Mindas Musical Contraptions

Mindas Musical Contraptions
Survival 4
Minda in a sea of noteblocks
Project
Type	Noteblock contraptions/redstone, thematic builds
World(s)	Survival 4
Leader(s)	Minda905
Contributors	ChargedBluey,  Chriizsich,  colliecolie,  DragonFire441,  Dutchsoccer,  eybwam,  N1cM4tth3w63,  Nomiium,  OldManLP85,  PerskyPuff,  Princess223,  R0bstar,  RY44,  SummerFlower1234,  TigerNL,  TrainerMoon

"Minda you have a music problem."
"Problem? I don’t have a problem I have a degree!”

Mindas Musical Contraptions refers to several noteblock songs/contraptions built by  Minda905 independently and in collaboration with other players on the Survival 4 world of the Dogcraft Server, here presented in order of creation and/or premiere.

The main idea behind the project was to put music into the world with the main focus not being on the contraption itself, but for it to add to the theme and immersion of the surrounding builds and landscape.

Over the course of Survival 4 Minda finished 21 contraptions together with 16 actively involved contributors, counting totally 9541 noteblocks and 8188 repeaters, and clocking almost 11 minutes of music in total. The majority of the contraptions resided on Husky while the biggest one (Tribute to Dogcraft) was situated on Beagle.

The Christmas Wishing Well

The first noteblock contraption Minda built was a rendition of her own arrangement of the well-known Christmas tune “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. It was intended to be entered into the Christmas Decoration Competition in December 2020; however, she could not finish it in time and was therefore not able to enter her creation.

The wishing well, shaped like a candy-cane, resideds in a snowy taiga forest. It sits in the garden of a tiny brown cottage alongside a Christmas tree and a sweet berry plantation. The snow golem Plonk II was there to act as the well’s guard.

To play the song, you simply threw something into the well, and made a wish.

The musical arrangement consisted of two voices, characterised by the bell (gold block) and chime (packed ice) sounds, chosen to give the feel of listening to a music box.

The Christmas Wishing Well

Buildfacts:

• Noteblocks: 111
• Repeaters: 71
• Length: 20s

View on Husky map:

6650, 70, -801 (  Map )

Pink Fluffy Unicorns

Around Valentine’s Day in February 2021 several players came together in a somewhat spontaneous way and started building what would soon become known as PinksVille. Just northeast of the area, Minda built a glass rainbow ending in a blackstone cauldron filled with gold. If you stood on the pressure plate on top of the cauldron, part of the tune Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing on Rainbows by Andrew Huang would play.

The cauldron and rainbow northeast of Pinksville on February 11^th 2021.

Buildfacts:

• Noteblocks: 52
• Repeaters: 32
• Length: 6s

View on Husky map:

-3796, 69, 3202 (  Map )

Notes:

 SummerFlower1234 added three unicorns climbing the rainbow in August of 2021 after Minda had mentioned she had originally planned to make pixelart of dancing unicorns on the rainbow.

Intro to Barbie Girl

Soon after finishing Pink Fluffy Unicorns, Minda was approached by  Chriizsich and  ChargedBluey who asked if she could make the intro to Aqua’s Barbie Girl for the official /phome Pinksville - She gladly accepted the challenge. Arranging, test-building, material gathering, and construction was carried out over the span of five days.

View of Pinksville close to the /phome spot, visible in the left bottom corner, on February 25^th 2021.

Buildfacts:

• Noteblocks: 443
• Repeaters: 427
• Length: 17s

View on Husky map:

-3677, 64, 3346 (  Map )

Boccherini – Minuet

After contributing with a building in Gaia, Minda suggested to add some Italian classical music into the city, to fit its theme – namely an excerpt of the Minuet from the well-known String Quintet in E-major Op. 11 No. 5 by Luigi Boccherini, which she had previously constructed in a creative single-player world. Space was made in the theatre to house the contraption and above it was a concert hall with a grand piano, built by  DragonFire441.

Minda above the contraption that plays Boccherini's Minuet on March 28^th, 2021.

Buildfacts:

• Noteblocks: 646
• Repeaters: 741
• Length: 50s

View on Husky map:

-1659, 65, -557 (  Map )

Ingrid Island's Music Hall

Höstregn (Autumn rains)

Inspired by her previous creations around the server, Minda decided to make a dedicated music hall in her base (Ingrid Islands), featuring a great organ as a center piece. While looking for music to build in connection to the hall an old, never performed composition of her own pen surfaced and was made into an interactive music contraption, accessible in a room just to the left of the hall.

Höstregn (Swedish for “Autumn Rains”) was a short loopable piece with four parts, each one represented by a different sound; contrabass (planks), guitar (wool), electric piano “pling” (glowstone), and flute (clay). The player could choose which parts they wanted to be played by activating any of the four levers in the entrance and could then press a button to start the music. While the music is playing it is possible to flick the levers again to change the sound of the following loop. To end the performance, the player could simply turn off all the levers.

To accompany the theme of the title, the contraption was housed in a room with colourful autumn trees along the walls, made in collaboration with  Chriizsich. The room also featured a glass floor to show off the contraption below as it was playing.

Autum Leaves hall and with the noteblock contraption below, visible through the glass floor.

Buildfacts:

• Noteblocks: 143
• Repeaters: 163
• Length: 12s (1 loop)

View on Husky map:

-808, 31, 3286 (  Map )

J.S. Bach – Badinerie

The second creation for the music hall had to be fit for the organ, but space was limited – and so an excerpt of a brilliant piece by J.S. Bach was chosen to go along with the theme; Badinerie from the orchestral suite BWV 1067 in b minor, featuring the flute as a solo instrument, in this arrangement depicted by the bell sound (gold blocks).

The music could be activated by tuning the noteblocks in the organ, or by pressing the buttons on the back.

Mindas Music Hall with the grand organ.

Buildfacts:

• Noteblocks: 370
• Repeaters: 269
• Length: 14s

View on Husky map:

-824, 29, 329 (  Map )

Notes:

This contraption, along with Höstregn, was featured during the DC 1 Year Anniversary Stream on April 10^th 2021.

Theme from How to Train Your Dragon

In March 2021  Chriizsich approached Minda with an idea for a secret largescale project – A scene from the Dreamworks movie “How to train your dragon” (2010), intended as a birthday present for  Kar204.

The music arrangement was finished over the course of a week, and was made possible by looking to previous midi-arrangements by P. Pietchmann and C. Prato. Planning and building were carried out sporadically during April and May up until Kar204’s birthday, when it was presented and later opened to the public.

The noteblock contraption is situated inside an island on Beagle built by Chriizsich. It featured custom spruce trees, vegetable patches, a hut, and a mysterious cave. To the east of the island, you could see Toothless, the dragon, floating in the sky – designed and built mainly by Chriiz with some aid from Minda.

The music could be activated by stepping on the stone pressure plate located on the top of the island, which was also set as the location of the phome.

Toothless soaring in over the island in the sunset on May 12^th 2021.

Buildfacts:

• Noteblocks: 791
• Repeaters: 659
• Length: 1m 13s

View on Beagle map:

436, 83, -4416 (  Map )

Notes:

The build was featured on the official Dogcraft Twitter on the 14^th May 2021.

Cantina Band from Star Wars

As a birthday present, Minda offered to fix up a previous arrangement of the Cantina Band tune from Star Wars which  N1cM4tth3w63's had installed as a doorbell at his base, Sandstone Sights, in late May/early June 2021. The prior arrangement only featured the melody but was developed with additions of percussion and accompaniment parts.

The noteblock machine of Cantina Band from Star Wars

Buildfacts:

• Noteblocks: 309
• Repeaters: 201
• Length: 14s

View on Husky map:

-1834, 65, -2419 (  Map )

Chorale

At the end of June 2021, while in conversation with  TrainerMoon, Minda mentioned she felt like she wanted a new music project to work on, and so the idea of featuring music in the Alina Cathedral was born. A few pieces by Bach as well as some choral works by different composers were considered, but in the end a Swedish sacral piece based on a folk tune from the region of Dalarna was chosen, originally scored for choir and organ by A. Öhrwall.

Arranging and sketch-building was carried out over a weekend. The contraption was put in place underneath the organ in the middle of July 2021.
The music could be played by tuning the noteblock underneath the organ bench.

View of the organ in the Alina Cathedral.

Buildfacts:

• Noteblocks: 529
• Repeaters: 862
• Length: 1m 3s

View on Beagle map:

3071, 68, -51 (  Map )

Notes:

The arrangement was dedicated to DC staff, as a thanks for appointing Minda [Helper] during the summer months of 2021.

Spooky Halloween Music Quiz

The Phantom Manor residing over the Spooky Halloween Music Quiz.

Joining in as a builder with the Events Team for the upcoming holidays of 2021 Minda got to realize her biggest noteblock project built in survival at the time – The Spooky Halloween Music Quiz, with seven unique music examples for players to find and guess in a labyrinthic net of rooms and corridors built underneath the “Phantom Manor”.

The project was carried out during September-October 2021 and was finalized in about one and a half months, with help from several people taking on larger or smaller tasks - from digging and terraforming to building, designing interiors, and decorating:  Nomiium,  colliecolie,  TigerNL,  eybwam,  RY44,  Princess223 and  Dutchsoccer.

The Quiz

Welcome to the Spooky Halloween Music Quiz!

Grab a book&quill, and perhaps a friend, then head through the iron door into the rooms and corridors below to find the 7 music examples.

Find and press the buttons to listen, then write down the song title in your book; three alternatives will be given for each example.

Remember to sign the book with your name and hand it in by the hopper at the end of the bubblevator :)

...Something something prize...

View of the Music Quiz during building on Sept 12th 2021

The prize for participating was a special guitar banner, and an additional prize of a miniblock pumpkin with a carved note on it was given to those who got 4-7 correct answers.

During the week after the event opened almost 80 entries were submitted.

Ren, OldMan and Minda in Scooberson's Halloween Hidey Hole

The examples were as follows:

1. Spooky Scary Skeletons

2. The Addams Family Theme

3. Chopin - Funeral March

4. The Piano Duet (from Corpse Bride)

5. This is Halloween (from The Nightmare Before Christmas)

6. Ghost Busters Theme

7. Michael Jackson - Thriller

Buildfacts:

• Noteblocks: 1694
• Repeaters: 1342
• Length: totally 2min 20s

View on Husky map:

42714, 54, 19887 (  Map )

Notes:

 Renthedog himself played the music quiz during a festive Halloween community Stream on October 30^th, 2021. After finishing the quiz (with 6/7 correct answers) and singing along, he praised it highly, saying-

"Ten out of ten would recommend and do again. That was just, amazing, amazing work. Wow! I’ve never seen anything like this in Minecraft, that was just, fantastic, amazing work.

 Scooberson built one of his signature Hidey Holes in connection to the game, which was also shown on stream.

Halloween Gallery

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  Entrance of the Spooky Halloween Music Quiz

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  The dining room where the skeletons happily dance on the table

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  The gloomy livingroom, viewed from the entrance

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  The gloomy livingroom, viewed from the exit

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  The cathedral room, viewed from the entrance

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  The cathedral altar, front view

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  The cathedral altar

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  The monster piano bar, viewed from the entrance

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  The monster piano bar, viewed from the exit

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  The monster piano bar

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  The pumpkin field, viewed from the entrance

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  The pumpkin field

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  The slimy hotel corridor

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  The cinema street, viewed from the entrance

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  The cinema street

Christmas 2021

The Christmas Toy Parade

The Christmas Toy Parade marching out on the street from the scavenger hunt area at Xmas 2021.

For the Christmas Event of 2021, an arrangement of Shubert's Military March Op. 51 No. 1 (chosen based on it's use in Disney's Silly Symphonies - Santa's Workshop from 1932) was put in place underneath the toy parade marching out on the street from the scavenger hunt area, put together by Minda with  PerskyPuff and  R0bstar. The latter also made additions of three armour stands jumping up into the air along with the cheerful ascending scales in the music, bringing more animation and life to the area.

Buildfacts:

• Noteblocks: 1449
• Repeaters: 918
• Length: 1m 4s

View on Husky map:

-47022, 65, 4987 (  Map )

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Santas Mansion at /phome Xmas2021

Upon request from  Nomiium, the arrangement of We Wish You a Merry Christmas (previously built at The Christmas Wishing Well the year before) was added into Santas Mansion at the Xmas 2021 area. Minda having learnt how to make more complex and compact music contraptions over the course of a year, was able to make this rendition take up significantly less space, but still play exactly the same.

View on Husky map:

-46856, 73, 4983 (  Map )

Sankta Lucia

For the Christmas Build Battle 2021, on the theme of "Christmas Around the World", Minda decided to depict the Swedish tradition of celebrating Lucia (occurring on December 13^th each year), which fittingly is a very musical tradition.

Built to represent this was a statue of a female figure Lucia in the traditional white dress, a red ribbon around the waist and a candle crown on top of the head.

Neatly fitted in underneath the 20x20 plot was the music contraption that plays the most famous a-capella choir arrangement associated with the celebrations, Sankta Lucia. It can be activated either by reading the book in the lectern at the plot, or stepping on the pressureplate hidden inside underneath the hem of the skirt.

The build was awarded 3^rd place in the solo competitor category.

The Statue of Sankta Lucia

Buildfacts:

• Noteblocks: 341
• Repeaters: 560
• Length: 39s

View on Husky map:

-47071, 68, 4855 (  Map )

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

At the beginning of the new year Minda was invited on a tour of  Princess223's base Emerald City - a mushroom island transformed to the theme of "The Wizard of Oz". Several players had made additions to the base over the course of the season, and Minda was invited to do so as well.

Based on the theme it was clear to Minda that Somewhere Over the Rainbow was the song to be built there. She held off, and then made it in secret along with a rainbow as a surprise for Princess' birthday in late February of 2022.

It was the last noteblock contraption to be built on Survival 4, but not the last to be premiered.

 Princess223's Emerald City / Wizard of Oz themed base

Buildfacts

• Noteblocks: 111
• Repeaters: 61
• Length: 13s

View on Beagle map:

12289, 63, -8517 (  Map )

Tribute to Dogcraft

A collaboration between  Minda905 and  eybwam.

The palace, redstone and dragons on Tribute Island

Players congregating to listen and spectate

Minda had wanted to make a large scale piece, and had also been thinking about composing original music specifically intended for noteblocks for a while, so during the Christmas holidays in 2021 she sat down and started writing some music.

Meanwhile, eybwam was preparing a firework show at Oxbow Station that was to be presented during the opening of Husky's South-West net of branch lines on January 1^st 2022. He was also learning more on how to create firework displays with some guidance from  OldManLP85 who was preparing the events firework show for the New Year.

In talks about current projects between Minda and eybwam, these works crossed paths. Both of them had already entertained the idea of putting fireworks to a noteblock machine earlier in the season, but it was not until that time that it would come to be fully realized.

It was also around this time the first plans for Survival 5 were announced to the community. So with an unknown date of a world reset hanging in the air, the idea of a celebratory piece for sending off the world of Survival 4 with a bang started to take its shape, and Tribute to Dogcraft was formed — a piece composed for, inspired by, and dedicated to the Dogcraft community as a whole.

A mushroom island on Beagle was chosen for location and construction began on January 14^th 2022. By the 17^th, the major redstone was finished, and on the 21^st the project was deemed finished.

The pit for the redstone was partially covered over on the ends, with an Asian-style build inspired by the Emperor's palace in Disney's Mulan (1998) risen on the east side. Inside was a prompt to share memories and favourite things from Survival 4 to be put on a wall. Flanking the exposed noteblocks and firework setup were two dragon statues, constructed after tutorials by MegRae. The closest surrounding landscape was "mossified" and decorated with azalea trees to keep it simple, and finally a path was put in from the /phome Tribute-to-DC spot leading up to the palace.

The final firework sequence of Tribute to Dogcraft during testing

As the site stood finished the idea was pitched to the Event Committee, but the plans were postponed due to preparations for Survival 5.

The spectacle was finally set to premiere at 6pm UTC on Saturday, March 12^th during the Dogcraft Survival 4 Send-Off Event, with two viewings at the beginning and end of the event, which were attended by a large crowd of players.

Buildfacts:

• Noteblocks: 2441
• Repeaters: 1811
• Length: 1m 43s

View on Beagle map:

-92117, 70, -601568 (  Map )

Gallery

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  Redstone and noteblocks underneath the Christmas Wishing Well.

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  The redstone and noteblocks that make up the Intro to Aqua's Barbie Girl.

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  Unicorns climbing the rainbow at Pinksville

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  The Boccherini Minuet noteblock contraption.

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  Toothless flying in over the island of Berk on Beagle on May 12^th 2021, built in collaboration with  Chriizsich.

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  Minda looking over at the finished noteblock contraption of "How To Train Your Dragon", residing inside the island of Berk.

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  Theme from "How to train your dragon" in noteblock form.

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  The Concert Hall in Gaia Theather on July 26^th 2021.

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  The concert hall's grand piano built by  DragonFire441.

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  View of Gaia Theather on July 27^th 2021.

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  The noteblock contraption that resides underneath the organ in Alina Cathedral.

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  The christmas scavenger hunt area

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  The noteblock contraption of Shubert's Military March.

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  Santas Mansion at /phome Xmas2021

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  Evolution of compactness - We Wish You a Merry Christmas

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  Full view of the Lucia Statue

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  Somewhere Over the Rainbow redstone

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  Noteblocks & firework display redstone for "Tribute to Dogcraft"

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  Players gathered by the rails to listen and spectate

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  Sending off Survival 4 with a bang!

Listen / Download

Some of the contraptions have been uploaded by Minda to her YouTube channel, and you can listen to them there if you're not able to visit them in person on the server.

A number of contraptions are also available as downloads via the Wiki [here].

• Intro to Barbie Girl
• Boccherini's Minuet
• Theme from How to Train your Dragon
• Tribute to Dogcraft

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