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Part 5: Finetuning

TL;DR

Fine-tuning is the most time-consuming part, but is also the most crucial. The general sequence of steps is as follows:

  1. Refine the GAP. Use the 9 and 0 keys to adjust the GAP by 10ms at a time until the first line sounds perfect. Time and check a line in the middle to verify.
    • This is the most important step, as an incorrect GAP will have cascading effects throughout the rest of the song.
  2. Start timing notes: You can use the Ctrl + G shortcut to automatically move all notes to the nearest thick gray line, if they aren't already there.
    • You can use the waveform feature to get a visual aid on where notes should go. Generally speaking, peaks in the waveform indicate the beginning of a new note.
    • For most very rhythmic songs, like this one, the thick gray lines will effectively perfectly time the song, because the vast majority of notes will start on one of them.
    • Prioritize note timings -- the start of notes -- before moving onto note lengths. Use SHIFT and the arrow keys to move notes left and right.
    • In most circumstances, no two notes should touch. Ideally, there is a gap of at least two units between each note, as that makes the chart more flexible to the various pieces of hardware that people have without making the game that much easier.
  3. Note lengths: A note should last until just before you hear the unpitched part of a syllable (for example, an "s" sound). If in doubt, you should bias towards ending the note earlier rather than later.
    • Use ALT and the arrow keys to shorten or lengthen a note by one unit.
    • If, at this point, you've noticed a pitch change in a note that you did not account for in Part 2: Lyrics, hit the - (minus) key to split the current note into two, then shorten the first note and move the second note (often a ~) to your desired location.
  4. When you've finished a line, hit Ctrl + A, then Space to ensure that all notes in the line are timed correctly.
    • If a note is noticeably off, move it to the right if it is noticeably early, or to the left if it is noticeably late. Examples:
      • You hear the timing click sound before the singer begins vocalizing the note: it is early; move to the right
      • You hear the timing click sound after the singer begins vocalizing the note: it is late; move to the left
    • Line breaks and note timing warnings: Acknowledge and resolve all of them, even if marked as 'unsafe'. If you have a note that is marked as unsafe and with correct timing, chances are the note is just too long and you should shorten it so that people can more easily react to the next line (as the error says).
  5. Repeat until you get to the end of the song.
    • If you notice a line that repeats (e.g. a chorus), feel free to copy paste the timing.
  6. Once all notes are correctly timed, you can start pitching.
    • You can also pitch each line after you've finished timing it, which is what I personally do. This may be faster -- especially when copy pasting identical sections that have the same pitches -- but requires you to be able to pitch effectively and reliably. It may be better to wait until you have finished timing everything to start pitching, or to allow someone else to pitch your well-timed chart.

Overview

Arguably the most time-consuming part of song creation is fine-tuning. This is the process of taking the notes we tapped in Part 4 and adjusting them so that they're timed better, since human button presses are usually imperfect. For most normal songs, there will be around 300 to 400 different notes to time!

Fine-tuning is the most important aspect to determine a song's playability. If the notes are not timed correctly, players will have a bad time. Pitches can be fixed; bad charts may have to be remade entirely.

This fine-tuning process is normally accomplished with a song editor. A more verbose overview of the song editors that exist is available in Preface B, but we will be using Yass Reloaded in this tutorial for its convenience features.

<< Back to Part 4: Tapping >> Continue to Part 6: Pitching

Quick navigation: Index / Preface A / Preface B / Part 1: Audio / Part 2: Lyrics / Part 3: BPM / Part 4: Tapping / Part 5: Finetuning / Part 6: Pitching / Part 7: Golden Notes / Part 8: Testing