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diff --git a/album/beforus.yaml b/album/beforus.yaml index d65dd2a..55234d3 100644 --- a/album/beforus.yaml +++ b/album/beforus.yaml @@ -7,15 +7,17 @@ URLs: - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2E1aOkERtLVjjUEd7bl6B8ExTnf5nuLm Cover Artists: - Gilwing +Cover Art File Extension: png +Track Art File Extension: png Color: '#ff00c5' Groups: - Unofficial MSPA Fans - Fandom Art Tags: -- Kankri - Damara - Rufioh - Mituna +- Kankri - Meulin - Porrim - Latula @@ -39,8 +41,15 @@ Banner Artists: - Gilwing Banner Dimensions: 1100x203 Banner File Extension: png +Additional Files: +- Title: Album Booklet + Files: + - Beforus Official Commentary Booklet.pdf +- Title: Bandcamp Banner + Files: + - banner.png --- -Group: Disc 1 +Section: Disc 1 --- Track: ♪ Disc 1 ♪ Directory: disc1-beforus @@ -66,6 +75,7 @@ Art Tags: - Cronus - Meenah - Beforus +- Frog Temple Commentary: |- <i>Blackhole:</i> The music here is one of three short bookend pieces I wrote for the start of each Disc, each a section of a longer piece, "Preludes to Beforus". They are not particularly exciting in and of themselves, so instead I'll speak a little about Disc 1 itself. Disc 1 is the part of the album initially designed to contain the twelve "principal tracks", invisaged as the main theme for each of the twelve Beforan trolls. At the start of the project, musicians could actually reserve these spots, but a lot of shuffling happened towards the end. Eventually, each troll ended up having multiple themes on the album, but Disc 1 still contains what can probably be considered their "main" theme, due to its location at the start of the album. With only twelve tracks and the short bookend piece, Disc 1 is far smaller than the longer Disc 2 section. @@ -76,11 +86,12 @@ Track: ♈ - Fatalism Artists: - NEON SYSTEM 95 Duration: '4:28' +Color: '#eb0000' URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/fatalism-2 - https://youtu.be/tliId-rVINE Cover Artists: -- Amelia G. +- Squid Art Tags: - Damara - The Handmaid @@ -89,22 +100,25 @@ Referenced Tracks: - grrrarrr Lyrics: |- Your life was so miserable oh such a waste! - It’s all cause your friends had just spat in your face.<br>You used to be fearful that you’d make mistakes, but<br>your meekness and sweetness have faded away.<br>And under it all now your blood starts to boil;<br>You’ll make them all pay for your trouble and toil!<br>Your boyfriend was cheating and left you distraught.<br>But Meenah was meaner oh who would’ve thought<br>that her actions intended to help you along;<br>and you must know somehow that she wasn’t wrong.<br>The future is coming; they’ll just have to wait,<br>but you are determined they’ll all meet their fate. + It's all cause your friends had just spat in your face.<br>You used to be fearful that you'd make mistakes, but<br>your meekness and sweetness have faded away.<br>And under it all now your blood starts to boil;<br>You'll make them all pay for your trouble and toil!<br>Your boyfriend was cheating and left you distraught.<br>But Meenah was meaner oh who would've thought<br>that her actions intended to help you along;<br>and you must know somehow that she wasn't wrong.<br>The future is coming; they'll just have to wait,<br>but you are determined they'll all meet their fate. CHORUSx2 - Why do you feel that we’re always against<br>something that detriments good consequence?<br>Why do you try to advocate strife;<br>living an alternate life? - The Handmaiden comes as a beacon of doom;<br>she reshapes the past as you watch from your room,<br>and now looking back you can see what she’s done.<br>The battle is over but who really won?<br>You’re being controlled by a glimmering voice;<br>there’s nothing to do ‘cause theres really no choice;<br>You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.<br>You want to rebel but you know that you wont<br>be yourself if you do, how could you go on?<Br>You’re trying to help but what’s right is also what’s wrong<br>but you have to believe<br>that you are a person the world really needs. + Why do you feel that we're always against<br>something that detriments good consequence?<br>Why do you try to advocate strife;<br>living an alternate life? + The Handmaiden comes as a beacon of doom;<br>she reshapes the past as you watch from your room,<br>and now looking back you can see what she's done.<br>The battle is over but who really won?<br>You're being controlled by a glimmering voice;<br>there's nothing to do 'cause theres really no choice;<br>You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't.<br>You want to rebel but you know that you wont<br>be yourself if you do, how could you go on?<Br>You're trying to help but what's right is also what's wrong<br>but you have to believe<br>that you are a person the world really needs. CHORUSx2 Commentary: |- <i>NEON SYSTEM 95:</i> This work was originally intended as a simple cover for a competition on battleofthebits.org. To make it more unique, I took some inspiration from a song by maxvdubs and wrote some original lyrics; originally they were written about the plot of Dark Souls and the frustrating sense of hopelessness within. When considering what sort of song to make for this album, I realised how well the lyrics seemed to resonate with the story of Damara Megido, and adapted them accordingly. I also recently created an introductory segment (based on the pre-chorus and chorus of the song) intended to depict a sort of inner turmoil as one enters a dark period of their life and is confronted with various emotions including despair, horror, and hatred. The name of the song refers to the concept of rpedetermination and fate. Damara's wiki page notes that she holds "much fatalism and frustration" within herself; considering that I had named the set of Souls-themed lyrics "Frustration," it felt somewhat fitting that "Fatalism" be its counterpart. Note that although the lyrics are mostly directed towards Damara, the second and third stanzas of the second verse refer to the Handmaiden and her service to Lord English. (Many thanks to my friend Chris for helping me better understand the plot details.) - <i>Amelia G.:</i> + <i>Squid:</i> Drawing this piece and listening to Neon Zenith's song really made me look at Damara differently. I wanted to highlight the inner turmoil that people tend to look over, adding the Handmaiden to show those feelings that she hides. Damara is an incredibly interesting character, and I was just telling someone that I don't draw enough Megidos. --- Track: ♉ - Breathtak1ng +Additional Names: +- Breathtaking (quirk-free) Artists: - Rhyselinn Duration: '5:30' +Color: '#c36100' URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/breathtak1ng - https://youtu.be/3uDVyljVSC4 @@ -119,7 +133,7 @@ Referenced Tracks: - The Lost Child - iRRRRRRRRECONCILA8LE - Penumbra Phantasm -- track:doctor +- Doctor Commentary: |- <i>Rhyselinn:</i> Hi! I'm Rhyselinn, the composer for Rufioh Nitram's track "Breathtak1ng." @@ -132,6 +146,7 @@ Track: ♊ - The Mituna Method Artists: - psithurist Duration: '2:46' +Color: '#a1a100' URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/the-mituna-method - https://youtu.be/yXB8fYZFRq0 @@ -146,9 +161,12 @@ Commentary: |- for the track art i decided that i should depict mituna looking almost as if hes using his psiionics! in the design iwanted to use a pixelly pattern which i thought went along with the chiptune sound of the song, also i listened to the song on repeat while making it!! i apologize the whole picture itself is really eye strain-y but i thought it would fit! --- Track: ♋ - Civil Discussi9n +Additional Names: +- Civil Discussion (quirk-free) Artists: - Blackhole Duration: '4:29' +Color: '#ff0000' URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/civil-discussi9n - https://youtu.be/32gksvECBEQ @@ -157,6 +175,8 @@ Cover Artists: Art Tags: - Kankri - 'cw: body horror (abstract)' +Lyrics: |- + (Now I realize we’ve been at this for some time already, but at the risk of derailing the dialogue you initiated, and may I just say how thrilled I am that you did, Karkat, I would just like to qualify my entire analysis of your “Alternian culture” by saying that in contrast with life on Beforus, while your people may have been engaged in violent, lethal class struggle for millions of sweeps, by no means does that imply that the Beforan way of life was entirely without problematic elements, perhaps even more disturbing and insidious for their lack of acknowledgement and open discussion, particularly as a consequence of what in my view were widely and dismayingly unexamined systemic social injustices resulting from the entrenched power dynamics in play, dynamics strikingly similar to those of your planet’s markedly more... bellicose iteration, which has only served to vindicate my hypothesis that such a hierarchy is really predicated on intrinsic dysfunction, and failure to shift all the usual narratives and undiagnosed problems into an open, judgment-free discourse through which problematic issues are constructively channeled into more intelligently problematized avenues of discussion. Now before I continue—) Commentary: |- <i>Blackhole:</i> Civil Discussi9n was my first purposeful musical contribution to the album! I wanted to produce a track that captured the feeling of Kankri's self-assured snobbery and pseudo-intellectualism as it was presented in his first appearance in Openbound, but from his own perspective. I imagine the feel of the track is rather what Kankri thinks of himself in his crusade for social justice. The structure of the melody was inspired by certain works of baroque classical music, although I can hardly have been said to have stuck to any one particular convention! The track was originally intended to be modified somewhat, but due to technical issues I lost the progress file for it! Hoewver I didn't want to see what I had to waste, and I believe that the track stands up solidly on its own in its current form. I hope you think so too! @@ -167,6 +187,7 @@ Track: ♌ - MOG^3 Artists: - Dallas Ross Hicks Duration: '7:01' +Color: '#588a00' URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/mog-3 - https://youtu.be/4GqkApgXiQU @@ -187,6 +208,7 @@ Track: ♍ - Let Me Dance, Let Me Glisten Artists: - Flutterwhat Duration: '3:53' +Color: '#008f48' URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/let-me-dance-let-me-glisten - https://youtu.be/mjU2WowinYw @@ -209,9 +231,12 @@ Commentary: |- I wanted to capture the feel of the music, which felt to me as though it's Porrim completely aware of how fabulous she is, but not caring if others see her that way. Tumblr user black-quadrant's cosplay inspired the song, so I used it as a reference, especially with the tattoos. The theater is empty, representing how she is focused on her own approval, and no one else's. --- Track: ♎ - R4d1c4l! +Additional Names: +- Radical! (quirk-free) Artists: - SerialSymphony Duration: '2:40' +Color: '#008b8b' URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/r4d1c4l - https://youtu.be/7N-V9TM83es @@ -226,9 +251,12 @@ Commentary: |- This piece was inspired by the RADICAL and cheerful tone of its sister song, and aims to show how fun it is to be Latula Pyrope. With her killer body suit, sick moves, and contagious smile, you'll be jamming out with her. --- Track: ♏ - Salv8tion +Additional Names: +- Salvation (quirk-free) Artists: - Charles Neudorf Duration: '2:21' +Color: '#3796c6' URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/salv8tion - https://youtu.be/sdFRBgYqcN4 @@ -252,6 +280,7 @@ Track: ♐ - Creeping Blue Artists: - smear Duration: '2:38' +Color: '#487aef' URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/creeping-blue - https://youtu.be/KaK8z8buRhA @@ -267,28 +296,30 @@ Commentary: |- --- Track: ♑ - Pious Noise Artists: -- ndividedbyzero +- keyboard cait Duration: '3:11' +Color: '#a34bff' URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/pious-noise - https://youtu.be/0qnFucqWf3Q Cover Artists: -- Robin +- AroSoup Art Tags: - Kurloz - 'cw: blood' Commentary: |- - <i>ndividedbyzero:</i> + <i>keyboard cait:</i> It's a shame that Kurloz can't talk much, because it's clear he has a lot of personality to show. With the appearance of a juggalo, mime and skeleton combined, how could he not? He's apparently calm but creepy or terrifying and boisterous depending on who he's talking to, which is something I wanted to emulate in this track with the contrast between the first section and everything afterwards. However, his true, clownish nature shines at the end, when he takes the last resolving note hostage then rubs it in your face. What a rascal. This went through a few (very incomplete) iterations before I finished it, mainly because I wasn't sure where to start expressing Kurloz's character; in the end I combined melodies from different versions to make the final product. It's neat how music can work that way! (P.S The Morse code sounds out "HONK". Because of course.) - <i>Robin:</i> + <i>AroSoup:</i> I really liked the idea of Kurloz and puppets, and obviously, you need strings to move puppets. From the thought of puppets, to strings, to the red string of faith. And yknow, a string for each finger equals to five strings. It reminded me of piano and such, so from that I just put on some notes onto the bloody strings. Pun intended. --- Track: ♒ - Aquasex Renegade Artists: - theh0nestman Duration: '2:49' +Color: '#db00db' URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/aquasex-renegade - https://youtu.be/Epc3nlKAenU @@ -316,6 +347,7 @@ Track: ♓ - Killer Beach Artists: - Veritas Unae Duration: '3:19' +Color: '#e30072' URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/killer-beach - https://youtu.be/c_F4NGUgG3o @@ -329,14 +361,14 @@ Referenced Tracks: - English - track:MeGaLoVania Commentary: |- - <i>VeritasUnae:</i> + <i>Veritas Unae:</i> I wanted to deal with mixed elements of Meenah's character. It has similarities to [[Hate You]], which I considered a primary inspiration, though I also drew inspiration from the Splatoon soundtrack for the opening section. "Killer Beach" explores Meenah's love of gold and cash, as well as her malicious tendencies, to aspects we see throughout the latter half of Act 6, including her brief romance with Vriska. You might note the Megalovania reference in the ending guitar. Coupled with Rex Duodecim Angelus (their session's defeat of the Black King) and English (her alternate self's employment by Lord English), this piece covers Meenah in her entirety. At the end, Meenah is reflecting. She sees herself as evil. Reminded of her final moments in her session, as she detonates the bomb sending all of them as ghosts into the Farthest Ring, she severs ties with Vriska, and returns to lead an army. <i>Rangzhe:</i> I wanted to reflect on what the musician wanted to portray Meenah on the track, but also my ideas of Meenah's similarity in personality with her Alternian counter-part, the Condesce. I put a little more of my own idea that Meenah not realizing how much she is like the Condesce even when hearing and at awe about her accomplishments and her magnificent ruling style from Aranea. I also put lime green as the background color not only to match up the complimentary color but to also symbolize LE's employment of the Condesce. She is a lot more like her Alternian self than she realizes... 38) --- -Group: Disc 2 +Section: Disc 2 --- Track: ♫ Disc 2 ♫ Directory: disc2-beforus @@ -363,6 +395,7 @@ Art Tags: - Meenah - Horrorterrors - Dream Bubbles +- Victory Platform Commentary: |- <i>Blackhole:</i> Disc 2 is the longest Disc in Beforus. Unlike Disc 1, which consists of individual themes for each of the trolls, Disc 2 is a narrative depiction of their story. Each song, be it a theme for a particular aspect of a character, a soundtrack for a particular event, or else a scene-setting piece, has been arranged so that Disc 2 roughly forms a narrative story in chronological order, which can hopefully be seen in the music and artwork. @@ -588,12 +621,14 @@ Art Tags: - LoPaH - 'cw: blood (abstract)' Commentary: |- - <i>Puala Vieira:</i> + <i>Elanor Pam:</i> This track was my third composition for the coloUrs and mayhem contest; I'd recently discovered FL studio and basically went nuts over it. Perhaps because I finally had so many options and tolls at my disposal, this track was by far the hardest for me to realize, not helped by the fact that it was originally a theme for my favorite character, Karkat. I wanted it to be perfect! Or at least awesome! This perfectionism meant I could never settle on what I wanted. Over the years I kept coming back to it, tweaking here, poking there, always feeling like it was incomplete (or perhaps over done); in the end I shaved off several bars, redid the percussion line and tweaked velocity until I cried uncle. Is it better know? I don't know! It's been looping for so long I can't even tell anymore... <i>Rebecca Peason:</i> This song definitely brings me the image of the Land of Pulse and Haze, but in kind of a chill meandering kind of way. It feels more like some kind of exploration than a time sensitive game track to me. So I wanted to try to get that feeling, appreciate the landscape and have a Vantas presence but an ambiguity to who it is exploring this landscape. I also wanted to go with something that looked more like it came from the cmoic than some other pieces. I know I'm quite pleased with the result and had a lot of fun. I wouldn't mind revisiting some other lands in future pieces. --- Track: March 9f the Insuffera6le +Additional Names: +- March of the Insufferable (quirk-free) Artists: - Toris Crow Duration: '2:37' @@ -608,7 +643,7 @@ Commentary: |- <i>Toris Crow:</i> This piece was written for Kankri Vantas. It was made as a march because marches signify authority and Kankri attempts to command the respect of his fellow teammates throughout his session. The faster parts represent that his calm demeanor can be easily shattered by his short temper. I used piano and violin to connect it to the song that I had made ealrier for Porrim called "Antevo+rta." This song's alternate name in my own album is "The Pariah." <i>ARTistotel:</i> - The idea behind the picture was tightly tied to the piece itself, and author's descrption. Kankri is trying to be a leader, but all his protection falls back on the civilization long lost and destroyed - taht's why it's Beforan skulls marching right after him. His leadership, his protection is aimed more at dusty pieces and bits of no longer existing Beforan society, rather than his friends in afterlife. + The idea behind the picture was tightly tied to the piece itself, and author's description. Kankri is trying to be a leader, but all his protection falls back on the civilization long lost and destroyed - that's why it's Beforan skulls marching right after him. His leadership, his protection is aimed more at dusty pieces and bits of no longer existing Beforan society, rather than his friends in afterlife. --- Track: Land of Cruisin and Bruisin Artists: @@ -618,13 +653,13 @@ URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/land-of-cruisin-and-bruisin - https://youtu.be/cRdYzJrusmI Cover Artists: -- Amelia G. +- Squid Art Tags: - Cronus Commentary: |- <i>Nate Tronerud:</i> Driving a fast car with the top down, Cronus flies down the speedway with a brilliant pixelated city on the horizon as his backdrop. With the moon and stars hanging in the sky, fireworks celebrate his every lap while crowds cheer and hold up signs bearing his name. - <i>Amelia G.:</i> + <i>Squid:</i> I tried to capture the feeling of this very fun song with bright colors and hard edges to give it a bit of a cartoon/video game feel. I haven't drawn many cars, so that was a challenge, as well as trying to limit lines by using solid colors. Ah Cronus... Gotta dig the vwiolet ride. --- Track: Rust Witch @@ -638,12 +673,13 @@ Cover Artists: - JulietCee Art Tags: - Damara +- LoQaM Commentary: |- <i>Ollie:</i> I did this track way back in 2013 I think? Maybe early 2014 back when my computer with my music program still worked. Hah. It all sort of originated with a wager, that I couldn't produce a better Tavros song than the one on the official album. And of course, being the huge procrastinator that I am, I never did. But I did however get the idea to do my own album for the songs of the Beforan Trolls. Again, procrastination got the better of me, but this project came along and almost took the workload I had give nmyself off my shoulders and still gave me an opportunity to showcase what I had done for Damara. It does have the traditional Eastern Asian sound to it with the pentatonic scale, and that's what the song was based upon. Also ghosts. Because spoopy. <i>JulietCee:</i> I wanted to reflect the sort of spooky feel of the track in this piece, so I thught "what better way to do it than drawing The Scratch, with all those flashing blue lights?" It was a lot of fun to draw, and I like drawing Damara. - <i>Blackhole:</i> + <i>Blackhole:</i> (album organizer) (Blackhole here! Just dropping in to point out that, as the Witch of Time, it does make sense that Damara would have the only achronological track art of Disc 2! I suppose she's getting ahead on the timeline action by jumping back to earlier in the session. The Scratch is yet to come!) --- Track: Caligomancy @@ -683,7 +719,7 @@ Commentary: |- --- Track: Scratchless Scraps Artists: -- ndividedbyzero +- keyboard cait Duration: '2:59' URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/scratchless-scraps @@ -693,7 +729,7 @@ Cover Artists: Art Tags: - Carapacians Commentary: |- - <i>ndividedbyzero:</i> + <i>keyboard cait:</i> I have a quiet love for carapaces, so this track was a lot of fun to work on! I took inspiration from the official "The Wanderers" album, one of my favorite albums in the Homestuck discography. I was particularly inspired by the album's electronic and Arabic kind of style, which definitely fits the theme of a desert-like landscape in the ruins of a technologically advanced civilization. In this case, I envisioned Beforus' "years in the future" scenario as being not quite as refined as the Midnight Crew's city, since I kind of doubt the Beforan trolls would have enough teamwork to bother exiling them, but with much more room to build upon than pre-Scratch Earth since the Red Miles and Bec Noir ruined any potential our original exiles had. So the buildup of this song really represents the growth of the Beforan exiles (whoever they may be) and their community itself! (Of course, there's still the issue of Spades Slick eventually shooting a bullet and destroying the entire universe... yikes. Guess they can worry about that later...?) @@ -727,11 +763,15 @@ Art Tags: - Veil - Prospit - Derse +Referenced Tracks: +- Corrupting Tranquility Commentary: |- <i>Seijen:</i> 3 days before the finalization of my track marked one year since I took on to music production. I formed a soundcloud with a friend and we went from there. To this day I have no real definitive style (neither of us do really), but I wanted to work on Hardstyle to get my foot in the door. I wasn't all too successful, and I often don't ever finish projects. Once I saw news of the fan album, it gave me reason to create a track. This track was a twice failed and shelved project. It finally bloomed into what it is now. Really I just want to thank the Beforus team for having me here. THis endeavor really gave me hope and reason behind my production. This is my first major step into the realm of music production. Shout out to Xavier, you're like a brother to me. <i>Lovisa Lassen:</i> For Skaia Ad Infinitum I wanted to include the classic spirograph defense portal symbol (in purple as opposed to the Alternia trolls' blue ones, for its symbolism) and Skaia itself, while also showing some tidbits of the Beforus trolls' session of Sgrub that we know about through the portal, since the track is about Skaia watching over the session. As the track art took on a center focused composition I also included the planets and moons of the session, and it also tied it back to Skaia again with it in the center. + <i>Niklink:</i> (wiki editor) + The artist conveniently forgot to mention that this track is in fact a midi swap of a [[track:corrupting-tranquility|completely unrelated song]]. --- Track: Formant (Sprite Chorus Mix) Artists: @@ -745,10 +785,10 @@ Cover Artists: Art Tags: - Meenah Referenced Tracks: -- track:chorale-for-jaspers +- Chorale for Jaspers Commentary: |- <i>Blackhole:</i> - This song is a result of me playing around with the theme from [[track:chorale-for-jaspers|Chorale for Jaspers]] and stumbling upon a particular preset for one of my synthesizers, "Formant", for which I later named the song. The music sounded so great with that particular synth that I decided to build an entire song around it, and completed Formant in its entirety pretty much later that day. Whilst I originally billed it as a Jasprose theme when she made her debut, for Beforus I've repurposed it as a more general sprite theme that would work for the Beforan session sprites. This album version is extended with a longer intro, and features cleaner audio without the static! + This song is a result of me playing around with the theme from [[Chorale for Jaspers]] and stumbling upon a particular preset for one of my synthesizers, "Formant", for which I later named the song. The music sounded so great with that particular synth that I decided to build an entire song around it, and completed Formant in its entirety pretty much later that day. Whilst I originally billed it as a Jasprose theme when she made her debut, for Beforus I've repurposed it as a more general sprite theme that would work for the Beforan session sprites. This album version is extended with a longer intro, and features cleaner audio without the static! <i>Sigourney Martin:</i> Hey! I'm Siggy and I'm honored to make art for the Beforus album. Listening to this song made me think of the colour pink and Meenah being the best pink troll on the block, I decided to make the picture all pink. --- @@ -765,7 +805,7 @@ Cover Artists: Art Tags: - 'cw: eye horror' Referenced Tracks: -- track:explore +- Explore - track:ruins Commentary: |- <i>RowBird:</i> @@ -842,10 +882,11 @@ Cover Artists: Art Tags: - Kankri - Meteor +- Veil - 'cw: corpse (abstract)' Commentary: |- <i>Ducky Senpai:</i> - This song was inspired by the glitch in the Beforan trolls' session, the event that caused most, if not all, the conflict in Homestuck (some by great extension). I've made music before relating to a similar topic ([[Void Session]]), but that was more relevant to the alpha kids. The functions and mechanics of Sburb has always been one of the most facinating aspects of the Homestuck universe to me, so it's always fun to explore that inspiration. + This song was inspired by the glitch in the Beforan trolls' session, the event that caused most, if not all, the conflict in Homestuck (some by great extension). I've made music before relating to a similar topic (Void Session), but that was more relevant to the alpha kids. The functions and mechanics of Sburb has always been one of the most facinating aspects of the Homestuck universe to me, so it's always fun to explore that inspiration. <i>Gilwing:</i> The challenge here was to depict the glitch in the session itself, which is a pretty vague concept; the alpha trolls' ectobiology took place after the scratch, they weren't born in their own session. This is also Lord English's calling card, which is represented by the orb kinda looking like Scratch's head depicting the ectobiology lab in universe A2. I originally wanted to include all the trolls in the piece, but it was way too cluttered so I just went with their colors instead. I didn't want the whole thing to be about Kankri since this is about a game concept in general, but the reason I used him was becuase to my (questionable) knowledge, he probably would've been the ectobiologist if their session wasn't glitched, like Karkat. This was definitely a challenge but I'm honored to illustrate for such an incredible track! --- @@ -868,6 +909,8 @@ Commentary: |- Listening to this track, I had the distinct image of Kurloz falling through sopor slime into the void. Not long after, the dream self between being asleep in his cocoon on Beforus and the kingdom of Prospit was an overwhelming image. It certainly called for something that looked a bit dramatic and fuzzy, the way things feel when you aren't sure if you're awake or dreaming and in that state where you can be stratled awake by the feeling you've crashed back onto the mattress, literally falling awake after just barely falling asleep. --- Track: 50M3 GR347 4C7 0F H3R015M +Additional Names: +- Some Great Act of Heroism (quirk-free) Artists: - Toris Crow Duration: '2:15' @@ -903,13 +946,17 @@ Art Tags: - Meulin - Latula - Horuss +- Gate Commentary: |- <i>Willow Ascenzo:</i> - Dan (also known as aradia-symmetry, author of <a href="https://aradiawheresheshouldbe.tumblr.com/">aradiawheresheshouldbe</a> and <a href="https://rosewheresheshouldbe.tumblr.com/">rosewheresheshouldbe.tumblr.com</a>) commissioned me back in October 2013 for a song about Damara Megido. The song ended up quite spooky, because after all, he did commission it on October 31. I relied on the shakuhachi and cello and, per Dan's request, a pulsing synth bass to create the brooding, melancholy atmosphere I felt best reflected Damara's inner coldness and despesrate nihilism. + Dan (also known as aradia-symmetry, author of [aradiawheresheshouldbe](https://aradiawheresheshouldbe.tumblr.com/) and [rosewheresheshouldbe.tumblr.com](https://rosewheresheshouldbe.tumblr.com/)) commissioned me back in October 2013 for a song about Damara Megido. The song ended up quite spooky, because after all, he did commission it on October 31. I relied on the shakuhachi and cello and, per Dan's request, a pulsing synth bass to create the brooding, melancholy atmosphere I felt best reflected Damara's inner coldness and despesrate nihilism. <i>Sam Garcia:</i> when i listened to the song the first thing that came into my mind was Damara sabotaging the alpha session, so the main focus of the drawing is a smug god tier damara doing that! the clock behind her is symbolical to how she is corrupting time itself and the session, and the cracks are the points in the timeline in which Damara has sabotaged it. I had a lot of fun drawing this and I hope you like the drawing. cheers! c: --- Track: Antevo+rta +Directory: antevorta +Additional Names: +- Antevorta (quirk-free) Artists: - Toris Crow Duration: '2:07' @@ -928,6 +975,8 @@ Commentary: |- This illustration stumped me. Porrim's character is more thematic than it is concrete, and such an open-ended premise left me chasing down a few false starts in the piece's design. The failure of Porrim's role as maid of space nonetheless contributed to events on a massive scale. Ignition does not mean success. Finally I found something I think captures it all without being too obvious. --- Track: 7UN3 +Additional Names: +- Tune (quirk-free) Artists: - Princezz Duration: '2:40' @@ -952,10 +1001,11 @@ URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/cheater-pan - https://youtu.be/rqxWDyxIT-8 Cover Artists: -- Robin +- AroSoup Art Tags: - Damara - Rufioh +- Beforus Referenced Tracks: - Rust Maid - psych0ruins @@ -965,7 +1015,7 @@ Referenced Tracks: Commentary: |- <i>David Burkee:</i> I thought of how I would direct the track on my way to the shop actually. I ws listening to coloUrs and mayhem and I was just like "these would work well together." The beginning of the track is how the "accident" (read: damara's insatiable fury) happened, going on to Horuss and Rufioh building a relationship as he worked on the latter's body, which devolved into Rufioh's eternal, depressing grind through a mundane life, dating a guy he lost admiration for after the initial spark faded. - <i>Robin:</i> + <i>AroSoup:</i> The idea for this drawing was that I just really wanted to draw Damara and Rufioh meeting up after his head's been placed ona robot horse. Nothing much really! I've always had a soft spot for Megidos so adding her in was absolutely necessary. --- Track: DAMiterNEIGHtions @@ -981,6 +1031,7 @@ Art Tags: - Damara - Rufioh - Horuss +- Beforus Commentary: |- <i>rest✩taurus:</i> Parsing this one out makes "Damn" "Iterations" + a horse pun. This track was the one that hung around in concept the longest of any of my tracks, but came together the last of them. The original idea was to explore Horuss' own introspections, but that alone wsn't compelling me nearly enough. In the end, connecting Damara's and Horuss' struggles in one musical trainwreck was what propelled me forward. Rufioh takes a back seat to the insecurities and raw emotion of his past and present lovers, existing in tandem. I get the feeling that the session itself weighed heaviest on these two, one doomed to undo it at every turn, and the other to be swallowed up whole in pieces of hismelf. I aimed to convey this through the uncanny, grating musical landscape of the track. It is probably my favorite of the bunch. @@ -1006,12 +1057,14 @@ Art Tags: - Damara - Meenah Commentary: |- - <i>Anna Marcus-Hecht:</i> + <i>articulatelyComposed:</i> With the Fishes is a piece that shows the turmoil that Damara went through directly after her breakup with Rufioh and whilst Meenah was bullying her. The vibraphone represetns Damara and her actions, the bell-like sounds showing how fragile she is feeling, while the loud, brash chords of the marimba shows Meenah's incessant cruelty. The final chord, or more accurately, cluster of notes, is Damara's final snap. It is the thing breaking inside her leading her to attack Meenah and Rufioh. The title "With the Fishes" has a dual meaning in this case: the obvious meaning of Damara interacting with Meenah, and that "sleping with the fishes" is a phrase that signifies that someone's dead, which seemed appropriate since Damara's experiences have left her almost dead inside. I hope you all enjoy this piece! <i>VT Stark:</i> I wanted to really capture Damara's pre-snap personality here. She's got orange cloth over her eyes, representing how she feels she's been blind regarding what Rufioh has been up to. Meenah's hand is holding onto her throat, yet Damara remains oddly tranquil. SHe's fighting to work through all of this no matter how much it hurts. But in the end, she can only hold on so much for so long. And that's when the expression is less peaceful, more internally dead. --- Track: Timeout +Directory: timeout-beforus +Always Reference By Directory: true Artists: - psithurist Duration: '4:40' @@ -1062,9 +1115,10 @@ Art Tags: - Kurloz - Cronus - Meenah +- Tumor Commentary: |- <i>Sean William Calhoun:</i> - <code style="color: #005682">ARANEA: You look into the future and see a life lasting for may8e thousands of sweeps, with nothing to look forward to,"</code> + <code style="color: #3796c6">ARANEA: You look into the future and see a life lasting for may8e thousands of sweeps, with nothing to look forward to,"</code> A lament of waiting - for the Beforan trolls, it was not a violent end like Game Over, but a longer, hopeless failure to reach conclusion, with a game that they could not win, but that also would not kill them (until Meenah blew them up). The piano runs throughout, frequently chiming the passage of time, sometimes becoming more elaborate as strings take up the melody. Near the end, a solo cello plays af inal dolorous utterance of the melody before evanescing into the void. <i>Elanor Pam:</i> Choosing what to depict in this image was a struggle. The song itself brings such a sense of grim finality! Ultimately, I ran with the moment that kickstarted the Beforan's even longer wait; the remains of the destroyed battlefield hangi n the sky as the defeated trolls await their impending doom. @@ -1082,9 +1136,10 @@ Cover Artists: - oxfordroulette Art Tags: - Damara +- LoQaM Referenced Tracks: - Hate You -- track:theme +- Theme Commentary: |- <i>Private I.:</i> Let's face it. Even though most of the Beforan session was allegedly sloppy teen romance, the end of it was awesome. They literally went out with a bang. So I thought, what if the whole session was made into an 8-bit NES game? This tune is the on cellosupposed theme of the final stage of BEFORUS: The Game. Or something. Sorry, I suck at names. @@ -1102,6 +1157,8 @@ URLs: - https://youtu.be/gS0IKk1MVO0 Cover Artists: - Scarodactyl +Art Tags: +- LoQaM Commentary: |- <i>Laurent Désautels-Séguin:</i> This song is divided in 3 parts: everything is sad and not going well - They enter the palace for the Scratch and it's mysterious - The Scratch begins and it's intense. For the sad part, it's just sad chords. For the mysterious parts, I used a lot of mysterious arpeggios and delay effects. For the Scratch, I used a lot of bitcrush, dramatic arpeggios, and I reused chords from the sad part and arpeggios from the mysterious parts because the Scratch is mixing things. I was inspired by the music of Steven Universe for the style of mysterious arpeggios. I think the music of the series did a great job with how they represent dangerous mystical stuff. I created all the sounds with NI Massive, used Replika for delay and Decimort for bitcrush. I had a lot of fun doing these songs and I hope that you liked it! @@ -1109,6 +1166,8 @@ Commentary: |- I was really happy wit hthis song from when I first put on this song and heard the slow, ominous opening. I think it really captures the sense of dread and mystery that surrounds the Scratch. Though the song has a three-part structure, visually I wanted to focus on the event itself. We only briefly see this in the comic, and it's a very striking scene. It was a lot of fun to draw the gigantic music box at the center of everything, and the various lighting effects were an interesting challenge. --- Track: Voided +Directory: voided-beforus +Always Reference By Directory: true Artists: - Cyclostome Duration: '2:22' @@ -1181,6 +1240,8 @@ Commentary: |- Because the song took themes from swing dancing and Aranea's expasition booth, I thought it would be fun for Aranea to cut loose in her own private library. --- Track: Vwiolet Vwelvwet +Additional Names: +- Violet Velvet (quirk-free) Artists: - Dallas Ross Hicks Duration: '3:31' @@ -1188,13 +1249,14 @@ URLs: - https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/vwiolet-vwelvwet - https://youtu.be/fApD-AtQai0 Cover Artists: -- Cro +- YoItsCro Art Tags: - Cronus +- Dream Bubbles Commentary: |- <i>Dallas Ross Hicks:</i> Cronus Ampora is in love with the 1950's era of Earth but wishes he could be in love with somebody. Anybody. This song captures the style of music from that time, starting with Cronus's generally pleasant mood but giving way to his overbearing on-the-make obnoxiousness that invariably drives people away. This doesn't make his loneliness any less real, which is illustrated at the end of the tune by a slow, sad finale. I grew up listening to this kind of music on my parents' radio so I really enjoyed bringing elements of my favourites from the Fifties to life in this song! - <i>Cro:</i> + <i>YoItsCro:</i> It's amusing once more to be drawing Cronus; he's practically a staple for me. That being said, I had a challenging but workable idea of how I wanted to present the piece. Seeing Cronus on a quest for love but failing would eventually lead to that path of sulking, and that is presented within his gray, stormy scheme (that, and the 50's barely had much in color still). With the fact he's outside of a dream bubble (a watery, lily pad dream bubble) where a red string of fate passes, it's almost like he's fishing for a pirze without really getting any bites. T oget even deeper into this harshness, the fact that it's a dream bubble can only leave for his hopes to be trapped in that; a dream. Something that could come so close, yet so far, and he continues trying to get a fish to catch his hook. --- Track: STRONG Like Hoofbeast @@ -1229,7 +1291,7 @@ Art Tags: - Dark Carnival Referenced Tracks: - Homestuck Anthem -- track:harlequin +- Harlequin Commentary: |- <i>Llyona Fang:</i> A Meulin and Kurloz fansong. From its light-hearted and delicate beginning, it transitions into the mysterious sounds of an abandoned carnival. Out of the darkness, there rises an oblivious bliss, framed perfectly with the hint of a silent skeletal smile. @@ -1237,6 +1299,8 @@ Commentary: |- A cheerful interaction between friends—or is it? My goal for this image is to show the insidious nature of Meulin and Kurloz's seemingly innocent relationship. Among the static lies a corrupted carnival abandoned years before, or perhaps never used? Unaware of the dark tendrils surrounding her, Meulin falls under the spell of her former matesprit's chucklevoodoo. Behind the stitches a menacing smile appears; in the distance, a silent prayer is lifted. --- Track: 7UR8UL3N7 coll4bor4t1on +Additional Names: +- Turbulent Collaboration (quirk-free) Artists: - laptopStrummer Duration: '4:43' @@ -1249,7 +1313,7 @@ Art Tags: - Mituna - Latula Commentary: |- - <i>laptopstrummer:</i> + <i>laptopStrummer:</i> This song is about Latula and Mituna relationship, it's a 3 part song that tells a story. Don't count on me to expalin it to you though, but feel free to interpret as you like :) Thank you for listening !<br>laptopStrummer @@ -1295,6 +1359,8 @@ Commentary: |- --- Track: We Are +og3th3r Directory: we-are-tog3th3r +Additional Names: +- We Are Together (quirk-free) Artists: - The One Music Maniac Duration: '2:14' @@ -1400,7 +1466,7 @@ Cover Artists: Art Tags: - Aranea Referenced Tracks: -- Carne Vale +- track:carne-vale Commentary: |- <i>The One Music Maniac:</i> "Thief of the Ring" is a pre-GAME OVER themed composition that covers Aranea's selfish motives & how it caused the imapct of GAME OVER, including: possessing Gamzee to steal the ring from John, almost forcing a kiss on Jake, forcing Jake to use his Hope power, killing Jade, getting angry because John promised the ring would be for Calliope, forcing Roxy to sleep, having to fight Brain Ghost Dirk as he rips her soul out of her body, and causing Jane's vengeance for the death of her ectobiological granddaughter. @@ -1486,16 +1552,16 @@ Art Tags: - Beforus Referenced Tracks: - Featherlight -- track:theme +- Theme Commentary: |- <i>Toris Crow:</i> Early last year, I wrote a song called "Featherlight." This is an extended and improved version of it made exclusively for the Beforus Album project and will not appear in any of my own albums. It serves as a mirror for the song [[Alternia]] in the album "AlterniaBound." This song is dedicated to Not-Terezi-Pyrope (Blackhole) for making this project possible. - <i>Blackhole:</i> + <i>Blackhole:</i> (album organizer) <3 <i>Elanor Pam:</i> Aranea once referred to the Green Moon as a "large(r) green interloper" that had never belonged to her world. Thus Beforus is represented by the Pink Moon standing alone in the sky; the Beforan players contemplate it from a tree branch of one of the Pyrope's forest. Is this a night before the end? A dreambubble illusion? As the track art for the last song on disk 2, the ambiguity seemed fitting. One way or another, it's now nothing more than a bittersweet recollection of simpler times. --- -Group: Disc 3 +Section: Disc 3 --- Track: ♬ Disc 3 ♬ Directory: disc3-beforus @@ -1595,6 +1661,7 @@ Cover Artists: - Quietserval Art Tags: - Rufioh +- Beforus Commentary: |- <i>MariEaster:</i> Tree Dwellers is about the Lost Weeaboos; a group of Beforan otaku trolls living in a secret forest village far away from normal troll society. The track was originally made to be a fan track for Nepeta, but I found the track to fit surprisingly well with the whole concept about the Lost Weeaboos. @@ -1603,6 +1670,7 @@ Commentary: |- As MariEater wrote in their track commentary, the song "Tree Dwellers" was meant to be fun, simple, and silly. So for the track art I wanted to show an everyday scene in the village of the Lost Weeaboos; tree houses, trolls dressed up in cosplay, and of course fisticuffs. --- Track: Puppeteer +Directory: puppeteer-beforus Artists: - thesketchqueen Duration: '3:55' @@ -1614,19 +1682,19 @@ Cover Artists: Art Tags: - Meulin Referenced Tracks: -- track:sburban-jungle +- Sburban Jungle Lyrics: |- - Hello my darling dear<br>I’ve always been right here<br>Waiting for you, waiting for you<br>What’s that, my darling dear?<br>Suddenly I can’t hear you<br>Cat got your tongue? - Puppeteer, puppeteer<br>There’s no need to fear<br>Puppeteer, puppeteer<br>You're my love, the one I hold so dear - I’m known to be the one (you're slipping away)<br>Who’s always good with love (i can't hold on)<br>I make purrfect matches both red and pale (to you)<br>There's no room for mistake (we’re falling apart)<br>I never miscalculate (why won’t you hold)<br>I could never fail (to me) + Hello my darling dear<br>I've always been right here<br>Waiting for you, waiting for you<br>What's that, my darling dear?<br>Suddenly I can't hear you<br>Cat got your tongue? + Puppeteer, puppeteer<br>There's no need to fear<br>Puppeteer, puppeteer<br>You're my love, the one I hold so dear + I'm known to be the one (you're slipping away)<br>Who's always good with love (i can't hold on)<br>I make purrfect matches both red and pale (to you)<br>There's no room for mistake (we're falling apart)<br>I never miscalculate (why won't you hold)<br>I could never fail (to me) Right? - So what is this sinister feeling?<br>Why do you insist on disappearing?<br>Why do I black out on a whim,<br>Then wake some place I’ve never been?<br>Where are you, my darling dear?<br>Suddenly I can’t hear at all<br>Cat got your tongue? + So what is this sinister feeling?<br>Why do you insist on disappearing?<br>Why do I black out on a whim,<br>Then wake some place I've never been?<br>Where are you, my darling dear?<br>Suddenly I can't hear at all<br>Cat got your tongue? Puppeteer, puppeteer<br>What of you should I fear<br>Puppeteer, puppeteer<br>Suddenly nothing is so clear - Lapses in memory as<br>Your darkness takes hold of me<br>The screams of damned fall on deaf ears<br>A bittersweet melody only I can hear<br>Is this pity or is this love?<br>Or is my decision one I’m not a part of?<br>Logic begs for me to get away<br>But how do I live without you beside me? - Puppeteer, Puppeteer<br>Now you’re here, I see you crystal clear. + Lapses in memory as<br>Your darkness takes hold of me<br>The screams of damned fall on deaf ears<br>A bittersweet melody only I can hear<br>Is this pity or is this love?<br>Or is my decision one I'm not a part of?<br>Logic begs for me to get away<br>But how do I live without you beside me? + Puppeteer, Puppeteer<br>Now you're here, I see you crystal clear. jumbled mess :)) - Puppeteer, Puppeteer<br>I’m paralyzed with fear<br>Puppeteer, Puppeteer<br>You’re my love, the one I hold - You’re slipping away, I can’t hold on to you<br>We’re falling apart, why won’t you hold to me<br>You’re slipping away, hold on. + Puppeteer, Puppeteer<br>I'm paralyzed with fear<br>Puppeteer, Puppeteer<br>You're my love, the one I hold + You're slipping away, I can't hold on to you<br>We're falling apart, why won't you hold to me<br>You're slipping away, hold on. Commentary: |- <i>thesketchqueen:</i> This song has gone through three lyrical overhauls (the third was becuase the song I created got too personal), two instrumental overhauls, and a shift from "real" instruments to virtual instruments. It's a mess. I wanted to focus on something of the dynamic between Kurloz and Meulin, especially all the gross mind-control stuff. I wanted to give lots of double meanings to the text, too, because puppeteer, nothing means what you think it means, la-di-da. So. Puppeteer. The end. @@ -1685,7 +1753,7 @@ Art Tags: - Porrim Referenced Tracks: - Homestuck Anthem -- track:skies-of-skaia +- Skies of Skaia Lyrics: |- Madam Firefly,<br>Blinking in the sky,<br>Swim through the stars to find your place,<br>You're wandering through endless space. Tricky little bug,<br>Tend to your mother grub,<br>Don't worry 'bout the pink and blue,<br>'cause green is all you ever knew, @@ -1700,6 +1768,8 @@ Commentary: |- I enjoyed making this piece since Porrim and I share the same zodiac sign and I already think she's gorgeous. I focused on the mood of the song (and how the sound of the vocals made me feel) more so than the lyrics, and tried to capture those moods in this picture. Listening to the track was comforting and felt... warm. I was glad the composer intended to take a lighter aesthetic approach, because that was something I could eaisly match. --- Track: 7UN3 R3M1X +Additional Names: +- Tune Remix (quirk-free) Artists: - Princezz Duration: '3:09' @@ -1732,6 +1802,7 @@ Cover Artists: Art Tags: - Rufioh - Damara +- Beforus Referenced Tracks: - Uptown Funk Lyrics: |- @@ -1832,6 +1903,7 @@ Art Tags: - Horrorterrors - Gate - Tumor +- LoQaM Commentary: |- <i>Toris Crow:</i> This song can be interpreted as being about the Scratch from the Beforus trolls' point of view. I wanted to write a song that had a suspenseful single-note intro, similar to in the song [[English]] from the Homestuck album The Felt. I wrote the song to be dramatic because the Scratch, for them, signifies the end of their roles as players in their session. |