Etou, the leader of the Taiko Team, is always the person who makes the note patterns for significant songs. How does he do it? This week's post is a short lecture on how he goes about doing his work!
Disclaimer
Etou claims no responsibility for accuracy of the content in this lecture. Take it at face value and read on!
What is a Notechart
A notechart is....well, it's what you play in regular Taiko no Tatsujin! All the red notes and blue notes that scroll across the screen, they form patterns and the total of all the note patterns is called a notechart! It is the essence of all Taiko no Tatsujin, played along to the rhythm of the background music and of course, very important to do it right!
Before Making a Notechart
First of all you have to listen to the 'song'! The song determines what the notechart will look like in the end. Listen to the song and determine:
-The beat structure of the song
-How to make it fun
-The special aspects of the song
Listen to it lots of times. Understand the 'feel' of the song. That's how Etou and the charters start brewing up their ideas. Next thing is to make it fun for the people playing!
The 3 Pillars
Etou makes three pillars of importance when making a notechart, and they are
-The 'concept' of the chart
-The structure of the chart
-The amount of 'Taiko-ness' in the chart
Deep stuff. Difficult to understand. Let's use a simpler analogy! Pretend each chart is like a 'stage' from an action game and move like so:
Lots of enemies to beat! Lots of obstacles to overcome! When there are neither, push forward to victory! (clear the song)
From the start of a stage to the goal, there will be lots of these enemies, and they flow like so:
Start -> Zone full of enemies -> Zone of bottomless pits and walls -> Nothing in the way! Go forth! -> Goal
In that way a sort of 'structure' is created for the notechart and with that 'fun' is generated. To put it in another way:
Start -> 'So many enemies! But I will beat them all!' -> 'The battle wore me out, but I will continue and be magnificent!' -> 'I've cleared all the obstacles, now for the winning run to the finish!' -> Goal
...Something like that.
Isn't the 'concept' of the notechart fun? Can you feel it? Once this basic 'concept' is confirmed, the 'structure' and note patterns will automatically follow. And lastly, the 'Taiko-ness' comes from actually playing it in Taiko no Tatsujin!
End
And Etou is done! Have you enjoyed Etou's lecture on the notechart? What sort of feature entries like this await us in the future? Send your suggestions and feedback to the Taiko Team by Twitter, as always!
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