#playing an instrument is so different from composition ..

[snailmakesgames]

No music yet, but I've got a proper title screen!!

I think this is starting to heavily lean more towards GBC than NES but... I really love it so I may end up keeping it anyway LMAO

I think the main thing that might make it not NES-faithful is the parallax between the game logo and the background .. Colors should be okay going by the palette per 8x8 grid rule, but it definitely would not be able to move like that unless the entire thing was a huge sprite. Oh well.

[lovelylittlelosers]

OK a bit of a different take on the "I'm piano and you're forte. You're allegro, I'm andante. We're boléro, prostitué." It's obviously a big metaphor and here's what I think is going on (I'm not a musician I'm so sorry if these terms are bullshit):

Piano and Forte: Piano is soft, forte is loud. These terms refer to styles of playing but also make up the word for the instrument itself, pianoforte, two sides of the same coin-both needed to be able to play a song.

Allegro and Andante: Andante refers to a tempo of a walking pace 76–108 bpm, Allegro is faster 120–168 bpm "quick" and "bright." I think this is less about how these tempos symbolize Louis and Lestat and more about how they're drastically different and don't seem to match up. Specifically to go into the following line talking about...

Boléro: With the accented e, boléro seems to be specifically referring to the orchestral piece by Maurice Ravel from 1928. I think it's likely this is the reference due to the date falling within Loustat's marriage and, the main thing, the two opposing tempos of the piece! The backing track is faster than the main melody, calling back to that allegro and andante line. This piece is also widely considered to be Ravel's masterwork and is a very well-known composition.

Prostitué: Lestat thinks that they're opposites not just in temperament but also in bed, and the matching of their oppositions works just as well sexually as it does in life.

The whole verse is basically saying, "We're different and that should mean we clash, but take a look at this example of how we work so well! We're opposites but we slot together to make a perfect whole."

[lil-tachyon]

For the last couple weeks I've been drawing logos / designs for local-ish (mostly NJ, some PA and NY) bands as warmups in the morning. Here's what I've come up with! Massive post below the break explaining each logo + where to find each band and listen to their music.

Teenage Halloween- a staple of New Jersey basements for probably about a decade now and finally getting wider recognition in the last couple years. Pop punk / power pop with a killer horn section. First time I saw them was in New Brunswick playing with Walter Etc. and Blowout. They played a killer cover "Build Me Up Buttercup" and my wife got a black eye in the pit. Recommended tracks: "Brain Song," "666," "Clarity." Their first EP is on a separate bandcamp page btw, check it out here it's great.

Sweet Pill - They will call themselves a Philly band but in my heart they'll always be from Glassboro. Definitely one of the more recognizable names on this list. Emo revival - early stuff is more twinkly, more recent stuff is heavier. All of it's great. Recommended tracks "Nephew," "High Hopes."

Shark Club - Central Jersey's finest. I'm very biased because I actually know these dudes and they did the music for my wedding. Some of the best pop punk you'll hear and the nicest people you'll meet. Recommended tracks: "Game Theory," "Bill Murray," "Heavens to Betsy."

Rest Ashore - My favorite band for the last (oh God I'm old now) eight years. From gut-wrenching emo ballads to virtuoso math-rock instrumentals they do it all. One time I got to sing vocals on "Lucy's Theme" at a house show- thank you Erica! Recommended tracks: "Hjarta," "Chinese Opera," "Devotion," "Soyuz Sweetheart." Too many bangers to name honestly, just deep dive their discography.

Morus Alba - First band I ever went to see at a house show and still one of my absolute favorites. Their music feels like the bridge between the best pitchfork, /mu/ alt rock bands and high energy basement emo. I mean that as a compliment and I hope it comes off as one lol. I should note that since 2019 Morus Alba has morphed from a band into an experimental hip-hop project so later releases sound radically different and basically disconnected from the earlier stuff. Also my favorite release from them, Live at Isabelle's, has been scrubbed from the internet but if you'd like the files just email me. Recommended tracks: "Skyscraper," "Human Resources," "The Goodnight Waltz."

Have a Good Season - another Jersey mainstay that's still going strong. Emo revival in their earlier releases, now with more 70s power pop influences in their newer stuff. See them live, they put on a fantastic show and usually play some great covers in addition to their original music. HaGS guys if you're reading this, please put your version of "Since You've Been Gone" online, I'm begging you. Recommended tracks: "Joseph / Shel Silverstein," (you have to listen to them together for the drop, so good) , "Gum, "Gleaux / Scab." Also, frontman Nic Palermo interviewed me once.

Elephant Jake - If you see any of these bands live make it EJ, they put on such a damn good show. Electrifying indie punk from the Empire State. Recommended tracks: "F.D.C." "Sarah Moyer," "Goodness to Honest," and of course you gotta learn "Sebastien Bauer" for the singalongs.

Blind Lion - Sadly one of the greats that we lost along the way. Defunct since about 2017. I only got to see them once but it was a great performance. Alongside their own stuff they played some killer covers of "Bad Moon Rising" and "Moonage Daydream." I had trouble doing a logo design for them because I actually really like the composition, if not the "Ed Hardy-ness," of their existing logo so what you see here are two separate attempts, neither of which feels entirely satisfying to me. Frontperson Larry Flately currently plays in Nematode and also handled production of Bradley Gardens joke hiphop group The Breakfast Boiz under the moniker "DJ Ova EZ." Recommended tracks: "Brumous," "Dinner."

Fighting Seasons - A band that I sadly found out about too late (via a sticker under the bridge in my town which has since been painted over). 2010s pop punk that packs a helluva punch, especially considering that I'm pretty sure the members were high schoolers for most of the band's existence. I think some members may have gone on to form Sawce (FFO Chon, Polyphia, that type of music) but I can't remember where I read/heard that so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Recommended tracks: "Fighting Seasons," "Oil on Canvas"

Milkmen- Another fallen giant, officially disbanded in 2019. Like Morus Alba, they played the very first house show I attended and their few releases remain on constant rotation in my home. Used to put on a great show and were one of the bands I always thought would make it big until suddenly they weren't around anymore. Frontman Ben Thieberger contributed guitar and vocals to Covid quarantine project Kin if you're looking for a bit of an extra fix but beyond that I don't know what these guys are up to these days, sadly. Recommended tracks: "Ramus," "Johnny Dangerously," "how sieves catch breeze," "K.O.T.H."

Stand and Wave - New York (now Philly) pop punkers delivering instant dopamine hits with every track. Another great live act, see them with EJ if you can! They often play shows together. Recommended tracks: "Convos," "Mrs. Dash," "Splashton Kutcher," "Michael Collins."

My Chemical Romance - You know who they are. While I was drawing all these other logos I ran a poll on Patreon to decide which famous New Jersey band should also be graced with a drawing from me. MCR won the poll by a hefty margin so unfortunately you won't get to see me do an illegible black metal take on Hoboken's Yo La Tengo. I ended up doing two versions: the one with the halo is the first, the one with the bats was the second. I tried to do something kind of thin and elegant with the first one and I don't think it's terrible but I also wasn't quite satisfied with it. For the 2nd attempt I tried to lean into the kind of pulpy, almost horror punk aesthetic of early MCR and I think that one looks better even if it's less original.

Anyway if you took the time to read through all this, thank you very much! And please support these bands! Also If any of the links aren't working please let me know.

-Logan

[remembrancer-of-heresy]

You know, I love power imbalances. It’s always interesting to write about serfs. But since I value art (Serve the 3rd Legion), I prefer the remembrancers. And I decided to think about which particular remembrancers would be most interesting to write about relationships with the primarchs. Here is the list:

Documentarist (Journalist): Horus Lupercal, Roboute Guilliman.

For the first, it is important to feel his importance and self-centeredness. Write down his story as vividly as possible so that everyone understands how wonderful he is and how hard he tries. How much people should appreciate him and respect the title of Warmaster. Well, over time, you will truly become a personal documentarist when he decides to reveal to you the personal aspects of his life. So this time you have appreciate how wonderful he is.

The second needs a documentarist to record the history of the Imperium. He respects your order. And your personality. Because you are not a sycophant and write everything as it is. In 40k he needs a documentarist so that everyone will start seeing him again as a man and not a god. Alas, you will have to write down even the strangest things, such as “In such year, Guilliman could not lift a piece of paper because his armor was in the way. He joked. Cato didn’t laugh.”

Imagist: Alpharius/Omegon, Corvus Corax, Lion El'Jonson.

Simple and functional. You stay out of the way and photograph important events that can be studied later. And considering your profession, you have quite a high level of insight. And this attracts such hidden and suspicious individuals as these primarchs.

Historiographer (Historian): Magnus the Red, Jaghatai Khan, Leman Russ

The thirst for knowledge and the desire to understand the past will definitely bring you and Magnus together. You will literally be on the same page, discussing many events from different angles.

Well, given the fact that you are a historian, everything is interesting to you. Including a foreign culture that you respect and try to understand. At this moment, Jaghatai Khan is already taking you away on a bike.

And since you know that history can write one-sided personalities, you understand that something deep may be hiding behind the barbarian. You know it's a façade. At this moment, Leman is already throwing you over his shoulder.

Musician: Angron, Mortarion, Konrad Curze.

The way your fingers gently touch the instrument, the compositions you create. But the most important thing is your voice. Reminiscent of the rustling of leaves or the murmur of a river. Feels like fog. The best reassurance for unstable primarchs like these trio.

Painter: Fulgrim, Sanguinius.

These art lovers will love all the remembrancers. But I am sure that they will give preference to painters. Because they paint the real world as they see it. Because they would like to see the world like that and so on. A real space for imagination that knocks primarchs off their feet. And if, in addition to your talent, you also have your own different opinion about art (+ perfection), then at that very second you will have a very artistic admirers.

Sculptor: Perturabo, Dorn, Ferrus Manus.

Well, there’s no need to rant too much here. The first two primarchs regularly play with large-sized Lego. So it will be much easier for them to communicate with a sculptor who will understand them at least a little. But yes, praise from them is also like a stone. Ferrus Manus loves art, but not to the same extent as Fulgrim. A sculptor would be much more suited to Manus's aesthetic views than a painter or musician.

Wordsmith (author): Lorgar Aurelian.

Lorgar is a preacher, so he will be fascinated by a remembrancer with oratory skills. Or more precisely, someone who can turn words into something beautiful. What thousands of people will re-read or listen to.

Vulkan…no idea really. But let's say Wordsmith, because the word has “smith” :)

[canmom]

Music Theory Notes (for science bitches) 1: chords & such

This is one of these series where I use my blog as a kind of study blog type thing. If you're knowledgeable about music theory, it will be very basic. But that's kind of the problem, I've really struggled to absorb those basics!

When I was a teenager I learned to play violin and played in orchestras. I could read music, and play decently enough, but I didn't really understand music. I just read what was on the page, and played the scales I had to play for exams.

Lately I've been trying to learn music again. This time my instruments are zhonghu, voice, and DAWs. At some point I might get my violin back too. But really, I'm a total beginner again, and this time I want to do it properly.

For a long time when I tried to learn about music I would get overwhelmed with terminology and jargon and conventions. I might watch videos on composition and they'd be interesting but a lot of it would just fly over my head, I'd just have to nod along because I had no idea what all the different types of chord and such were. I tried to learn from sites like musictheory.net, but I found it hard to figure out the logical structure to fit it all into.

I feel like I'm finally making a bit of headway, so it's time to take some notes. The idea here is not just to answer the what, but also to give some sense of why, a motivation. So in a sense this is a first attempt at writing the introduction to music theory I wish I'd had. This is going to assume you know a little bit about physics, but basically nothing about music.

What is music? From first principles.

This is impossible to answer in full generality, especially since as certain people would be quick to remind me, there's a whole corner of avant-garde composers who will cook up counterexamples to whatever claim you make. So let's narrow our focus: I'm talking about the 'most common' type of music in the society I inhabit, which is called 'tonal music'. (However some observations may be relevant to other types of music such as noise or purely rhythmic music.)

Music is generally an art form involving arranging sound waves in time into patterns (in the sense that illustration is about creating patterns on a 2D surface with light, animation is arranging illustrations in time, etc.).

Physically, sound is a pressure wave propagating through a medium, primarily air. As sound waves propagate, they will reflect off surfaces and go into superposition, and depending on the materials around, certain frequencies might be attenuated or amplified. So the way sound waves propagate in a space is very complicated!

But in general we've found we can pretty decently approximate the experience of listening to something using one or two 'audio tracks', which are played back at just one or two points. So for the sake of making headway, we will make an approximation: rather than worry about the entire sound field, we're going to talk about a one-dimensional function of time, namely the pressure at the idealised audio source. This is what gets displayed inside an audio editor. For example, here's me playing the zhonghu, recorded on a mic, as seen inside Audacity.

A wrinkle that is not relevant for this discussion: The idealised 'pressure wave' is a continuous real function of the reals (time to pressure). By contrast, computer audio is quantised in both the pressure level and time, and this is used to reconstruct a continuous pressure wave by convolution at playback time. (Just like a pixel is not a little square, an audio sample is not a constant pressure!) But I'm going to talk about real numbers until quantisation becomes relevant.

When the human eye receives light, the cone cells in the eye respond to the frequencies of EM radiation, creating just three different neural signals, but with incredibly high sensitivity to direction. By contrast, when the human ear receives sound, it is directed into an organ called the cochlea which is kind of like a cone rolled up into a spiral...

Inside this organ, the sound wave moves around the spiral, which has a fascinatingly complex structure that means different frequencies of wave will excite tiny hairs at different points along the tube. In effect, the cochlea performs a short-time Fourier transform of the incoming sound wave. Information about the direction of the incoming wave is given by the way it reflects off the shape of the ear, the difference between ears, and the movement of our head.

So! In contrast to light, where the brain receives a huge amount of information about directions of incoming light but only limited information of the frequency spectrum, with sound we receive a huge amount of information about the frequency spectrum but only quite limited information about its direction.

Music thus generally involves creating patterns with vibration frequencies in the sound wave. More than this, it's also generally about creating repeating patterns on a longer timescale, which is known as rhythm. This has something to do with the way neurons respond to signals but that's something I'm not well-versed in, and in any case it is heavily culturally mediated.

All right, so, this is the medium we have to play with. When we analyse an audio signal that represents music, we chop it up into small windows, and use a Fourier transform to find out the 'frequencies that are present in the signal'.

Most musical instruments are designed to make sounds that are combinations of certain frequencies at integer ratios. For example here is a plot of the [discrete] Fourier transform of a note played on the zhonghu:

The intensity of the signal is written in decibels, so it's actually a logarithmic scale despite looking linear. The frequency of the wave is written in Hertz, and plotted logarithmically as well. A pure sine wave would look like a thin vertical line; a slightly wider spike means it's a combination of a bunch of sine waves of very close frequencies.

The signal consists of one strong peak at 397Hz and nearby frequencies, and a series of peaks at (roughly) integer multiples of this frequency. In this case the second and third peaks are measured at 786Hz, and 1176Hz. Exact integer ratios would give us 794Hz and 1191Hz, but because the first peak is quite wide we'd expect there to be some error.

Some terminology: The first peak is called the fundamental, and the remaining peaks are known as overtones. The frequency of the fundamental is what defines this signal as a particular musical note, and the intensities of the overtone and widths of the peaks define the quality of the note - the thing that makes a flute and a violin playing the same fundamental frequency sound different when we listen to them. If you played two different notes at the same time, you'd get the spectrums of both notes added together - each note has its own fundamental and overtones.

OK, so far that's just basic audio analysis, nothing is specific to music. To go further we need to start imposing some kind of logical structure on the sound, defining relationships between the different notes.

The twelve-tone music system

There are many ways to do this, but in the West, one specific system has evolved as a kind of 'common language' that the vast majority of music is written in. As a language, it gives names to the notes, and defines a space of emotional connotations. We unconsciously learn this language as we go through the process of socialisation, just as we learn to interpret pictures, watch films, etc.

The system I'm about to outline is known as 12-tone equal temperament or "12TET". It was first cooked up in the 16th century almost simultaneously in China and Europe, but it truly became the standard tuning in the West around the 18th century, distilled from a hodgepodge of musical systems in use previously. In the 20th century, classical composers became rather bored of it and started experimenting with other systems of tonality. Nevertheless, it's the system used for the vast majority of popular music, film and game soundtracks, etc.

Other systems exist, just as complex. Western music tends to create scales of seven notes in an octave, but there are variants that use other amounts, like 6. And for example classical Indian music uses its own variant of a seven-note scale; there are also nuances within Western music such as 'just intonation' which we'll discuss in a bit; really, everything in music is really fucking complicated!

I'll be primarily discussing 12TET because 1. it's hard enough to understand just one system and this one is the most accessible; 2. this has a very nice mathematical structure which tickles my autismbrain. However, along the way we'll visit some variants, such as 'Pythagorean intervals'.

The goal is to try and not just say 'this is what the notation means' but explain why we might construct music this way. Since a lot of musical stuff is kept around for historical reasons, that will require some detours into history.

Octaves

So, what's the big idea here? Well, let's start with the idea of an octave. If you have two notes, let's call then M and N, and the frequency of N is twice the frequency of M... well, to the human ear, they sound very very closely related. In fact N is the first overtone of M - if you play M on almost any instrument, you're also hearing N.

Harmony, which we'll talk about in a minute, is the idea that two notes sound especially pleasant together - but this goes even further. So in many many music systems around the world, these two notes with frequency ratio of 2 are actually identified - they are in some sense 'the same note', and they're given the same name. This also means that further powers of 2, of e.g. 4, 8, 16, and so on, are also 'the same note'. We call the relationship between M and N an octave - we say if two notes are 'an octave apart', one has twice the frequency of the other.

For example, a note whose fundamental frequency is 261.626Hz is known as 'C' in the convention of 'concert pitch'. This implies an infinite series of other Cs, but since the human ear has a limited range of frequencies, in practice you have Cs from 8.176Hz up through 16744.036. These are given a series of numbers by convention, so 261.626Hz is called C4, often 'middle C'. 523.251Hz is C5, 1046.502Hz is C6, and so on. However, a lot of the time it doesn't matter which C you're talking about, so you just say 'C'.

But the identification of "C" with 261.626Hz * 2^N is just a convention (known as 'concert pitch'). Nothing is stopping you tuning to any other frequency: to build up the rest of the structure you just need some note to start with, and the rest unfolds using ratios.

Harmony and intervals

Music is less about individual notes, and more about the relationship between notes - either notes played at the same time, or in succession.

Between any two notes we have something called an interval determined by the ratio of their fundamental frequencies. We've already seen one interval: the octave, which has ratio 2.

The next interval to bring up is the 'fifth'. There are a few different variants of this idea, but generally speaking if two notes have a ratio of 1.5, they sound really really nice together. Why is this called a 'fifth'? Historical reasons, there is no way to shake this terminology, we're stuck with it. Just bear with me here, it will become semi-clear in a minute.

In the same vein, other ratios of small integers tend to sound 'harmonious'. They're satisfying to hear together. Ratios of larger integers, by contrast, feel unsatisfying. But this creates an idea of 'tension' and 'resolution'. If you play two notes together that don't harmonise as nicely, you create a feeling of expectation and tension; when you you play some notes that harmonise really well, that 'resolves' the tension and creates a sense of relief.

Building a scale - just intonation

The exact 3:2 integer ratio used in two tuning systems called 'Pythagorean tuning' and 'just intonation'. Using these kinds of integer ratios, you can unfold out a whole series of other notes, and that's how the Europeans generally did things before 12TET came along. For example, in 'just intonation', you might start with some frequency, and then procede in the ratios 9/8, 5/4, 4/3, 3/2, 5/3, 15/8, and at last 2 (the octave). These would be given a series of letters, creating a 'scale'.

What is a scale? A scale is something like the 'colour palette' for a piece of music. It's a set of notes you use. You might use notes from outside the scale but only very occasionally. Different scales are associated with different feelings - for example, the 'major scale' generally feels happy and triumphant, while a 'minor scale' tends to feel sad and forlorn. We'll talk a lot more about scales soon.

In the European musical tradition, a 'scale' consists of seven notes in each octave, so the notes are named by the first seven notes of the alphabet, i.e. A B C D E F G. A scale has a 'base note', and then you'd unfold the other frequencies using the ratios. An instrument such as a piano would be tuned to play a particular scale. The ratios above are one definition of a 'major scale', and starting with C as the base note, the resulting set of notes is called 'C Major'.

All these nice small-number ratios tend to sound really good together. But it becomes rather tricky if you want to play multiple scales on the same instrument. For example, say your piano is tuned in just intonation to C Major. This means, assuming you have a starting frequency we'll call C, you have the following notes available in a given octave:

C, D=(9/8)C, E=(5/4)C, F=(4/3)C, G=(3/2)C [the fifth!], A=(5/3)C, B=(15/8)C, and 2C [the start of the next octave].

Note: the interval we named the 'fifth' is the fifth note in this scale. It's actually the fifth note in the various minor scales too.

But now suppose you want to play with some different notes - let's say a scale we'll call 'A major', which has the same frequency ratios starting on the note we previously called A. Does our piano have the right keys to play this scale?

Well, the next note up from A would be (9/8)A, which would be (9/8)(5/3)C=(15/8)C - that's our B key, so far so good. Then (5/4)A=(5/4)(5/3)C=(25/12)C and... uh oh! We don't have a (25/12)C key, we have 2C, so if we start at A and go up two keys, we have a note that is slightly lower frequency than the one we're looking for.

What this means is that, depending on your tuning, you could only approximate the pretty integer ratios for any scale besides C major. (25/12) is pretty close to 2, so that might not seem so bad, but sometimes we'd land right in between two notes. We can approximate these notes by adding some more 'in between' piano keys. How should we work out what 'extra' keys to include? Well, there were multiple conventions, but we'll see there is some logic to it...

[You might ask, why are you spending so long on this historical system that is now considered obsolete? Well, intervals and their harmonious qualities are still really important in modern music, and it makes most sense to introduce them with the idea of 'small-integer ratios'.]

The semitone

We've seen if we build the 'major scale' using a bunch of 'nice' ratios, we have trouble playing other scales. The gap above may look rather haphazard and arbitrary, but hold on, we're working in exponential space here - shouldn't we be using a logarithmic scale? If I switch to a logarithmic x-axis, we suddenly get a rather appealing pattern...

All the gaps between successive notes are about the same size, except for the gap between E and F, and B and C, which are about half that size. If you try to work that out exactly, you run into the problems we saw above, where C to D is 9/8 or 1.125, but D to E is 10/9 or 1.11111... Even so, you can imagine how people who were playing around with sounds might notice, damn, these are nice even steps we have here. Though you might also notice places where, in this scheme, it's not completely even - for example G to A (ratio 10/9) is noticeably smaller than A to B (ratio 9/8).

We've obliquely approached the idea of dividing the octave up into 12 steps, where each step is about the size of the gap between E and F or B and C. We call each of these steps a 'semitone'. Two semitones make a 'whole tone'. We might fill in all the missing semitones in our scale here using whole-number ratios, which gives you the black keys on the piano. There are multiple schemes for doing this, and the ratios tend to get a bit uglier. In the system we've outlined so far, a 'semitone' is not a fixed ratio, even though it's always somewhere around 1.06.

The set of 12 semitones is called the 'chromatic scale'. It is something like the 'colour space' for Western music. When you compose a piece, you select some subset of the 12 semitones as your 'palette' - the 'scale of' a piece of music.

But we still have a problem here, which is the unevenness of the gaps we discussed above. This could be considered a feature, not a bug, since each scale would have its own 'character' - it's defined by a slightly different set of ratios. But it does add a lot of complication when moving between scales.

So let's say we take all this irregularity as a bug, and try to fix it. The solution is 'equal temperament', which is the idea that the semitone should always be the exact same ratio, allowing the instrument to play any scale you please without difficulty.

Posed like this, it's easy to work out what that ratio should be: if you want 12 equal steps to be an octave, each step must be the 12th root of 2. Which is an irrational number that is about 1.05946...

At this point you say, wait, Bryn, didn't you just start this all off by saying that the human ear likes to hear nice simple integer ratios of frequencies? And now you're telling me that we should actually use an irrational number, which can't be represented by any integer ratio? What gives? But it turns out the human ear isn't quite that picky. If you have a ratio of 7 semitones, or a ratio of 2^(7/12)=1.4983..., that's close enough to 1.5 to feel almost as good. And this brings a lot of huge advantages: you can easily move ('transpose') between different scales of the same type, and trust that all the relevant ratios will be the same.

Equal temperament was the eventual standard, but there was a gradual process of approaching it called stuff like 'well-tempered' or 'good temperament'. One of the major steps along the way was Bach's collection 'the well-tempered klavier', showing how a keyboard instrument with a suitable tuning could play music in every single established scale. Here's one of those pieces:

Although we're using these irrational numbers, inside the scale are certain intervals that are considered to have certain meanings - some that are 'consonant' and some that are 'dissonant'. We've already mentioned the 'fifth', which is the 'most consonant' ratio. The fifth consists of 7 semitones and it's roughly a 1.5 ratio in equal temperament. Its close cousin is the 'fourth', which consists of 5 semitones. Because it's so nice, the fifth is kind of 'neutral' - it's just there but it doesn't mean a lot on its own.

For the other important intervals we've got to introduce different types of scale.

The scale zoo

So, up above we introduced the 'major' scale. In semitones, the major scale is intervals of 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1. This is also called a 'mode', specifically the 'Ionian mode'. There are seven different 'modes', representing different permutations of these intervals, which all have funky Greek names.

The major scale generally connotes "upbeat, happy, triumphant". There are 12 different major scales, taking the 12 different notes of the chromatic scale as the starting point for each one.

Next is the minor scale, which tends to feel more sad or mysterious. Actually there are a few different minor scales. The 'natural minor' goes 2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2. You might notice this is a cyclic permutation of the major scale! So in fact a natural minor scale is the same set of notes as a major scale. What makes it different?

Well, remember when we talked about tension and resolution? It's about how the notes are organised. Our starting note is the 'root' note of the scale, usually established early on in the piece of music - quite often the very first note of the piece. The way you move around that root note determines whether the piece 'feels' major or minor. So every major scale has a companion natural minor scale, and vice versa. The set of notes in a piece is enough to narrow it down to one minor and one major, but you have to look closer to figure out which one is most relevant.

The 'harmonic minor' is almost the same, but it raises the second-last note (the 7th) a semitone. So its semitone intervals are 2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 3, 1.

The 'melodic minor' raises both the 6th and 7th by one semitone, (edit: but usually only on the way up). So its semitone intervals are 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1. (edit: When you come back down you tend to use the natural minor.)

If you talk about a 'minor scale' unqualified, you mean the natural minor. It's also the 'Aeolian mode' in that system of funky Greek names I mentioned earlier.

So that leads to a set of 24 scales, a major and minor scale for every semitone. These are the most common scale types that almost all Western tonal music is written in.

But we ain't done. Because remember I said there were all those other "modes"? These are actually just cyclic permutations of the major scale. There's a really nerdy Youtube channel called '8-bit music theory' that has a bunch of videos analysing them in the context of videogame music which I'm going to watch at some point now I finally have enough background to understand wtf he's talking about.

And of top of that you have all sorts of other variants that come from shifting a note up or down a semitone.

The cast of intervals

OK, so we've established the idea of scales. Now let's talk intervals. As you might guess from the 'fifth', the intervals are named after their position in the scale.

Let me repeat the two most common scale modes, in terms of number of semitones relative to the root note:

position: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 major: 0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12 minor: 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12

So you can see the fourth and fifth are the same in both. But there's a difference in three places: the third, the sixth, and the seventh. In each case, the minor is down a semitone from the major.

The interval names are... not quite as simple as 'place in the scale', but that's mostly how it works. e.g. the 'major third' is four semitones and the 'minor third' is three.

The fourth and fifth, which are dual to each other (meaning going up a fifth takes you to the same note as going down a fourth, and vice versa) are called 'perfect'. The note right in between them, an interval of 6 semitones, is called the 'tritone'.

(You can also refer to these intervals as 'augmented' or 'diminished' versions of adjacent intervals. Just in case there wasn't enough terminology in the air. See the table for the names of every interval.)

So, with these names, what's the significance of each one? The thirds, sixths and sevenths are important, because they tell us whether we're in minor or major land when we're building chords. (More on that soon.)

The fifth and the octave are super consonant, as we've said. But the notes that are close to them, like the seventh, the second and even more so the tritone, are quite dissonant - they're near to a nice thing and ironically that leads to awkward ratios which feel uncomfy to our ears. So generally speaking, you use them to build tension and anticipation and set up for a resolution later. (Or don't, and deliberately leave them hanging.)

Of course all of these positions in the scale also have funky Latin names that describe their function.

There's a lot more complicated nuances that make the meaning of a particular interval very contextual, and I certainly couldn't claim to really understand in much depth, but that's basically what I understand about intervals so far.

Our goofy-ass musical notation system

So if semitones are the building block of everything, naturally the musical notation system we use in the modern 12TET era spaces everything out neatly in terms of semitones, right?

Right...?

Lmao no. Actually sheet music is written so that each row of the stave (or staff, the five lines you write notes on) represents a note of the C major scale. All the notes that aren't on the C major scale are represented with special symbols, namely ♯ (read 'sharp') which means 'go up a semitone', and ♭ (read 'flat') which means 'go down a semitone'. That means the same note can be notated in two different ways: A♯ and B♭ are the same note.

The above image shows the chromatic scale, notated in two different ways. Every step is exactly one semitone.

Since a given scale might end up using one of these 'in between' notes that has to be marked sharp or flat, and you don't want to do that for every single time that note appears. Luckily, it turns out that each major/minor scale pair ends up defining a unique set of notes to be adjusted up or down a semitone, called the 'key signature'. So you can write the key signature at the beginning of the piece, and it lasts until you change key signature. For example, the key of 'A♭ major' ends up having four sharps:

There is a formula you can use to work out the set of sharps or flats to write for a given key. (That's about the point I checked out on musictheory.net.)

There is some advantage to this system, which is that it very clearly tells you when the composer intends to shift into a different scale, and it saves space since with the usual scales there are no wasted lines. But it's also annoyingly arbitrary. You just have to remember that B to C is only a semitone, and the same for E to F.

What are those weird squiggly symbols? Those are 'clefs'. Each one assigns notes to specific lines. The first one 𝄞 is the 'treble clef', the second one 𝄢 is the 'bass clef'. Well, actually these are the 'G-clef' and the 'F-clef', and where they go on the stave determines note assignment, but thankfully this has been standardised and you will only ever see them in one place. The treble clef declares the lines to be E G B D F and the bass clef G B D F A.

There is also a rarer 'C-clef' which looks like 𝄡. This is usually used as the 'Alto clef' which means F A C E G.

This notation system seems needlessly convoluted, but we're rather stuck with it, because most of the music has been written in it already. It's not uncommon for people to come up with alternative notations, though, such as 'tabs' for a stringed instrument which indicate which position should be played on each string. Nowadays on computers, a lot of DAWs will instead use a 'piano roll' presentation which is organised by semitone.

And then there's chords.

Chords! And arpeggios!

A chord is when you play 3 or more notes at the same time.

Simple enough right? But if you wanna talk about it, you gotta have a way to give them names. And that's where things get fucking nuts.

But the basic chord type is a 'triad', consisting of three notes, separated by certain intervals. There are two standard types, which you basically assemble by taking every other note of a scale. In terms of semitones, these are:

Major triad: 0 - 4 - 7 Minor triad: 0 - 3 - 7

Then there's a bunch of variations, for example:

Augmented: 0 - 4 - 8 Diminished: 0 - 3 - 6 Suspended: 0 - 2 - 7 (sus2) or 0 - 5 - 7 (sus4) Dominant seventh: 0 - 4 - 7 - 10 Power: 0 - 7

There is a notation scheme for chords in pop, jazz, rock, etc., which starts with a root note and then adds a bunch of superscripts to tell you about any special features of a chord. So 'C' means the C Major triad (namely C,E,G) and 'Cm' or 'c' means the C Minor triad (namely C,E♭,G).

In musical composition, you usually tend to surround the melody (single voice) with a 'chord progression' that both harmonises and creates a sense of 'movement' from one chord to another. Some instruments like guitar and piano are really good at playing chords. On instruments that can't play chords, they can still play 'arpeggios', which is what happens if you take a chord and unroll it into a sequence of notes. Or you play in an ensemble and harmonise with the other players to create a chord together. Awww.

Given a scale, you can construct a series of seven triad chords, starting from each note of the scale. These are generally given scale-specific Roman numerals corresponding to the position in the scale, and they're used to analyse the progression of chords in a song. I pretty much learned about this today while writing this post, so I can't tell you much more than that.

Right now, that's about as far as I've gotten with chords. On a violin, you can play just two strings at the same time after all - I never had much need to learn about them so it remains a huge hole in my understanding of music. I can't recognise chords by ear at all. So I gotta learn more about them.

As much as I wrote this for my own benefit... if you found this post interesting, let me know. I might write more if people find this style of presentation appealing. ^^'

[firestorm09890]

rambling about the org xiii orchestra art

as someone in an orchestra for real

(from here)

I can’t tell what instrument Larxene has. I thought it was castanets and someone else suggested egg shakers but both are not traditional orchestra instruments so it’s really just weird

neat that both Xaldin and Lexaeus are playing the BIG percussion instruments, and both Axel and Saix are playing woodwinds (harp is a stringed instrument too so i make no comment on the strings)

There’s no [x]ylophone pun unfortunately because those huge tubes indicate that’s actually a marimba both Xion and Roxas are playing. There is however a pun in the fact that it’s a KEYboard instrument. also they’re just adorable

actually I just remembered that instrument names aren’t common knowledge, here they are:

Xemnas is the conductor/orchestra director; Xigbar on saxophone, Luxord on trumpet, and Marluxia on trombone (that’s our brass); Axel on flute and Saix on.... it’s hard to see but I think that’s an oboe (woodwinds); Xaldin on timpani, Lexaeus on bass drum, Larxene on... something??, and Roxas & Xion on marimba (percussion); and then Vexen on harp, Zexion on violin, and Demyx on double bass (strings)

Marluxia why are you holding a flower I know you have an aesthetic but you need both hands to play a trombone

There are 3 main instrument sections (kinda) that are the “obnoxious know-it-all” instruments, stereotyped as generally having a superiority complex over the other sections because they’re soooo important look at meeee carrying the melody: the trumpet for band, the 1st violin for orchestra, and the soprano for voice (and the secret 4th, the flute for woodwinds). With that said, of course Zexion would play violin

And following both that and his Mystery Gear in 358/2 Days, it would have made more sense thematically for Xigbar to be playing the trumpet. however the saxophone is the funny meme instrument so it still works

There is NO WAY Demyx is a double bass player. It’s the only instrument besides percussion that you have to stand up for (though some orchestras do have the bassists sit on stools), and it’s much more work to actually PLAY than the other string instruments, by virtue of being much bigger. they tend to play less than most other stringed instruments, sure, but if you want to be sitting around not doing much you’re best off picking a different instrument entirely, especially since string sections tend to require more unanimity in playing than the brass/woodwinds/percussion since there’s more people playing each part

harps are rare to include in compositions. they’re very nice and melodious though. idk what this says about Vexen

generally there’s not enough percussion players to cover every single instrument which means that Larxene is definitely running around to cover all the small parts (whatever she’s holding, it’s definitely percussion)... actually with Xaldin Lexaeus Roxas and Xion in percussion as well she might not have to but she is the speedy one so

--

I hope what Saix is holding is an oboe and not a clarinet because if it’s an oboe we get some more symbolism, as well as some very nice... dynamic between his instrument and Zexion’s :)

you see, the oboe is the instrument that tunes the entire rest of the orchestra. whatever the oboe’s A sounds like will be the A the ensemble matches. one could say it’s the most important instrument

HOWEVER, the first chair of 1st violin is nominally the most important instrument- that’s the “concertmaster”, and they get to walk on-stage after everyone else (but before the conductor, obviously). they’re also important for real- based on the repertoire they’re basically guaranteed to have at least one solo. they sit at the very front, right next to the conductor. in my orchestra the concertmaster has a little biography in the program along with the conductor’s

there’s actually multiple rounds of tuning- the first couple it’s the oboe doing their thing and the other non-string instruments matching, and then the last round the concermaster matches the oboe, and then the string instruments match the concertmaster.

and that’s all so very interesting, isn’t it

and finally

Xemnas is 100% a garbage conductor. To the audience he looks very cool, doing all his sweeping motions, but it’s impossible to follow as an orchestra member, so you’re really on your own because the conductor is not conducting properly and not giving helpful cues

[pearlywritings]

The Music of the Night

synopsis: these are pretty much snippets with Genshin men that combine night and music in different forms, picturing sweet moments of your relationship with them.

pairing: Diluc, Kaeya, Capitano, Pierro, Zhongli, Venti, Dottore, Dainsleif, Ayato, Childe, Pantalone (separately) x reader

tw: fluff, some parts have small portion of hurt/comfort, weapons and sparring in Capitano's part, abyss beasts in Capitano's part

word count: 8k+ words in total

a/n: I love the Phantom of the Opera, bear with me

Diluc

Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation

Darkness stirs and wakes imagination

Silently the senses abandon their defenses…

Nimble fingers caress the white and black keys and draw an intricate melody from within the depths of an old instrument. Despite its age, the piano is always taken care of, sounding as clear as it did in its «youth»; your husband always makes sure to invite a professional monthly to tune it, knowing how much you like it. Probably this is one of the very few things that found its place in the Dawn Winery after he hastily got rid of his family mansion, and you are happy it did.

As the pads glide and press, you try to imagine young Diluc, playing it as a part of his home education. You wonder if he truly enjoyed it, or endured it because it was in his schedule. Even if it was the latter, knowing how skilled and talented the redhead is, you are sure, the melodies he performed were nothing but perfect. Nowadays the man rarely touches it, prefering to rather listen to you.

Now there is no one to listen - the maids and winery workers left long ago and the only person remaining is Adelinde, who is most likely sleeping in her room. It’s 3 a.m. after all, but tonight you can’t rest properly without your husband beside you.

A sigh escapes your lips, as you draw the music to an end, lingering just a little bit after the last bar’s duration ends. There is a soft shuffle when you rearrange the sheets to choose a new composition to play. It’s so comforting, you think, feeling the ink-covered pages under your fingertips - those must be from the times when Master Crepus’s son was just a boy, learning the wonders of music, and the thought fills you with warmth.

As you start the next melody you fail to notice the presence of another person in the room. Diluc has just returned home and, upon hearing the delicate sounds of an old piano, made his way to where he knew he’d find you. His beaked mask and black cloak are discarded, gloves joining them on the sofa soon after.

He doesn’t want to scare you, which might be a hard task, yet his hands brush against your shoulders in such a familiar manner, that you only barely shiver, almost missing a note, but relaxing right away.

“Hello, my love,” his voice murmurs next to your ear and then lips press to your temple. Hands slide down to your waist and with a small movement he urges you to move to one side of the piano stool. Effortlessly you do so, and in a moment his body slides next to yours.

“Allow me to take over the left hand,” he whispers and you nod. As your fingers leave the keyboard his take over almost immediately, accompanying the main melody of your right hand.

You let your head rest on his shoulder, free hand finding his and intertwining them. He is so warm and big, holding onto you tenderly but firmly, reminding you, he is here, and you have nothing to worry. You do not, not anymore at least, as you feel him relax next to you, taking down the walls he surely put once again before leaving your shared home and into the night.

“I thought you didn’t like playing,” he hums at your words, touching the keys expertly, maybe only a little bit stiffly.

“I don’t dislike it,” Diluc admits, “simply don’t have time. When you occupy the piano, I have no desire to disturb.”

“And what about now?” you ask, slowly playing the music quieter and quieter. The man notices the diminuendo in the sheets and starts doing the same.

“Do I disturb you?”

“No, not at all… Actually, I really like it.”

The final bar arrives just in time, and, pressing the last chord, Diluc turns to face you, vermillion gaze filled with love. You sure yours mirror just the same emotion, eyelashes fluttering when a small smile appears on his handsome face.

“Yeah… I like it too.”

Kaeya

Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendor

Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender

Nearing the Knights of Favonius Headquarters you can clearly see that all the windows are dark, with the very few exceptions. Not surprised to see the light in Master Jean’s office you search for your lover’s higher and with a deep sigh don’t find it unlit. Well, seems it’s his place you are sleeping at tonight.

There is no one in the hallways and you practically tiptoe past Acting Grand Master's door, not wanting to disturb her with the taps of your soles against the tiled floor. The stairs are a safe place and you walk up as fast as you can, the next floor being your destination.

You don’t knock once in front of Kaeya’s office, quickly turning the knob and swinging it open. The man inside, slumped over his desk, quickly lifts his gaze, ready to dismiss whoever it can be, but turns surprised and the next second pleased when he notices you.

“Hello, snowflake,” his voice is hoarse, but with its usual flirting lilt. His whole posture changes, straightening up, shoulders broad and back a bit arched. Multiple cracks echo in a quiet room.

“Don’t tell me there was nothing, I heard that, Alberich,” you huff, closing the door and making your way to him. The man snorts in amusement, watching you with a star-marked eye. The quill is still held between his long ungloved fingers, and the chin is coming to rest on a palm of his free hand. He loves your voice so damn much, even if you scold him, it’s always music to his ears, and that he hears it on the night he thought he’d be alone and busy? How wonderful.

“What? I said nothing, my love, simply greeted you,” the smile on his lips is both playful and innocent, making you roll your eyes half-heartedly.

“Your back, Kaeya. It must be stiff as a rock, if your spine makes sounds like that,” you are now standing at his side, quickly scanning the table. There are two piles - a big and a very small, - and with relief you see how your lover grabs the paper he was writing on and places it on top of a big one.

“Mmm, maybe a little bit strained, nothing I can’t endu- ouch!” he hisses when you reach and carefully grab the skin near his nape between your thumb and forefinger. Well, if the slightest of pressing makes him jolt like that and give you a stinky eye, just how full of knots it is?

“Put your quill down and let’s go to your room. I am staying over.”

The Cavalry Captain looks at you disconently, but behind this mask you can see he is actually really excited. It’s cute how just one phrase, spoken with an edge of finality to it, makes him lose his composure on the inside. But Kaeya wouldn’t be Kaeya if he didn’t try to play hard to convince.

“I don’t know, love… I still have some papers to fulfill…”

“Kae, come on. You are clearly stressed and overworked. I worry about you,” the hand that remained at the nape of his nape gently slides down the expanse of his back, hidden behind nothing but his shirt and the corset of his high-waisted pants. “Think about the cuddles and kisses, and holding me close…” tempting is something you two are good at, and this is a fair offer the man would be an idiot to decline.

The Cryo user presses his body incredibly close to yours under the covers of his bed - not big enough to accommodate two adults properly, but doing two lovers a favor of a sweet proximity. Your fingers brush through his silky navy locks, massaging his scalp and neck as you softly hum a melody Kaeya is so familiar with. You sound so tender and he can’t help but rub his nose against your throat, feeling small vibrations within. 

A giggle, then another one and many more as he litters your skin with small fleeting kisses. Moments like this he adores the most - together, alone, with nothing separating you and preventing him from letting go of his daytime worries and carefully crafted facade.

“Hum for me some more?” he quietly asks, eyes closed and lips lingering on your collarbone.

And send him on such a needed trip throughout the Dreamland? How can you possibly refuse.

Capitano

Turn your face away from the garish light of day

Turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light

And listen to the music of the night

Metal clinks and clashes with ferocity no human can probably exude. Two silhouettes move in a thoroughly-calculated way with a speed that make them blur and sometimes mix into one big blot of black - darker than the color of the night. Eyes used to the darkness and ears trained to be a help not a bother stay focused on the opponent, trying to predict their actions and strike first to gain victory. One hand clenches around the handle of the sword, the other keeps the revolver charged. There are no bullets inside, of course - you don't want to wake the whole camp up (even though in any other situation using the real ones wouldn't be much of a problem). Instead the special training guns are loaded with paint capsuls to mark the place the person would be shot. And you've just felt one hit your cheek, a colorful blotch covering and a thick droplet rolling down your face. So much for not using a helmet, you roll metaphoric eyes at yourself and lunge forward, attempting to plunge the tip of the blade under his knee armor piece, only to be blocked and almost thrown backwards by the sheer force of his arm's push. Just in time the long body of your gun crashes in his, aimed at you, and both go flying - all by your own sheer strength.

"Ready to surrender, Capitano?" You smirk, shifting the blade more comfortably in your hand. Heated, you feel immense warmth under your armor and welcome the winter wind biting at your cheeks and nose. Well, maybe abandoning the helmet along with your military fur overcoat wasn't a bad idea.

The man before you doesn't even huff at your words, only raising his weapon for a new attack. His overcoat is lying somewhere with yours, leaving only his ink black armor and a dark void at the front of his helmet.

You share a few more blows before it's your weapon that falls out of your hand and disappears in a nearby snowbank. You raise your hands in surrender when the sharp tip is pressed against your throat, not against to draw blood, but quite enough to claim victory.

"3:1," you grin, readjusting your arms to stretch and pop a few bones. "Ah, what a night~ Blew the steam just right."

"You were furious," the Harbinger doesn't ask, he states the fact, bending down to fetch your weapon. You hum in acknowledgment, stepping aside to get the revolvers back.

"I am still a little bit. That ball we visited today…it annoyed me I had to be there as a guard and not as your partner, and then that human girl," you hiss between your teeth and for a moment your voice shifted to something more monstrous, "dared to try and throw herself at you. You are mine."

You hand the guns over to Capitano, which he takes to inspect. You use that pause to glance at the moon and the starless sky, happily accepting the darkness around you. You loved nights, especially since it was the time when you and your lover could finally be alone. He once apologized for having so little time during the day, but once reassured you don't mind, being a busy warrior yourself, he didn't bring it up anymore.

"Then I find it strange you didn't try to duel her."

"And kill her on the spot? While I don't mind, the paperwork and Lord Pierro's notations later would've been annoying. That's why I love being on a battlefield more. I know you are nearby and we are basically doing the same thing."

Capitano has already put all the weapons somewhere and is now standing directly in front of you, his full attention taken by you and you alone. His big armory clawed hand easily wraps around your waist while the other cups your face.

"Why do you keep insisting on such a small form?" He rumbles in a low voice, but not annoyed, there is actually a hint of wonder in his voice.

"It's easy to seem normal to anyone else this way. After all, we wouldn't want others to know what we are, right? Besides, it's small in comparison to you, actually it is an average human height."

There is a deep growl coming from the depth of his chest and you respond in the very same way. In the light of the day you couldn't let yourselves slip and show affection in the way your nature tells you to, only if on a battlefield, where the steel blades dance and lead bullets sing, where anyone would excuse your roars as the commanding war cries and think nothing of your ability to tear an enemy of the size of a Mitachurl in half with your bare hands.

But under the dark sky you could be honest with the beasts you two are and finally live a little, not worrying about a thing.

Pierro

Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams

Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before

Snezhnaya is beautiful. Its architecture, its traditions and culture, its people, who endure the cold, but manage to stay warm… And the snow - that looks like a white fur blanket during the day and gleams magically in the lantern light at night.

It’s snowing. Tiny, intricate snowflakes are whirling as they fall, landing on your hair, on your lashes, on your extended hand. You think it's lovely, feeling them melt on your palm, losing their unique designs and becoming nothing but water droplets.

It never snowed in Khaenri’ah.

The memories cause something deep inside you twinge, and the impulse is much harsher than the coldness of this snowy land biting at your skin. The pain of losing everything is too fresh, even if the whirlwind of next events made it hard to settle fully at its peak.

"You foregone your cape again" a heavy fur fabric envelops your shoulders in a warm embrace and two big gloved hands settle on top of them. You don't need to turn away to know it's [...].

Oh… There actually is no point of uttering his real name as he has abandoned it in favor of serving the Tsaritsa, of becoming the first Harbinger, of becoming Pierro, "The Jester".

If only everything was really that funny as his code name suggested.

"I am still not used to it…" you sigh, wrapping it around yourself tighter. It's been only some years, maybe decades?

Not enough to forget.

Your lover is silent behind you, only his fingers slightly flex on your shoulders. You know for him it's hard as well, so many nights one or both of you have shared the nightmares that reflected the horrendous reality of the past, so many nights have been spent in attempts to comfort, and the same amount passed with staying awake just to escape the images inevitably flashing before your eyes when heavy lids fluttered closed.

Immortality has its perks and for you one of them is needing sleep less. Besides, night is such a magic time, it's dark and soothing with stars shining and snow sparkling like precious gems. It's a pity to lose a sight like that to the dreams that carry nothing but despair.

"Don't you think the snowflakes sing?" You ask instead reaching a hand to place on top of his and gently squeeze his fingers. There is a hum revibraring in his chest and he redirects his gaze from your figure to the falling water crystals.

"Sing? Maybe dance would be a better word, my heart," what used to be a sweet nickname now carries a little bit of a literal meaning - after losing everything, even his heart, you became the one for him.

And he became the one for you.

"No, they most definitely sing. It's very subtle, but the melody is here. It's pure but with potential to be powerful like a pipe organ in that church we saw a couple of months ago," it was some kind of a ceremony you didn't actually attempt to remember, staying there just to be close to your lover.

Immortality brought an understanding: you don't have to care much for things, they'll happen either way and you'll continue living no matter if you remember them or not.

Pierro stays silent, only letting go of one shoulder to wrap his hand around your middle to bring you closer. Maybe the snow does sing, but he can't hear it. A heart that started to harden to accommodate this foreign land, this new life, couldn't feel the same way it did before. The man finds his thoughts to be swallowed by guilt that right now he can offer you just a piece of his heart, the one that managed to stay warm and loving for you. But you are content with just a part of his heart, and Pierro is glad yours hasn't been hurt as deeply as his. He made sure to prevent it for as long as possible.

So if you hear the snow sing? Then maybe this land accepted you and you accepted this life. Thus he can stop worrying about your sanity that much and start working on creating a perfect future for you two.

After all, when it comes to you that's all he is dreaming about.

Zhongli

Close your eyes; let your spirit start to soar

And you'll live as you've never lived before.

The myriads of lanterns light the streets of Liyue late in the evening and long into the night, as another part of this beautiful city's life begins. Some shops close, the others open their doors, offering the wonders one could enjoy at its fullest only during the dark time of the day, and the main square is as lively as it's under the beaming sun.

Zhongli has a small content smile playing on his lips, slowly making his way further into the brightly lit space. With the posture upright and calm ember eyes closely observing everything around he could've been thought to be in the middle of attending to some sort of task, but his relaxed shoulders and hands clasped behind his broad back give out that he is merely on a late night stroll, basking in the animosity of the nation he built with his own two hands, the ones hidden under long sleeves and custom-made gloves.

Ever since the Archon faked his own death and retired to live as a mortal he couldn't help but feel fascinated - while playing a big role in all of that himself, his people did and do bring their homeland to prosperity, growing and advancing on their own, and that brings the former god’s mind at peace.

He senses a presence nearby, approaching with no hurry in the steps. This one is comforting, doesn’t prompt him to be on guard, existing by his side for far longer than he can remember.

"Living your best life, my beloved?" There is a gentle hand placed on his elbow and the man doesn't need to turn his head to know who it is - the only being in this whole world that can send jolts of sweet electricity through his body, pumping his veins with pure excitement and making an old stone heart flutter and crumble, and all of that with a simple touch, with a mere voice.

"Why of course, my treasure," Zhongli breaks the lock of hands on his lower back and offers an arm for you to latch on. A bare palm slides in a gloved one, fingers interlacing, and his eyes for a moment glow when they are cast upon your figure, foregone your usual adeptus attire and changed to the traditional Liyue clothing. An ex-Archon lets a pleased rumble rise in his chest, when he guesses a golden dragon twisting in the pattern of the fine fabric, circling around your body as if enveloping you in a tight hold - not many Liyue citizens would be bold enough to wear something with the Rex Lapis's symbols on display. How fortunate you are his precious partner.

"Where do we take our date today?" You ask curiously as the two of you resume leisurely walking through the main artery of this ancient city. Your husband lets a low hum melt in the sounds of the night.

“I was thinking we could visit Heyu Tea House. Miss Yun Jin is performing tonight, and Master Liu Su promised me the brand-new program. I am always happy to hear your ideas out however.”

“It is your turn to choose the place for a date, remember?” You softly chuckle and Zhongli relishes in the sound. “Besides, I love your suggestion. Don’t you think this night was made to be basking in the music, savoring the finest teas?”

“Yes, I do, my gem,” and he loves nights like this, when one simply sits and enjoys the many intricate things Liyue has to offer in the company of your loved one.

In the past, when he was an Archon - a mighty and glorified being - he had hundreds of celebrations and festivals in his honor, where he’d hear mellifluous instruments play and melodious voices sing. Those festivities were huge and lavish, all to show the gratitude his people felt for the god who brought them peace and ruled the nation wisely. But now, closing his eyes and letting the noises of this city fill his very soul, he finally feels united with his people, as one of his people. And that’s the experience he hopes to prolong and share with you for far beyond the end of this night.

Venti

Softly, deftly music shall caress you

Hear it, feel it secretly possess you

Joyful giggles join in the song of strings, creating a mesmerizing melody, lighter and clearer than a morning breeze. Two souls unite and music flows, created by the spirits and carried by the winds.

A verse so long forgotten, but so familiar still, the one you both gave life to was flowing like a stream. The words got mixed and lost their rhyme, but in your hearts you still remember what feeling they made bloom and make bloom all the same.

"Oh wind, what you're searching for so high in the sky? Why are you running away from the limits of earth?"

You both never had any limits. Born as elemental beings, transformed into wind spirits, you and Venti had so much in common. With human disguises the bond only grew, and it doesn't ruin anything, even though some would say that it's strange to be bound in any way for the ones whose main goal is freedom.

"What can you tell, dear wind, about blazing songs, that belong to the lightnings, you love gliding among?"

Oh, you both have many stories to share. You love listening to his voice, just like now, in the middle of the night, under the massive oak tree, singing a song you two wrote thousands of years ago. The laughter doesn’t die as you trip over your words or the bard misses a note occasionally. Maybe it's the wine that mixed your senses and ability to do it properly, or you simply didn't care for the form it existed in… After all, it is the feelings that matter, and it gives you plenty.

"What do you see, dear wind, flying above mighty waves? What are you singing about, raising them high?"

Aaaah, that was so much fun in the old days… You remember making stupid competitions of whose wave would be higher or whose would last longer… It always ended with you both completely wet, which gave an opportunity for sweet intimacy while preening each other’s wings, something you both got used to share among yourselves only, that now you can’t imagine anyone else doing so. Come to think of it, you haven’t done any of those stupid competitions in a while… Maybe you are drunk enough for it now?

“What are you thinking of, my wind, soaring above the mountains, whistling between the gray rocks... Touch me the same."

Thin delicate fingers stop plucking at the lyre, drawing the chords and the trills. They find their place on your body, and you feel like in the middle of a whirlwind, swirling and floating and the world moves like you ride a carousel from Fountain. Kisses are intoxicating, touches are maddening and the grass beneath your bodies is heavenly soft. You lose yourselves to the symphony of hushed giggles and breathless pants, your hearts merge into the aria that sings praise to the feelings, and your ears are filled with nothing but the orchestra of nature.

You gaze at Venti from above and see stars dancing in his vibrant eyes. He tastes like wine, he smells like cecilias, he sounds like a never-ending melody that lured you in and made you stay. You are addicted to the music that the Anemo god is and he cherishes the notes you add to the ballad of his existence.

“We didn’t get to finish the song,” the bard murmurs, lashes fluttering when your lips touch his cheek.

“You really want to stop now for the sake of some song?” you tickle his side and the young-looking male squirms under you, sporting a wide grin.

“Hehe, not ‘some song’! It’s our song,” he murmurs and even in the dark you can swear there is pink dusting his cheeks. Who would’ve thought a wind can be so sentimental. The wind that gives birth to the thunders, raises the waves, the wind that destroys the rock - and that’s what’s its law. Forever frolicking like an invisible bird, piercing the bounds of worlds and times...

Oh… It seems you are just as sentimental.

Dottore

Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind

In this darkness which you know you can not fight

The darkness of the music of the night

You don’t knock, because you know he detests it. Actually, he hates it when someone walks into his working space without permission (with permission it’s the same, but he won’t threaten a person at least). You are different though - the most you’ll get from him is an annoyed roll of his eyes or a teeth-baring sneer. He won’t force you out though, maybe only warn you if some of his upcoming experiments are rather…bloody, so you can leave on your own if you desire.

Today it’s quiet in his laboratory and the Harbinger is nowhere to be seen. You don’t even entertain the possibility that he has already called it a night - with a shitty sleeping schedule like this it’s extremely unlikely. Besides, he wouldn’t have left the lights on and the door unlocked.

So you move further into the spacious room. There are tables and cabinets filled with notes, and viles, mechanical parts, and all kinds of medical and technical tools. You step over the wires and move carts aside, to not trip or bump, knowing the booming laughter Dottore will not hold back if he sees you not being careful.

What is it?

You can swear you hear a distinct melody playing on your left. Only one way to find out, you think, and change the direction of your walking.

The closer you get, the more audible the sound is, until you spot a record player on a desk near the wall. It looks like something your partner would’ve created with his own hands and you step to it for a better observation. There is a smooth black record slowly spinning and you notice a couple more carelessly lying around the table surface. Before you can touch one though there is a rattling sound nearby, which makes you whip your head in search of its source.

Ah, of course, a part of a Ruin Guard hung on the chains that is being lifted in the air from its previous position barely above the floor. The higher it goes, the more of the scientist’s body behind it is revealed to you. No wonder you couldn’t spot him anywhere, the robot is huge.

"What are you doing here?" No greetings, as usual. Good to know that at least something doesn’t change in this world.

With a small smile you glance back at the record player and an idea appears in your head. Making the music a little bit louder you abandon the table and start walking towards him.

"Your insomnia is contagious,” catching the rhythm you sway a little, humming. Dottore doesn’t make a move in your direction, that is until you are just a couple of feet away. Then he makes just one step forward and allows you to comfortably bump into his body, resting his palms on your shoulders. Wow, he is in a good mood, it seems.The fact he didn't comment on how insomnia can't be contagious is a sign as it is too. 

Maybe you can push your luck some more?

"Hey Dottore?" A hand reaches to his face and effortlessly lifts the mask off. Blood-red sharp eyes bore into you, but he doesn't make any attempts to stop you, only squinting.

"What? Spit it out."

"Dance with me?" You motion to the device behind you, that is playing the same melody, on a loop it seems. The man in front of you doesn't show any emotion, but by how he lowered his eyes a little you understand he is thinking about something.

“Alright," he suddenly says, taking a small step back and sliding his hands lower to your elbows.

“Alright?” you stare at him surprised. Usually he shooes you off with requests like that.

“Yes, alright, but only because my body could use some movement,” with a huff he places a firm grip on your waist, giving you an expectant look when you don't cooperate right away.

As you two are slowly swaying with your palms resting on his coat-covered shoulders, you think that nights are the best parts of the day. During the hours when the sun is up and shining brightly Dottore is scathing and exudes danger, but when the moon takes the sun's place in the sky, something in him calms down considerably and it’s much easier to deal with.

Yes, with this man nights are definitely so much better.

Dainsleif

Let your mind start a journey through a strange new world

Leave all thoughts of the life you knew before

Something tugs on a wearied heart when a tired gaze of a night sky drinks in the colorfully decorated streets. The flags are hanging on the ropes from one roof to another, fluttering from the briefest breath of wind. There are no symbols on the colorful fabric, but for a second an image of a royal emblem flushes, though it appears only in his memory. Pots at the front doors of the houses are full of bluish white flowers, but those are not inteyvats, though for a moment, a man without a nation is tricked to believe they are. There is a noise of hundreds of voices, but they speak of different things, even though Dainsleif wishes they were singing familiar praises.

“Looks like it’s a festival,” your voice awakens him and an involuntary exhale leaves his lungs. Eyes drop down, focusing on his gray pants, and he suddenly remembers where you two are and why. Clothes changed to something more regular upon your insistence (because his attire is really standing out in the crowd), he looked like a normal man, the only mystery left being his eyes and the mask he refused to take off for understandable reasons. You look pretty common too, with clothes covering all the indications of a hundreds of years old curse and looking around with a small portion of curiosity, which reminds him that you two have came in this city not for leisure.

“We are here to get the information. Remember it.”

“Sure thing, Captain, wouldn't dream of forgetting," there is a slight hint of sarcasm, but he ignores it, quite used to your ways.

"But, Captain…"

"Why do you keep calling me that? Weren't you the one telling me we should look and sound ordinarily?"

His gaze meets yours and a brow quirks in question at the wide grin and mischievous glint dancing in your eyes.

"Why of course, Dain, how could I forget?"

Ah, it seems he fell into your trap. Ever since your relationship got on a somewhat definite level of what you two are to each other - more than companions in misfortune, much more than travel companions - you made it your goal to trick him into acting or saying something that felt like stuff couples would do. At first he didn't pay much attention to it, simply humoring you occasionally, but then he started to enjoy these exact affections that made you two sound and look like a normal couple, even if the notion got lost in centuries bared of light and love.

"So, Dain, I was meaning to say that for today we could take a small break, don't you think? Just consider this: people are in the middle of celebrating whatever it is, it's unlikely they'll be willing to answer you Abyss-related questions."

"And what…do you propose?" Decades ago Dainsleif wouldn't indulge such thoughts of yours, but now, when you smile softly and slide your palm into his hand, his heart flutters and he doesn't mind hearing about taking a break. It's just a small one, it won't hurt.

"Just for today we could enjoy this festival. It doesn't look like it praises any god, so it can be entertaining.”

Besides you noticed how he was staring around, eyes clouded and thoughts overshadowed by the past. It's time to make new memories and the music you hear playing somewhere ahead of you can assist you in your deed.

The night falls upon the city, yet you go on. Dainsleif doesn't know how to dance, his training never required it, and all the celebrations were spent in the role of the guard. But here he is, spinning you around and bringing back into his embrace, dancing a hundredth dance probably - he doesn't count and doesn't really need to with the stamina your bodies have. People start clapping their hands and cheering for the cute couple and for once the man doesn't feel like exposure to so many eyes is a bad thing. Not when you smile like that, not when the lantern's light plays in your hair and the gems of your eyes glinting just like now, not when your laughter sounds so joyous and sincere.

Dainsleif’s feet start hurting from tapping. Dainsleif’s heart is beating fast and breath falters a little. Dainsleif’s lips are burnt with a smile, mirroring the one plastered on your beautiful kissable face.

Moving forward and creating new things to remember, just like this sweet peck you give him, when you two finally leave the square? Sure, but only if you stay by his side to dance to the music your hearts make no matter how dark the night of your fate becomes.

Ayato

Let your soul take you where you long to be

Only then can you belong to me

Nestled on the soft cushions your figure is what has been occupying attention of the Kamisato clan for the past several minutes. With chin perched on one of his fisted hands while the other calmly lays upon the documents strewn all over the table, the man is watching you, noting how your lashes cast a shadow on the apples of your cheeks in the dim light, how your lips are sealed shut in concentration and the serene expression that you are wearing makes you look like a protagonist of Lady Yae's novels.

"Lord Kamisato, you've been staring at me for quite some time now. Are you finished with your work already?" You ask without even sparing a glance at him, eyes still shut - you know how much Ayato enjoys little challenges of your character, and not giving him attention completely is one of them. Besides, your fingers have long but memorised the body of the instrument, so you don't need to look for a note literally. 

Ayato doesn't answer you right away, letting the strings sing their song and the biwa in your hands turn this evening- oh wait, when did it turn into a night? in a magnificent moment of tranquility. You opt for slower melodies today, taking just enough time to lead the streak from the beginning and to the end, as the powerful hand of a god.

"As a matter of fact, I am not yet done, my beloved," he murmurs eventually, picking up back an ink brush. "But I must thank you again for keeping me company at the times my existence is overrun by paperwork."

A quiet chuckle falls from your lips and rightfully into the melody.

"How bold of you, lord Kamisato… Can it be that you forgot that our society has a…tendency to get ahead of themselves. I am sure there are going to be rumors about a certain noble staying over for the night at the residence of the Commissioner. Don't you think it'll become a stain on your reputation?"

"Quite the contrary," he retorts, signing a paper and putting it on the stack, "The Yashiro Commission is all about festivities and traditions. Music is a big part of it and understanding it serves me just right. Not to mention, the only child of your household is the most virtuosic biwa player in this whole country. An invitation is something to be expected."

"True, but you've been inviting me three times a week for the past two months. Suspicious, don't you think so?" 

You decide not to add that it's always his personal chambers with no servants in sight and night quickly overtaking the sky. You come, you keep him company playing your instrument and then…

He occasionally abandons his work to join you on the cushions.

"Have you changed your mind? About the future?" He asks quietly, lowering himself in front of you, and a melody comes to a halt.

"We've talked dozens of times about the future, Ayato. Or the case is that you get satisfaction from listening to my plans and dreams?"

You know he does. He loves that you know what you want from your future. He marks it precious that ever since the first time he asked you the question, you never strayed from the answer you gave him. And the answer itself?

"What is your future?"

"With you. And yours?"

"By your side."

Is what makes him think more about a ring stored in his pocket.

Long delicate fingers wrap around the neck of the instrument and softly pry it from your hands. The wooden corpus is placed upon the cushions and out of the way, quickly forgotten as the next moment lips crash together in a passionate dance, far less innocent than the serene atmosphere you shared just seconds ago.

He is excited for what the future holds for the two of you and can't wait to replay your game of questions and answers as the part of your wedding vows.

Soon the night will be gone and the light will accompany your union.

Childe

Floating, falling sweet intoxication

Touch me, trust me, savor each sensation

"Baby, you sure that's a good idea? Wouldn't your coworkers or subordinates be looking for you?"

"Relaaaaaax, just one night shift won't change anything. Just trust me," gloved hand squeezes yours tighter, taking you further and further away from the building of his residence. You felt like two teenagers escaping parent houses in the middle of the night to go on a date, making sure not to get caught even if the crunching snow under your feet sounds deafening in the silence.

The more you move forward, the louder the tune becomes. In confusion you glance at your boyfriend and right at the moment he turns his face to yours and grins widely. Oh Tsaritsa, he looks so adorable in street lights, curls of ginger hair poking from under his trapper hat, cheeks and nose rosy from the cold - you immediately reach a free hand to readjust his scarf, - and ocean blue eyes staring at you with mischief.

"Are you taking me to dances?" You muse, speeding up a little, when a gust of wind blows just behind you. Ajax releases your hand to wrap an arm around your waist instead, pressing you into his side.

"Yep, heard someone was throwing a small party tonight."

"Authorized?" You ask surprised and the man beside you nods.

"Yeah, some noble celebration and I got an invitation. Y'know, to 'keep it under control'."

"Or is it just an excuse?" He only laughs.

It's no wonder when you are let in without any questions and Childe drags you right to the dance floor, saying something about there being no need to greet the hosts. The lights are dimmed, so you let go of your outer clothing without any fear to be recognized - if anything no one would approach you two unless Lord Tartaglia (if actually recognized) shows he wants to talk business.

Which he clearly doesn't, not when he has you with him here. So pretty, dressed up, with the brightest smile plastered on your face, eyes shining from behind a masquerade mask you've been handed at the entrance, and it is matching his.

He is truly enamored.

"Come here, babe, I wanna dance," his palms are on your hips, twirling you around to face him. Instinctively your arms find their place around his neck and the young man can't help but bend down and steal a short kiss from your lips. To him a sweet giggle falling from your lips is louder than any music playing in the room, and he wants to hear more. But a finger is pressed against his pursed lips and you laugh.

"Later, boy, later. We'll have plenty of time, because, knowing you, you'll soon grow impatient and drag me out of here," which is true and you both know it is. So he simply shrugs his shoulders and blows hot air against your finger.

The new composition starts playing, and, before you know it, your body is swept away by his strong arms, starting the first dance of many (or maybe not) to follow. Lingering touches waltz across your skin while heated glances leap in a more passionate paso doble. Even though there are tables with alcohol around, you two don't need it to get drunk, and you think your head is spinning a little, because there is nothing in your view except those ocean eyes, except those autumn-colored locks, except those tempting smiling lips...

No one would notice if a couple of melodies later the two suddenly appeared guests just as suddenly disappeared from the room full of dancing pairs. Maybe, if one of you gets tired of kisses, or warm tight embraces, or firework-bursting sensations in your chests, you'll return.

"To think it was your idea to come here and have fun, only to not last even five dances..."

"We are having fun," a sweet kiss leaves you breathless and you gasp for air when he leans back to stare at you lovingly, "aren't we, sugar lips?"

"Mmm, I must admit even a couple of dances was refreshing. I am having fun..." it's your time to steal his breath and the young man quietly moans, eyes half-lidded and mask half-ridden up his face, "...indeed. Now let's move somewhere else until some poor servant catches us and falls victim to your rage and desire to duel."

Yeah, no way you are coming back, there is another kind of dances your night has a reservation for.

Pantalone

Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in

To the power of the music that I write

The power of the music of the night

Lately you started disliking nights. The time that is meant to spend resting and preferably in the arms of your lover is wasted while waiting for the man to return home, leaving you completely alone. Yes, you understand he has a job to fulfill, a very important one, but neglecting you for the fourth night in a row? It starts to piss you off.

You pass your fur coat to one of the agents in the hall and the employee bows his head to you, murmuring something along the lines “Master Pantalone is in his office”. Surely you would know the only place in the Northland bank your husband would be at in such an ungodly hour of the night.

Heels of your expensive shoes click against the tiled floor, signaling other agents of your arrival. You barely wave your hand or nod at them as a sign of acknowledgment and permission to get back to their duties, too busy to get into the elevator that’ll bring you to one of the top floors.

You don’t even knock when the massive, adorned with pure gold decorations door appears in front of you. A key emerges from your pocket and quickly disappears in a keyhole. A couple of twists, a victorious click and the handle is in your hand, while the key is back within the confines of your clothes.

The grandiose room, not many had an honor to be in, meets you with its usual cacophony of sounds: the rustle of papers, the click of an abacus, the creak of a quill and the clink of coins. A distinctive feature of your dear husband - there is no clock on the wall or the working desk. The ticking drives Regrator insane, provokes headaches and simply makes him lose his concentration.

Which is not ruined now, as he keeps his eyes trained on the things all over his desk, barely moving a muscle upon your entrance. Yeah, sure he knows there is only one person in the whole Teyvat that has a spare key to his office at the bank, but some kind of acknowledgement would've been nice.

You don't slam the door shut, even though you really want to, but instead slowly close it, registering the quiet click, and then just as slowly walk to the spacious mahogany desk within an equally spacious room.

"For how long Lord Pantalone is planning to ignore me?" You are standing right in front of the annoying piece of furniture (the obstacle you'd really like to throw away at the moment), crossing your arms, and burning holes in his head. The banker hums something, sliding beads back and forth on the big counting instrument that takes a quarter of the desk surface. The thing annoys you even more.

You make sure he writes down numbers he needs and then snatch the abacus from under his hand, hopping onto the now free space. The tips of his fingers poke your hip and then and only then does Pantalone lift his gaze at you.

"Oh, now I finally have your attention?" Humming you test the weight of the wooden piece in your hand, making the beads rattle and click. Your husband sighs, reaching up to get the tool back, but you only draw your arm further, creating even more disturbing sounds.

“And what my darling is doing?” while a never-disappearing smile is plastered on his handsome face, you can clearly see the brow that starts twitching.

“Hmmmm… I dunno,” you twist you wrist a couple of times more, making the beads slide and hit each other, all the while watching the way his fingers are squeezing the poor quill. “Maybe I am giving you a headache that you can’t work any longer, so I can finally bring you home.”

"Vixen."

"You don't really mean it," yeah, when he means it, the words can get pretty sharp. Not towards you though, he'd never let himself insult you no matter how much you can intentionally annoy him. "Besides," you grab a coin from a stack he hasn't counted yet and let it drop on the floor, hitting it multiple times, all the while accompanying the ringing sounds with the ones of the abacus, "you know I am right and you need to go home and rest. Or else…" before he can react you grab a fistful of mora and throw it in the air, knowing a horrendous melody they are gonna play, "I will ruin you work even more for you. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"Your methods…" he flinches while you are not phased at all by the cacophony the gold creates in the union with marble, "...very atrocious."

"You are the one to say, Lord Harbinger," grinning, you lean forward, just mere inches from his face, from his parted lips.

"So… would you like to hear more of my improvised concert, or you'd rather join me on our way back home?"

You alone can make my song take flight

Help me make the music of the night 

[thumpypuppy]

hey can you talk about I WON’T LET YOU GO HOME from ISAT and how you went about making it? It is so good. me and friends really like it. thank you in advance if so! the game is so good and your soundtrack has played a key role in making it literally life changing.

Lindar here!

Thank you SO MUCH for the kind words.

Firstly, I have to give credit to InsertDisc5 who gave incredible direction and has been to date one of the best people I've worked with.

So let's start from the beginning: We establish a specific instrumental tone with the pseudo-chiptune synth we've heard a lot, especially in the title theme. This was created using NI Massive, which was one of the most heavily used synths in the OST. We're doing kind of a basic heavy metal riff here, but making it chiptune-y.

Next we fade in for the first and only time in the soundtrack a SNES strings pad to fill out the chord structure and provide additional melodic content.

Then of course for our more intense moments we roll out Toontrack Superior Drummer 2 + Metal Foundry, featuring the amazing drumming styles of the one and only Sandra Baker. I think she went absolutely ham to contrast with how simple the first section is.

So next we hit our stride and establish what the piece is really saying. The drums simplify a bit to leave room for the melody, and then we hit a "drop" of sorts into the next section.

Now we're rocking to a reprise of the title theme in a more major tone, but it's feeling less hopeful and more like a longing attachment to memories of the past.

In the second half of the title theme we run a reprise of the death/loss theme as a counter-melody while also introducing a new little motif stab underneath. We hear it in the strings as sort of the response to a call that hasn't actually been made, and then it's repeated in the bass, and finally the whole band states it all at once as we move into the next section.

Again we're stating the title theme, but this time in a different mode with a gliding, reverby, monophonic lead that feels like it's floating. Each phrase keeps rising in intensity, desperately reaching for that memory.

Finally after all of that wildly changing energy and anxiety ramping up we hit a breakdown featuring probably some of the best orchestral composition I've managed thus far (not to toot my own horn). I was really shooting for "pained" as the sound of this section. Half-time feel drums where we're so incredibly out of energy, but no! The drums pick up into double-time as we desperately reach out for comfort!

I gotta say Sandra went absolutely wild with the blastbeat snare while still doing a half-time feel. Like it feels like there's so much tension even while we're winding down to the end of the piece, floating in a place where we keep moving towards hope but always resolving on the minor. We have a lot of movement here through different keys and modes that continually give us a feeling of moving forward while always returning to the feeling of loss.

Finally, for the album version, we cap the ending with a slow restatement of the beginning of the piece for piano and violin (I don't remember the specific piano I used here but it wasn't the Spitfire Labs muted piano for once, and the violin is from Spitfire's Sacconi Quartet).

As far as an in-depth musical analysis goes, I'd have to open the session again to get really specific with what I did on a theory level because it's been like a year or more since I wrote it, and my computer's primary hard drive died (luckily I have all my sessions on a different drive), so I'm spending the weekend reinstalling everything.

I think the crux of this piece in particular is that, while there is new melodic content that explains the emotional context of the scene, we still rely on the recontextualization of leitmotifs for added effect. I'm not sure if it makes me lazy or a genius, but it's something I leaned into heavily.

It's like…

Step 1: Someone is crying. Their friend tries to cheer them up. Play something kinda sad and a little bittersweet.

Step 2: Play that same melody in a different situation but slightly different to be totally appropriate while also calling back to the original event.

Step 3: Make it into a major-key power metal song because you're winning with the power of your friends caring about your feelings.

Humans are pattern-recognition machines. It works with motifs, it works with specific instrumentation, it works with pretty much anything. Make an aesthetic choice about your instrumentation, utilize it, and punch people in the feels.

As soon as the studio is back up and running I'll see if I can't add on to this with an actual theory analysis, and meanwhile I'm gearing up to start doing classes on mixing and sound design, so look out for that as well!

Thank you again for your ask!

[citrus-moonlight]

Danger Starts the Sharp Incline

Fandom: MCU - Age of Ultron, Black Panther Pairing: Demon!Klaue x Fem Scientist Reader Chapters: 1 of 1 Word count: 4.5K Rating: Explicit

Summary: At your scientific organization the study of demon energy output has become no less mundane than it would at any other research facility. That is until you find yourself trapped with the demon who has recently shifted in your thoughts from an idle curiosity to a distraction.

Warnings: Explicit Rating!, No Age Specified, PWP, One Shot, Smut, Let Me Be Clear: This Is Absolute Filth, Monster Fucking, Demon Fucking, Could be viewed as Dubcon, Implied Mind Manipulation, But to be clear reader is Into It, Pet Names, Touch Starved Demon, Oral Sex (Fem Receiving), Vaginal Fingering, Big Hands I Know You're the One, Unprotected PIV, Size Kink, Squirting, A Lot of Demon Cum, Like A Lot, Cum Marking, Creampie, Breeding Kink, Multiple Orgasms (both), Overstimulation, Possessiveness

A/N: Once again, this was supposed to be a quick little smutty thing that ended up getting very, very away from me. This honestly could have been even longer (it was over 5.5k and counting at one point!), but I managed to reign myself in, lol. I almost feel like I have enough for a part two, so who knows, perhaps I'll revisit this AU one day in the future!

This was inspired by the first bit of this absolutely incredible demon/scientist blurb* by @biscuitdragonwithastick, which you should definitely read first (thank you for the ok to go ahead with this!). It fully dug its claws (pun intended?) into my brain and refused let me go. I couldn't stop thinking about a Demon!Klaue AU, and thanks to some lovely encouragement, this is the result!

Please, please mind the tags, my dears, and thank you for reading!

*Demon's name has been changed here to fit the AU

Dividers by the lovely @saradika-graphics ❤️

UPDATING TO ADD PLEASE GO CHECK OUT THIS DEMON!KLAUE FANART BY MY INCREDIBLE LOVELY TALENTED FRIEND, truly I have not stopped screaming! 😍🥹💕

Work title is from "All Mine" by Portishead

AO3 Link

Make no mistake You shan't escape Tethered and tied There's nowhere to hide from me All mine You have to be

Klaw’s reaction continues to be noted by the higher-ups, and eventually it’s decided that they want to conduct an experiment, using you.

The next time you’re scheduled on the cleaning rotation they want to take the opportunity to determine if there’s a measurable difference in output and chemical composition - before and after you’ve been in the room with him.

“Just consider what it might mean to the future of energy research”, they’d said. “It could lead to the discovery of a demon-sensitive pheromone additive that boosts energy output across the board.”

Although you flush at the outward acknowledgement of what’s been happening, you can’t deny that it intrigues you.

Especially since you had started dreaming about him.

Since you’d stopped being able to control how wet you got when you observed him.

Since the self-consciousness you’d felt at the sidelong glances of your colleagues had started feeling like something else. 

Something like pride.

* * * * * *

Two days later you’re scheduled for the night shift alone, with not much else to do but make the occasional note in the shift log and wait for the alarm that indicates the mare’s collection tank is full. So you wait. 

And watch.

For the first time you have a chance to really just look at him, and you’re finding it difficult to pay attention to the instruments that you should be monitoring. Your eyes instead are continually drawn back to the observation window and the thick mop of black curls that falls across his forehead where his horns emerge, sharp features are framed by the scruff of a dark beard, and an intriguing mix of tattoos, brands and scars play across the planes and curves of his body.

Although his muscles aren’t as chiseled as many of the demons you've observed in this facility his shoulders and arms are thick, and you unconsciously lick your lips as your eyes follow the dark hair that covers his broad chest and abdomen down to where it meets the wiry hair at the base of his cock.

A slick warmth has been slowly pooling between your thighs since you settled into your chair at the beginning of the shift, but as you watch the bored pumping of his hips fall into a smoother, swaying rhythm, that warmth ignites.

Widening his stance, hooved feet brace on the floor as he pulls out further before thrusting back in, letting you watch his cock slide slowly back into the machine’s opening, burying himself with a jutting roll of his hips, over and over. Almost teasing. 

Almost taunting.

This could be you.

It’s only when Klaw drags his hands along the metal “body” of the mare that you notice it: The claws of the first three fingers of his right hand seem to be…gone? 

With a flicker of concern you flip a switch on the console, using the camera to zoom in. 

Ok, no, they’re not gone per se, but they’re definitely shorter, nearly down to the quick. Was it an accident? Did they break in a fervor as he fucked the contraption? 

Frowning at the screen your mind turns over the possibilities, but before you can think to add the peculiarity to your notes your thoughts fizzle away when you glance back up to the observation window and see that he’s watching you.

As soon as your eyes meet his the tease in his movements falls away and he’s bottoming out hard against the opening in a rough, stuttered rhythm as his eyes cloud over, and you know from past observation that he’s nearing the edge.

Your inner muscles clench and the ache that’s been building since you walked in here swells and overlaps with a flaring jealousy when Klaw shudders and growls, filling the receptacle with another thick load of his seed.

You don’t even realize that you stood up until you feel the cool glass of the observation window beneath your palms, your breath fogging the surface as you press yourself against the barrier.

There’s still a slow, uneven cadence to the demon’s thrusts following his climax, but his gaze swiftly sharpens on you again when one of your hands drifts idly across your stomach, then lower, fingers brushing over the top button of your pants-

-and then you jump when a shrill sound interrupts you, nearly growling at the surge of frustration.

The alarm is piercing and incessant and won’t stop until you enter the demon’s room, so you return to the control panel to activate the sigil that will keep him contained while you clean and recalibrate the machine - tests having shown that a laser projection of the correct wavelength of light is just as effective as a physical binding.

Once you’re through the airlock you quickly set to working through the checklist, unhooking the mechanism that feeds into tanks in the floor and connecting it to a fresh one. You move on to cleaning the unfeeling hole that the demon fucks into day in and day out, your breath going shallow at the jealousy that continues to singe your nerves.��

His gaze stays entirely focused on you as you move around, cock swaying heavily in front of  broad thighs - still hard, always hard - the still leaking head so dark it’s nearly purple. 

The slick between your thighs has only increased since you started to work, fairly certain that you’ve soaked through your panties at this point, and when you have to pass closer to his “cage” he leans forward, nearly pressing himself against the barrier as he follows your path.

Inhaling deeply his cock twitches, more cum dripping from the tip as he ruts at the air, and you can't help but wonder if he’s picking up your frustrated arousal.

“Hurry up.” you chide yourself. “Stop getting distracted. Just finish your shit and get out.”

Kneeling down behind the machine you open the access panel and flip through the menus until you find the one that will complete the calibration, and while you’re focused on watching it cycle you don’t notice the outer door open from the hall into the observation room. 

The intern who enters must not see you where you’re kneeling on the floor, and evidently thinking that the trap has been left on in error he flips the switch to deactivate it.

When the light from the beaming sigil goes dark you pop up in alarm, the face of the intern frozen in an almost comedic grimace of horror when he finally registers that you’re staring back at him from the wrong side of the glass. 

The man reaches for the switch again but Klaw’s reflexes are faster, and before the trap can be reactivated the demon rushes the door. Slamming his shoulder against it he jams it so thoroughly they'll need to bring in special equipment to get it open again, but at this time of night it'll be hours, if you’re lucky, before a crew gets here.

Then he rounds on you.

With an oddly warm sense of detachment you think that you should feel fear as you watch the slow grin spread across his face, but the only thing you feel is a surge of hot, aching desire. 

He rumbles something you don’t understand, though the rough texture of his words is still intoxicating, and before you realize what you’re doing you’re walking towards him, pulling your shirt over your head as you move. 

Because right now you find that you want - need - to bare yourself for him, the sensation of it intense that your skin feels like it’s going to scald if you don’t get your clothes off now, and your shoes, pants and underwear quickly join the discarded pile on the floor.

Stopping in front of him you reach back to unclasp your bra, but your arms pause mid-way when Klaw’s hand reaches out, your breath hitching when he hooks a large, clawed finger beneath your chin, tilting your head up so that your eyes meet his.

You’d always assumed that his eyes were black, but this close you realize that they’re actually an impossibly deep blue, a blue that only resides along the penumbra of light and shadow where the last rays of sun reach into the depths of the ocean

You stand mesmerized as his hand dips lower, leaving behind a trail of gooseflesh as a claw trails gently down the delicate skin of your neck and chest, and then with a flick of his wrist the last scrap of fabric covering you gives way, exposing your breasts to the cool air.  

You’ve barely shrugged off the ruined garment when suddenly you’re being picked up - so, so easily - and placed on a table, swiftly reminded of how much larger and stronger he is than you, and once again dimly aware that you should feel fear, or dread, or some instinct telling you to run.

Not of the shiver of anticipation that leaves your breath hitching in your chest. 

Definitely not the wild need blooming in your core as sharp teeth ghost along the place where your blood thrums, his breath hot and his skin hotter.

His mouth continues its path downward, pausing to lick at the soft swell of your breasts, taking a moment to pull and pluck at your nipples with his lips. A pleased growl vibrates against your skin when you lean back onto your hands with a moan, arching into the swirl of his tongue around your pebbled flesh. 

It’s not long, though, before he can no longer ignore the way this increases the heated musk between your thighs, leaving behind a wet trail of saliva as his mouth travels down, seeking the place where you’re already dripping for him.

The demon's hands nearly wrap entirely around your thighs yet his touch is almost cautious as he presses you open, mesmerized by the way you unfold for him like the petals of a flower, slick and shining.

HIs eyes are heavy lidded as thick fingers begin to tease through your folds, toying with your clit, surprising you with how softly he rolls it between thumb and forefinger, a grin curving the corner of his mouth when your hips buck into his touch.

Noting your reaction he repeats the motion, gently pinching and rolling the sensitive bud until your mouth drops open and your breath is coming in sharp gasps, his dark eyes staying fixed between your legs as thick fingers coax a warm, honeyed orgasm from you, leaving you keening and startled by the slow intensity of it.

You’ve barely caught your breath when you feel his mouth suddenly envelop your mound, lapping eagerly at your release as you whine and writhe beneath his tongue, overwhelmed at the stimulation.

It’s too much, all of this is too much, but as he continues licking and suckling at your sensitive flesh you find that you’re no longer fighting it, the hum of bliss that hadn’t yet faded already building to a fresh swell, and when his lips capture your clit with a sudden fluttering pressure your body stiffens as your second orgasm flares through you, sharper and brighter than the first. 

When he finally releases you he speaks again, but through the haze of afterglow it takes a moment for it to register that this time you think that you understand him, the word seeming to appear within your mind at the same time that you hear it from his glistening lips.

“Sweet.” 

With a start you look down at him and he pauses, head tilting, curiosity knitting his heavy brows. 

Not moving his eyes from yours, his voice is a low, tentative purr when he speaks again.

“Would your sweet cunt like..more?”

Holy fuck. You can understand him.

Your thoughts spin as the shock works its way through you, the analytical part of your mind attempting to parse what the fuck is happening. Is it the increased time in his proximity? The physical contact? Whatever the mechanism, you can suddenly hear- or perhaps more accurately feel - his words, somewhere deep in your conscience.

A firm nod, then, in answer to his question, a responding pull of his lips into a slow, pleased grin.

Dipping his head Klaw licks a broad, wet stripe up your cleft, and then he’s devouring you, slavering hungrily against your sex, drool mixing with your arousal as his lips and tongue work your aching bundle of nerves until you’re gasping shallow breaths, every muscle strung taught as you hover on the edge once more.

Seeking for an anchor your hands find his curved horns, warm and leathery beneath your scrabbling fingers, and then with a rasping cry you’re coming in long, surging waves, your entire body trembling as your hips chase every flutter of pleasure on the tip of his tongue. 

Dimly you think that he must be satisfied now, that you must be satisfied, yet it seems as though with every climax you only hunger more intensely for the next. 

Once your hands release his horns and fall limp at your sides Klaw straightens up, and then wrapping his hand around his cock he starts roughly stroking himself. 

Almost without thinking your legs fall open, shaky arms pulling your knees back to expose yourself to him, knowing he can see how your soaked cunt still clenches through the last waves of your orgasm, and it’s only a few more strokes before he’s coming with a rough jerk of his hips and you gasp at the heat, thick ropes of cum streaking across your slick folds and the insides of your thighs.  

Still breathing hard, the pumping of his fist gradually slows, a hand drifting along the curve of your inner thigh as his focus comes back to you. Gathering some of the sticky mess he left between your legs he drags it through your folds, and then suddenly a thick finger is sliding into you.

Even as you gasp at the intrusion you begin to understand that he had actually done it on purpose: Biting down those claws himself because, it seems, he had been thinking about this.

The realization that it was for you leaves your entire body humming, and as your hips cant up to meet the slow, almost teasing thrusts, there’s only one word that swells and ripens in your mind, uncertain whether it’s your word or his even as it falls from your lips.

“More.”

A knowing glint flashes in his eyes at your soft plea, and almost immediately you feel a second finger slipping against you. Just teasing his fingertips at your entrance at first he lets your juices slick them before pressing into you, both fingers together nearly as thick as a human cock.

You moan as he continues to slide them in and out of you, and just as you begin to sink into the ache of it, you moan low in your throat when suddenly he’s adding a third.

The heady pressure of him working three fingers into your already stretched hole is overwhelming, and you’re unsure whether you want to throw yourself towards the sensation or resist it, your body arching into him, yet tensing and pulling away at the same time.

But then he’s pressing you down onto the table, his hand nearly spanning the width of your chest to hold you in place as his fingers continue nudging deeper.

“Where are you going, little one? Going to have to take it if you want my cock." 

As if to emphasize his words he drags his erection against the inside of your thigh with a grunted sigh, a fresh streak of precum adding to the mess that he’s already left on you.

Because of course you do, and he knows it, has known it since you stopped being able to look away from his hunched form as he fucked into his mechanical mate, a warm curiosity growing into a distracting need.

And you know that he could have taken you at any time, could have forced himself into you as soon as your clothes were a forgotten pile on the floor. But instead, he’s been preparing you to take him properly, making you come until the only thing you know is his mouth and his fingers and you’re soft and trembling and ravenous.

“God yes.” You spread your legs wide again, giving him an obscene view of where his fingers are sinking into you, slick sounds filling the room as they pump faster now.

“There you go.” He croons above you. “Made for this, hmm?" 

Any attempt at a response trails into a choked cry when he finds that soft, needy spot deep inside you, a fresh, pulsing heat spreading through your already exhausted body as he takes you apart once more. Still pinned beneath his hand you’re unable to do anything but allow it to wash through you, shaking and whimpering as he continues to drag firm, curling strokes against your clenching walls.

Leaning down Klaw presses his face into your heaving chest, and your nipples tighten and ache as he licks languorously between your breasts, his huffed breath is hot against your skin.

As your senses filter back in your hands slowly begin to move, exploring the corded muscles of his neck and shoulders, trembling fingers tugging and sliding through his hair, and then up and over his horns again.

Letting your eyes slip closed you take in the ridged curve of them, a velvety pleasure blooming in your chest when he inhales sharply, cock throbbing against your thigh when your fingers wrap around the base of them.

Finally pulling his fingers out of you he tugs you up, turning around and repositioning you so that you’re straddling his broad hips as best you can. Strong hands support you, encouraging you to slide your slick folds along his shaft, a giddy sort of panic stuttering in your chest at the sudden awareness of the size of him where he twitches between your thighs.

Desperate whines that may as well be prayers slide from your throat when he lifts you higher and you feel the thick, bulbous head of his cock nudging against your entrance, the only words falling from your lips a whispered litany of “Oh my god oh my god oh my god."

“I’m not your God, little one,” he growls softly, words distorted as if you're hearing them through a sediment of granite and blood. "But you will worship me."

“Yes. Yes..Oh fuck, please.” 

Beneath your lilting plea you dimly hear gritted curses and words of encouragement as you circle your hips, your arousal making a slick mess of his cock.

You can't help how eagerly your hips rock down, seeking more, so lost in the sensations that you're unprepared when a hard press of your hips matches his upward thrust, and the thick head of his cock suddenly ruts up into you, and when he slips past the tight ring of muscle the feral sound from deep in your chest nearly matches his.

Panting open mouthed you hold him there before rising up, slowly, slowly, letting him slip out of you before sinking down to take him back in. You feel weightless beneath the obsidian glint in his eyes as he watches you repeat the motion again, and again, his arms helping you move as you start to shake from the effort of riding just the head of his cock.

Even now there’s something warm and urgent drawing your hand lower, and you’re unable to help feeling pleased when his eyes go heavy as his gaze follows your fingers down to where they press against your clit.

“So..needy.” he rumbles. “Better than I imagined.”

“You..imagined?” You pant, attempting to sound coy, but your words are thick with lust as you continue to roll your hips, forcing yourself down further down his length. 

Your movements are becoming less controlled now, and when your fingers slip and brush against his shaft you whimper at how fucking big he feels where he's stretching you open, and how much of him is still outside of you.

You can feel every slick ridge and vein beneath your hand, and as you slide it along his length the muscles of his thighs tense and flex beneath you, his breathing going rough as your messy strokes continue.

“Look at you taking my cock,” Klaw grits, the demon’s hips beginning to stutter up in short, sharp thrusts. “Such a good little pet.” 

His words trail into a low growl that vibrates through your body as you feel a hard throb beneath your hand, and then heat.

You gasp, continuing to writhe as he spills into you, coating your inner walls with his thick seed, and almost you feel as though you could come again just from the heat of it.

Fuck, you need more of that.

Need it deeper.

Even as the pulsing beneath your fingers slows he doesn't stop moving, finally coming inside of you seeming only to have tipped his need to fevered desire. Holding you in place he thrusts up harder, dislodging your hand, and you can feel his spend leaking out of you, dripping down the insides of your thighs and slicking his still hard cock as he continues to drive deeper, no longer letting you set the pace. 

“This is what you wanted, wasn’t it?” He taunts, voice still a rough half-whisper after his orgasm. “Could feel it when you watched me. Wanted me to fill your little cunt, hmm?”

“Yes.” You let out a growled sob, jealous anger surging through you. ”That..thing, doesn’t fucking deserve it.”

A flame crackles in Klaw’s eyes at your heated words, and you wonder with a jolt of awareness whether he hasn’t been just as desperate for this as you have, longing for you as he remained trapped in the torment of a cold, unfeeling machine. Driven purely by instinct, chasing his release over and over again but never being truly satisfied.

The sudden realization that you could give that to him floods you with almost as much pleasure as the agony of being filled with his cock.

You’ve barely processed the thought when you suddenly find yourself with your back once again pressed against the cool metal of the table, Klaw only pulling out of you briefly before thrusting back in, harder.

He continues a slow, controlled rhythm, both of you panting hard as you feel yourself softening around him, becoming more pliant as your body relents to every stroke until with a final arching rock of his hips your cunt is completely stretched and full, everything so impossibly tight that you can’t even clench around him.

He's never felt anything quite like you, the achingly tight grip of your pussy leaving him nearly breathless as he holds himself as deep as he can, huffing and grunting like a bull while he watches you writhe and spasm beneath him.

Then he starts to fuck you.

He tries to keep his strokes firm and measured at first, but he can’t hold back anymore and it's not long before his chest is heaving, lips curled in a snarl, and it feels as though you're being split open as he pulls you back onto his cock in time to meet every thrust. 

A scarlet thread runs through every cell of your soft animal body, stringing tighter and tighter as pleasure builds to the edge of breaking but then surging higher, a fresh ecstasy building on every peak. 

The tightening grip around your waist signals the absolute loss of his control and when you hiss at the sudden piercing bite of his claws he moves his hands to brace on the table instead, his broad body forcing your legs back towards your shoulders as he leans down over you, driving his cock as deep as he can get into your willing heat until he’s grunting and drooling above you. 

A divine bliss slides through your veins as you lie beneath him, caught between the trammel of his arms, and as you watch his base instinct take over you begin to understand that only fools could believe that lust is a sin. 

And even if it was, even if you were offered perfect grace in this moment, you know with absolute certainty that you would refuse.

An infernal dam is finally swelling to breaking as you surrender to every relentless thrust of his cock, your wailed sobs the only sounds you can make as an impossible pressure ripples through your core, and with a deep throb you suddenly feel a drenching heat as your release washes over his cock and your thighs. 

“There you go.” Klaw growls. “Make a mess for me, little one.” 

This seems to be his final undoing, and as you continue to soak his cock his thrusting goes ragged until with rough groan he’s coming deep inside you, stilling himself to keep the head of his cock pressed against the deepest part of you, making sure that you feel every hot, throbbing pulse of his cum as it fills you.

Keeping himself seated deep he rocks slow grinding thrusts into the slippery mess he’s made of his you, the lust that’s had no real outlet finally finding satisfaction in the way your clenching cunt is milking his cock, in the gentle swell of your belly as he pumps you full of his seed.

You’re a sweaty, twitching mess beneath him, and as much as you wish you could you’re unable to take all of it, can’t help how it spills out around his cock where you’re stretched and sore, how his cum and yours drips down your swollen sex to pool beneath you on the table.

His hands don't stop moving over your body, cupping your breasts, grasping at you hips, sliding over the ripe swell of you where he can feel you filled with his cock and his cum. Vaguely aware of soft grunts mixed with mumbled praise, you don’t register what he’s saying at first through the haze of euphoria.

“Going to be mine.” he rumbles, between languorous strokes. ”My little queen.” 

“Mine.”

* * * * * * *

The room is warm and flickering, silken sheets decadent beneath your fingers, your body thrumming with a heated anticipation that never seems to fade, now.

Rough hands lift your hips as your demon mounts you from behind, a hand placed firmly between your shoulder blades, pressing you down into the mattress.

A panting whine slides from your throat as he spreads you open, the thick head of his cock prodding your entrance, pleased to see you’re still dripping with his seed from the last time he filled you. And he doesn’t like leaving you empty for very long.

“Say it again, little one.” Klaw growls softly, holding himself still. Waiting.

“Yours.” 

You sigh, a smile curling around the word as he pushes into you.

“I’m yours.”

A/N: As ever, thank you for reading! This was definitely a bit outside my comfort zone, but I hope you enjoyed this filthy little foray into monster fuckery. 😊

[fishhjuice]

An Unnecessarily Detailed Analysis of Sashimori

You have been warned!

The Band as a Whole

The band preceeding Sashimori was initially a loud rock band (noisy death-metal to be specific) [X], and SplatoonUS and Nogami calls them a wall-of-sound band specifically [X] [X] . In wall-of-sound, the intention is to exploit the possibilities of studio recording to create an unusually dense orchestral aesthetic. [X] (Some examples of metal wall of sound i found off internet are Oh, Sleeper, Periphery, Soulkeeper, Underoath and Your Memorial to give you an impression of what kind of band they could be)

This band initally was founded by Taichi when he wanted singing to accompany his guitar skills and it was made of Taichi, Ryu Chang, Karla and their vocalist. However, the vocal

ist was a self-centered and authoritarian person, which made the other three kick them out.

This vocalist is often speculated to have been Pearl, due their genres fitting, the preceeding band being emphasized for being REAL LOUD and of course, #$@%* Dudes Be #$@%* Sleepin. (and i would say dudes be sleeping does sound like the examples ive given). When asked to Nogami about it, he said they left it up to imagination [X].

The SplatBaseENG calls this singer a "He" [X], however there are no gendered pronouns in SplatBaseJP [X].

After kicking out the vocalist, the three worked as an instrumental trio. [X]

However, after some time they felt something was missing from their music, so they made a tweet about recruiting a new member, which is when Paul reached out. Although doubtful of the kid first, he soon proved himself capable and was made into the driving force of the band, adopting his style of using ancient samples as vocals [X] [X].

Haikara Walker calls Paul a founding member of Sashimori. So we can conclude Sashimori is not continutation or a rebrand of their old band but a whole new one.

Karla (Mostly From Haikara Walker)

Karla is known for being mysterious, keeping quiet at interviews. Her age, how she eats is a mystery (it's because scaly-foot gastropod don't need to).

But they don't have bad intent. Smile :)

Their ironclad body made them resilient to the vocalist's noisy-metal lyrics.

Their mysterious past might be a reference to the fact Karla started out as a repurposed Octo Expansion NPC. This art calsl her shady, and also an iron lady. [X]

It was pointed out to me by a friend that it is very possible it's Karla who is taking the White Day Splatband Pic, which explains their absence.

Paul (Mostly From Haikara Walker)

Paul is a Turntablist. A turntablist is a performer who moves records whilst playing on the turntable to manipulate the sound and create original compositions [X]. He is said to have godlike mixing skills.

He samples all vocals through ancient vinyls that are pretty much all but said to be of human origin, alongside mixing other DJs' work. [X]

His favourite food is kelp and biscuits.

He was 10 at 2018, now being 16.

Sashimori is specifically said to have emerged at the end of inkling/octarian conflict, amongst other bands which the specific phrasing could imply Paul is octarian/dome octoling, however this much is theorizing. [X]

Another thing that points towards this is that along his (implied) human records and DJ Real Sole remixes, he is also said to remix Octavio's work.

Another speculation is the connection between Acht and Paul. They have similar clothing style, similar tentacle colors and and as Haikara Walker points out, their hats bear the same symbol (though they also say it could be the same brand that they like) . There is in-universe speculation that two are blood relatives. [X].

The phrasing also implies a connection between Marina and Paul [X], and according to Splatfest (JP) dialouge, they are friends :) [X]

It is a very common misconception that he is playing chess with Kuze or Fuka, but a closer look at the table shows they are playing a game together with 3 different colored pieces and shapes. Did this add anything to the discussion? No :) [X]

Ryu Chang (From Haikara Walker)

Ryu was 35 years old at 2018, now is 41.

They come from an area with a mountain stream at the base of Mount Nantai. This, along with his "Climbing Dragon" nickname comes from a myth of a koi transforming into a dragon once it climbed the waterfall (which he is one, koi i mean) [X].

Speaking of "Climbing Dragon", their temptous drumming has a reputation which has earned them that nickname.

They grew up in a prestigious home, but went hardcore in their teenage years, devoting themself to punk.

Their illustrate as a hobby, and they designed the band's mascot, "Mr. Wasabi." . It can be assumed they did the graphic design for the band as well.

They are on a Rainmaker team with other bands' drummers, Kuze and Blow. At the Low Water Party Rave, one of them picked up the double bass and played it. [X]

Taichi Sawaberu (Again, Mostly From Haikara Walker)

They are called the embodiment, a skillful and precise guitarist who has an instrumental background.

They are a studio musician who has a wide range of activities outside of the band.

They started the band predecessor to Sashimori when wanted singing to accompany them.

They are seen to be talking to Nishida in the White Day art, who is said to be an expert guitarist in their own right, having a reputation for their own techniques which are written in megazines and such [X] , it can be assumed that is the topic of their discussion, with Nishida holding their guitar and all.

They are stated to be have been especially wary of Paul (with this stated on their bio specifically), seeing him as small and annoying, however have opened up to him recently. Recently as in in 2018.

-

So ye! You were warned!

[mindutme]

Sdefa Sdaturday #14

Here’s a new Sdefa translation!

If you haven’t seen my previous posts, Sdefa is a constructed language which is played on musical instruments rather than spoken or signed. So this is both a translation of a poem and also a piece of music for solo piano!

There’s a lot of flexibility built into how the language works, so it’s as much a compositional tool as a means of communication—the same text could be conveyed in many different ways, as the rhythms, chords, dynamics, instrument(s), and even some of the melody notes can be changed without changing the meaning.

This a translation of a poem from The Fellowship of the Ring, written by Bilbo and recited at the Council of Elrond. Here’s the original poem:

All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king.

There are a number of new words in this translation. Like other Sdefa words, they’re all 4- or 5-note references to other pieces of music. One of the new words here is D A D E, “shadow” or “darkness,” which is based on a fragment of the song that Pippin sings in The Return of the King movie! There’s another LotR reference in the language, though not used in this piece: F A G E♭, meaning “horse,” comes from Shadowfax’s theme in The Two Towers. That was actually one of the first words I made for the language!

[soysaucepastry]

SKY: COTL THEME LYRICS TRANSLATION.

Introduction

Sky: Children of the Light, just like most games, has its very own theme melody. A tune that is heard throughout the game in various events.

For those who aren't familiar with the theme, you may have heard it in the opening of Isle of Dawn or the Orbit scene after completing Eye of Eden.

(Search "Flight" on Vincent Diamente's music compositions, and you may recognise it!)

TGC collabed with famous singer Aurora. If you didn't know, Aurora has been the main vocals for the theme song. Besides the instrumental parts, she sings during Isle of Dawn and Orbit. The beginning and finishing lines of the game.

Relating to Auroras' participation, they released the full song of Sky's theme. Which was called "Constellation." Constellation was noticeably a lot longer, but also had its own lyrics.

Lyrics In a theme song usually relates itself to the subjects lore. This is an excellent opportunity for the Sky Theorist to formulate speculations to Sky's timeline using these lyrics. However, the only problem was...

THESE LYRICS ARE IN A MADE-UP LANGUAGE!

Translations

Sky has a fictional language used in the song. This was already a challenge for us because it required a lot of analysing. To our fortune, the lyrics were actually words taken from existing languages. Each syllable was from different languages, and some just had meaning.

Now, enough talking. Let's begin!

The first lines were: "Menori eno, foto fola."

Menori: Initially, I believed that "Menori" meant "Memory" since both words were somewhat similar. However, if you split the syllable into 2, it creates a different meaning.

It's difficult to find out what "men" means. Although, I decided that "men" just means person in general. "Ori" is interesting because it translates to "my light."

Mashing the words together, you get: "Person, my light." Otherwise known as "Child of Light"

Eno: "Eno" is the Latin verb of "swim out." However, not everything has to be accurate to its initial meaning. "Swim out" could be a metaphor for" "emerges", " "show," and "appear." I'll get to this later, but hopefully, you get the meaning.

Foto: Foto is an easy word to identify because it's "photo" with extra fancy spelling. In this case, like I've said before, not everything has to mean what it initially represents. Again, Foto could most likely be a kind of conjuction.

Fola: This word translates to "crazy, mad, and foolish." A word that best represents a person or individual. This highly relates itself to a specific character in the sky, too.

--

So let's squish together all the words.

"Child of light swims out, photograph foolish."

The sentence is grammatically incorrect. But that is OK! Since it's made-up language, we have the ability to imagine the sentence in a more grammatically correct and sky-related way. The way I interpret it is quite simple.

"A person of light appears, only to become a foolish king."

Clarifications:

Menori could be "Child of Light," or "Person of light." Synonyms are valid.

Eno doesn't necessarily mean "swim out." Again, it's basically like a metaphor for "emerge," "show," and "appear."

Foto could be a word that represents something. Like how a photograph represents something. It's not necessary to include it in the actual sentence!

The following line is: "Nisoro mahori eh lossora."

Nisoro: Typically, this word was the hardest to translate. It isn't as simple as searching "Nisoro" meaning. However, after a while of digging, I was able to conduct a translation.

"Ni" in Yoruba means "in." And "Soro" in Yoruba means "difficult."

Combining the words would be "In difficult." So, in short, it means: "Difficult times."

Mahori: Mahori is much more different than the rest of the words. In this case, Mahori is an existing word that takes part in human activity.

Mahori is a Thai classical music genre. Played by a group of musicians, performers, and actors for the genre. However, mahori is commonly played in royal courts or royal events. This is very related to Sky Lore. More on this later.

Eh: Most likely a conjuction like: "and."

Lossora: Similar to the previous words, it requires breaking down each syllable.

Los means "the" in Spanish. (According to translator heh..) However, Los also means "Path they took along"

Sora means sky. This word is the smoking gun of this translation. Confirming that we're at least on the right track.

Combining the two, you end up with "Path they took in The Sky" (The Sky= the Sky kingdom. Aka, the main setting in Sky.)

--

So let's combine the words.

"Difficult times, Royal music and path they took in the sky"

Again, correctly repositioning the words together creates: "It was difficult to play music for our King, so they decided to take another path in The Sky."

Clarifications:

Nisoro could also represent the difficulties during the current time.

I included "King" (Our beloved Eden Elder) because of Mahori. Mahori is music for royal subjects.

The third line is: "Neyo neyoterra, foto men"

(This section of my Translations is much shorter, mainly because I don't have too much to discuss.)

Neyo: An easy word to translate. It simply means "New"

Neyoterra: This word includes the previous word, "Neyo."

This word is still quite easy to understand. "Terra" means: "Earth," "Place," or "World."

So, new (Neyo) + place (Terra) translates to: "New world," "New place," etc!

Foto: As I mentioned before, it means photograph.

Men: The word is harder to crack. However, I concluded that men most likely mean people in general.

--

All the words together create: "New, new world. Picturing new people."

There isn't much to clarify for this one. It's very simple, but I'm open to any questions.

The last line is: "Nikolo, nikomo sora."

Nikolo: The word nikolo is a name that means "Victor of People" or "Peoples Champion." However, it could also be a metaphor for people proclaiming victory.

Nikomo: Another word that requires breaking down of syllables.

Niko means smile in Japanese. A friend of mine helped me discover the countless meanings, but I affirmed that this is most likely the best choice. "Smile."

Omo means "short period of time." It's very self-explanatory.

Combining the words, Nikomo translates to "Smile for a short period of time." That's pretty depressing!

Sora: As stated before, Sora translates to "Sky."

--

The words all together create:

"The people proclaim victory. They smile only for it to be gone in a short period of time. Then creating Sky."

(Slightly unrelated, but this is a major help for Sky Theorists! This is potentially the biggest clue for the Sky War (I'll make a blog about the war too.))

Clarification(s)

Despite Nikolo meaning "Peoples Champion," which is different from what I translated, please keep in mind that we have the ability to interpret these meanings into something that'll fit for the sake of it fitting.

----

SO! We have finally translated this bad boy! From what I could tell, this is a MAJOR help for understanding the Sky Lore. Even a major help for giving clues about the Sky War! I was happy to know that these translations mirrored the actual Sky Lore, which really made me excited.

Now, to make this all cinematic and exciting, I prepared a video ~

I am incredibly excited for the future of Sky. I really hope my first blog was understandable, I'm aware it might be a little too long or boring aaaa.

And if you're wondering, you may use this as inspiration for your new sky theories! I don't mind. It would be nice if you gave credit just in case you want to use my Translations word for word, haha.

PEACE OUT!!

[bisnes-socks]

alright welcome to my ted talk about the drums on šbj

because both @novime and @me-sploh-rada-imas made the mistake of showing interest in the tags of my post, here we are and i'm sorry.

but seriously like i'm no expert, i'm not a drummer, so maybe someone who actually knows drumming very well or understands music theory etc could word this all better, my music education is all from early childhood and/or absorbed from being the child of a musician lmao. but really i'm just a lifetime enthusiastic listener of all music and spent all of covid years watching music analysis videos lmao, okay so like yeah i'm just rambling BUT the choices jure has made on this song are just so unexpected and cool.

like when the song first starts and the guitars come in playing the main riff, an experienced listener would expect the drums to make space for the guitars. for the guitars to be the lead in that section and drums to kinda blend in to let the guitar riff shine. so you'd expect a relatively simple beat with a lil closed hi-hat action on the offbeats to make it groove. 

but NO!! he plays over the guitars (but the guitars still lead! they still shine!) and the hi-hat is open (could be a different cymbal..? but sounds like an open hi-hat to me, i'll have to find live footage to check how he plays it) so it crashes quite loud and on the beat and then a quick lil pattern on the hi-hat more closed and then bam, open one more time, like it's just super unexpected in a section like that? 

and like. in rock music, hi-hats on the beat are usually on the 1 and the 3. well, if i counted right, he plays it on the 1 and the 3 on the first bar, but the second bar the quick lil pattern syncopates the bar and the second louder open hi-hat is on the 4, a beat later than you'd expect! and then it comes back for the next bar on the 1 and the 3, but then on the last bar of the cycle, it's on the 1, 3 AND 4. which works VERY well with the whine on the guitar. just brilliant composition.

and the hi-hat being open and ringing out the way it does makes the section quite heavy, like it's... stomping. (i think i saw someone else say the song makes them want to kick things and that's probably one of the reasons why. bc it stomps. severely.) while also being very groovy. and that's super cool and odd and amazing. oh and the minor key of the song also emphasises the sort of.. downward feeling of the stomp? but at the same time the whole thing is just.. dancable. that's amazing, that's skill.

and then in the chorus (?) bit (a ja samo čekam...) he's like switching between a more on the beat focused basic type rhythm, but with a very hard rock or even metal inspired naaasty snare drum sound, and then a more groovy beat, the exact one you'd expect in the beginning, where the hi-hat is grooving on the offbeat. like stoooop showing off (never stop).

and then towards the end, when the whole different instrumental section kicks in, i swear that part as a whole gives me like queens of the stone age, them crooked vultures etc. vibes, but the drums in particular, like it's giving dave grohl type energy, like he's going ooooffff. just very purposeful, massive drive, but suuuper tight.

like i've always liked his drumming bc you can tell he can very confidently just sort of ride any beat, easy, decorate it as he pleases, or he can go off with a lot of purpose and drive. and like. he just does all of the above in this one song. amazing.

and like don't get me wrong i could give a ted talk on every instrument on this song (nace i fucking see you i hear you) but jure is my star of the song <3

[butcharondir]

Okay favorite new themes after first listen:

Estrid - Definitely at the top of the list, the Hardanger fiddle is so heart-wrenching and the way the tune plays with scales offers a slightly sinister edge to an otherwise tender and romantic composition. The way it ends (on a more sinister note) makes me particularly curious but I love love love, all in all one of the most musically interesting tracks to me on Season 2.

Concerning Stoors - OH I love this so much! Bear's Harfoot theme has always been my least favorite from Season One, mostly because of how viscerally it reminds me of his work on Outlander, but Concerning Stoors is much more musically distinct to me, while still calling back to the textural vibes of the Harfoot theme. Really love the tune here, it evokes a whole new world. The hammered dulcimer sound is *chef's kiss*.

Rhûn - this track is SO sick. The children's choir adds such a unique texture -- polyphonic singing is so underused and it immediately evokes a different vibe from anything else Bear has written for Middle Earth. I love the way the folk instrumentation is layered with more orchestral sounds and how percussion-forward the track is. Also love the way these sounds combine with the Stranger's theme in Sandstorm at the Well.

Forgiveness Takes an Age - I'm basically assuming this is the Ent theme, as we heard an Entwife utter "Forgiveness takes an age," in the trailer. This track also includes Arondir's theme, which makes sense because we know Arondir will be with the Ents. The Last March of the Ents is in my top 3 orchestral themes from the Jackson trilogy, and this is definitely a different vibe but still holds some of that beauty and epic-ness. I really really love the texture in the first section, where the voices and the drums combine in a way we haven't heard before on the soundtrack, and when it opens up into more epic strings, it makes me want to cry!!!

The Last Ballad of Damrod - I wouldn't call this a new theme, but I have a lot to say about it. I know a lot of people weren't super into the vibe when it was first released, but I think this track fucking SLAPS. I also actually really appreciate it in the context of the full soundtrack, it fits perfectly between "Army of Orcs" and "Battle of Eregion," deepening and turning up the volume on the raw energy of the "Nampat" theme. The orchestration underneath also reminds me a lot of the "For the Southlands" theme from Season One, evoking Arondir's fight with the Big Orc. This make sense as we know that Arondir will be facing off with Damrod. Can't wait to have a heart attack! SNAP! GO THE! BOOOOOOOONES!

Special mention of the Where the Shadows Lie/True Creation Requires Sacrifice theme, which is not on its own track anywhere on Season 2, but which comes into play on several tracks, including "Last Temptation," "Emissary at the Forge," and "Cirdan's Perfection," all of which makes sense. I just think it's really cool that ROP introduced this theme in the very last moments of Season One, incorporating it into the Ring Poem, and now have woven it through the entirety of Season Two. Musical storytelling at its best!

okay i need to dive deeper into the new songs, especially Disa's and Gil-Galad's, but these are just my first listen thoughts.

[miss-conjayniality]

sitarist jay (drabble)

genre: fluff

pairing: jay x gn south asian!reader

word count: 610

warnings: none

A/N: in honor of all the holidays coming up (holi, vaisakhi, ramadan/eid, etc.), AND also my srk x jay post that sparked desi enha discourse, this one goes out to all my desi engenes!!!! 🫶🏼 happy holi!!!! happy vaisakhi a month in advance. and a ramadan mubarak to those who celebrate.

soft desi engene hours. could u just IMAGINE sitarist!jay and dholi!you!?!??? 🥺

jay is grateful to have a lover who hails from such a gorgeous, rich culture that spans millennia. and as any connoisseur of culture would say - music isn’t just part of culture….it is culture. he’s been playing guitar for many years now. and he wants to venture out into other stringed instruments. and what better way than learning the sitar?

jay enjoys the calming, soulful, and twangy sound of the sitar. it sends him into a trance and he feels completely immersed in a different world. despite it being “different” from what he’s done before, he believes that the language of music is universal - one felt within the heart first and foremost.

he holds a deep reverence for south asian music. be it nusrat fateh ali khan, kishore kumar, mohammed rafi, noor jehan, or asha bhosle, he feels the timeless, evergreen spirit of such compositions pulse within his soul.

watching him learn the sitar is an endearing sight. ethereal even! seeing the level of dedication he has towards mastering such an art form warms your heart. he wants to learn bhajans, shabads, and ghazals for you. all he wants in life is to express his love for you through music. just chillin’ in his kurtas with the sleeves rolled up and his sitar by his side, showing you the ravi shankar songs he’s learned so far.

on the other hand, he too admires you for your passion for percussion. jay loves your appreciation towards the different types of dhol. he fawns over the euphoric feeling you get when hitting every thappi and tiparu and the way you chant your DHAs and DHINs while doing so. jay also appreciates the way you treat your dagga and tilli sticks like they’re your babies. he loves the swingy sound of dhol beats and the swagger you exude while you play.

jay sometimes gets annoyed when you pester him with the sound of your loud ass dhol while he’s peacefully and calmly practicing his sitar. but he knows it’s out of love and good fun. it’s the desi equivalent of the percussionist kids in band disrupting the ones who play the wind and brass instruments. antics aside, jay appreciates the lively spirit and camaraderie that comes with these musical clashes, cherishing the shared moments of cultural exchange and musical banter.

in the end, these musical escapades become cherished memories, shaping jay’s musical journey with a touch of spontaneity and joy. the blend of dhol and sitar, once seemingly contrasting, transforms into a celebration of diversity within your shared love for music. as the two of you continue your artistic pursuits, jay realizes that the moments of lighthearted banter and cultural exchange have added a special rhythm to the soundtrack of your relationship - one of seismic adoration.

with each note played and every shared laugh echoing in the air, jay acknowledges that your artistic pursuits have not only strengthened your musical connection with each other, but have also deepened your bond with him. the rhythm of seismic adoration encompasses the highs and lows, much like the crescendos and decrescendos in your collaborative performances. through the language of music, your relationship thrives, creating a symphony of understanding, support, and shared passion that resonates far beyond the notes of your instruments.

[carionto]

Humans and Boredom VI

Music is everywhere in the Galaxy.

All it takes is the simplest sense of rhythm, and a feeling. What that feeling is can be anything, from a total lack of feeling - true idleness, to the most profound and personal emotional states that no other will ever truly understand;

the rush from being on the prowl, amping yourself and your compatriots up by the sheer act of marching forward, to a mother's quiet tapping of a finger on the table, waiting for an answer, hoping it doesn't come, knowing what it will be when it inevitably does.

Repetition brings comfort, at least in the sense you what will come next. Whether it is something of a reassurance during troubling times, or excitement for joining along with everyone else during celebration, having some certainty of what comes next is incredibly powerful and essential for life.

What we could not predict is what we saw when we arrived at one of our moons Humanity offered to clean up after a small skirmish between some locals and pirates. An OCC ship had been tagging along this military escort. We know of the Orbital Cleaner Crews, their reputation, while only recent in Galactic circles, is unparalleled, so we gladly accepted their offer.

Now, this moon has an atmosphere. It's highly toxic and the surface is almost nothing but dust, so it has been deemed uninhabitable. It's only function, really, is the light tidal effect it produces for it's host planet, which is more or less just a farm and resort and retirement hotspot (with some secret military bases, but don't tell anyone).

Not long after leaving the OCC to do it's thing, we got a call from planetside about strange lights appearing on the moon at night. What the OCC were doing, or more specifically, the active cleaner currently on their 8 hour shift, flinging bits of space pirate ship debris at the moon. What the hell?

"It's fine, you said nothing lives down there, right? And we don't get a lot of atmosphere jobs, so I'm making the most of it. The air isn't bad enough to melt the drones I sent down there, and I've been, let's say, working on my magnum opus. Here, have a listen to yesterdays sample."

What she played was music. I think Humans call it jazz, with a mixture of symphony, and... heavy metal? A fascinating combination, and some of the notes were intense and booming. It did not sound like any instrument we had heard Humans use before, though it did remind us of a few Groh'rani bands, but that's just how their mouths learn to work in the upper lowland dialect.

"You're looking at it."

What?

"The moon and debris! Most people wouldn't think it, but based on the material composition, speed, angle and point of contact, orbital debris makes a lot of different sounds.

That sample specifically used: a triple impact of cockpit chairs; two laser batteries colliding a few meters above the surface; a hallway hitting the ground with its flat bottom first; another hallway whistling by as it shoots down open hatch first, the drone inside picked up some wicked air noises, didn't survive the direct crash though, would've loved to get the inside boom; and a barrage of twenty four diced up hull plates striking at quarter second intervals."

Hmm, well, that's certainly... creative use of available resources. And not breaking any laws or regulations either, huh.

"If you don't mind, I've still got some work to do. I'm in no rush with the piece though, the release is years away. I still need more low notes from carrier and larger ship impacts, plus it takes a lot of time to get authorization to get a planetcracker for a private job. I have to know what sound matter of all kind makes when those massive gravity hooks slowly squeeze and expand them. Man, I can't even imagine. So excited for when that paperwork goes through!"

Right, we'll leave you to it then.

Bye.