This tutorial will show you how to add an automatically generated metronome sound to any CDLC of your choice. It works really fast and enables you to play a song completely solo. Mute the original music, play only with the metronome and find out how good you really sound!
Don't know what this means? Check out one of these customs, they have been updated with metronome bonus arrangements!
 
Contents:

• Introduction
• How to set up the metronome
• How to use the metronome
• Known issues
• How to make sure your beat map is prepared for the metronome
• How to add metronome events directly in EOF
• FAQ
• Appendix: Add the metronome in the xml manually

 

1. Introduction:
 
Hi everyone,
with the help of @@Alex360 in this thread I was able to achieve something I had dreamed about for a longer time. I don't know if others are aware of this great possibilty, so I'm sharing my new knowledge with everone here.
 
Rocksmith teaches us a lot of things and is an awesome tool for learning guitar. But it also tricks us into believing we play and sound better than we actually do. When you play a song that you feel comfortable with inside Rocksmith on your own for the first time, you will most likely realize that you suck at playing! You can never find out how good you really sound if you just play with the original music. Now of course the ultimate solution is playing a multitrack CDLC, but those are rare (Don't know what that is? - Then search for the word 'multitrack'). Another option is to play with a real amp in parallel, but not everyone has that option. The next one is to just lower or even mute the original music in the mixer. But from my experience it is difficult to keep up the tempo and stick to the beat when you have no music at all... this is a frustrating experience. Now what is the solution that musicians have used since like forever? Correct: The metronome! Professional musicians still use them for training and recording to get the best results.
 
Rocksmith has a metronome available. It counts you in when you play an offical song. But Rocksmith lacked the feature to accompany you with a metronome through the whole song - until now!
I hope you are as exited as I am! I wish for the next search engine to include filters for "multitracks" and "metronome bonus track".
 
2. How to set up the metronome:
With the recent (beta) version of the Custom Song Creator Toolkit, it is possible to generate the metronome bonus tracks automatically, with just one click! Special thanks to Alex once more :D

In the "Edit Arrangement" window, just tick the box "Create Metronome Bonus Arrangements" in the bottom of the window. Then generate the custom as normal, you are done!

 

 

If you are a charter and plan to update your Custom after you have tested your work, please consider tagging your search entry with the tag "Metronome Bonus Arrangement". This will help others find your CDLC.

 

3. How to use the metronome:

You will find the Metronome ingame under the "Bonus Arrangements" of each path. At default mixer settings, you will hear both the original music and the metronome. If you want to hear nothing but the metronome, you will have to mute the regular music in the mixer. Also make the "Sound Effects" at least as loud as your guitar.

4. Known issues:

• If you play a song, hit ESC and then "restart song", the metronome will be gone. It happens in official content, too. Just exit the song and start it again!
• The metronome will only work poorly if the CDLC beat map is not well done. Sadly, this is the case with lots of customs... see the next section

5. How to make sure your beat map is prepared for the metronome

• Follow the instructions for the Dynamic Difficulty Creator: Important for us: All notes must be grid snapped to the beat grid.
• Also: The beginning of your chart should look like the following example:

 
This means:

• The bars of the chart must be in in sync with the bars in the music. Every bar has a first beat, and the drummer normally plays that beat a little bit louder, so listen!
• The very first note (if it is on the very first beat, not some sort of off-beat) must be on the beginning of a bar, ideally the second one. In the picture you see the yellow number "2" indicating the bar counter.
• One complete bar (in this case four beats) should be placed before the first note. This is where Rocksmith counts you in!
• The rest of the leading silence must not be filled with beats! (!!!) In the past, EOF asked you: 'The first beat marker is not positioned at 0 seconds [...] correct this condition with "Reset offset to zero"?' Luckily we could get rid of this prompt, because it always ruined the sync of the bars.

If you follow all these rules, the metronome should work very well. Your CDLC will also look better ingame, because the beats and bars are visible there, as well.
The Rocksmith 2014 Tab Converter will benefit from this, too and deliver better results!
 
 
6. How to add metronome events directly in EOF
 
You don't want to mess with the xml file? You don't like the fact that you have to repeat the editing of the xml file after each change you did in EOF?
Well, there is a partial solution for that - I was informed that we can place metronome events directly in EOF, and it's as easy as it gets:

• Click on a beat
• Hit "Shift + E"
• Select the event you want to place. In our case, either B0 or B1

Of course this only makes sense for placing the metronome ticks in the count-in bar (Bar #1 in the picture above): Select event "B0" for the first beat and "B1" for the other three beats.
Now those events are written to the xml by EOF and we have the same effect as we know it from official DLC :)
I still suggest using the procedure described in the paragraph #2 to create the separate metronome bonus arrangement xml. Don't manually add events throughout the song in EOF, that doesn't make sense!
 
 
7. FAQ

Is it possible to change the offbeat if you've reset it to zero?

Yes, and it's very easy!
 
In EOF, under "Beat" click on "Push Offset Up". Repeat as often as necessary, until it looks like my picture above.
Make sure to set the correct "Time Signature" under "Beat", too. Otherwise the yellow numbers couting the bars will not show up, because Rocksmith will not know which the first beat of every bar is.
Your notes will not move, so don't be afraid that you might break your chart.

 

How can I add the count-in ticks to a finished CLDC where the beatmap starts with the first note?

You have to add a full measure before the first note. The process is the same as above, except now you have to click "Push Offset Back". In a 4/4 time signature, you have to click it four times. Then you can add the count-in events to those beats. This will not alter your existing beats and notes, it only adds additional beats in the beginning.
 

How do I find CDLCs that already have the metronome enabled?

Do a search for the tag "Metronome Bonus Arrangement" (or just click here).
Unfortunately, tags cannot be found in the CDLC search, but the Forum search will find them - that's the link above.
 

I've done everything correctly, but I cannot hear the metronome ingame! WTF?

Make sure your volume settings are correct. The metronome is part of the "Sound Effects" volume in the mixer, so make that as loud as your guitar/bass. (Also: Check if you can hear the count-in metronome in official songs)
 
--------------------------
 
8. Appendix: Add the metronome in the xml manually

 

This is my original description, necessary before it was possible to use the Toolkit with one click. If you want to know what the Toolkit does automatically, read this:

Now this took long to write, maybe even to read, but it can be done in less than 2 minutes!

• Our goal is to create a bonus arrangement with the metronome that we add to the existing CDLC, so you can just select it ingame.
• To achieve that, we have to manipulate the .xml file of the arrangement (lead, rhythm, bass or all of them).
• First, you need to open the Rocksmith Custom Toolkit (Download)
• Click "Import Package" and choose the CDLC and a destination where the files are unpacked
• Open the folder "EOF" in the destination. Here you will find the xml files, e.g. 'yoursong_lead.xml'
• Copy and rename the arrangement of your choice, e.g. to 'yoursong_lead_metronome.xml'.
• Open the new file in an editor of your choice and search for the following part: <ebeats>. This contains the time stamps of all the beats in your song. There will be lots of entries and they look like the following example:

<ebeats count="542">
    <ebeat time="2.916" measure="1"/>
    <ebeat time="3.306" measure="-1"/>
    <ebeat time="3.696" measure="-1"/>
    <ebeat time="4.086" measure="-1"/>
    <ebeat time="4.476" measure="2"/>
    <ebeat time="4.866" measure="-1"/>
    <ebeat time="5.257" measure="-1"/>
    <ebeat time="5.647" measure="-1"/>
    <ebeat time="6.037" measure="3"/>
    ... and so on ...
</ebeats>

8. Now copy this complete passage to a new, temporary file. We will use the time stamps to fill in the command to play the metronome sound.
9. Use the search and replace function of your editor to replace the following strings. Use this specific order.
At least in Notepad++ the . is used as a "variable": . is any one character, .. is two characters and so on. Your measure numbers will go above 100 so we need to replace ... , too:

ebeat               ->  event
measure="-1"        ->  code="B1"
measure="."         ->  code="B0"
measure=".."        ->  code="B0"
measure="..."       ->  code="B0"

9. Now the example from above should look like this:

<events count="542">
    <event time="2.916" code="B0"/>
    <event time="3.306" code="B1"/>
    <event time="3.696" code="B1"/>
    <event time="4.086" code="B1"/>
    <event time="4.476" code="B0"/>
    <event time="4.866" code="B1"/>
    <event time="5.257" code="B1"/>
    <event time="5.647" code="B1"/>
    <event time="6.037" code="B0"/>
    ... and so on ...
</events>

"Event code B0" plays the tick that marks the first beat of the bar. It has a sligtly different sound than B1, which mark the following three beats in our 4/4 time signature

10. Go back to the file 'yoursong_lead_metronome.xml' and search for the following line. Normaly our CDLC don't have any events.

  <events count="0"/>

11. Now replace this line with the metronome events we produced.
12. Save the file.

(12b. Bonus trick: If you've got the idea now, you can also add the count-in ticks to the regular xml (Like we know it from offical content). Simply just use the first block of B0, B1, B1, B1.)

13. Go back to the Toolkit and under "Arrangements" click "Add"
14. Select the file 'yoursong_lead_metronome.xml'
15. Important: Now tick the box "Bonus Arrangement
16. In the same window under "Tone selector" make sure the correct tones are set. Open up the the original arrangement configuration for comparison.
17. This should be it! Hit "ok" and then "Generate" in the main window.
18. Copy the new psarc file into your dlc folder and don't forget to delete the old one.
19. Congratulations, you are done!
--------------------------
 
Thanks for reading my first tutorial. I hope you will like and use this feature. I also hope more charters will care more for their beat maps :)
As always, please leave feedback! And check out my CDLCs ;-)

@@Azrael, I'll look into it, I saw lot's of code changed recently, I can't review it all faster, I started from tuning, and It's still in wip, so It'll take some time

Probably just need to revert GenMetronomeArr method to the way it was before all the changes.  Not sure why I changed it.  Sorry.

 

EDIT: I recalled why it was changed.  The old method creates a new XML file and new name.  The XML file name can not change otherwise other code will fail.  So need to implement Metronome without changing XML file names.  I can fix if you are busy.  Let me know.  Oh heck, I broke it so I fixed it.  Look for latest beta release.  @@Azrael would appreciate feedback.  Give the repo a few minutes to update.  Thanks

public Arrangement GenMetronomeArr(Arrangement arr)
        {
            var mArr = GeneralExtensions.Copy<Arrangement>(arr);
            var songXml = Song2014.LoadFromFile(mArr.SongXml.File);
            var newXml = Path.GetTempFileName();
            mArr.SongXml = new RocksmithToolkitLib.DLCPackage.AggregateGraph.SongXML{ File = newXml };
            mArr.SongFile = new RocksmithToolkitLib.DLCPackage.AggregateGraph.SongFile{ File = "" };
            mArr.CleanCache();
            mArr.BonusArr = true;
            mArr.Id = IdGenerator.Guid();
            mArr.MasterId = RandomGenerator.NextInt();
            mArr.Metronome = Metronome.Itself;
            songXml.ArrangementProperties.Metronome = (int)Metronome.Itself;

            var ebeats = songXml.Ebeats;
            var songEvents = new RocksmithToolkitLib.Xml.SongEvent[ebeats.Length];
            for (var i = 0; i < ebeats.Length; i++){
                songEvents[i] = new RocksmithToolkitLib.Xml.SongEvent {
                    Code = ebeats[i].Measure == -1 ? "B1" : "B0",
                    Time = ebeats[i].Time
                };
            }
            songXml.Events = songXml.Events.Union(songEvents, new EqSEvent()).OrderBy(x => x.Time).ToArray();
            using (var stream = File.OpenWrite(mArr.SongXml.File)) {
                songXml.Serialize(stream);
            }
            return mArr;
        }
        public class EqSEvent : IEqualityComparer<RocksmithToolkitLib.Xml.SongEvent>
        {
            public bool Equals(RocksmithToolkitLib.Xml.SongEvent x, RocksmithToolkitLib.Xml.SongEvent y)
            {
                if (x == null)
                    return y == null;

                return x.Code == y.Code && x.Time.Equals(y.Time);
            }

@@cozy1

I can confirm that it now works again as expected! Thanks a lot!

 

Thanks at @@TomSawyer2112 for mentioning the issue in the first place. Does it work for you now, too?

Yes it works as expected, and no error message when generating

Metronome arr. is in the Bonus Lead

 

I unchecked Bonus Arrangement  in the Toolkit for my DD arrangement,

which appears then in RS14 as "Alternate Lead" (@@Berneer)

http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/b11e/brw3ihoimphiyg6zg.jpg

It's possible to add more, so I can add Metronome to DD Alternate lead as well, but with 2 Bonus Lead it starts to get confusing.

I wonder if the names "Bonus" and "Alternate" could be changed outside of RS to something more specific like

 "Metronome", "DD"

Glad it is working.

 

I asked the same question and it seems that to use labels other than Bonus and Alternate requires hacking the game, which I suppose would be beyond the scope of what we're doing here.

 

For my MacGyver CDLC, I initially had 1 Lead, 2 Alternate leads and 3 Bonus Leads (metronome). Was a bit much with labels limited to Alternate and Bonus, so I pushed one arrangement and it's metronome counterpart into the Rhythm path. Cleaned things up, and also it had lots of chords so I put the finger-style arrangement in Rhythm. All this to say that RS seems to accommodate more than a couple of arrangements per path.

 

Cheers

This is great.

 

When I went back to add the count in to a bunch of my finished songs, I initally wondered why I hadn't been doing this all along. Then I discovered that nearly all of mine have notes on the first beat of the first measure. This means that if I want to add it, I would have to move all the notes/tech notes/tones/positions/lyrics back a measure (not to mention anything I haven't thought of), which is something I'm definitely not going to do.

 

I don't supposed there is any way to "insert" a blank measure prior to the first one? All of my songs have leading silence, so there's actual space enough to do it, but I'm guessing this is one of those "never gonna happen" things. If there is a way, I would definitely find it very useful.

 

 

 

It would also be useful for another song I'm working on that has spoken lyrics start before there are any other instruments, and since the GP synch starts with the first beat, I can't add the lyric at all, since there's no measure under it, only leading silence. It's just 2 words, the title of the song, so no biggie.

@@Billkwando If I understand correctly, this shouldn't be any problem at all.

 

See the FAQ in my first post, which is very similar:

Is it possible to change the offbeat if you've reset it to zero?

Yes, and it's very easy!
 
In EOF, under "Beat" click on "Push Offset Up". Repeat as often as necessary, until it looks like my picture above.
Make sure to set the correct "Time Signature" under "Beat", too. Otherwise the yellow numbers couting the bars will not show up, because Rocksmith will not know which the first beat of every bar is.
Your notes will not move, so don't be afraid that you might break your chart.

 

Your problem is the other way around:

In a 4/4 time signature, you have to click "Push Offset Back" four times to insert a full "blank" measure prior to the first one. Please let me know if you still have any issues ;)

@@Billkwando If I understand correctly, this shouldn't be any problem at all.

 

See the FAQ in my first post, which is very similar:

Is it possible to change the offbeat if you've reset it to zero?

Yes, and it's very easy!

 

In EOF, under "Beat" click on "Push Offset Up". Repeat as often as necessary, until it looks like my picture above.

Make sure to set the correct "Time Signature" under "Beat", too. Otherwise the yellow numbers couting the bars will not show up, because Rocksmith will not know which the first beat of every bar is.

Your notes will not move, so don't be afraid that you might break your chart.

 

Your problem is the other way around:

In a 4/4 time signature, you have to click "Push Offset Back" four times to insert a full "blank" measure prior to the first one. Please let me know if you still have any issues ;)

 

Assuming it works, that's just what I needed. Thanks!

 

Is there any concern if the notes at the end go up to the last measure?

 

I'm picturing it adding a measure at the beginning and pushing the notes at the end into a black hole. ;)

I think the beatmap always ends with the end of the song, you cannot remove beats at the end of the song.

The function "push offset" only controlles the offset at the beginning of the chart, so I don't think you can run into any kind of problems with your notes.

I think the beatmap always ends with the end of the song, you cannot remove beats at the end of the song.

The function "push offset" only controlles the offset at the beginning of the chart, so I don't think you can run into any kind of problems with your notes.

 

This worked perfectly for me, thanks so much! I would still suggest anyone who tried it to cautiously watch their last measure and be ready to "undo" if anything goes wrong, but yeah. This is badass.

 

I'd suggest updating your FAQ to specifically reference how to do it with existing/finished CDLCs. That will come as a great help to folks like me, and to folks who "adopt" abandoned CDLCs, to make them even better! :D

Any ideas what would cause the measures to get messed up when I do Push Offset Back?:

 

http://i.imgur.com/UwIV7WZ.jpg

@@Billkwando - Most of the time when you have something that's consistently 4/4 all of the the measures but the first have time signatures of "No Change" or something like that in EoF, but it looks like in your project each measure was marked as 4/4 (so you have 4/4 above measures 3 and 4 in addition to measure 1). So when you push the offset back, the beat that's at, say, 7.5ish seconds "remembers" that it should be the start of a 4/4 measure and enforces that, interrupting measure 2. If you push the offset back a total of 4 beats it shouldn't be a problem.