Beforus - Commentary
14.9k words across 170 entries.
Beforus Beforus (album commentary) Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube (playlist)
Blackhole (Not-Terezi-Pyrope) and the Beforus Album Team proudly present;
BEFORUS A collaborative Homestuck fan soundtrack album
in three discs.Commentary booklet assembled by Blackhole (Not-Terezi-Pyrope).
Track commentaries authored by the respective fan artists and fan musicians. Track art is the property of the individual listed visual artist. The Beforus fan album and related media are brought to you by the Beforus Album Team and Blackhole Media, and are unofficial fanworks based on Andrew Hussie's Homestuck.
Homestuck is a property of Andrew Hussie and What Pumpkin.
I'm so grateful for the privilege of illustrating the album cover! I don't think I've ever put so many characters in one illustration before, so it was an experience trying to fit them all in together. It's based off of where the trolls lived before starting their game, with Meenah having run away to the pink moon while everyone else is on Beforus, as well as my track art for Cosmic Malfunction by Ducky Senpai, which also has to do with people chilling on space orbs. It was really hard to find a balance with all these guys, while at the same time knowing it has to represent the entire album and all of the people working on it. It was a unique challenge but I had a blast, I hope I did it justice!
♪ Disc 1 ♪ Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
The music here is one of three short bookend pieces I wrote for the start of each Disc, each a section of a longer piece, "Preludes to Beforus". They are not particularly exciting in and of themselves, so instead I'll speak a little about Disc 1 itself. Disc 1 is the part of the album initially designed to contain the twelve "principal tracks", invisaged as the main theme for each of the twelve Beforan trolls. At the start of the project, musicians could actually reserve these spots, but a lot of shuffling happened towards the end. Eventually, each troll ended up having multiple themes on the album, but Disc 1 still contains what can probably be considered their "main" theme, due to its location at the start of the album. With only twelve tracks and the short bookend piece, Disc 1 is far smaller than the longer Disc 2 section.
This is the third artwork I completed for the project, and once again it ended up being a broup shot-- this time at the mod's request. Since it was the introductory artwork for Disc 1, it felt appropriate to me to depect them on the place where it all started, where Meenah claimed to have found the game after running away from her duties: the Pink Moon. And where the game is, so there must be a Frog Temple. Right?
♈ - Fatalism Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This work was originally intended as a simple cover for a competition on battleofthebits.org. To make it more unique, I took some inspiration from a song by maxvdubs and wrote some original lyrics; originally they were written about the plot of Dark Souls and the frustrating sense of hopelessness within. When considering what sort of song to make for this album, I realised how well the lyrics seemed to resonate with the story of Damara Megido, and adapted them accordingly. I also recently created an introductory segment (based on the pre-chorus and chorus of the song) intended to depict a sort of inner turmoil as one enters a dark period of their life and is confronted with various emotions including despair, horror, and hatred.
The name of the song refers to the concept of predetermination and fate. Damara's wiki page notes that she holds "much fatalism and frustration" within herself; considering that I had named the set of Souls-themed lyrics "Frustration," it felt somewhat fitting that "Fatalism" be its counterpart. Note that although the lyrics are mostly directed towards Damara, the second and third stanzas of the second verse refer to the Handmaiden and her service to Lord English. (Many thanks to my friend Chris for helping me better understand the plot details.)
Drawing this piece and listening to Neon Zenith's song really made me look at Damara differently. I wanted to highlight the inner turmoil that people tend to look over, adding the Handmaiden to show those feelings that she hides. Damara is an incredibly interesting character, and I was just telling someone that I don't draw enough Megidos.
♉ - Breathtak1ng Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Hi! I'm Rhyselinn, the composer for Rufioh Nitram's track "Breathtak1ng."
I admit, I had difficulty trying to categorize the Nitrams' music while doing research for this track. By my best estimation, Breathtak1ng is an upbeat flamenco/salsa hybrid. It includes excerpts from (in approximate order): Do The Windy Thing, dESPERADO ROCKET CHAIRS, Bronze Rebel, iRRRRRRRRECONCILA8LE, and Savior of the Waking World. (And the ending is reminiscent of Infinity Mechanism, for whatever that's worth.)
The middle section also includes excerpts from The Lost Child, a Damara Megido song, and some machinery noises in homage to Horuss Zahhak. Rufioh's character arc in Openbound focuses heavily on his romantic entanglements with these two characters, so I wanted Breathtak1ng to emphasize Rufioh's nature as a freedom-oriented Breath player, and portray him breaking free of these toxic attachments. As a result, the two interludes feel darker and less energetic to contrast the moment iRRRRRRRRECONCILA8LE kicks in. That's when Rufioh metaphorically spreads his wings, breaks free of those binding attachments, and is finally able to fly and succeed in the most amazing, breathtaking way.
The idea for this art was to have Rufioh flying away from the ones who have made his life hard. The papers flying about are meant to be seen as him finally pursuing what he loves. Ideally I would have loved to have him fly into the sun, but as I imagined him as being alive rather than dead, this was not ideal.
♊ - The Mituna Method Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
I was asked to make a track as a theme for Mituna, so my first thoughts were 1. chip sounds and 2. guitars. The first draft of the track was a lot more chaotic, with the melodies being played on live guitars, and it didn't really work out, so most of it ended up being cut - only a couple of backing guitar tracks amde it onto the final piece. The title and theme of this track is based on a (somewhat infamous) fan theory, which speculates that Mituna's injuries come from him burning out whilst using his psiionic powers to propel Prospit's moon from the alpha trolls' session into another, allowing the remaining living trolls to use its quest beds to go god tier. I don't know if that idea will pan out at all, but I thought it was interesting enough to write a song about! I hope that you think so too!
for the track art i decided that i should depict mituna looking almost as if hes using his psiionics! in the design iwanted to use a pixelly pattern which i thought went along with the chiptune sound of the song, also i listened to the song on repeat while making it!! i apologize the whole picture itself is really eye strain-y but i thought it would fit!
♋ - Civil Discussi9n Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Civil Discussi9n was my first purposeful musical contribution to the album! I wanted to produce a track that captured the feeling of Kankri's self-assured snobbery and pseudo-intellectualism as it was presented in his first appearance in Openbound, but from his own perspective. I imagine the feel of the track is rather what Kankri thinks of himself in his crusade for social justice. The structure of the melody was inspired by certain works of baroque classical music, although I can hardly have been said to have stuck to any one particular convention! The track was originally intended to be modified somewhat, but due to technical issues I lost the progress file for it! Hoewver I didn't want to see what I had to waste, and I believe that the track stands up solidly on its own in its current form. I hope you think so too!
For this piece, I was thinking particularly about how the track is meant to be how Kankri views himself within the greater context of Beforan society. I thought that the classical Baroque influences in the music really reflected the rigid pseudo-benevolent social strucutre and pretensions within Beforan society that Kankri seeks to criticize and improve upon, albeit in his own flawed way. Visually, I drew influences from various religious artworks, including Medieval iconography as well as the Baroque paintings of Caravaggio, referencing both Kankri and the Sufferer's roles as a play on traditional literary Christ figures. Overall, Kankri takes himself extremely seriously, and the track art reflects that self-image in the form of a somber, messianic martyr heroically withstanding the persection of people triggering and encroaching upon his personal space.
♌ - MOG^3 Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
MOG^3
1. Meulin, Obsessive Girl
2. Makara's Oddball Gaiety
3. Matesprits Osculate Gleefully
(EpiMOG: Milord's Onerous Gift)This song begins by echoing Nine Lives, One Love sound but this version of Meulin Leijon is much happier and offbeat by nature. Like 9L1L, it's also in 9/8 time and the opening bells tap out the morse code for MOG. The second part starts suddenly as she "meets" a peculiar purpleblood... one Kurloz Makara. The organ is prominent but also lots of whimsical synth sounds to suggest he's an entertainer but with a more sinister side. The cymbals tap out 10 hits as Makaras are the tenth troll on the list from low to highbloods. A slow romantic transition follows, reintroducing the Leijon bells over Makara's organ sounds and then into the third section, where the heavy drums pound out a heartbeat for the Mage of Heart and you can hear voices for both Kurloz's seductive whispers and Meulin's joyous song. As she falls asleep in his arms, he too begins to dream... the chiming bells signal the arrival of the Vast Honk and the tinnitus that recedes into Meulin's deafened silence.
I've always found Meulin slightly unsettling, so I was pleased to be assigned art duty on a track that explores all facets of the character, rather than just "she's cute and likes cats!". Meulin happily ships and memes her way through a surprisingly tragic life; she's fine that Kurloz deafened her, she's oblivious that he's mind-controlling her. I wanted to reflect that with a smiling mouth and eyes full of stars and the beauty of it all, but a sense of emptiness and loss as the Vast Honk obliterates her hearing and she's left with a meaningless future. Sorry, that's pretty nihilistic, but so is Meulin!
♍ - Let Me Dance, Let Me Glisten Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
The track is inspired by black-quadrants Porrim cosplay, and originally evolved from a song called "Born Aloen." The vocals are done using a combination of devices over multiple takes and post-processing effects.
I wanted to capture the feel of the music, which felt to me as though it's Porrim completely aware of how fabulous she is, but not caring if others see her that way. Tumblr user black-quadrant's cosplay inspired the song, so I used it as a reference, especially with the tattoos. The theater is empty, representing how she is focused on her own approval, and no one else's.
♎ - R4d1c4l! Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
I was pumped that I got to create Latula's song for this album, Pyropes rule, bro. I knew I really wanted to do a low-scale chiptune kind of song for her, mainly because she's such a r4d G4m3r Grrl, and also because all my favourite homestuck tracks were in that vein. Originally I had a way faster, grittier song planned, but after sitting on it for a while I scrapped it and went for the more upbeat, chiller sound of this one, because, let's face it, Latula's way too r4d to have anything less. Fun Facts and Numbers: This song was made in FL Studio, has 16 channels, 9 synths, 1 violin, and took 2 weeks to complete from start to finish.
This piece was inspired by the RADICAL and cheerful tone of its sister song, and aims to show how fun it is to be Latula Pyrope. With her killer body suit, sick moves, and contagious smile, you'll be jamming out with her.
♏ - Salv8tion Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Hey so it's been a while but here's a new track, and for a troll that I never knew I cared about. Admittedly I wrote this song less about Aranea's story and more about a folktale called the spider's thread, which ironically ties into Aranea's story well. I'm not gonna go into details about the folk tale but basically Aranea has a spider theme (obviously) and she came out of a pseudo hell by clinging to a small hope, only for her selfish desires to drop her back where she came from. Man none of this was really about the music aspect, uh, I wrote the song in 4-5 days. That's cool I guess.
I intended to stay faithful to Aranaea's arc and showed her nature through the clothes and facial expressions she wears in "Homestuck". The whole piece was inspired by the theme of spider - how it spins a web through the story, trapping and ensnaring others in the plot, but, if lost, might end up trapping itself in the cobweb. The string figure made from the necklace she wears is called "The Hangman's Trick." It was heavily inspired by the bouncy theme of the music. It shows how she has trapped others (portrayed by paper dolls, a callback to wooden dolls of regeneration and French Pantins, otherwise known as jumping jacks), and herself in it: one wrong move and she'll be left hanging! Of course, one cannot forget about the visualization of the Light aspect, the immortal sun - both holding and being trapped by the web, just like Aranea herself.
♐ - Creeping Blue Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This track was inspired by the fact that Horuss was a very mean kinda dude before the game, and very early on in his relationship with Rufioh. I wanted to make the song creepy and voidy - just like Horuss! Lots of glitch and analog sounds were used, to capture his steampunk inspired design.
Gene:
This track has a strongly energetic feel to it, combining powerful mechanical sounds with a beat like a hammer drop. I tried to reflect that with sharp, violent lines and an angular, sinister atmosphere.
♑ - Pious Noise Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
It's a shame that Kurloz can't talk much, because it's clear he has a lot of personality to show. With the appearance of a juggalo, mime and skeleton combined, how could he not? He's apparently calm but creepy or terrifying and boisterous depending on who he's talking to, which is something I wanted to emulate in this track with the contrast between the first section and everything afterwards. However, his true, clownish nature shines at the end, when he takes the last resolving note hostage then rubs it in your face. What a rascal.
This went through a few (very incomplete) iterations before I finished it, mainly because I wasn't sure where to start expressing Kurloz's character; in the end I combined melodies from different versions to make the final product. It's neat how music can work that way!
(P.S The Morse code sounds out "HONK". Because of course.)
I really liked the idea of Kurloz and puppets, and obviously, you need strings to move puppets. From the thought of puppets, to strings, to the red string of faith. And yknow, a string for each finger equals to five strings. It reminded me of piano and such, so from that I just put on some notes onto the bloody strings. Pun intended.
♒ - Aquasex Renegade Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This song was extremely fun to write and play with. I like Cronus' greaser persona, and my voice is kinda slimy blues-man anyway so naturally I went with a blues style for him. It started with just voice and guitar, and I wanted to keep it true to that, but this song seemed to cry out for some mythical band to come out of nowhere and make his song awesome. So, honestly, a delight! My favorite of my three.
You cannot convince me that the track's singer is not Cronus himself. When I heard it, I immediately envisioned a sleek monochrome graphic of a John Travolta-looking Cronus leaning on a car with a cigarette between his teeth. The Instagram-esque filter gives it a sort of retro look that goes with the spirit of the track. The violet tones are an obvious reference to his blood colour.
♓ - Killer Beach Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
I wanted to deal with mixed elements of Meenah's character. It has similarities to Hate You, which I considered a primary inspiration, though I also drew inspiration from the Splatoon soundtrack for the opening section.
"Killer Beach" explores Meenah's love of gold and cash, as well as her malicious tendencies, to aspects we see throughout the latter half of Act 6, including her brief romance with Vriska. You might note the Megalovania reference in the ending guitar. Coupled with Rex Duodecim Angelus (their session's defeat of the Black King) and English (her alternate self's employment by Lord English), this piece covers Meenah in her entirety.
At the end, Meenah is reflecting. She sees herself as evil. Reminded of her final moments in her session, as she detonates the bomb sending all of them as ghosts into the Farthest Ring, she severs ties with Vriska, and returns to lead an army.
I wanted to reflect on what the musician wanted to portray Meenah on the track, but also my ideas of Meenah's similarity in personality with her Alternian counter-part, the Condesce. I put a little more of my own idea that Meenah not realizing how much she is like the Condesce even when hearing and at awe about her accomplishments and her magnificent ruling style from Aranea. I also put lime green as the background color not only to match up the complimentary color but to also symbolize LE's employment of the Condesce. She is a lot more like her Alternian self than she realizes... 38)
♫ Disc 2 ♫ Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Disc 2 is the longest Disc in Beforus. Unlike Disc 1, which consists of individual themes for each of the trolls, Disc 2 is a narrative depiction of their story. Each song, be it a theme for a particular aspect of a character, a soundtrack for a particular event, or else a scene-setting piece, has been arranged so that Disc 2 roughly forms a narrative story in chronological order, which can hopefully be seen in the music and artwork.
Because this was not specifically the intention from the start, and because some tracks have been arranged in particular awys due to reasons other than theanarrative order (such as when track art depictions do not fit the original order), in some places the placement of tracks is not perfect, or at the very least might be debated. Overall however I think Disc 2 forms a relatively complet, in depth and coherent tale in musical form, and it was definitely my favourite part of the album to put together.
The tracks on Disc 2 follow a narrative approach to the story of the Beforus trolls and I wanted to show that by using dream bubbles, which contain the memories of the dead. And I got to draw a horrorterror, so there's that too. I like horrorterrors.
Memories from Before Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This was my first ever track, composed for the coloUrs and mayhem contest back before we knew anything of Dancestors and Beforus. All we had been told so far was that the Sufferer had been inspired to rebel by his memories of a peaceful world-- so that was what I set out to convey: the idyllic memories of a paradise planet, as well as the sadness of its loss and the tense hostility of the present. It's actually a fairly simple track, made in Sibelius with nothing but built-in instruments and ambient sounds, but I've grown to like it a lot. (People who are into brazilian folk songs can probably feel the influence here.)
I chose the three trolls that I did because they had the biggest impacts on the sufferer's life, so adding their less violent and warmer counterparts was the comparison, but I added the whole gang in another version because I wasn't quite sure you woulda ccept it with only 3 beforus characters. I listened to the song you sent quite a few times and the background was based on it. (I got the general barren but soft vibe from it?) It was a lot of fun, though a bit difficult and stressful as midnight approached, and figuring out placement and what I wanted to do with everything was a bit hard. The background is based on what we have seen fo beforus/alternia, and I wanted to make its ofter to fit a bit better with the music. (I love the composer's work by the way!)
Pink Moon Escape Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Pink Moon Escape is meant to describe Meenah's escape from her responsibilities, where she literally runs away from being queen and goes to the moon before the Beforus session starts. Overall, I tried to capture the feeling of flying through space and leaving everything stressful behind. As far as structure, the beginning part represents Meenah starting to feel better, but still holding back a bit on good feels. Then, after the drop represents when she finally lets go of everything that once troubled her. The song ends similar to how it started to sort of foreshadow her return to power in the end. Funny story: the song started out with a 4/4 time signature. When I made the drop, I was making it in 6/8 without really realizing it, and then after I figured it out, I rewrote the beginning part to fit the new signature, and it felt so much smoother and better. And that's how I found out about time signatures :P
I've actually never drawn Meenah before and at first I was a little nervous but as soon as I heard the song I got very inspired and came up with a bunch of concept sketches. I decided to go with this image because I think it stayed true to that feeling the song gives you of being free and letting go. Hope you enjoy!
Radiant Imperatrix Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
We don't know much about the Beforus empress other than the fact that she's an alternate Feferi, is an empress, and is styled "Her Imperial Radiance." I tried to evoke an underwater palace in this piece: regal and beneath the waves, but close enough to the surface that light - and Feferi's innate bubbly personality - filters through. The piece was played live on a piano and then edited in Audacity.
My inspiration for this piece was old paintings of mermaids and sirens. I wanted to make the serene, ethereal feeling created by the track, making Feferi look regal while also friendly and playful, as if you caught her outside of her queenly duties. The colours are meant to evoke an underwater feeling, but also a sense of her being supernatural. This image is made completely with watercolours on printer paper; a choice I made to get the convex texture. Ths was honestly such a fun piecea nd I'm so glad I got to make the track art for the lovely track Radiant Imperatrix.
Speak No Evil. Hear No Evil. Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
It's a direct follow-up of Dream Around and it's about the infamous dream that Kurloz had that deafened Meulin and made him sew his own mouth. This song is atonal atmospheric and I did my best to represent the mood of THE MOST HORRIFIC NIGHTMARE.
Tfw you see a real bad nightmare but wake up causing one irl, oops.
I can't imagine what it was that Kurloz saw, and the song itself is indeed more about the nightmarish atmosphere than the action of it, so I went with the aftermath. Complimenting a song and a mood like that called for smoe heavier colours and static I think.
On a lighter side I spend too much time on the hair, floof is a dangerous addition to have, but also very relaxing to do so... ĀÆ_(ć)_/ĀÆ
The Boy Who Lived (Unfortunately) Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Cronus, the hero of his own story, triumphs over the evil magician.
(With apologies to Johnny Williams.)
shu:
I love the build up in this track! It's a lot of fun to listen to and this was a lot of fun to draw ahaha I'm not sure what else to say but the vwizard aesthetic is obvious//
The Weeaboo's Battle Cry Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This piece was written for Rufioh Nitram and specifically, his clan, the Lost Weeaboos. The instrumentation was based off "The Brave and the Bronze" by Yan "Nucleose" Rodriguez, with the percussion beat coming from Tavros's song "dESPERADO ROCKET CHAIRS," by Toby "Radiation" Fox. Its musical connection to Rufioh is mostly open for interpretation. This song's alternate name in my own album is "La Tauromaquia," meaning "bullfighting" in Spanish.
When I was figuring out what th draw for the song, I did pay attention to the song's name and also alternate name. Hearing "weeaboo" made me want to put kitty ears on Rufioh, but I scrapped that idea and instea dfocussed on the bullfighting aspect of the song first and foremost. Since Rufioh is kind of a silly character, I thught that it'd be great to gie him one of those little pony riding sticks with a bull for the head. After I finished drawing the main part of the drawing, I was still trying to figure out how to incorporate "weeaboo"-ness into it. Well, weeaboo makes me think of kitties and anime, so my mind went to Nyan Cat. Perfect, I thought, I'll add some Goold Ol' Nyan Cat rainbows, haha. And then, of course, glitter becaus anime. It came out really colorful and I'm happy with it.
Life With Peace Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Based on my 1st piano composition I made a long time ago, called Memories. It goes very well with the Beforan trolls and with Homestuck!
This track is about the Beforus trolls before the game. I really wanted to focus on them and who they are, so I chose to draw their hands and what I thought they would look like based on their personalities. I had a lot of fun thinking about how to portray them. I think my favorite has to be Meenah's or Meulin's. Sometimes, it's easy to forget that they were just another bunch of kids trying to have a good time.
Lullaby for a Day Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This was originally going to be a song for Meulin but it ended up going in a completely different direction, so instead of scrapping it I turned it into something else. The title is meant to be a reference to how trolls sleep during the day.
My assignment for this track was to draw the alpha trolls sleeping peacefully; however, due to size restraints, I went for Meulin, given that the track was originally for her. The peaceful atmosphere of this song led to me using a very warm, dawn-like colour palette, which I really enjoyed doing! In all this was a really fun track to illustrate!
Before We Enter Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
When asked to make a song for the Beforun trolls' entrance into their session, I decided to utilize my tried-and-true method of composing my best music: basically, I winged it. Nevertheless, this song is meant to be like a ballad, but I'll leave the detailed interpretation of the story it tells up to you, the listenre, and your presumably adept imagination.
The inspiration for this piece is surpisingly straight-forward. When I listened to the music, this was the picture that popped into my head, no matter how many imtes I played the song, so the direction was clear. Besides that; I can't imagine Meenah looking anything but exactly like this while downloading the game.
For Beforus Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
The Beforans' session on Skaia was doomed before it began. Beforus looms in front of us as we slowly zoom in on the planet itself, when, at the critical moment, we cut to Meenah and the gang. As they desperately avoid getting killed in the Cataclysm, their path to the Medium is laid bare. Once there, they go through their trials, from locating their denizens, to frog breeding, and to the required ectoplasmic shenanigans.
But when it becomes clear that their sesison is bound for a Scratch, Meenah is forced to make a terrible decision.
For Beforus was about the doomed nature of the session and I wanted to show it with a picture of the instrument for scratching the session, the big music box in the Land of Quartz and Melody, and the Quills of Echidna, the means of creating the scratch. The track starts out very positively, and I wanted to includ ethat hopefulness by adding more characters in the picture that as of yet don't feel the threat of the failing session looming over them.
Battlepump Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This track was my third composition for the coloUrs and mayhem contest; I'd recently discovered FL studio and basically went nuts over it. Perhaps because I finally had so many options and tolls at my disposal, this track was by far the hardest for me to realize, not helped by the fact that it was originally a theme for my favorite character, Karkat. I wanted it to be perfect! Or at least awesome! This perfectionism meant I could never settle on what I wanted. Over the years I kept coming back to it, tweaking here, poking there, always feeling like it was incomplete (or perhaps over done); in the end I shaved off several bars, redid the percussion line and tweaked velocity until I cried uncle. Is it better know? I don't know! It's been looping for so long I can't even tell anymore...
This song definitely brings me the image of the Land of Pulse and Haze, but in kind of a chill meandering kind of way. It feels more like some kind of exploration than a time sensitive game track to me. So I wanted to try to get that feeling, appreciate the landscape and have a Vantas presence but an ambiguity to who it is exploring this landscape. I also wanted to go with something that looked more like it came from the cmoic than some other pieces. I know I'm quite pleased with the result and had a lot of fun. I wouldn't mind revisiting some other lands in future pieces.
March 9f the Insuffera6le Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This piece was written for Kankri Vantas. It was made as a march because marches signify authority and Kankri attempts to command the respect of his fellow teammates throughout his session. The faster parts represent that his calm demeanor can be easily shattered by his short temper. I used piano and violin to connect it to the song that I had made earlier for Porrim called "Antevo+rta." This song's alternate name in my own album is "The Pariah."
The idea behind the picture was tightly tied to the piece itself, and author's description. Kankri is trying to be a leader, but all his protection falls back on the civilization long lost and destroyed - that's why it's Beforan skulls marching right after him. His leadership, his protection is aimed more at dusty pieces and bits of no longer existing Beforan society, rather than his friends in afterlife.
Land of Cruisin and Bruisin Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Driving a fast car with the top down, Cronus flies down the speedway with a brilliant pixelated city on the horizon as his backdrop. With the moon and stars hanging in the sky, fireworks celebrate his every lap while crowds cheer and hold up signs bearing his name.
I tried to capture the feeling of this very fun song with bright colors and hard edges to give it a bit of a cartoon/video game feel. I haven't drawn many cars, so that was a challenge, as well as trying to limit lines by using solid colors. Ah Cronus... Gotta dig the vwiolet ride.
Rust Witch Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
I did this track way back in 2013 I think? Maybe early 2014 back when my computer with my music program still worked. Hah. It all sort of originated with a wager, that I couldn't produce a better Tavros song than the one on the official album. And of course, being the huge procrastinator that I am, I never did. But I did however get the idea to do my own album for the songs of the Beforan Trolls. Again, procrastination got the better of me, but this project came along and almost took the workload I had give nmyself off my shoulders and still gave me an opportunity to showcase what I had done for Damara. It does have the traditional Eastern Asian sound to it with the pentatonic scale, and that's what the song was based upon. Also ghosts. Because spoopy.
I wanted to reflect the sort of spooky feel of the track in this piece, so I thught "what better way to do it than drawing The Scratch, with all those flashing blue lights?" It was a lot of fun to draw, and I like drawing Damara.
Blackhole: (album organizer)
(Blackhole here! Just dropping in to point out that, as the Witch of Time, it does make sense that Damara would have the only achronological track art of Disc 2! I suppose she's getting ahead on the timeline action by jumping back to earlier in the session. The Scratch is yet to come!)
Caligomancy Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
I decided to try something different for this one. Horuss for me, despite his humorous characterisation, has always had this sort of aura about him, this cloud of smoke and steam - a sort of sense of an industrial force wrapped up in this one, lonely individual. His steam automata and his manner, naturally brooding beneath the forced cheerful exterior, almost feel like Equius but somehow more mature, with more gravitas. I tried to put all that into this track. It's a lot more slow moving and atmospheric than my usual work. I imagine a steam engine locomotive building up speed, slow but inexorable, and impossible to stop once unerway. Fun fact; free steam samples are hard to find. Aside from the one locomotive sound effect I did manage to source, most of the pneumatic hiss you hear is in fact me blowing on my microphone.
When I heard this track the first thing that came to me was an industrial vibe so I tried to stick with that impression by adding the steam and darker colros coupled with the bright orange. This piece was also very atmospheric so I tried to emulate that by having the smoke almost engulfing Horuss as well as adding the fkecls of black to represent oil and further the industrial feel of the piece. I hope you all can look at this art along with the music and see the more mature and thoughtful side of Horuss.
Land of Rad Tricks and Gnarly Odorless Things Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
The first thing I have to say is that the name of the song is awesome. Also, this is my favorite track I made for the project. Again with the Ā«cool dangerousĀ» vibe. This time, I worked hard for nice percussions. I also tried to do a song with a lot of variety while using with recurring riffs. Something I tried is a pad solo in the middle of the song.
So rad, even the ramps are skateboards. The special-effects explosions that come with this land, thankfully, have no scent.
Bright colors are especially dangerous and I thought they suited the track, and I ran with my tried-and-tested graphic style!
Scratchless Scraps Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
I have a quiet love for carapaces, so this track was a lot of fun to work on! I took inspiration from the official "The Wanderers" album, one of my favorite albums in the Homestuck discography. I was particularly inspired by the album's electronic and Arabic kind of style, which definitely fits the theme of a desert-like landscape in the ruins of a technologically advanced civilization.
In this case, I envisioned Beforus' "years in the future" scenario as being not quite as refined as the Midnight Crew's city, since I kind of doubt the Beforan trolls would have enough teamwork to bother exiling them, but with much more room to build upon than pre-Scratch Earth since the Red Miles and Bec Noir ruined any potential our original exiles had. So the buildup of this song really represents the growth of the Beforan exiles (whoever they may be) and their community itself!
(Of course, there's still the issue of Spades Slick eventually shooting a bullet and destroying the entire universe... yikes. Guess they can worry about that later...?)
I've always liked the juxtaposition between photography and illustrations drawn on top of them, especially creatures and critters interacting with everyday objects as if they were part of our routine, something unseen but still among us. For this piece, I wanted to create something similar, but with a little twist. I wanted both worlds to fuse and be a part of each other. And to answer the "what ifs" by presenting another question: what if, years in the future (but not many) our own universe becomes their reality?
Skaia Ad Infinitum Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
3 days before the finalization of my track marked one year since I took on to music production. I formed a soundcloud with a friend and we went from there. To this day I have no real definitive style (neither of us do really), but I wanted to work on Hardstyle to get my foot in the door. I wasn't all too successful, and I often don't ever finish projects. Once I saw news of the fan album, it gave me reason to create a track. This track was a twice failed and shelved project. It finally bloomed into what it is now. Really I just want to thank the Beforus team for having me here. THis endeavor really gave me hope and reason behind my production. This is my first major step into the realm of music production. Shout out to Xavier, you're like a brother to me.
For Skaia Ad Infinitum I wanted to include the classic spirograph defense portal symbol (in purple as opposed to the Alternia trolls' blue ones, for its symbolism) and Skaia itself, while also showing some tidbits of the Beforus trolls' session of Sgrub that we know about through the portal, since the track is about Skaia watching over the session. As the track art took on a center focused composition I also included the planets and moons of the session, and it also tied it back to Skaia again with it in the center.
Niklink: (wiki editor)
The artist conveniently forgot to mention that this track is in fact a midi swap of a completely unrelated song.
Formant (Sprite Chorus Mix) Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This song is a result of me playing around with the theme from Chorale for Jaspers and stumbling upon a particular preset for one of my synthesizers, "Formant", for which I later named the song. The music sounded so great with that particular synth that I decided to build an entire song around it, and completed Formant in its entirety pretty much later that day. Whilst I originally billed it as a Jasprose theme when she made her debut, for Beforus I've repurposed it as a more general sprite theme that would work for the Beforan session sprites. This album version is extended with a longer intro, and features cleaner audio without the static!
Hey! I'm Siggy and I'm honored to make art for the Beforus album. Listening to this song made me think of the colour pink and Meenah being the best pink troll on the block, I decided to make the picture all pink.
The Explored Ruins Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This song was composed with the intent of having a "Homestuck" feel to it, while being my own creation at the same time. The floating left-hand chord pattern that is heard throughout the song is inspired by Flare, and Three in the Morning. The piano portion was composed before I even knew of the fan album, so it was mostly in the additional elements (the strings, woodwinds, percussion, etc.) that the character was shaped.
As the track progressed, I began to see more and more elements of Rufioh in it. The track follows Rufioh's storyline in that, at the beginning, it is calm and simple, reflecting his life before sGrub and his relationship with Damara. As the tension mounts in the drumline, we discover his feelings for Horuss and the beginnings of his fights with Damara as the strings kick in. The gradual crescendo to the end shows the challenges he faces during the game and the desparation to save the world how he knows it. As his life ends, he reflects back on it, wondering if he could have made other choices to have kept this from happening.
The real challenge about illustrating this song was the fact that it depicted so many different emotions I couldn't just choose one to stand out from all the rest. Together, they spoke of a lifetime summed up in one melody. In the end, I felt like it was a revelation: the experience of having your life flash before your eyes. "The Explored Ruins" doesn't necessarily need to be referring to a physical place, I realized. What about the ruins of your own existence?
Since both Damara and Horuss played such important roles in Rufioh's life, I really wanted to include them in what ended up being not so metaphorical objects: the roses, representing passion but also strangling, hurting love; and the arrows, symbolizing a new union and a new direction. Yet, in the end, everything fades away with one last Breath. How suitable.
Shipping Implicatpuns Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This song was composed in LSDJ on my gameboy, and recorded in Pro Tools! This chiptune piece shows how I imagine Meulin's thought process is as she considers romance... scary, bubbly, cte. The title for this track was almost "Soothshipper"; luckily, quotes from canon save me from hard decisions every time.
shu:
In keeping with the gameboy/chiptune theme I decided to go for a retro game aesthetic with the color pallet and the cell shading. Other than that, I just wanted to draw a cute Meulin!
Dear Heart Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
A song for a romance between a confident lover and someone not used to being loved. Written in 6/8 time (Maryams are 6th on the hemospectrum, Serkets the 8th), this piece reflects the affairs between the jade and ceruleanbloods of the Homestuck story: short but passionate. The song suggests an invitation to dance; the initial hesitation of the cymbals show, in this case, Aranea's feelings of uncertainty in the presence of an experienced byt ukind red romancer in Porrim but, over time, she learns to trust the jadeblood and allows herself to be led into a brief but intense concupiscent relationship.
I contacted Dallas as aoon as I got this track assigned to me, he's been a part of the creative process since the beginning and I think in the end we got an art piece that shows how complex yet romantic and passionate the relationships between the Maryams and Serkets can be which is exactly what we were both going for, hope you enjoy!
Look Into The Future Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
The track is named after how Aranea spoke about her fling with Porrim. That a Sylph of Light could have "looked into the future" and decided getting comfy with our dear Maid of Space was the right course of action for a time... it caught my interest, and fanned my love for this pairing. I was originally considering writing something more lively, like an instruental sea shanty, but I decided that solace fit the two best. I imagine it wasn't a loud or busy relationship, and so neither is the track. My concurrent goal was the ncourage listeners to look into the future themselves. Just a track to take a breath to, look at the sky to, contemplate. At the very least, to imagine this pair doing so, in their time together. I wonder what pulled them apart?
This track is really a soft and soothing melody so I wanted to use a soft and soothing color pallet. I also really wanted to focus on Aranea and Porrim since the piece was written about their fling. I really love quiet music so as soon as I heard the song I knew I wanted to make an image that was more on the simple side with cool colors to evoke the feeling of serenity. I hope you can look at the art with the song and feel the tranquility I was trying to get across!
Cosmic Malfunction Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This song was inspired by the glitch in the Beforan trolls' session, the event that caused most, if not all, the conflict in Homestuck (some by great extension). I've made music before relating to a similar topic (Void Session), but that was more relevant to the alpha kids. The functions and mechanics of Sburb has always been one of the most facinating aspects of the Homestuck universe to me, so it's always fun to explore that inspiration.
The challenge here was to depict the glitch in the session itself, which is a pretty vague concept; the alpha trolls' ectobiology took place after the scratch, they weren't born in their own session. This is also Lord English's calling card, which is represented by the orb kinda looking like Scratch's head depicting the ectobiology lab in universe A2. I originally wanted to include all the trolls in the piece, but it was way too cluttered so I just went with their colors instead. I didn't want the whole thing to be about Kankri since this is about a game concept in general, but the reason I used him was becuase to my (questionable) knowledge, he probably would've been the ectobiologist if their session wasn't glitched, like Karkat. This was definitely a challenge but I'm honored to illustrate for such an incredible track!
Hypnagogia Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Kurloz awakens, but cannot sleep. He dreams, but cannot wake.
Listening to this track, I had the distinct image of Kurloz falling through sopor slime into the void. Not long after, the dream self between being asleep in his cocoon on Beforus and the kingdom of Prospit was an overwhelming image. It certainly called for something that looked a bit dramatic and fuzzy, the way things feel when you aren't sure if you're awake or dreaming and in that state where you can be stratled awake by the feeling you've crashed back onto the mattress, literally falling awake after just barely falling asleep.
50M3 GR347 4C7 0F H3R015M Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This was written specifically as a theme fro Mituna Captor. I wrote it as a chiptune based loosely off of the Mega Man soundtrack because of Mituna's canon nickname, "Mega Man Sollux." This song was my first test for some chiptune percussion I found in the depths of my hard drive, and thus is alternatively named "Test Track" in one of my own albums. The actual name came from Aranea's short biography on him from Openbound, in which she states that "some great act of heroism" is what burnt out his psychic powers and shattered his mind.
Gene:
Mituna's track revolves around the event that caused him to lose his power, which is what I've chosen to depict. I decided to translate the chiptune into something visuall resembling a computer error, mirroring the "error" in Mituna's brain.
Time's Apostate Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Dan (also known as aradia-symmetry, author of aradiawheresheshouldbe and rosewheresheshouldbe.tumblr.com) commissioned me back in October 2013 for a song about Damara Megido. The song ended up quite spooky, because after all, he did commission it on October 31. I relied on the shakuhachi and cello and, per Dan's request, a pulsing synth bass to create the brooding, melancholy atmosphere I felt best reflected Damara's inner coldness and despesrate nihilism.
when i listened to the song the first thing that came into my mind was Damara sabotaging the alpha session, so the main focus of the drawing is a smug god tier damara doing that! the clock behind her is symbolical to how she is corrupting time itself and the session, and the cracks are the points in the timeline in which Damara has sabotaged it. I had a lot of fun drawing this and I hope you like the drawing. cheers! c:
Antevo+rta Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This piece was written for Porrim Maryam. The instrumentation is based off of her two themes, Jade Mother and Darling Dolorosa, which both feature piano and violin. The actual meaning of the song is open for interpretation because I went mostly off of feelings when writing it. Its name comes from the goddess of childbirth and prophecy, Antevorta, whose alternate name is Porrima. This song's alternative name in my own album is "Glass Heart."
This illustration stumped me. Porrim's character is more thematic than it is concrete, and such an open-ended premise left me chasing down a few false starts in the piece's design. The failure of Porrim's role as maid of space nonetheless contributed to events on a massive scale. Ignition does not mean success. Finally I found something I think captures it all without being too obvious.
7UN3 Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
I wanted to make a Homestuck fan song after listening to so many others, so I decided to give it a try. I started with using whatever free music programs I could find, and editing the sounds in Audacity. I thought it sounded quite good for something made from a few bad programs. I had to decide which of the Alpha Trolls this song would suit most, and decided on Mituna because of the electronic-ness of the song. It may have also suited Latula as well. I don't think it would go well with the other trolls.
Since there was no very set-in-stone backstory on this composition, I decided to use that freedom well and just go with flow, and it turned to be one of pieces I've had most fun doing - ever! I really loved the electronica feel of the track, and decided to use a limited palette and play with lines.
CHEATER PAN Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
I thought of how I would direct the track on my way to the shop actually. I ws listening to coloUrs and mayhem and I was just like "these would work well together." The beginning of the track is how the "accident" (read: damara's insatiable fury) happened, going on to Horuss and Rufioh building a relationship as he worked on the latter's body, which devolved into Rufioh's eternal, depressing grind through a mundane life, dating a guy he lost admiration for after the initial spark faded.
The idea for this drawing was that I just really wanted to draw Damara and Rufioh meeting up after his head's been placed ona robot horse. Nothing much really! I've always had a soft spot for Megidos so adding her in was absolutely necessary.
DAMiterNEIGHtions Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Parsing this one out makes "Damn" "Iterations" + a horse pun. This track was the one that hung around in concept the longest of any of my tracks, but came together the last of them. The original idea was to explore Horuss' own introspections, but that alone wsn't compelling me nearly enough. In the end, connecting Damara's and Horuss' struggles in one musical trainwreck was what propelled me forward. Rufioh takes a back seat to the insecurities and raw emotion of his past and present lovers, existing in tandem. I get the feeling that the session itself weighed heaviest on these two, one doomed to undo it at every turn, and the other to be swallowed up whole in pieces of hismelf. I aimed to convey this through the uncanny, grating musical landscape of the track. It is probably my favorite of the bunch.
One of my first thoughts while I was sketching this piece was the silly nature homestuck tends to express even in its more conflicting parts of story. Capturing that light-heartedness was a goal, and doing so while staying true to the track's ominous tone became a challenge. Hopefully together, they give off a "Calm before the storm" vibe. Admittingly, re-listening to this track after I finished making art for it made it sound cooler than it already was.
With the Fishes Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
With the Fishes is a piece that shows the turmoil that Damara went through directly after her breakup with Rufioh and whilst Meenah was bullying her. The vibraphone represetns Damara and her actions, the bell-like sounds showing how fragile she is feeling, while the loud, brash chords of the marimba shows Meenah's incessant cruelty. The final chord, or more accurately, cluster of notes, is Damara's final snap. It is the thing breaking inside her leading her to attack Meenah and Rufioh. The title "With the Fishes" has a dual meaning in this case: the obvious meaning of Damara interacting with Meenah, and that "sleping with the fishes" is a phrase that signifies that someone's dead, which seemed appropriate since Damara's experiences have left her almost dead inside. I hope you all enjoy this piece!
I wanted to really capture Damara's pre-snap personality here. She's got orange cloth over her eyes, representing how she feels she's been blind regarding what Rufioh has been up to. Meenah's hand is holding onto her throat, yet Damara remains oddly tranquil. SHe's fighting to work through all of this no matter how much it hurts. But in the end, she can only hold on so much for so long. And that's when the expression is less peaceful, more internally dead.
Timeout Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
For my piece, I wanted to write for an obscure part of the story that we only really hear about through exposition in Openbound: the duel between Damara and Meenah. Damara ends up killing Meenah (the section around 2:08), who is saved by Aranea (the final round), carrying her to her Quest Cocoon so she can Get the Tiger (the ending section). Damara and Aranea don't really have canonised themes, so I composed my own motif for Damara, and referenced track:fuchsia-ruler for Meenah, and Killed by BR8K Spider!!!!!!!! for Aranea (technically a Vriska theme, but they're both spider girls, gimme a 8r8k ;;;;) ). I actually started writing this track without a theme in mind, only really knowing it was going to be a battle theme, so the working title was "beforan beatdown". The whole track uses original synth sounds made with Magical8BitPlug and NES VST, except the drums, which are sampled from Secret of Mana, and the piano.
I always found Damara's sudden madness very interesting. By all accounts, she used to be a sweet girl until finally snapping and fighting Meenah. Aranea's involvement, however, has always been interesting to me. She, of course, brought Meenah to a quest bed, but I always wanted to explore the ambiguity of her involvement. Whether it was just to drag Meenah away or a decision to nudge along a friend suffering in silence to take action, who can really say. A bloody battle, a bully beaten, and a girl freed from her silence. I wanted this piece to show Aranea's ambiguous involvement and the terror that Damara had become.
Game Lost Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
ARANEA: You look into the future and see a life lasting for may8e thousands of sweeps, with nothing to look forward to,"A lament of waiting - for the Beforan trolls, it was not a violent end like Game Over, but a longer, hopeless failure to reach conclusion, with a game that they could not win, but that also would not kill them (until Meenah blew them up). The piano runs throughout, frequently chiming the passage of time, sometimes becoming more elaborate as strings take up the melody. Near the end, a solo cello plays af inal dolorous utterance of the melody before evanescing into the void.
Choosing what to depict in this image was a struggle. The song itself brings such a sense of grim finality! Ultimately, I ran with the moment that kickstarted the Beforan's even longer wait; the remains of the destroyed battlefield hangi n the sky as the defeated trolls await their impending doom.
This song is rogeous! The unexpected harmonies and chord changes grab your attention and keep you listening until the very end. It was a lot of fun to be able to record the cello solo for this song. The simple melody of the solo, along with the harmonies of the piano and other strings is really quite moving. It is a great pleasure to be a part of this song and album!
Press A to Reset Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Let's face it. Even though most of the Beforan session was allegedly sloppy teen romance, the end of it was awesome. They literally went out with a bang. So I thought, what if the whole session was made into an 8-bit NES game? This tune is the on cellosupposed theme of the final stage of BEFORUS: The Game. Or something. Sorry, I suck at names.
The song roughly covers the session from Damara intiiating the Scratch to the creation of Alternia. Can you guys see what part of the story is conveyed in each part of the track?
I used FamiTracker to make the legitimate 8-bit sound. "Hate You" by Toby "Radiation" Fox and "Alternia" by Seth "Beatfox" Peelle ("Theme" by Toby "Radiation Fox") was used in the track. I had a great time making this song, and I hope you guys enjoy it too! :)
I tried to make this image like some kind of classy high-res 8-bit shoutout to match with the song. The color scheme was inspired by wathcing a two year old draw all over the wall with neon glitter crayons.
The Scratch Before The Calm Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This song is divided in 3 parts: everything is sad and not going well - They enter the palace for the Scratch and it's mysterious - The Scratch begins and it's intense. For the sad part, it's just sad chords. For the mysterious parts, I used a lot of mysterious arpeggios and delay effects. For the Scratch, I used a lot of bitcrush, dramatic arpeggios, and I reused chords from the sad part and arpeggios from the mysterious parts because the Scratch is mixing things. I was inspired by the music of Steven Universe for the style of mysterious arpeggios. I think the music of the series did a great job with how they represent dangerous mystical stuff. I created all the sounds with NI Massive, used Replika for delay and Decimort for bitcrush. I had a lot of fun doing these songs and I hope that you liked it!
I was really happy wit hthis song from when I first put on this song and heard the slow, ominous opening. I think it really captures the sense of dread and mystery that surrounds the Scratch. Though the song has a three-part structure, visually I wanted to focus on the event itself. We only briefly see this in the comic, and it's a very striking scene. It was a lot of fun to draw the gigantic music box at the center of everything, and the various lighting effects were an interesting challenge.
Voided Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
The majority of the Beforus trolls are introduced inside the dream bubbles, a construct of paradox space. In my track, I used deep thrumming tones and a mournful temor melody to simulate the feeling of being alone in space and of being alone in the universe. The ghosts of the Beforus trolls who we meet in-game live widely in the past. I strove to create a melancholy atmosphere that would be reflective and ambient, just as the dream bubbles create a reflective space for characters to dwell in memories.
Instruments used: Tenor saxophone, ukulele
DAWs used: Audacity
Equipment used: iPhone 5c, Toshiba laptop
while listening to the track i could feel how melancholic it was, and that inspired me, i wanted to have swirls and bubbles over somewhat of the view of prospit/derse with the 12 trolls standing silhouetted! i tried to create the same feel as the song with the art.
Dream Around Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This song is about the famous Openbound walkaround. I tried to do some automatic writing to represent the mood of the draem bubbles. I think that the soundtrack of Tekkon Kinkreet influenced me for the vibe of the song. Now is a good time to talk about the programs that I use. I'm using Massive for my sounds, Reaper to compose and I use the Replika delay and Decimort bitcrusher> The song ends with Lord English's theme because why not!
This track, I feel, well portrays Meenah's recruitment adventures as she learned about the characters of the Beforus trolls. I tried my best to capture the vast and colorful environments encased inside the dream bubbles that Meenah explored. The dream bubble is implied through the use of a circular frame, and you may notice the crack in the universe, a symbol of Lord English's impending threat.
The world of Homestuck is always so wonderful, and I feel like people forget about it sometimes. I'm glad that fan musicians and artists can come together like this to create such beautiful works about something we love.
The Sylph is In Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
My track was inspired by Aranea's exposition booth in Openbound. I tried to go for a swing piano piece kind of in the vein of Charlie Brown, though I didn't adhere to that completely. I alsou sed themes from "Cobalt Corsair" on Colours and Mayhem Universe A. Basically, it was written to be something one could tap dance to.
Because the song took themes from swing dancing and Aranea's expasition booth, I thought it would be fun for Aranea to cut loose in her own private library.
Vwiolet Vwelvwet Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Cronus Ampora is in love with the 1950's era of Earth but wishes he could be in love with somebody. Anybody. This song captures the style of music from that time, starting with Cronus's generally pleasant mood but giving way to his overbearing on-the-make obnoxiousness that invariably drives people away. This doesn't make his loneliness any less real, which is illustrated at the end of the tune by a slow, sad finale. I grew up listening to this kind of music on my parents' radio so I really enjoyed bringing elements of my favourites from the Fifties to life in this song!
It's amusing once more to be drawing Cronus; he's practically a staple for me. That being said, I had a challenging but workable idea of how I wanted to present the piece. Seeing Cronus on a quest for love but failing would eventually lead to that path of sulking, and that is presented within his gray, stormy scheme (that, and the 50's barely had much in color still). With the fact he's outside of a dream bubble (a watery, lily pad dream bubble) where a red string of fate passes, it's almost like he's fishing for a pirze without really getting any bites. T oget even deeper into this harshness, the fact that it's a dream bubble can only leave for his hopes to be trapped in that; a dream. Something that could come so close, yet so far, and he continues trying to get a fish to catch his hook.
STRONG Like Hoofbeast Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
I liked the strong man character type and wanted to take a simple piece of music and build strength. Also, robot guitar noises.
I wanted to capture both a sense of melancholy and also one of power and solidity so I went for something that resembles a Modernist statue or a piece of Communist Propaganda, but with a sad, thoughtful pose. The talky guitars gave the track a retro feel, which I also tried to work in with a bit of grunge too. It's kind of an uncharacteristically cool looking portrait of Horuss to match a track that has an understated strength and dtermination, creating a sense of tragedy since none of the Zahhaks seem to ever live up to the promise of their strength.
Whispering Chucklevoodoo Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
A Meulin and Kurloz fansong. From its light-hearted and delicate beginning, it transitions into the mysterious sounds of an abandoned carnival. Out of the darkness, there rises an oblivious bliss, framed perfectly with the hint of a silent skeletal smile.
A cheerful interaction between friendsāor is it? My goal for this image is to show the insidious nature of Meulin and Kurloz's seemingly innocent relationship. Among the static lies a corrupted carnival abandoned years before, or perhaps never used? Unaware of the dark tendrils surrounding her, Meulin falls under the spell of her former matesprit's chucklevoodoo. Behind the stitches a menacing smile appears; in the distance, a silent prayer is lifted.
7UR8UL3N7 coll4bor4t1on Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This song is about Latula and Mituna relationship, it's a 3 part song that tells a story.
Don't count on me to expalin it to you though, but feel free to interpret as you like :)
Thank you for listening !
laptopStrummer
Hey! It's Siggy! When I listened to this song for the first few times, I was thinking of having both Mituna and Latula in the ipcture, but I felt like just having Mituna with Latula's hands holding him made it a little more symbolic in a way? Bleh, I'm never good at that kind of stuff, but this was fun to make!
Solus Vates Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This song is meant to represent the relationship Kankri has with his friends. Due to what we've seen in comic, I picture Kankri to have a strained relationship with the other trolls, leaving him feeling left out more often than not. This piece starts out bravado with a crunchy organ, representing Kankri's own bravado and righteous outlook, transitioning into a sad and lonely bit of chimes and violin. The piece ends with warm strings (they are his friends after all), leaving with a callback to the lonely chimes.
I titled this piece SOlus Vates, which is probably horrible Latin as I've never taken a course, buti t's meant to mean Lonely Seer/Prophet, relating to the left out and lonely feeling Kankri feels around his companions as well as his role as the Seer of Blood.
when i heard the song i just felt sorry for kankri, it represents pretty well how lonely kankri felt in his timeline, so in the drawing i decided to put kankri in a place where he would have spent most of his time during beforus, and i thought a library or some sort of study would fit well! and at the corner of the table some colorful flowers to represent his friends that are kinda with him. i had a lot of fun drawing this! i hope you like the drawing ^^
Radglare Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This is the first time i did a theme for a specific character by myself. It was harder than i expected, i did know what kind of vibe i would want to give it; hiphop/breakbeat with an oldschool vibe to it, something that would remind you of tony hawk pro skater. But i would make it very melodic with heavy 8bit-like influences to better suit her gamer girl character. Choosing a chord progression also was quite a challenge to me, it had to suit her character. After playing around and switching up orders i ended up with something that just felt right.
The first part represents hir first impression, the downtempo part is dedicated to her more serious 'libra side'. In the end it will all come together and really emphasise the radical personality she has created for herself.
The DJ scratches in the track reminded me of some kind of golden age of hip hop/Blade Runner fusion. And when I think techno neon late 80s grunge, I think Latula Pyrope.
We Are +og3th3r Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
"We Are +og3th3r" is a Latula-focused piece regarding her interactions with Porrim. Latula allows herself to let go of her "rad girl" act around Porrim, which she uses as a defense channel for her insecurities regarding her lacking hte sense of smell. When Porrim and Latula interact, they are able to openly ponder about life and the mysteries of universal questions, such as the possibilities and the capabilities of fate, should fate truly exist. The heartbeat-like rhythm symbolizes their open heart-to-heart conversation, the chimes representing Latula's carefree spirit, and the mallets exprses Porrim's inquisitive thinking.
Porrim and Latula's interactions have always been one of m yfavourite parts of Homestuck as a whole. Their conversation, to me, seems like a break from the actual story and we get two adult women being friends and discussing spiritual, universal and personal matters. I wanted to capture that, but also their own personalities in the art. We have Latula, who happily leans over Porrim as a greeting, trusting her to be there. We have Porrim, calmly waiting for Latula whom she trusts will arive. Latula is not wearing her shades, because these two see things eye-to-eye.
Divert Momento Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
"Divert Momento" is the song for Meulin and the misspelling is intentional. The title is a mix of Divert Moment, representing the moments that Meulin is "Diverted" for a moment by Kurloz's mind control, a momento, and Divertimento which is a type of music similar to a serenade, which is the name of one of the Homestuck songs for the Disciple, who Meulin is similar to but not exactly.
Meulin is portrayed in a dreamy state. I tried to add my personal interpretation of Kurloz's control over her through the paint and the nails as a trait that is hidden on that fantasy.
Curly Fury Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
For Kurloz, I wanted a song that begins and ends with silence. I borrowed the melodic theme from Blackest Heart (and Purple Bard and Purple Tyrant aswell, those are all Makara-themed songs) and played wtih it. I couldn't resist to put some of my (dare I say signature ?) stellar samples for the ambient outra. So some of the sounds actually come from space ! Thank you for listening. Cheers !
when i listened to the song, and saw its title, the only thing that came to me was the "vast honk" or how kurloz sewed his mouth, i wanted this drawing to more or less show how kurloz was then (after he sewed it) and at the vast honk. i hope you like the drawing!
The Light Forms Us Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This song was born out of a desire to remix the theme from Flutterwhat's fantastic "Let Me Dance, Let me glisten", one of the earliest tracks we received for the album. That song is about Porrim, and incorporates ideas of her radiance as a rainbow drinker, and so I had those images in my mind when I was putting this song together. However, for my own spin on the LMDLMG leitmotif, I wanted to give the track a broader meaning, so I decided to turn this into a song about the Green Sun, and how its light shines through the furthest ring and presides over the Beforan session (and many others). I used a similar set of sounds to those which I incorporated into Formant (Sprite Chorus Mix), the eponymous Formant synth common in both tracks always having given me the feeling of radiant light.
The track is nominally about the Green Sun, but the inclusion of the main leitmotif in Porrim's principal track links the Sun to Porrim specifically. I found that an interesting relationship and decided to explore it in the track art. This track gives me a strong ethereal cosmic vibe; to match that, I drew Porrim basking in the glrious light of the Green Sun, which fills half the sky even though it lies beyond the universe, indicating its power and importance. Deep magenta seemed like the perfect colour to pair with the sun's green.
Fortune Fins Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Now this was a fun track that turned out exactly as I first imagined it. Just a fun, playful bouncing thing. Meenah was always a threat to the session, but Aranea nurtured friendship with her just fine. Both trolls involved have to be a certain kind of light-hearted for that to work, and I really think they were. In any case, that's how their ghosts acted up until their separation. While it lasted, it was flitting and pumping and strong, in its own flighty way. A relationship propelled by fiath in the future and their own capabilities. Remember: each play revives the les8ifins for just a little longer.
This track is happy and bubbly so I drew slightly younger Meenah and Aranea in a slightly cartoonish style. With bubbles.
Thief of the Ring Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
"Thief of the Ring" is a pre-GAME OVER themed composition that covers Aranea's selfish motives & how it caused the imapct of GAME OVER, including: possessing Gamzee to steal the ring from John, almost forcing a kiss on Jake, forcing Jake to use his Hope power, killing Jade, getting angry because John promised the ring would be for Calliope, forcing Roxy to sleep, having to fight Brain Ghost Dirk as he rips her soul out of her body, and causing Jane's vengeance for the death of her ectobiological granddaughter.
The music, with its beat, and of course its theme that ties into GAME OVER, I naturally went towards bold colors and contrast- which is actually a staple of my art! I focused on the motif of the ring itself, and Aranea's life/death, giving her one dead eye and one living eye, split by the shadows. The ring itself is incorporated into her seven pupils, and the circular overlays.
In the Light Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
yeaha this song is centered around aranea and her chance with the life ring. its a short song but i put love into it. my favourite part is the end of the song bcuz of the fire, she wanted to shine but got too close to the sun >:3c ..IDK WHAT ELSE TO SAY,, I LOVE THIS SPIDER LADY.
As they say: the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and Aranea - being as bright and blind as she is - didn't really see her destination before she fell back into it. Gotta say, one of my favourite character arcs and I already wanted to do something with it when it first happened. I might ahve accidentally listened to the song several hours on a loop while doing this @u@" Even if I say so mysef, I fokin love that hair. Also fire.
Funeral March of the Avenging Dead Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Someone needs to take my violins away from me, I love them too much.
-'Skip'/SerialSymphony
Don't worry, your violins are safe with me. I promise to walk them twice a day.
Past and Present Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
"Past and Present" is meant to represent the action and devastation of the Beforus trolls' past. There are moments inw hich the trolls look with melancholy at their mistakes, but they hope for the future. It's almost as if they know that their ancestors will go on to be heroes.
I took into account how Oliver Hendricks described his piece and decided to make it wholly symbolic, two friends now enemies considering what has happened between them. The blood on the walls is also a symbol of all the pain that the Beforus trolls as a whole experienced. As for the artistic feel I wanted to portray in my piece, I played heavily into the tone of the song itself and used a style more of what you would most likely see in sequential storytelling.
Beforus Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Early last year, I wrote a song called "Featherlight." This is an extended and improved version of it made exclusively for the Beforus Album project and will not appear in any of my own albums. It serves as a mirror for the song Alternia in the album "AlterniaBound." This song is dedicated to Not-Terezi-Pyrope (Blackhole) for making this project possible.
Blackhole: (album organizer)
<3
Aranea once referred to the Green Moon as a "large(r) green interloper" that had never belonged to her world. Thus Beforus is represented by the Pink Moon standing alone in the sky; the Beforan players contemplate it from a tree branch of one of the Pyrope's forest. Is this a night before the end? A dreambubble illusion? As the track art for the last song on disk 2, the ambiguity seemed fitting. One way or another, it's now nothing more than a bittersweet recollection of simpler times.
♬ Disc 3 ♬ Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Disc 3 was originally conceived as a "bonus" disc, containing just a couple of tracks that were included in addition to the main body of the album. In the end, though, it grew into something bigger, band became an integral and important section of the album, containing some of our most key tracks. With the same track count as Disc 1, it keeps the album nicely balanced lengthwise, and is characterised by tracks that are somehow different from the principal themes of that Disc and the more narrative soundtrack pieces of Disc 2. These include tracks that did not slot easily into the Disc 2 chronology, remixes, vocal tracks, and a few special pieces for the album finale.
This was probably the first (or one of the first) art pieces made for the Beforus project, as it was also used as promotional art. I was honored to have the privilege of creating it, and kept it simplistic as I did not know what to expect out of the art that others would be putting toward the project later on. Also, I had no other way to quickly create digital art at the time other than with an iPad. I like to think I helped make everyone else's art look even greater! I also thought about karaoke parties while making this, but I think that's perfectly fine.
Fuchsia Moonrise Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This track was inspired by the fact that, because the corruption represented by the Green Moon was not present in the Beforus timeline, their nights would have been lit by the Pink Moon alone. Pink is a decidedly strange colour to associate with nighttime, but I do enjoy the imagery immensely. This track is meant to evoke the image of a mysterious pink night. It combines ethereal piano accents with a square lead riff that one might associate with Meenah Peixes, who lived on the moon for a period of time.
This piece exploers the visual effects of a pink moon's light on a Beforian seascape and a young Meenah as she contemplates abdication. The drama and scope of the track Fuchsia Moonrise lent itself to a turbulent seascape while the quieter aspects of the track inspired something more contemplative and calm.
Burgundy Revenge Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
A Damara Megido song, focused on her hate against her archrival and an excellent host. It took me 6 hours and is based off Meenah's and Doc Scratch's songs.
Conceding to the original track artist's commentary, this piece was made to represent a strife between Meenah and Damara. Burgundy Revenge to me was a very creepy and atmospheric track so I decided to set it in a black and smoky enviornment.
#problematicfave Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Kankri Vantas was the most difficult character I've had to write a song for in my whole life. He's too sensitive. He reminds me too much of Tumblr, but then I guess that was the point. Anyway, I was relieved to learn I could do an instrumental, and it turned out to actually be my problematic fave. Sorry it's so short. Feel free to loop!
I must admit, Kankri is one of my least favourite characters, I can't stand the guy. I wasn't so thrilled when I received my allocation, but I decided to view it as a challenge and do my best. I let the music guide my hand, as I often do when I'm drawing, and here's the result. Red is my favourite colour and I loved playing with it.
Tree Dwellers Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Tree Dwellers is about the Lost Weeaboos; a group of Beforan otaku trolls living in a secret forest village far away from normal troll society. The track was originally made to be a fan track for Nepeta, but I found the track to fit surprisingly well with the whole concept about the Lost Weeaboos.
Tree Dwellers was never made to be a piece of music that sounded 'brilliant' or 'genuinely composed'; the simplicity and silliness of the track gave me MSPA feels, so I chose to keep it that way as a silly detail in the Beforus Album.
As MariEater wrote in their track commentary, the song "Tree Dwellers" was meant to be fun, simple, and silly. So for the track art I wanted to show an everyday scene in the village of the Lost Weeaboos; tree houses, trolls dressed up in cosplay, and of course fisticuffs.
Puppeteer Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This song has gone through three lyrical overhauls (the third was becuase the song I created got too personal), two instrumental overhauls, and a shift from "real" instruments to virtual instruments. It's a mess. I wanted to focus on something of the dynamic between Kurloz and Meulin, especially all the gross mind-control stuff. I wanted to give lots of double meanings to the text, too, because puppeteer, nothing means what you think it means, la-di-da. So. Puppeteer. The end.
For the track art I wanted to focus more on Meulin being controlled, so I chose to show her as a cross between a puppet and doll, as a nod to all the mind controlling and chucklevoodoo stuff going on with Kurloz. She gets her mind broken into and toyed with like it's no big deal, by none other than her closest friend, for who knows how long, and then lights some catnip with him afterwards. It's a mixture of creepy and cute, just like them. For the background I chose to use bright purples to give it more of a glow-y, neon, big-brother-is-looking-into-your-soul vibe, as well as make reference to Kurloz.
Give up your mind and jump into the void.
Cardinal Movement Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
I had a lot of ambitions with this one. It didn't end up how I originally imagined, but I think it's frantic in just the right way, the repititions rae a bit unnerving in just the right way. Boss battle songs odn't usually fade out, but neither do entire universes and their heroes! This track is named after the Beforan session scratch construct, and is meant to convey the inner workings of our lovely Thief during the very last high-stakes moment of her life. The original plan was to include a sadder, slow portion; owever, when it came time to finalize, that just didn't feel right. This was something Meenah ahd been planning ever since the Horrorterrors spoke to her. Of course she has feelings, but she wasn't about to have a change of heart on this: not when it would save all of her friends. She's sweet (and terrifying) like that.
I tried to show Meenah in a situation where she is considering the repercussions, where she's certain this is the best option even though such a huge price has to be paid.
Anacronus Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Anacronus is a song about "what if Cronus was an 80's cop". So the song is inspired by artists like Waveshaper and Infinity Shred. At first, there was supposed to have drums in the song, but I found the sound to be more wide, threating and John Carpenter-esque. In the middle part, I quoted Flare by Plazmataz because why not. I made all the sounds with NI Massive. // When I heard about the project, I wanted to do a cool Cronus track... except that he's not really cool. So I made him an 80's cop. I tried to do something like John Carpenter: epic, dangerous and a lot of arpeggios.
I read that it was supposed to be 80's cop Cronus and played around for a little bit with that. The theme sounds dark and emotional, which rpompted me to, humorously, think about that meme where a person is on a stool with a microphone and has faded versions of their face around. Obviously I didn't do that here, but the more I thought about it seriously, the mroe I thought it'd fit.
Madam Firefly Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
when i saw that this album was going to be focusing on beforus, i wasn't really sure what to do with that; my song-writing aesthetic is pretty light and fluffy, and my favourite alpha trolls would have to be meenah and porrim, a pair of fairly punk kids. but i was thinking about porrim's thing with light and her ability to flicker on and off where kanaya hasn't mastered that yet. and i thought, what about a firefly, that'd be kind of cute, and then once i had that idea i wrote most of the lyrics in an afternoon.
I enjoyed making this piece since Porrim and I share the same zodiac sign and I already think she's gorgeous. I focused on the mood of the song (and how the sound of the vocals made me feel) more so than the lyrics, and tried to capture those moods in this picture. Listening to the track was comforting and felt... warm. I was glad the composer intended to take a lighter aesthetic approach, because that was something I could eaisly match.
7UN3 R3M1X Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
I made this song in a hurry when I thought I'd lost the other song (I know it's bad to delete stuff but I was trying to hide it from someone who wouldn't have reacted well...but that's another story). This song isn't as good because I couldn't remember how to recreate the sound in the original song. But I thought I'd have it here anywa.
shu:
It was mostly inspired by the track's mroe distorted sound effects and its playful melody. It's definitely a catchy tune and I found myself humming around while drawing this so I hope I did the composer some justice! I'm glad I got assigned a Mituna song because I've never actually drawn him and it was a lot of fun hahaa//
East Beforan Funk Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This one was based on a somewhat crackpot idea of mine that had been floating around in my head for a while. Uptown Funk is undoubtedly one of the best records of this decade so far, and, what with the concept of the Homestuck song parody having a fairly rich canon at this point, I thought it was a shame that it had yet to get the same treatment. I thought a fairly tongue-in-cheek "East Beforan Funk" re-arrangement and re-lyricised cover of the track would be a fun thing to slot in at the end of the album. Several times I thought that I might not finish it in order to make the cut, especially seeing as arranging the entire track with new instrumentation in FL was incredibly painstaking, but I got there in the end!
The whole vocal portion of the track is somewhat of an homage to a failed project that I was working on with the pseudonymous "The D" some years ago, "Scourge Siblings", to record some of the lyrical accompaniments that I'd written for various Homestuck tracks over the years. None of that ever really came to full fruition despite our best efforts at the time, but I think this is probably the best thing that could have come out of that failed project! I hope it as fun to listen to as it was to make.
I figured that a parody of a real song deserved parody album artwork to match, so of course I ended up Funkifying Rifoh and Damara and mimicking the actual Uptown Funk album artwork. Considering the state that we saw Damara and Rufioh in Openbound, it was kinda nice to be able to draw them from a time when they were having lighthearted fun together!
Rex Duodecim Daemonia X (ReDuX) Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This piece... I don't think I've ever had a chance to write anything like it. It was insanely challenging, least of all trying to find some way to fit in all of the principal tracks. I've tried my best to include something that sort of sounds close to each of the tracks while telling a story, but I apologise if it's not exactly what or as much as you expect.
The King Awakens. Kankri's Rally. Horuss and Rufioh's Attempt. Meulin and Kurloz's Carnival. Damara, Centre Stage. Retaliation and Aranea's Failure. Porrim's Glow. Cronus's Final Stand. Mituna and Latula's Efforts. Aranea's Return. Meenah's Finale.
I could spend a while talking about this so I'll just note a few things: Kurloz mimics RDA like Gamzee did. Aranea attempts to make a big show against the king around 4.33, but fails (Porrim steps up to help after this). The Thirteenth Hour appears at the end of the Mituna/Latula section as well. It's something "ve always wanted to reference in a track and seemed appropriate for thsi song that was literally finished in the last hours of the project. I hope you've enjoyed this album as much as I enjoyed spending several long nights toiling over this piece.
The fight with the Black King is surely one of the most exciting parts of the game, and I tried to show the spirit of the fight that each Beforus troll would have. The order of trolls on the picture follows the track, and each one has been assigned the most possible fitting weapon that would help them fight the Black King. In order of appearance: Kankri (Social Justice speech), Horuss (untamed strength of bare fists), Rufioh (spear and shield), Kurlzo (chucklevoodoos and needle with thread), Meulin (written fanfiction), Damara (wands), Porrim (glow and the Gigli chainsaw), Cronus (Ahab's Crosshairs), Mituna & Latula (Troll Playstation), Aranea (dice and Mindfang's sword), and Meenah (2x3dent). The visualization of Black King is left to the imagination of the audience.
Motions of Infinity Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
This song can be interpreted as being about the Scratch from the Beforus trolls' point of view. I wanted to write a song that had a suspenseful single-note intro, similar to in the song English from the Homestuck album The Felt. I wrote the song to be dramatic because the Scratch, for them, signifies the end of their roles as players in their session.
I wanted to show the initiation, the process, and the result of the Beforus trolls' scratch. Damara, happily volunteering and having the power in the first place, initiated the cardinal movement, and Meenah blowing up everybody so that they would continue to exist as ghosts, and the result, their alternate selves born in a whole new world and society. I put the ancestors because they had a role in preparing the Alternian trolls to be stronger to win the game and that all started with the alpha trolls scratching their session in the first place.
Beforus
Disc 1 (1–13)
Disc 2 (14–69)
Disc 3 (70–82)