A Guide to the New Content, the Compose & Play system.

Greetings from the Black Desert team.

For adventurers unfamiliar with the Compose & Play system,

we’re here today to explain, in brief, what are its basic functions and how to compose using the system.

Don’t we all have a Beethoven inside of us just waiting to break free?

Shall we begin~?

First, let’s discover from where exactly we can start composing!

You can access start making music through (new) Menu → Community → Music Album.

There should be a “NEW” marker next to it, making it rather easy to find!

Select Music Album to open the following window.

There are four options here. Shall we take a look at each one?

1. ① Compose: You can compose music
2. ② Album: You can find Scores that have been shared by other adventurers which you can download or listen to.
3. ③ Sound Settings: You can configure settings related to sound.
4. ④ Close: Close the Compose/Score window.

Press the Compose button to see the following window where you can input notes as seen below.

Quite a few options, aren’t there? Let’s go over each one together!

1. 1. BPM : You can set the speed of your music. The fastest is 180, and lowering the BPM will slow down your music.
2. 2. Tempo: You can set the tempo of your music.
3. 3. Guide: You can configure the notes here. 1/4 for quarter notes, ⅛ for eighth notes and 1/16 for sixteenth notes.
4. 4. Velocity: You can set the velocity of your music. Maximum velocity is 127, which you can change per note by clicking LMB on the notes individually. 

After setting the default velocity, change the velocity for each note according to the flow of music to add more flare.

5. 5. Instrument: Guitar, flute, and hand drum are three instruments you can choose from. If you are in a party, an Ensemble is also possible.
6. 6. Edit Mode, Select Mode: In Edit Mode, you can add notes. In Select Mode, you can edit the notes you’ve added onto the score. 

In particular, you can use your mouse to drag over and select several notes to edit them all at once in Select Mode. 

7. 7. Reset: You can reset your entire score and delete everything you’ve worked on so far.
8. 8. Save: You can save your music.

Here’s an example.

You’ve toiled really hard to compose your song, yet after listening to it, you feel it a bit too high and want to lower an octave.

You wouldn’t want to go back and input each note all over again, right?

Select all of the notes you wish to change, for you can move them or edit all of the selected notes at once.

It’d be a waste to listen to such a masterpiece all by yourself!

Why not share it with other adventurers?

You can play your music by pressing Play on a Shai that has discovered her Talent.

There may be adventurers who wish to compose even longer masterpieces.

By completing certain quests, you can increase your Music Level, which will expand the number of measures and notes you can compose with.

Also, there’s the option to share your compositions with other adventurers

Compose/Score window → Press the cogwheel under Etc. to select “Share”.