Note Block

|type=Solid Block |gravity=No |sunlight=No |dirt=No |transparent=No |light=No |tool=Axe |renewable=Yes |stackable=Yes (64) |flammable=No, but catches fire from lava |firstver=Beta 1.2 |data=25 |entityid=Music }}

A Note Block is a block that plays a single note when struck by the player or powered by redstone. An indefinite number of note blocks can be connected this way to form music.

Note blocks will play when next to a powered block, which allows for more compact music circuitry.

Crafting

see High_Efficiency_Recipes

Ingredients	Input » Output
Wood Planks + Redstone	32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px 32x32px

Music

File:2012-01-04 19.14.11.png

A note block being triggered and playing a note.

Note blocks play a musical note when hit or when powered by redstone. Redstone current only causes the note to play once, even if it is a continuous current. A note block must have at least one block of air above it to play a sound. Notes can be heard up to 48 blocks away.

Note blocks will play when next to a powered block. Each time a note block plays a note, a note particle will fly out of the top, with the color depending on the pitch (but not the instrument).

Right clicking increases the note pitch up a half step, with a total of two full octaves being available to play. The range of notes span from F#3 to F#5. After reaching the highest note, right clicking again resets it back to F#3, as does breaking the block and picking it back up. The exact pitch to click assignment is shown below.<ref>Original chart by cookingfat here</ref>

Pitch (Octave One) Number of right-clicks F#/G♭ 0 clicks G 1 click G#/A♭ 2 clicks A 3 clicks A#/B♭ 4 clicks B 5 clicks C 6 clicks C#/D♭ 7 clicks D 8 clicks D#/E♭ 9 clicks E 10 clicks F 11 clicks F#/G♭ 12 clicks

Pitch (Octave Two) Number of right-clicks F#/G♭ 12 clicks G 13 clicks G#/A♭ 14 clicks A 15 clicks A#/B♭ 16 clicks B 17 clicks C 18 clicks C#/D♭ 19 clicks D 20 clicks D#/E♭ 21 clicks E 22 clicks F 23 clicks F#/G♭ 24 clicks

Alternatively, there is a graphical version available:

You can roughly check the tuning of a block by looking at the note icon.

Instruments

The instrument played depends on the block underneath the note block:

Block Type	Instrument
Wood-based blocks (including another note block)	Bass Guitar
Sand / Gravel / Soul Sand	Snare Drum
Glass / Glass Panes / Glowstone	Clicks / Sticks
Stone-based blocks (e.g. ores) / Obsidian / Netherrack / Bricks	Bass Drum
Dirt and all other blocks including Air	Piano / Harp

Wiring

File:2012-06-03 12.23.01.png

A pair of note blocks wired to a 5-clock redstone circuit to play alternately.

In order to wire note blocks to play a note, power must be applied to the side of the note block using redstone dust and a switch or redstone torch, or to the bottom using a redstone torch directly. Simply placing a switch or pressure plate on an adjacent block or providing power to the block beneath the note block will work too.

Chords with note blocks

File:2011-10-10 20.49.41.png

A simple chord with note blocks

If you want to actually make music, you can combine different notes together into a chord. Two note blocks will create harmony. The number of steps required to make different tones (like a 3rd or 5th) are the same as a piano. You can connect as many Note Blocks as you need to the same redstone wire which can lead to a pressure plate, detector rail, lever, etc.

Sequencer

It is possible to link together a set of inverters, connected to note blocks, which are then played after each other when the first inverter is given power. This can be used to create songs, without having to manually give power to every note (through pressure plates for example). See also: Redstone circuits.

Redstone repeaters make the process of making a series of notes much simpler. The delay can be set to one, two, three, or four steps, which simplifies the construction of multiple delay circuits.

As of Snapshot 13w01a Comparators can be used for a shorter delay of only 1/2 tick, though in 13w05b this has been modifed back to 2 game ticks, the same as a first position repeater.

Another way is putting down a railway of detector rail and powered rails and connect the detector rails to note blocks beside the track. This is useful if you want to hear your music without the degrade in sound as the note blocks play from farther and farther away. However, due to new minecart sounds added in the 1.4.2 update, this option is no longer practical.

Pressure plates - removing the click

Stepping on a pressure plate is a simple way to trigger a note block, but also triggers the pressure plate sound effect. People can remove the pressing/clicking sound by modifying the plate's sound file in the Minecraft folder.

1. The sound file is .minecraft\resources\newsound\random\click.ogg (Note: this is also the sound for the in-game menu buttons).
2. Replace the file with a blank text file, with the ".txt" extension replaced with a ".ogg" extension.
3. Set the file as read only, thus preventing Minecraft from re-downloading the sound file.

This enables a screen recording of the created song without having the pressure plate sound messing up their recording.

File:2012-06-03 12.20.56.png

Using repeaters to play a simple melody when the button is pressed.

Video

Note Block/video

Trivia

• The sound files for the note blocks can be found in resources\newsound\note, you can see that the piano sound is named harp and also that there is an unused sound called pling
• You can tune a note block even if there is a block above it, however the note will not be seen nor will any sound be made.
• When a note block is in lava, before it burns it makes a sound that sounds almost like a drum when played
• If you are 18 or more blocks away from a note block you will not see the note coming out.
• If you are 47 or more blocks away from a note block you will not hear the sound.
• Note blocks use the same texture as jukeboxes but the top texture is the same as the side textures.
• Triggering (playing) a note block or changing the note played does not count as a block update.

See also

• Minecraft Note Block Studio - A music editor for Minecraft.

External links

• Search YouTube for the many songs played on note blocks