CreatorsWiki

From CreatorsWiki

Contents 1 MIXING 1.1 RB Mix File Format Suggestions 1.1.1 Game Mix files (Stems) 1.1.2 Additional reference files 1.2 Rock Band Mix vs. CD Mix 1.2.1 Mixing Requirements 1.3 Count In 1.4 Instrument files 1.5 Making the TRKS file 1.6 Mixing Tips/Tricks from the Harmonix Mix Team 2 MIDI SETUP 2.1 MIDI file setup 2.2 Pre-Authoring Setup 2.3 MIDI file minimum requirements 2.4 Tempo Map 2.5 Meter Changes 2.6 Tempo Mapping By Hand 2.7 EVENTS Track 2.8 Crowd Intensity 2.9 VENUE Track 2.10 BEAT Track

MIXING

RB Mix File Format Suggestions

Audio Stems can be recorded in many different setups and formats, based on how the song was recorded. The most common and suggested format is described below.

Game Mix files (Stems)

All files should be 16bit, 44.1k.

1. K* - Kick Drum: Mono
2. SN* - Snare Drum: Stereo
3. CYM* - Kit Mix: Stereo (Usually Overhead Mics plus any direct Tom Mics)
   1. NB: The game can handle several Different types of Drum mixes, anything from a single stereo combined drum file up to stereo files for each of the 3 Drum files listed above. The Rock Band template file is set up assuming that you have the Drum mix listed above. If your Drum mix is different, please refer to the Drum Authoring Doc and make sure that the drum mix text events in the MIDI file match the format of your drum audio files.
4. BASS - Playable Bass Part: Mono (Stereo if using any Stereo Phase or Heavy Chorus effects)
5. GTR - Playable Guitar Part: Stereo
   1. NB: When creating stems from your recording session, or when requesting stems from a studio, please make a stem for each individual guitar part. The song author will then pick and choose from those guitar parts, mixing together a new composite stem, the playable guitar part listed above. Any non-playable guitar parts will then be mixed into the TRKS stem.
6. VOX - Playable Vocals Part: Stereo
7. TRKS - All Other Instruments and Backing Vocals: Stereo

Additional reference files

1. Reference Dryvox: Mono 16k (Lead Vocal File with no effects)
   1. This file is used to generate lip sync, and to create scoring information for the vocal gameplay. In a pinch, you can use a wet vocal track, but both the lip sync animation and the scoring of the vocal track will suffer as a result.
2. CD Reference Mix: Stereo
   1. While this file isn't necessary for the game, it's very useful to have a reference mix to ensure that the game sounds as close as possible to the album mix
3. Lyrics sheet: It's usually a good idea to prepare a lyric sheet for your song, or to request one from an artist if you're authoring a song for them.

Rock Band Mix vs. CD Mix

Since songs in Rock Band have to contend with game sound effects and the cheering of a virtual crowd, we tend to mix songs slightly louder for the game. Using a good brick wall Limiter, such as the JS: LOSER/MGA_JS Limiter in Reaper, you can get an extra bit of loudness into your files. Set the ceiling to -0.5 dB and adjust your threshold so that the peak reduction is about 2-3 dB on the loudest track, use the same limiter threshold setting on each track to ensure that your mix does not change signifigantly. This will ensure that each of your tracks will be nice and punchy.

We will make a RBN mixing template for use in Reaper available shortly, that comes with a custom mixing macro to import into your actions list (mapped to Shift+M) if you're having trouble getting your tracks loud enough. Used in conjunction with the mixing template project, this macro will normalize your tracks, and apply some light compression and limiting.

To use the template:

1. Import your stems into the template:

Run the macro, which will convert your stems from this:

To this:

You can then adjust your mix in Reaper, take note of the attenuation (volume) settings that you like, and enter those values into the magma tool.

Mixing Requirements

In order to avoid clipping, all files must be no louder than -0.5db. You can assure this by running all files through a brick wall limiter as the last step of mixing.

Count In

Unless there is a strong count-in in the music, a 2 measure long count-in is added to the beginning of the TRKS file (in the standard "one, two, one two three four" style). This count in can be a standard, sample based count-in, but is more often crafted from snippets of the CYM track.

If there is no other sound before the count-in, the first beat of the count-in should mark the start of the TRKS file. The tempo for the count in should match the tempo for the first bars of music (Pro Tools and Reaper can calculate tempo based on the length of a selection; select exactly one bar and that will provide an accurate tempo). Be sure to note the tempo for use as a starting point for the tempo map.

For very fast songs (160 bpm and above) a three measure count-in is necessary. For songs about 210bpm, a four measure count-in may be necessary. The game requires 3 seconds from the beginning of the song to display and remove a player's gamertag on the track. As a rule, gems should not appear until after this has occurred.

Instrument files

The Instrument files (K, SNR, CYM, GTR, BASS, and VOX) must reflect the part that will be played in the game. This file will be muted when a player misses a note in that part. For most Instruments, this is a very simple task, and a straight render (a.k.a bounce) from your DAW session will suffice.

In songs with multiple tracks for the same instrument (usually guitar), you will have to decide which track will be playable at any given time. When you want to make a switch from one track to another in the playable part - for example, when there is a guitar solo recorded in a separate take - you must split your original audio track and move the part of the file that will not be played onto a new Audio track, which will be bounced to the TRKS file.

To accomplish this, you can follow these steps:

1. Create a new track (Ctrl+T in Reaper) and be sure to name so you can remember it's being sent to the TRKS file
2. Click directly on the track in the position where you'd like the changeover to happen (be sure that Grid Snap is turned off), and hit S to splice the track
3. . Move the soundfile to be sent to the TRKS file down to the new track
4. . Extend the edge of each file so that they overlap slightly (drag the edge of the soundfiles)
5. . Add fades (grab the upper corner of each file and drag)

In order to avoid any changes in volume at the switchover point, the fades added should be of equal length at the end of the original track and the beginning of the track for the TRKS file, as shown below. If you want to switch back to the original Guitar Track after the solo, you can do that using the same process.

Making the TRKS file

The TRKS file plays through the entire song, and is not affected by how a player is doing. It contains all non-playable parts and the song count in. When rendering your instrument files, be sure to have any parts that will be in the TRKS file muted.

Mixing Tips/Tricks from the Harmonix Mix Team

• Compression is key, especially for vocals. There's so much noise going on in the game with the crowd and sound effects, that a subtle or nuanced part in the music can get lost. Compression will make sure that everything in your song gets heard.
• It's important to make sure that the playable part is the most prominent in the mix. You can go about this a few different ways: turning up the playable part, or lowering the TRKS file. Sometimes, if a song has a lot of parts and you're frequently switching between them, you can use EQ to slightly reduce the high end (around 6-8khz) of the soundfiles being sent to the TRKS file for that instrument. It should make the playable part cut through the mix.
• Brightness in the mix is important. Since the tracks you're working with usually will not have gone through the final mastering process, you should run your tracks through a multi-band compressor (like the ReaXcomp in Reaper) and then add a little boost with an EQ at about 8-10k. This will give your mix a little bit of that professional sheen.
• If you want the bass louder in the mix, don't just turn the bass up - this usually muddies up your mix sound. Try using EQ: bring down the low end (20-60hz), and boost the low mid-range (600-1000hz) of the bass signal. That will help the bass cut through so that a bass player in Rock Band can hear what they're doing.
• When choosing which parts to make playable, always remember to choose the parts that will be the most fun to play.

MIDI SETUP

MIDI file setup

The song MIDI file contains all the data for the charts for each instrument, the tempo of the song, animation information, and settings for cameras and lighting.

Pre-Authoring Setup

We recommend using the Rock Band Network Reaper Template file as a starting point for all your songs. It contains all of the necessary elements for a song to run in the game and will allow you to start tempo mapping your song immediately and without additional setup. If you decide to go your own way, the game requires a MIDI file with all appropriate tracks and elements (notes and text events) within those tracks in order for a song to run. Below is a table of the absolute minimum MIDI file requirements for the game

MIDI file minimum requirements

Track Name	Required Text Events	Required MIDI Notes
PART DRUMS*	Drum mix events 0-3	1 gem (all difficulties)
PART BASS*	None	1 gem (all difficulties)
PART GUITAR*	None	1 gem (all difficulties)
PART VOCALS*	1 lyric (aligned with note tube)	1 Note tube, 1 Phrase Marker
EVENTS	[music_start], [music_end], [end] text event	None
BEAT	None	C-1Downbeat, C#-1 All other Beats
VENUE	None	None

• At least one of these instrument tracks is required.

Tempo Map

The Tempo Map is by far the most important part of a Rock Band MIDI file. In order to run accurately and allow for quantized instrument authoring, Rock Band requires an accurate tempo map for each song. For electronically produced music, this is a simple task, but for songs recorded organically, either with or without a click track, creating an accurate tempo map requires some work.

The tempo track is most easily referenced from the count-in, the kick drum track or another appropriate track if there are times when the kick drum is not present. If your song has a pretty simple drum beat, there will be some sort of drum beat on the first beat of every measure, usually in the kick drum (if this is not the case, the cymbal track is a good bet as well) Start by setting the tempo for the count in (this should be easy, as every count in follows the same pattern) then for each measure, check that the appropriate drum hit aligns exactly with the first beat. If the tempo has slipped, then adjust the tempo of the previous measure so that the kick drum remains aligned.

In Reaper, one can use the tab to transient function if there is a sound present on the downbeat. Select the track that has this sound (usually the Kick or CYM track, and hit tab until you reach the start of the measure.

Then hit Q to run the Custom Set tempo by bar function included in the RBN Keymap. Using this function at the start of each measure will ensure that the tempo map is very accurate.

Meter Changes

Handling songs with changing meters (also known as time signatures) is quite simple using custom actions in the RBN Keymap. Simply tab to the start of the 2nd bar of the new meter section, and hit T to run the Custom Set tempo/change time signature by bar function. You will be prompted to enter a new time signature for the selected measure. This meter will now be the default for the Set Tempo by bar function. To change the meter back, simply repeat the process when the meter changes again.

Tempo Mapping By Hand

If the Custom actions mentioned above won't work for you song (if it has no drums, or no drum hits or other discernable transients on the downbeat), or if you want to make micro adjustments to your tempo map, you can add additional tempo markers at any point and adjust them by hand. To do this hold shift and click on the tempo envelope to add a tempo marker:

And then drag that marker up or down to adjust the tempo:

We recommend having ABSOLUTELY no more than 1 tempo marker per beat. Any more than that is completely unnecessary. Even if you're trying to match the tempo of every note of a sloppy guitar part, any more than 1 tempo change per beat is wasted work on your part. Continue mapping the correct tempo for the rest of the song. An inaccurate tempo map will directly affect how well a song plays, so it's important to do this first, and to be as accurate as possible. Changing a tempo map on an already authored song can introduce lots of problems and inaccuracies, so it's important to get your Tempo Map as accurate as possible before authoring begins.

EVENTS Track

The EVENTS track contains text events that affect the main functioning of the game and the crowd system. Along with the tempo map, it forms the backbone of the structure of the song in the MIDI file.

The [end] event marks the end of the song. The [end] event is when sound playback stops and the tracks are removed from the screen. To avoid pops or clicks in the sound, it's important to place the [end] event after all sound files have faded down to zero. Sometimes in order to avoid unnecessary waiting at the end of a song, we will fade out the last note of a part a little early (bass parts usually ring out the longest, so they are most often faded short). There can be nothing in the MIDI file that occurs after the [end] event.

The [music_start] and [music_end] events transition into and out of the looping crowd audio system that is driven by the player's crowd meter. These events also trigger a crowd cheer one time sound effect, so they should be placed where a crowd would recognize the song and just after the last note of a song respectively.

Crowd Intensity

Crowd intensity text events serve as a cap for the crowd animations, which are based on the player's crowd meter. The available events are a lot like the player animation events:

• Animation
  • [crowd_intense]= Allows for maximum intensity. The crowd will go nuts and jump around if you're doing well.
  • [crowd_normal]= The crowd will put their hands up and sway, but will never get super-crazy.
  • [crowd_mellow]= The crowd will stay pretty mellow, swaying to the beat of the song.
• Clapping Sound effect
  • [crowd_clap]= This is the default state. A clapping sound effect will play along with the rhythm of the song when you're doing super well.
  • [crowd_noclap]= This turns off the clapping sound effect, regardless of how you're doing. It's a good idea to insert this event when the rhythm of a song breaks down, or during a quiet section of a song when a crowd wouldn't clap along with a song.

On most songs, you'll set the crowd to [crowd_intense] as soon as the music starts. Again this doesn't mean they start out at intense, because the player has to get the crowd meter up to "great" or "peak" first. Another technique is to set them to [crowd_normal] up until the 1st chorus, then to [crowd_intense]. Just so that the 1st time they start jumping around (assuming you're doing well) it's synced with the music. Only limit the crowd to "mellow" or "normal" on songs (or portions of songs) where you think it'll look dumb if they're over excited.

Crowd intensity events are most commonly utilized to ratchet down the crowd for a mellow part of a song, or to open up the crowd cap for a big chorus. The [crowd_noclap] event is also almost universally used just before the last note of a song in order to prevent the crowd from clapping in rhythm after the last note.

VENUE Track

The VENUE Track controls the camera and lighting system for Rock Band. If you leave the VENUE Track blank, the MAGMA tool will generate a series of camera cuts and lighting changes for you, but if you want your song to really stand out, you can direct your own VENUE track. Please check out the Camera_And_Lights document for more info on how to customize cameras and lights for your song.

BEAT Track

The BEAT track drives the animations for the characters and the crowd. The RBN Reaper Template file has a premade track in 4/4, but it's very easy to change it if your song is in a different meter, or if you want the characters to animate in half-time or double time.

BEAT Track Notes: C -1 (12)= Downbeat (beat 1) C# -1 (13)= All other beats

For example, in a 4/4 song, for each measure, there is a C-1 note, followed by 3 C#-1 notes. In a 3/4 song, there would be a C-1 note followed by 2 C#1 notes.

The last note in the beat track needs to occur one beat before the [end] event in the EVENTS track. When you move the end event in the Rock Band Network Template file, be sure to delete all notes in the beat track that occur after the [end] event

Congrats! You're all set up. Continue on to the individual instrument docs to learn more about how to make really fun and accurate instrument charts for your Rock Band Network song.