added black (raid remix) commentary

6 files changed, 34 insertions, 21 deletions

diff --git a/album/adventurous-ascent-lofam5a2-version.yaml b/album/adventurous-ascent-lofam5a2-version.yaml
index 0b9ad91c..fc0750ed 100644
--- a/album/adventurous-ascent-lofam5a2-version.yaml
+++ b/album/adventurous-ascent-lofam5a2-version.yaml
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ Commentary: |-
 
    Song composed and mixed in Soundtrap, and Cakewalk by Bandlab.
 
-   References "Sburban Jungle" by Michael Guy Bowman and "Showtime (Piano Refrain)" by Kevin Regamey.
+   References [[track:sburban-jungle|"Sburban Jungle"]] by [[artist:michael-guy-bowman]] and [[track:showtime-piano-refrain|"Showtime (Piano Refrain)"]] by [[artist:kevin-regamey]].
 ---
 Track: Adventurous Ascent (Land of Fans & Music 5 Act 2 Version)
 Directory: adventurous-ascent-lofam5a2-version
diff --git a/album/beatdown-raid-remix.yaml b/album/beatdown-raid-remix.yaml
index 65189233..85390c91 100644
--- a/album/beatdown-raid-remix.yaml
+++ b/album/beatdown-raid-remix.yaml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ Commentary: |-
    This is a remix of [[track:beatdown-strider-style|"Beatdown,"]] composed by Curt Blakeslee for Homestuck. I loooove Beatdown. It fills me a fierce, fiery energy every time I hear it. I intended to channel that intensity with this remix here. I rushed it out just in time for 4/13 so it's a little rough around the edges, but like all of my music, it is my child, and so I still love it dearly. Hope you enjoy.
 
    <i>Raid:</i> ([extended description](https://pastebin.com/GaFE0ekU))
-   On this date 12 years ago, a stupid webcomic that's far too long and weird and hilarious and all sorts of fucked up went online. Of course, I'm talking about Homestuck. It crashed [[flash:4109|Newgrounds]],. broke metafictional barriers, ruined a lot of lives (not mine, miss me with that shit), and caused a big ruckus in its heyday. But I was along for the ride as a young tween/teen, and I quite enjoyed it.
+   On this date 12 years ago, a stupid webcomic that's far too long and weird and hilarious and all sorts of fucked up went online. Of course, I'm talking about Homestuck. It crashed [[flash:4109|Newgrounds]], broke metafictional barriers, ruined a lot of lives (not mine, miss me with that shit), and caused a big ruckus in its heyday. But I was along for the ride as a young tween/teen, and I quite enjoyed it.
 
    Some of the tunes from the webcomic's discography remain among my favorite tracks of all time because they evoke emotionally-rich memories of the past. [[track:beatdown-strider-style|Beatdown]] by Curt Blakeslee is one of those tunes. I still remember being 12 years old, coming home from school and throwing all my homework aside to read Homestuck for hours, skipping every single pesterlog like a dumb little kid, just trying as hard as I could to blast through the thousands of pages that were out already and catch up to the comic's present. I think I caught up around the time when Andrew Hussie put the comic on pause for a long time. I don't remember exactly, though.
 
diff --git a/album/black-raid-remix.yaml b/album/black-raid-remix.yaml
index fbc45afe..053a784f 100644
--- a/album/black-raid-remix.yaml
+++ b/album/black-raid-remix.yaml
@@ -16,6 +16,33 @@ Groups:
 - Fandom
 Art Tags:
 - 'cw: blood'
+Commentary: |-
+   <i>Raid:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://rudecustard.bandcamp.com/track/black))
+   A cover of [[Black]] by [[artist:toby-fox]]. Check it out on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVxGkCVClQE).
+
+   <i>Raid:</i> ([Bandcamp credits blurb](https://rudecustard.bandcamp.com/track/black))
+   Arrangement, performance, recording, and mixing by me<br>
+   Original tune by [[artist:toby-fox]]
+
+   <i>Raid:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVxGkCVClQE))
+   11 June 2022 Update: this track is now on spotify. [Here's the link.](https://open.spotify.com/track/5EbYKZVq78NWoPb5H3OPu0)
+
+   It's 10/25 in the year 2021. As has been tradition on this channel for the past half-decade, here is a video of me playing some Homestuck music. I had very limtied time to practice and record all of this stuff because of school, but I did my best!
+
+   This tune was pretty hard to play, especially that background piano part. And the square/saw wave pitch bending melody. It was fun though. [[Black]] is one of the sickest Homestuck tracks for sure. I think this is the biggest arrangement (most parts) I've done since [Ascend back in 2016](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT7bzBEE-6s) when I was a high schooler. Somehow it feels like that wasn't all that long ago, though it certainly has been a while since then.
+
+   For some more info about Black, Homestuck, and my thought process as I made this arrangement, check out the extended description.
+
+   <i>Raid:</i> ([extended description](https://pastebin.com/f5W3QMsv))
+   Extended description for Black remix/cover/don't know what to call it
+
+   I spent an entire evening a few weeks back rereading Act 5 Act 2. Knocked it out within several hours. My goodness. Homestuck is still such an amazing story. Nothing I've ever watched or read or heard even comes close to delivering the amount of narrative-payoff-induced-catharsis that [[flash:4109|[S] Cascade]] brings. Homestuck stays goated.
+
+   [[Black]] is a Homestuck tune I really like. It's so chaotic and frenzied. Whenever I hear it, I get a sense of urgency or imminent danger. I've been hoping to cover it for a while, but I was a bit hesitant because I thought I'd fuck up the piano and synth parts because they're so fast. They sound more or less OK here, I think. I used some audio editing magic to make them sound less terrible. Only a little bit of magic involved, though. Not too much. I want to keep it human.
+
+   Before doing this arrangement, I'd always made sure to avoid using the virtual instrument voice presets that came with my keyboard, like the tenor sax voice I used here. I thought they sounded tacky and strange. But I made an exception for this track because [[artist:toby-fox|Toby Fox]]'s original version uses a virtual sax and it still sounds great. So I thought I'd imitateh im here. And maybe stop being so dismissive of virtual instruments, even if they sound hella fake. The fakeness of the sound does imbue the music with a certain distinctive character, however. I suppose that's something some people might desire and intentionally aim for. This video-gamey, low-fidelity, scrappy kind of character. It does sound good at times.
+
+   I was pretty ambitious with this track. Throwing together a ton of parts, altering the track structure to add my own percussion break and solo section, doing a one-man drumline thing with the percussion break, playing a damn virtual guitar on my keyboard. Well. If you thought this was a lot of experimentation for a single video, brace yourself. I got something else coming soon. Get ready.
 ---
 Track: Black
 Directory: black-raid-remix
diff --git a/album/flare-raid-remix.yaml b/album/flare-raid-remix.yaml
index e435fadb..ff23a142 100644
--- a/album/flare-raid-remix.yaml
+++ b/album/flare-raid-remix.yaml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ Commentary: |-
 
    <i>Raid:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbBGCwfPbR0), excerpt)
    This track is out on Spotify and other streaming services. Here's the [Spotify link.](https://open.spotify.com/track/5bIZfbO7LiOSjBI9TPLaiX) I should probably make a compilation album of all this shit at some point.
-   
+
    It is 4/13. I present to you my remix of [[artist:clark-powell|Clark Powell]]'s [[track:flare|"Flare."]] I broke my first tom and shattered a brand new drumstick while recording the drum solo. Look at how I suffer for you. You're welcome.
 
    This is some breakcore, drum 'n' bass, glitch stuff, with some of my own organic acoustic live drums, piano, and electric guitar playing mixed in. Yeah, that's right! You're hearing a real electric guitar in this track. I went and bought my first axe. I still barely know how to wield this thing but I'm super excited to continue learning how.
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ Commentary: |-
    <i>Raid:</i> ([extended description](https://pastebin.com/xMUMJKfH))
    4/13 again. I flew across the country to visit my family, and I value every second I get to spend with them, so I'm rushing all this together. Hopefully you couldn't tell. I'm releasing the video at midnight in Pacific Time because it's already past midnight here on the east coast. Hahaha. It wouldn't have mattered either way. I'm scheduling the video this way just cause I felt like it.
 
-   It's been a while since I've produced an EDM track like this one. The last time I did this was... actually exactly two years ago! That was when I made my remix of [[track:beatdown-raid-remix|Beatdown]], which has since become the most popular track I've released. I remember rushing to complete that one on time for April 13th. Well, I guess nothingfs changed, because I rushed to complete this one, too. 
+   It's been a while since I've produced an EDM track like this one. The last time I did this was... actually exactly two years ago! That was when I made my remix of [[track:beatdown-raid-remix|Beatdown]], which has since become the most popular track I've released. I remember rushing to complete that one on time for April 13th. Well, I guess nothingfs changed, because I rushed to complete this one, too.
 
    I've loved electronic music ever since I was a kid, but I haven't really been flexing my electronic music production skills ("production skills") lately. I've been doing a lot of acoustic live shit and playing my instruments because I've been on a jazz and rock kick ever since last spring/summer. Making electronic music again is refreshing. Electronic is the vibe of most stuff the Homestuck music team has made so I guess I'm in good company as I return to making more EDM.
 
@@ -39,9 +39,9 @@ Commentary: |-
 
    You know, I really didn't expect my new guitar to sound this good. It's the first electric guitar I've ever owned. It's a Gibson Les Paul and it sounds glorious. I can't wait to go home and practice on it. I still need to really figure out my effects and stuff for it, iron out all the kinks, buy a better amp, learn the fretboard, develop better hand dexterity... so much to learn, so much to do......
 
-   Kinda went nuts for this drum solo. The reason you don't hear any 1st tom in it is because I broke it, like I mentioned. I must've hit it at a weird angle, or hit it too hard, or hit the head on a weak spot, or all of the above. Oh well. That tom head had served me well for almost a decade. 
+   Kinda went nuts for this drum solo. The reason you don't hear any 1st tom in it is because I broke it, like I mentioned. I must've hit it at a weird angle, or hit it too hard, or hit the head on a weak spot, or all of the above. Oh well. That tom head had served me well for almost a decade.
 
-   [[Flare]] has long been one of my favorite HS tunes. The [[track:flare-cascade-cut|Cascade cut]], especially. Ever since I watched [[flash:4109|[S] Cascade]] for the first time when I was like 13. Hearing the music speed up and get more chaotic towards the end was super cool. Jeez. It's really been almost ten years since then. Anyway, while listening to this remix, just close your eyes and imagine you're in space, or something. Especially during the beginning and end. I wonder what the "Flare" is that Clark Powell was referring to. Like a solar flare, maybe? I dunno. 
+   [[Flare]] has long been one of my favorite HS tunes. The [[track:flare-cascade-cut|Cascade cut]], especially. Ever since I watched [[flash:4109|[S] Cascade]] for the first time when I was like 13. Hearing the music speed up and get more chaotic towards the end was super cool. Jeez. It's really been almost ten years since then. Anyway, while listening to this remix, just close your eyes and imagine you're in space, or something. Especially during the beginning and end. I wonder what the "Flare" is that Clark Powell was referring to. Like a solar flare, maybe? I dunno.
 ---
 Track: Flare (Raid Remix)
 Duration: 6:12
diff --git a/album/flare-raid-remix.yml b/album/flare-raid-remix.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 6269baeb..00000000
--- a/album/flare-raid-remix.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-Album: Flare (Raid Remix)
-Artists:
-- Raid
-Date: April 13, 2023
-URLs:
-- https://rudecustard.bandcamp.com/track/flare-raid-remix
-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbBGCwfPbR0
-- https://open.spotify.com/album/1hW2btVr4L0C2VOSZ71Onq
-Cover Artists:
--
-Color:
-Groups:
-- Fandom
----
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/album/the-showdown-album-version.yaml b/album/the-showdown-album-version.yaml
index c26d09c5..f9e8b7e0 100644
--- a/album/the-showdown-album-version.yaml
+++ b/album/the-showdown-album-version.yaml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Commentary: |-
    Tracks composed & mixed in Soundtrap and LMMS<br>
    Album Art sourced from [Pexels.com](https://www.pexels.com) and [Unsplash.com](https://unsplash.com)<br>
    Car Source Image: [Severin Demchuk](https://unsplash.com/photos/panning-photography-of-racing-car-Rjp69lTNSDE)<br>
-   Car Driver With Helmet Source Image: ["A Man With Red Helmet Inside a Race Car" by Tom Fisk](https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-man-with-red-helmet-inside-a-race-car-11149058/)   
+   Car Driver With Helmet Source Image: ["A Man With Red Helmet Inside a Race Car" by Tom Fisk](https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-man-with-red-helmet-inside-a-race-car-11149058/)
 
    Images manipulated using paint.net
    [getpaint.net](https://getpaint.net)