Creating custom songs for Guitar Hero 1 might seem like a daunting task, but with the right tools and guidance, you can bring your favorite music into the game. This tutorial provides a detailed, step-by-step approach to crafting your own note charts, offering an alternative to methods like Freetar Hero or Anvil Studio for a streamlined and efficient process. While it may appear lengthy initially due to the illustrative images, the process is quite straightforward and becomes even quicker with practice.
If you have any questions regarding this tutorial or the software mentioned, please post them in the comments section below. Do not start a new thread for questions related to this guide.
Table of Contents
- Summary: Tools for Custom Song Creation
- Getting Started: Choosing Your Song
- Finding the Tempo: Setting the Pace
- Charting with TabIt: Laying Down the Notes
- Charting with Guitar Pro 4.x: An Alternative Approach
- Charting with Power Tab: Another Option for Note Creation
- Editing with Anvil Studio: Refining Your MIDI
- Synchronization Check with Guitar Hero Explorer: Ensuring Perfect Timing
- Tempo and Time Signature Changes with MIDI Maestro: Adding Dynamics
- Inserting Star Power: Amping Up the Gameplay
- Player 1/2 Positions: (Coming Soon)
- Bass, Rhythm Guitar, and Co-op Tracks: Expanding Your Song
- Finalizing Your Song: Putting It All Together
- Further Learning: Additional Resources
- Conclusion: Your Custom Guitar Hero Song Awaits
Chapter 1: Summary: Tools for Custom Song Creation
This tutorial will guide you through the process of creating custom note charts for Guitar Hero Songs 1 using a selection of readily available software. These programs are instrumental in transforming your musical ideas into playable Guitar Hero tracks:
- TabIt, Guitar Pro, or PowerTab: These are tablature editors that allow you to create music in MIDI format. They are primarily designed for musicians to write and learn songs using tablature. While all three can be used, TabIt is recommended for its user-friendly interface. You don’t need to use all three; choose the one you are most comfortable with.
- Anvil Studio: While this tutorial offers an alternative to relying solely on Anvil Studio, it remains essential for finalizing your MIDI file into a format compatible with Guitar Hero.
- MIDI Maestro: This tool is crucial for implementing tempo and time signature changes within your song, adding dynamic variation to your custom track.
- Guitar Hero Explorer: This utility is used to test and synchronize your custom song within the Guitar Hero game environment.
- Guitar Hero Templates: These templates provide a pre-configured setup within the tablature programs, specifically designed for Guitar Hero note charting:
- Guitar Hero Template for TabIt
- Guitar Hero Template for Guitar Pro (Requires Guitar Pro version 4.0.7 or later)
- Guitar Hero Template for PowerTab
- Guitar Hero 1 Template for Anvil Studio [right-click-save] (Only necessary if you are specifically creating songs for Guitar Hero 1)
- Guitar Hero 2 Template for Anvil Studio [right-click-save] (Used as the primary example in this tutorial, also suitable for later Guitar Hero games)
While PowerTab and Anvil Studio are available as freeware, TabIt and MIDI Maestro offer more advanced features in their registered versions. The choice to purchase these programs is up to you. However, the tutorial primarily focuses on TabIt for note charting due to its intuitive nature.
Note: Even if you choose to use Guitar Pro or PowerTab for charting, it is highly recommended to read the TabIt section as it covers the fundamental principles of note chart creation in tablature programs, which are applicable across different software.
Chapter 2: Getting Started: Choosing Your Song
The first step in creating your custom Guitar Hero song is selecting the music you want to chart. If you are new to note charting, it’s advisable to start with a simpler song that has a consistent tempo. This will make the initial learning curve less steep and help you grasp the fundamentals more easily. As your understanding of rhythm and tabbing improves, you can move on to more complex songs.
For this tutorial, we will use “Only for the Weak” by In Flames as an example song. We will focus on charting the first four measures of both the rhythm and lead guitar parts. You are welcome to follow along with this example, but it is not mandatory. The song serves as a practical illustration to compare a Guitar Hero note chart with a tablature representation of the actual guitar lines.
Click here to listen to a clip of the example song we’ll be working with.
Chapter 3: Finding the Tempo: Setting the Pace
Before you begin charting notes, determining the correct tempo (beats per minute or BPM) of your chosen song is crucial. Accurate tempo is essential for ensuring that your note chart synchronizes perfectly with the music in Guitar Hero. Here are a few methods to find the tempo:
- Using a Metronome: Play your song and use a metronome to manually match the tempo to the beat of the music. This method requires a good sense of rhythm and timing. If you find this challenging, it might indicate that note charting could be difficult, as a steady tempo perception is fundamental. However, with practice on Guitar Hero, you likely already have a good sense of tempo.
- Tempo Tapping in TabIt: TabIt has a built-in tempo detection tool. Press
CTRL + Mand click on “TAP”. Play the MP3 clip of your song and tap any key on your keyboard in time with the beat. TabIt will provide an estimated tempo. While TabIt’s estimation might not be perfectly precise initially, observe the number as you tap. Once you see a relatively stable BPM value, click “Okay” to set it. Then, click the metronome icon and pressF5to play the metronome sound. Compare it with the song; if it sounds off, adjust the tempo up or down until it matches. - Using Existing Tablature: If you can find a tablature file for your song in TabIt, Guitar Pro, or Power Tab, check if the tempo is indicated in the file. You can use this tempo as a starting point or verify it with the other methods.
If you know of tempo detection methods within Guitar Pro and Power Tab, please share them in the comments, and they will be added to this guide.
For our example song, “Only for the Weak,” the tempo is 210 BPM.
Chapter 4: Charting with TabIt: Laying Down the Notes
Once you have determined the tempo, you can start creating your note chart in TabIt. Begin by opening the Guitar Hero template (guitarhero.tbt) that you downloaded earlier in TabIt.
Don’t worry if your TabIt interface looks different from the image below. TabIt’s appearance is customizable, and the default is a simple black and white theme.
Guitar Hero TabIt Template Interface
This template is specifically designed for Guitar Hero note charting. The tracks are labeled with difficulty levels. For this tutorial, we will focus on the “Expert” track, which is Track 4. As indicated in the comments within the template, each string in the Expert track corresponds to a Guitar Hero fret button:
- String 1: Green button
- String 2: Red button
- String 3: Yellow button
- String 4: Blue button
- String 5: Orange button
- String 6: Star Power activation
- String 7: Player 1 section activation (for Face-Off mode)
For convenience, a tablature of “Only for the Weak” is available on the TabIt website. While downloading it isn’t necessary for this tutorial, having the guitar part you want to chart in the same TabIt file as the guitarhero.tbt template can be helpful. To do this, copy the guitar part from the online tab (highlight the section you need, press CTRL + C) and paste it into the guitarhero.tbt template (press CTRL + V). You can paste it onto the “Hard” difficulty track since we are focusing on the “Expert” track. Accurate tuning is only required for the “Expert” track.
Copying and Pasting Guitar Tablature into TabIt Template
Note: Track positions might shift in subsequent images to highlight specific details. Please disregard track order variations and focus on the content being explained.
Note: The song you are charting might not be in 4/4 time signature. To change the time signature in TabIt, go to “Song” -> “Recreate Bar Lines…” and enter the top number of the time signature fraction. For example, for 3/4 time, simply enter “3”. Important: This time signature change will only be reflected in TabIt. To implement time signature changes in Guitar Hero, you will need to follow the instructions in Chapter 9 using MIDI Maestro.
Let’s begin charting the rhythm guitar part of “Only for the Weak.” Here’s how the beginning of both rhythm and lead guitar parts looks in tablature:
Tablature Example of “Only for the Weak” Rhythm and Lead Guitar
We will recreate the rhythm guitar line on the “Expert” track of our template. Observe the horizontal lines at the top of the tablature grid; these represent note durations. While understanding precise note values isn’t essential, use these lines as visual guides. The four chords in each measure in this example align with the four largest lines in each bar. Recreating the rhythm guitar part will look something like this:
Recreating Rhythm Guitar Chart in TabIt
*Remember, the top string in the template corresponds to the GREEN button, and the fifth string corresponds to the ORANGE button. It’s a straightforward mapping. The 6th string is reserved for Star Power input, and the 7th string is currently not in use.*
If we were to leave the rhythm guitar notes as they are, the chords would sustain until the next note is played. However, we want them to be single, distinct notes in Guitar Hero. To achieve this, insert an asterisk * immediately after the “0” for each note:
Adding Rests () for Single Notes in TabIt*
Asterisks * function as “rests.” They interrupt the note and create the effect of single or sustained notes in Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero interprets rests and sustained notes differently than tablature programs. To make sustained notes feel accurate in the game, you’ll generally need to reduce the duration of the rest by approximately half.
Now, let’s consider charting the lead guitar part. The “Expert” track we are currently using is suitable for both rhythm and lead parts. In a full song chart, you would typically use separate tracks for rhythm and lead guitar. However, for this example, we will focus on the rhythm part. The lead guitar part, for illustrative purposes, would be charted similarly, again noting the placement of asterisks for note articulation. Here is how the lead guitar part would look charted:
Charting Lead Guitar Example in TabIt
Combined, the charted rhythm and lead parts would appear as follows:
Combined Rhythm and Lead Guitar Charts in TabIt
With our basic note chart created, let’s export it as a MIDI file. For this example, we will only export the rhythm guitar track.
Go to “File” -> “Export MIDI”:
Exporting MIDI File from TabIt
In the “Export MIDI Tracks” dialog, check the box for the track containing your note chart (in this case, the “Expert” track) and click “OK.” Choose a location to save your MIDI file.
Selecting Track for MIDI Export in TabIt
For backup and future editing, go to “File” -> “Save As…” and save your TabIt file. This saved file will allow you to make adjustments later if needed.
Chapter 5: Charting with Guitar Pro 4.x: An Alternative Approach
The process of creating note charts in Guitar Pro 4.x is fundamentally similar to TabIt. You will follow the same principles outlined in the TabIt section. Here’s how the Guitar Hero template looks in Guitar Pro 4.x:
Guitar Hero Template in Guitar Pro 4.x
Once you have completed your note chart in Guitar Pro, export it as a MIDI file using the same export instructions as described for TabIt. Remember to save your Guitar Pro file as well (“Save As…”) to retain an editable version and avoid overwriting the original template.
Exporting MIDI File from Guitar Pro 4.x
Chapter 6: Charting with Power Tab: Another Option for Note Creation
While creating separate tracks for each difficulty level in Power Tab can be less intuitive, the Guitar Hero template includes pre-configured tracks. To view them, click the guitar button on the toolbar:
Accessing Guitar Hero Tracks in Power Tab
The tracks are organized as follows:
- Expert
- Hard
- Medium
- Easy
The Bass track within the Power Tab template has been retuned to match the TabIt template. However, if you encounter any pitch-related issues, it might be due to octave discrepancies.
Guitar Hero Tracks in Power Tab Interface
To export your Power Tab chart as a MIDI file, follow the same MIDI export procedure as described for TabIt and Guitar Pro.
Chapter 7: Editing with Anvil Studio: Refining Your MIDI
Now, we will use Anvil Studio to prepare our MIDI file for Guitar Hero. Open Anvil Studio and go to “File” -> “Open Song…” and select the MIDI file you exported from TabIt, Guitar Pro, or Power Tab.
Next, open one of the Anvil Studio templates you downloaded earlier – either the Guitar Hero 1 template (gh1template.mid) or the Guitar Hero 2 template (gh2template.mid). For this tutorial, we will assume you are creating a song for Guitar Hero 2.
In Anvil Studio, go to “File” -> “Merge Song…” and select the gh2template.mid file. Then, switch to the “Compose” view in Anvil Studio.
Merging MIDI Files in Anvil Studio
Select the track labeled “TabIt MIDI – Track” (or the equivalent track name from your tablature program). You should see the notes from your chart displayed on a musical staff. Press CTRL + A to select all notes in this track, and then press CTRL + C to copy them. Now, select the track named “PART GUITAR RHYTHM” and press SHIFT + Insert to paste the copied notes into this track. Typically, for a single-player guitar part, you would paste notes into the “PART GUITAR” track. However, for demonstration purposes, and because we are working with a rhythm guitar example, we are using “PART GUITAR RHYTHM.”
The “TabIt MIDI – Track” is now redundant. To delete it, press ALT, T, D in sequence (not simultaneously). Confirm the deletion by clicking “Yes” or pressing the spacebar.
Finally, set the tempo we determined earlier (210 BPM in our example) in the tempo field on the top toolbar in Anvil Studio. Save your modified MIDI file by going to “File” -> “Save Song As…”.
Setting Tempo and Saving MIDI in Anvil Studio
Chapter 8: Synchronization Check with Guitar Hero Explorer: Ensuring Perfect Timing
To test the synchronization of your custom song in Guitar Hero, follow steps 6-9 in this tutorial on importing MIDI and song files into Guitar Hero Explorer (GHEx). The initial import process might take some time, depending on your hard drive speed; it can take around 6 minutes for the first import. However, subsequent imports and replacements will be much faster as the re-writing process is bypassed.
As mentioned in the linked tutorial, if the first note in your chart is not synchronized with the music, you can adjust the “offset” setting in GHEx. Alternatively, you can refine the MIDI file itself. To adjust the MIDI, go back to your note chart in TabIt (or your chosen tablature program) and add a small space before the first note or remove a tiny bit of space to align the chart with the song’s timing. Then, repeat the steps to export the MIDI, import into Anvil Studio, and then into GHEx to check if the synchronization is improved.
Chapter 9: Tempo and Time Signature Changes with MIDI Maestro: Adding Dynamics
If you notice that your custom song starts in sync but gradually drifts out of sync as the song progresses, it indicates a tempo variation within the song itself. This is common in many songs. To address this, you need to incorporate tempo changes into your MIDI file using MIDI Maestro.
Open MIDI Maestro. It might ask if you want it to be the default player for .mid files. Click “No” each time you open it to prevent this.
Open the finalized MIDI file you created in Anvil Studio and imported into GHEx by going to “File” -> “Open…”.
You will see the tracks as they were in Anvil Studio, with yellow bars representing the notes. The second smaller bar in the “Events” section can be ignored for now.
MIDI Maestro Interface
Go to “View” -> “Staff.” If you don’t see notes on the staff view, click the number “7” in the track list to select the appropriate track.
Viewing Staff in MIDI Maestro
To insert a tempo change, go to “Insert” -> “Tempo.” For example, let’s say you want to make the second measure faster and revert to the original tempo in the third measure. Set the tempo change as shown:
Inserting Tempo Change in MIDI Maestro
If you want the tempo change to apply from a specific measure to the end of the song, set both “Measure” numbers to be the same (e.g., both to “2”).
To change the time signature, go to “Insert” -> “Meter.” Similarly, to apply the time signature change from the current measure to the end, leave the “Measure” numbers as they are. To apply the change only to a specific measure, set both measure numbers to the same value (e.g., “2” for both).
Inserting Time Signature Change in MIDI Maestro
Note: Guitar Hero only supports x/4 time signatures. Other time signatures (e.g., 7/8) will be converted by the game, potentially misaligning your notes with the measures. However, this does not affect the overall synchronization of the chart and music. Time signatures are primarily a visual element and do not drastically impact gameplay.
Note: MIDI Maestro may add unwanted tracks and events to your MIDI file. After using MIDI Maestro, you will need to re-open the MIDI in Anvil Studio to delete these extra tracks.
Unwanted Tracks Added by MIDI Maestro
To remove the unwanted events, refer to Chapter 14 for instructions on accessing the Event List in Anvil Studio. In the Event List window, you will see a “Delete Event” button. Double-click on the unwanted event and click this button to delete it.
Deleting Unwanted Events in Anvil Studio
Chapter 10: Inserting Star Power: Amping Up the Gameplay
With your note chart, tempos, and time signatures finalized, you can now add Star Power to your custom Guitar Hero song.
In all the tablature editing programs, the 6th string is designated for Star Power activation. In your tablature program, identify the sections where you want Star Power to begin. In TabIt, it would look like this:
Inserting Star Power Notes in TabIt
Export the MIDI file and import it into Anvil Studio, following the same steps as before. Copy the notes to either “PART GUITAR” or “PART GUITAR RHYTHM,” and delete the TabIt track.
With the “PART GUITAR RHYTHM” track selected in the Compose view of Anvil Studio, change the track view from “Staff” to “Piano Roll” using the dropdown menu under the track names.
If you only see a limited number of piano keys, click the “add sounds” button below the keys. Set “C5” as the “Lowest Note” and change “Number of Notes to Show” to “50.”
You will now see the notes as you charted them in TabIt, but they might appear upside down due to tuning. Star Power events are represented by small, isolated blue bars at the top of the piano roll.
Star Power Representation in Anvil Studio Piano Roll View
To create a Star Power phrase, grab the right edge of the blue bar and drag it to extend it across the desired duration of the Star Power section. Extend it slightly beyond the last note of the Star Power phrase.
Extending Star Power Duration in Anvil Studio
Once you save your MIDI file, the Star Power sections will be incorporated into your custom song.
Note: If you insert Star Power before adding different difficulty levels or player inserts, you might need to re-stretch the Star Power bars after re-importing the updated MIDI files into Anvil Studio, as the Star Power duration might reset.
However, if you are using Guitar Pro, you may not encounter this issue because Guitar Pro allows MIDI import, which should preserve event data like Star Power duration during editing. This behavior needs further confirmation.
Chapter 11: Player 1/2 Positions: (Coming Soon)
Apologies, this section of the tutorial is currently under development. Information on inserting Player 1/2 positions for Face-Off mode will be added in a future update.
Chapter 12: Bass, Rhythm Guitar, and Co-op Tracks: Expanding Your Song
Creating charts for Bass, Rhythm Guitar, or Co-op modes is straightforward. Simply use the provided templates in TabIt, Guitar Pro, or Power Tab and create the note charts for these instruments as you would for the main guitar part.
Once you have charted the Bass or Rhythm Guitar part, follow the same MIDI export and Anvil Studio import steps. However, instead of copying the notes to “PART GUITAR” or “PART GUITAR RHYTHM,” copy them to the appropriate track in Anvil Studio: “PART BASS” for bass charts or “PART RHYTHM” for rhythm guitar charts. The process is identical to charting the main guitar part.
Chapter 13: Inserting Different Difficulties
To create different difficulty levels (Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert) for your custom Guitar Hero song, you will chart each difficulty level individually within the provided templates.
Difficulty Tracks in TabIt Template
Follow the same MIDI export and Anvil Studio import process. This time, you will be importing multiple tracks from your tablature program (e.g., TabIt).
In Anvil Studio, you will see multiple “TabIt Tracks” (or equivalent, depending on your charting program).
Multiple TabIt Tracks in Anvil Studio
Select one of the “TabIt Tracks,” then go to “Track” -> “Merge…” and select the other “TabIt Track” you want to combine. Copy the notes from the merged “TabIt Track” into the corresponding “PART” track in Anvil Studio (e.g., “PART EASY,” “PART MEDIUM,” “PART HARD,” “PART EXPERT”) based on the difficulty level you charted. Repeat this process for all difficulty tracks.
After merging and copying all difficulty level charts, delete the original “TabIt Tracks” and save the MIDI file. Your MIDI is now ready to be imported into Guitar Hero Explorer with multiple difficulty levels.
Chapter 14: The Final Step
Your custom Guitar Hero song chart is now complete, with all details, including notes, tempo changes, time signatures, Star Power, and difficulty levels, added. The final step is to ensure the MIDI file is correctly configured for Guitar Hero.
Open your finalized MIDI file in Anvil Studio one last time. Go to the “Event List” view and select the “EVENTS” track.
Event List View in Anvil Studio
Note: Ensure that your “EVENTS” track in the “Event List” view looks similar to the image. Inconsistent “EVENTS” track configurations can cause issues in Guitar Hero. The configuration shown is typical of successful custom song charts.
Double-click on the “Comments: [end]” line (in the GH1 template, it might be “Comments: end”). A window will pop up.
Editing “Comments: [end]” Event
You need to adjust the number in the second box of this window so that the time stamp on the left side of “Comments” reads at least 1 second past the total length of your song. The number will likely be quite large. Observe the time stamp and estimate how much to add or subtract.
Adjusting “Comments: [end]” Time Stamp
If the time stamp is before the end of the song, the song will end prematurely in the game. If it’s significantly after the song ends, you will have an extended wait after the music stops before the “You Rock!” message appears. Aim for approximately one second after the song’s actual end.
Once you have set the correct end time, save your MIDI file. Import it into Guitar Hero Explorer, create the ISO file, burn the game disc, and enjoy your custom Guitar Hero song!
Custom Song in Guitar Hero Explorer
Playing Custom Song in Guitar Hero
Chapter 15: Further Learning: Additional Resources
To deepen your understanding of Guitar Hero custom song creation and related topics, explore these valuable resources:
- Idiot Proof Guide to playing custom made songs in GH2.: Provides instructions on how to play your custom songs on a Guitar Hero 1 or 2 DVD.
- Custom Song FAQ: A collection of frequently asked questions about Guitar Hero custom songs, covering various aspects of the process.
- Guitar Hero MIDI and VGS File Details: In-depth information about the technical details of Guitar Hero MIDI and VGS files.
- Beginner’s Guide to Creating Custom Mids: A guide specifically focused on using Anvil Studio for creating custom song charts.
- Guitar Pro 5 template – now with Tutorial!: A tutorial by Ryu Blitz on creating charts using Guitar Pro 5, which can also be helpful for Guitar Pro 4.x users.
Chapter 16: Conclusion: Your Custom Guitar Hero Song Awaits
This tutorial has provided a comprehensive guide to creating your own custom Guitar Hero songs 1. By following these steps and utilizing the recommended software, you can transform your favorite music into playable tracks within the game.
Thank you to all the community members who have contributed their knowledge, making it possible to share this guide with aspiring custom song creators.
If you encounter any ambiguities, have further questions, or identify any important details that may have been omitted, please let us know in the comments. Frequently asked questions and their answers will be added to this guide for the benefit of all users.
Good luck, and enjoy creating your own Guitar Hero songs!
whiskeyface’s Custom Songs | Idiot Proof Guide to MAKING Custom Guitar Hero Songs
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