Added LOFAM5A2 Discord liveblog commentary for Jebb tracks

Also updated the old commentary with links + fixed pdf encoding error which made FOTM:Y1 commentary have double quotes

1 files changed, 121 insertions, 9 deletions

diff --git a/album/lofam5a2.yaml b/album/lofam5a2.yaml
index eade9b2..b3aa1a0 100644
--- a/album/lofam5a2.yaml
+++ b/album/lofam5a2.yaml
@@ -284,27 +284,27 @@ Commentary: |-
     <i>Jebb:</i>
     Hoo boy, this one!
 
-    I had always had the idea of making some sort of ""epic trailer music"" kinda track, but every one of my attempts never passed the sketch phase. When I joined the LOFAM 5A2 team, I felt like it would be the perfect time to finally try and make that sort of thing, however when I actually tried to make it, nothing really stuck.
+    I had always had the idea of making some sort of "epic trailer music" kinda track, but every one of my attempts never passed the sketch phase. When I joined the LOFAM 5A2 team, I felt like it would be the perfect time to finally try and make that sort of thing, however when I actually tried to make it, nothing really stuck.
 
     Around that time, I went to see a live Hans Zimmer concert that was touring. I already like movie soundtracks, however, seeing them performed live was an entirely different feeling. It was so grand, so important, so majestic. In short, I adored it. And moreso, it was the final push that I needed. During an intermission, I came up with something and quickly recorded myself humming it, and that recording was the thing that finally gave me the inspiration to make this track.
 
-    Flight of the Meteor is supposed to be a series of tracks about the 3-year journey of the Meteor crew and the events that happened during it. The image that came up in my mind every time I brainstormed about ""The Epic LOFAM Track™"" was always the trolls' meteor, and frankly, I am not even too sure why. Possibly because at the time I thought that it was one of the only major events in Homestuck that didn't really have music associated with it (But then I remembered [[track:gold-pilot|Gold Pilot]] and the [[flash:4109|Cascade]] flash so yeah lol). Still, I really liked the idea, and the concept stuck.
+    Flight of the Meteor is supposed to be a series of tracks about the 3-year journey of the Meteor crew and the events that happened during it. The image that came up in my mind every time I brainstormed about "The Epic LOFAM Track™" was always the trolls' meteor, and frankly, I am not even too sure why. Possibly because at the time I thought that it was one of the only major events in Homestuck that didn't really have music associated with it (But then I remembered [[track:gold-pilot|Gold Pilot]] and the [[flash:4109|Cascade]] flash so yeah lol). Still, I really liked the idea, and the concept stuck.
 
     Now, hold on, a *series* of tracks? What do you mean, Jebb? Well, if you are reading this commentary in the future, then you probably know. If you aren't, well, you probably already figured it out. But still, a bit of an explanation.
 
     At first, this was supposed to be one single very long track. As I was making it, I very quickly reached 4 minutes in length, which was already a lot for my standards. However, the parts that I had finished were only supposed to be the middle, so that would mean that I would be going into the 7-8 minute territory. I wasn't really bothered by that, but by that point I was already getting pretty tired and the deadlines were creeping up, so I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it. On top of that, I had another WIP of an alternate version of this track which I had started earlier and slowly chipped away at in between the other LOFAM tracks since both others and I believed that it had potential. At that point I determined that all of this was a bit too much for me and decided to make the latter part of Flight of the Meteor its own track and save both it and the WIP for a later LOFAM.
 
-    It was at that moment that [[artist:makin|Makin]] said ""thematically it needs to take three years to finish"", which gave me a fantastic idea. Of course! I just make each track a different year of the journey! I mean, it was already like that, but I just somehow never thought to name them by their years.
+    It was at that moment that [[artist:makin|Makin]] said "thematically it needs to take three years to finish", which gave me a fantastic idea. Of course! I just make each track a different year of the journey! I mean, it was already like that, but I just somehow never thought to name them by their years.
 
     Now, enough backstory, time to talk about the piece itself.
 
     This track, Year 1, is focused on the beginning of the journey, mainly the actual launch of the asteroid. The beginning shows us the Meteor, serenely flying through the open space. Starting from approximately the middle, we flashback to the events of [[flash:4109|Cascade]], and as the threats of a dying universe and Jack Noir loom, Sollux charges up (3:15) and, with the volume peaking, launches the Meteor with all of his power. The tension dies down and a melancholic yet triumphant piano plays to show that the danger has passed, and a new chapter of the trolls and kids' lives is beginning. Essentially, this could very well be an alternate track for Cascade's meteor launch part.
 
-    The morse code you hear after the peak is supposed to be Serenity, however I didn't really have anything deep or impactful for her to say, so I just had her beep out ""hehe Homestuck""
+    The morse code you hear after the peak is supposed to be Serenity, however I didn't really have anything deep or impactful for her to say, so I just had her beep out "hehe Homestuck"
 
     On the more technical side of things, my computer absolutely HATED this track.
 
-    My pc was chugging HARD when I was working on this. (Funnily enough, I am pretty sure that the biggest issue was all the automation.) If not for [[artist:grace-medley|Grace]] teaching me about the ""switch smart disable for all plugins"" option in FL I would have really struggled.
+    My pc was chugging HARD when I was working on this. (Funnily enough, I am pretty sure that the biggest issue was all the automation.) If not for [[artist:grace-medley|Grace]] teaching me about the "switch smart disable for all plugins" option in FL I would have really struggled.
 
     Speaking of struggle. God, I absolutely DESPISE BBC Studio Orchestra. Their instruments sound so good, but it just absolutely \*refuses* to function. Every single time I reopened the project file, almost every single instance of it broke and I had to spend like 4 straight minutes relaunching every single one until they all worked properly again. I tried to google fixes for it, redownloading it, and all for nothing. I swear, after this I am switching to Kontakt, this was absolutely unbearable. Would not recommend.
 
@@ -313,6 +313,48 @@ Commentary: |-
     Overall, FoTM:Y1 is almost definitely the most ambitious track I have attempted to date. Personally, the mixing is a bit off in some parts and the middle part is kinda repetitive, however, it's all just nitpicks that I often like to give myself. I really am very proud of this track, and I hope that the future entries in this little trilogy can live up to the hype of this one.
 
     See you in Year 2!
+
+    <i>Jebb:</i> (LOFAM5A2 Discord liveblog commentary)
+    ...<br>
+    What?<br>
+    You want MORE commentary on this one?<br>
+    WERE THE ONE THOUSAND WORDS WRITTEN NOT ENOUGH?
+
+    But yeah, my first track across this entire set of albums! Kinda wild liveblogging my own music<br>
+    Orchestral epic Hans Zimmer interstellar yada yada track<br>
+    Honestly, i feel like i handled this surprisingly well<br>
+    I kinda lied in the og commentary (but that's because i forgot), my first foray into orchestral music was technically the <a href="https://soundcloud.com/jebbjabroni/aleph-null-2021-comic-trailer-theme">trailer theme for Aleph Null</a><br>
+    But this was handled LEAGUES better i feel<br>
+    The bass works really well, not too much, not too little of it<br>
+    Maybe sliiightly too much? Not sure<br>
+    Also i feel like the sections between the horn hits sorta lack the urgency needed<br>
+    I tried to resolve that via numerous solutions but i feel like the end result is still not quite perfect<br>
+    But man, the initial koto melody from the beginning returning for the more actiony "charging" section... Very good choice<br>
+    Overall still pretty proud of this<br>
+    Well, "still", this was made a few months ago and not like 2 years or something lmao<br>
+    Also the koto part at the beginning teasing the ending piano section was another nice decision
+
+    Btw, fun fact, i used 2 different piano vsts for the ending part<br>
+    The lowest note wasn't the labs grand piano<br>
+    I don't really remember why i did that? I think it was because the labs piano couldn't reach that low but surely not, that's not even that low of a note<br>
+    That's also why the lowest note sounds more impactful and different from the rest, because it actually is <img src="media/misc/howhigh.png" width="24" height="24">
+
+    I enjoyed working on the sound design in this track<br>
+    The charge and release section has like, 5 different explosion sfx layered i think?<br>
+    Or maybe that was another thing i did. Or maybe it was both.<br>
+    Post-explosion was supposed to be static and serenity like, trying to reach us through it, to give us some important message (which i couldn't really come up with so i just wrote "HEHE HOMESTUCK" lmao)
+
+    Also, i am kinda surprised that i didn't add any references here<br>
+    I may have intended to but i just couldn't jam any in so it ended up not having any<br>
+    Though don't worry, i'll make up for that with FotM:Y2
+
+    But yeah, overall? Nice track. I had a lot of trouble with this one but it definitely paid off<br>
+    Surprised it was placed so early in the album too, feels like it would be something to be saved for a later point<br>
+    At least after [[track:eternal-pulse]]
+
+    Oh btw i wanna thank Adrian for making the track cover<br>
+    Looks super good<br>
+    Really fits the vibe
 ---
 Track: Across Time
 Directory: across-time-lofam5a2
@@ -1317,9 +1359,54 @@ Commentary: |-
     <i>Jebb:</i>
     This track was initially made for fun and inspired by a [[track:land-of-resent-and-destruction|land]] for a character from the <a href="https://mspfa.com/?s=37159">Aleph Null MSPFA</a>. I had it stashed for a while until this LOFAM came and I remembered about this piece. After browsing the wiki for a bit, I realised that it fits Karkat's land perfectly, and after a few adjustments it became this.
 
-    The heavy piano idea came from the intro to DCEU Lex Luthor's theme.
+    The heavy piano idea came from the intro to <a href="https://youtu.be/GBUxlYM1B-Q">DCEU Lex Luthor's theme</a>.
+
+    If I were to characterize this, I would say that while [[track:phaze-and-blood]] shows us the more aggressive and violent nature of the land, this track represents the more sombre and tragic nature of it. "(Karkat) thinks he was put on this planet covered in an ocean of his own blood to be taunted. Punished for something. Saddest story you ever heard."
+
+    <i>Jebb:</i> (LOFAM5A2 Discord liveblog commentary)
+    Jebb track number TWO!!!
+
+    Ok so fun fact, this track was initially based on this land
+    <img src="media/misc/land-of-resent-and-destruction.png" width="387" height="300">
+
+    Which is a hypothetical land of a character from Aleph Null made by its creator<br>
+    Initially i wanted to make the track for it, but [[artist:clockworkreapers]] (the creator and artist) said that the music for it was already being worked on<br>
+    Despite that i was still influenced so much that i said "screw it, i'll still make a track for fun"<br>
+    And i did<br>
+    And this was that
+
+    The Showdown melody was initially the <a href="https://youtu.be/IIZIrwbMo4M">theme of the character pictured in the drawing</a> but replaced it later on<br>
+    You can still hear the initial whisperings and meat squelches from the og idea of the above land<br>
+    That's because i forgot to replace the squelches with blood sea wave sounds <img src="media/misc/howhigh.png" width="24" height="24"><br>
+    Whoops<br>
+    But oh well, it still works
+
+    <i>Kanishka:</i>
+    <i><a href="https://youtu.be/67YUVlH4Nfg">OFF OST: -09- Rainy Day (and meat)</a></i>
+
+    <i>Jebb:</i>
+    Oh damn yeah that's surprisingly similar<br>
+    I used mud sounds for the meat squelches personally<br>
+    When doing sound design you don't necessarily have to find an accurate sound, you just have to find what you are picturing it sounding like in your mind<br>
+
+    <i>Kanishka:</i>
+    sound designers make do 🙏
 
-    If I were to characterize this, I would say that while Phaze and Blood shows us the more aggressive and violent nature of the land, this track represents the more sombre and tragic nature of it. "(Karkat) thinks he was put on this planet covered in an ocean of his own blood to be taunted. Punished for something. Saddest story you ever heard."
+    <code style="color: #fcfcfc">I used a central-vacuum and some super-sized un-inflated balloons to make the suction sound for the vents in Xen. Also, and even more interestingly, the footstep sound for the flesh surfaces contains the light open-handed slap of a wet ass cheek. I'll let your imaginations fill in the rest of the blanks, but will add a hearty 'thank you' to my wife Kala, who has helped with so many aspects of this project.</code>
+
+    <i>Jebb:</i>
+    <img inline src="media/misc/howhigh.png" width="32" height="32">
+
+    Though in the end i'd say that this track actually fits Karkat's land more because the name of this land turned out to be "Land of Resent and Destruction" and i feel like it probably wouldn't have this tragic of a melody<br>
+    Also Showdown worked surprisingly well for the ending part, i didn't even need to change any of the notes like how i thought i would
+
+    As for the track itself, i love when tracks use piano as a bassline instrument<br>
+    I remember wanting to make another more extensive part but i ended up not doing it<br>
+    Because i was lazy probably
+
+    Man is that ending piano chord good<br>
+    Overall, less impressive track compared to my others on the album but still a very nice one<br>
+    Oh btw, thanks to Gryo for the cover art! The end choice of dot eyes works really well for Karkat here
 ---
 Track: "RE:TCON (Act 2 RE:DUX)"
 Artists:
@@ -2086,9 +2173,9 @@ Referenced Tracks:
 - The Ballad of Jack Noir
 Commentary: |-
     <i>Jebb:</i>
-    I got the idea for this track after watching S2E3 of Helluva Boss and thinking that making a track with a mafia aesthetic would be a cool idea. Also, around that time I heard Two Planets Approach the Roche Limit and was amazed at how many different parts and elements it had working perfectly in unison, and making a chaotic jazz-ish track was a great opportunity to try and replicate something like that.
+    I got the idea for this track after watching <a href="https://youtu.be/j1BfO7VlIw4">S2E3 of Helluva Boss</a> and thinking that making a track with a mafia aesthetic would be a cool idea. Also, around that time I heard <a href="https://youtu.be/Paw4n5xmqxQ">Two Planets Approach the Roche Limit</a> and was amazed at how many different parts and elements it had working perfectly in unison, and making a chaotic jazz-ish track was a great opportunity to try and replicate something like that.
 
-    This track was initially called Musty Mafia, however, when LOFAM came around, I realised that it would be a perfect track for the Midnight Crew/Spades Slick and decided to expand it from a small sketch to a full track (always save your music sketches lol). I decided to make the new title a pun, like most titles in [[album:midnight-crew-drawing-dead|Midnight Crew: Drawing Dead]] are, and so the title ""Ace-celerando"" came to be, coming from the words Ace and Accelerando (Although I had to go through variations such as Acelerando, Ace-lerando etc).
+    This track was initially called Musty Mafia, however, when LOFAM came around, I realised that it would be a perfect track for the Midnight Crew/Spades Slick and decided to expand it from a small sketch to a full track (always save your music sketches lol). I decided to make the new title a pun, like most titles in [[album:midnight-crew-drawing-dead|Midnight Crew: Drawing Dead]] are, and so the title "Ace-celerando" came to be, coming from the words Ace and Accelerando (Although I had to go through variations such as Acelerando, Ace-lerando etc).
 
     The scene that I imagine for this track is someone listening to an old record in a bar, the Midnight Crew sitting there, playing cards, drinking, when suddenly a violent gunfight breaks out. Four out of three members are defeated, and only Slick is left, however he gathers the strength he needs, reloads, and finally comes out on top in the end.
 
@@ -2096,6 +2183,31 @@ Commentary: |-
 
     <i>lemonzestdoodle:</i>
     As soon as I heard the gun sound effects I knew that Slick had to be wielding one.
+
+    <i>Jebb:</i> (LOFAM5A2 Discord liveblog commentary)
+    You know what's the single worst thing about this track<br>
+    IT NOT ONCE ACTUALLY FEATURES ACCELERANDO<br>
+    IT ONLY FEATURES DECELERANDO IN THE INTRO AND THE REST ARE SIMPLE BPM CHANGES<br>
+    I AM A FRAUD<br>
+    Oh well, the pun was too good to pass up on<br>
+    Also, idk why this is the first track of Disc 3 but hey i'm not complaining lmao. Kinda honored, actually!
+
+    I still feel like the drums could have been mixed better, there always was some kinda problem with them<br>
+    Mixing is the work of the devil<br>
+    The drums kinda overblow the actual melody
+
+    Anyways, i myself am super surprised by how varied i managed to make this track<br>
+    As i mentioned in the prior commentary, i really like how "messy" (in a good way) Two Planets Approach the Roche Limit sounds and the fact that the track managed to do the same sorta thing is really nice<br>
+    Though if you actually wanted to play this live 1 to 1 you would need 3 saxes and 2 pianos lmao<br>
+    I remember wanting to make the drumline more varied but in the end i didn't do it, mostly because i didn't really have anything more to add<br>
+    Idk if people noticed but the piano at 1:44 is playing the melody the violin played earlier because the violin is busy doing another thing... Cool..!
+
+    Btw, later i noticed just how similar the vives at the 1:54 are to that one part of [[track:ticket-to-ride-rusty|Ticket to Ride]]<br>
+    My brain probably accidentally referenced that
+
+    And one more miscellaneous fact - the vinyl starting and ending sounds are 2 separate sounds. I tried to EQ them to sound roughly the same but i didn't really manage to accomplish that<br>
+    But you would only notice that if you played the track on loop so yeah<br>
+    Anyways, that's all of my LOFAM 5.2 tracks! Very cool
 ---
 Track: Delta Version
 Artists: