Steinberg Nuendo 5 Manual

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MIDI processing and quantizing 

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MIDI processing and quantizing
Introduction
This chapter describes the various MIDI processing func-
tions 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 and effects (see 
“MIDI 
realtime parameters and effects” on page 372). For exam-
ple, the operations “Transpose” and...

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MIDI processing and quantizing
Setting up quantize on the toolbar
At its most basic, setting up quantizing consists of select-
ing a note value from the Quantize pop-up menu on the 
toolbar (in the Project window or a MIDI editor).
This allows you to quantize to exact note values (straight, 
triplet or dotted notes) only. 
Setting up quantize in the Quantize Setup 
dialog
If you want more options than those available on the pop-
up menu, select “Quantize Setup…” from the MIDI menu 
(or “Setup…” from...

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MIDI processing and quantizing
Presets
The controls in the lower left corner of the dialog allow you 
to store the current settings as a preset, which will then be 
available on the Quantize menus on the toolbars. The 
usual preset procedures apply:
•To store the settings as a preset, click the Store button. 
•To load a stored preset into the dialog, simply select it 
from the pop-up menu. 
This is useful if you want to modify an existing preset.
•To rename the selected preset, double-click on the...

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MIDI processing and quantizing
The Auto Quantize function
If you activate the Auto Q button on the Transport panel, 
all MIDI recordings you make are automatically quantized 
according to the settings you have made in the Quantize 
Setup dialog.
Iterative Quantize
Another way to apply “loose” quantization is to use the It-
erative Quantize function on the MIDI menu. It works like 
this:
Instead of moving a note to the closest quantize grid posi-
tion, Iterative Quantize moves it only part of the way....

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MIDI processing and quantizing
Freeze Quantize
There may be situations when you want to make the quan-
tized positions “permanent”. For example, you may want to 
quantize notes a second time, having the results based on 
the current quantized positions rather than the original po
-
sitions. To make this possible, select the notes in question 
and select “Freeze Quantize” from the Advanced Quantize 
submenu. This makes the quantized positions permanent.
Part to Groove
With this function, you can...

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MIDI processing and quantizing
Making your settings permanent
The settings described in the chapter “MIDI realtime pa-
rameters and effects” on page 372 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 trans
-
posed notes in a MIDI editor. For this, you can use two 
commands from the MIDI menu:
•“Freeze...

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MIDI processing and quantizing
Applying effects to a single part
Normally, the MIDI modifiers and effects affect a whole 
MIDI track. This may not always be what you want – you 
may want to apply some MIDI effects to a single part for 
example (without having to create a separate track for that 
part only). The Merge MIDI in Loop function can help:
1.Set up your MIDI modifiers and MIDI effects the way 
you want them for the part.
This will of course affect the whole track, but focus on the part for...

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MIDI processing and quantizing
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.
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...

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Other MIDI functions
The following items can be found on the Functions sub-
menu of the MIDI menu:
Legato
Extends each selected note so that it reaches the next 
note.
You can specify a gap or overlap for this function with the 
“Legato Overlap” setting in the Preferences dialog (Edit
-
ing–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: Selected Only”, the 
length of the...