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diff --git a/album/sburb.yaml b/album/sburb.yaml index 6bc0c43..b83a593 100644 --- a/album/sburb.yaml +++ b/album/sburb.yaml @@ -1,7 +1,6 @@ Album: Sburb Artists: - James Dever -- Erik Scheele Date: July 13, 2011 Date Added: November 15, 2019 URLs: @@ -33,10 +32,10 @@ Commentary: |- Jess, Mr. Emmons and the Farrells for putting up with me and teaching me everything I know about music. Aunt Tammy for always protecting me and supporting any decision I make. My friends for pushing me to not give up what I love the most. - Andrew Hussie for this opportunity. For Homestuck. - Jeremy Iamurri for beating sense into me and being a great friend. - Erik Scheele for being absolutely amazing at what you do and performing this album. - RJ Lake for pushing me to be better. + [[artist:andrew-hussie|Andrew Hussie]] for this opportunity. For Homestuck. + [[artist:solatrus|Jeremy Iamurri]] for beating sense into me and being a great friend. + [[artist:erik-scheele|Erik Scheele]] for being absolutely amazing at what you do and performing this album. + [[artist:robert-j-lake|RJ Lake]] for pushing me to be better. The music team for pushing me, and being the biggest group of bros in existence. You. For listening. <i>(commentary redux)</i> @@ -55,6 +54,8 @@ Additional Files: - banner.jpg --- Track: The Prelude +Contributors: +- Erik Scheele (performance) Duration: '1:43' URLs: - https://jamesdever.bandcamp.com/track/prelude @@ -71,10 +72,12 @@ Commentary: |- The Prelude is a piece that I formulated a long time ago. It actually came about from me trying to figure out the chords the harps play in the quiet last section of Saturn from Gustav Holst's The Planets. When I started writing Sburb I decided that it would fit perfectly with the theme that the game creates. The structure of the chords is not unlike how the game actually functions. They work as a juxtaposition of good and evil by using relative major and minor chords. It starts off quietly and on higher octaves to introduce the mood. The next section brings in the Homestuck Anthem as an introduction to the album itself, signaling the beginning of the entire process. The piece suddenly grows in intensity as the left hand C octave ostinatos enter the phrases followed by the calm of the storm. The piece does not resolve, however it does lead straight into the next. <i>(commentary redux)</i> The introduction to the suite lays the fundamentals and ideas present throughout the rest of the movements. A juxtaposition between major and minor are in every chord creating a backbone of polytonality that I wanted to explore as I formulated the album. - The main Homestuck anthem is weaved through the chords as this album was originally written for and published through MS Paint Adventures and What Pumpkin. The original theme was composed by Clark Powell. - The album in its entirety is performed by Erik Scheele. + The main Homestuck anthem is weaved through the chords as this album was originally written for and published through MS Paint Adventures and What Pumpkin. The original theme was composed by [[artist:clark-powell|Clark Powell]]. + The album in its entirety is performed by [[artist:erik-scheele|Erik Scheele]]. --- Track: Genesis +Contributors: +- Erik Scheele (performance) Duration: '2:26' URLs: - https://jamesdever.bandcamp.com/track/genesis @@ -91,6 +94,8 @@ Commentary: |- The previous track sets up the resolution that the opening measures provide here. This movement introduces the two against three polyrhythm idea that continues throughout the album as well as a few choice hemiolas. Coming from a percussion background, I find a lot of melodic potential in rhythmic content and this whole suite was a place for me to test that out. --- Track: Eden +Contributors: +- Erik Scheele (performance) Duration: '2:06' URLs: - https://jamesdever.bandcamp.com/track/eden @@ -111,6 +116,8 @@ Commentary: |- Still in love with those flourishes after all these years. --- Track: Exodus +Contributors: +- Erik Scheele (performance) Duration: '2:08' URLs: - https://jamesdever.bandcamp.com/track/exodus @@ -124,12 +131,14 @@ Sheet Music Files: Commentary: |- <i>James Dever:</i> <i>(original commentary)</i> - The Book of Exodus comes after the Book of Genesis. It narrates the mass journey out of Israel by Moses. In Sburb, the players must go through a set of tasks to escape impending doom. This song reflects the process of entering the medium. This is why I encorporated Sburban Jungle into the beginning and end. The first time Sburb is booted up you hear a bit of Sburban Jungle, just like at the beginning of the song you hear the bottom chords. Later, when John enters the medium (as well as Rose) you hear the song in more complete forms like the end of the piece. When playing, the trickiest part is definitely the triplet ostinato that continues throughout the entire song. The best method to pulling this off is by playing the note on the beat (which will always be either E flat or G) with the left hand and the rest of the notes on the right hand. You will notice that when there are lower notes, there are rests in the ostinato so that you can quickly jump down the piano. + The Book of Exodus comes after the Book of Genesis. It narrates the mass journey out of Israel by Moses. In Sburb, the players must go through a set of tasks to escape impending doom. This song reflects the process of entering the medium. This is why I encorporated [[track:sburban-jungle|Sburban Jungle]] into the beginning and end. The first time Sburb is booted up you hear a bit of Sburban Jungle, just like at the beginning of the song you hear the bottom chords. Later, when John enters the medium (as well as Rose) you hear the song in more complete forms like the end of the piece. When playing, the trickiest part is definitely the triplet ostinato that continues throughout the entire song. The best method to pulling this off is by playing the note on the beat (which will always be either E flat or G) with the left hand and the rest of the notes on the right hand. You will notice that when there are lower notes, there are rests in the ostinato so that you can quickly jump down the piano. <i>(commentary redux)</i> - Continuing the Homestuck homages, this piece prominently features the bassline from Michael Guy Bowman's Sburban Jungle. + Continuing the Homestuck homages, this piece prominently features the bassline from [[artist:michael-guy-bowman|Michael Guy Bowman's]] Sburban Jungle. When I was writing this movement I really wanted to explore how much I could utilize the different registers of the piano while keeping a constant ostinato running through the middle register. --- Track: Requiem +Contributors: +- Erik Scheele (performance) Duration: '2:56' URLs: - https://jamesdever.bandcamp.com/track/requiem @@ -147,6 +156,8 @@ Commentary: |- I tried to hide the resolution at the end by having a quiet final note low in the bass after the bell like ringing of the final major arrival to add finality while also trying to let the unresolved final chord linger. Erik's performance really nailed it. --- Track: The Meek +Contributors: +- Erik Scheele (performance) Duration: '2:16' URLs: - https://jamesdever.bandcamp.com/track/the-meek @@ -166,6 +177,8 @@ Commentary: |- I also really love not resolving these movements, if you haven't noticed. --- Track: Chronicles +Contributors: +- Erik Scheele (performance) Duration: '1:42' URLs: - https://jamesdever.bandcamp.com/track/chronicles @@ -179,12 +192,14 @@ Sheet Music Files: Commentary: |- <i>James Dever:</i> <i>(original commentary)</i> - A chronicle is an account of chronological events. Homestuck does not follow a chronological structure in the slightest. Chronicles is a piano version of Candles and Clockwork. Candles and Clockwork in itself is a massive hemiola as each voice exists in a different time signature. The melody is adapted in this piece to match the 3/4 arpeggio. The piece keeps changing to reflect each leg of the journey the kids have to experience in order to finish the game, not necessarily in order. + A chronicle is an account of chronological events. Homestuck does not follow a chronological structure in the slightest. Chronicles is a piano version of [[track:candles-and-clockwork|Candles and Clockwork]]. Candles and Clockwork in itself is a massive hemiola as each voice exists in a different time signature. The melody is adapted in this piece to match the 3/4 arpeggio. The piece keeps changing to reflect each leg of the journey the kids have to experience in order to finish the game, not necessarily in order. <i>(commentary redux)</i> Chronicles is an adaption of an earlier Homestuck track I wrote, Candles and Clockwork. It was one of the first compositions I ever finished and, true to form, is a big hemiola. I wanted an ostinato in a different time signature than the melody which is what I focus on during the first section as I introduce the melody. The second part of the song introduces the final major motive of the suite, a sextuplet accompaniment outlining the tonic and dominant. A staple of the western art canon, it was a good foundation for me to work on some melodies that weren't purely rhythmic noodling. --- Track: Rapture +Contributors: +- Erik Scheele (performance) Duration: '1:52' URLs: - https://jamesdever.bandcamp.com/track/rapture @@ -201,6 +216,8 @@ Commentary: |- Rapture was the boss tune of the suite. The big bad of the album, it brings back the bass and sustain pedal heavy ostinato while trying to juxtapose a simple and quiet melody that bookends it. --- Track: Creation +Contributors: +- Erik Scheele (performance) Duration: '4:02' URLs: - https://jamesdever.bandcamp.com/track/creation @@ -214,7 +231,7 @@ Sheet Music Files: Commentary: |- <i>James Dever:</i> <i>(original commentary)</i> - The song that means more to me than any song I've ever written and possibly will again. Sburb is all about creating worlds, thus the resolution of the album comes after the storm (Rapture). No matter how harsh the process may be, the result is beauty and endless potential. This song is completely based around the hemiola motif and the origin of it. It is also designed like a day. The song starts off quiet and slow as the sun rises and slowly gets more complex and full fledged as it rises until mid day when it is most busy. As the sun sets into the later half of the day the song slows down and gets quieter toward the sunset. It resolves with the Homestuck Anthem to imply the loop to the beginning. Worlds are created and the process of Skaia starts again. + The song that means more to me than any song I've ever written and possibly will again. Sburb is all about creating worlds, thus the resolution of the album comes after the storm (Rapture). No matter how harsh the process may be, the result is beauty and endless potential. This song is completely based around the hemiola motif and the origin of it. It is also designed like a day. The song starts off quiet and slow as the sun rises and slowly gets more complex and full fledged as it rises until mid day when it is most busy. As the sun sets into the later half of the day the song slows down and gets quieter toward the sunset. It resolves with the [[track:homestuck-anthem|Homestuck Anthem]] to imply the loop to the beginning. Worlds are created and the process of Skaia starts again. <i>(commentary redux)</i> This movement is framed as a sunset. Starting off quiet, building to a peak before shying away to where it started. You can definitely see that I was influenced into writing music from the works of Philip Glass and that is in full force here, but even in retrospect I feel like I put a great personal spin on it. @@ -222,6 +239,8 @@ Commentary: |- I wrote this the weeks following the passing of my grandmother. It will always be for her and for everything she did for me. --- Track: Revelations I +Contributors: +- Erik Scheele (performance) Duration: '1:07' URLs: - https://jamesdever.bandcamp.com/track/revelations-i @@ -235,13 +254,15 @@ Sheet Music Files: Commentary: |- <i>James Dever:</i> <i>(original commentary)</i> - Revelations is the afterthought of Sburb. The three songs were added months after the original nine were finished and pieced together into the album. They are a standalone piece from the rest of the album but still fit the concept of Sburb and Skaia. Revelations is the equivalent of The Ultimate Riddle. Solving and understanding is the purpose behind the entire concept, however it can completely be overlooked and is not necessary to completing the rest of the process. Thousands of people can play the game and create their own universes but never quite solve the riddle. In this sense, it completely is a separate entity because the other nine songs can loop freely with or without its presence. Each of the movements is based around the same arpeggio pattern featured in Chronicles. They are another journey completely. + Revelations is the afterthought of Sburb. The three songs were added months after the original nine were finished and pieced together into the album. They are a standalone piece from the rest of the album but still fit the concept of Sburb and Skaia. Revelations is the equivalent of The Ultimate Riddle. Solving and understanding is the purpose behind the entire concept, however it can completely be overlooked and is not necessary to completing the rest of the process. Thousands of people can play the game and create their own universes but never quite solve the riddle. In this sense, it completely is a separate entity because the other nine songs can loop freely with or without its presence. Each of the movements is based around the same arpeggio pattern featured in [[track:chronicles|Chronicles]]. They are another journey completely. The first movement starts off as a note in the distance, a growing concept. To the sound of a siren it grows and rushes into a full blown idea. The Homestuck Anthem is briefly mentioned to imply a connection but it just keeps going leaving it in the dust. There are better things to get to. It slowly breaks down and flows into the next movement. <i>(commentary redux)</i> Revelations is a three part finale that is completely centered on the sextuplet dominant/tonic motive introduced earlier in the album. Each movement was more exploration of how I can use the same general accompaniment but completely change the melody. <i>(commentary from movements II and III is from original booklet)</i> --- Track: Revelations II +Contributors: +- Erik Scheele (performance) Duration: '2:41' URLs: - https://jamesdever.bandcamp.com/track/revelations-ii @@ -255,6 +276,8 @@ Commentary: |- Movement II is the process of solving it almost. It's the path to enlightenment; overcoming obstacles and finding yourself along the way is part of the challenge. --- Track: Revelations III +Contributors: +- Erik Scheele (performance) Duration: '3:04' URLs: - https://jamesdever.bandcamp.com/track/revelations-iii |