Make the Scratch music extension GM-compatible again

Robogoober

Hi, this is something I wanted ever since I first touched the Scratch 1.4 offline editor.

Right now, Scratch only lets you use 21 instruments with 131 samples each + 18 drums. That's 2769 samples. (Before you ask, yes I did the math.)

You can import these blocks to future versions of Scratch - they'll just rely on the sound-font of that version.

But in Scratch 1.X, you could use 128 instruments with 128 samples each + 47 drums (whereas there's actually 61) (in my case, gm.dls on Windows) which gives us a total of 16445 samples.

When Scratch upgraded to Scratch 2.0, we lost access to 13676 samples, as now they are out of reach and only compatible in projects made before May 9th, 2013 or with the Scratch 1.4 offline editor.

So, Scratch Team, if you can (possibly in Scratch 4.0), can you make the music extension GM-compatible again? You can create 384 samples (3 for each instrument) for a grand total of 16829 samples. Thank you!

set instrument to (\(128\) Gunshot v)
play drum (\(52\) Mute Cuica v) for (0.25) beats

Last edited by Robogoober (April 16, 2025 17:51:45)

Bo_Tie

support! midi instruments would be super nice to have again

Robogoober

Here's how I'd translate for the update:
Instruments: Using signal midi editor names
(1) Piano - (1) Acoustic Grand Piano
(2) Electric Piano - (5) Electric Piano 1
(3) Organ - (17) Drawbar Organ
(4) Guitar - (25) Acoustic Guitar (Nylon)
(5) Electric Guitar - (28) Electric Guitar (Clean)
(6) Bass - (33) Acoustic Bass
(7) Pizzicato - (46) Pizzicato Strings
(8) Cello - (42) Viola
(9) Trombone - (61) French Horn
(10) Clarinet - (72) Clarinet
(11) Saxophone - (66) Alto Sax
(12) Flute - (74) Flute
(13) Wooden Flute - (76) Pan Flute
(14) Bassoon - (71) Bassoon
(15) Choir - (53) Choir Aahs
(16) Vibraphone - (12) Vibraphone
(17) Music Box - (11) Music Box
(18) Steel Drum - (115) Steel Drums
(19) Marimba - (13) Marimba
(20) Synth Lead - (81) Lead 1 (Square)
(21) Synth Pad - (91) Pad 3 (Polysynth)

Drums: Using scratch 1.4 names
(1) Snare Drum - (12) Acoustic Snare
(2) Bass Drum - (10) Bass Drum 1
(3) Side Stick - (11) Side Stick
(4) Crash Cymbal - (23) Crash Cymbal 1
(5) Open Hi-Hat - (20) Open Hi-Hat
(6) Closed Hi-Hat - (16) Closed Hi-Hat
(7) Tambourine - (28) Tambourine
(8) Hand Clap - (13) Hand Clap
(9) Claves - (49) Claves
(10) Wood Block - (50) High Wood Block
(11) Cowbell - (30) Cowbell
(12) Triangle - (55) Open Triangle
(13) Bongo - (35) Low Bongo
(14) Conga - (37) Open High Conga
(15) Cabasa - (43) Cabasa
(16) Guiro - (48) Long Guiro
(17) Vibraslap - (32) Vibraslap
(18) Cuica - (52) Mute Cuica

FannyButWrong

Robogoober wrote:
Hi, this is something I wanted ever since I first touched the Scratch 1.4 offline editor.

Right now, Scratch only lets you use 21 instruments with 131 samples each + 18 drums. That's 2769 samples. (Before you ask, yes I did the math.)

You can import these blocks to future versions of Scratch - they'll just rely on the sound-font of that version.

But in Scratch 1.X, you could use 128 instruments with 128 samples each + 47 drums (whereas there's actually 61) (in my case, gm.dls on Windows) which gives us a total of 16445 samples.

When Scratch upgraded to Scratch 2.0, we lost access to 13676 samples, as now they are out of reach and only compatible in project made before May 9th, 2013 or with the Scratch 1.4 offline editor.

So, Scratch Team, if you can (possibly in Scratch 4.0), can you make the music extension GM-compatible again? You can create 384 samples (3 for each instrument) for a grand total of 16829 samples. Thank you!
set instrument to (\(128\) Gunshot v)
play drum (\(52\) Mute Cuica v) for (0.25) beats

Support it!

yep, the 60 second devil caught me 4 times.

Robogoober

play note (bump v) for (0.5) beats

AvidOsirianGuy

I would love this to be in Scratch. Would be useful so much! Support obviously.

Robogoober

AvidOsirianGuy wrote:
I would love this to be in Scratch. Would be useful so much! Support obviously.

This WAS on Scratch (1.4 and earlier), and I want it back.

AvidOsirianGuy

Robogoober wrote:
(#7)
AvidOsirianGuy wrote:
I would love this to be in Scratch. Would be useful so much! Support obviously.
This WAS on Scratch (1.4 and earlier), and I want it back.

Me too. Fun fact: I have used the 1.4 and 2.0 offline editor before. This would be a great idea, would add more functionality to the music blocks.

Robogoober

AvidOsirianGuy wrote:
Robogoober wrote:
(#7)
AvidOsirianGuy wrote:
I would love this to be in Scratch. Would be useful so much! Support obviously.
This WAS on Scratch (1.4 and earlier), and I want it back.
Me too. Fun fact: I have used the 1.4 and 2.0 offline editor before. This would be a great idea, would add more functionality to the music blocks.

Yep, that's true.

hotcrystal

I feel like this is probably a dupe, but I don’t have access to Ocular at the moment.

Robogoober

hotcrystal wrote:
I feel like this is probably a dupe, but I don’t have access to Ocular at the moment.

I haven't seen any posts related to this before mine + Please try to be more related - we're discussing about the idea of bringing back GM-compatibility to Scratch.

Robogoober

play note (bump v) for (0.5) beats

astro-cookie13269

FannyButWrong wrote:
Robogoober wrote:
Hi, this is something I wanted ever since I first touched the Scratch 1.4 offline editor.

Right now, Scratch only lets you use 21 instruments with 131 samples each + 18 drums. That's 2769 samples. (Before you ask, yes I did the math.)

You can import these blocks to future versions of Scratch - they'll just rely on the sound-font of that version.

But in Scratch 1.X, you could use 128 instruments with 128 samples each + 47 drums (whereas there's actually 61) (in my case, gm.dls on Windows) which gives us a total of 16445 samples.

When Scratch upgraded to Scratch 2.0, we lost access to 13676 samples, as now they are out of reach and only compatible in project made before May 9th, 2013 or with the Scratch 1.4 offline editor.

So, Scratch Team, if you can (possibly in Scratch 4.0), can you make the music extension GM-compatible again? You can create 384 samples (3 for each instrument) for a grand total of 16829 samples. Thank you!
set instrument to (\(128\) Gunshot v)
play drum (\(52\) Mute Cuica v) for (0.25) beats
Support it!

yep, the 60 second devil caught me 4 times.

Yeah, same thing.

astro-cookie13269

ok I'll bump

Robogoober

astro-cookie13269 wrote:
ok I'll bump

play note (Thank you! v) for (69) beats

This Music extension overhaul can revolutionize music-making in Scratch.

HunterBee5NOTFAKE

SUPPORT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Robogoober

Quick Instrument Summary for this change:

set instrument to (128 instruments v)
play drum (61 drums v) for (0.25) beats

ChillingCookie

support

Robogoober

Just remember that this feature used to exist in Scratch; it got removed when Scratch 2.0 released.

HunterBee5NOTFAKE

when green flag clicked

play note (Godzilla v) for (0.5) beats

Discuss Scratch