Charting
From RawkSD
Charting customs for Rock Band 2 isn't very different from the traditional methods that have been used for ages in charting for the Guitar Hero series. However, after you've charted your Guitar, Bass, and Drums in the editor of your choice (often FeedBack), there's a lot to do if you want your chart to be a quality Rock Band chart. This means putting effort into editing the MIDI by hand to customize the camera shots, character animations, lighting, and more of the chart.
This guide applies to Rock Band on the current generation consoles: the Nintendo Wii, the XBox 360, and PlayStation 3. Rock Band 1 on the Wii and Rock Band on the PlayStation 2 use pre-rendered videos in the background and as such ignore most animation data. Custom animated charts can currently only be played on Rock Band 2 on the Nintendo Wii (via RawkSD) and the XBox 360 with the Rock Band Network (due to launch in late August). The purpose of this guide is to document all of the tracks in a Rock Band chart.
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MIDI Tracks
Rock Band charts are made up of 7 individual MIDI tracks. Each track has a specific purpose, and list of note events and comments that are used to manipulate the game. MIDI editing software is essential to the process. A few popular MIDI editors include:
- Anvil Studio is a free MIDI editor is popular in the customs scene for editing charts by hand.
- Reaper is a shareware MIDI editor that is none other than the official tool of Harmonix, used to create all the charts you play in Rock Band.
- Cakewalk Sonar is a commercial audio production tool that includes an extensive and easy-to-use MIDI editor.
Beat Track (BEAT)
The beat track simply defines the downbeats and upbeats of the song. It is used to make the band members bob in time with the music, and also has an effect on the Overdrive decay rate.
For information about this track, see the Beat Track documentation.
Venue Track (VENUE)
The venue track is the most exciting track in the MIDI. It contains information about all the lighting and camera animations you see during the song. It also includes special directed shots and post-processed video effects.
For information about this track, see the Venue Track documentation.
Events Track (EVENTS)
The events track is used for holding metadata about the song. It tells the game when the music starts and ends, as well as defining the sections as shown in Practice Mode. It also controls the crowd's behaviour throughout the song.
For more information, see the Events Track documentation.
Guitar / Bass (PART GUITAR and PART BASS)
The guitar and bass tracks hold all the information about the note gems that you can play, as well as specific animation controls that specify how the band member plays the song.
For information about this track, see the Guitar and Bass documentation.
Drum Track (PART DRUMS)
The drum track includes all the note chart, as well as another set of notes that specify how the drummer on-screen plays the song on his full drum kit.
For information about this track, see the Drum charting documentation.
Vocalist Track (PART VOCALS)
The vocals track includes all the notes that the player must sing, the lyrics to the song, and more animation information about the band singer.
For information about this track, see the Vocals documentation.
