Dance of the Dead
By Veritas Unae
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Cover art by Selan Pike
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Released 9/9/2017.
Duration: 13:04.
Listen on Bandcamp or YouTube.
Read artist commentary.
General contributors:
- Nick Smalley ← Kalesa In Binondo Previous general contribution by this artist (additional vocals)
Tracks that Dance of the Dead references: Tracks that this one references:
- Showtime (Piano Refrain) by Malcolm Brown and Kevin Regamey
- Verdancy (Bassline) by Kalibration
- Chorale for Jaspers by Michael Guy Bowman
- Tall, Dark and Loathsome by Clark Powell
- Ballad of Awakening by Malcolm Brown
- Versus by Toby Fox
- Skaian Summoning by Toby Fox
- Tangled Waltz by Michael Guy Bowman
- Omelette Sandwich by Mark J. Hadley
- A Tender Moment by Toby Fox
- Atomic Bonsai by Tensei
- A Fairy Battle by Toby Fox
- Heat by Clark Powell
- Beta Version by Michael Guy Bowman
- Let's All Rock the Heist by Robert J! Lake
- Revelations, II by James Dever
- Aimless Morning Gold by Michael Guy Bowman
- Core of Darkness by Solatrus
- Escape Pod by Michael Guy Bowman
- Skaian Birth by Mark J. Hadley
- Temporal Shenanigans by Rachel Rose Mitchell
- Pendulum by Shandy
- Watercolour by Pendulum
- Skaianet by Mark J. Hadley
- II - Sarabande by Clark Powell
- Underfoot by Erik Scheele
- Pondsquatter by Alex Rosetti
- Red Sucker by Kalibration
- Oppa Toby Style by Toby Fox
- Train by Buzinkai
- Penumbra Phantasm by Toby Fox
- Jack and Black Queen by Miss Prince
- Phantom Echoes by Andrew Huo
- Spider8ite!!!!!!!! by Kalibration
- Gods of the New World [Universe Creation] by Max Wright
- Jade Aubade by Trent West
- Bathearst's Theme by Eston Schweickart
- For Beforus by Nate Tronerud
- Four Kids and a Game They Play Together by Robert J! Lake
- Monochromatic Shenanigans by Kusoro
- Rouge on the Rox by Tensei
- JUST1C3 R41NS FROM 4BOV3 by SerialSymphony and Circlejourney
- Daydreamer by electric lantern
- Sburban Metro by Veritas Unae
Lyrics:
(My dear audience, we have a treat for you tonight. One song: every Homestuck album. With the Midnight Crew tonight backed by none other than the beta quartet, I give you: Dance of the Dead.)
(We’re not quite done yet kiddos. Let’s board the fanmusic train and keep it rollin'!)
Artist commentary:
Veritas Unae: (composer, booklet commentary)
I'm really sorry I delayed this album. I hope this is worth it.
Originally, when LoFaM 3 wrapped up and we were considering how LoFaM 4 could tie everything up, I approached konec0 about what should be done for the 'dance' track in that album could end up being. One of the original ideas was a song initially called 'Requiem Momentum / Moment of Dance'. Like Garden of Eden and konec0's dance tracks before it, it was going to flow between piano medleys (based around Requiem from Sburb) and high tempo dance segments. Eventually the ideas drifted towards being a love letter to all of Homestuck music, in particular, one that featured at least one song from every album. (Well... except Act 7, I have to draw lines somewhere; it's here I apologise to anyone expecting me to tackle the CaNMT discography.)
From there, konec0's involvement in the fan music scene dropped somewhat, and I was still particularly excited about this idea around the time the ball actually started rolling on LoFaM 4. So I decided to try and revive the dead dance. Humorously, Requiem no longer shows up in the piece, so Dance of the Dead is a bit of a misnomer, but I think the frantic pace and thematic idea of the beta kids and the Midnight Crew jamming together in the Farthest Ring is one we can all appreciate. The choice to go with jazz for the piece is mostly due to how comfortable I feel writing for small jazz ensembles. Another funny thing to note is that I gave anything tricky or unplayable to Jade (consider some of the basslines or the double notes on flute) - she must have pulled out her dreambot again! (Not withstandding, I think a couple of carapacians picked up some alto saxes.)
Many thanks to all the amazing fan musicians who populated the sheet music thread back in the day. So many of those scores were invaluable to me. Also thanks to TheOtherN on musescore for their incredible transcription of Watercolour, Alex Rosetti for the Pondsquatter MIDI, Max Wright for Gods of the New World sheet music, Nate Tronerud for the For Beforus sheet music, Tensei for the Rouge on the Rox MIDI, Circlejourney for the JUST1C3 MIDI, and Marcy for her incredible melody notating skills.
Selan Pike: (track artist, booklet commentary)
I think it makes a statement, and that statement is, "I've been playing too much Persona 5", or perhaps "I hate drawing musical isntruments"
Unofficial MSPA Fans: (booklet commentary)
References
- Homestuck Vol. 1 - Showtime (Piano Refrain) - Kevin Regamey (00:00–00:37)
- Homestuck Vol. 2 - Verdancy (Bassline) - Kalibration (00:53–01:01)
- Homestuck Vol. 3 - Chorale for Jaspers - Michael Guy Bowman (01:01–01:17)
- Midnight Crew: Drawing Dead - Tall, Dark and Loathsome - Clark Powell (01:17–01:49)
- Homestuck Vol. 4 - Ballad of Awakening - Malcolm Brown (01:25–01:49)
- Homestuck Vol. 5 - Versus - Toby Fox (01:41–02:05)
- Alternia - Skaian Summoning - Toby Fox (02:06–02:55)
- Squiddles! - Tangled Waltz - Michael Guy Bowman (02:23–02:55)
- The Felt - Omelette Sandwich - Mark J. Hadley (02:55–03:42)
- Homestuck Vol. 6 - A Tender Moment - Toby Fox (03:09–03:42)
- Strife! - Atomic Bonsai - Tensei (03:27–04:00)
- AlterniaBound - A Fairy Battle - Toby Fox (03:47–04:00)
- Medium - Heat - Clark Powell (04:03–04:21)
- Mobius Trip and Hadron Kaleido - Beta Version - Michael Guy Bowman (04:22–04:39)
- Homestuck Vol. 7 - Let's All Rock the Heist - Robert J! Lake (04:22–04:39)
- Sburb - Revelations II - James Dever (04:39–04:56)
- The Wanderers - Aimless Morning Gold - Michael Guy Bowman (04:46–04:56)
- Prospit & Derse - Core of Darkness - Solatrus (04:56–05:27)
- Homestuck Vol. 8 - Escape Pod - Michael Guy Bowman (05:03–05:10)
- Song of Skaia - Skaian Birth - Mark J. Hadley (05:10–05:27)
- coloUrs and mayhem: Universe A - Temporal Shenanigans - Rachel Rose Mitchell (05:18–05:27)
- coloUrs and mayhem: Universe B - Pendulum - Shandy (05:30–06:18)
- - Watercolour - Pendulum (05:30–06:26)
- Homestuck Vol. 9 - Skaianet - Mark J. Hadley (06:26–6:58)
- Symphony Impossible to Play - II - Sarabande - Clark Powell (06:42–06:58)
- One Year Older - Underfoot - Erik Scheele (06:58–07:16)
- Genesis Frog - Pondsquatter - Alex Rosetti (07:16–07:30)
- Cherubim - Red Sucker - James Dever and Kalibration (07:32–07:49)
- [S] Collide. - Oppa Toby Style - Toby Fox (07:40–07:49)
- Homestuck Vol. 10 - Train - Buzinkai (07:58–09:01)
- - Penumbra Phantasm - Toby Fox (08:20–08:38)
- Homestuck for the Holidays - George the Conductor - Nick Smalley (09:05–09:11)
- Land of Fans and Music - Jack and Black Queen - Miss Prince (09:11–09:33)
- Jailbreak Vol. 1 - Phantom Echoes - Andrew Huo (09:33–10:05)
- Tomb of the Ancestors - Spider8ite!!!!!!!! - Kalibration (09:41–10:05)
- SBURB OST - Gods of the New World [Universe Creation] - Max Wright (10:07–10:40)
- Land of Fans and Music 2 - Jade Aubade - Trent West (10:23–10:57)
- Land of Fans and Music 3 - Bathearst's Theme - Eston Schweickart (10:49–10:57)
- Beforus - For Beforus - Nate Tronerud (10:57–11:24)
- Stuckhome Syndrome Part 1 V1 - Four Kids and a Game They Play Together - Robert J! Lake (11:16–11:24)
- Weird Puzzle Tunes - Monochromatic Shenanigans - Kusoro (11:24–11:41)
- Strife 2 - Rouge on the Rox - Tensei (11:41–11:58)
- Ancestral - JUST1C3 R41NS FROM 4BOV3 - Circlejourney and SerialSymphony (11:56–11:21)
- Land of Fans and Music 4 - Daydreamer - electric lantern (11:58–12:13)
- - Sburban Metro - Veritas Unae (12:21–13:04)