Steinberg Cubase Le 8 Manual
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421 MIDI Processing This chapter describes the various MIDI processing functions available on the MIDI menu. They offer various ways to edit MIDI notes and other events, either in the Project window or from within a MIDI editor. MIDI functions vs. MIDI modifiers In some cases, the result of a MIDI function can also be obtained by using MIDI modifiers. For example, the operations “Transpose” and “Quantize” are available both as MIDI modifiers and as MIDI functions. The main difference is that MIDI modifiers do not affect the actual MIDI events on the track in any way, while MIDI functions change the events “permanently” (although recent changes can be undone). Use the following guidelines to decide which path to choose for operations that are available both as modifiers and as functions: • If you want to adjust a few parts or events only, use MIDI functions. The MIDI modifiers affect the output of the whole track (although they can be made permanent in a specific area with the Merge MIDI in Loop function). • If you want to experiment with different settings, use MIDI modifiers. • MIDI modifiers settings are not reflected in the MIDI editors, since the actual MIDI events are not affected. This can be potentially confusing; if you have transposed notes using modifiers for example, the MIDI editors will still show the notes with their original pitch (but they will play back at their transposed pitch). Therefore, MIDI functions are a better solution if you want to see the effects of your editing in the MIDI editors. RELATED LINKS MIDI realtime parameters on page 404
MIDI Processing What is affected by the MIDI functions? 422 What is affected by the MIDI functions? Which events are affected when you use a MIDI function depends on the function, the active window and the current selection: • Some MIDI functions only apply to MIDI events of a certain type. For example, quantization only affects notes, while the Delete Controllers function only applies to MIDI controller events. • In the Project window, the MIDI functions apply to all selected parts, affecting all events (of the relevant types) in them. • In the MIDI editors, the MIDI functions apply to all selected events. If no events are selected, all events in the edited part(s) will be affected. Transpose The “Transpose Setup…” option on the MIDI menu opens a dialog with settings for transposing the selected notes. Semitones This is where you set the amount of transposition. Scale Correction Scale Correction transposes the selected notes by forcing them to the closest note of the selected scale type. This can be used for creating interesting key and tonal changes, either by itself or in conjunction with the other settings in the Transpose Setup dialog. • To activate Scale Correction, click the checkbox. • Select a root note and scale type for the current scale from the upper pop-up menus.
MIDI Processing Making your settings permanent 423 • Select a root note and scale type for the new scale from the lower pop-up menus. Make sure to select the correct root note if you want to keep the result in the same key as the original notes, or select an entirely different key if you want to experiment. Use Range When this is activated, transposed notes will remain within the limit that you specify with the Low and High values. If a note would end up outside this limit after transposition, it is shifted to another octave, keeping the correct transposed pitch if possible. If the range between the upper and lower limit is very narrow, the note will be transposed “as far as possible”, i. e. to notes specified with the Low and High values. If you set Low and High to the same value, all notes will be transposed to this pitch! OK and Cancel Clicking OK performs the transposition. Clicking Cancel closes the dialog without transposing. Making your settings permanent The settings described in the chapter “MIDI realtime parameters” do not change the MIDI events themselves, but work like a “filter”, affecting the music on playback. Therefore, you may want to make them permanent, i. e. convert them to “real” MIDI events, for example to transpose a track and then edit the transposed notes in a MIDI editor. For this, you can use two commands from the MIDI menu: “Freeze MIDI Modifiers” and “Merge MIDI in Loop”. RELATED LINKS MIDI realtime parameters on page 404 Freeze MIDI Modifiers “Freeze MIDI Modifiers” applies all filter settings permanently to the selected track. The settings are “added” to the events on the track, and all modifiers are set to zero. The “Freeze MIDI Modifiers” function affects the following settings for MIDI tracks: • Several settings on the main tab of the Inspector (program and bank selection and the Delay parameter). • The settings on the MIDI Modifiers tab (i. e. Transpose, Velocity Shift, Velocity Compression, and Length Compression). The following settings for MIDI parts are taken into account as well: • The Transpose and Velocity settings for parts displayed on the info line – the Volume setting is not taken into account.
MIDI Processing Making your settings permanent 424 Merge MIDI in Loop The “Merge MIDI in Loop” function combines all unmuted MIDI events on all unmuted tracks, applies MIDI modifiers, and generates a new MIDI part, containing all the events as you would hear them during playback. PROCEDURE 1. Mute all the tracks that you do not want to include in the merge. Instead of muting whole tracks, you can also mute individual parts. 2. Set up the left and right locators to encompass the area that you want to merge. Only events starting within this area will be included. 3. Select the track on which you want the new part to be created. If you do not select a track, a new MIDI track is created. If several MIDI tracks are selected, the new part is inserted on the first selected track. Existing data on the selected track can be kept or overwritten (see below). 4. On the MIDI menu, select “Merge MIDI in Loop…”. The MIDI Merge Options dialog opens. 5. Activate the desired options and click OK. A new part is created between the locators on the destination track, containing the processed MIDI events. NOTE If you only want to include events from a single track in the merge operation, you may want to solo the track. RELATED LINKS MIDI Merge Options Dialog on page 424 MIDI Merge Options Dialog The following options are available: Include Inserts If this is activated, any MIDI modifiers currently activated for the tracks will be applied. Erase Destination If this is activated, any existing MIDI data between the left and right locators on the destination track will be deleted. Include Chase If this is activated, events placed outside the selected part but relating to it will be included in the processing, e. g. a Program Change right before the left locator. RELATED LINKS Chase on page 142
MIDI Processing Dissolve Part 425 Applying effects to a single part Normally, the MIDI modifiers affect a whole MIDI track. This may not always be what you want. For example, you may want to apply some MIDI modifiers to a single part (without having to create a separate track for that part only). The “Merge MIDI in Loop” function can help: PROCEDURE 1. Set up your MIDI modifiers the way you want them for the part. This will of course affect the whole track, but focus on the part for now. 2. Set the locators to encompass the part. An easy way to do this is to select the part and choose Locators to Selection from the Transport menu (or use the corresponding key command, by default [P]). 3. Make sure that the track holding the part is selected in the track list. 4. On the MIDI menu, select “Merge MIDI in Loop…”. The MIDI Merge Options dialog opens. 5. Activate the desired options, making sure that “Erase Destination” is activated, and click OK. A new part is created on the same track, containing the processed events. The original part is deleted. 6. Turn off or reset all MIDI modifiers, so that the track plays back as before. Dissolve Part The Dissolve Part function on the MIDI menu allows you to separate MIDI events according to channels or pitches: • When you work with MIDI parts (on MIDI channel “Any”) containing events on different MIDI channels, activate the “Separate Channels” option. • To separate MIDI events according to pitch, activate the “Separate Pitches” option. Typical examples are drum and percussion tracks, where different pitches usually correspond to separate drum sounds. NOTE When dissolving a part into either separate channels or separate pitches, you can automatically remove the silent (empty) areas of the resulting parts by activating the “Optimized Display” checkbox in the Dissolve Part dialog.
MIDI Processing Dissolve Part 426 Dissolving parts into separate channels Setting a track to MIDI channel “Any” will cause each MIDI event to play back on its original MIDI channel, rather than a channel set for the whole track. There are two main situations when “Any” channel tracks are useful: • When you record several MIDI channels at the same time. You may for example have a MIDI keyboard with several keyboard zones, where each zone sends MIDI on a separate channel. Recording on an “Any” channel track allows you to play back the recording with different sounds for each zone (since the different MIDI notes play back on separate MIDI channels). • When you have imported a MIDI file of Type 0. MIDI files of Type 0 contain only one track, with notes on up to 16 different MIDI channels. If you were to set this track to a specific MIDI channel, all notes in the MIDI file would be played back with the same sound; setting the track to “Any” will cause the imported file to play back as intended. The Dissolve Part function scans MIDI parts for events on different MIDI channels and distributes the events into new parts on new tracks, one for each MIDI channel found. This allows you to work with each musical part individually. PROCEDURE 1. Select the parts containing MIDI data on different channels. 2. Select “Dissolve Part” from the MIDI menu. 3. In the dialog that opens, select the “Separate Channels” option. RESULT Now, for each MIDI channel used in the selected parts, a new MIDI track is created and set to the corresponding MIDI channel. Each event is then copied into the part on the track with the corresponding MIDI channel. Finally, the original parts are muted. An example: This part contains events on MIDI channels 1, 2, and 3. Selecting “Dissolve Part” creates new parts on new tracks, set to channels 1, 2, and 3. Each new part contains only the events on the respective MIDI channel. The original MIDI part is muted.
MIDI Processing Repeat Loop 427 Dissolving parts into separate pitches The Dissolve Part function can also scan MIDI parts for events of different pitches, and distribute the events into new parts on new tracks, one for each pitch. This is useful when the different pitches are not used in a melodic context, but rather for separating different sounds (e. g. MIDI dru m tr ac ks or sampler so und F X tr ac ks) . By dissolving such parts, you can work with each sound individually, on a separate track. PROCEDURE 1. Select the parts containing MIDI data. 2. Select “Dissolve Part” from the MIDI menu. 3. In the dialog that opens, select the “Separate Pitches” option. A new MIDI track is created for each used pitch in the selected parts. The events are then copied into the parts on the track for the corresponding pitch. Finally, the original parts are muted. Repeat Loop With this function, the events inside the independent track loops will be repeated until the end of the part, i. e. the notes that were previously only played repeatedly are now actual notes on the MIDI track. Events to the right of the independent track loop (within the same part) will be replaced by this function. RELATED LINKS Setting Up the Independent Track Loop on page 310 Other MIDI functions The following items can be found on the Functions submenu of the MIDI menu: Legato Extends each selected note so that it reaches the next note.
MIDI Processing Other MIDI functions 428 You can specify a gap or overlap for this function with the “Legato Overlap” setting in the Preferences dialog (Editing–MIDI page). When using Legato with this setting, each note will be extended to end 5 ticks before the next note. When you activate “Legato Mode: Between Selected Notes Only”, the length of the note will be adjusted so that it reaches the next selected note, allowing you to apply Legato only to your bass line, for example. NOTE You can also apply a legato using the “Scale Length/Legato” slider in the MIDI editors. RELATED LINKS Inspector on page 449 Fixed Lengths This function resizes all selected notes to the length set with the Length Quantize pop-up menu on the MIDI editor toolbar. Pedals to Note Length This function scans for Sustain pedal on/off events, lengthens the affected notes to match the Sustain pedal off position, and then removes the Sustain Controller on/off events. Delete Overlaps (mono) This function allows you to make sure that no notes of the same pitch overlap (i. e. that one starts before the other ends). Overlapping notes of the same pitch can confuse some MIDI instruments (a new Note On is transmitted before the Note Off is transmitted). This command can then be used to automatically solve the problem. Delete Overlaps (poly) This function shortens notes when required, so that no note begins before another ends. This happens regardless of which pitch the notes have.
MIDI Processing Other MIDI functions 429 Velocity This function opens a dialog that allows you to manipulate the velocity of notes in various ways. The following types of velocity processing are available: Add/Subtract This simply adds a fixed number to the existing velocity values. You set the value (positive or negative) with the Amount parameter. Compress/Expand Compresses or expands the “dynamic range” of MIDI notes by scaling the velocity values according to the Ratio setting (0 to 300 %). The principle behind this is that multiplying different velocity values with a factor higher than 1 (over 100 %) will also make the differences between velocity values greater, while using a factor lower than 1 (under 100 %) will make the differences smaller. In short: • To compress (“even out” velocity differences), use ratio values below 100 %. After compression, you would probably want to add a velocity amount (with the Add/Subtract function) to maintain the average velocity level. • To expand (create greater difference in velocity), use ratio values above 100 %. Before you expand, you may want to adjust the velocity with the Add/Subtract function, so that the average velocity is somewhere in the middle of the range. If the average velocity is high (near 127) or low (near 0), expansion will not work properly, simply because velocity values can only be between 0 and 127! Limit This function allows you to make sure that no velocity values fall outside a given range (the Lower and Upper values). Any velocity values outside this range are raised/lowered to exactly the Lower/Upper values. Fixed Velocity This function sets the velocity of all selected notes to the Insert Velocity value on the toolbar in the MIDI editors.
MIDI Processing Other MIDI functions 430 Delete Doubles This function removes double notes, i. e. notes of the same pitch on the exact same position from the selected MIDI parts. Double notes can occur when recording in Cycle mode, after Quantizing, etc. Delete Notes Allows you to delete very short or weak notes. This is useful for automatically removing unwanted “ghost notes” after recording. Selecting “Delete Notes…” opens a dialog in which you set up the criteria for the function. The parameters have the following functionality: Minimum Length When the Minimum Length checkbox is activated, the note length is taken into account, allowing you to remove short notes. You can either specify the minimum length (for notes to be kept) in the value field or by dragging the blue line in the graphical length display below. • The graphical length display can correspond to 1/4 bar, one bar, two bars or four bars. You change this setting by clicking in the field to the right of the display. In this case, the whole length display corresponds to two bars, and the Minimum Length is set to 32nd notes (60 ticks). Minimum Velocity When the Minimum Velocity checkbox is activated, the velocity of notes is taken into account, allowing you to remove weak notes. You specify the minimum velocity (for notes to be kept) in the value display. Remove when under This setting is only available when both Minimum Length and Minimum Velocity is activated. By clicking in this field, you select whether both the length and the velocity criteria must be met for notes to be deleted, or whether one of the criteria will suffice.