Steinberg Nuendo 5 Manual
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31 The Logical Editor, Transformer, and Input Transformer
432 The Logical Editor, Transformer, and Input Transformer Introduction Most of the time you will perform your MIDI editing graph- ically in one of the MIDI editors. But there are times when you want more of a “search and replace” function on MIDI data, and that’s where the Logical Editor comes in. The principle of the Logical Editor is this: •You set up filter conditions to find certain elements. This can be elements of a certain type, with certain attributes or values or on certain positions, in any combination. You can combine any number of filter conditions and make composite conditions using AND/OR operators. •You select the basic function to be performed. The options include Transform (changing properties of the found ele- ments), Delete (removing the elements), Insert (adding new elements based on the found positions of other elements) and more. •You set up a list of actions, which specify exactly what is done. This is not necessary for all functions. For example, the Delete function does not require any additional action specifications – it simply removes all found elements. The Transform function on the other hand requires that you specify which properties are changed and in which way (trans - pose notes by a certain amount, adjust velocity values, etc.). By combining filter conditions, functions and the specific actions, you can perform very powerful processing. To master the Logical Editor, you need some knowledge about how MIDI messages are structured. However, the Logical Editor also comes with a rich selection of presets, allowing you to access its processing powers without delving into its more complicated aspects, see “Working with presets” on page 440. About the Transformer MIDI effect The Transformer effect is a realtime version of the Logical Editor, allowing you to apply editing to the events played back from a track “on the fly”. The Transformer contains virtually the same settings and functions as the Logical Editor – where there are differences between the two, this is clearly stated on the following pages. ÖFor details on how to open the Transformer (and other MIDI effects), see “MIDI realtime parameters and effects” on page 372. About the Input Transformer This too is very similar to the Logical Editor. Just like the Transformer effect, the Input Transformer works in realtime. However, the Input Transformer filters out and transforms MIDI data as it is recorded. In other words, the settings you make in the Input Transformer will affect the actual MIDI events you record. The Input Transformer is described in the section “The In- put Transformer” on page 440. However, we recommend that you make yourself familiar with the Logical Editor first, since they share many features and principles. About the Project Logical Editor There is also a “Project Logical Editor” available via the Edit menu. This is described in the chapter “The Project Logical Editor” on page 442. Opening the Logical Editor 1.Select the desired parts or events. What will be affected by the operation depends on the current selection. • In the Project window, edits using the Logical Editor are ap- plied to all selected parts, affecting all events (of the relevant types) in them. • In the MIDI editors, edits using the Logical Editor are applied to all selected events. If no events are selected, all events in the edited part(s) will be affected. You can change the selection while the Logical Editor window is open. 2.Select “Logical Editor…” from the MIDI menu. !Studying the included presets is an excellent way to learn the workings of the Logical Editor! Many of them can also be used as starting points when you set up your own editing operations using the Logical Editor.
433 The Logical Editor, Transformer, and Input Transformer Window overview Setting up filter conditions General procedure The upper list is where you set up the filter conditions, de- termining which elements to find. The list can contain one or several conditions, each on a separate line. •To add a new condition, click the “+” button below the list. A new line is added at the bottom of the list. If there are many lines, you may need to use the scrollbar to the right to view them. •To remove a condition, select it and click the “-” button below the list. ÖIf you have already defined filter conditions and/or ap- plied a preset, but want to start again from scratch, you can initialize the settings by selecting the Init option from the Presets pop-up menu. You set up a filter condition line by clicking in the columns and selecting options from the pop-up menus that appear. Here is a brief description of the columns: •You can also set up filter conditions by dragging MIDI events directly into the upper list. If the list contains no entries, a MIDI event dragged into this section will form conditions including the state and type of the event. If it contains entries, the dragged event will initialize the matching parameters. For ex - ample, if a length condition is used, the length will be set according to the length of the event. Conditions Depending on the Filter Target setting, the following options can be selected in the Condition column: ColumnDescription Left bracketThis is used for “bracketing” several lines together when creating conditions with multiple lines and the boolean operators And/Or, see “Combining multiple condition lines” on page 436. Filter TargetHere you select which property to look for when finding elements. Your choice here affects the available options in the other columns as well, see below! Function pop-up menu Filter conditions list Presets pop-up menu Apply button (not available in the Transformer)Action List ConditionThis determines how the Logical Editor compares the property in the Filter Target column to the values in the Parameter columns (see below). The available options depend on the Filter Target setting. Parameter 1Here you set which value the element properties are compared to (depending on the Filter Target). For example, if the Filter Target is “Position” and Condi-tion is “Equal”, the Logical Editor will look for all elements starting at the position you specify in the Parameter 1 col-umn. Parameter 2This column is only used if you have selected one of the “Range” options in the Condition column. This allows you to find all elements with values inside (or outside) the range between Parameter 1 and Parameter 2. Bar Range/ Time Base (Logical Editor only)This column is only used if the Filter Target is set to “Posi-tion”. If one of the “Bar Range” options is selected in the Condition column, you use the Bar Range/Time Base col-umn to specify “zones” within each bar (for example, allow-ing you to find all elements on or around the first beat of every bar). If any of the other Condition options is selected, you can use the Bar Range/Time Base column to specify the time base (PPQ, Seconds, etc.). See “Searching for el-ements at certain positions (Logical Editor only)” on page 434 for details. Right bracketThis is used for “bracketing” several lines together, see “Combining multiple condition lines” on page 436. boolThis allows you to insert the boolean operators And/Or, when creating conditions with multiple lines, see “Com-bining multiple condition lines” on page 436. ConditionElements will be found if their Filter Target property… Equal…has the exact same value as set up in the Parameter 1 column. Unequal…has any value other than the one set up in the Parame-ter 1 column. Bigger…has a value higher than the one set up in the Parameter 1 column. Bigger or Equal…has a value that is the same as or higher than the one set up in the Parameter 1 column. Column Description
434 The Logical Editor, Transformer, and Input Transformer ÖThe Conditions for the “Property” filter target are dif- ferent, see “Searching for properties” on page 436. Below, the different Filter Targets (and their correspond- ing Condition and Parameter options) are described in more detail. Searching for elements at certain positions (Logical Editor only) Selecting “Position” in the Filter Target column lets you find elements starting at certain positions, either relative to the start of the song or within each bar. •If you select any condition other than the Range or Bar Range options, you set up a specific position (in PPQ, sec - onds, samples, or frames) in the Parameter 1 column. Use the Bar Range/Time Base column to specify the time base. Here, the Logical Editor will find all elements at 1.1.1. in the project. •If you select Inside Range or Outside Range in the Con- dition column, you set the start position of the range in the Parameter 1 column and the end position in the Parameter 2 column. You can also change the time base using the Bar Range/Time Base column. The Logical Editor will then find all elements inside or outside this posi- tion range. •If you select one of the Bar Range options in the Condi- tion column, the Bar Range/Time Base column will show a graphic bar display. You specify the range within the bar by clicking and dragging in the bar display (the specified Bar Range is indicated in blue). The Logical Editor will then find all elements starting inside or outside this Bar Range, in all bars (within the current selection). Here, the Logical Editor will find elements starting around the second beat in each bar. Searching for notes of certain lengths (Logical Editor only) Only note events have lengths (actually, a note is made up of separate note-on and note-off events but in Nuendo it is considered as a single event with a length). Therefore, the “Length” Filter Target is only valid if you’re specifically searching for notes – there has to be another condition line with the Filter Target “Type”, Condition “Equal” and Parameter 1 set to “Note”. See “Combining multiple con- dition lines” on page 436 for details about using multiple filter conditions. Less…has a value lower than the one set up in the Parameter 1 column. Less or Equal…has a value that is the same as or lower than the one set up in the Parameter 1 column. Inside Range…has a value that is between the values set up in the Pa-rameter 1 and Parameter 2 columns. Note that Parameter 1 should be the lower value and Parameter 2 the higher. Outside Range…has a value that is not between the values set up in the Parameter 1 and Parameter 2 columns. Inside Bar Range (Logi-cal Editor only) …is within the “zone” set up in the Bar Range/Time Base column (Position only), in each bar within the current se-lection. Outside Bar Range (Logi-cal Editor only) …is outside the “zone” set up in the Bar Range/Time Base column (Position only), in each bar within the cur-rent selection. Before Cursor (Logical Edi-tor only) …is before the song cursor position (Position only). Beyond Cur-sor (Logical Editor only)…is after the song cursor position (Position only). Inside Track Loop (Logical Editor only)…is inside the set track loop (Position only). Inside Cycle (Logical Edi-tor only) …is inside the set cycle (Position only). Exactly match-ing Cycle (Logical Edi-tor only) …exactly matches the set cycle (Position only). Note is equal to…is the note specified in the Parameter 1 column, re-gardless of octave (Pitch only). For example, lets you find all C notes, in all octaves. Condition Elements will be found if their Filter Target property…
435 The Logical Editor, Transformer, and Input Transformer Searching for Value 1 or Value 2 A MIDI event is composed of several values. What is dis- played for Value 1 and 2 depends on the type of event: ÖSystem Exclusive events are not included in the table above, since they do not use value 1 and 2. Since value 1 and 2 have different meanings for different events, searching for value 2 = 64 would both find notes with the velocity 64 and controllers with the amount 64, etc. If this is not what you want, you can add an additional filter condition line with the Filter Target “Type”, specifying which type of events to find (see below). The general procedures when searching for value 1 or 2 are: •If you select any Condition other than the Range options, you set up a specific value in the Parameter 1 column. Here, the Logical Editor will find all events with a value 2 less than 80. •If you select Inside Range or Outside Range in the Con- dition column, the range consists of the values between Parameter 1 and Parameter 2. Note that Parameter 1 should have the lower value. Searching for note pitch or velocity If you add another condition line with the Filter Target “Type”, Condition “Equal” and Parameter 1 set to “Note”, the Logical Editor will “know” you are searching for pitch or velocity. This has the following benefits: • The Filter Targets Value 1 and Value 2 will be displayed as “Pitch” and “Velocity” respectively, making it easier to grasp the function of the filter condition. • Pitch values in the Parameter columns will be displayed as note names (C3, D#4, etc.). When entering pitch values you can either type a note name or a MIDI note number (0–127). • When Value 1 (pitch) is selected as Filter Target, an additional option appears in the Condition column: “Note is equal to”. When this is selected, you specify a note name in the Para - meter 1 column but without any octave number (C, C#, D, D#, etc.). The Logical Editor can then find all notes of a certain key, in all octaves. See “Combining multiple condition lines” on page 436 for more info on working with multiple filter condition lines. Searching for controllers There is similar extended functionality when searching for controllers: If you have added an additional “Type = Con - troller” condition line, the Logical Editor will “know” you are searching for controllers. The Parameter 1 column will then show the names of the MIDI controllers (Modulation, Volume, etc.) when Value 1 is selected as Filter Target. Searching for MIDI channels Each MIDI event contains a MIDI channel setting (1–16). Normally, these settings are not used, since the MIDI event plays back on the MIDI channel set for its track. However, you can come across MIDI parts with events set to different channels, for example in the following scenarios: • If you have recorded MIDI from an instrument sending on sev- eral different channels (e. g. a master keyboard with different key zones). • If you have imported a MIDI file of type 0 (with a single track, containing MIDI events with different channel settings). Searching for MIDI channel values is straightforward; you select a Condition and enter a MIDI channel (1–16) in the Parameter 1 column (and, if you have selected one of the Range Conditions, a higher channel in the Parameter 2 column, creating a value range). Event typeValue 1Value 2 NotesThe Note Number/ Pitch.The velocity of the note. PolyPressureThe key that was pressed.The amount of pressure for the key. ControllerThe type of Controller, displayed as a number.The amount of Control Change. Program ChangeThe Program Change number.Not used. AftertouchThe amount of pressure.Not used. PitchbendThe “fine tune” of the bend. Not always used.The coarse amount of bend. !This is particularly useful when searching for note pitch or velocity values, as described below.
436 The Logical Editor, Transformer, and Input Transformer Searching for element types Selecting Type as the Filter Target allows you to find ele- ments of a certain type only. • The Condition column contains only three options: Equal, Un- equal and All Types. • Clicking the Parameter 1 column displays a pop-up menu, list- ing the available types (Note, Poly Pressure, Controller, etc.). The Logical Editor will find all elements matching or not matching the selected type (depending on the Condition). Searching for properties On the Filter Target pop-up menu, you will find an option called Property. This allows you to search for properties that are not part of the MIDI standard but rather Nuendo- specific settings. When the Property option is selected, the Condition col- umn has two options: “Property is set” and “Property is not set”. Which property to look for is selected in the Pa - rameter 1 column. The options are “muted”, “selected” and “empty”. Two examples: Here, the Logical Editor will find all muted events. Here, the Logical Editor will find all events that are selected and muted. Searching for event contexts On the Filter Target pop-up menu, you will find an option called “Last Event”. This can be used to perform context- dependent searches (especially useful in the Input Trans - former). “Last Event” indicates the state of an event which has al- ready passed the Input Transformer/Logical Editor. The condition has to be combined with Parameter 1 and Pa - rameter 2. Below, you will find a few examples on how the Last Event filter target can be used. Here, the action will only be performed when the sustain pedal is down: In this example, the action will be performed when the note C1 is pressed (the “Note is playing” condition is only avail - able in the Input Transformer and in the Transformer effect): In this example, the action will be performed after playing the C1 note: Combining multiple condition lines As described above, you can add condition lines by click- ing the “+” button below the list. The result of combining condition lines depends on the boolean And/Or operators and the brackets. The bool column By clicking in the “bool” column to the right in the list, you can select a boolean operator: “And” or “Or”. A boolean operator combines two condition lines and determines the result in the following way: •If two condition lines are combined with a boolean And, both conditions must be fulfilled for an element to be found. The Logical Editor will only find elements that are notes and start at the beginning of the third bar. !As mentioned above, selecting Type = Note or Type = Controller adds some additional functionality to the Logical Editor. You should make it a habit to add a Type condition when applicable. Filter TargetConditionParameter 1Parameter 2 Last EventEqualMIDI Status176/Controller Last EventEqualValue 164 Last EventBiggerValue 264 Filter TargetConditionParameter 1Parameter 2 Type isEqualNote Last EventEqualNote is playing36/C1 Filter TargetConditionParameter 1Parameter 2 Last EventEqualValue 136/C1
437 The Logical Editor, Transformer, and Input Transformer •If two condition lines are combined with a boolean Or, one of the conditions (or both) must be fulfilled for an ele - ment to be found. The Logical Editor will find all events that are notes (regardless of their position) and all events starting at the beginning of the third bar (regardless of their type). When you add a new condition line, the boolean setting defaults to And. Therefore, if all you want to do is set up two or more conditions that all must be met for an element to be found, you do not have to think about the boolean column – just add the required lines and make the usual filter settings. Using brackets The bracket (parenthesis) columns let you enclose two or more condition lines, dividing the conditional expression into smaller units. This is only relevant when you have three or more condition lines and want to use the boolean Or operator. This is how it works: •Without brackets, the conditional expressions are eval- uated according to their order in the list. In this case the Logical Editor will find all MIDI notes with the pitch C3, as well as all events (regardless of their type) set to MIDI channel 1. Maybe you wanted to find all notes that either had the pitch C3 or the MIDI channel 1 (but no non-note events)? Then you need to add some brackets: •Expressions within brackets are evaluated first. If there are several layers of brackets, these are evaluated “from the inside out”, starting with the innermost brackets. You add brackets by clicking in the bracket columns and selecting an option. Up to triple brackets can be selected. Selecting a function The pop-up menu at the bottom of the Logical Editor is where you select the function – the basic type of editing to be performed. Below, the available options are listed. Note that some options are not available in the Transformer effect. Delete Deletes all elements found by the Logical Editor. In the case of the Transformer, this function will remove (or “mute”) all found elements from the “output stream” – the actual ele - ments on the track are not affected. Transform Changes one or several aspects of the found elements. You set up exactly what is changed in the action list, see “Specifying actions” on page 438. Insert This will create new elements and insert these into the part(s) (Logical Editor) or the output stream (Transformer). The new elements will be based on the elements found by the Logical Editor’s filter conditions, but with any changes you have set up in the action list applied. Another way of expressing this is that the Insert function copies the found elements, transforms them according to the action list and inserts the transformed copies among the existing elements. Insert Exclusive This will transform the found elements according to the action list. Then, all elements that were not found (that did not meet the filter conditions) are deleted (Logical Editor) or removed from the output stream (Transformer).
438 The Logical Editor, Transformer, and Input Transformer Copy (Logical Editor only) This will copy all found elements, transform them accord- ing to the action list and paste them into a new part on a new MIDI track. The original events are not affected. Extract (Logical Editor only) This works like Copy, but will cut the found events instead. Or in other words, Extract will transform all found events and move them to a new part on a new MIDI track. Select (Logical Editor only) This will simply select all found events, highlighting them for further work in the regular MIDI editors. Specifying actions The lower list in the Logical Editor window is the action list. This is where you specify any changes that are made to the found events (relevant for all function types except Delete and Select). The handling of the action list is similar to the filter condi- tion list, but without the brackets and booleans. You sim- ply add lines by clicking the “+” button below the list, and fill out the columns as required. To remove a superfluous action line, select it and click the “-” button. Action Target This is where you select the property that is changed in the events: ÖThe Position and Length parameters are interpreted via the time base setting in the Bar Range/Time Base col - umn, with the exception of the Random setting, which uses the time base of the affected events. Operation This setting determines what to do with the Action Target. The options on this pop-up menu are different depending on the selected Action Target. Below, all available opera - tions are listed: Add Adds the value specified in the Parameter 1 column to the Action Target. Subtract Subtracts the value specified in the Parameter 1 column from the Action Target. Multiply by Multiplies the Action Target value with the value specified in the Parameter 1 column. Divide by Divides the Action Target value by the value specified in the Parameter 1 column. Round by This “rounds” the Action Target value using the value specified in the Parameter 1 column. In other words, the Action Target value is changed to the closest value that can be divided by the Parameter 1 value. OptionDescription Position (Logical Editor only)Adjusting this value will move the events. Length (Logical Editor only)Lets you resize the events (notes only). Value 1This adjusts value 1 in the events. As described in the sec-tion “Searching for Value 1 or Value 2” on page 435, what is displayed for value 1 depends on the event type. For notes, value 1 is the pitch. Value 2This adjusts value 2 in the events. As described in the sec-tion “Searching for Value 1 or Value 2” on page 435, what is displayed for value 2 depends on the event type. For notes, value 2 is the velocity value. ChannelAllows you to change the MIDI channel setting, see “Searching for MIDI channels” on page 435. TypeAllows you to change the event type, e. g. transform after-touch events to modulation events. Value 3This adjusts value 3 in the events, which is used for han-dling of Note-off velocity when searching for properties, see “Searching for properties” on page 436. Option Description
439 The Logical Editor, Transformer, and Input Transformer For example, if the Action Target value is 17 and Parame- ter 1 is 5, the result of rounding will be 15 (the closest value that can be divided by 5). Another word for this type of operation would be “quantizing”, and it is actually possi - ble to use it for this, by setting the Action Target to “Posi- tion” and specifying a quantize value with Parameter 1 (in ticks, with 480 ticks per quarter note). Set Random Values between This will set the Action Target value to a random value within the range specified with Parameter 1 and 2. Set Relative Random Values between This will add a random value to the current Action Target value. The added random value will be within the range specified with Parameter 1 and 2. Note that these can be set to negative values. For example, if you set Parameter 1 to -20 and Parameter 2 to +20, the original Action Target value will get a ran - dom variation, never exceeding ±20. Set to fixed value This sets the Action Target to the value specified in the Parameter 1 column. Add Length (Logical Editor only) This is only available when Action Target is set to Position. Furthermore, it is only valid if the found events are notes (and thus have a length). When Add Length is selected, the length of each note event will be added to the Position value. This can be used for creating new events (using the Insert function) positioned relative to the end positions of the original notes. Transpose to Scale This is only available when Action Target is set to Value 1, and when the filter conditions are specifically set up to find notes (a “Type = Note” filter condition line has been added). When “Transpose to Scale” is selected, you can specify a musical scale using the Parameter 1 and 2 col - umns. Parameter 1 is the key (C, C#, D, etc.) while Pa- rameter 2 is the type of scale (major, melodic or harmonic minor, etc.). Each note will be transposed to the closest note in the se- lected scale. Use Value 2 This is only available when Action Target is set to Value 1. If this option is selected, the Value 2 setting in each event will be copied to the Value 1 setting. This is useful, for example, if you are transforming all Mod- ulation controllers to Aftertouch events (since controllers use Value 2 for their amount, while Aftertouch uses Value 1 – see “Searching for Value 1 or Value 2” on page 435). Use Value 1 This is only available when Action Target is set to Value 2. If this option is selected, the Value 1 setting in each event will be copied to the Value 2 setting. Mirror This is only available when Action Target is set to Value 1 or Value 2. When this option is selected, the values will be “mirrored” around the value set in the Parameter 1 col - umn. In the case of notes, this will invert the scale, with the key set in the Parameter 1 column as “center point”. Linear Change in Loop Range (Logical Editor only) This will affect events within the loop range (between the left and right locators) only. It will create a linear “ramp” of values (replacing the original values) starting at the value in the Parameter 1 column and ending at the Parameter 2 value. This can be used for creating linear controller sweeps, ve- locity ramps, etc. Relative Change in Loop Range (Logical Editor only) As with the previous option, this will create a ramp of val- ues, affecting events in the loop range only (i. e. between the locators). However, here the changes are “relative”, meaning that values will be added to the existing values. In other words, you set up a value ramp starting at Para- meter 1 and ending at Parameter 2 (note that the Parame- ter values can be negative). The resulting value ramp is then added to the existing values for the events within the loop range.
440 The Logical Editor, Transformer, and Input Transformer For example, if you apply this to note velocities with Para- meter 1 set to 0 and Parameter 2 set to -100, you create a velocity fade-out, keeping the original velocity relations: Applying the defined actions Once you have set up filter conditions, selected a function and set the required actions (or loaded a preset), you ap - ply the actions defined with the Logical Editor by clicking the Apply button. Logical Editor operations can be undone just like any other editing. Working with presets The Presets pop-up menu at the top of the window allows you to load, store, and manage Logical Editor presets. •To load a preset, select it from the Presets pop-up menu. If available, an explanatory text appears to the right of the menu. When setting up your own presets, you can click in this area and enter a description. •You can also select Logical Presets directly from the MIDI menu. This allows you to apply a preset to the selected MIDI part, without hav- ing to open the Logical Editor. •It is also possible to select and apply Logical Presets from within the List Editor (from the Mask menu). Storing your own settings as a preset If you have made Logical Editor settings that you want to use again, you can store them as a preset: 1.Click on the Store Preset button on the right of the Preset menu. A dialog for specifying a name for the new preset is displayed. 2.Enter a name for the preset and click OK. The preset is stored. ÖTo remove a preset, load it and click on the Remove Preset button. Organizing and sharing presets The Logical Editor presets are stored within the applica- tion folder in the Presets\Logical Edit subfolder. While these files cannot be edited “manually”, you can reorga - nize them (e. g. putting them in subfolders) like any files. This also makes it easy to share presets with other Nu- endo users, by transferring the individual preset files. ÖThe list of presets is read each time the Logical Editor is opened. The Input Transformer This function allows you to filter out and change MIDI data coming to a MIDI track before it is recorded. The Input Transformer is very similar to the Transformer MIDI effect, but contains four independent “modules”, for which you can set up different filtering and actions. You can activate any or all of these four modules. Here are some of the things the Input Transformer allows you to do: • Set up split keyboard combinations for recording left and right hands separately. • Turn a controller like a foot pedal into MIDI notes (for playing bass drum the right way). • Filter out one specific type of MIDI data on one MIDI channel only. • Turn aftertouch into any controller (and vice versa). • Invert velocity or pitch. Again: four of these things can be done at the same time. !In the Logical Editor, processing is not performed un- til you click the Apply button. When using the Trans- former MIDI effect, there is no Apply button – the current settings are automatically applied in realtime during playback or live playing.