soo, I’ve been sorting through a pretty massive TV soundtrack recently, and I’ve come across a minor issue… how should I deal with refrains and songs in multiple parts?
after discussing it briefly with @lazybookwyrm in the unofficial Discord, we kinda settled on having a seperate work for each part, but I’m still struggling with how to relate the works to each other and to the soundtrack work, because I think it’s important to have a work for cases where the part isn’t clear and/or known (instrumental covers, lost recordings, etc.)
I see three main options:
link the parts to a main work, which is linked to the soundtrack work. I kinda like this because it feels cleaner, but the downside is if you link the parts to recordings, there’s no direct link to the main soundtrack work.
link the parts both to a main work and the soundtrack work. this solves the problem of works not being linked directly to the soundtrack work, but it doesn’t quite feel right… I already did this about a year back with This Day Aria (and yes, I’m probably gonna change that disambiguation).
where appropriate, link the reprises to the main work. won’t always be the correct approach, but could be correct for a longer song with just a short reprise or a song with a seperate prelude. I wonder if in these cases, an extra work should be created for unknown parts tho…
I usually choose 1. (if there is such a main work in the tv series.) And I would make a reprise a partial recording of the main work (if it is partially included)
I will do 1. But I can see how you’d also do a 2\ in some cases. Both are technically correct but the second is a little messier.
Don’t worry if something is a link to a link to a link. Usually when reading the Relationship page you see the parts mentioned anyway. It is also easier to categorise the sub-parts.
I don’t particularly like this solution, as both recordings might have different attributes (I’ve got some examples for key in particular, but possibly ISWCs and other IDs) or occasionally different writers (tho less often than the former)
I guess it would technically still be in the disambiguation too… that could work
I think there is space for both. Sometimes a reprise is just the original music faded back up for a short time. But if it is a noticable variation on the arrangement, then it can get a new work. For example if the reprise is a “sad version” of the main theme then it gets a fresh work that can be linked to the original. Your ear will be the best judge.
Disambigs are especially useful if you have something that is appearing in different parts. It is quite common to find something that was originally on a CD as a two part in one track, and then appears in a concert as separated parts. This then can lead to confusion when people link parts and pick the wrong works.
I’d lean on more Works if unsure. Nothing wrong with having extras. It can get especially confusing if someone is doing covers of an original. Just fill out disambigs and annotations with thoughts which help the next editor make sense of it.
The only side effect of lots of different works is when looking at the Soundtrack Work it can get confusing to work out which part is from which Release… but that is a current limitation of Soundtrack Works.
TLDR version : if it is different, make a new work. Unsure, make a new work. Just add notes as to why. Others will come along later and likely agree with you.
oh, there’s a ton of those in the Brony fandom, so much so that for a time it was basically a meme to remix Winter Wrap Up, so many artists were doing it… lol
I’ve been giving the tracks a listen, and I’m not really hearing that many leitmotifs in the musical numbers. there’s probably a several once you get to the BGM though
This is why I love all those links in works, and the variations of “based on”. Makes all those linked versions tie together well.
The puzzle then happens when Work A is the basis of the new Work B and someone takes B and makes a Parody Work C… does this then make it Based on A, Based on B or both A and B?
Sometimes there is not one perfect answer. This is why they are Guidelines and not Rules.
indeed, one of the early hit songs, Pony Swag is actually a remix of a remix of a remix of one of the show songs, so I definitely hear you on that, lol