#Glossary

This page will go over a lot of frequently used terms in Mapping including concepts, patterns, and colloquial terms.

It is recommended you view this page before viewing the Ranking Criteria.

#General Terminology

• Mapper/Charter: The person who makes maps.

• Playtesting: A feature in the editor, allowing you to test your map at any given time.

• Pitch Relevancy: Notes corresponding to the melody of the song, typically higher pitch notes will end up on the rightmost columns, with lower on the left, mimicking a piano-like structure.

• Reverse Pitch Relevancy: Same concept as above, but inverted columns where higher pitch will be on the leftmost columns and visa versa.

• Layering: The concept of using specific patterns or chords assigned to different elements or instruments in a song.

• SV: Short for Scroll Velocity, is a change in the player's scroll speed during gameplay.

• Technical/Technically Accurate: Notes that will use 1 note or chord to represent 1 individual sound or instrument in a song.

• Dump: Dump is the concept of using more than one note to layer a sound in a song. instead of strictly placing 1 note to 1 sound, 1 vocal syllable, or 1 instrument, and the main focus being more on the flow and how the patterns feel to play over everything else.

• Anything that you place down in a song that uses multiple notes or a pattern of multiple notes to represent 1 sound should be referred to as dumped. This is a common misconception that jumpstream and other straightforward patterns cannot be "Dump" because it is it's own category of mapping, which is not true.

#Chord Terminology

These terms originate from games such as Dance Dance Revolution, because of the physical motions required.

• Jump: Two Notes at once.
• Hand: Three notes at once.
• Quad: Four notes at once.

#Timing/Rhythm Terminology

These terms relate to the timing of notes and the timing of a song in the context of mapping.

• BPM: Short for Beats Per Minute, indicating the tempo of the song.
• Measure: A section of a map that is noted in the Editor with an assigned measure number, typically refers to everything between the 1/1 snap at the start and end of said Measure.
• Time Signature: Indicates the amount of beats in a measure.
• Timing Point: Timing points are objects you can place at any time in your map to change the BPM or time signature of the song.
• Grace Notes/Flam Notes: Notes that accent another note usually closely placed before or after a common snap, typically used for slightly accented or delayed sounds like an acoustic guitar or piano.

#Text Notation

Typically in discussion of patterns, numbers are used to assign notes to columns. Square brackets ([]) are used to indicate that the notes are placed at the same time, making a chord.

• How this would look:
  • 1, 2, 3, 4 are used for individual, singular notes at different times. So 1234 would form a roll for example.
  • [1234] would be 4 notes at the same time in all 4 columns, making a quad.

#Pattern Terminology

There is text notation usage in this section, please read above if you're confused about any of the contents below.

• Stream: A continuous flow of notes at a constant speed, usually lacking in a lot of density in terms of chord usage.
  • Jumpstream: Same concept as streams but with added jumps within the stream.
  • Handsteam: Denser than jumpstreams, more frequently placed hands within the stream.
• Trill: Notes alternating between 2 columns repeatedly. For example: 13131313 or 24242424
  • One-Handed Trill: Notes alternating between 2 columns on the same hand repeatedly. Either 12121212 or 34343434
  • Jumptrill: One handed alternating jumps repeatedly. Written as [12][34][12][34]
• Jack: Notes repeating on a single column, creating a Jackhammer motion while playing them. eg: 333333
  • Minijack: Shorter than a regular jack. Typically 3 notes or less in length.
  • Chordjack: A group of chords that form jacks within them.
  • Jumpjack: Repeated jumps that form a jack on both columns of the jump. eg: [12][12][34][34]
• Roll: Repeated sequence over multiple columns (e.g., 1234123412341234).
• Anchor: An anchor is normally a long string of notes at the same speed in a singular column, typically surrounded with other notes or patterns. That's what separates an anchor from a jack.

#SV Terminology

Tools and terms used for SV Mapping.

• Linear: SV increases or decreases at a constant rate.
• Exponential: SV increases or decreases at a rate that is proportional to the current value.
• Teleport: A jump forward or backwards in the timeline of notes, usually requires a very large positive or negative SV value to achieve.
• Slowjam: A constant SV lower than 1.0x.
• Fastjam: A constant SV higher than 1.0x.
• Flicker: Changes the visibility of on-screen notes frequently, creating a flickering effect.
• Vibrato: A tool to make the notes appear as if they are essentially vibrating.