Album: Land of Fans and Music 2
Directory: lofam2
Cover Art: Christina Lillard
Date: December 25, 2012
FG: #33a1c9
Canon: Fanon
URLs:
- https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/album/land-of-fans-and-music-2
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_Njm6JMBBED5Iz-9Cct870dIQ3ip-6dF
Commentary:
Liza Fletcher:
This album means a lot to me, for a lot of reasons. Not just because it represents literally months of planning, organization, rounds of messaging, upsets, drama, triumph and general hard work on the part of me and some very good friends of mine. Not just because we managed to get some of the top talent in the fandom to contribute not only music but track art. Not just because that talent includes music and art team members and the uniquely universally beloved superfan Dante Basco. Not just because that talent also includes many friends I love dearly, some of whom I got to know through this project.
No, this album is special to me because the original Land of Fans and Music holds a very dear place in my heart. It was the first album of Homestuck-related music I ever owned. I played it over and over, and read the album commentary until I damn near had it memorized. It was LoFaM which spurred me to stop lurking on the MSPA forums and dive headlong into the collective insanity we call Homestuck fandom. And right when I did so coincided with the start of the second fanmusic thread, and a guy named Underwater Basketweaving posting something he called Fighting Spirit. I downloaded it, loved it, and have been hip deep in collecting fanmusic - not just that already collected for my convenience in an album - ever since.
Fighting Spirit is in here, and its sequel, and many others I and my compatriots ran across in our scouring of not only the fanmusic thread but tindeck, soundcloud, tumblr and basically anywhere on the big wide internet where MSPA fans celebrate their love of this remarkable work of fiction through music.
It's my hope that, having gathered it all here for your convenience, you too are spurred to start your own search for the best, including many pieces that for one reason or another we had to leave off. The Land of Fans and Music is not just this 2-disc set or its predecessor; they're only the tip of the vast landscape of amazing talent. Come in. Explore. Get lost in it, like I did. I haven't regretted it for a second.
Special Thanks:
-CONCEPTION/ORGANIZATION-
Lambda Bledsoe
Liza Fletcher
-ORGANIZATION TEAM-
Slogbait
Veritas Unae
Rachel Rose Mitchell
Paige 'hrmnzr" Stanley
Astro Kid
clumsyroyalty (clumsyroyalty)
Shoona
Charles "Crazy-8" Neudorf
Yishan Mai (Cat Boss)
Brad "Avinoch" Griffin
Mark "Dagoth Xil" Ciocca
-MASTERING-
Brad "Avinoch" Griffin
Veritas Unae
-COMMENTARY BOOKLET-
Brad "Avinoch" Griffin
-WEBSITE CODING-
Veritas Unae
-WEBSITE HOSTING-
AndrewNeo and skaia.net
-INSPIRATION-
Andrew Hussie & What Pumpkin Studios
The Homestuck Music Team
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: •~DISK 1~•
Directory: disk1-lofam2
Artist: Veritas Unae
Track Art: none
References: The Paradox Paradigm
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/o-disk-1-o
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Chronology
Artist: Jamie Paige Stanley
Track Art: Skylar
References:
- English
- Sburban Jungle
- The Paradox Paradigm
- --Emperical
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/chronology
Commentary:
Jamie Paige Stanley:
Hi there!! Welcome to the second LOFAM. Kind of sounds like some really gangster hiphop group or something. Anyways this is a song I made JUST FOR THE ALBUM!!! Wowee. There's a lot going on here. There's the intro which is like Lord English taking a proverbial shit on everything by existing or something like that, then it sort of BLEHs and goes into the main part of the song. Right off the bat you've got Sburban Jungle's marimba part played backwards on a piano, and then there's some stuff from a fan song that I don't remember the title of. THEN there's stuff from Condy's song off the unofficial ancestor album, and some stuff from some other things. There's basically a lot of things!! It's a very thing filled song.
Skylar:
paige told me the song was about doc scratch, the condesce and lord english, and since the track was titled chronology i tried to show some sort of a progression within the track art while expressing some of the background of each character.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Jackpot
Artist: Charles Neudorf, Marcy Nabors
Track Art: 8bitkitten
References: Aggrieve
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/jackpot
Commentary:
Charles Neudorf:
Jackpot was originally "written" by me for the Homestuck music contest. I say written in quotation marks because at the time all I had was a cool basline and a title, I was in a complete musical slump on what to do with the piece, and so I turned to my friend Shadolith for help. Shadolith not only helped to come up with better ideas for the song, but actually finished most if it on her own. I'm really glad she did though, otherwise the song would have never been finished, and it wouldn't be playing in your ears right now!
8bitkitten:
Here's my track art for "Jackpot"! It's a Roxy strife theme, and since we have yet to witness such an event in Homestuck, let's make believe. ;3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Satellite Physician
Artist: Joe Ouellet
Track Art: grayscaleOddysey
References: Doctor, Penumbra Phantasm
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/satellite-physician
Commentary:
Joe Ouellet:
Before making this song, I had wanted to do a remix of Doctor for a while. There are so many remixes and different versions of this song that I knew there were infinite possibilities when it came to remixing the song. When it finally came time to start, I wanted to go for the spacey, electronic, hardcore sounding style that I attempted a little bit with [[Electrocumulus]]. This song actually turned out much better than I expected. When confronted for a name for this piece, I wanted ot name it something like "Planet Healer." I decided to just swap out a few synonyms and voila, Satellite Physician was done!
grayscaleOdyssey:
This track and cover art was featured in the Homestuck/Zelda fan adventure, Legend of Homestuck, as John's theme.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: A Study In Skaia
Artist: David Ellis
Track Art: dodostad
References: Skies of Skaia
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/a-study-in-skaia
Commentary:
David Ellis:
I don't really have much to say about this. I'd been messing about on guitar and found that most of the first theme from Skies of Skaia was playable with harmonics in standard tuning, and only the top note wasn't possible. By returning to EADF#BE and putting a capo on at the 5th fret it was possible then to play the whole thing.
The piece was originally just going to be loose reworking of Skies of Skaia using lots of acoustic guitars but then the second theme felt like it needed something more. I ended up adding drums and electric instruments for the second section to lift the piece and finished off with a little guitar improv into the quiet harmonics to finish.
I liked the alliteration in the title and it was pretty much how I thought of the piece. There's not really a reason for the hint to Sherlock Holmes.
dodostad:
I can admit that I had no idea where this was going when I painted it. I don't think I've ever drawn clouds before either haha.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Cuddlefish
Artist: Thomas Ferkol
Track Art: Seth Massey
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/cuddlefish
Commentary:
Brad Griffin:
No Commentary. Sorry fellow fans and booklet readers. No haiku this time either. Just an empty page, with nothing to entertain you except the track title, artist credits, and pretty arts to the right.
SCREW THAT.
I'm gonna fill these empty pages with a story, just for you. I haven't written anything since high school English class. You're in for a treat. It's gonna be
S
T
U
P
I
D
Florrie Haero:
(per [[LoFaM 4 standard:jungle-3]], ive highlighted commentary from people besides the original musicians or cover artists in bold!)
Brad Griffin:
DUSK FALLS ACROSS A SAFFROWN MEADOW. A SINGLE BLADE OF CRABGRASS UNDULATES VOLUMINOUSLY AMIDST THE RAPTUROUS BREEZE, ONLY TO HALT ITS SWAY SUDDENLY AND CRUNCHINGLY AS IT IS CRASSLY CRUSHED UNDERFOOT BY AN IMMENSE FOOT (SPECIFICALLY THE UNDERNEATH PART OF THAT FOOT). THE OWNER OF THE AFOREMENTIONED FOOT LOOKS DOWNWARD WITH AN AIR OF BAFFLED ASTONISHMENT< IN A SIMILAR FASHION TO HOW A MOOSE CAUGHT IN A UFO TRACTOR BEAM MIGHT LOOK AT A BLADE OF CRABGRASS IT HAD JUST TRODDEN ON. THIS ISN'T A SIMILE.
"EUUUUUUUUNGH," GROANS THE ABDUCTEE MOOSE AS IT RISES.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Rectify
Artist: Thomas Ibarra
Track Art: Seth Massey
References: Liquid Negrocity, Atomyk Ebonpyre, Showtime (Piano Refrain)
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/rectify
Commentary:
Thomas Ibarra:
My second entry to the music contest, Rectify, was a follow-up to [[Irradiated]] in that it presented the same goal of making something different with the Black/Liquid Negrocity leitmotif. In this composition, based on Cascade, the menacing tone of Black would be turned into a battle theme for the good, as if Jack had performed a heelturn in light of impressive character development. It was a fun, fulfilling project that taught me many new things.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Rabbunctious!
Artist: Brad Griffin
Track Art: Dawn Davis
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/rabbunctious
Commentary:
Brad Griffin:
The rabbit has been an evolving background character throughout the entirety of Homestuck, and I felt the most recent iteration (mischevious-robo-Strider-bunny!!!!) warranted its own theme song.
I started the track seeing just how far I could get using bouncy sound effects, record scratches and beeps. The goal was something high-energy but also a bit campy. I tried to give it a similar feel to one of the Beatdown tracks. I got a lot of great feedback from my music buds, and it evolved int othe track you hear now.
The hardest part was deciding between RamBUNNctious and RABBunctious.
Dawn Davis:
I love Lil Seb he's my baby.
I'm proud of this it was really fun to do =w=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Skaian Starstorm
Artist: Astro Kid
Track Art: Dawn Davis
References: Skaian Skirmish, Skaian Shuffle
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/skaian-starstorm
Commentary:
Brad Griffin:
NO COMMENTARY HERE!
continued from [[Cuddlefish]];
AN EERILY IRRIDESCENT INCANDESCENCE ENVELOPS THE BEHEMOTH ELK AS IT JOURNEYS HEAVENWARD, UNWILLINGLY ABANDONING THE FLATTENED DIGITARIUM STRAND IN FAVOUR OF THE CHILL EMPTINESS OF THE FRIGID EVENING ATMOSPHERE. DEER-TICKS ATTEMPT TO EVACUATE THEIR MANGY HOST, ONLY TO FIND THEMSELVES DRAWN CONGRUENTLY SKYWARD. OAK-LIKE LIMBS THRASH FLACIDLY, FLAILING FRUITLESSLY FOR A FOOTHOLD, BUT FINDING FEWER THAN FEW. AFTER A SCANT MOMENT OF MOOSE DESPAIR, THE HULKING BEAST RESIGNS ITSELF TO INEVITABILIT, AND CEASES ITS STRUGGLE.
AS IF SENSING THE CHANGE IN THE CAPTIVE CREATURE'S DEMEANOR, THE ASCENT SEEMS TO STEADY AND SWIFTEN.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Good Dog (Best Friend)
Artist: Yishan Mai
Track Art: Christina Lillard
References: Courser, Carefree Action
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/good-dog-best-friend
Commentary:
Yishan Mai:
~ in loving memory of becquerel ~
He was a good dog, and the best friend anyone could ever hope to have.
Christina Lillard:
I was inspired by the pesterlog on page 6758 4858. Even thuogh I had heard this track long before that update, when I listened to it again to get an idea for what kind of track art I'd like to draw for it, all I could think of was that pesterlog about alpha Jade.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Unforgiving Terrain
Artist: Eston Schweickart
Track Art: Cap
References:
- Endless Expanse
- Carapacian Dominion
- Ruins
- Growing Up
- Gilded Sands
- Nightmare
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/unforgiving-terrain
Commentary:
Eston Schweickart:
I wrote Unforgiving Terrain shortly after The Wanderers album came out. It was just an excuse to have fun with sound design and listen to Carapacian Dominion over and over. It's called Unforgiving Terrain because titles are hard. The project file is called Frozen Ruins but I guess I didn't use that name because I ended up not including Frost like I had planned.
Cap:
After the original art file crashed like a piping hot baby on a meteor, I decided to create an Egyptian hieroglyphic-ish piece for this song because you know, DESERTS and WANDERERS and WOW JUST GOSH. But I also wanted to add in some of WV's little cahlk drawings too because it's cute! I mean, come on. Look at them, being happy and carefree and unaware. Yes, I know deep in my heart that this story will have a very happy end. No doubts about it. *insert evil laughter here*
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: CR1M1N4L, CR1M1N4L
Artist: Rachel Rose Mitchell
Track Art: Pandora
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/cr1m1n4l-cr1m1n4l
Lyrics:
Well, what have we here?
The accursed sits and shakes with fear.
You know how that makes me...
...makes me grin from ear to ear!
Your lemony fear isn't all I can smell.
You're not hiding your deceit very well.
Tell us, you swindler, what drove you to such crimes.
And hurry it up, don't waste tyrannical time!
Criminal, Criminal! To the window!
Criminal, Criminal! It's your fault, you know.
Criminal, Criminal! It's your time to go.
I'll secure the rope and you're out with a throw.
Hey, crinimal scum, let's make this a game.
If this coin lands heads, I'm clearing your name.
Justice is serious, justice is fun.
I would never rest until justice was done!
What's that? The coin has landed, you plea?
What do you mean? There's no coin I can see.
Are you picking on me because I am blind?
That's pretty heinous! I can't help my eyes!
Criminal, Criminal! To the window!
Criminal, Criminal! It's your fault, you know.
Criminal, Criminal! It's your time to go.
I'll secure the rope and you're out with a throw.
Criminal, Criminal! To the window!
Criminal, Criminal! It's your fault, you know.
Criminal, Criminal! It's your time to go.
I'll secure the rope and you're out with a throw.
A job well done. Justice is served.
After all, it's what he deserved.
It sure is delicious to win yet again.
Victory still counts even if it's pretend.
(repeat)
Criminal, Criminal! To the window!
Criminal, Criminal! It's your fault, you know.
Criminal, Criminal! It's your time to go.
I'll secure the rope and you're out with a throw.
Criminal, Criminal! To the window!
Criminal, Criminal! It's your fault, you know.
Criminal, Criminal! It's your time to go.
I'll secure the rope and you're out with a throw.
Commentary:
Rachel Rose Mitchell:
L3T TH1S B3 4 L3SSON TO 4LL OF TH3 PROSP3CT1V3 CR1M1N4LS OUT TH3R3
1 4M 4LW4YS W4TCH1NG
F1GUR4T1V3LY
>:]
>:]
>:]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Squiddles In Sunglasses
Artist: Eston Schweickart
Track Art: RaChoTamer
References: Friendship is Paramount, Squiddle Samba
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/squiddles-in-sunglasses
Commentary:
Eston Schweickart:
Squiddles in Sunglasses was originally part of a 6-part Homestuck medley that as going tobe around 12 minutes long when finished. Halway through I realized that I didn't like anything was writing, so I did what any good artist does when faced with self-doubt and gave up. A few months later I listened to the old project files again and liked this part enough to make it its own piece. I think inspiration for this style came from Average White Band's Pick Up the Pieces but I acn't remember for sure.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: JackBot
Artist: Astro Kid
Track Art: Brenden Cameron
References: Jackpot
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/jackbot
Commentary:
Brad Griffin:
NO COMMENTARY HERE!
continued from [[Skaian Starstorm]]...
AS THE ANTLERED ALCES ACCELERATES ITS ASCENSION, ABJECT AWE ASSUAGES ANXIOUSNESS. IT IS DAZZLED BY THE GOLDEN TUNDRA STRETCHING BEYOND THE MOONLIT HORIZON, CUMULUS CLOUds STreAKING BY LIKE A NUDE ATTENTION SEEKER AT A SPORTS MATCH. AS IF COMPLETING THE METAPHOR, THERE IS ALSO A NUDE MAN FLOATING ALONGSIDE.
"Well, hiya!" EXCLAIMS THE RUDELY PROTRUDING GENT, WITH UNNERVINGLY BOISTEROUS VIGOR.
"MMMRNGUUUUH," RESPONDS OUR HOVED HERO, IN KIND.
"Quite a view, eh?"
"GNRGUUMGH"
THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES IN THIS MANNER FOR SEVERAL VAPID MINUTES, BUT IS BROUGHT TO A SWIFT END BY THEIR ARRIVAL AT THE MYSTERIOUS AIRBOURNE VESSEL.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Crystalguitarthemums
Artist: Erik Scheele
Track Art: dodostad
References: Crystalanthemums
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/crystalguitarthemums
Commentary:
Erik Scheele:
one day I found a guitar thing and messed around with crystalanthemums
that's it
dodostad:
I thought about drawing Vriska andAradia, but somehow this song reminded me of Jade. I don't remember seeing much art of her and Bec so I thought I'd fix that!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: The Ballad of Maplehoof
Artist: Ian White, Lauren Collis, Mike Anderson
Track Art: Shoona
References: Pony Chorale, Upward Movement (Dave Owns)
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/the-ballad-of-maplehoof
Lyrics:
Come gather round me, children
I'll sing you the tale
The Ballad of Maplehoof
Though she was but a foal
Her story touched us all
Sing the Ballad of Maplehoof
Maplehoof, Maplehoof
Ride, Maplehoof, Ride
Now circumstances brought her
From mother to daughter
A gift in cruel irony
Though an instrument of scorn
Our hero saddled on
And perhaps taught young Lalonde
To love a pony
She followed the Mother
To a land unlike no other
A land of Light and Rain
She helped to gather grist
At great personal risk
And probably did it
A couple times again
And soon, without fail
Found herself in the Veil
The conception of heroes
The beginning of our tale
Now a pony without rider
Found solace in young Strider
The knight had taken his steed
She accompanied him to Earth
Mere minutes after birth
Riding atop celestial seed
And they flew through the sky
A streak of pink and white
Young strider lay safely in tow
But our equestrian martyr
Her life for his was bartered
And her body slaughtered by Bro
And I'm never one to fib
She made him one fine bib
And protected his breast from stain
Though without her skin
Chances seemed quite dim
That she'd ever go riding again
Maplehoof, Maplehoof
Ride, Maplehoof, Ride
And the fight, it marches on
But here we sing her song
The Ballad of Maplehoof
Though she was but a mare
Her body was not spared
Though she was but a horse
History changed its course
Though she was but a foal
Her story touched us all
Sing the Ballad of Maplehoof
Sing the Ballad of Maplehoof
Ride, you Maplehoof, Ride!
(hyah!)
Commentary:
Ian White:
I wrote these lyrics around the time that Maplehoof died in-story. I didn't put it ot music though until after she had been revived as Minihoof. Kinda saps the poignancy right out of it. The lovely Lauren Collis sings vocals and the ever-punctual Mike Anderson provides the real life guitars. Sound effects provided by Mother Nature!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Rainbow Rebirth
Artist: David Ellis
Track Art: Maddie Haines
References: Savior of the Waking World
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/rainbow-rebirth
Commentary:
Davlid Ellis:
This piece was written for Kanaya and was essentially supposed to be a kind of score for the unseen scene where she wakes up as a rainbow drinker. The non-scene this is a score for follows the structure of '[S] John: Rise Up' somewhat, with the middle horn stab section hinting towards one of the themes from Savior of the Waking World/Doctor but being off somehow (shifting time signatures too) to try to show the different nature of her return. The scene for the piece ends when she goes all vampirey on Feferi.
Rejected alternate title: 'All the colours of the rainbow (are delicious)'
Maddie Haines:
I saw the name Rainbow Rebirth and immediately wanted to do something cool with Kanaya and her fairly new rainbow drinker status, since I was pretty dang sure that was what the title was referencing. Since it was her care for the matriorb that led up to her transformation, I thought it made the most sense to include it, as well as rainbow colors, obviously, into this picture.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Psychedelic Psychodelic
Artist: Yishan Mai
Track Art: Amethyst Barron
References:
- Atomyk Ebonpyre
- English
- Liquid Negrocity
- The Ballad of Jack Noir
- Walk-Stab-Walk (R&E)
- Let's All Rock the Heist
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/psychedelic-psychodelic
Commentary:
Yishan Mai:
Well, here you are.
Big guy's got a fancy gun, and all you've got is a bloody knife.
But it's gonna be enough. It always has been.
You've slaughtered all them torsos, now it's time to wreck the head.
What are you waiting for?
Draw, Spades.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Flare (With Vocals)
Artist: horizon
Track Art: PV
References: Flare
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/flare-with-vocals
Lyrics:
Things fall apart so easily;
they break away at the seams
And it seems
this is the life I was fated to lead
Dreams dead in the water
and you ought to let them pass
I wanted something better than this;
than a postmortem kiss
and three years to miss you
but it seems that's all I'm gonna get;
it's best to forget
Last night I dreamt of you -
you were beautiful, amidst a sky of blue
It was only the two of us,
hearts beating synchronously
Do you feel for me?
I heard a song the other day;
it reminded me of the way
I love you
and how I never got to say that to you
So many things I wanted to do;
so many dreams
left for dead in the water
drowned and gone;
just smile and let them go
I wanted so much more
than a game we were born to lose
I wanted so much more
so much more for you
Commentary:
horzion:
Flare has always struck a place in my heart, for many reasons. Plazmataz has always, always impressed me, but Flare just evoked something simply rawin the depths of my mind; I knew then that I had to use that feeling as a kind of empathy towards the Beta kids. Though it was used in a specific moment in canon, I chose to write lyrics from the point of view I could most appreciate -- the pain associated with love when life hands you something you don't know how to survive.
PV:
I have been listening to Horizon's renditions of Homestuck music with her lyrics for a while now, and Flare has always been my favorite one she did. I hoped I could make a picture that represents the feeling of closeness beween the four kids ingetting through the game that I feel in the words she wrote.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Sports
Artist: Jamie Paige Stanley
Track Art: Spectrumfizz
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/sports
Commentary:
Jamie Paige Stanley:
Hey, you. Yeah, you. No, this isn't Paige speaking. It's Florrie. Me. Please, for goodness sake, tell me that I forgot to embed the commentary image for this track here. I don't have access to the booklet on which I'm writing this ATM, so I can't grab a screenshot. Plz. Thank you.
got it lol
Spectrumfizz:
dude come check this out hummusr is like one of my favoprite musicans so i made a thnig for this MAD TRACK
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Dirgeish
Artist: Nick Smalley, Andrew Huo
Track Art: Seth Massey
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/dirgeish
Commentary:
Nick Smalley:
Dirgeish was made in 2008, a year before Homestuck even started! Crazy, right? Who ever thought life existed before Homestuck, ha ha ha... I made the original in about an hour, and when I got on the Homestuck music team, I had the help of Adghar (Andrew Who!!!!) to complete it!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Electrocumulus
Artist: Joe Ouellet
Track Art: plaidcushion
References: Pyrocumulus (Kickstart), Skaian Skuffle
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/electrocumulus
Commentary:
Joe Ouellet:
Electrocumulus is a remix of Pyrocumulus by RJ Lake and was my first ever attempt at remixing an official Homestuck track. Looking back, I have no idea why I chose to remix this song in particular; it must have just been stuck in my head that day. As one could gather from the title, this remix is supposed to be an upbeat, elecronic remix. As I was composing, it seemed to turn into a dance track of sorts. The genre still fit my idea, so I kept going. I think it was a rather successful first Homestuck remix.
plaidcushion:
The songs this was remixed from are associated with Skaia and the battlefield, but I thought that Electrocumulus was way too high energy and fun for something like that. I decided to go for the next best thing- John speeding through Skaia and plowing through clouds in his Dad's car! As it turns out, exploded clouds are also rpetty fun to cut out with a scalpel.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Three in the Morning (Kali's 2 in the AM PM Edit)
Artist: Kalibration
Track Art: Toon Lettuce
References: Three in the Morning (RJ's I Can Barely Sleep In This Casino Remix)
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/three-in-the-morning-kalis-2-in-the-am-pm-edit
Commentary:
Kalibration:
Its a song, I made it, the computer
Great it's RJ music track enjoyed, that could bring
(⅃°ヘ°)⅃
yeah i dont know how i feel about that track i guess its a song and i made it ans well, thats more than i can say for a lot of things
Lambda Bledsoe:
kali has such a way with words
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Showtime (End Strife Remix)
Artist: Plumegeist
Track Art: devonianecho
References:
- Showtime (Original Mix)
- Showtime (Piano Refrain)
- Sburban Jungle
- I Don't Want to Miss a Thing
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/showtime-end-strife-remix
Commentary:
Plumegeist:
I composed SHowtime End Strife remix roughly five months after the time I got into Homestuck. Around this time I was still really just a budding musician, and I wanted to make something heavy out of the Showtime theme by Malcolm Brown. The idea was imagining what kind of soundtrack would be backing the kids as they face Lord English in a climactic battle. I was proud of it at the time but in retrospect it never really aged that well. Despite this it remained one of my most popular works.
Around the time I finished [[Rust Maid]] and [[Orange Hat]], I was approached for the inclusion of the remix in LOFAM2. While I was happy to have the opportunity to give people the download so many of them clamored for, I really, really had to fix so many of its glaring issuse, and as such I remastered it for the album.
devonianecho:
Showtime has always been one of the most memorable pieces of music in Homestuck, forever representing a (if not the) quintiessential "strife" theme. With this in mind, I think I had almost too much freedom in choosing the conflict I wanted to depict in this piece. Initially, I was going to make it John vs. Dad from Act 1... but that ended up being a little too underwhelming in comparison to the song it was for. So, in the end, I settled upon focusing the piece on a determined-looking John about to face down the underling horde at the beginning of Cascade. I'm pretty happy with the end result.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Soulb0t
Artist: Charles Neudorf
Track Art: Somnivus
References: psych0ruins
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/soulb0t
Commentary:
Charles Neudorf:
Soulb0t was conceived after I tried writing the familiar Psych0ruins apreggio to test out a new synth I downloaded. It sounded really cool to me, so I figured "why not just write an electronic remix of Psych0ruins all together." So I did just that. It took a while to get the melody jsut right, and if it wasn't for the various friends who helped me to decide what osunded good or bad, this song wouldn't have sounded nearly as good.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Fighting Spirit
Artist: Kevin Grant
Track Art: AS
References:
- Doctor
- Showtime (Original Mix)
- Beatdown (Strider Style)
- Pumpkin Cravings
- Chorale for Jaspers
- BL1ND JUST1C3 : 1NV3ST1G4T1ON !!
- Atomyk Ebonpyre
- Horschestra
- MeGaLoVania
- Spider's Claw
- Walk-Stab-Walk (R&E)
- Liquid Negrocity
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/fighting-spirit
Commentary:
Kevin Grant:
My goal was to mash up as many Homestuck songs as I could. I ended up mixing 12 together. I really think the part at the end with Black, Showtime and Beatdown works well, and I discovered that Showtime is the Homestuck equivalent of Guile's Theme: It goes with everything.
AS:
Listening to Fighting Spirit the first time kind of got me nostalgic for the old Strife pages, with their chiptune music. You know, waaaay back in the beginning of the comic when the Beta kids were still on planet Earth and were being harassed by trolls. So nearly a year later, I figured that a strife page would make for an excellent cover. Admittedly action poses have always been a weakness of mine, so I probably drew each kid at least twice for this cover until I was satisfied. Still though, I'm happy with how the art came out. Hopefully I did this awesome track justice.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Irradiated
Artist: Thomas Ibarra
Track Art: Spectrumfizz
References:
- Harlequin
- Liquid Negrocity
- Sburban Jungle
- Carefree Action
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/irradiated
Commentary:
Thomas Ibarra:
Irradiated is really an identifying track for my work, I've been told before that this track is the first that came to mind when mentioning my callsign SparksD2145. Similarly to a good portion of my work Black/Liquid Negrocity's leitmotif plays a prominent feature in the composition, providing the base melody for the entire track. The idea for Irradiated spurred from Jade: Enter, as a high-velocity and energetic track with none other than Jack Noir at the center; my goal was to take Black and give it a different feel. After a short hiatus, my track Irradiated featured in my first tribute animation on YouTube for Homestuck.
Spectrumfizz:
Irradiated is among the first Homestuck fanmusic tracks I ever heard, so I was very pleased to be able to create art to accompany it on LOFAM2. I decided to draw inspiration from AutoDevote's first HS fanimation, which to this day remains one of my favourite Homestuck videos. I'm not particularly apt at composition or shading or several other things, but I'm pretty happy with what I accomplished here.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: He Is Already Here
Artist: Brenden Cameron
Track Art: clumsyroyalty
References: Rhapsody in Green, English, Sburban Jungle
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/he-is-already-here
Commentary:
Brenden Cameron:
Ever since 'The Felt' came out, I've been in love with that piano ditty at the start of Variations and in the reversed Rhapsody in Green.
So a while ago I started fiddling around in Garageband, seeing if I could make a decent remix out of it. The more I worked on it, the more I noticed the composition was bearing a strong resemblance to Rob Douganí's "Clubbed to Death", so I kind of ran with that influence, and this is the result.
When the Homestuck fanmusic competition was announced, I made some updates to the song and tried submitting it for that (special thanks to Jit for offering some last minute advice).
This song holds a lot of personal importance to me. Before this piece I had never ever brought a composition to a completed state, let alone posted it for the world to see. Obviously I still have much room for improvement, but the fact that my debut work has received such positive feedback has been a huge encouragement.
Thank you all for listening!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Rise of the Denizens
Artist: Domble
Track Art: Christina Lillard
References:
- Courser
- Earthsea Borealis
- Upward Movement (Dave Owns)
- Ruins
- Dawn of Man
- the rose rap
- Cascade
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/rise-of-the-denizens
Commentary:
Domble:
The original version of the track sounded nothing like this. What I want is for people who heard the first one to think, "wow, this guy really got less bad in a year." It references all the songs it originally did, whether in the same basic way (Courser, Ruins) or differently (Dawn of Man, the rose rap).
That one terrible LEGENDARY ENDLESS DVS SAX song I amde almost went on the album instead of this and I felt like paying tribute to it, so that's where the little sax rif came from.
Christina Lillard:
I had the feeling that I had to met some pretty high expectations when I was called upon to draw this one, so I was pretty nervous about doing it. I spent a long time mulling over how I was going to go about drawing this track art after I completed the art for Stalemate. We don't know nearly as much about the denizens as we do about the kids or the trolls or even the carapacians, but I took what we do know about the beta kids' denizens and ran with it.
Brad Griffin:
note: Lunise wrote seven paragraphs about the creative process behind this wonderful art piece. I can only fit the first one on the page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Sburban Genesis
Artist: Lark Mordancy
Track Art: plaidcushion
References: Dawn of Man, Sburban Jungle, Exodus
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/sburban-genesis
Commentary:
Lark Mordancy:
Though Sburban Jungle was the first song to hook me on Michael Guy Bowman's music, my heart lies with Mobious Trip and Hadron Kaleido. Dawn of Man is a favorite of mine from that album, and it also happens to be a partial remix of Sburban Jungle. In the Homestuck tradition, the natural thing to do then was mix them together, along with a cameo from Exodus, featured in SBURB. The instruments are based primarily on Dawn of Man, bringing in some of Sburban Jungle's mallet percussion and a few of my own additions. The result is Sburban Genesis, a song ultimately inspired by the mysterious origins of the game and its multi-universal legacy.
plaidcushion:
This really sounded like a night time kind of song to me, which I think went nicely with the baby frog Jade finds on her island as a kid. He's a pretty cute little guy, but his role carries a lot of weight, so I think he fits the song pretty well.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Who Mourns for Jack Noir?
Artist: Nitrosparxx
Track Art: Corrina
References: Liquid Negrocity, The Beginning of Something Really Excellent
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/who-mourns-for-jack-noir
Commentary:
Nitrosparxx:
Quite possibly the saddest piece of music I've ever written. This was what I was originally going to use for the fan album, but I decided to drop it half way through making it on the grounds that it didn't sound like a Homestuck song. Jack Noir (and by extension, Bec Noir) always struck me as a tragic character. The way I see it, he's always violent because of the abuse he receives from the black queen. He's physically shut down all other emotions save for hatred because as far as he's concerned, there is no such thing. However things change for him when Bec becomes prototyped. He suddenly has a heart and has new feelings. Bec's influence taught him what it's like to feel for someone else, although Jack desperately tried so hard to ignore these feelings. When Jade died, Jack finally knew what it felt to lose someone so close to your heart. A tragic character indeed...
Corrina:
Given the fact that the song references Jade's theme, I thought that I'd go with something that has to do with the characters' relationship. in the picture, I had originally intended Jade to be a sort-of ghost image, as if she wasn't really there. I wanted to show that Jack was alone, but I later changed that aspect, despite how much I loved the idea. Making her more faded created imbalance in the work, and the details were also washed out.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: The Seer and the Tribesmen
Artist: Thomas Ferkol
Track Art: Dawn Davis
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/the-seer-and-the-tribesmen
Commentary:
Brad Griffin:
No commentary here!
continued from [[JackBot]];
THE LUMINESCENT AURA SUBSIDES, AND BOTH OF THE UNCLOTHED EARTH CREATURES ARE PLUNGED INTO INKY BLACK DARKNESS. FAINT SOUNDS AND METALLIC SCRATCHING SUGGEST NEARBY MOVEMENT. THE MOOSE IS VISIBLY SHAKEN... AT LEAST IT WOULD BE IF IT WERE VISIBLE TO ANYBODY. BUT IT ISN'T BECAUSE OF THE DARKNESS.
BUZZING FLUORESCENT LIGHTS FLICKER ON, REVEALING A VAST DOMED ROOM. IN THE CORNER, WHAT CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS A CROSS BETWEEN A GIANT SQUID AND A CORGI FIDDLES WITH A PANEL ON SOME MYSTERIOUS MACHINERY. THE NUDIST EMOTES IN SURPRISE. THIS CATCHES THE ALIEN'S ATTENTION, AND IT ABANDONS ITS FORMER TASK, APPROACHING THE NEW ARRIFALS EXCITEDLY. WITH ITS SOFT, FURRY TENTACLES GESTICULATING WILDLY, IT GESTURES TOWARD WHAT ONE CAN ONLY ASSUME IS ITS TORSO. UPON CLOSE INSPECTION, IT IS WEARING A NAME TAG THAT READS:
Hello, My Name Is
BNORKEL
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Four
Artist: Trent West
Track Art: Nekachen
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/four
Commentary:
Nekachen:
When I listened to Four for the first time, I imagined the entire Incipisphere as if it were one of those cool panoramic views of the universe. The title more than likely relates to the planets the kids arrive upon in the Medium, so I decided to use that aspect to create the basis of my idea. I recreated most of the planets from scratch while using references, used *tons* of Photoshop effects to create shading and light sources, and utilized stock images to create what I believe represents the "Four" planets within the Incipisphere that the song centers around.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Prospitian Lullaby
Artist: Jamie Paige Stanley
Track Art: Shoona
References: Homestuck Anthem, Sburban Jungle
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/prospitian-lullaby
Commentary:
Jamie Paige Stanley:
Hello again!! Disk one is coming to a close. I hope you've enjoyed the fan land and of music so far!! This is a lullaby based mostly off of Homestuck Anthem by Clark "Plazmataz" Powell and Sburban Jungle by Michael Guy Bowman. It's really slowa nd sweet and has my favorite chord thingy ever which is the F to F minor thing going on there. It's all in all a song that you hopefully fall asleep listening to because that's what it's supposed to do!! And you might need a nap after listening to disk one. In fact, for the full Land of Fans and Musics Experience The Second™, take a nap in between the two disks. Yes. Anyways, I hope you enjoy our musical stylings and that you don't buy this album because that's illegal.
Brad Griffin:
[END OF DISK 1]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: •~Disk 2~•
Directory: disk2-lofam2
Artist: Veritas Unae
Track Art: melodiousDiscord
References: White King, Sburban Jungle
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/o-disk-2-o
Commentary:
Lambda Bledsoe:
Hi. I'm Lambda Bledsoe, or Xzaz. I started the project to put LoFaM2 together.
I started reading Homestuck because of the music. It's fantastic.
In some cases even moreso than the official music, the music that fans have made for it.
This is to be expected, considering..... this album.
I don't have some whimsical, vaguely inspiring words to put here, but thanks to everyone that helped make ths labum and everyone that's listened to it!
-λ
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Brofessor Layton (Every Puzzle Has A Brolution)
Artist: Ian White
Track Art: doctoroftime
References:
- GameBro (Original 1990 Mix)
- Layton's Theme
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/brofessor-layton-every-puzzle-has-a-brolution
Commentary:
Ian White:
This is... this is I don't know. I think Neudorf told me to do this, so I did it. It works pretty good.
doctoroftime:
Te song was a Gamebro remix and I had just figured out that Bro Strider probably writes Gamebro so it was obvious that a Professor Layton x Homestuck crossover needde to happen. I looked at the covers of the Layton games and basically just went for it.
And because Professor Layton has tons of weird puzzle shit that no one ever questions and Homestuck is the exact same.
Plus I wanted Bro in a nifty tophat and Dave in Lambda's snazzy sweater.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: ElecTrollCopSwing
Artist: Astro Kid
Track Art: Rachel Weiss
References: Revolution 909, Trollcops, Fuck tha Police
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/electrollcopswing
Commentary:
Rachel Weiss:
I was thinking that it would be in a speakeasy during the jazz era, and Terezi is there undercover to knock heads and bring the sweet taste of justice to miscreats and wrong-doers. Or something like that, heh heh.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Dance-Stab-Dance
Artist: Yishan Mai
Track Art: Dawn Davis
References:
- MeGaDanceVaNia
- Walk-Stab-Walk (R&E)
- Time on My Side
- Even in Death
- Gaia Queen
- Endless Climb
- Olive Rogue
- Ruins
- Lotus
- BL1ND JUST1C3 : 1NV3ST1G4T1ON !!
- Chorale for Jaspers
- Another Jungle
- Let's All Rock the Heist
- Derse Dreamers
- Carbon Nadsat / Cuestick Genius
- Three in the Morning
- Liquid Negrocity
- Under the Hat
- Frost:frost-vol6
- Rex Duodecim Angelus
- A Taste for Adventure
- Infinity Mechanism
- Ocean Stars Falling
- Love You (Feferi's Theme)
- Ohgodwhat
- Courser
- Dance of Thorns
- Unite Synchronization
- Upward Movement (Dave Owns)
- Fly
- Vagabounce
- Cascade (Beta)
- Flare
- Savior of the Dreaming Dead
- Black Hole / Green Sun
- At The Price of Oblivion
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/dance-stab-dance
Commentary:
Yishan Mai:
I've wanted to make a squel for MeGaDanceVaNia for a while, but only recently did I actually get around to it. Some songs are in here because they were in flashes; others are in here because they're my personal favorites, like Gaia Queen. And Infinity Mechanism is in there because Thomas once complained that no one remixed his songs, so THAT'S FOR YOU THOMAS.
The full list of songs is on the next page below, so I'm just going to run over what I consider to be the hgihlights of this song:
- Another Jungle + Let's All Rock The Heist
- ELECTORSWING TROLLCOPS
- Frost/Rex Duodecim Angelus/A Taste for Adventure
- Infinity Mechanism
- Courser + Dance of Thorns
- Unite Synchronization -> Fly -> Vagabounce
- C a s c a d e suite esp. Saviour of the Dreaming Dead
Which parts were YOUR favorites? ;3
DANCE-STAB-DANCE
Full Breakdown
- 0:00 - [[Walk-Stab-Walk (R&E)]]
- 0:17 - [[Time on My Side]]
- 0:34 - [[Even in Death]]
- 0:46 - [[Gaia Queen]]
- 0:57 - [[Endless Climb]]
- 1:11 - [[Olive Rogue]]
- 1:26 - [[Ruins (With Strings)]]
- 1:38 - [[Lotus]]
- 1:49 - [[BL1ND JUST1C3 : 1NV3ST1G4T1ON !!]]
- 2:07 - [[Chorale for Jaspers]]
- 2:24 - [[Another Jungle]]
- 2:30 - [[Let's All Rock the Heist]]
- 2:47 - [[Derse Dreamers]]
- 2:57 - [[Carbon Nadsat / Cuestick Genius]]
- 3:10 - [[Three in the Morning]]
- 3:22 - [[Black]]
- 3:33 - [[Trollcops]]
- 3:57 - [[Frost:frost-vol6]]
- 4:08 - [[Rex Duodecim Angelus]]
- 4:20 - [[A Taste for Adventure]]
- 4:43 - [[Infinity Mechanism]]
- 5:06 - [[Ocean Stars Falling]]
- 5:11 - [[Love You (Feferi's Theme)]]
- 5:41 - [[Ohgodwhat]]
- 5:47 - [[Courser]] & [[Dance of Thorns]]
- 6:15 - [[Unite Synchronization]]
- 6:27 - [[Upward Movement (Dave Owns)]]
- 7:02 - [[Fly]]
- 7:13 - [[Vagabounce]]
- 7:36 - [[Walk-Stab-Walk (R&E)]] & [[Time on My Side]]
- 8:57 - [[Cascade (Beta)]]
- 9:20 - [[Flare]]
- 9:44 - [[Savior of the Dreaming Dead
- 10:07 - [[Black Hole / Green Sun]]
- 10:53 - [[At The Price of Oblivion]]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Trapped
Artist: Yan Rodriguez
Track Art: Gunsandwwands
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/trapped
Commentary:
Yan Rodriguez:
Back when I had a far more depressing view on being trapped in the veil I wanted to make a short tune for it using a chrod progression I played on piano all the time and really wanted to use. Reminds me a bit of how some of the chords go in Shadow of the Colossus, but a lot less epic.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Til The Last Breath
Artist: Brenden Cameron
Track Art: Racheme
References:
- Showtime (Original Mix)
- Doctor
- Sburban Jungle
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/till-the-last-breath
Commentary:
Brenden Cameron:
Originally titled 'A Heroic Death', this song was my second entry into the Homestuck Fanmusic contest, as well as the second song I've ever released in general.
My intention at the outset of the contest was to write a theme for Tavros, my patron Troll and a character who I thought would otherwise be under-represented among the competition. However, every time I sat down to work on the song, I found myself experimenting with several of John's themes instead. Eventually I relented and combined those experiments into a song for John.
Even though neither of my entries was selected for the contest album, I'm still immensely grateful ro the experience. The process of preparing my songs for the competition taught me a lot about music production and showed me some of the areas I might improve on in future (specifically: I need to stop quoting existing songs so much and focus on creating original melodies).
So again, thank you Andrew and everyone on the music team; both for that opportunity and for all your creative work which inspired me in the first place. Thanks Jit for offering some last minute advice (though I didn't get a chacne to implement half of those suggestions...). And, of course, thank you Liza and Xzaz for organizing this second Homestuck Fan Music Album; your dedication adn enthusiasm is truly an inspiration.
Racheme:
This shows little John asking his odler self if they saved Dad from the game. I wanted to reflect some inner workings in John's mind, he still thinks about his only family rather than simply drawing him as powerful and never giving up like in most pictures.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: The Note Desolation Plays
Artist: Max Wright
Track Art: Fortnight
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/the-note-desolation-plays
Commentary:
Max Wright:
This is quite an old piece of mine, written mid-January 2010. As the title suggests, I wanted to write something that represented the first act of Homestuck, to capture the feeling of the story as we are introduced to its darker elements - the Wind Skims the Void flash is a good example to use. That page is almost like a title screen for the webcomic as a whole, not giving away a thing, but nudging ever so slightly towards things to come; likewise, the repeating piano ostinato in here pays tribute to the Chrono Trigger title music. Little did we know at the time, though, how destructive the conductor's baton can be.
Here's hoping for a happy ending.
Fortnight:
First of all - I love this track, it sounds to me like the start of something new, with hope and high expectations thrown in. I drew this track art based off that mood and also the unnamed flash from Act 1, page 1982 82.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: I'm The Doctor
Artist: Veritas Unae
Track Art: Strideer
References: Doctor, Doctor Who Theme
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/im-the-doctor
Commentary:
Veritas Unae:
I recall this was primiarily composed for two reasons. One: Combining the Doctor Who theme with Doctor needed to happen. Two: The Doctor Who Sburb fan adventure was something I had just discovered and I wanted to compose something for it. There's not much to be said about this one. It's Doctor + Doctor Who Theme. Yeah.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Wind In My Heir
Artist: Joe Ouellet
Track Art: Racheme
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/wind-in-my-heir
Commentary:
Joe Oullet:
WIMH is one of my fisrt original Homestuck fan-pieces. Originally entered in the contest to select tracks for Colours and Mayhem, it was a song geared towards John and his powers as an Heir of Breath. I chose a very laid back feel to this piece, progressing fom a soft choir at the beginning, picking up an arpeggiated synth and kick on the way to a more intense section of the song. I wanted the song to flow just like the wind: starting softly, the breeze picks up gradually, when suddenly a gust of wind comes, only to leave just as fast as it came.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Fighting Spirit ~Second Form~
Artist: Kevin Grant
Track Art: sketchcomplex
References:
- Upward Movement (Dave Owns)
- Endless Climb
- Showtime (Original Mix)
- Eridan's Theme
- Doctor
- Sunsetter
- MeGaLoVania
- Pumpkin Cravings
- Beatdown (Strider Style)
- Chorale for Jaspers
- Harlequin
- Liquid Negrocity
- Crystalanthemums
- Ocean Stars
- Homestuck Anthem
- How Do I Live
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/fighting-spirit-second-form
Commentary:
Kevin Grant:
With 16 songs included in the mashup, it's a far mroe complicated piece than the original. I tried to include many songs from Volume 8, like the Ocean Stars Falling bit near the end. I think it flows smoother than the original due to both song choice, and the one-year difference in skill level when creating the song. Both are made entirely in Famitracker.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Corkscrew Sundown
Artist: Trent West
Track Art: straightfacedgriff
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/corkscrew-sundown
Commentary:
straightfacedgriff:
This is my favourite song on the album, and I ended up doing two track arts for it. This one is better, I think! I decided to use Doc Scratch because the song was about the Green Sun, and out of all the characters associated with it, I felt Doc Scratch best suited the song.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Doghead
Artist: Willow Ascenzo, D. Crystal
Track Art: albel-is-mine
References:
- Chorale for Jaspers
- Sburban Jungle
- Carefree Action
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/doghead
Commentary:
Willow Ascenzo:
I got the idea for "Doghead" shortly after "Cascade" and Jade's incredible ascension. I set out to create something epic, fast-paced, and exciting, but once I'd finished the first part, I found it was missing something. So I approached MSPA forumite and fellow Homestuck fan musician D. Crystal to see if he could add some guitar and drum tracks. He was happy to oblige, and the endresult turned out much better than the work I could do by myself. I learned two lessons that one day: one, that two heads are better than one and collaboration is incredibly fun, and two, that electric guitars make everything better.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Jane's Theme
Artist: David Dycus
Track Art: positivelymorbid
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/janes-theme
Commentary:
David Dycus:
Jane's theme was my third and final entry into the HS music contest, conceived and completed less than a day before I made my submission. It obviously didn't make the cut, and Jane ended up receiving a much more badass theme in the form of [[Cyan Beast]]. At the time when I wrote the song (around January 29, 2012), we really didn't know much about Jane beyond the fact that she was a nice girl who enjoyed baking. I tried to give her a theme that was quaint and melodic, not too energetic like my other submissions; compared to most of the other characters, Jane is very down-to-earth, which I admired. Structurally, it loosely parallels [[Fuchsia Witch]], which was originally titled "Jake's Theme."
positivelymorbid:
When I first listened to it, I thought iwas a really calm, tranquil song, so I thought maybe Jane relaxing. The more I listened to it, the more adventurous it sounded. Then it hit me, why not Jane having a picnic in LOCAH, picnics are relaxing and adventurous. Overall, I enjoyed the song, and I really enjoyed drawing this art for it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: The Four Thrones
Artist: Samm Neiland
Track Art: Reid Slater
References:
- Sburban Jungle
- Showtime (Original Mix)
- Endless Climb
- Doctor
- Upward Movement (Dave Owns)
- Homestuck Anthem
- Dissension (Original)
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/the-four-thrones
Commentary:
Samm Neiland:
So this was done mostly as a self response to another fan track I did which was a minute or so long music box rendition of Showtime. While pretty, it hardly showcased my abilities as a musician or a producer. So in about the span of the week, I arranged, composed, and produced a traditional string quartet, heavily inspired by cellist and multitrack recording artist, Zoë Keating. All the recording was done with only my viola and my signature production style.
I remember it being a week of musical hell for me, but I'm quite proud of the end results. Perhaps one day, I'll be able to rerecord it with a proper quartet. One can dream at least.
Reid Slater:
I wanted to represent the beta kids reaching their godtier status while mixing in the royalty theme that Samm's song gave me. Samm said to me himself that he thought of the crowning scene in Narnia and the four thrones, and I thought it was suitable to represent them with crowns, holding the Skaia they influenced and looking content and almost relieved ine ach other's company. I wanted to create something happy and a little bitter-sweet, which was the feeling I got from Samm's track. And I wanted to show that sort of unity and frendship the kids hve, even after all they've been through.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Jade Aubade
Artist: Trent West
Track Art: nappotuna
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/jade-aubade
Commentary:
nappotuna:
Listening to the song, I immediately wanted to do something involving Jade doing something cool. When I asked Trogg bout it, I learned that the song was actually based more so on the Green Sun. I didn't want to just trash my current progress with Jade so I changed things up a little. Added the Sun in the back, changed the light sources into more green-like tones, et cetera.
And what you see here is the finished product.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Blood Knight
Artist: Rachel Rose Mitchell
Track Art: Elanor Pam
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/blood-knight-2
Commentary:
Rachel Rose Mitchell:
When I amde Blood Knight, I was still pretty exhausted from putting Mechani% - now known as [[Indigo Archer]] - together. I'd never made anything as complex as Indigo Archer bfeore and on top of that I had massive anxieties about getting into the competition. I was stressed out! So Blood Knight nearly never happened.
About a week before the music contest ended, I was talking to my best friend and he said he thought I could make a kickass song for Karkat. I didn't really believe him at first. Karkat is one of my favourite characters and I didn't feel confident about capturing him at all. But my friend persisted and threw a few ideas at me. Eventually I found myself in Cubase making music again with my best friend to tahnk for it.
Immediately, I knew it needed electric guitars. That was problematic for me as I'd never, ever gotten synthesized guitars to sound halfway decent before. Heck, I'm still not entirely sure how I managed it, but I'm super happy with how it turned out. The feel of it matches what I was going for; not quite metal, not quite a ballad, kind of melancholy but also kind of in your face. Sort of. You might be able to tell that I had an easier time making it than describing it, heh. Pretty darn proud of this piece.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: In The Shadow of a Fractured Sun
Artist: Artisticpolo
Track Art: megalovriska
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/in-the-shadow-of-a-fractured-sun
Commentary:
Artisticpolo:
Initially a [[Frost:frost-vol6]] remix but it became something else. The square-wave arpeggio that you hear is probably the only thing that is now reminiscent of that remix. It was because of the harp that this grew into something different. I actually composed this while the composition was playing. I would listen to the notes I had composed, and I would just place new notes where I think they would work while listening. Somehow, everything just seemed to fit together - the violins, the synths, the percussion - everything just worked. The structure of this composition just flowed. I'm pretty sure this is one of my bset pieces so far.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Red Miles
Directory: red-miles-lofam2
Artist: David Dycus
Track Art: Amethyst Barron
References: Sburban Jungle
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/red-miles
Commentary:
David Dycus:
Red Miles was the first Homestuck song I ever completed, early in 2011. I had just installed a new copy of FL Studio after losing my old copy in a hard drive crash two years earlier. I imemediately threw together about five Homestuck songs in a desperate attempt to get on the music team. Shortly thereafter, I discovered about a thousand other fan musicians like myself (and also LOFAM I), and quietly accepted that I would never, ever be on an official Homestuck album.
A year and a half later, Red Miles definitely sounds like a first attempt. My only objective was to try to make the most over-the-top, attention-grabbing chiptune-metal song I could muster, so I threw in every trope I knew: the pipe organ, the wall of 8-bit synths, the Inferno electric guitar patch, and the Sburban Jungle motif (which I would use many, many more times). It may have been a bit much, but it was a necessary first step.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Elegy for a Thief (Dreamscape Remix)
Artist: Willow Ascenzo
References: Spider's Claw
Track Art: Cap
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/elegy-for-a-thief-dreamscape-remix
Commentary:
Willow Ascenzo:
I wrote Elegy for a Thief back in August 2011, inspired by the evocative image of ghost-Vriska standing in the snow outside John's house. After re-arranging it into a solo piano piece, I sat on it for a while. Eventually I began to work on another remix, but forgot about it. Then the song was nominated for Land of Fans and Music 2, and I rushed to polish up the song now that I had better tools and more skill. But I'd lost the original file, and the only remaining part of the scrapped remix was the right-hand piano notes (luckily, those were the most important part of the song)! The new remix is exotic and a bit hypnotic, syumbolizing John and Vriska's journey through the sureal and fantastic memory-realms of the afterlife.
Cap:
Originally, I planned to do a sentimental image of Vriska standing in the snow, but it turned out pretty lame. Then I figured hey, since I'm making somethin for a fantastic song for an amazing troll, why not make the piecea lmost as gr8t as her? So the snow idea melted and turned into this bizarre, dreambubble-ish creation!
Now imagine my surprise when I heard that Ascenzo later remixed the song and made it like 16,77,216 times cooler.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: We Won't Wander Alone
Artist: Land of Ships and Music
Track Art: tacostothenorth
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/we-wont-wander-alone
Lyrics:
PM: You have ensnared me with your democratic charm
And I know that together this land won't fall
I'd like to be the one hanging on this mayor's arm
We can rule these sands until the trees grow tall
WV: Your royal quest has brought you here to me
From the golden castle in the night
and I would venture to call it destiny
and we dance beneath the fireflies' light
Chorus: From Prospit to Derse
For better or worse
We won't wander alone
We'll find our new home
Here on this barren land
our love will fill these exiled sands
We won't wander alone
PM: And oh won't it be nice to share the stars with me
Oh I'll swear wherever we are is home
As long as I can get back to mail delivery
I'll never truly ever be alone
WV: You have become my one and only queen
and your radiance has fully consumed my eyes
And you know I would never dare give up this scene
Even here beneath the blood red sky
(Chorus)
PM: And if you ever get hurt
I'll do whatever works
to bring you home to me
We won't wander alone
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Embittered Shore
Artist: Max Wright
Track Art: clumsyroyalty
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/embittered-shore
Commentary:
Max Wright:
I've always liked the idea behind Mobius Trip and Hadron Kaleido, and the mysterious character canvas that the album brought across. So, from there, I wanted to contribute my own ideas of how MTaHK were represented, and ended up with Embittered Shore. I wanted the piece to have that 'Bowman' quality to it, while still refraining from outright copying his ideas off in any particular way - the heavy use of guitars and fleeting synths was my way of capturing the emotion that Bowman injects into his music, to bring across his characterization. Ultimately, the piece ends the way it started - it is a brief window through which the troubled characters may be projected and represented.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Ye Flarey Gentlemen
Artist: Clark Powell
Track Art: Dawn Davis
References:
- Flare
- God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/ye-flarey-gentlemen
Commentary:
Clark Powell:
This song was made at Christmas.
It's not Christmas anymore.
Lambda Bledsoe:
this entire album was a joke at clark's expense
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Finale Strife
Artist: Willow Ascenzo
Track Art: Ducky Senpai
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/finale-strife
Commentary:
Willow Ascenzo:
I began "Finale Strife" as a long, slow-burning build-up song for the final battle with Lord English, in a similar vein to "Finale Toccata" from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. That, however, didn't pan out, and it ended up turning into a fast-paced, high-energy strife theme more in the vein of "The Curse of Sorrow" from Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (the only Castlevania game I've actually come close to beating), especially the organ, electric guitar, and snappy drum kit. The main melody has some resemblance to the Black King's theme from [[Rex Duodecim Angelus]] by Malcolm Brown, but not enough to qualify as a remix or arrangement.
Ducky Senpai:
I initially ahd no idea what I was going to do for this song. I skimmed through the tracks and noticed this one by Willow Ascenzo (who did some of my favorites on coloUrs and mayhem: Universe A like [[Teal Hunter]] and [[Violet Mariner]]), and I was instantly sold probably because of my love for pipe organs. Anyway, for a lack of better inspiration, I used the description Will left on soundcloud - "Final battle with Lord English." Tie that to Aranea's mentioning that Jake was destined to beat Lord English, and I had my inspiration. The lineart took much longer than it should have since my tablet had been freaking out and I haven't gotten the new one yet, but the coloring went quite smoothly.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Gangsta
Artist: Dante Basco
Track Art: clumsyroyalty
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/gangsta
Lyrics:
???
Commentary:
Dante Basco:
one of my first comments for rose was "she's gangsta"... then when i met jade, i said she was gangsta too... it kinda just stuck in with the homestucks and this is a song that i dedicate to those girls... i'm glad everyone dug it.
Lambda Bledsoe:
there would be lyrics here if i were capable of interpreting them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Joy And Dreams Eternal
Artist: Malcolm Brown
Track Art: Fitzwibble
References: Ballad of Awakening
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/joy-and-dreams-eternal
Commentary:
Fitzwibble:
When I first heard this song, I got this sense of... I guess you could call it grand scale? Glrious grandscaliness? No wait that is dumb. I wanted to do something that captured that feeling, and it made me think of the panel where we see Prospit rising over the towers of the moon, and I could just imagine Jade flying around and marvelling at this amazing view. I hope I did the song justice!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Guns Blazing
Artist: Yishan Mai
Track Art: angryoct
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/guns-blazing
Commentary:
Yishan Mai:
The first song I made for the Homestuck contest, and IMO the best! It's supposed to be a Showtime for the new generaiton, a strife theme for Jake English - although the melody ended up sounding more like Dissension than Showtime. The progression is spposed to be Showtime-esque as well, starting from the piano refrain, going into a hciptune-esque portion, and finally building to a BOSS FIGHT version, using punchy drums (the punchiest!) to simulate gunshots.
So close your eyes and imagine Jake doing that thing where he flies through the air shooting both guns at once. Yes. So sweet. Wouldn't it be great if there were an aimated flash to go with it? That would be SUPER SWEET.
(Bonus fun fact: the last 30 seconds of the song was actually the first part to be conceptualized!)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Showtime (Svix Mix)
Artist: Svix
Track Art: PV
References: Showtime (Original Mix)
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/showtime-svix-mix
Commentary:
Svix:
I created the first verison of my Showtime remix back in September 2009 shortly after I started getting into Homestuck, it seemed to go down well and a few months later I was invited to be part of the official music team.
Since then I feel that i have imrpoved significantly and so I've given the old remix a quick reworking. Whilst I think that structurally the track is a little too similar to the original and if I were to make another remix I would do things quite differently, this piece was the one which began to outline my chiptune style which I've since developed with my other Homestuck tracks. My main influences wit hthe chiptune are from the SID and Yamaha chips found in the C64 and Sega Mega Drive respectively, and as such many synth and percussive elements from each can be heard in my work.
PV:
To fit a remix of one of my favorite Hoemstuck themes, I wanted to make the Strife scene between Dad and John in my own style, while still holding somewhat true to the original. A remix of the art as well as the song.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Ugly Story
Artist: PhemieC
Track Art: prismatic-void
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/ugly-story
Lyrics:
I am a prince and I live in a ship and I aim my rifle and I shoot from the hip
and I have a friend I pity quite a bit
She said, "Grab your gun, let's have some fun, share with me your perigees
I have responsibilities, I cannot run!"
"I do not wish the death of any living thing,
I might be a killer but one day I shall be a queen
and put an end to slaughter, but until then I'm keen
on staking claim to land and sea and everyfin between."
I played a game with eleven fools who told me not to break the rules
but when have angels ever helped me yet?
And magic isn't real and anyway, it doesn't matter
cause no matter what I conjure, it could not help me deflect
the angry death of every hopeful thought
that I might a lover or a fighter that I'm not
In someone's spider web or net I could be caught
but I'm too bitter, better off alone, guess I forgot
So what? Do you want me to say sorry?
Should I apologize when you ignore me?
I didn't ask to be right or to be lonely
or to be hatched into an ugly story
I am a prince and I had a pair of princesses in two sharp squares
but then I guess I bored them both to death
And now I think my calling is to break apart and fall to pieces
Better yet, invent a brand new method of ascension
I'm impressed, you've managed to survive
but rest assured we'd all be better off dead than alive
cause when they get ahold of us, we'll all be batter fried
and I'm surprised that nobody's considered switching sides
So here I am, respectfully and royally destroying
any chance of getting back on your good gills
And I don't mean to be hurtful, but if yellow's the new purple
Well, then bleeding's the new breathing, don't you think I will!
I used to wish the death of every living thing
I might be your killer but you'd never be my queen
so put away your laughter, pack up your hopes and dreams
I'm done with black back-handing and red pandering, it seems
That I am just pathetic, I won't be overlooked!
I'm past the point of fishing to get back upon your hook!
I've made a manifesto, I've been bested by a crook! But never more!
I'm planning on reclaiming what he took...
So what? Do you want me to say sorry?
Should I apologize when you ignore me?
I didn't ask to be right or to be lonely
or to be hatched into an ugly story
to be hatched into an ugly story
Oh my, this pantomine is getting gory
I am a prince and I live in a ship
I am a prince and I live in a ship
Commentary:
PhemieC:
This song chronicles Eridan's thought process and a bit of his history leading up to his death, and examines why he made the decisions he did. I think there's a lot to his character people normally forget and I just wanted to expand on his motivations a bit.
prismatic-void:
The first time I heard the song I thought it described Eridan perfectly. It's about being left behind and distrusted by the only people he ever put faith in. He's angry and selfish and decides to forget about them in favor of his own goals. I wanted to show him essentially walking away from the ghosts of his pat and doing his best to ignore how much they've hurt him.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Dark Funk
Artist: Kevin Grant
Track Art: Shoona
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/dark-funk
Commentary:
Kevin Grant:
This didn't start out as a Homestuck themed song, but once I realized that it mached up with the dark and moody feel of the Midnight Crew, I decided to complete it with that goal in mind. The song itself is pretty simple, all in all. I just really dig that bassline.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: A Stitch In Time
Artist: Joe Ouellet
Track Art: AS
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/a-stitch-in-time
Commentary:
Joe Ouellet:
When given the chance ot make an extra track for LOFAM 2, I jumped at the opportunity. It turns out I was assigned a Felt realted track, specifically to Stitch. I wanted to stay true to the feel of the album The Felt. I used strings, light percussion, and most importantly, I messed around with teh tempo. This was a little bit of a challenge for me, but I think it turned outa lright. Fun fact; The glitchy effect was not on purpose, it was an export error I thought sounded cool so I kept it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Ave Dei Novi
Artist: Willow Ascenzo
Track Art: xkoraxayomex
References:
- Doctor
- Dissension (Original)
- Aggrieve
- Atomyk Ebonpyre
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/ave-dei-novi
Commentary:
Willow Ascenzo:
When I started "Ave Dei Novi" (a song made just for Land of Fans and Music 2), I fully intended that it would be the biggest, strongest, most well-composed, best Homestuck fan composition I've workedo n tto date, a sort of capstone of Homestuck fan music. The first Land of Fans and Music had two of my early songs on it, and I felt it was appropriate that I do my best and show how far I'd come in a year for the second album. "Ave Dei Novi" takes its cue, partially, from the bombastic and incredible Gundam Unicorn soundtrack by Sawano Hiroyuki, especially in the orchestra and percussion grooves, which I worked very hard on. I think I'm most proud of the bongo groove breakdown in the middle and the "Atomyk Ebonpyre" section near the end. Those two parts ended up especially fantastic.
xkoraxayomex:
Overall I feel that the artwork suits the piece in terms of relativity and presentation. I think it looks refined and somewhat detailed, but there is room for improvement. When I read the title for the piece, Ascension, I automatically thought back to Jade's god tier, as it is simply gorgeous and I just love it. It was a milestone for her becoming an even more essential character in Homestuck.
Lambda Bledsoe:
this song was originally titled "ascension", but there was to be another song on lofam2 with a similar title ("god tier ascension") (except now there isn't) so wmm changed it to"ave dei novi" which translates to "hail the new gods"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Nevermore (Can't Sleep, Crows Will Find Me)
Artist: Thomas Ferkol
Track Art: Amethyst Barron
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/nevermore-cant-sleep-crows-will-find-me
Commentary:
Brad Griffin:
No commentary here!
continued from [[The Seer and the Tribesmen]]:
HE NAKED FELLOW INTRODUCES HISEMLF IN RETURN. OVERJOYED, BNORKEL BARKS UP A CLOUD OF PUNGENT INK. THIS STARTLES THE MOOSE, WHO PROCEEDS TO INSTINCTIVELY CHARGE THEM BOTH. A FLURRY OF ACTIVITY! ANTLERS FLASH, TENTACLES FLAIL, EXPOSED FLESH JUTS OFFENSIVELY.
AFTER A BRIEF BUT VIOLENT SCUFFLE, BNORKEL COWELS IN A MASS, LICKING HIS WOUNDED SUCKERS. AMIDST THE COMMOTION, THE FRIENDLY NUDIST WAS KNOCKED THROUGH THE AIRLOCK, BRIEFLY IHNTO THE FRIGID VACUUM OF SPACE, THEN THROUGH THE PLANET'S ATMOSPHERE AT HIGH SPEEDS.
THE MOOSE INADVERTENTLY TAKES CONTROL OF THE SPACESHIP (IT IS A SPACE SHIP BY THE WAY) AND ACCIDENTALLY USES IT TO DESTROY NEPTUNE. BNORKEL DIDN'T LIKE NEPTUNE ANYWAY.
THE END.
The moral of the story is, people should write their own dang commentary or else this happens.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Prophecy
Artist: David Dycus
Track Art: Daysi
References: Penumbra Phantasm
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/prophecy
Commentary:
David Dycus:
Prophecy was made in February of 2011, a couple of months after I re-installed FL Studio. [[Umbral Ultimatum]] remains one of my favorite HS songs, and I wanted to do something in 3/4 time using the opening melody. The song's development is kind of a blur to me now, I was busy with work and was experiencing some anxiety problems, and threw the song together over a two or three-day period, but it obviously took a very dark turn somewhere along the way. Whatever happened, I'm still pretty pleased with how it turned out.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: The Dance of Oblivion
Artist: Domble
Track Art: piskomil
References:
- At The Price of Oblivion
- Rex Duodecim Angelus
- Dance of Thorns
- Sburban Jungle
- An Unbreakable Union
- Mutiny
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/the-dance-of-oblivion
Commentary:
Domble:
The original version of this track had huge problems. I kept the writing mostly the same, only adding little flourishes here and there and improving the overall sound of the piece dramatically. It just sounds nicer now, and that guitar solo part at the end helps add a real finish to the piece while referencing both titular trakcs in a different, significant way.
Oh and the title makes me think of The Dance of Eternity by Dream Theater which is a really cool song.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Alphamatic Replacement
Artist: Xauric
Track Art: dodostad
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/alphamatic-replacement
Commentary:
Xauric:
So... this piece was originally designed to just be... exactly that. Just another piece. It wasn't meant for Homestuck, it wasn't meant or Tumblr ora nyone to see it. But a fantastic friend of mine told me about the Homestuck Music competition, so I figured why not. I sent this in after tweaking it a bit, and just for fun, threw it upon Tumblr. I then left for vacation, but still had internet access. I came back to see my song exploded on Tumblr, and was promptly getting upwards of 1,000-3,000 views a week. Needless to say, I was ecstatic. The song itself was kind of... my own personal blend? I love songs that combine organic and inorganic elements, and with Homestuck being the big thing on the block lately, I decided to try it out. As evidence by this album, it didn't make it, but it certainly was a big hit. However, what's funnier is that the version I put on Tumblr was the unmastered version, so when I put the mastered version up, it didn't get nearly as many hits as the unmastered version.
A lot of people have asked me whether or not I'm going to make a second Homestuck track. And as much as I love the motivation from fans to do so, I don't think I could handle trying to one-up a piece like this and failing. So, here's to you, Homestuck.
dodostad:
For me the sogn was about alpha kids, no question about it. It took me a long time to come up with a composition that I liked and that seemed to fit the song. LOOK OUT FOR THE MILES JANE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Planetarium
Artist: Rachel Rose Mitchell
Track Art: Spectrumfizz
URLs: https://unofficialmspafans.bandcamp.com/track/planetarium
Commentary:
Rachel Rose Mitchell:
Planetarium was the first piece of Homestuck fan music I ever made. I'd oly just caught up with the archives when I was set a composition assignment or university. Having never used Logic to compose before, I had fun playing with a bunch of the different inbuilt instruments. When I found the koto, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I tried to make it sound somewhat ethereal and otherworldly to represent the Incipisphere in all its beautiful weirdness. To try to do that, I threw a whole lot of reverb and delay at pretty much every track. I really did not know what I was doing, but it was fun.
The vocal lines were an afterthought. Actually, no, they were less than an afterthought. They werent actually something I thought I should include at all, but the assignment had a requirement of at least four recorded audio tracks. I threw those lines together at home on Cubase (I don't actually have a Mac, let alone Logic!) the morning the piece was drew it, slapped them onto the piece with Logic that day and got the assignment in just in time. But in the end, I think they enhanced the feel of the piece, so I'm kind of glad I had to chuck them in there!
Spectrumfizz:
This is probably my favoured piece from my two more serious ones. I wanted to make a layout reminiscent of an actual planetarium, and I think I achieved that well (the "strings" hanging up the planets are simultaneously that and the kids' houses built up towards Skaia, which indicates that I kind of overthought this). I'm actually pretty fond of how the tiny Beat Mesa and Prospit's moon turned out.
Oh yeah, the song itself is also SUPER pretty (I'm surprised I managed to snag such a lovely song to make art for), but you'll know that laready considering you're probably listening to it right now.