Made by You: Special Christmas Edition!

We asked you to submit your self-made Taiko charts for this Christmas day, and the response was really great, we have a ton of charts to feature today...hope I can cover them all!

The above is our first song, appropriately winter-themed and made by tetsutaro. The song is 'Walking in the Air', a song by Howard Blake, written for the children's story The Snowman. The story originated in a book in 1978 and was turned into an animated film in 1982, for which Walking in the Air is its theme song. It is a simple story of a boy and a snowman come to life, traveling to the North Pole and meeting Father Christmas.

You're not going to see an Oni chart for this song; the pack contains only a Kantan and Muzukashii chart (5*) and is a relaxing affair through the 3+ minute long song, with simple patterns and drumrolls. There are a few note clusters at the end.



Second chart, again by tetsutaro, and it's a J-Pop song this time, by the singer duo Puffy AmiYumi, which comprises of the two female singers Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura. They are actually known in Japan as simply PUFFY, but added the name at the back to avoid naming conflicts in the US. They started gaining prominence in the late 90's and became very popular in the West. Puffy AmiYumi even had their own animated cartoon too.

December is one of the songs from that animated cartoon, 'Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi' and was featured in the album of the same name. It is another winter song with a 5* Oni chart by tetsu. Unlike the first song, this is primarily based on a skip rhythm, with beat divisions of 1/3 throughout the short song.



Third and final chart by tetsutaro, also a J-Pop song, is 'promise' by Kohmi Hirose, her 11th single, which debuted at a moderate 14th place in the Oricon charts and peaked in the top ten before hanging around the top 30 for quite a few months. A short cut of the song was used for the 1998 winter campaign for Alpen, a Japanese sports equipment company, and is the version used here. It was popularized briefly as the Geddan/Get Down Internet meme, and you can read more about it here.

The toughest of tetsu's three charts for today at a 7* Oni with lots of note clusters throughout, but the average speed should ease players right into it.




This next song is by dialgadu, also from the osu!Taiko community, and this song he decided to have us highlight today is not winter-themed. It's a very popular Bemani song called Apocalypse ~dirge of swans~, introduced on beatmania IIDX 13 and is a very ominous gospel song by Zektbach, speaking of a girl who has lost faith in her prayer and fallen into darkness.

Suiting the tense vibe of the song is a tough Oni and Ura Oni chart with loads of streams and BPM changes. The Ura Oni is about the same level of difficulty but is the full version of the song.



Another not so Christmassy song by AxelHino and also from Bemani. Its title is a mouthful; Konoko no Nanatsu no Oiwaini (lit. Seven Celebrations of This Child), by resident scat-rock expert Asaki, who has a real knack for making creepy songs about ghosts and the like. Making its first appearance on Guitar Freaks and Drummania, it has since become a Bemani staple, moving to jubeat and Pop'n Music after that.

The original song features quite a complex rhythm, but on this Taiko chart it has loads of regular streams and clusters, making for a fulfilling 9* Oni.



Packer Woo's contribution for our Christmas special is another original composition which he made really quickly as soon as he heard about it, and is a random church-themed music called The King of Kings. And it is really, really slow. As in, Bolero slow. There is some slight speed up at the end with a change in the beat signature but it is still extremely slow. You're free to give it a go; slow songs can be fun for a change too!




Lastly, we end the Christmas special with one of Yusri Khairi's maps! This is a fan-made medley of four Rose songs (minus Purple Rose Fusion). There is a normal chart and a Ura chart, both shown above. If you're interested you can also check out the Angel Medley in Yusri's channel, which is a compilation of the three Angel Dream series songs!

Download links to all the charts can be found in the respective video descriptions. Have fun, and happy holidays everyone!