anything that showcases that yet, but I definitely will be in the future, so I think that's something to be excited about.
+    I consider this an important piece to myself, but not to Homestuck music in general. Actually, it’s probably the lowest quality thing I have ever released as Homestuck music. It’s just sloppy. But there’s a bit more to it than that, and that lies in its instrumentation. This was the first piece I ever composed where I explored colorful and playful orchestration. The xylophone and pizzicato strings that I was playing around with would become my bread and butter a couple years later. I’m not currently known among the Homestuck musicians as being an orchestral composer, but I’ve reached the point where there’s nothing I like composing more than fully orchestrated pieces. At least as far as soundtrack music goes. And not just fully orchestrated either, there’s a certain sense of color I love exploring and I like making lighter sounds despite using a bigger and more imposing ensemble. I haven’t released anything that showcases that yet, but I definitely will be in the future, so I think that’s something to be excited about.
 
     <i>vorpos:</i> (anthology artist, [Tumblr](https://vorpos.tumblr.com/post/159546278177/i-finally-get-to-upload-this-now-heres-my-piece))
 
@@ -1413,9 +1413,9 @@ Art Tags:
 Referenced Tracks:
 - Savior of the Waking World
 Commentary: |-
-    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> (composer)
+    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> (composer, [Tumblr](https://albatrossthesoup.tumblr.com/post/20545830112/my-vol-5-music-commentary), excerpt)
 
-    [[artist:toby-fox|Radiation]] gave me a MIDI of [[track:savior-of-the-waking-world|Savior of the Waking World]] to remix shortly before he figured out how to do it himself. It's based on a prototype of that song and goes in a completely different direction, complete with a cheesy electric guitar synth. I think the opening ended up sounding really cool, but the rest of it just sounds kind of dumb in its execution, not that the material itself isn't good.
+    [[artist:toby-fox|Radiation]] gave me a MIDI of [[Savior of the Waking World]] to remix shortly before he figured out how to do it himself. It’s based on a prototype of that song and goes in a completely different direction, complete with a cheesy electric guitar synth. I think the opening ended up sounding really cool, but the rest of it just sounds kind of dumb in its execution, not that the material itself isn’t good.
 
     <i>Nolvini:</i> (anthology artist, [Tumblr](https://nolvini.tumblr.com/post/159613597019/my-piece-created-for-the-vol5anthology-the-song))
 
diff --git a/album/midnight-crew-drawing-dead.yaml b/album/midnight-crew-drawing-dead.yaml
index 188db9c..e77fb8e 100644
--- a/album/midnight-crew-drawing-dead.yaml
+++ b/album/midnight-crew-drawing-dead.yaml
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ URLs:
 - https://youtu.be/jTIQhTdy4ZU
 Commentary: |-
     <i>Mark J. Hadley:</i>
+
     The first MC-related thing I wrote, and retroactively became the MC theme song. This was actually a remake of a midi I made years ago intended for part of an RPG a friend was making, until the RPG was cancelled. It's mostly the same, except that I went back and made it more jazzy (added saxophone and a swing rhythm). The original title of it was "Seriousness".
 ---
 Track: Hearts Flush
@@ -137,6 +138,7 @@ URLs:
 - https://youtu.be/nb7PoT9w6Tc
 Commentary: |-
     <i>Mark J. Hadley:</i>
+
     My favorite of the MC ones I wrote. I've always wanted to write a bass solo, and this gave me the opportunity. There's not much else to add, other than I had a blast writing it.
 ---
 Track: Knives and Ivory
@@ -191,9 +193,13 @@ URLs:
 - https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/hollow-suit-2
 - https://youtu.be/k7El193pVkM
 Commentary: |-
-    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i>
-    Hollow Suit was my other song on that album and it was a little more popular than Moonshine, though I can't say either even came close to being hits. Like Moonshine it still has a soft spot in my heart. It's not as compositionally impressive in my opinion, but it was the first in a long line of quirky tracks I have made for Homestuck. The vibraphone and electric organ were incredibly fun to use, and the whole thing ended up having an Elfman/Kirkhope vibe to it. Now, I don't have synesthesia, but for some reason whenever I think about this song, I think "green". Just some useless trivia for you.
-    Looking back on Drawing Dead as a whole, do I think it was a good album? No, not really. It was good for us at the time, but it was so all over the place, almost completely devoid of mastering, many of the songs used inferior samples, and most of us just weren't as experienced with composing back then. Mostly it was a case of having no centralized idea of what the style of music should be, and the clashes that followed. I don't mean that to knock any of us in any way. It was an important step for all of us as musicians and we have been constantly improving since then. I still look back fondly at it, since it was my first ever album release, after all.
+    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> ([Tumblr](https://albatrossthesoup.tumblr.com/post/46685117866/looking-back-at-midnight-crew-drawing-dead), excerpt)
+
+    <i>(Continued from [[track:moonshine]])</i>
+
+    Hollow Suit was my other song on that album and it was a little more popular than Moonshine, though I can’t say either even came close to being hits. Like [[Moonshine]] it still has a soft spot in my heart. It’s not as compositionally impressive in my opinion, but it was the first in a long line of quirky tracks I have made for Homestuck. The vibraphone and electric organ were incredibly fun to use, and the whole thing ended up having an Elfman/Kirkhope vibe to it. Now, I don’t have synesthesia, but for some reason whenever I think about this song, I think “green”. Just some useless trivia for you.
+
+    Looking back on Drawing Dead as a whole, do I think it was a good album? No, not really. It was good for us at the time, but it was so all over the place, almost completely devoid of mastering, many of the songs used inferior samples, and most of us just weren’t as experienced with composing back then. Mostly it was a case of having no centralized idea of what the style of music should be, and the clashes that followed. I don’t mean that to knock any of us in any way. It was an important step for all of us as musicians and we have been constantly improving since then. I still look back fondly at it, since it was my first ever album release, after all.
 ---
 Track: Ante Matter
 Artists:
@@ -206,6 +212,7 @@ URLs:
 - https://youtu.be/2uYFtCSxoPk
 Commentary: |-
     <i>Mark J. Hadley:</i>
+
     It's hard to find things to say about this one. I wanted to make a slower song, compared to the other ones I did for Drawing Dead. I'm still technically new at writing jazz, so it was nice getting to practice it a bit more. Overall though, I think I liked the title best on this one; I enjoy a good pun.
 ---
 Track: The Ballad of Jack Noir
@@ -240,6 +247,7 @@ URLs:
 - https://youtu.be/06SVUSwu8Xk
 Commentary: |-
     <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i>
+
     I opted to imitate Weather Report and the sort of spacey, insidious-sounding grooves they put together on Mysterious Traveler to create "Lunar Eclipse". I like the atmospheric nature of the track, plus Fenris' sax solo that I diced up and added a ton of digital reverb to, although Fenris has completely disappeared since recording the solo in 2009.
 ---
 Track: Hauntjam
@@ -259,9 +267,11 @@ Referenced Tracks:
 - track:haunt-andrew-hussie
 Commentary: |-
     <i>Andrew Huo:</i>
+
     Hauntjam and Hauntjelly are interesting things. They were actually made based on a short fruity loop that The Big Man Andrew did, called haunt.wav or haunt.mp3 or something like that. A jam on his theme, logically, would therefore be called "hauntjam," with the opportunity for naming puns including "hauntjelly." His theme appears mostly unchanged as the bassline for the first part of the pieces. At this point in terms of instrumentation, we were still mostly striving for faithfulness to the canon Midnight Crew "band," as can be seen in <a href="http://www.mspaintadventures.com/extras/ps000018.html">the Extras page</a> wherein the MC fill 'em with midnight (bottom), so Hauntjam employs trombone, string bass, piano, clarinet, and sax (I forget which because I've lost the file and am not a band person, but I think it was alto). From there on, it was fairly straightforward to write a haunting refrain and then solos for each instrument. I will admit I got a little writerblock'd for the second part, which was sort of a brief modulation to the dominant, so it sounds a little strange. But it still has its own little charm, with the almost annoying trill put in for a spooky ghost-like effect. In Hauntjam, Bowman did some good stuff with bringing out moving parts in the first refrain. In Hauntjelly, [[artist:ian-taylor|Xerxes]] emphasizes the spookiness by changing instruments for more electric organ.
 
     <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i>
+
     I also went ahead a dropped some good synths and fairly convincing drum part on Andrew Huo's "Hauntjam".
 ---
 Track: Carbon Nadsat / Cuestick Genius
@@ -328,11 +338,17 @@ Sheet Music Files:
   Files:
   - 'Moonshine - Kraethi.pdf'
 Commentary: |-
-    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i>
-    Fake bands, man. I so wish we had done more with this concept. Since the very beginning of Homestuck, Andrew had this idea that the kids would have fake bands they were into, and we would make MySpace band pages with a few of their songs on them as a fun supplement to the comic, in the same spirit as <a href="https://dstrider.blogspot.com/">dave strider's blog</a> or <a href="https://www.homestuck.com/sweet-bro-and-hella-jeff">SBaHJ</a>. <s>(both of which I would link to if tumblr wasn't bugging out right now and preventing me from doing so)</s>
-    The first one was the Midnight Crew, and Andrew made the cover art before anything else happened, if I recall correctly. That project hung around for a while until the Midnight Crew Intermission, when Andrew decided to expand the "fake band" idea and release our MC as a full album on bandcamp, along with the Homestuck Volumes. Incidentally, I believe Squarewave and Sawtooth were originally going to be a fake band as well, and Dave even had a poster of them on his wall. Reeeaaally wish we did that one, but oh well. At least we got Anbroids.
-    In light of the fact that the Midnight Crew were going to have a real album and that I had just rejoined the team, I was eager to contribute to it. The first song I made for it was Moonshine, which strangely enough to some I'm sure, I still consider one of my better Homestuck tunes, if only technically. Yeah, the instruments I used were atrocious, but I think it would be a fun piece if it were actually played by people. I had a good idea of its form and I was really able to get into the style of music I perceived the Midnight Crew would play.
-    The instrumentation was based off the instruments each character played, with Slick on piano, Droog on sax, Boxcars on bass, and the last one I changed from Deuce's oboe to clarinet, which is seen much more in jazz. Not that jazz oboe doesn't exist! Still, it seems very like CD to play jazz on such an instrument. The song itself is more dissonant than most Homestuck music, having a lot of clashing harmonies and tritones which I love but can understand a lot of Homestuckers probably don't, at least not in this context. The name "Moonshine" came out of how drunk the music sounds, especially in the middle where it picks up a bit and is more obviously in 6/8. But yeah, it uses its motivic material well and is consistent with itself, much more than I can say about many tracks in Genesis Frog for instance, which I'll admit I got much too carried away with.
+    <i>Alex Rosetti:</i> ([Tumblr](https://albatrossthesoup.tumblr.com/post/46685117866/looking-back-at-midnight-crew-drawing-dead), excerpt)
+
+    Fake bands, man. I so wish we had done more with this concept. Since the very beginning of Homestuck, [[artist:andrew-hussie|Andrew]] had this idea that the kids would have fake bands they were into, and we would make MySpace band pages with a few of their songs on them as a fun supplement to the comic, in the same spirit as [dave strider’s blog](https://dstrider.blogspot.com/) or [SBaHJ](https://www.homestuck.com/sweet-bro-and-hella-jeff). (both of which I would link to if tumblr wasn’t bugging out right now and preventing me from doing so)
+
+    The first one was the Midnight Crew, and Andrew made the cover art before anything else happened, if I recall correctly. That project hung around for a while until the Midnight Crew Intermission, when Andrew decided to expand the “fake band” idea and release our MC as a full album on bandcamp, along with the Homestuck Volumes. Incidentally, I believe Squarewave and Sawtooth were originally going to be a fake band as well, and Dave even had a poster of them on his wall. Reeeaaally wish we did that one, but oh well. At least we got [[track:anbroids-v2|Anbroids]].
+
+    In light of the fact that the Midnight Crew were going to have a real album and that I had just rejoined the team, I was eager to contribute to it. The first song I made for it was Moonshine, which strangely enough to some I’m sure, I still consider one of my better Homestuck tunes, if only technically. Yeah, the instruments I used were atrocious, but I think it would be a fun piece if it were actually played by people. I had a good idea of its form and I was really able to get into the style of music I perceived the Midnight Crew would play.
+
+    The instrumentation was based off the instruments each character played, with Slick on piano, Droog on sax, Boxcars on bass, and the last one I changed from Deuce’s oboe to clarinet, which is seen much more in jazz. Not that jazz oboe doesn’t exist! Still, it seems very like CD to play jazz on such an instrument. The song itself is more dissonant than most Homestuck music, having a lot of clashing harmonies and tritones which I love but can understand a lot of Homestuckers probably don’t, at least not in this context. The name “Moonshine” came out of how drunk the music sounds, especially in the middle where it picks up a bit and is more obviously in 6/8. But yeah, it uses its motivic material well and is consistent with itself, much more than I can say about many tracks in [[album:genesis-frog|Genesis Frog]] for instance, which I’ll admit I got much too carried away with.
+
+    <i>(Continued in [[track:hollow-suit]])</i>
 ---
 Track: Tall, Dark and Loathsome
 Artists:
@@ -361,6 +377,7 @@ Referenced Tracks:
 - Harlequin
 Commentary: |-
     <i>Mark J. Hadley:</i>
+
     When we were writing music for Drawing Dead, I just HAD to make a jazz remix of Harlequin. The song pretty much wrote itself after that. I think if I was going to change anything about it though, I'd have tried to get a live saxophone; the synth sounds a bit off. But then, any of the songs off of Drawing Dead would probably sound amazing by a live band.
 ---
 Track: Livin' It Up