Glumdark

End of March Update: What's Going On?
over 1 year ago – Wed, Mar 26, 2025 at 08:59:19 AM

And I said hey, let's catch up about Glumdark progress.

Pledge Manager

There's been a slight delay here, but we expect the Pledge Manager to be open by the end of next week. You'll from us about it again Very Soon.

Art

Vil has been cranking through the Bestiary artwork. Most of the art is already complete and the rest should be done this or early next week. I don't have to tell you it looks incredible, but I guess I am telling you that. It looks incredible. 

This would mark the end of the art production for the book and all assets!

Bookplates & Sketchplates

We're working on getting the bookplates & sketchplates printed in Brazil so that we can avoid import customs. This way Vil can sign and illustrate this stuff and then ship it to us in the states. We'll be happy when this little logistical hurdle is... hurdled. 

Index

I took the advice of Michael Downs in the comment section of our last update and used the final two pages of the book to display an index. Thanks Michael! It's both potentially-useful and hilariously dumb. Just like everything worth doing. 

Editing

While I was designing and laying out the book, I was also copy editing and wordsmithing (in InDesign) to get everything to fit as I envisioned it. I then wrote a bunch of InDesign scripts to slightly nudge and munge individual characters to mimic poor typesetting. As a result, it's totally impossible to copy the contents of the book PDF to a Word document for editing. So, our editor Walton Wood has been hard at work editing the book in hard copy. The first round of edits will be done this week and I'll be free to begin incorporating those edits.

Sundry Details

The book cover and cassette J-Card designs are very nearly complete. All that's left is to get the correct barcode / ISBN and credits in there. Small but important details remain.

Dungeon Synth

99% of what I've been doing for the past couple of months is working on the Dungeon Synth record. I'm happy to report that I'm in the final mixing process and the record is very, very nearly finished. I can now say confidently that it's 10 tracks long and clocks in just under an hour. I'm finishing up mixes in the next few days and meeting with a mastering engineer on Friday.

A few weeks ago, I started to get recordings from a friend of mine who is an incredible cellist. She also happens to be a choir director and eagerly composed choir accompaniment to many of the songs on the record, which she then recorded with the symphony choir. They also sent over a bunch of recordings of themselves crying, shouting, pouting, cowering in fear, etc, etc. So that's on the record too. 

The irony of a Christian choir contributing such compelling elements to a very satanic record is lost on precisely nobody and it tickles us all the same. I couldn't be more grateful for their contributions.

I DM'd some marathon sessions last weekend and had the Dungeon Synth album playing a lot of the time and it sounded pretty alright to me.

The album is very aware of its own form factor as a cassette tape. Which is to say that it is arranged to live on two sides of a tape with each side telling a different story. I have not yet figured out how to approach this with the streaming release, but I hope we can come up with something cool. For now, the priority is figuring out the cassette release.

What Else?

It's been cool to see folks hanging out in the Discord and creating community tables. Feel free to drop in and chat about Glumdark or the book or whatever. We're generally available and the little community there has been super friendly.

I think that's all! Leave a comment if you're curious about the progress of anything that I missed. The TL;DR is: we're on schedule and very happy with progress.

Cheers,
CTRO + Exalted Funeral

The Campaign is OVER. Now what?
over 1 year ago – Sat, Feb 22, 2025 at 09:31:13 AM

Now What?!

Thanks a bajillion for backing this campaign!

I'm overjoyed and it has exceeded our every expectation. So now what?

Getting in Touch

Firstly, please feel free to join the Glumdark Discord. It's not chatty, but Matt and I are always in there and happy to discuss any aspects of the book, website, project, album, etc. If your question is more Kickstarter-centric or involves backer rewards, they'll be more knowledgable at: [email protected]

Project Progress

How far along are we? Well, let's see...

The Chapter Header Images that were unlocked at the $50,000 stretch goal are already completed. I've been working with Vil during the campaign to get them done and they're already all set within the book and finalized. They look great.

The Bestiary is already fully written and edited. The initial text layout is done, though some nudging to achieve pixel perfection is going to be necessary. The bestiary art is in progress now. Vil has completed two or three of the ten different drawings and they look fantastic. We're hoping to finish the rest in the next month. 

The entire remainder of the book needs to be edited. We have a monthlong timeline in place to get the first major drafts done and our editor Walton Wood has already started the work. We're optimistic that this won't overrun our timeline.

We're also in this weird place where we have to add two extra pages to the book (book pages have to be a multiple of four for obvious sheets-of-paper reasons). Matt and I have been kicking around the idea of adding a microfiction table--ideas for which have been percolating for a while. If you have ideas for what should go in these last two pages, feel free to hit us up on Discord or leave a comment below. This is a great chance to let us know if there's a Glumdark table you always wanted to see but we haven't yet written.

Finally, production-wise, I need to finish producing the dungeon synth record. It's coming along well! It currently looks to be about 11 tracks and clocks in at just under an hour. Some friends will be recording choral arrangements next week. There's still some arrangement and recording work to do before I can begin mixing in earnest. And then I need to convince my favorite mastering engineer to come out of retirement. We have a little more time with this because the lead time with cassette manufacturing is faster than with the book.

We're also in the process of getting bookplates and sketchplates printed in Brazil so that Vil can get those done and ship them up to the states for us to finish.

Once we're done with the above, then it's time to begin proofing with the printers in Lithuania. We've obviously already started discussions with them long ago and I'm looking forward to receiving some paper samples in the mail to make final decisions on the physical aspects of things. Such as: matching the gold between ribbon, cover and endpapers to make the Limited Edition pop.

That's pretty much where we stand at the moment. I'm dedicated to getting everything completed on the quickest timeline possible for many reasons. Not least of which is my own impatience at finally holding this book in my hands. 

We'll keep you updated as everything progresses! 

Cheers,
CTRO + Exalted Funeral

TWELVE HOURS LEFT to Back! The End is Extremely Nigh!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Feb 21, 2025 at 08:12:27 AM

This is it! We're in the final 12 hours of the campaign!

This is your last chance to get the Glumdark book, cassette tape, poster, t-shirt and patch at a campaign-only discounted price. Items will still be available in Backerkit at retail price afterwards.

If you've been on the fence about it, get off there. It's not safe up there. That fence was put in years ago and it's really not strong enough to sit on. 

If you've already backed, awesome! We'll have updates tomorrow about progress and timeline. We're going to push to get the best quality book into your hands as quickly as we can.

Thanks for all the support. This has been an awesome ride!

Cheers,
CTRO + Exalted Funeral

RIYL: Glumdark. Sharing some cool work from across the community.
over 1 year ago – Sat, Feb 15, 2025 at 08:43:14 AM

Happy Saturday!

Today's update isn't about us! We just want to share some cool work being done by friends and community members who we think deserve a little attention:

Our friend Brian Colin has just launched a Kickstarter for his skirmish-style game Sqwürmish based on Forbidden Psalm. It includes a very cool rule book in a style very Brian Colin and some excellent and strange minis from Sól Blair.

Glumdark's editor, Walton Wood, has been working with Rugose Kohn on this insane Noun Borg with some serious Real Ultimate Power energy (iykyk). Check out Ninja Borg! 

There's just over 12 hours left to back Every Villian is a Loser, a brand new TTRPG with really cool pulpy comic-style artwork. You play as a villain's minion, with or without a DM, accomplishing tasks in a world plagued by pesky superheroes and attempting to rise up the ranks of villainy. 

Knight Forlorn  is a storytelling game about a lone wanderer on a futile quest in a withering world, drawing much inspiration from games such as Dark Souls and Diablo. The art and type design are both way up my alley and I suspect very fitting to fans of Glumdark.

Thieves of the Tome is another new TTRPG, where you play as very amateur spellcasters who are bumbling with magic. You craft your spellbook from a real book from your shelf at home. I love weird novel* ideas like this and I'm excited to see where it goes as the ruleset develops.

Metafire is about halfway through its Kickstarter campaign and they're looking to add to Lichoma, a "card-based meatpunk RPG" with really cool artwork and design. It includes adventures penned by some heavy hitters of the community (Walton Wood, Strega Wolf Eden van den Berg, Tessa Winters, etc). Back it now and get it across the finish line!

So much cool stuff happening right now!

Cheers,
CTRO + Exalted Funeral

* Get it?

📼 About the Dungeon Synth Album 📼
over 1 year ago – Tue, Feb 11, 2025 at 03:11:48 PM

The Dungeon Synth Album

The Inspiration

Today I want to write a bit about the Dungeon Synth record which is going to accompany the Glumdark book release. The record is something I'm calling... Vol. 4.

I've been listening to a ton of Dungeon Synth both while DM'ing and working on other stuff. There are so many cool DS producers out there, and I really wanted to try my hand at the genre. Here's an unfinished demo of one of the upcoming songs to listen to while reading this probably lengthy update:

The Other Music I've Made

In the past, I've typically made music that's really personal to me, where I want to say exactly what I mean and be painstakingly true to myself sonically. Like, say, this record from my past band Bells Rang:

This means that I almost never use sample packs or presets and that I usually build percussion as well as melodic components from analog synthesis. And I try to stick to samples that I've personally recorded, as well as instruments that I have played or my friends have played and I've recorded.

On the Bells Rang record, for example, that meant recording all the drums with a live drummer and then resampling all of them. Because with electronic music, everything works better with the right amount of precision. 

This is an incredibly painstaking but rewarding process. It's time-consuming and difficult and usually has me questioning my self-worth and sanity by the end. And of course then I'm always thinking, "hey this song is kind of cool. Does that mean I'm ripping off Radiohead or does it mean I'm ripping off Nine Inch Nails?" 

But anyway, more recently, I've been trying my hand at remixes and things that feel lower stakes. Like this one for my friend's band CHEW:

This stuff is just fun to make and doesn't necessitate all the self-worth-questioning that comes with recording more personal music.

Enter The Dungeon

So when I started working on Vol. 4, I wanted to give myself some artistic constraints. I'd never tried to make genre music before (and I probably still haven't successfully done that), but it felt easier to achieve with a pre-defined sonic palette.

So I bought a sample pack of cinematic timpani percussion and grabbed some Kontakt instruments for choirs, hudry gurdy, organ, and orchestral strings. Then I developed a couple of patches for the Arturia Retrologue and a Prophet 5 clone which nailed the gritty 80s synth vibe I wanted. Finally I grabbed my electric guitar and plugged it directly into the sound card. 

For now, this was all I needed.

Demos, Demos, Demos

I have found that one of the mistakes I've made consistently in the past when it came to music was falling in love with an idea and chasing it to the ends of the earth. I can think of many times with previous bands where I wanted to keep practicing and hacking at a song that, in retrospect, was never going to be good. 

Sorry, Ben.

So for Vol. 4, I decided to generate ~40 different song sketches. These were little pieces of songs, around one to three minutes in length. I'd usually just start with a bass line, add some drums and some melodic synths and then try to write a part B to the tune. Usually I'd start the sketch at night and then "finish" it in the morning.

At the end, I ended up with about 35 of these sketches, and tossed out 13 right off the bat for being terrible. This left me with 22 potential songs for the record. I took these 22 sketches and sent them to our Patreon backers as well as my close friends. I just wanted to know what felt cool and what fell flat.

Based on their feedback, I chose 11 songs to continue working on for the record. I think all of these 11 are going to be released. 

Working this way was an absolute joy. When I was making the sketches, I didn't worry about them being any good. And then once I'd selected them, I knew the DNA of them was already good. So I wasn't trying to fix them or get them to work, I was just expanding on what already seemed to be working for me.

I hope to forever work this way in the future.

Reinforcements and an Expanded Sound

Once I had those 11 songs, I was able to send them to some friends of mine who are also musicians to see whether they would want to contribute. 

Now, I feel like I might jinx anything by putting into ink what is not already set to tape, but there's a very good chance that this record is going to have some incredible live strings and voices. Stay tuned for future updates where I might discuss these human upgrades.

And of course now I'm running the guitar through stomp-boxes and an amp and using analog synthesis to replace the digital replicas. Because you just can't beat the sound of a Moog.

So, after trying to build this thing from a kit, I'm back to forming it more painstakingly. Go figure. But, regardless, making this record has been a joy. And I hope you like it.

Cheers,
CTRO + Exalted Funeral

PS: If you have any questions about gear or more synth-nerdy stuff, feel free to ask in the comments. I'd love to chat about it.