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Diffstat (limited to 'album/homestuck-vol-5.yaml')
| -rw-r--r-- | album/homestuck-vol-5.yaml | 66 |
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diff --git a/album/homestuck-vol-5.yaml b/album/homestuck-vol-5.yaml index 348c6b59..611e5e3f 100644 --- a/album/homestuck-vol-5.yaml +++ b/album/homestuck-vol-5.yaml @@ -69,14 +69,25 @@ Commentary: |- <small>[Gorgeous](https://web.archive.org/web/20110718035318/http://www.whatpumpkin.com/images/vol5_front.png) album cover art by [[artist:lexxy|Alexandra "Lexxy" Douglass]]</small> - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (from [new Homestuck album!](https://web.archive.org/web/20100618035217/http://www.iambowman.com/), 06/13/2010) + Volume 5 is out today, and along with it is the official What Pumpkin site, which I have just found out is the [[artist:what-pumpkin-games|name of our indie record label]] just for the [[group:official-discography|MSPA soundtrack albums.]] Like, right just now. Shows how in the loop I am! - This Volume is a little bit of an oddity in that it's hyper-long and is consisted overwhelmingly of tracks that have not appeared in the comic whatsoever, so you might not be quite so initially motivated to purchase it as you would for one of the soundtracks proper, however, I assure you, there is some really great material on there. The album hits the tip of the creative iceberg that has been the MSPA music project (which I guess is now formally What Pumpkin records) and shows only a fraction of the endless piles upon piles of "other" music that exists on the not-so-secret music forums. + Anyway, this Volume is a little bit of an oddity in that it's hyper-long and is consisted overwhelmingly of tracks that have not appeared in the comic whatsoever, so you might not be quite so initially motivated to purchase it as you would for one of the soundtracks proper, however, I assure you, there is some really great material on there. The album hits the tip of the creative iceberg that has been the MSPA music project (which I guess is now formally What Pumpkin records) and shows only a fraction of the endless piles upon piles of "other" music that exists on the not-so-secret music forums. [[artist:andrew-hussie|Andrew]] has been definitely at a crossroads with the music - the response to his open casting call for the music project over a year ago almost immediately exploded with music, initially with the pretense that we were going to be creating short loops (as in the strife themes such as [[Showtime (Original Mix)|Showtime]]). However, when the comic started to operate more cinematically and less like an adventure game, more and more the concentration became on how our music could be used to create the numerous extensive flash-animated cutscenes, some of which fans have awaited and anticipated for days on end. This pretty much imploded with the [[flash:1149|end of Act 3]], when Andrew informed us all that he was going to cut back on the animations after spending a week working on the accompanying animation for [[Sburban Jungle]] day and night on end. Since then, the focus has drifted to various new sectors which I guess will just have to be a surprise to all of you. Either way, consider the new album an outlet for you to sample music inspired by and written for Homestuck and as a chance to support this new community that Andrew has shepherded. + *(<b>TRACK 8</b>: Continued in [[Happy Cat Song!]])* + + *(<b>TRACK 9</b>: Continued in [[Hardchorale]]!)* + + *(<b>TRACK 30</b>: Continued in [[track:how-do-i-live-bunny-back-in-the-box-version]]!)* + + *(<b>TRACK 35</b>: Continued in [[Ruins (With Strings)]]!)* + + *(<b>TRACK 56</b>: Continued in [[Greenhouse]]!)* + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1081), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) *(Continued from [[track:how-do-i-live-bunny-back-in-the-box-version]])* @@ -360,10 +371,18 @@ Art Tags: Referenced Tracks: - Chorale for Jaspers Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (co-composer) + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (co-composer, from [new Homestuck album!](https://web.archive.org/web/20100618035217/http://www.iambowman.com/), 06/13/2010) + *(Continued from [[album:homestuck-vol-5]]!)* + Radiation, or [[artist:toby-fox|Toby]] as I've never actually had the chance to refer to him, sent me his midi arrangement of Happy Cat Song, a sort of lighthearted version of [[track:chorale-for-jaspers|Chorale for Jaspers]], so I loaded VSTs for each part and balanced it, along with adding a "meow" sample in for good measure. The effect of it reminds [[artist:tavia-morra|Tavia]] of arriving in a village in "final fantasy or chrono cross or something and it's initially all peaceful and then by the end of the game it's totally raped and pillaged." So the calm before the storm then? MEOW + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (co-composer, from [Music and Stuff](https://web.archive.org/web/20110326020456/http://www.iambowman.com/music.html)) + + A lot of tracks on <i>Volume 5</i>. There's a few different [[Chorale for Jaspers|"Chorale"]] arrangements on here, of which I participated in two - for "Happy Cat Song!" I produced and provided vocal samples, and for [[Hardchorale|"Hardchorale"]] I brought the house down with a series of loud meows that almost got me evicted from my apartment (the video does exist, I promise). + + *(Continued in [[track:how-do-i-live-bunny-back-in-the-box-version]]!)* + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (co-composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1200), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) There was another, like, twenty second *(Caption in post: 35 seconds)* Toby Fox-produced [[Chorale for Jaspers]] that was called "Happy Cat Song!" - I really only set that into the program, into FL Studio, and chose the synth patches for it, like, hardly anything else. I think he expected me to go somewhere with it, and... I was just like... I don't know what to do with it. So, twenty seconds, somehow ended up on an album! @@ -392,10 +411,18 @@ Commentary: |- 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) + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, from [new Homestuck album!](https://web.archive.org/web/20100618035217/http://www.iambowman.com/), 06/13/2010) + + *(Continued from [[track:happy-cat-song]]!)* Harchorale was another [[track:chorale-for-jaspers|Chorale]] arrangement by Alexander and Toby for which I contributed more vocals. The morning after I recorded the yelping and yowling for this arrangement, I received an ultimatum from my apartment complex, saying that if they ever received another noise complaint they would evict us so hard we would probably go blind. I know [[artist:richard-gung|Richard]] has footage of me recording this somewhere, so I'll surely post it when I find it. + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, from [Music and Stuff](https://web.archive.org/web/20110326020456/http://www.iambowman.com/music.html)) + + A lot of tracks on <i>Volume 5</i>. There's a few different [[Chorale for Jaspers|"Chorale"]] arrangements on here, of which I participated in two - for [[track:happy-cat-song|"Happy Cat Song!"]] I produced and provided vocal samples, and for "Hardchorale" I brought the house down with a series of loud meows that almost got me evicted from my apartment (the video does exist, I promise). + + *(Continued in [[track:how-do-i-live-bunny-back-in-the-box-version]]!)* + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1184), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) Hardchorale! They arranged out a heavier version of [[Chorale for Jaspers]], and were like, "can you contribute meows to this?" and I was like, sure! I got a noise complaint from my neighbors because, I think I'd left all the windows open. I was just screaming. (laughs) Whoops on that. @@ -1136,11 +1163,19 @@ Lyrics: |- How will I ever, ever survive? (Oh, it's- it's done. Oh.) Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, from [new Homestuck album!](https://web.archive.org/web/20100618035217/http://www.iambowman.com/), 06/13/2010) + + *(Continued from [[track:hardchorale]]!)* God knows this is the dumbest thing I've ever created (at least for MSPA). But maybe it's also the most awesome thing because of that? In the process of creating this, I ended up learning a lot about the recording process, but let me tell you, if I ever EVER have to perform this song again, I am officially dropping the key signature a few steps - this song stretched my range pretty dangerously and it shows. Fun fact: did you know [[artist:diane-warren|Dianne Warren]] also wrote [[track:i-dont-want-to-miss-a-thing-aerosmith|"Don't Wanna Miss a Thing"]] from Armageddon? She has like the best career ever, writing the cheesiest, most epic love songs ever for some of the most ridiculous action movies of all time. - I actually put a lot of work into it, retaking the vocals and guitar parts entirely before extending the song an extra verse. Nick's drunken air guitar solo remains intact, of course. + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, from [Music and Stuff](https://web.archive.org/web/20110326020456/http://www.iambowman.com/music.html)) + + *(Continued from [[Happy Cat Song!]] & [[Hardchorale]]!)* + + "How Do I Live" is, of course, about the stupidest thing I've ever made - I actually put a lot of work into it, retaking the vocals and guitar parts entirely before extending the song an extra verse. Nick's drunken air guitar solo remains intact, of course. + + *(Continued in [[Ruins (With Strings)]]!)* <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, Bowmantown Discord, excerpt, 7/29/2017) @@ -1312,7 +1347,18 @@ Commentary: |- Some of the other elements of the ambiance (the wind, the really high notes that echo for a long time) I drew from the soundtrack to World of Goo, specifically the track ["Jelly"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qznYSE7J4ZQ) which I noticed bore a strong resemblance tonally to Jit's composition. To seal the melancholy, I doubled the piano melody on guitar using a very cool, muted sound with a lot of echoes and pitch bends. I signed the tune by adding a cadence from [[track:sburban-jungle|"Sburban Jungle"]] at the very end. Really, the track should probably be listed simply as "Ruins" if not for the fact that there is not official piano rendition of the piece. I think it would be really cool to hear such a version of the tune if Jit ever found himself recording material in a studio again (as he did for [[artist:james-dever|James's]] piano suite [[album:sburb|Sburb]]). + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (from [new Homestuck album!](https://web.archive.org/web/20100618035217/http://www.iambowman.com/), 06/13/2010) + + *(Continued from [[track:how-do-i-live-bunny-back-in-the-box-version]]!)* + Erik's piano piece [[track:ruins]] was one of those tracks where I just kind of went browsing the forum, looking for somethign to contributed to, and lo and behold it showed up. It was a very evocative piano piece despite being recorded without any particular wealth of gear. Either way, I chose sort of a synth-ish, distant string sound and a couple of other tricks (there are two guitar parts buried in that arrangement) in order to compliment the ambient noise from his recording and stuck in a reference to [[Sburban Jungle]] at the end for good measure. The effect is satisfyingly ambient and I can imagine listening to it while driving a long distance on a rainy day. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (from [Music and Stuff](https://web.archive.org/web/20110326020456/http://www.iambowman.com/music.html)) + "Ruins" by Jit was fun to arrange - did that one pretty much on a whim, hoping to imitate the quality of the World of Goo soundtrack. + + *(Continued in [[Greenhouse]]!)* + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1139), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) I also arranged strings for a piece by Erik Scheele, which was called "Ruins". He had submitted [[track:ruins|Ruins]] to the forum, and I said, well, here's my, you know, decoration - my production on top of it, I said, this is Ruins *with strings,* and for whatever reason it was just published on the album as as, you know, "Ruins" - in parentheses - "(With Strings)". Which, I was just like, *yeah,* it's really just Ruins... but you know... whatever. And I like that it had that Myst-like interactive element that went with it. That felt like something that touched home for me. I'm already a big Myst fan, and I would have loved to be somebody making music for Cyan, and so it was sort of a fulfilment of that dream. @@ -1837,10 +1883,16 @@ Art Tags: - Squiddles - Earth Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, from [new Homestuck album!](https://web.archive.org/web/20100618035217/http://www.iambowman.com/), 06/13/2010) + + *(Continued from [[Ruins (With Strings)]]!)* Greenhouse ended up being an exercise in what I could do with a handful of new pieces of equipment. Having acquired [[artist:tavia-morra|Tavia's]] old, barely used electric guitar and keyboard, this is the first composition I've really gotten to do a lot of recording for instead of just point and click sequencing. When I listen to this song, I imagine this is what Jade hears every time she starts her computer. Which would be a good song to write! + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, from [Music and Stuff](https://web.archive.org/web/20110326020456/http://www.iambowman.com/music.html)) + + *(Continued from [[Ruins (With Strings)]]!)* + "Greenhouse", of course, is the easy winner amongst the tracks I contributed. I think the spontaneity is what makes it really work - I just wrote it as I recorded each little piece. <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1129), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) |