Song Guide for Singing Skill

First, download that latest version of 3ML from

http://aloe.or.tl/tools/3mle/bin/3mle_2_03_783.zip

or google "Mabinogi 3ML" without quotes and download the latest version you can find.

The 3ML versions that currently exist are capable of doing this, so don't waste time looking for updated versions if you already have 3ML.


Now, the issue with current scores it that Vocal is limited to ONE track, like the melody, so songs have to be limited to a single track in order to be heard with the skill Song. Even then, there is a limit to how high pitched the characters can sing, as it seems Octave 2 is the highest they can use without singing so high that you cannot hear the notes.

After downloading 3ML, create a new folder, and extract the contents of the archive inside that new folder. Then, download the MIDI file for a song you want to turn into a score, or just copy the MML code form a song you want to make usable with Song. Open 3ML, click File in the very top left, click Import MIDI, then select the song you want to turn into a score. If you are copying from a MML code, click Import MML from Clipboard instead.

I'll be using the MIDI file of the song River Flows in You to demonstrate how to turn it into a score that can be used with Song.



Songs tend to have several tracks, which make turning them into Vocal Scores difficult, as only one track can be used for the Vocal section of the Score. Here, you need to play the song using 3ML and see which track is the one that contains what you want to sing. 3ML lets you mute individual tracks or make the current track a solo performance by using the speaker buttons below the horizontal (left to right) list of all the tracks.

Since River Flows in You only has two tracks, and the first is mostly empty, I'll be adjusting track 2.What needs to be changed here is the Octave, and any in code Octave changes, in order to make sure it never goes above Octave 2. Below the horizontal scroll bar, you will see the tempo, the octave, and the velocity. Since the Octave is 4, let's deal with the Octave first.

The Octave changes in the code of the song are used with the characters < and >, so use Ctrl + R to replace all < and > with a blank space, like so.



All the < and > are removed, so the Octave will no longer be changed in this song. Note however, that the Octave at the bottom is still 4, so you need to enter o2 at the start of the first line to switch it to Octave 2. I suggest Octave 2 because Octave 1 sounds so deep on males that a bass makes higher pitched notes.

The Octave is now fixed at 2, and will not change, given that you replace all the < and > characters with blank spaces, and made sure any instance of o and a number (o1, o2, o3, o4, o5, etc...) is only the one that you put, since these change the octave as well.

Songs usually have a first track that is fairly empty and contains the copyright information, but they may also contain the tempo of the song. The tempo is the speed at which the song plays, so going too slow or too fast will ruin the song. The default tempo, if one is not manually inserted like the o2 Octave, tends to mess up songs, so enter t (for Tempo) and then the number value of the tempo at the bottom of the page. Since this is Water Flows in You, I'll enter t120. You'll know it is being read correctly if the o is blue and the t is green, like below.



Now the selected track is ready to be exported to the clipboard, so click File, then Export MML to Clipboard. In the window that pops up, uncheck every track that is NOT the one you want to place in the Score. Next, make sure the output settings are using Mabinogi MML@ Format, and that the optimize MML checkbox is checked. This it to make sure that Mabinogi can read the output from the Clipboard, and that any extra spaces or unneeded characters are removed to let more of the track fit in the Score. After this, click Copy MML, and the MML code is copied on your Clipboard. 3ML will also tell you how many characters the track that was copied has, and what level of Composing is required to fit it in one Score.

Now buy a Score Scroll from any General Shop, use the Compose Skill, and do NOT click the copy from Clipboard button when the empty boxes in the Score Scroll show up. Click the Vocal box, make sure that the cursor is flashing in and out, then press Ctrl + V to paste the code in the Vocal box. Here it should be obvious whether the code will work, as if some of the notes are in too high an Octave, the Vocal box will look blank, but still show the current character amount out of the total. If the code is visible, such that several letters and numbers are visible across the box, then the song is playable. Enter a title for the Score Scroll and click Compose.

Equip a Microphone and the Score Scroll, then use Song. Note that even if this is done perfectly, some songs simply sound terrible when males sing it, or when females sing it, so a character of the opposite gender may be needed to test the Score. If the song is heard satisfactorily, then it's a success. If not, changes need to be made in 3ML, from switching the octave or tempo, eliminating some notes by playing the song in 3ML to determine which sound off, and/or using a different track as the basis of the Score Scroll.

There are more advanced ways to turn songs into Vocal scores, but those will involve combining tracks by copying and pasting the code from one track into another while keeping the same line order, which is unique to each song and will require a lot of experimentation to pull off.