Meet the musician behind the soundtrack!
Our newest game drop inspired a lot of action and noise – bouncing, sliding, scorching and TNT-blasting. But amidst all the cacophony, the Chaos Cubed drop also introduced six playful new tunes. These were the handiwork of composer Paula Ruiz, who makes music under the alias “fingerspit”.
If you want to discover how the Chaos Cubed music came to life, why the track names might’ve been a surprise to even Paula, and what makes Minecraft music special – keep reading!
Paula Ruiz is a savvy musician with a wide range in taste, ranging from post-rock, trip-hop, shoegaze to ambient. She’d already published several EPs on Bandcamp when she stumbled on indie developer Jordi de Paco and offered to collaborate as a composer. Fast forward 14 years, and the two are still releasing games together! Now joined by Marina Gonzalez, the trio form indie dev team Deconstructeam, with Paula responsible for music and SFX.
Paula has been drawn to game music specifically for a long time – in fact, the soundtrack of Final Fantasy VII got her into composition in the first place!
“I remember loving the game so much, and listening to the soundtrack on my own long after finishing it. The music transported me back emotionally, and it was such a strong feeling. It was what made me ask for the cheapest keyboard I could get to try to learn to play that music.”
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Paula RuizFor me, Minecraft’s music made a lonely experience feel alive.
The idea of being “transported back” by music is a familiar feeling for many Minecraft players – after all, music has always been a strong and distinct component of Minecraft. Long-time players will think of certain iconic melodies when they think back to their most memorable in-game experiences. As for new players, they are often surprised and delighted by the gentle and whimsical tunes they find. Paula relates to this too:
“In my experience, when I played Minecraft in Alpha and Beta, I felt like (the music) made memorable moments hit harder. Like, everyone who started playing back then has that memory of… exploring a cave only to get lost inside, and finally finding their way out at sunrise, looking out at the horizon, trying to find their home in the landscape. And then a song starts playing out. (…) For me, Minecraft’s music made a lonely experience feel alive. (…) It changed the way the landscape felt while I was exploring a new part of the world.”
And as for what Minecraft music “is” in Paula’s opinion?
“I don’t think Minecraft’s music is supposed to be something entertaining or fun. I don’t want to simply be entertained; I want to get teary-eyed with nostalgia for my experiences there and excited about what I might live in the future.”
According to Paula, the names of these tracks were meant to be just temporary names given to the first versions of tunes she shared with the creative team. When first composing something, she prefers to make a very short “sketch” which focuses on conveying the emotion of a piece, more than anything else – and these names were started life simply as descriptions of the mood she wanted to convey.
But the names stuck!
“I never thought the temporary names would be the final ones, but now looking back, I find it really funny. Lots of people are confused about why some tracks play in different biomes that don’t make sense with the name, but I just didn’t know! I still think they are names that fit the tracks, though!“
I think so too. Paula describes the soundtrack as “emotional, nostalgic, playful, introspective and dreamy”.
Now, players with a collector’s streak will know that it is possible to loot an in-game music discs with songs from the soundtrack, which you can then play with an in-game craftable jukebox. One of Paula’s songs, Bounce, can be looted from a particularly sulfurous location. What did Paula think about this track, in particular?
“I was given complete creative freedom for the [music] disc. I just made a track that felt fun to make and to listen to, something to bang your head around in a really chill way, and really going all the way in with adding my own style to the game. I wanted it to feel kind of unique and to add something else to the rest of the discs.”
Maybe there's a minecart to loot around here somewhere...
Composing music for a game played by millions seems like a daunting task. But Paula was up to the challenge - and pleased with what came out of it.
“I’m really happy with the reception of the music overall! I know that with such a massive player base, it would be an impossible task to make everyone happy, but still, it’s been really nice to see so many people connecting with it, and with everything that I had in mind while I was making it.
I’m proud of my work on it, of feeling that I got to make something that felt like Minecraft, that has my own style imprinted in it, and that so many players around the world get to listen to and enjoy. I'm really grateful that I had the chance to make music for a game that meant so much to me over 15 years ago.”
And finally - how did she end up composing for the update?
“I just got an email about it from Mojang. They asked if I would be interested in making the music for the new update, and I couldn’t believe it, but I guess that did happen! “
It really did, Paula - and we have proof! Catch the soundtrack in-game now or listen to it on Spotify, or your favorite music platform.
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