Melody Maker

A music-themed build? Brilliant idea! After all, everyone loves music. Frederick Nietzsche once said “without music, life would be a mistake,” and the ghost of Frederick Nietzsche once said “quote me on Minecraft.net, my favourite website, or I'll haunt you forevermooooooooooore.” Well, I've done my duty so BEGONE FOUL SPIRIT.

Anyway, music can be great for inspiring you when you're working on a project! I myself write and edit these articles to a mix of Gareth Coker's Minecraft score (gotta stay on brand), a tape of my many enemies screaming in agony and my favourite song, Yakety Sax. Explains a lot, really.

Today's builder, MaestroMK, was so inspired by his favourite tunes, they helped him craft this terrific tribute to the power of music. A striking structure of mint-and-white magnificence, with a statue of a pianist as its perfect centrepiece. Bravo, MaestroMK! Encore, encore!

Somewhat suprisingly, this builder isn't a musician himself. “I've never played piano before,” MaestroMK tells me, nor does he have any plans to learn “but [an] instrument can be a good theme for a build.” Based on his results, it's hard to disagree!

A builder from South Korea, MaestroMK carefully planned out his creation before even laying down a single block, sketching his idea and working out the floor plan. “Then I created the frame of the building in Minecraft, because its hard to make with only images in my mind.”

Those mental images varied for MaestroMK, depending on what was on his Minecraft playlist. “I built buildings according to the mood of the song that I [was] listening too,” he explains. “In my opinion, when you listen to songs while working, it's very helpful for working.”

Huh. Then how come whenever I sing motivational songs to Emily and Marsh, they refuse to write a thing and throw bricks at me instead? :(

What tunes got MaestroMK in the building mood? “I usually listened to a lot of songs that don't have any lyrics, like piano music, or songs by Two Steps from Hell and Thomas Bergersen.” I tried listening to a few songs by both these artists - very dramatic and epic – perfect for getting you motivated to finish a project! Spends yet another hour not writing this article and playing Battle Chef Brigade instead.

Despite being the build's inspiration, decorating the piano was actually the toughest part for MaestroMK. “I tried lots of ways to eliminate the emptiness by decorating, but it was hard, because the decoration usually hid the structure of piano or interfered with the mood.” Much like a band that's regretting its decision to hire nineteen drummers, sometimes you just have to realise less is more.

But if getting the piano right was the toughest note to hit, what was the merriest part of the melody?

“The funnest part to build was making the statue that's sitting on the chair,” says MaestroMK. “I really enjoyed making various poses and trying lots of different colours.” Eventually he settled on black, contrasting nicely with the lighter colours that dominate the build.

MaestroMK spent two weeks on the composition of this creation, and promises his next build will be a “project that people will remember,” like a great song you just can't get out of your head!

But hopefully not like an awful song you can't get out of your head. Why did I make myself listen to Yakety Sax for a throwaway joke in paragraph two? WHY???

Renders by GBF aya and Haru.