#Song: Sburban Countdown - Mark Hadley & Michael Guy Bowman

[hom3stuck-d41ly]

[S] John: Take bite of apple.

> END OF ACT 1

[29pageshomestuckeveryday]

Homestuck, page 246

[S] John: Take bite of apple.

song used:

Sburban Countdown by Mark Hadley and Michael Guy Bowman

song commentary:

Mark Hadley:

I really liked Sburban Jungle and felt it was iconic enough to be considered a theme song for Sburb (not just the loading screen as it was originally presented). Since the ending scene for Act 1 was an early pivotal moment in the game, I tried to make something that sounded like Sburban Jungle, but clearly felt like time was ticking away to something big. It's a lot to try and cram into a little over 30 seconds, but I did my best.

Author commentary:

(0:30 on timer above) - I was still learning the ropes in Flash when I made this page, and I'm sure I blundered through it as inefficiently as possible. That comet streaking effect in the bottom panels I remember thinking came out pretty cool, with the trail slowly expanding behind it. But I think I laboured over it for hours. These days, it would take less than a minute to do that. And as usual, my increased efficiency would not translate into saved time, but into an excuse to take on Flash projects that were much, much more complicated than this one.

(0:06) - Bruce Willis is concerned.

John: Drop apple, run inside, begin playing Ghostbusters 2 MMORPG immediately.

[marinapeixes]

To celebrate the re-release of all the HS music on Bandcamp, here is a list (with links!) of my favorite HS music. There’s talent and heart in the vast Homestuck musicverse, and I highly recommend exploring it if you haven’t, returning to it if it’s been a while, and sharing your own favorites if they’re still in your mix today.

So here are my top 25 favorite Homestuck songs, including fan material:

In comic | On albums | On fan album* | Not in any collection**

Doctor | Candles and Potency** | Planet Healer | Pale Rapture | Trepidation | Voidlight / Whispers in the Voidlight** / Haven** |  Carne Vale | Austin, Atlantis / piano duet** | Crystalanthemums / Crystalguitarthemums* | The Lyrist | Skaian Birth / Skaian Dreams Remix / Skies of Skaia | Ascend | Terezi’s Theme | Sburban Jungle / Sburban Countdown | Renewed Return | Another Chance | Knight in Two Dreams** | Seer of Same-Colored Scalemate Combos** | Cuddlefish* | Purple Bard |  Forever / Beta Version / The Deeper You Go | Three in the Morning (RJ's I Can Barely Sleep In This Casino Remix) | Superego |  Skaia Ad Infinitum* | Dreamers and the Dead

Short but somehow very long descriptions of why I love each track under the cut:

1. Doctor | George Buzinkai | Homestuck Vol. 1-4 The original. The iconic. A genuinely haunting and atmospheric track, I think this was a big part of what really drew me into the story when first reading it.

2. Candles and Potency | Jeremy “Solatrus” Iamurri | (Youtube) I’ve posted this here before but like. This is still such a mystery to me. It was played as part of the stream leading up to the release of Volume 10. Why...was it not part of Volume 10. Why does it have no official release.  I live in terror this video source for it will be taken down. It’s a stunning remix of Candles and Clockwork (x / x). Listen to it all the way through - the piano bit is my favorite.

3. Planet Healer | Seth “Beetfox” Peelle | Homestuck Vol. 5 Changes the mood of Doctor from “mysterious” to “inviting.” Great soundtrack for a playable segment of the comic, great to listen to on its own.

4. Pale Rapture | The Black Curtain | coloUrs and mayhem: Universe B This song has a noticeable physiological calming affect on me. I also just like it.

5. Trepidation | Svix | Homestuck Vol. 9 Energetic and uplifting. One of my cheer-up songs.

6. Voidlight | Thomas Ferkol | Homestuck Vol. 10 (Whispers in the Voidlight / Haven) I think I’m okay admitting that I like the preview version of this better than the final - because I still like the final great deal. I like that Whispers in the Voidlight has less layer, but I like the ending that was added to Voidlight. I’m pretty happy having both versions in my mix. It is a very comforting song to me.

7. Carne Vale | Malcolm Brown | Cherubim Still gives me shivers. This was the standout for me when Cherubim was released, and I’m glad it was put in the comic later - it made [S] Game Over. more palatable. 

8. Austin, Atlantis | Clark “Plazmataz” Powell | Homestuck Vol. 9 (Austin, Atlantis (piano duet)) I cried the first time I listened to this. That’s...a recommendation. Sometimes the titles of instrumental songs don’t affect my impressions of them on a conscious level, but this one definitely did, and I actually felt an emotion like looking at a sunken city that I used to be able to walk though. Both versions are very good.

9.  Crystalanthemums | Alex Rosetti | Homestuck Vol. 5 (Crystalguitarthemums* | Eric “Jit” Scheele | Land of Fans and Music 2) Another iconic leitmotif. I love the track itself, and Crystalguitarthemums is a fan release that has a similar mood of tranquility. 

10. The Lyrist | Thomas "EidolonOrpheus" Ferkol | Cherubim I tended to skip the less exciting tracks on Cherubim at first, but now I love this for being sad and sweet and very pretty.

11.  Skaian Birth | Mark Hadley | Song of Skaia

(Skaian Dreams Remix | Homestuck Vol. 2 (original), Skies of Skaia | Mark Hadley | Homestuck Vol. 1-4) The “Skaian” motif is very magical sounding. Like Voidlight, I find Skaian Birth very comforting. As of the posting of this, the Song of Skaia album seams to have bean eaten by the mass-reuploading...I hope it gets reuploaded as well.

12. Ascend | Joren “Tensei” de Bruin | Homestuck Vol. 10 This was such a good medley track. It was so ambitious in how many motifs it tried to pull together, and the fact that Tensei said they were tackling a music style that they hadn’t seen much in HS music before...and it all paid off spectacularly.

13. Terezi’s Theme | Toby “Radiation” Fox | Alterniabound  What a great character theme. It’s pretty busy for a VG theme, but it seems to tell a whole story. I think it was The Lemonsnout Turnabout that established the harpsichord as a Terezi sound, and that was also a Toby Fox track, and it’s very effective.

14. Sburban Jungle | Michael Guy Bowman | Homestuck Vol. 1-4 (Sburban Countdown | Michael Guy Bowman | Homestuck Vol. 1-4) Early on I considered this just as iconic as Doctor, and I was surprised it didn’t get used more. (If you want to see it used effectively as a motif, check out #21 on this list.) It really helped the mood shift as the comic got more serious and dramatic.

15. Renewed Return | Marcy Nabors | Homestuck Vol. 10 Another great medley track. Whereas Ascend has kind of a party atmosphere, Renewed Return is solemn and dignified in a way that is very satisfying as a conclusion to a long narrative.

16. Another Chance | Eston Schweickart, Erik “Jit” Scheele | One Year Older Homestuck is freaking long, and very meandering, and I’ve forgotten many of the plot beats. But one way to remember them is if they have a killer tribute song. Another Chance always reminds me of a time when achieving god tier still felt like an incredible achievement, of how menacing Bec Noir was, and of the feeling of seeing a character resurrected. One Year Older appears to be another casualty of the reuploading...this was a beautifully cohesive solo album, and I hope it comes back somehow. Please give it another chance.

17. Knight in Two Dreams** | Malcolm Brown | (Tumblr) Hm. I think what I love about is that this track makes the time spent on the meteor feel real. The rhythm makes me thing of the passage of a lot of time. The music also makes me think of a sort of unease with being in close quarters with people and not being able to leave. And finally, it also has the sense it is waiting for something...as they are all waiting for their journey to be over.

18. Seer of Same-Colored Scalemate Combos | Alex Rosetti | (Tumblr) Speaking of Terezi’s harpsichord...This was the theme for a fun tile-swapping puzzle game made by insecureillustrator, which sadly I think is defunct now. In any event, the song is really fun.

19. Cuddlefish | Thomas Ferkol | Land of Fans and Music 2 Very sweet and calming. I like thinking of quieter moments in the HS multiverse, like the trolls started SGRUB.

20. Purple Bard | Gec | coloUrs and mayhem: Universe A I wish I knew more music words because I want to say what I like about this song is...the...mixing?? It’s very immersive, there are a lot of layers to it that contribute to making it creepy and kind of hypnotic.

21. Forever / Beta Version / The Deeper You Go | Michael Guy Bowman | Moebius Trip and Hadron Kaleido The instrumental tracks on MTAHK all give me a sense of depth of time, the remoteness of Skaia and the Medium, and the cyclical nature of SBURB. Spooky. It all makes the story seem much bigger somehow.

22. Three in the Morning (RJ's I Can Barely Sleep In This Casino Remix) | Clark “Plazmataz” Powell, Robert J! Lake | Homestuck Vol. 1-4 I love this one largely because it is nostalgic from when I first got into Homestuck in 2012 and for a while only had Volumes 1-4 to listen to (I didn’t discover the Bandcamp page until later). It might have to do with the fact that it’s sandwiched between Sburban Jungle and Doctor on the album, but it’s a fun and yet soothing track.

23. Superego | Yan "Nucleose" Rodriguez | coloUrs and mayhem: Universe A This captures a mood that I can’t put into words. I’m not sure if this was composed as a Vriska track, but if it wasn’t I’m glad it ended up as one, because it’s a feeling I don’t think any other song has. 

24. Skaia Ad Infinitum | Andromeda's Cadre | Beforus This reminds me of all my old favorite DDR tracks. The melody makes me think of the changing Spirograph that represents Skaia.

25. Dreamers and the Dead | Thomas "EidolonOrpheus" Ferkol | Alterniabound This and Cuddlefish have always had a similar feeling to me (moreso than other Thomas Ferkol tracks). I like to think about exploring the dream bubbles as analogous to swimming through Alternia’s oceans.

Honorable mentions to Rustblood and It Be Like That Sometimes, which are only not on this list because they are technically Hiveswap and not Homestuck. If Homestuck really is continuing, and if there’s going to be more Hiveswap, I’m very much looking forward to more music.

[heir-of-puns]

The updated map got me real nostalgic for early Homestuck and I may have started rereading it...

Arrangement of:

Showtime (Piano Refrain) - Malcolm Brown, arranged by Kevin Regamey

The wind skims the void flash where John looks up at the sun - Andrew Hussie?

The Note Desolation Plays - Max "Imbrog" Wright 

Showtime (Original Mix) - Malcolm Brown

Harlequin - Mark Hadley

Aggrieve - Mark Hadley (yes ok I realized after I made it that this version doesn’t happen until Act 2 whoops)

Sburban Countdown - Michael Guy Bowman, arranged by Mark Hadley

Songs belong to their artists and What Pumpkin.

[heir-of-puns]

Ok so to be honest, I got kind of sick of how shitty all the drum stuff on Sburbia sounded, and since my leitmotif tributes have been turning out pretty great (for my skill level), I wanted Sburbia to be worthy of its namesake Sburban Jungle, which is, in my opinion, the most iconically homestuck song in the music canon. So I just went ahead and completely redid it from scratch. I didn’t name it something else because Sburbia is a clever name and I like it shut up. The orchestral version in there is by Walt Ribeiro, whose stuff is absolutely incredible. I tend to be reluctant to use very off-the-beaten-track songs, since the further I get away from the hs canon, the more skeevy I feel about using other people’s stuff. But I did pay for it, it layers beautifully over Sburban Jungle, and it works really goddamn well in the arrangement so I made an exception for myself. So anyway here’s Sburbia again, completely redone. You can check out the original and one with slightly cleaned up drums (but not enough) here and here.

Arrangement of:

Sburban Countdown - Michael Guy Bowman and Mark Hadley

Sburban Reversal - Mark Hadley

Another Countdown - Michael Guy Bowman

Sburban Jungle.doc - The Hypergiants ASMR

Sburban Jungle - Michael Guy Bowman

Another Jungle - Michael Guy Bowman

Homestuck ‘Sburban Jungle’ for Orchestra - Walt Ribeiro

Sburban Deadline - ostrichlittledungeon (via Janestuck)

Songs belong to their artists and/or What Pumpkin. Sburban Jungle by Michael Guy Bowman.

[heir-of-puns]

Another Skaia song! This one’s for the Reckoning.

Arrangement of:

Skaian Starstorm - Astro Kid

Pyrocumulus (Sicknasty) - Robert J! Lake

Outer Reaches [Veil] - Charles "Crazy-8" Neudorf 

Starfall - Jeremy “Solatrus” Iamurri

Paradoxical Meteor Shower [Reckoning] - Trent "Trogg" West 

Ectobiology - David Ko

Skies of Skaia - Mark Hadley

How Do I Live (Bunny Back in the Box Version) - Michael Guy Bowman and Nick Smalley

Sburban Countdown - Michael Guy Bowman

Songs belong to their artists and/or What Pumpkin.

[heir-of-puns]

I’ve been meaning to clean this one up for a while. Not much is changed, just fixed up the beginning and got rid of bits that made it sound weird.

Here’s the original description and credits:

Sburban Jungle is, I think, one of the most iconic homestuck songs. So I really wanted to do it justice. 

Special thanks/shoutout to Bowman for making almost all of the songs used in this arrangement.

Arrangement of:

Sburban Jungle - Michael Guy Bowman Temporal Shenanigans - Rachel Macwhirter Sburban Coutdown - Michael Guy Bowman and Mark Hadley Sburban Reversal - Mark Hadley Another Countdown - Michael Guy Bowman Another Jungle - Michael Guy Bowman Calamity - Michael Guy Bowman Welcome to the New Extreme - Robert J! Lake

All of those songs belong to their artists and What Pumpkin.

[heir-of-puns]

Sburban Jungle is, I think, one of the most iconic homestuck songs. So I really wanted to do it justice. 

Special thanks/shoutout to Bowman for making almost all of the songs used in this arrangement.

Arrangement of:

Sburban Jungle - Michael Guy Bowman Temporal Shenanigans - Rachel Macwhirter Sburban Coutdown - Michael Guy Bowman and Mark Hadley Sburban Reversal - Mark Hadley Another Countdown - Michael Guy Bowman Another Jungle - Michael Guy Bowman Calamity - Michael Guy Bowman Welcome to the New Extreme - Robert J! Lake

All of those songs belong to their artists and What Pumpkin.