rohitspecter
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I have not written it , I found this on reddit and was very lengthy but intresting as well .
Alright everybody, I know that by now you are all sick and tired of the issues surrounding disc 11. What it's about, what secrets it holds, yadda yadda yadda. I myself am also fairly tired of the mystery: namely in that, besides one or two hard facts, everything else that anybody had determined about this disc is pure speculation. As such, I have decided to analyze disc 11 (as well as disc 13) and describe to you my interpretation, using as many facts (and as few myths and hokey rumors) as possible.
To start off with, disc 11.
Many people have already made their own interpretations of the synopsis of this track. However, there are two things that should be dispelled of right off the bat: Endermen and "Herobrine". While the actual disc for track 11 was implemented in a beta 1.9 prerelease (at which point endermen were already implemented and the "herobrine" myth was already deeply ingrained), the track itself was added to the game files in Alpha 1.0.16. (August 12, 2010)
Now, this is not to say that nobody knew of the track before beta 1.9. People knew about the track and were already offering their own interpretations about its meaning as far back as Beta 1.2. Due to the early release of this track, it can be safely said that it has no relation to endermen whatsoever. And for those conspiracy nuts out there who are scrambling to say that endermen where "planned for a long time", Notch himself made a blog post outlining the creation of them. Within this post, Notch clearly says that he "started working on [the endermen] because [he] was frustrated with the slow progress on some town code [he] was writing, and for some reason [he] decided to make yet another creepy one." There is no long-drawn-out conspiracy, no pre-planned ultimatim, nothing of the sort. Notch simply made the mob as a spur-of-the-moment activity to ward off his own boredom - no funny business at all.
The "Herobrine" theory is easier to dispel. Herobrine is fake. End of story. Besides that, the earliest mention of Herobrine dates back the original "screenshot" from alpha 1.0.16**_02**, a version released one day after 11's file was added to the game. Besides that, disc 13 (disc 11's sister disc) was added a whole month before 1.0.16, and chances are that 13 and 11 were recorded and mixed at about the same time - pushing 13 and 11's creation date to summer of 2010 up until August 12.
Now that these two theories have been dispelled without any more doubt, it's time to list some basic facts that can be objectively determined from listening to the two tracks.
Track 11 -
The simplest approximation of the synopsis of track 11 is that somebody is walking through a cave, stops to fiddle with some form of equipment (most likely either a flint and steel, compass or clock), then uses some paper object (either a book, a piece of paper, or a map), then running over stone and dirt/gravel until the recording abruptly ends.
One of the subjects which is not exactly consistent between interpretations is what exactly the character is using when he stops walking in the middle. The metallic object (which is heard as making some form of clicking noise) can either be a flint and steel, a compass, or a clock, depending on whose interpretation it is. However, thanks to the date we have (summer of 2010/any version including and before alpha 1.0.16) we have narrow it down to just flint and steel. Compasses were added in Alpha 1.1.0, with clocks being implemented in Alpha 1.2.0. Flint and steel, on the other hand, had been in the game since indev, and as such are the only likely candidate. The next piece of equipment that it being used is the paper object - in this case, undeniably not a map. Maps (which require compasses to be crafted anyways) were not added until Beta 1.6 - a long time after our window. However, the paper object can clue us in further to what time frame 11 comes from - specifically, the date that paper, books, and sugar cane were added. Alpha 1.0.11, which added all three of these features, shipped July 23 2010. So in terms of minecraft versions, discs 11 and 13 most definitely take place from July 23 2010 to August 12 2010.
So we have narrowed down our synopsis - Character is walking on dirt/stone, stops to take a break, fiddles with flint and steel, then a book/paper, then runs until the recording ends.
Another key for discussion is precisely where the character is running - be it entirely in a cave, inside of a building (dungeon/stronghold), or running out of a cave.
Entirely within a cave (for the whole synopsis) seems to be the most likely candidate here. The block types that the character is running on (dirt and stone) are both commonly found in caves. Dungeons contain only stone and wood block types (cobble, mossy cobble and chests) and strongholds did not exist during our window. Running out of a cave into the open is also unlikely, seeing as how the footstep sounds were dirt, not grass.
So, the entire recording takes place within a cave. Great.
So now our synopsis looks something like this:
Man walking through cave, stops to do something with flint and steel, then does something with a book/paper, then runs over stone, then dirt/gravel, before the audio cuts off.
Despite the enormous amount of mystery speculation surrounding disc 11, there just isn't that much you can extract from it - especially seeing as this synopsis lacks a clear beginning and end - without referring to its sister disc - 13.
First off, we need to establish that there is, in fact, a connection between these two discs.
First off - a fairly simple similarity - the cut off.
Part of disc 11's charm is that it cuts off - at one minute and eleven seconds to be precise. The length (1:11), the name, as well as the fact that it was the 11th disc added would suggest that there is something significant about the number 11. Many users connect this to the endermen, claiming that it was the 11th mob to be added to the game. However, this claim is dubious at best, because when you list the mobs in order of being added...
Human
Zombie
Skeleton
Pig
Creeper
Spider
Sheep
Giant
(MD3 mobs - rana, steve, black steve, beast boy)
Cow
Slime
Chicken
...Then the eleventh mob ends up being either the chicken or one of the MD3 mobs, depending on whether or not you count them.
So, yet again, endermen are out.
Let's take a look at disc 13. Disc 13 also cuts off - at exactly 1:30. This baffled me - not that it cut off at 1:30 (which did, I will admit, make me smile a bit at how clever it was) but rather because I found absolutely no documentation of this fact anywhere at all. Anyways, after it cuts off, it comes back again - with a bang. Literally. Exactly 11 seconds after it cuts off, you can hear a very faint creeper hiss, immediately followed by a loud, booming sound. Because it is a booming sound - it's an explosion. It is no doubt to anybody that disc 13 takes place in a cave - the ominous chimes, wet dripping and other assorted sounds have a very clear connection to the 13 different ambient sounds that you hear in or near caves. Oh look, there's that number again. Anyways, since 13 takes place in a cave, (which are not famous for their amazing acoustic qualities - especially since they have almost the opposite) it would be expected that any sounds from within the cave would be muffled and reverberate through the cave. Listen closely to disc 13 - at about 1:41, you can hear the muffled creeper hiss, followed by the muffled explosion, which reverberates.
Seeing as a creeper would only explode if it had someone to blow up, it seems that, yet again, we're dealing with a narrative. And even though what little we can hear is very muffled, it's much easier to accurately piece together than 13. Immediately after the creeper explosion, we can hear the echoed sounds of someone falling into a pool of water - followed by the sounds of that same someone climbing out of the pool of water - you can hear the water dripping from their drenched clothes. If you boost your volume, you can hear what seem to be staggered footsteps on stone - possibly the dazed person trying to find somewhere safe to hide.
Okay, so we know that someone is in a cave, they get attacked by a creeper, then they fall into a pool of water and climb out. They then walk away, dazed, and then there isn't much more to be heard.
And that is all the narrative that can be extracted from after the cutoff. Before the cutoff, however, is one other, smaller piece of narrative - the sound of two arrows being fired.
At the One minute mark, you can hear two arrows being shot (by either a skeleton or the player, though I will assume from a skeleton) - one of which hits the ground or a wall, and the other connects (one arrow goes "DRR," the other remains silent - meaning it has hit either the player or a mob).
So that's it. Well, at the very least, disc 13's narrative is much less speculative.
Someone is in a cave, shoots/gets got at twice, with one arrow connecting (I will assume shot at), cut, then same(?) person is attacked by a creeper, falls into a pool of water, climbs out, then staggers away.
Alright, so what's with the cut?
Why would 13 just cut at 1:30 if it wasn't over? Why such an abrupt transition? Even if it did have something to do with the name? Why not just end at 1:30? Why keep going?
My solution to this is nice and simple.
In between the two halves of disc 13, the events of disc 11 take place.
Our synopsis now:
Someone is in a cave, shoots/gets got at twice, with one arrow connecting (I will assume shot at), same person walking through cave after previous encounter, stops to do something with flint and steel, then does something with a book/paper, then runs over stone, then dirt/gravel, person is attacked by a creeper, falls into a pool of water, climbs out, then staggers away.
Suddenly, the story makes sense.
The events which we have extracted from disc 13 form an almost perfect context for the events in disc 11. We now know why the player was hungry, what they were running from (the creeper, which explodes in disc 13) and where they were. There is no relation to "Herobrine", or endermen, or any weird conspiratory sort of minecraft secret.
C418 just told us a story about a caver and a creeper, and we had to put together the pieces.
TL;DR : disc 11 happens during disc 13, the man in disc 11 was running from a creeper.
EDIT1: I would like to point out that after playing minecraft for 5 years, it took me only 2 hours to figure out the connection. Talk about a eureka moment.
EDIT2: As /u/connorismining pointed out, skeletons and creepers, the two mobs featured in disc 13, can be used to create music discs.
EDIT3: as /u/juyett pointed out, the creeper hiss starts 11 seconds after the cut in 13.
EDIT4: as /u/dmine243 pointed out, disc 11 could quite possibly be scratched because it was damaged in the explosion heard in disc 13. This also explains the wierd sound at the end of disc 11 - it's not a dog growling or someone shouting, it's a scratch in the record.
EDIT5: it has been more than 4 years since I posted this thread. In that time, I made a video, the theory has spread throughout the internet, appears to have become a fairly common headcanon, and has been plagiarized by matpat for his gametheory channel.
There is one more detail I've found in the past few days which I think might be worth mentioning here. As per the minecraft wiki and C418's bandcamp, the official track description for 13 on Minecraft - Volume Alpha is "no human was harmed in the making of this recording."
real link - h ttps://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4chbed/finally_solving_the_disc_11_mystery/
Alright everybody, I know that by now you are all sick and tired of the issues surrounding disc 11. What it's about, what secrets it holds, yadda yadda yadda. I myself am also fairly tired of the mystery: namely in that, besides one or two hard facts, everything else that anybody had determined about this disc is pure speculation. As such, I have decided to analyze disc 11 (as well as disc 13) and describe to you my interpretation, using as many facts (and as few myths and hokey rumors) as possible.
To start off with, disc 11.
Many people have already made their own interpretations of the synopsis of this track. However, there are two things that should be dispelled of right off the bat: Endermen and "Herobrine". While the actual disc for track 11 was implemented in a beta 1.9 prerelease (at which point endermen were already implemented and the "herobrine" myth was already deeply ingrained), the track itself was added to the game files in Alpha 1.0.16. (August 12, 2010)
Now, this is not to say that nobody knew of the track before beta 1.9. People knew about the track and were already offering their own interpretations about its meaning as far back as Beta 1.2. Due to the early release of this track, it can be safely said that it has no relation to endermen whatsoever. And for those conspiracy nuts out there who are scrambling to say that endermen where "planned for a long time", Notch himself made a blog post outlining the creation of them. Within this post, Notch clearly says that he "started working on [the endermen] because [he] was frustrated with the slow progress on some town code [he] was writing, and for some reason [he] decided to make yet another creepy one." There is no long-drawn-out conspiracy, no pre-planned ultimatim, nothing of the sort. Notch simply made the mob as a spur-of-the-moment activity to ward off his own boredom - no funny business at all.
The "Herobrine" theory is easier to dispel. Herobrine is fake. End of story. Besides that, the earliest mention of Herobrine dates back the original "screenshot" from alpha 1.0.16**_02**, a version released one day after 11's file was added to the game. Besides that, disc 13 (disc 11's sister disc) was added a whole month before 1.0.16, and chances are that 13 and 11 were recorded and mixed at about the same time - pushing 13 and 11's creation date to summer of 2010 up until August 12.
Now that these two theories have been dispelled without any more doubt, it's time to list some basic facts that can be objectively determined from listening to the two tracks.
Track 11 -
The simplest approximation of the synopsis of track 11 is that somebody is walking through a cave, stops to fiddle with some form of equipment (most likely either a flint and steel, compass or clock), then uses some paper object (either a book, a piece of paper, or a map), then running over stone and dirt/gravel until the recording abruptly ends.
One of the subjects which is not exactly consistent between interpretations is what exactly the character is using when he stops walking in the middle. The metallic object (which is heard as making some form of clicking noise) can either be a flint and steel, a compass, or a clock, depending on whose interpretation it is. However, thanks to the date we have (summer of 2010/any version including and before alpha 1.0.16) we have narrow it down to just flint and steel. Compasses were added in Alpha 1.1.0, with clocks being implemented in Alpha 1.2.0. Flint and steel, on the other hand, had been in the game since indev, and as such are the only likely candidate. The next piece of equipment that it being used is the paper object - in this case, undeniably not a map. Maps (which require compasses to be crafted anyways) were not added until Beta 1.6 - a long time after our window. However, the paper object can clue us in further to what time frame 11 comes from - specifically, the date that paper, books, and sugar cane were added. Alpha 1.0.11, which added all three of these features, shipped July 23 2010. So in terms of minecraft versions, discs 11 and 13 most definitely take place from July 23 2010 to August 12 2010.
So we have narrowed down our synopsis - Character is walking on dirt/stone, stops to take a break, fiddles with flint and steel, then a book/paper, then runs until the recording ends.
Another key for discussion is precisely where the character is running - be it entirely in a cave, inside of a building (dungeon/stronghold), or running out of a cave.
Entirely within a cave (for the whole synopsis) seems to be the most likely candidate here. The block types that the character is running on (dirt and stone) are both commonly found in caves. Dungeons contain only stone and wood block types (cobble, mossy cobble and chests) and strongholds did not exist during our window. Running out of a cave into the open is also unlikely, seeing as how the footstep sounds were dirt, not grass.
So, the entire recording takes place within a cave. Great.
So now our synopsis looks something like this:
Man walking through cave, stops to do something with flint and steel, then does something with a book/paper, then runs over stone, then dirt/gravel, before the audio cuts off.
Despite the enormous amount of mystery speculation surrounding disc 11, there just isn't that much you can extract from it - especially seeing as this synopsis lacks a clear beginning and end - without referring to its sister disc - 13.
First off, we need to establish that there is, in fact, a connection between these two discs.
First off - a fairly simple similarity - the cut off.
Part of disc 11's charm is that it cuts off - at one minute and eleven seconds to be precise. The length (1:11), the name, as well as the fact that it was the 11th disc added would suggest that there is something significant about the number 11. Many users connect this to the endermen, claiming that it was the 11th mob to be added to the game. However, this claim is dubious at best, because when you list the mobs in order of being added...
Human
Zombie
Skeleton
Pig
Creeper
Spider
Sheep
Giant
(MD3 mobs - rana, steve, black steve, beast boy)
Cow
Slime
Chicken
...Then the eleventh mob ends up being either the chicken or one of the MD3 mobs, depending on whether or not you count them.
So, yet again, endermen are out.
Let's take a look at disc 13. Disc 13 also cuts off - at exactly 1:30. This baffled me - not that it cut off at 1:30 (which did, I will admit, make me smile a bit at how clever it was) but rather because I found absolutely no documentation of this fact anywhere at all. Anyways, after it cuts off, it comes back again - with a bang. Literally. Exactly 11 seconds after it cuts off, you can hear a very faint creeper hiss, immediately followed by a loud, booming sound. Because it is a booming sound - it's an explosion. It is no doubt to anybody that disc 13 takes place in a cave - the ominous chimes, wet dripping and other assorted sounds have a very clear connection to the 13 different ambient sounds that you hear in or near caves. Oh look, there's that number again. Anyways, since 13 takes place in a cave, (which are not famous for their amazing acoustic qualities - especially since they have almost the opposite) it would be expected that any sounds from within the cave would be muffled and reverberate through the cave. Listen closely to disc 13 - at about 1:41, you can hear the muffled creeper hiss, followed by the muffled explosion, which reverberates.
Seeing as a creeper would only explode if it had someone to blow up, it seems that, yet again, we're dealing with a narrative. And even though what little we can hear is very muffled, it's much easier to accurately piece together than 13. Immediately after the creeper explosion, we can hear the echoed sounds of someone falling into a pool of water - followed by the sounds of that same someone climbing out of the pool of water - you can hear the water dripping from their drenched clothes. If you boost your volume, you can hear what seem to be staggered footsteps on stone - possibly the dazed person trying to find somewhere safe to hide.
Okay, so we know that someone is in a cave, they get attacked by a creeper, then they fall into a pool of water and climb out. They then walk away, dazed, and then there isn't much more to be heard.
And that is all the narrative that can be extracted from after the cutoff. Before the cutoff, however, is one other, smaller piece of narrative - the sound of two arrows being fired.
At the One minute mark, you can hear two arrows being shot (by either a skeleton or the player, though I will assume from a skeleton) - one of which hits the ground or a wall, and the other connects (one arrow goes "DRR," the other remains silent - meaning it has hit either the player or a mob).
So that's it. Well, at the very least, disc 13's narrative is much less speculative.
Someone is in a cave, shoots/gets got at twice, with one arrow connecting (I will assume shot at), cut, then same(?) person is attacked by a creeper, falls into a pool of water, climbs out, then staggers away.
Alright, so what's with the cut?
Why would 13 just cut at 1:30 if it wasn't over? Why such an abrupt transition? Even if it did have something to do with the name? Why not just end at 1:30? Why keep going?
My solution to this is nice and simple.
In between the two halves of disc 13, the events of disc 11 take place.
Our synopsis now:
Someone is in a cave, shoots/gets got at twice, with one arrow connecting (I will assume shot at), same person walking through cave after previous encounter, stops to do something with flint and steel, then does something with a book/paper, then runs over stone, then dirt/gravel, person is attacked by a creeper, falls into a pool of water, climbs out, then staggers away.
Suddenly, the story makes sense.
The events which we have extracted from disc 13 form an almost perfect context for the events in disc 11. We now know why the player was hungry, what they were running from (the creeper, which explodes in disc 13) and where they were. There is no relation to "Herobrine", or endermen, or any weird conspiratory sort of minecraft secret.
C418 just told us a story about a caver and a creeper, and we had to put together the pieces.
TL;DR : disc 11 happens during disc 13, the man in disc 11 was running from a creeper.
EDIT1: I would like to point out that after playing minecraft for 5 years, it took me only 2 hours to figure out the connection. Talk about a eureka moment.
EDIT2: As /u/connorismining pointed out, skeletons and creepers, the two mobs featured in disc 13, can be used to create music discs.
EDIT3: as /u/juyett pointed out, the creeper hiss starts 11 seconds after the cut in 13.
EDIT4: as /u/dmine243 pointed out, disc 11 could quite possibly be scratched because it was damaged in the explosion heard in disc 13. This also explains the wierd sound at the end of disc 11 - it's not a dog growling or someone shouting, it's a scratch in the record.
EDIT5: it has been more than 4 years since I posted this thread. In that time, I made a video, the theory has spread throughout the internet, appears to have become a fairly common headcanon, and has been plagiarized by matpat for his gametheory channel.
There is one more detail I've found in the past few days which I think might be worth mentioning here. As per the minecraft wiki and C418's bandcamp, the official track description for 13 on Minecraft - Volume Alpha is "no human was harmed in the making of this recording."
