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Compose tab

Compose tab for osu!

Compose tab for osu!mania

The beatmap editor's compose tab is the place where mappers spend most of their time working on beatmaps after adjusting timing settings. Hit object patterns, hitsounds, and other aspects of beatmap design can be inspected in this tab.

The editor shares the same tools between osu!, osu!taiko, and osu!catch, while osu!mania has a specific compose tab layout more suitable for the game mode. It can be accessed by changing the difficulty's allowed mode to osu!mania.

Features

For a general overview of the mapping process, see: Beatmapping

Hit object timeline

Timeline for hit objects with respect to the beat snap divisor and timestamp

The timeline can be zoomed in and out with the +/- buttons to the left, or alternatively scrolling with the Alt key held. The two white lines in the middle indicate the current timestamp. Additionally, hit objects on the timeline can be selected and moved around with the left mouse button, or removed by right-clicking.

Click and drag a slidertail on the timeline right to create repeat sliders.

Beat snap divisor

Beat snap divisor

Name Description
Beat snap divisor Limit the amount of timeline ticks that determine which subdivisions of a beat hit objects can be placed on. Moving the slider to the right increases the granularity of timeline ticks.
Insert Break Time Add a break at the current timestamp.
x/y Shows the position of a selected hit object on the playfield, or if nothing is selected, the position of the cursor.

Hold Alt to switch the slider to distance spacing mode. The spacing multiplier can range from 0.1x to 6.0x.

Left toolbar

Left toolbar

Button (keyboard shortcut) Description
Sampleset Override the sampleset of selected objects (including their hitnormals). Choosing Auto resets the sampleset to that of the active timing point.
Additions Override the sampleset of selected objects, affecting only their additional hitsounds (whistle, finish, and clap). Choosing Auto resets the sampleset to that of the active timing point.
Select (1) Left click or Left drag: Select or move objects or control points. Right click: Remove objects or control points. Ctrl + Left click: Select multiple objects. Ctrl + Left click when selecting a slider: Add control point.
Circle (2) Left click: Add a hit circle at the current timestamp.
Slider (3) Left/Right click: Start or end a slider at the current timestamp. Left click when placing a slider: Add a control point.
Spinner (4) Left/Right click: Start or end a spinner at the current timestamp.

Playfield

Visual representation of the current timestamp

Right toolbar

Right toolbar

Button (keyboard shortcut) Usage Description
New Combo (Q) Left click when selecting a hit object or Right click in hit object placement. Start a new combo from the current object (roughly equivalent to a verse in song script).

Hitsounds

Button (keyboard shortcut) Usage
Whistle (W) Left click: Apply a whistle sound to selection.
Finish (E) Left click: Apply a finish sound to selection.
Clap (R) Left click: Apply a clap sound to selection.

Assist tools

Button (keyboard shortcut) Usage Description
Grid Snap (T) Hold Shift: Temporary toggle. Snap objects to the grid while moving.
Distance Snap (Y) Hold Alt: Temporary toggle, switching the beat snap divisor tool to distance snap. Alt + Mouse wheel: Adjust the distance snap multiplier. Calculate the distance between consecutive objects based on their temporal distance. Best to use while the timeline is paused.
Lock Notes (L) Left click: toggle. Lock all hit objects to their current positions and timestamps.

Song timeline

Song timeline

The current position in the song is shown on the bottom left in the format of <minutes>:<seconds>:<milliseconds>. When clicked, it opens a small pop-up window for copying or pasting object timestamps for quick selection and navigation. Next to the timestamp is the song progress percentage, displaying intro or outro when outside the range of the music track due to storyboard presence.

The central area contains the timeline with markings and music control buttons. When hovered, additional buttons for working with bookmarks appear. The Test button to the right of the timeline allows for testing the beatmap from the current point in time.

On the bottom right, the playback rate can be set to 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100%.

Colour markers

Colour Description
White Current timestamp
Yellow Preview point
Green Inherited timing point
Red Uninherited timing point
Blue Bookmark

Colour sections

Colour Description
Grey Break
Orange Kiai time

Bookmark actions

Shortcut Description
Ctrl + B Add a bookmark at the current location.
Ctrl + Shift + B Remove the nearest bookmark (less than 2 seconds away).
Ctrl + Right arrow Go to the next bookmark.
Ctrl + Left arrow Go to the previous bookmark.

Features (osu!mania)

For osu!mania mapping tutorials on the forum, see: [Tutorial] osu!mania mapping, Basics, [Tutorial] osu!mania mapping, Keysounding

The osu!mania-specific editor has some differences compared to the other game modes, which are covered in this section.

Beat snap divisor

Main article: Beat snap divisor

Beat snap divisor in osu!mania

In osu!mania, the beat snap divisor area also shows the name and volume level of the sound sample attached to a selected note. Such per-note samples called keysounds are applied using the Sample import dialogue.

Left toolbar

Hit object panel for osu!mania

Button (keyboard shortcut) Usage
Sampleset Override the sampleset of selected objects (including their hitnormals). Choosing Auto resets the sampleset to that of the active timing point.
Additions Override the sampleset of selected objects, affecting only their additional hitsounds (whistle, finish, and clap). Choosing Auto resets the sampleset to that of the active timing point.
Select (1) Left click or Left drag: Move timestamp and location of the note. Right click: Remove the note. Ctrl + Left click: Select multiple objects.
Circle (2) Left click: Place a note.
Hold (3) Hold Left click: Place a hold note and adjust its length. Release the click to end the note.

Playfield

Visual representation of the current timestamp

Sections

Name Description
Left Note density (Timeline)
Centre The playfield, overlaid on top of beat snap lines

Colours

See also: Beat snap divisor

Line colour Description
White (thick) Full measure
White A beat
Green Current timestamp / judgement line
Note colour Description
Blue Selected notes
White/pink/yellow Unselected note colours

Sampling

Sampling is the process of adding sound samples to individual notes. To add a sample, click a note while holding Alt to open a pop-up window with a list of available sound samples.

Sample import

Sample import window

The left side of the sample import window lists all audio samples from the beatmap folder. They can be applied to selected objects using the settings on right side of the window.

Basic
Name Description
CustomSet Apply default hitsound set and volume without using those of the current timing point, ignoring the left-side sample selection. Note that for this action to work properly, Use basic sample must be enabled.
Volume How loud this sound file should be. Use only integer values from 8 to 100.
Use basic sample Only apply volume or custom sampleset changes on selected notes.
Buttons
Name Description
Play Play selected sample.
Import Add more samples to the beatmap folder from other locations.
Delete Delete the audio file.
Apply Apply selected sample to the selected note.
Sample Add selected sample as a storyboard audio event at the current timestamp.
Sample list Display sound events in the storyboard.
Reset Remove custom sample from the selected note.
Cancel Close the window.

Sample events list

See also: Storyboard audio samples

Sample events list window

Sample events list is a window that shows sound events from the storyboard, which are stored in the difficulty's .osu or the beatmap's .osb file.

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