More Homestuck Fandom - Commentary
3.1k words across 51 entries.
A Baby Legend - The Baby is 2 Listen on: YouTube
Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I actually finished the second album.
Aradia's Theme (Pre-Death) Listen on: YouTube
Niklink: (wiki editor)
Unofficial name. If I recall correctly, I gave it that name for the Homestuck Sound Test because when Toby Fox shared the track on his Tumblr, he shared it alongside a picture of Aradia (and nothing else to identify the song with), almost certainly the same picture I used as track art for the song in the first versions of the Sound Test.
Bane Listen on: HSMusic (wiki archive)
Whew... this is a really, REALLY old one of mine. I wrote the first version of "Bane" in 2001, and this version (the 'latest' one) was written in 2005. It's been a long time since I did anything with this theme, but I still really like it. I've been thinking about making a newer version of it (since surely I've gotten better over the past decade, right?).
I kind of regret not slipping this theme into Homestuck somewhere; I feel like this could have easily been a recurring signature theme for projects I work on (like Toby Fox does with 'Megalovania').
Busker's Theme Listen on: Tumblr, HSMusic (wiki archive)
Originally there was a troll in act 2 code named “Busker” that was the alternian version of those like.. one man bands you see when you go to venice beach or like on the subway or w/e. Just him and his weird accordion that also somehow made all these extra sounds.
Anyway if you went up to him and did the right dialogue he would play you his song, which was this. I think he got written out because he was kind of a one note character ‘,:^]
well imma just put my interpretation of busker here
#nice. i think they were... cerulean? i dont remember
Condescescion Listen on: YouTube, HSMusic (wiki archive)
just screwing around, but sometimes music plays in my head as I read panels and I wanted to get something out for her before I went to bed
Appears to be an unofficial name, possibly originating in the Homestuck Sound Test. This track is an early sketch that eventually turned into Hate You.
Daywalker ~Rise~ Listen on: SoundCloud
Catboss: (SoundCloud description)
DEBUNK
The last of my three entries to the Homestuck Music Contest, the other two being Guns Blazing and Vodka Mutiny.
A song for Kanaya, this song is - in my opinion - the weakest contender of the lot. Daywalker nonetheless marks my first attempt at using real audio in a song - I recorded the flute performance myself. Unfortunately, my playing, recording, and production are definitely not up to snuff, honestly. Given that it was recorded with a terrible laptop mic, with a player who hadn't played in a long while (me), I suppose that was honestly no surprise.
However, I love both the harp and flute melodies in this song. It was a blast to play, and I'd definitely think about using them again at some point in the future.
Flare (Cascade) Listen on: Tumblr, YouTube
I have recut and remastered my track Flare, as it was presented to you in the Cascade flash (rather than the calmed-down album version). I get asked a lot for this, so I decided to give it some extra love and attention.
I have attempted a number of times to put together a mix of Flare that utilized the distinctive crescendo that is recognizable from Cascade, but it never seems to work well without the cinematic context. The buildup sort of leads to nothing, and then the track either ends awkwardly or fades out, and I have something personal against fade-outs. Maybe I'll talk about that someday. But not now.
I gave it another go, this time trying a decrescendo to bring the song back down from all the energy it riles up, then ending it on kind of a creepy note. I had more success here than I ever have in past attempts to cut the song together in this way.
Flare was a pretty big hit in its own right, so there's always the pressure coming from the responsibility to handle this properly. I hope you enjoy it!
haunt Listen on: YouTube
Niklink: (wiki editor)
This track is also known as 'Hussjam' in the current iteration of the Homestuck Sound Test.
HEY MAN VOLUME 10 MAN HEY CHECK IT OUT Listen on: YouTube
Jadesprite Listen on: YouTube
Niklink: (wiki editor)
Unofficial name. If I recall correctly, I gave it that name for the Homestuck Sound Test because when Toby Fox shared the track on his Tumblr, he shared it alongside a picture of Jadesprite (and nothing else to identify the song with), almost certainly the same picture I used as track art for the song in the first versions of the Sound Test.
Jane Dargason (5/11) Listen on: Tumblr, HSMusic (wiki archive)
And for your listening pleasure, a snippet of something called Jane Dargason. It is an unfinished track, part of my work lately putting together some music for Homestuck Volume 9. The beautiful artwork, for which the music is arguably just a vehicle, is brought to you by the astounding talent of Tavia Morra.
You remember Jade Dragon, right? The rich wall of sound therein owes itself to the fact that it samples Viva la Vida, from its namesake Coldplay album. Jane Dargason is a spiritual successor, using samplework from Life in Technicolor off the same album. All of this is combined here to surprisingly lovely effect with sounds from an unreleased track by RJ (who, as we have discussed, is the coolest).
In short, we have an anthemic Jane tune in the workings!
Quasar Nebula: (wiki editor)
This upload to Tumblr featured artwork by Tavia Morra which would eventually end up used on Homestuck Vol. 9 for Princess of Helium, rather than the final version of this track (which featured art by Dawn Davis instead).
Jane Dragon Listen on: YouTube, HSMusic (wiki archive)
volume 9 is upon us. soon we will be swimming in milkshakes.
jane dargason has just been finished; i slapped some touches on it and they will touch all of you inappropriately and you will like it.
trust.
because i know you're dying of curiosity
here is the original mp3 i sent clark that began this exciting journey. note that it is literally nothing like the final mix, or even the mix posted three weeks ago. it is a completely different thing.
that is what friendship does.lessons to be learned, people
Quasar Nebula: (wiki editor)
The linked file is dated April 16, 2012 (23:16:25 UTC).
>Lexxer: Ascend
Quasar Nebula: (wiki editor)
From James Roach's decommissioned fantroll album.
Long Night Ahead Listen on: YouTube
I'll have to do some explaining for this one: I've been messing around with vertically layered music composition, and wanted to do something with problem sleuth (that OTHER mspaint adventure). Feel free to skip my blathering below and just listen to the music though!
I always felt like PS was at least partially a callback to 90s point 'n click adventure games along the lines of Grim Fandango, Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island, Sam & Max, etc. so this song is intended to reflect that. If you imagine PS as a video game, this is the song that would play at the very start of the adventure while our heroes are messing around in their offices and getting caught up in all kinds of shenanigans.
Now, the nice thing about PS is that the three main characters (Problem Sleuth, Pickle Inspector and Ace Dick) all have some strong themes that make it easy to come up with appropriate musical motifs. In fact, the three musical instruments that appear fairly early in the comic ( A trumpet, a clarinet and a tuba) all are pretty obviously intended as metaphorical representations of the three heroes, which means that as a composer I have my work cut out for me.
The idea with vertical layering in this song is that depending on which of the protagonists is currently 'on screen', the theme uses different motifs and lead instruments: when more than one protagonist is on screen their motifs are played at the same time and combined. Normal playback methods don't support this kind of interactive music (many game engines do, however), so this particular version is more of a proof of concept that just demonstrates the different layers and highlights how they interact.
The first section after the intro belongs to Problem Sleuth. He's the leader of the bunch, and to reflect his mario-esque all-around average strength, his motif is played on a muted trumpet in the middle register with a combination of short and sustained notes.
After that we come to Ace Dick. His motif consists of short notes played on a tuba and backed by trombones and timpani to throw some appropriate weight around.
Pickle Inspector goes third with sustained notes played in the higher register of a clarinet. He's a bit of a loopy character so there's some glockenspiel and a lot of chroma... chromatics? chromaticity? to give it a bit of whimsy
The fourth loop combines the motifs of all three characters to demonstrate the interaction between layers when all three are present. The final loop is a variation on the Problem Sleuth motif with an added theremin and a delay effect on all the instruments to give it a 'spacy' sound: we're entering the realm of imagination and the music becomes appropriately screwy.
Lullaby of the furthest ring (2/21) Listen on: Tumblr, HSMusic (wiki archive)
very loose music box fm synth arrangement of let the squiddles sleep that never went anywhere
"enjoy"
Quasar Nebula: (wiki editor)
Released on Tumblr on February 21, 2013; the linked file is dated two years earlier, on January 28, 2011 (21:29:16 UTC).
Mother Listen on: YouTube
Canned Corner: “Mother”
(aka. Music that didn’t quite make it. Since I’m not updating enough amma talk more about cancelled tracks you may have heard snippits of a while back but never appeared on any album)
Aah “Mother”, this one was conceived back around Vol. 9 as a Rose track, originally under the assumption that post-scratch Rose would be important and act as a kind of parallel to Rose’s Mom pre-scratch. As usual this wasn’t the case, and instead she surfed out on a blaze of glory and ICP related shenanigans.
“Mother” was basically planned as post-scratch Harlequin, but with flavours of Ms. Lalonde. As such, it’s essentially Aggrieve in the style of Harlequin. Then it’s blended more with my usual weird Chiptune-with-bits-of-orchestra thing. The net result is kind of a more mystical, studious piece.
I kinda like it, but it doesn’t really do anything, and its only original bits are abandoned fairly quickly due to the shortness of the track. Plus when it became apparent that post-scratch Rose has pretty much no influence on the plot, it was brushed to one side and I started on something else.
Old Skacret Listen on: HSMusic (wiki archive)
Makin: (wiki editor)
James Roach took down this track after a year or two and never reuploaded it.
Pascal Kepler, Thief of Mind
Quasar Nebula: (wiki editor)
From James Roach's decommissioned fantroll album.
Patient Listen on: Tumblr, YouTube
patient
not gonna use this for anything
Rex English Listen on: YouTube
Niklink: (wiki editor)
Unofficial name. Archived link to the original Tumblr post.
The Ballad of Jack Noir Listen on: YouTube
I really wish I was better at singing homogenously hahahaha
Seriously considering a third person vocal arrangement for a jazz band
Also I didn't know noir wasn't two syllables so this song is kind of ruined for me hahaha
The Thirteenth Troll Listen on: YouTube
did something cute with UU’s theme from Alternia
u_u;;;
The Undying Listen on: YouTube
Right around when Cherubim came out in March, I got a few requests to hear what the original sketches were for Red Sucker and Green Lolly. These were the skeletons that I gave the team. I worked with them through the process with input and suggestions on the pacing and structure, but they really took these simple ideas and ran in the best possible direction!
The cherubs are bizarre creatures, and everything about them is pretty far out there, so I focused on chromaticism in the themes to give it some off kilter base. Caliborn is (pardon my French) a little shit. He’s diabolical and selfish. I decided to base this skeleton on a minor triad to give it a darker tone right off the bat. Mirroring it on the Calliope sketch accidentally gave it a Kuja’s Theme tone to it, which I ended up loving. I immediately approached Kali about adding his own personal flare to it. I’ve always been a monumental fan of his compositions, especially TOTA, which was the sound I was looking for. He nailed it exponentially!
The Uranian Listen on: YouTube
Right around when Cherubim came out in March, I got a few requests to hear what the original sketches were for Red Sucker and Green Lolly. These were the skeletons that I gave the team. I worked with them through the process with input and suggestions on the pacing and structure, but they really took these simple ideas and ran in the best possible direction!
The cherubs are bizarre creatures, and everything about them is pretty far out there, so I focused on chromaticism in the themes to give it some off kilter base. Caliborn is (pardon my French) a little shit. He’s diabolical and selfish. I decided to base this skeleton on a minor triad to give it a darker tone right off the bat. Mirroring it on the Calliope sketch accidentally gave it a Kuja’s Theme tone to it, which I ended up loving. I immediately approached Kali about adding his own personal flare to it. I’ve always been a monumental fan of his compositions, especially TOTA, which was the sound I was looking for. He nailed it exponentially!
You're So Rad Listen on: YouTube, HSMusic (wiki archive)
“You’re So Rad”
Re: Music suggestions, I’d love to hear a theme for Karkat and Terezi in the recent game-style update, and the beautiful but sad conversation they had in the dream bubble. I think it would make for a gorgeous song.
- kchan323
Quest Accepted!
Here’s a preview of what I’ve got so far. Not a huge amount of Karkat/Terezi injection in yet, or percussion for that matter, but I’m hoping to combine the two in some glorious union that will make even the hardest, strongest, man-horse-lusus be reduced to a pile of quivering tears and black liquid sorrow.
(The name’s a spin on the Hanz Zimmer track “You’re so cool” from the movie True Romance, but with some radical Latula Pyrope twist)
Ascend (Famitracker 8-Bit Cover) Listen on: YouTube
An 8-bit cover of the song titled Ascend from the new music album, Homestuck Volume 10. As far as I'm aware I'm the first person on YouTube to post an 8-bit cover of a song from Volume 10 so that's a pretty cool acomplishment.
Edit: And now I'm the first to 8-bit cover the ending credits song in Homestuck. How cool is that???
Original song by Tensei. He has heard this cover.
Calming Quartz (Beta) Listen on: SoundCloud
The first Version of Calming Quartz, my song for the album Xenoplanetarium, a Homestuck Fan Album. I wasn't happy with this version so I redid the entire song. This song references Land of Quartz and Melody by Thomas Ferkol.
🤡 Listen on: YouTube
BGM for the Grand Highblood route of DistantQuest, a fan-made friendsim game about the troll Ancestors from Homestuck. Check it out here: https://distantpast.itch.io/distantquest
Bandcamp release of the full soundtrack to come soon once the final character routes will be released !
DAVE STRIDER'S COOL MIXTAPE Listen on: SoundCloud
Circlejourney: (wrote The Light's Rebellion)
so I just had a memory hit me out of nowhere - me and serialsymphony discussed quoting each other's tracks reciprocally back when Dave Strider's Cool Mixtape was meant to be on Cosmic Caretakers. i.e. this track does reference The Light's Rebellion at 2:56
we both made the front half of our tracks, and then traded motifs in the back half, so it really is a reciprocal reference
sorry for your ears @ anyone who listens through this to confirm its existence
Friendsim 2 Prologue End Fanfare
Niklink: (wiki editor)
The four fanfares used in the different endings for Friendsim 2's prologue are variations on the same motif. Since they were all released simultaneously, we don't currently know the exact relationship between them, but in the meantime this track entry ensures they appear as being related to each other.
Heir of Grief Sax Cover Listen on: YouTube
As we near the end of Homestuck, please listen to this cover of Joren "Tensei" de Bruin's "Heir of Grief" on saxophone.
Since its beginning on April 13, 2009, Homestuck has accumulated over 8000 pages and 800,000 words and numerous characters. With End of Act 6's flash [S] Collide, the final act has begun. It's hard to believe that on April 13, 2016, the entire journey will be over.
EQUIPMENT (it doesn't require the best!)
Instrument: Conn 24M Alto Saxophone
Mouthpiece: JodyJazz HR 6M
Ligature: Rovner C1RL MK III
Reed: Vandoren Java 2
Mic: Blue Yeti
Camera: Canon EOS SL1/100DDAW: Reaper
Video Editing Software: Adobe Premiere Pro CC
Keep your head down, Rustblood! [Sax Cover Story] Listen on: YouTube
Rustbloods, unite! Do not be content to keep your head down with this sax cover of James Roach & Toby Fox's "Keep your head down" and "Rustblood".
This cover story was surprisingly difficult to do. Hiveswap (the long awaited sidequest for the Homestuck series) is very new, so there's a real possibility of spoiling things -- and this is especially the case since there are folks who are already familiar with Homestuck and folks who are not.
This cover story could be like the prequel to the events of Hiveswap, maybe. Or at least, an imagining of something that could fit there.
►EQUIPMENT◄
🎷 Instrument : Conn 24M Alto Saxophone
Mouthpiece: JodyJazz HR 6M
Ligature: Rovner C1RL MK III
Reed: Vandoren Java 2🎤 Mic: Electro Voice RE-20
📷 Camera: Canon EOS SL1/100D🎛️ DAW: Reaper
🎞️ Video Editing Software: Adobe Premiere Pro CC
Little Miss Fortune
koba: (wiki editor)
This track is unreleased at the time of writing (January 2024).
Shimmerserene Listen on: Bandcamp
A journey for Oenia.
The Land Of Wind And Shade Listen on: SoundCloud
KDMAnderson: (composer, SoundCloud)
This is sort of a tribute tune to the Webcomic "MS Paint Adventures". It's very fresh; I recorded it almost as soon as I finished writing it. I slathered on Phasers, Chorus, Reverb and Echo to support the dreamy feel of the piece. It's played almost entirely with harmonics. Altered Tuning, too. ;)
Enjoy!
The Well Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube
Mathias Ramalho: (Composer)
Made for a MSPA-styled, DnD Session, named "Colored Castles"
Thunderhead Listen on: Bandcamp
Veritas Unae: (SoundCloud description)
I made a song at the request of Pat for his fan adventure, Loftlocked. The song is very chaotic, representing a world dominated by an [REDACTED] thunderstorm. I tried to bring a balance between tranquility and complete rage, counterbalancing the world of the player with the player [REDACTED].
I used Sibelius and Pro Tools SE for this.
Kevin Grant: (SoundCloud comment)
Whoa, people still make HS fanmusic? Is it 2011? Where am I what's going on who are these nice men in the suits taking me away
Veritas Unae: (SoundCloud comment)
considering people still make HS fanventures... yeah, I guess so. oh wait where are you going oh goodbye friend i hope you enjoy your trip!!
半影の復帰 Listen on: SoundCloud
This is an unfinished version of the song known as "Hankage Fantazumu 2", which was never finished.
The Lime Muse Listen on: YouTube, SoundCloud
The first part of a planned long song about Calliope and Caliborn im making. Yes, a Homestuck song after a long time! Enjoy,
The Blood Lord Listen on: YouTube, SoundCloud
Finished Caliborn's part for Ophiuchus. This one took a while to finish, thanks a lot to salex_rekt for the Shreddage samples! Hope you enjoy.
Spacetime Subjugation Listen on: YouTube, SoundCloud
Third part's here! We're getting close to the end. Hope you enjoy!
Takeover / Havoc Listen on: YouTube, SoundCloud
It is finally here, the fourth part of Ophiuchus, featuring the amazing David Ellis from Homestuck's Music Team on the Hammond Organ and my friend Fabricio Podestá on electric guitar. Im really proud of this song, probably my best so far. Hope you enjoy!!
Spirals (Including Illusions of Freedom) Listen on: YouTube, SoundCloud
And so finally, Ophiuchus is finished. I've been working on it since march, and now this 28 minute long prog rock homestuck epic is done. I had a lot of fun writing all this parts, although it's been quite hard sometimes. You can expect more prog rock songs like these in the future. Thank you all for listening.
More Homestuck Fandom
Fanmusic from the official team
Other fanmusic
From the Cool and New Music Team
From the Paradox Music Team
From Ophiuchus (Full Suite)
Other audio-based fanworks