Mine...Minecraft!!! - a Minecraft musical project

Luna created the music using Apple Loops in Garage Band. Twitch audience members controlled the Minecraft character via chat.
None In late 2020, I (Ramon) had the idea to incorporate Minecraft into my ensemble at UMass Lowell - the Contemporary Electronic Ensemble. We had been doing remote learning since March 2020, and I wanted a way to capture the real-time musical interaction we had prior to Covid. Luna (my daughter) had played some Minecraft, and I quickly realized that there might be some way to accomplish that in-game. Upon closer inspection, I realized that Minecraft might be the most expressive games ever created.
I scheduled a solo performance for April 1, 2021, and got to work on the concept. I asked Luna to write the opening number for me.

Luna created the music using Apple Loops in Garage Band. For the first half of the performance, the player's movements were synchronously controlled by Ableton Live.
Twitch audience members controlled the Minecraft character via chat for the 2nd half.

Mine...Minecraft!!! is part of the void loop () Minecraft performances.

void loop() is a collection of performances in an elaborate Minecraft world. Audio from the game is routed through Ableton Live for some live looping and other antics.

void loop () is a growing collection of pieces inside a Minecraft world (void biome). The title is a reference to the biome, the looping techniques I use, and the Arduino function - the Arduino IDE was used to program a Teensy 3.2 board that a Twitch audience can use to control my Minecraft Character. Chat users can enter commands like !left and !right to turn my character at times during the performance.

void loop () was first performed on April 1, 2021 on twitch.tv/autumnateeverything for the UMass Lowell Music Department's Recital Hour.

Frequently Asked Questions
What inspired you to do this?
A combination of being stuck in a remote learning environment, the vastness of the Minecraft ecosystem, and my daughter's interest in the game.
How long did it take to make it?
3 Months for the entirety of void loop ()
How long have you been doing things like this?
Since January 2021
How much did this cost to do?
26.95 - the cost of a Minecraft Java license.
Have you done other things like this?
Yes, this has become one of my ongoing projects as music faculty at UML.
What did you wish you knew before you started this?
I wish I had better understanding of various programming languages. That is the next big step for deeper Minecraft integrations.
Are there plans available to make this? Do you sell this?
You can download my world and resourcepack files here. This is for Minecraft Java 1.16.5.
aprilfools2021.umlmusic.com
(the performance happened on April Fools day last year.
What’s next?
The Video Game Ensemble at UML is set to launch in Fall 2022.
I'm also working on a fully automated Minecraft/Twitch installation that you can control from the chat. It will hopefully be prototyped by the time this festival goes live.
Resoures?
Invaluable YouTube Channels:
Mumbo Jumbo
MegRae
OMGCraft
Levi Neha
HTG George
Legitimoose

https://www.planetminecraft.com/
https://www.curseforge.com/
https://minecraft.fandom.com/

Luna Castillo : maker, composer, Minecraft World Builder
Luna is an elementary school student in Massachusetts. She loves to create art, and music. She has programmed several video games for her KittenBot. She has performed 3 times with UMass Lowell's Contemporary Electronic Ensemble.
Luna likes to play Minecraft with her family, and she is quite good at world building.
She speaks English, Spanish, and Mandarin. She has read more books than you can count.

Connect with Luna Castillo
How I can help you:
We can entertain you with thought-provoking concert programming. Contact us if you want to discuss collaborations between September and May.
How you can help me:
Check out our department media at youtube.umlmusic.com
Instagram:
@autumnateeverything
@cee.at.uml
@umlmusic
Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/autumnateeverything