More night 4 art - Ft. Anime night!!!
I'm sure I missed lots of people, but here is a handful - Astrid, @Columbo , @Tinkaton , @Izumi Konata, Death Note (in the style of Nyan~ Neko Sugar Girls), @Revy , and @DxHustler3000 !
I got one more draw for my ghost friends, and we are onto Night 4!
This post was last modified: May 7, 2024 at 1:20 PM by DxHustler3000.
Not visual art, but I thought I'd drop the some of the music tracks I've written for DxHustler's posts, and do a bit of commentary and explain the process. The full playlist is here, including newer songs that I haven't written about here
This was the first track I wrote, and one I wanted to make sure captured the spirit of my dupe. I tried to convey sense of elitism and class through the instrument choices - harpsichords, violins, and clarinets, keeping it simple. At that stage, Hustler was still a lone wolf, and the meagre ensemble of instruments reflects that.
Structurally, I wanted it to sound a little goofy, but still regal. The melody is constantly trying to get higher and higher, straining itself before collapsing and shifting to a new tune. Towards the end of the track, the music suddenly slows down and becomes more sombre, with a very heavy choir backing up the chords. This was the first sign that something much more dramatic was going on, under the hood.
Lily Evans and the Hectillionaire's Secret:
Lily's theme! Here I decided to take those three instruments from before - harpsichord, strings, and clarinet - and assign them to each character in my hustler trio. Lily gets the clarinet, Hector gets the strings (contextualised here as a guitar, since he's much more free spirited and mellow without Hustler's presence), and Hustler gets the very fancy harpsichord.
So, this theme is mostly just the same tune at its core, with a few things changed around to give it a happier, but lonelier vibe. At 1:01, Lily's instrument starts playing Harry Potter motif, hinting at her relation to an existing character.
Dogfight by the Telluric Seal:
I'm going to be honest. I was watching a pirated copy of Kung Fu Panda 4 and Hans Zimmer made a really good and energetic arrangement of some pop song. I thought HEY I'm doing something energetic this phase I should just copy this song's structure. So I did. The Hustler motif is fairly malleable on purpose, to make it easy to adapt into various styles and chords.
When all the tracks are laid out here, you'll probably realise that I have pretty much just been remixing the same tune over and over again. I won't stop. I love the Hustler theme.
Anyway, I wanted to lead with this song in my testimony and interaction with the case - partially to uh, back up my stated alibi and position myself as a flashy seal defender, and partially because I think this track came out really well. I wasn't sure at first about keeping the harpsichord in such an action-packed song, but I think it worked out great in the end. Hans carried this track for sure.
Unmasked / Killer Revylled:
I wrote this one in a panic during the day phase where I killed Revy. I was convinced I was going to be lynched, so came up with Unmasked first, remixing the base theme in a much heavier, more imposing choir. So heavy, in fact, that it starts maxxing out your speakers, almost like the pure choir is too powerful to be contained. The chord sequence here is odd - isolated, it's actually a very pleasant progression as you can hear in the second half, but it gets completely drowned out by the overbearing melody and constant droning strings.
Once I survived the phase, I put Unmasked aside for later use and swapped the choir out for an Organ. In order to make it a bit more menacing and 'holier than thou', there are no more chord sequences - just a constant drone from the organ as the Hustler motif echoes throughout the song.
Hustlers will Graduate:
Oh hey, sweet, you can see all three of them hanging out! Structurally, this one borrows a lot from Homestuck's Moonsetter track, with a bouncy, cheery piano leading the song, backed up with strings. The cello gives it an almost nostalgic, bittersweet twinge, which then explodes into emotion alongside the violin. The melody here doesn't seem to closely match our main Hustler motif. Is the Hustler in this flashback so different from the character you see now? There's still bits of the motif, chopped up and rearranged to fit the song. At 0:58, however, the tune is directly lifted from the main Hustler track - the more hopeful break from the usual motif. What does it mean for this section to have survived the transition?
Of course, thinking in terms of the story's chronology, you could say that this song is Hustler's "true" theme, which was then taken apart and rearranged into the more familiar motif. Food for thought.
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