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| -rw-r--r-- | album/homestuck-vol-8.yaml | 100 |
1 files changed, 49 insertions, 51 deletions
diff --git a/album/homestuck-vol-8.yaml b/album/homestuck-vol-8.yaml index 1632d937..808e66e0 100644 --- a/album/homestuck-vol-8.yaml +++ b/album/homestuck-vol-8.yaml @@ -138,13 +138,13 @@ Lyrics: |- (War, hammer, of, Zillyhoo) (War, hammer, of, Zillyhoo) Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) - "Calamity" was inspired by the very same update that inspired the Pantskat craze - the image of Gamzee returning, Warhammer of Zillyhoo in hand is translated into two sonic elements, ie honks and chanting. What I've enjoyed really intensely about Andrew's sense of humor in Homestuck and his other adventures is his gradual elevation of silly details onto the pedestals of utter drama, and with this track I tried to recreate that. You laughed at the honks and the chanting before - now your heart races (at least I hope). + "Calamity" was inspired by the very same update that inspired the Pantskat craze - [the image of Gamzee returning, Warhammer of Zillyhoo in hand](https://www.homestuck.com/story/3847) is translated into two sonic elements, ie honks and chanting. What I've enjoyed really intensely about [[artist:andrew-hussie|Andrew's]] sense of humor in Homestuck and his other adventures is his gradual elevation of silly details onto the pedestals of utter drama, and with this track I tried to recreate that. You laughed at the honks and the chanting before - now your heart races (at least I hope). - There was a certain difficulty in making "Calamity" really work for me. I had a couple of different sounds I was attempting all at once, each working on their own but sort of fighting for control when mashed together. The introduction and conclusion of the song using a theme from "Walk-Stab-Walk" needed to be really punchy, while I really needed the middle of the song to glide, and the connecting bits with the chanting needed to build and build in tension. There are a lot of different sounds in the song's palette, the most difficult of which to utilize was the enormous saw synth that dominates the middle. Getting that thing to be grand without utterly overpowering the rest of the song was incredibly difficult. + There was a certain difficulty in making "Calamity" really work for me. I had a couple of different sounds I was attempting all at once, each working on their own but sort of fighting for control when mashed together. The introduction and conclusion of the song using a theme from [[track:walk-stab-walk-rande|"Walk-Stab-Walk"]] needed to be really punchy, while I really needed the middle of the song to glide, and the connecting bits with the chanting needed to build and build in tension. There are a lot of different sounds in the song's palette, the most difficult of which to utilize was the enormous saw synth that dominates the middle. Getting that thing to be grand without utterly overpowering the rest of the song was incredibly difficult. - Overall I was really satisfied with how much excitement there is in this song. It's got a big simple melody but it doesn't outstay its welcome. As the album opener, it sets up the stakes and excitement of Homestuck without sort of beating the point into you by lasting too long. I think of it as a cousin to "Sburban Jungle" or at least another song approached in that dramatic, electronic way. + Overall I was really satisfied with how much excitement there is in this song. It's got a big simple melody but it doesn't outstay its welcome. As the album opener, it sets up the stakes and excitement of Homestuck without sort of beating the point into you by lasting too long. I think of it as a cousin to [[track:sburban-jungle|"Sburban Jungle"]] or at least another song approached in that dramatic, electronic way. The countdown sample is from a NASA recording, I believe it's the launch of Apollo 11. --- @@ -184,35 +184,35 @@ MIDI Project Files: Files: - 'Do You Remem8er Me - Quaddy (piano).mid' Commentary: |- - <i>Malcolm Brown:</i> (original commentary) + <i>Malcolm Brown:</i> (composer, original commentary) - Alas poor Vriska. This scene stood out quite a bit from the Scrapbook Near-end-of-act Scratch-a-thon as being yet more humility to Vriska as a character - first hinted at during John's talk with her around the whole 'lifdoff' time (which is also why most of the song is taken from lifdoff.) + Alas poor Vriska. This scene stood out quite a bit from the Scrapbook Near-end-of-act Scratch-a-thon as being yet more humility to Vriska as a character - first hinted at during John's talk with her around the whole 'lifdoff' time (which is also why most of the song is taken from [[track:lifdoff|lifdoff]].) - The idea was to create something vaguely romantic and a bit tragic for the whole 'd8' thing. I used lifdoff as a starting point because that's become my sort of unofficial 'John' theme - It's quite light and goofy but reasonably heroic and fantastical. Showtime shows up at around 2:17, shortly followed by a slightly modified lift from Death of the Lusii (as mentioned previously in this topic). After that it slides into an additionally modified version of Ruins/Awakening for reasons that are hopefully obvious and also because I like that tune + The idea was to create something vaguely romantic and a bit tragic for the whole 'd8' thing. I used lifdoff as a starting point because that's become my sort of unofficial 'John' theme - It's quite light and goofy but reasonably heroic and fantastical. [[track:showtime-original-mix|Showtime]] shows up at around 2:17, shortly followed by a slightly modified lift from [[track:death-of-the-lusii|Death of the Lusii]] (as mentioned previously in this topic). After that it slides into an additionally modified version of [[track:ruins|Ruins]]/[[track:awakening|Awakening]] for reasons that are hopefully obvious and also because I like that tune The main reason I made this is because Vriska's had a but few moments when she wasn't terrorizing everybody and generally acting the huge bitch. Add to this the whole 'fat vriska' thing, and the very bombastic music she's had thus far... It was nice to give her last bit of humility a soundtrack. - And the reason Vriska's actual theme doesn't show up anywhere is because I find it difficult to work with as it's kinda crazy /excuse. + And the reason [[track:spiders-claw|Vriska's actual theme]] doesn't show up anywhere is because I find it difficult to work with as it's kinda crazy /excuse. It took me about half a day to get the tambourines sounding decent and they still don't sound like what I imagined they would... Also I was trying to channel some of the style from the music of the Little Big Adventure games. The soundtrack for thems' awesome and ya'll should go listen to it! - <i>(tumblr version)</i> + <i>Malcolm Brown:</i> (composer, tumblr version) "DYRM" was essentially cre8ed as a sort of 8acking track to the John and Vriska 'date' sequence (around about here). The idea was to do a sort of schlocky romantic 8allad that combined elements of Johns goofiness but with the tragedy that hey - Vriska's dead. Over the course of it, we travel through John and Vriska's memories, and she's trying to get him to remem8er something important, so there's that element too. It's kinda sad, 8ut in a way it's also a 8it of a cele8ration of Vriska - She's surprisingly polarizing with a lot of the fan8ase, as the 8est characters often are... :p <b>THE NAME</b> - I can't immedi8ly recall if the phrase "Do You Remem8er Me?" is said by Vriska........ I think it was, 8ut it's a faff trying to navigate around that 8it of the comic (I often like na88ing song titles out of the dialogue itself - That's where At The Price Of O8livion came from and of course Sea Hitler's Water Apocalypse. If not, well it felt like as good a title as any. :p The '8' helps immediately recognise the subject matter. + I can't immedi8ly recall if the phrase "Do You Remem8er Me?" is said by Vriska........ [I think it was](https://www.homestuck.com/story/3924), 8ut it's a faff trying to navigate around that 8it of the comic (I often like na88ing song titles out of the dialogue itself - That's where [[track:at-the-price-of-oblivion|At The Price Of O8livion]] [came from](https://www.homestuck.com/story/3630) and [of course](https://www.homestuck.com/story/4852) [[track:pumpkin-party-in-sea-hitlers-water-apocalypse|Sea Hitler's Water Apocalypse]]. If not, well it felt like as good a title as any. :p The '8' helps immediately recognise the subject matter. <b>THE TRACK</b> - It's primarily "lifdoff", which I started using a sort of personal theme of John. Other slight inspirations for this track are "Anthem Part 2" from The Truman Show and a little 8it of the music of Little 8ig Adventure (primarily the use of woodwinds/percussion). + It's primarily [[track:lifdoff|"lifdoff"]], which I started using a sort of personal theme of John. Other slight inspirations for this track are ["Anthem Part 2"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-EHT3N5sOI) from The Truman Show and a little 8it of the music of Little 8ig Adventure (primarily the use of woodwinds/percussion). It starts off with a simple lightened lifdoff, which carries it for a while. The percussion at 1:09 was fun to sequence - It's mostly just a collection of taiko samples from the EWQL play library that are quite fun to work with, particularly some the articulation (The 'roll' you hear is one of 'em). What I think works quite well is the power of the Taikos with the lightness of the woodwinds - Gives it quite an emotional punch. - 1:33 is almost directly L8A inspired (The layering of the woodwind melody on 8rass I'm sure I got from there). At this point we're 8uilding up to play the 'Death of the Lusii/Awakening' 8it with a sort of alternate chord progression, but we sneak in a Showtime reference around 2:16. + 1:33 is almost directly L8A inspired (The layering of the woodwind melody on 8rass I'm sure I got from there). At this point we're 8uilding up to play the [[track:death-of-the-lusii|'Death of the Lusii]]/[[track:awakening|Awakening']] 8it with a sort of alternate chord progression, but we sneak in a [[track:showtime-original-mix|Showtime]] reference around 2:16. 2:26 is meant to directly correlated to These Two panels and is a reference to this track. @@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ Commentary: |- Overall there's quite a 8it I like about this one. The Percussion doesn't vary much, which lets it down I think (It's 8asically just the same loop for most of the song, something I'm hilariously guilty of in most everything I make :p) but it did the jo8 in giving Vriska a good sendoff. - Oh yeah - The reason it doesn't use any of Vriska's theme is because I find that theme a 8it........ All over the place ::::p Don't get me wrong, it's a cool 8it of music, 8ut I don't find it as easy to play a8out with than other tracks. 8lame my laziness! + Oh yeah - The reason it doesn't use any of [[track:vriskas-theme|Vriska's theme]] is because I find that theme a 8it........ All over the place ::::p Don't get me wrong, it's a cool 8it of music, 8ut I don't find it as easy to play a8out with than other tracks. 8lame my laziness! I also fully suspect I missed some '8's somewhere........ This stuff's harder than it looks. God help me if I try to commentary another gorram Terezi track ::::p --- @@ -252,6 +252,8 @@ MIDI Project Files: - 'Flare (Cascade) - Unknown.mid' --- Track: Galactic Cancer +Additional Names: +- Nether (original name) Artists: - Thomas Ferkol Duration: '3:36' @@ -270,13 +272,13 @@ Art Tags: - 'cw: blood (abstract)' - 'cw: body horror (abstract)' Commentary: |- - <i>Thomas Ferkol:</i> + <i>Thomas Ferkol:</i> (composer) - What started off as me meandering about with slightly odd chord progressions became a rather meandering piece in general. Originally labeled Nether, at least as the piece began to formulate, the first part quickly developed in what I hoped would be a style reminiscent of Russell Brower's music for Outland in World of Warcraft, primarily the Outland Suite and Netherstorm (what the first name referenced). + What started off as me meandering about with slightly odd chord progressions became a rather meandering piece in general. Originally labeled Nether, at least as the piece began to formulate, the first part quickly developed in what I hoped would be a style reminiscent of Russell Brower's music for Outland in World of Warcraft, primarily the [Outland Suite](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8rcQrqOjaM) and [Netherstorm](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzCLPD9iouE) (what the first name referenced). I completed most of the piece without drums or effects at first, but felt something was missing. After messing around with some different bits of drum samples, I found beats that were suitable for what I was going for, and those helped give more definition to the meter of the piece as much of it was long chords that made it hard to distinguish at times, then added some occasional filter effects to increase the overall spacey feel. - After everything was in place, I listened through it multiple times and just began to imagine Karkat's monologue about how everything was his fault and the phrase "Galactic Cancer" stuck. + After everything was in place, I listened through it multiple times and just began to imagine [Karkat's monologue](https://www.homestuck.com/story/4003) about how everything was his fault and the phrase "Galactic Cancer" stuck. --- Track: Serenade Directory: serenade-vol8 @@ -359,15 +361,15 @@ Art Tags: Referenced Tracks: - Ocean Stars Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) The [[album:squiddles|Squiddles!]] album gets no love. There, I said it. I've mentioned before how awesome it is and how dramatically it has undersold compared to the rest of our material, but apparently everyone is too terrified of its My Little Pony meets Cthulu approach to give it a shot. Trust me, you'll like it more than you think you will. - Anyway, one of the most surprising tracks on that particular album is "Ocean Stars", a peaceful, mysterious little ditty imagined by Mark with a nautical theme in mind. I thought it had a beautiful little structure, and I guess the song must have stuck with me because at some point I found myself playing its chords over and over on my keyboard faster and faster until I was sure it would make for a great little indie rock inspired track. So I did just that. + Anyway, one of the most surprising tracks on that particular album is [[track:ocean-stars|"Ocean Stars"]], a peaceful, mysterious little ditty imagined by [[artist:mark-j-hadley|Mark]] with a nautical theme in mind. I thought it had a beautiful little structure, and I guess the song must have stuck with me because at some point I found myself playing its chords over and over on my keyboard faster and faster until I was sure it would make for a great little indie rock inspired track. So I did just that. - This song takes its cues most heavily from "Regatta de Blanc" by the Police and "Life in Technicolor" by Coldplay - the meditatively simple rock backup is accompanied by a huge chorus of wordless vocals provided by countless overdubs of Tavia and myself. These middle voices are bookended by the twinkling bell sounds in the high range and the rumbling drums and guitar in the low range to make for a very full mix that really surprised me with its depth. I threw in some slowed-down bubble sounds (the same samples from "Mister Bowman Tells You About the Squiddles") to create the ocean ambiance, something I'd really gotten the chance to hear on a scuba dive I'd done over the summer. + This song takes its cues most heavily from ["Regatta de Blanc"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN-nXWHkVpA) by the Police and [[track:life-in-technicolor|"Life in Technicolor"]] by Coldplay - the meditatively simple rock backup is accompanied by a huge chorus of wordless vocals provided by countless overdubs of [[artist:tavia-morra|Tavia]] and myself. These middle voices are bookended by the twinkling bell sounds in the high range and the rumbling drums and guitar in the low range to make for a very full mix that really surprised me with its depth. I threw in some slowed-down bubble sounds (the same samples from [[track:mister-bowman-tells-you-about-the-squiddles|"Mister Bowman Tells You About the Squiddles"]]) to create the ocean ambiance, something I'd really gotten the chance to hear on a scuba dive I'd done over the summer. - This is another example of a song that has the "just right" feeling about its length. I could probably have easily repeated the vocals endlessly as though I was attempting to induce transcendental meditation - it would probably have had the same effect as "Hey Jude" or any number of other great songs. Owing though to my sense that this album was going to be a long one (my contributions alone come out to more than 20 minutes of music) I decided to capitalize on having achieved the harmony and just let it end when its thought was fully expressed, not unlike the original composition by Mark. + This is another example of a song that has the "just right" feeling about its length. I could probably have easily repeated the vocals endlessly as though I was attempting to induce transcendental meditation - it would probably have had the same effect as ["Hey Jude"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_MjCqQoLLA) or any number of other great songs. Owing though to my sense that this album was going to be a long one (my contributions alone come out to more than 20 minutes of music) I decided to capitalize on having achieved the harmony and just let it end when its thought was fully expressed, not unlike the original composition by Mark. --- Track: Escape Pod Artists: @@ -383,15 +385,15 @@ Art Tags: - CD - Rabbit Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) - Before going into a description of this track, I must make a long-overdue rebuttal to the factors that overshadowed its reception. Yes, I know this song and its track art pertain to the Wayward Vagabond. Yes, I know it's sad that Andrew "killed off" the Wayward Vagabond on the same day that this album was released. No, I had no idea that would happen nor do I care how incongruous the song's mood seems in relation to that particular plot point. + Before going into a description of this track, I must make a long-overdue rebuttal to the factors that overshadowed its reception. Yes, I know this song and its track art pertain to the Wayward Vagabond. Yes, I know it's sad that Andrew [[flash:4109|"killed off"]] the Wayward Vagabond on the same day that this album was released. No, I had no idea that would happen nor do I care how incongruous the song's mood seems in relation to that particular plot point. Anyway, now that I finally said my keep on that, "Escape Pod" was a really really fun track to do. It's a rock track with a feelgood video game attitude - I've heard it described as Sonic music a lot, though to be fair my main reference were Nintendo games, particularly Earthbound from which I borrowed the deliberately fake brass. It also shares some similarities with the Mario sound, kind of really owing to the competitive games such as Mario Kart and Mario Party. - The track also pulls a lot from actual rock music - the Roxy Music track "Street Life" was a big cue here, and the start-stop structure on the second chorus was really inspired by Tally Hall's track "<a href="https://youtu.be/8sV1EOJQTEI">Greener</a>" of which the effect can only be described in exotic dance. I really wanted to pull out the stops on this one and make it catchy as hell, but apparently the two tracks book-ending it on Volume 8 steal its thunder. + The track also pulls a lot from actual rock music - the Roxy Music track ["Street Life"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_dTFdRAvN0) was a big cue here, and the start-stop structure on the second chorus was really inspired by Tally Hall's track ["Greener"](https://youtu.be/8sV1EOJQTEI) of which the effect can only be described in exotic dance. I really wanted to pull out the stops on this one and make it catchy as hell, but apparently the [[track:ocean-stars-falling|two]] [[track:davesprite|tracks]] book-ending it on Volume 8 steal its thunder. - What more can be said about it? This is about as totally poppy (or perhaps J-poppy) as I get. Compared to stuff like "Greenhouse" and "Squiddle Samba" this track is right up my alley. It in contrast with some of the other stuff that I've made appearing on the very same album (the minimalist piece "Gust of Heir" which I collaborated on with James Dever comes to mind) you'll see that I can go just as far in the saccharine direction as I can into the abstract. For me range has always been an asset I've felt was important to nurture, so with Volume 8 I set the pace for my work ethic on Ithaca in terms of never settling to have "found my sound" no matter how well any one idea works. + What more can be said about it? This is about as totally poppy (or perhaps J-poppy) as I get. Compared to stuff like [[track:greenhouse|"Greenhouse"]] and [[track:squiddle-samba|"Squiddle Samba"]] this track is right up my alley. It in contrast with some of the other stuff that I've made appearing on the very same album (the minimalist piece [[track:gust-of-heir|"Gust of Heir"]] which I collaborated on with [[artist:james-dever|James Dever]] comes to mind) you'll see that I can go just as far in the saccharine direction as I can into the abstract. For me range has always been an asset I've felt was important to nurture, so with Volume 8 I set the pace for my work ethic on [[album:ithaca|Ithaca]] in terms of never settling to have "found my sound" no matter how well any one idea works. --- Track: Davesprite Artists: @@ -452,15 +454,15 @@ Art Tags: - Frogs - LoFaF Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) - Uh oh, Jit and I showed up to the album with the same song idea. That's like two girls showing up the party in the same dress. Awkward! Good thing for Jit and I that, like the two girls in that famous scenario, we each have our own swagga and wear those dresses like the hot young messes we are. Wow, don't quote me on that. (Too late - DPF) + Uh oh, [[artist:erik-scheele|Jit]] and I showed up to the album with the same song idea. That's like two girls showing up the party in the same dress. Awkward! Good thing for Jit and I that, like the two girls in that famous scenario, we each have our own swagga and wear those dresses like the hot young messes we are. Wow, don't quote me on that. (Too late - DPF) - Anyway, while "Frog Forager" is almost immediate in its "aw man, yeah, it's THIS kind of tune" factor for avid listeners of Homestuck music, my ditty "Frog Hunt" seems to hit a lot of people out of left field. Maybe it's because I was busy surprising myself with this one as well. + Anyway, while [[track:frog-forager|"Frog Forager"]] is almost immediate in its "aw man, yeah, it's THIS kind of tune" factor for avid listeners of Homestuck music, my ditty "Frog Hunt" seems to hit a lot of people out of left field. Maybe it's because I was busy surprising myself with this one as well. I've mentioned Weather Report a few times as an influence, and while I can't bring even a fraction of that band's musicianship to my work, I really attempted to bring their sense of atmosphere to the piece. There's a lot of elements thrown in there - the wacky time signature (17/8 if I recall correctly), the meandering syncopated piano, the funk breaks, all that latin percussion, plus a pile of odd sound effects. I threw in some frog ambiance using some really odd synthesizers and a toy accordion as well. - The point of this song was to kind of put the action, the drama, and all that teenage chemistry on hold so I could focus on a moment in the story that might be just a little bit more peaceful. Going on a safari for frogs on a newly-awakened alien forest world seems to beckon a very different angle than the heated stakes typically associated with Homestuck. Plus, I've always felt that the environment of Homestuck deserves a little more attention given that nearly 99% of all art generated by the fans are homages to their favorite characters and not the fantastic places imagined by Andrew. + The point of this song was to kind of put the action, the drama, and all that teenage chemistry on hold so I could focus on a moment in the story that might be just a little bit more peaceful. Going on a safari for frogs on a newly-awakened alien forest world seems to beckon a very different angle than the heated stakes typically associated with Homestuck. Plus, I've always felt that the environment of Homestuck deserves a little more attention given that nearly 99% of all art generated by the fans are homages to their favorite characters and not the fantastic places imagined by [[artist:andrew-hussie|Andrew]]. --- Track: Terraform Artists: @@ -483,7 +485,7 @@ Referenced Tracks: - track:terra-solatrus - track:frost-vol6 Commentary: |- - <i>Solatrus:</i> + <i>Solatrus:</i> (composer) That's a remix of Terra and (obviously) Frost. @@ -537,9 +539,7 @@ Commentary: |- I was counting [[flash:5238|"[S] Dirk: Synchronize."]] and [[flash:5252|"[S] Dirk: Unite."]] as one animation, that just happened to be chopped into two parts. Next one is [[flash:5261|EOA6.3]], at the end of Pause 2. Song: Unite Synchronization (Sometimes I name animations after songs. [[flash:1940|Descend]], [[flash:4109|Cascade]]...) By [[artist:malcolm-brown|Malcolm Brown]]. We have entered the Brown Zone. You have been warned. - <i>Malcolm Brown:</i> - - <i>(original commentary)</i> + <i>Malcolm Brown:</i> (composer, original commentary) This was an idea borne of two things. Firstly the Dave & Jade vs Noir battle in the banner (Original title was 'Redshift'), and secondly a post-scratch Dave trying to regroup with all the kids (hence - 'Unite' - keeping to the kind of single-world direction thing HS has going for it i.e. Descend, Ascend, Cascade, etc). @@ -549,7 +549,7 @@ Commentary: |- The breakbeat drum thing was also fun to do. - <i>(commentary redux)</i> + <i>Malcolm Brown:</i> (commentary redux) The idea behind this guy was something similar to the traditional idea of some HS songs being about movement ("Descend", "Ascend", "Upward Movement"), so in this case it's 4 things moving, together as one. It was becoming reasonably clear that post-scratch, we'd be separating The beta kids up a bit, and ideally, once the dust settled, they would all meet up again - This track's effectively the kids overcoming whatever barriers in their way to unite. @@ -613,11 +613,11 @@ Referenced Tracks: - Sburban Jungle - Upward Movement (Dave Owns) Commentary: |- - <i>Hilary Troiano:</i> + <i>Hilary Troiano:</i> ([Tumblr](https://jaydeis.tumblr.com/post/19609363685/someone-sent-me-a-pm-asking-for-some-commentary)) - Someone sent me a PM asking for some commentary about my two MSPA songs, so [[media:misc/hilary-troiano-commentary.mp3|here it is]]. (<a href="https://jaydeis.tumblr.com/post/19609363685/someone-sent-me-a-pm-asking-for-some-commentary">source</a>) + Someone sent me a PM asking for some commentary about my two MSPA songs, so here it is. - <b>Transcript:</b> + <i>Hilary Troiano:</i> ([[media:misc/hilary-troiano-commentary.mp3|audio commentary transcript]]) <i>(Before talking about this song, Hilary talks about her other song, [[track:ace-of-trump]], with those sections transcribed on that song's page.)</i> @@ -646,7 +646,7 @@ Cover Art File Extension: jpg Art Tags: - Terezi Commentary: |- - <i>Mark J. Hadley:</i> + <i>Mark J. Hadley:</i> (composer) I made the theme for this a long time ago for an RPG a friend was making, but then cancelled. I still really liked the theme, so I modified it slightly and repurposed it for Homestuck. Out of everything I've done for Homestuck, it's still one of my favorites. --- @@ -747,7 +747,7 @@ Cover Artists: Art Tags: - John Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) Two of the tracks I put on Volume 8 were collaborations with other Homestuck musicians, something I've been meaning to do more of because two heads are usually better than one. The first of the two was "Gust of Heir", a track that James Dever wrote and for which I did the production. @@ -796,7 +796,7 @@ Art Tags: - Denizens - LoFaF Commentary: |- - <i>Thomas Ferkol:</i> + <i>Thomas Ferkol:</i> (composer) Bargaining With the Beast was a doozy. With little conscious attempts at maintaining structure (other than the section after the intro, which appears a few times to hold things together), it can come off as a wild ride through a bunch of interesting ideas just sort of strung together like a glass mobile made with craft glue and shiny twine. And that is a pretty accurate description. @@ -804,9 +804,7 @@ Commentary: |- This is also an example of a piece where I set out with a clear mindset for what I wanted. Seeing there was no piece based on Echidna and Jade's encounters (Radiation didn't show us his tracks until around when the order was being decided hehe), I wanted something majestic and regal, something befitting of a monstrous queen in ancient stone halls of a frozen world. Eventually it developed into a sort of audio tour of Echidna's palace and highlighted the conversation, never fully revealed, that took place between Jade and Echidna as they struck a deal. - <i>Killian Ng:</i> - - (<i>Original crop of artwork as presented on Bandcamp page:</i>) + <i>Killian Ng:</i> (original artwork crop, as presented [on Bandcamp](https://web.archive.org/web/20160412142102/https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/bargaining-with-the-beast)) <img src="media/misc/bargaining-with-the-beast-crop.png" width="300"> --- @@ -862,7 +860,7 @@ Art Tags: - WQ - Ruined Earth Commentary: |- - <i>Thomas Ferkol:</i> + <i>Thomas Ferkol:</i> (composer) Questant's Lament is one of my favorite tracks that I've made. Originally for The Wanderers, because there weren't any WQ tracks and I liked her portrayal in the comic, I wanted something regal, almost stoic, but also forlorn. @@ -885,7 +883,7 @@ Art Tags: Referenced Tracks: - Explore Commentary: |- - <i>Malcolm Brown:</i> + <i>Malcolm Brown:</i> (composer) Hah! If 'Sneaking music' was a genre, here's another one to the mix. @@ -915,7 +913,7 @@ Art Tags: - The Handmaid - Doc Scratch Commentary: |- - <i>Svix:</i> + <i>Svix:</i> (composer) Havoc began as an intro section for [[track:my-hibernation|another song]] I made a while back but I quite liked the melody and decided to make a separate track out of it. I submitted it to Homestuck as I felt the chiptune nature of the piece fit in with the comic's style and I'd been wanting to write a 'Strife' type tune for some time. @@ -941,7 +939,7 @@ Art Tags: Referenced Tracks: - Atomyk Ebonpyre Commentary: |- - <i>Thomas Ferkol:</i> + <i>Thomas Ferkol:</i> (composer) Drift Into the Sun started off as me trying to emulate <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pv2LgRzvKg">the opening choir track</a> of a black metal EP. Soon some big drums and some spacey guitars found their way into the mix (in my attempts to make something on the line of ambient black or doom metal). Finally, I added Dave's "blast off" to help Rose with a metal-ified version of Atomyk Ebonpyre (which people keep requesting a full version of... maybe). @@ -974,7 +972,7 @@ MIDI Project Files: Files: - 'Infinity Mechanism - Purple1222119.mid' Commentary: |- - <i>Thomas Ferkol:</i> + <i>Thomas Ferkol:</i> (composer) Then we've got Infinity Mechanism. I am not sure what to say about it. I played live guitar and cello on it. It was one of the first full guitar based things I wrote for MSPA and the first that I used my computer to record rather than a Tascam mixing board + studio that I had used on my very old works. @@ -997,7 +995,7 @@ Referenced Tracks: - Dirgeish - Sburban Jungle Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) "Revered Return" began as a track called "Dirgeish", a .pxtone composition that Nick had completed some time ago but never managed to squeeze into an album. Because as a chip tune it had been long overlooked, I decided to take a whack at producing it in a different style for inclusion on Volume 8. I had been looking for a piece that would work as a rock tune, and "Dirgeish" really struck me because of the heavy involvement of drums, its steady pace, and dynamic structure. @@ -1005,7 +1003,7 @@ Commentary: |- The structure I think might be the most unique part of "Revered Return" - it doesn't waste time by really repeating itself a lot. Nine out of ten times I work on a song I find myself writing or arranging something that moves in a very basic structure like ABAB or AABA or other variants, etc. "Dirgeish" gave me the challenge of establishing coherency in a piece that seemed to move almost completely linearly, and I made sure to preserve its sort of ABCDEFGBA-type structure in arranging "Revered Return" for Volume 8. - <i>Nick Smalley:</i> + <i>Nick Smalley:</i> (composer) Remember that thing about ORGMaker? Yeah, this song, too. Except add me asking Andrew Huo to help finish it and Bowman to ramp it up, and you've got Revered Return. :3 --- @@ -1206,7 +1204,7 @@ Lyrics: |- If you ever go How will I ever, ever survive? Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) So, like it or not, my signature song seems to be the country ballad made famous by a movie about how Nicolas Cage and John Cusack screw up absolutely everything and destroy the Las Vegas strip. Hence, for Volume 8, I decided to do a more serious version of "How Do I Live" that doesn't mortify me entirely. @@ -1255,7 +1253,7 @@ Sheet Music Files: Files: - 'Black Hole, Green Sun - lugiaa (guitar solo).pdf' Commentary: |- - <i>Malcolm Brown:</i> + <i>Malcolm Brown:</i> (composer) Not much to say on this really except the title is kind of an ode to Soundgarden. --- |