.mid file a phrase is a note: it starts at its note-on and ends at its note-off, and it applies to every difficulty of its track:
A
.chart file writes these phrases as S events, and solos as text events. See Phrases.
Rules for every phrase
- A phrase applies to every difficulty of its track, except a lane, whose velocity gives its difficulties. A
.chartfile gives each difficulty its own phrases. - Required: at least one note in each phrase.
- Recommended: a note of each difficulty in each phrase, and a length of at least one tick for each phrase.
Star power
Note 116 marks notes the player can earn star power from: hitting every note in it fills a quarter of the star power meter. Neither game adds star power to a chart that has none, except by reading solos as star power: see Solos.Solos
Note 103 marks a solo. It covers its notes from its note-on up to, but not including, its note-off. Unlike a.chart solo, which covers its soloend tick, a .mid solo doesn’t cover the tick of its note-off. To cover the same notes as a .chart solo, its note-off comes one tick after the soloend tick.
Edge case: solos read as star power. Guitar Hero 1 charts mark star power with note 103, and don’t set multiplier_note. So in a 5-fret, 6-fret or keys track with two or more solo notes, 103, and no star power note, 116, Clone Hero, YARG and scan-chart read the solos as star power. A multiplier_note of 103 or 116 in song.ini turns this off, and its value gives the star power note instead: see Deprecated. An exporter gives such a track star power on note 116, or writes multiplier_note = 116. See Settings.
Drum fills
A drum fill marks a stretch where the drummer can play freely and activate star power by hitting the fill’s last note. It includes its end tick. An exporter should put a note on the fill’s end tick. Edge case: a drum fill without a note on its end tick. The games choose different notes to activate star power, as in a.chart file. See Drum fills.
Edge case: a drums track without drum fills. The games add their own. Clone Hero adds a star power activation every four measures. YARG adds drum fills when the track has star power.
A drum fill whose tick is at or after the coda is a Big Rock Ending instead: a closing freestyle section with no star power activation. See The coda. On 5-fret guitar, bass and keys, note 120 at or after the coda is a Big Rock Ending, and has no meaning before it.
Edge case: where a Big Rock Ending ends. YARG counts a note on a Big Rock Ending’s end tick as part of it, and Clone Hero doesn’t. Recommended: a note after each Big Rock Ending, which closes it, and the Big Rock Ending ending before that note, as in a .chart file. See Drum fills.
Rock Band charts write each drum fill and Big Rock Ending as five notes, 120 to 124. Note 120 is the phrase. Notes 121 to 124 may come with it. Required: each starts and ends where a 120 does. Clone Hero and scan-chart read only 120. YARG reads each of 120 to 124 as a drum fill on drums, which gives the same fill when they match.
Lanes
A lane marks a passage too fast to play note for note. Inside it, the player keeps up the motion at their own speed, and each note counts as hit. A lane includes its end tick, and lanes may overlap.- On drums, 126 is a roll on one pad, and 127 a roll that alternates between two pads. The lane takes its pads from the notes it covers, and never includes the kick. Recommended: a roll on one pad starts with a note on one pad, as in a
.chartfile. - On 5-fret guitar, bass and keys, 126 is a tremolo lane: one fret or chord repeated, at least two notes, strummed freely. 127 is a trill lane: two single frets alternating, at least three notes, played freely between them.
A lane should cover at least two notes, and only notes that fit its pattern, as in a
.chart file. See Lanes.
Edge case: lanes on 5-fret. YARG plays tremolo and trill lanes on 5-fret, and Clone Hero plays lanes only on drums. On 5-fret, YARG gives a note that two lanes cover to the earlier lane only.
Deprecated
- Star power on note 103, from Guitar Hero 1 and 2 charts, with
multiplier_note = 103insong.ini. Clone Hero and scan-chart then read 103 as star power in 5-fret, keys and 6-fret tracks, and ignore 116 there. YARG does it in every track. Move the star power to note 116 instead, and remove the key. See Settings.
Ignored
- Versus phrases, notes 105 and 106, which mark the parts each player plays in a face-off in older games. An exporter should keep them when rewriting a file. On a vocal track, these notes are phrases. See Vocals and harmonies.
soloandsoloendtext events. A.midsolo is a note.- Note 125, which YARG reads as a kick roll lane on drums.
- Notes 120, 126 and 127 on 6-fret.
- Any other note from 105 to 127 that these pages don’t list.
Invalid forms
Two phrases of one type at one tick
Two phrases of one type at one tick
A scanner uses the longer phrase, as Clone Hero and scan-chart do, and as in a
.chart file. YARG keeps the shorter.Overlapping phrases of one type, other than lanes
Overlapping phrases of one type, other than lanes
A scanner cuts the earlier phrase where the later starts, and extends the later one to whichever ends last, as Clone Hero and scan-chart do, and as in a
.chart file. Overlapping notes of one number pair first, as Note pairing says. YARG gives each note to the latest phrase that started before it, so the rest of a longer earlier phrase is lost. scan-chart’s export writes the cut and extended phrases.A phrase that covers no notes
A phrase that covers no notes
A scanner ignores it. scan-chart reports an empty star power phrase, solo or lane on each difficulty.
Notes 121 to 124 without a matching 120
Notes 121 to 124 without a matching 120
Clone Hero and scan-chart ignore them, and YARG reads each as a drum fill on drums. scan-chart writes them back as they are.