Music in MOCs: Crafting the Sonic Landscape of New Hashima

Music in MOCs: Crafting the Sonic Landscape of New Hashima

New Hashima takeover week continues with Casey McCoy’s soundtrack for the epic LEGO collaboration. Setting the mood for both day and night, Casey conducts a musical progression to show how the playlists were composed and what goes into making music for MOCs.

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Let’s Get NERDIER About LEGO Pianos - Part 2

Let’s Get NERDIER About LEGO Pianos - Part 2

In our first installment, I looked at pianos from LEGO Friends sets. In this installment, I analyze EVERYTHING else, from minifigures to keytars to Ideas and beyond. And after building some seventy LEGO pianos, I had to try my hand at creating my own…

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Let’s Get Nerdy About LEGO Pianos

Let’s Get Nerdy About LEGO Pianos

When did the first LEGO piano appear in a set and how did it evolve from being built with bricks to more curvy variations today? And what is the standard height of a LEGO piano built for a minidoll? Let’s get nerdy about all things piano!

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Keyboard Rebel

Are keyboard guitars still a thing? I could google it I suppose, but I want to believe they are so I’ll just assume. Being a kid of the 80’s and the first generation of MTV I remember keytars very well. But since I haven’t seen a music video in ages (they still make them right?) I have no idea if these are still in any way popular. This pretty awesome alien by builder Djokson looks ready to rock out, and I’m ready to watch and listen.

A Tribute To Queen

The timing of this wonderful pair of builds from Nick Brick is absolutely perfect for me, since I finally got a chance to watch Bohemian Rhapsody just last week. It’s Brian May’s legendary Red Special and Freddie Mercury’s iconic “Bottomless Microphone”. The guitar was built by Brian and his dad, and was subsequently used on every Queen album. The legend of the mic is in the band’s early days during a performance Freddie’s mic stand came apart, and he just went with it. He discovered he liked it that way and the rest is history.

Circle Rocks

I'm not surprised I haven't heard of the band Circle, they're from Finland and I can't even pronounce their best known songs. But builder Pate-keetongu is a big fan, and I'm a big fan of Eero's, so I'm going to call myself a fan-by-proxy. I certainly dig this tribute build to the band, and all six current band members. I've also listened to some of their music now, they're legit. Rock on Circle, rock on.

Circle
Circle
Circle

Audiophile

Builder helensham shows us the intersection of audiophile and LEGO with this brilliant reproduction of the legendary McIntosh 275 tube amplifier, the MAC7200 and what appears to be a turntable/CD hybrid that actually plays! The build and illumination are fantastic, but to see it spin and actually play (I'm assuming, watch the video) is pretty mind-blowing.

LEGO Mcintosh Pre-Power combination

Rising Star

My little sisters used to do this kind of stuff when we were kids. Get all dolled up, break out a "microphone" (it's truly stunning how many things can be substituted for an actual microphone) and belt out a few tunes. It appears the daughter of builder(s) vir-a-cocha loves doing this, and they immortalized the moment with this adorable MOC.

The Girl Who Sings

Rockin' In Wonderland

Talk about eye catching. This musical scene from Alice in Wonderland is as much about the photography as it is the build. Julius von Brunk brings us this colorful and whimsical scene, showing Alice, Hatter, March Hare and the White Rabbit absolutely rocking. The shot was accomplished with the clever use of multicolor party spotlights, a great effect expertly done.

Rainbow in the Dark

All Gave Some, Some Gave All

Every country likes to rattle it's saber, and humans have been squabbling over resources and wealth since we figured out how to walk upright. The governments declare the wars, and their men and women pay the price. This stirring MOC by vir-a-cocha illustrates this all too well, but also has a second more important message, about finding beauty and overcoming circumstances. I can't be easy to carry an accordion with crutches, but this scrappy vet was up to the challenge, and now he can play a little music, for everyone's enjoyment.

Veteran

You Are Under A Rest!

This one slipped under my radar last month, and almost slipped under it today too. The bars and notes here are so well crafted I had no idea they were bricks, even after looking at the full size image. The only giveaway was the stair stepping on those last two notes. Besides that it makes excellent use of that most underrated form of humor, the pun. Well played, Vakkron, well played (get it? Well "played"... get it? nyuck nyuck, I'll show myself out.)

You Are Under a Rest

Xylophone Of Terror

We all had one, but there's a dark secret to the child's xylophone (and all children's musical instruments). That secret is that no parent ever bought their child one of these! They're always from a friend without kids, an aunt or uncle without a clue or a neighbor with a grudge. And while we all thought we were making music what we were really making is parental aural trauma. But I do like this one by builder legoadam, mostly because it will only go "tack tack tack" and if you play too loud, it'll just fall apart.

LEGOlophone