Layering

What is layering?

Layering refers to the idea of following more than one sound, instrument, or concept in the song at the same time in order to make the chart harder, make the chart more interesting to play, and give the chart more depth. The artist is layering instruments on top of each other. Layering is a powerful fundamental skill and technique that is used in almost every modern keyboard chart and has near limitless potential in not just its impact but how it can be achieved. If used correctly, the blend and harmonization of instruments coming together could be extremely fun and satisfying. Mastery of all aspects of layering technique is key to being a great chart artist.

How can layering be done?

There are many ways to layer a song. Layering usually refers to the addition of individual notes of each instrument to a chart as more tracks are transcribed. However, as long as it is evident that some part of the chart is following a particular sound in the music, it can be considered layering. Layering can be applied in many different ways, by utilizing more notes, holds or miniholds, mines, positioning, X-mod effects, and more. Of course, how each of these can be considered layering depends on transcription accuracy and application.

Choosing what instruments to layer, as well as how they are layered, is up to the chart artist, but there are certain guidelines that should be kept in mind. What the chart artist chooses to layer should be evident through playing the chart. It should generally be pretty clear what instruments were meant to be transcribed into the notes. Attempting to layer as many instruments as possible just for the sake of difficulty is usually frowned upon because it makes it extremely difficult to tell what is going on and what instruments are being layered, which makes playing the chart feel tedious and often times be a poor match to the song. A general tip is to give your patterns some space to "breathe". Cramped patterns result in dense notes with very little movement options for descriptive note patterns.

In addition, make sure to have a clear idea of when your layering choices should change or not change. If the instrument layers change too often, it can be distracting or confuse the player. However, changing occasionally will keep the chart interesting and get players listening to different sounds in the song that are important. I like to use the "road trip" analogy; you shouldn't just look at a single sight and miss everything else, but you should also give each sight just enough time to be able to appreciate it. Knowing when to layer an instrument track and when not to ultimately depends on your style and goals and the song.

Closing remarks

Keep in mind that while we give some examples on this article, many of the other pages will explain techniques that can be implicitly understood to be a subset of layering. This article serves to explain the basic concept and the most straightforward method of directly adding in notes, but the rest of the techniques will be outlined in examples and other topics throughout this guide.