After Hours [Minecraft inspired soundtrack / no AI]

Bandcamp link : https://lilyisland.bandcamp.com/album... my Spotify playlist : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5gI... this album on streaming platforms : https://fanlink.tv/lilyafterhours Usual disclaimer : No AI was used here, for the music or the video. Heey ! This album is inspired by C418's soundtrack for Minecraft. As a teenager, I wasn't as passionate about video games as most of my friends. I wish I could tell you about all the sleepless nights I've spent on Minecraft, but that wouldn't be exactly true haha. Yet, Minecraft is very much part of my teenage years! Because of the massive hype it was simply impossible to miss, and some of my friends had Minecraft Youtube channels. As a matter of fact, one of my first 'commission' ever was to compose an opening theme for my friend's channel! The music production is terrible, but here it is if you're curious about it :    • Minecraft animation BLENDER   It is from 13 years ago and it kinda breaks my heart that their channel is gone tbh haha. Anyway, although I was only an occasional Minecraft player, the game's soundtrack definitely stayed with me! I sure find it nostalgic, just like everyone else I imagine, but more than that, I think it can sometimes get incredibly sad. It's only very subtle, C418 didn't necessarily put the emphasize on this aspect, but I don't know, some of the tracks gives such a feeling of loneliness. I was mostly playing creative mode, and by myself, so hearing those songs in the context of wandering through these vast empty worlds was even more impactful. I've watched a C418's interview in which he explained how the music works in Minecraft. You guys probably know about this already, but basically, most of the time the music isn't triggered by the player's action (well not exactly, but let's not get too specific here haha). There's no battle phase music, or anything like this. Which means, C418 wasn't tied to any musical structure or time codes. Markus Persson also gave him full creative freedom, so he wasn't tied to any specific genre as well. I assume it is quite an unusual process. Partly because of this, the songs in Minecraft are a bit all over the place : They can be very long, or very short, with several sections, and even introductions and conclusions (which usually isn't the case because the songs need to loop). C418 said he was heavily influenced by the work of Brian Eno and Aphex Twin (I'm also a big fan of both) for this OST. Going for an electronic / alternative ambient soundtrack here is a pretty bold choice imo, it had every reason not to work but somehow it is absolutely unique and a perfect match for the game. About my album : I wanted to work on this project the way C418 did. So instead of seeking for the exact same plugins he used, and A/B referencing specific songs of the soundtrack he made, I just 'immersed myself in Minecraft' : listening, reading and watching everything I could find about the game and its soundtrack for a few weeks. Then I just started composing with as much intuition and creative freedom as possible. It just needed to remind me of the vast, lonely and empty worlds of the game. I mainly used stock midi instruments, (fully embrassing the cheapness of it haha!) and retro synth plugins (mostly Diva and DX7). I didn't pay attention to whether the instrument I was using was commonly used for this specific genre of music or not, and just went with the flow, the way kids decide to paint the sky in green just because they can :) Once again, as long as the mood was right, I allowed myself pretty much everything ! C418's music is so creative and singular, that the best way to pay my respects was to keep trying new things, I think. Of course my album is still HEAVILY influenced by the original soundtrack's atmosphere and instrumentation, otherwise it would simply be something else haha. Anyway, I only have 5000 characters to write, and there so many other things I could say haha ! I just wanted to reco this video here, which was a great source of inspo :    • how to enjoy minecraft like it’s 2010 again    I guess it helped me understanding what was really important about Minecraft and its soundtrack, and I'm pretty sure it had a huge impact on my project. About the video : I initially wanted to use Mineways to convert my Minecraft worlds into 3D models, but for some reason it didn't work.. So I ended up downloading a map on Sketchfab and then customized it directly on Blender (with the MCprep extension). Then I recorded a few animation loops (with different lightings so I could do this cool 'time passing' effect). Tracklist : 00:00 Intro 00:24 Burga 03:47 Valborg 07:18 Harvard 10:45 Foamjelly 14:02 Birthday Cake 17:50 Network 21:27 Tardigrade 24:47 Ultraviolet 28:07 Sunbath 31:37 Colleen 35:06 Moose 39:00 Singularity 42:11 Helvetica 46:03 Jacob 49:38 Quantum 52:47 Inferno 56:07 World Traveler #minecraft #c418 #relaxingmusic