MOC: Music Dioramas

[CardinalBricks]

Hello Eurobricks! I have for you 6 "music dioramas" that I like to make whenever I get really into a band or musician. Basically they're constructed on an 8x16 plate, they're 7 bricks high with tile on top, and they're either based on an album cover or just on the musician. Also, I'm not afraid to paint minifigures and parts occasionally for these. Anyway, enjoy!

1. The Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band 

 

2. Metallica: Master of Puppets

 

3. Green Day: 21st Century Breakdown

 

4. Nirvana: In Utero

 

5. Jimi Hendrix (Loosely based on his early "Purple Haze" era)

 

6. The White Stripes

 

And here they are all stacked together for a display piece.

Thank you for viewing! Questions and comments welcome. 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by BrickRally217
More straightforward wording

[kreimkoek]

The white stripes and Metallica are my favourites, really recognizable :)

You must have had alot of fun building these diorama's

[CardinalBricks]

11 hours ago, kreimkoek said:

The white stripes and Metallica are my favourites, really recognizable :)

You must have had alot of fun building these diorama's

I did! The painting can be frustrating though, haha.

[CardinalBricks]

I've got 3 more to show you all!

7. The Kinks: Face to Face

 

8. Bob Dylan: Blood On The Tracks & Highway 61 Revisited

           

 

9. The Doors: Morrison Hotel

[htbomb]

Beautiful work. Particularly like the Beatles, Green Day and the Doors.

Thanks for sharing.

[CardinalBricks]

Here's 3 more that I've created over the past 6 months. Enjoy!

10. The Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground and Nico

  

           

 

11. The Kinks: The Village Green Preservation Society

(the translation between album cover and Lego version might not be so apparent with this one. I've decided to add references to some of the songs to make the MOC more interesting. If you're a Lego fan and haven't heard "Johnny Thunder" off of this album, go listen now )

 

12. Radiohead: OK Computer

Thank you for viewing!

Edited June 4, 2019 by BrickRally217

[x105Black]

That's a pretty nice Radiohead interpretation.  Of course, the others are nice too.  But that one is more meaningful to me.

[MOMAtteo79]

nice idea for a vignette theme!

[CardinalBricks]

Thanks for the replies guys

[CardinalBricks]

Over a year later, I'm back to share 4 more dioramas that I have made! Enjoy!

13. Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation

14. Elliott Smith: Either/Or

(a clearer image be found here. There is some profanity that I painted under the mirror that may not be suitable for younger audiences)

15. The Strokes: Is This It

16. Nick Drake: Bryter Layter

(had some extra space around the back so I made micro-scale representations of Drake's other 2 albums!)

 

I also thought I'd share how I've been displaying these recently!

Thanks for stopping by! Any comments, questions, or criticism welcome.

[Vindicare]

I don’t know I missed these...they are great! You really captured the images perfectly or as close as one can get using LEGO bricks. All are easily recognizable to their source. 

[CardinalBricks]

I am reviving this thread once again to share some more dioramas that I have made! We're up to twenty now! I apologize for the phone pictures haha.

17. Don McLean: American Pie

(with a mini representation of Starry Night, a reference to his song "Vincent") 

18. Stereolab: Dots And Loops

19. Björk: Post

20. The Microphones: The Glow Pt. 2

21. Weyes Blood: Titanic Rising

...And here they are as one display piece. It's really starting to have a presence, eh?

[Retro]

Well, these are just great. I don't know how I missed them. And it's spooky that I've been doing something similar in parallel. I can see the same thought process. 'How can I simplify this? What elements do I need to include?' It also forces you to build new challenges. A bed. An elephant. A banana. 

Jack White is brilliant. As is Thurston Moore - the hair is perfect!  Numbers 20 and 21...I haven't the slightest idea what they are, but they're my favourites. 

[CardinalBricks]

4 hours ago, Retro said:

Well, these are just great. I don't know how I missed them. And it's spooky that I've been doing something similar in parallel. I can see the same thought process. 'How can I simplify this? What elements do I need to include?' It also forces you to build new challenges. A bed. An elephant. A banana. 

Jack White is brilliant. As is Thurston Moore - the hair is perfect!  Numbers 20 and 21...I haven't the slightest idea what they are, but they're my favourites. 

Yeah, I was just wondering the same thing. I don't know how I missed your Pink Floyd stuff either. What if there's a third one of us doing something similar, or even more... and nobody evens know it... lol

Simplifying things is a big part of what I do but I think adding things that aren't there is an even bigger component of it (sunrise in the corner, rustic kitchenette, Starry Night, garbage on fire, deciding what color the floor should be). A lot of the time they don't really fit into these neat 8x16x7 diorama spaces so I have to add stuff and hope it doesn't conflict with the rest of it or draw too much attention to itself. It gets really tricky sometimes, especially with the whites

#20 The Glow Pt. 2 is a cult classic in underground music. It's been called a "millennial daydream nation" which I think is fitting so if you like Sonic Youth I'd check it out. #21 Weyes Blood is a really rad indie musician who's starting to get more attention due to her album I depicted. It came out several months ago and is definitely a contender for album of the year.

[Retro]

Any more in the pipeline? How long does each one take to build? And do you only build albums that you like - would you consider making something that you have no interest in, just for the challenge of it?

[CardinalBricks]

6 hours ago, Retro said:

Any more in the pipeline? How long does each one take to build? And do you only build albums that you like - would you consider making something that you have no interest in, just for the challenge of it?

They can take anywhere from an afternoon (Green Day) to three days (Björk). Just depends on how much painting I have to do and how complicated what I'm trying to do is. Getting that Stereolab shaping right took 3 straight days in itself because of the complicated bar work. And yeah, I only build albums and musicians I'm passionate about. This project is very personal to me, all about bringing my love for music and my love for Lego together. So there's not really any reason why I would make something I'm not interested in... that would only ruin my appreciation of seeing my display in its entirety.

Definitely making Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois" in the next month during Thanksgiving break. 21 is a good number (I destroyed #7 a while ago); 7 stacks 3 high, with one in the center. I don't know what I'll make after that... we'll see what music I discover.

[CardinalBricks]

Here's 4 more that I made this winter break! Enjoy!

22. Sufjan Stevens: Illinois

23. Yo La Tengo: I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One

24. Bright Eyes: I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning

25. Norah Jones: Come Away With Me

(I particularly used just 2x2s to simulate rain when the light shines from the back. Think it came out really well!)

I am currently displaying these in an 8x3 form. Just barely fits on the shelf.

Thanks for viewing!

[Retro]

I always enjoy seeing new ones! Great work again. This time I particularly like the goat in Illinoise, the gold pieces in the Yo La Tango, and the house fronts in Bright Eyes. 

[Nintendude]

I love seeing these dioramas of albums! I am thinking of making a diorama of Master Of Puppets! And have a good day. P.S. You Should Do A Beach Boys Album

Edited February 5, 2020 by Nintendude

[CardinalBricks]

19 hours ago, Nintendude said:

I love seeing these dioramas of albums! I am thinking of making a diorama of Master Of Puppets! And have a good day. P.S. You Should Do A Beach Boys Album

I've thought about doing one for pet sounds for a while. Even though I love that album I don't think seeing it among these other albums would "spark joy" enough for me to consider making it. I dunno. Maybe I will make it someday.

[CardinalBricks]

Almost a year later, here I am with 5 more dioramas to show. My Lego free time was mostly spent making Star Wars models this year, and it was great to get back to this project last month. Sorry about the Dutch angle shots lol. 

26. The Internet- Ego Death

27. Fiona Apple- Fetch the Bolt Cutters

28. Red House Painters- Roller Coaster

29. Talk Talk- Laughing Stock

30. Vashti Bunyan- Just Another Diamond Day

[Retro]

Nice to see you're still going with these! I had been thinking of doing a Talk Talk - so it's fun to see how you've approached it. Good work.

I only really knew their (epic) hits, so I've gone off to listen to Laughing Stock in its entirety...

[CardinalBricks]

On 1/12/2021 at 12:27 PM, Retro said:

Nice to see you're still going with these! I had been thinking of doing a Talk Talk - so it's fun to see how you've approached it. Good work.

I only really knew their (epic) hits, so I've gone off to listen to Laughing Stock in its entirety...

Thanks Retro. The Talk Talk one was pretty hard and I actually might revisit it and improve it more in the future because I don't think I'm that happy with how it came out. I want to find a better way to replicate the circular shape and still make it look like a tree. Maybe attaching the animals should be a secondary consideration. 

[Vilhelm22]

Only just found this thread and these MOCs are brilliant!  My favourite one is the first of them all - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - simply because it means the most to me, as the only one I actually own myself.  But truly, they are all awesome - I love your representation of 21st Century Breakdown.

[CardinalBricks]

11 hours ago, Vilhelm22 said:

Only just found this thread and these MOCs are brilliant!  My favourite one is the first of them all - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - simply because it means the most to me, as the only one I actually own myself.  But truly, they are all awesome - I love your representation of 21st Century Breakdown.

Thank you!