MIDI Notes not sustaining beyond end of clips

[pdxindy]

I don't mean comping (I know that feature is not yet offered by Bitwig), but recording in an arranger loop - sorry for the wrong terminology. If you play a sustained note near the end of the arranger loop, that note will be cut off at the point where Bitwig jumps back to the left selector, which means that Bitwig does not reproduce this note as it was originally played.

I (like many others) use loop recording with overdub very often to build up a sequence in several passes, not only for drums where sustained notes are normally not an issue, but also for synth sequences. This is such a basic function of a DAW that I would not even call it a "feature". Bitwig limits musical expression because it blocks certain melodic elements by cutting off notes.

I agree... loop recording could be better... more automatic

However, it does not need a change in how notes keep sounding after passing the clip end to address this. That change has workflow issues as I've mentioned.

Try recording a single note through say 3 loops. Then look at the clip in the editor. It has recorded that note for the duration of 3 loops. Notes don't loop but what you played is recorded as you played it so the data is there.

For the current solution: make a looping clip of 8 measures. Record some notes including going past the clip end. Try some overdubbing. All the notes you played are correctly recorded in the full length you held the note. Now take that 8 measure clip and use the content x 2 function. Then set clip start and loop start to 9.1.1 and loop length stays at 8.0.0

Now your clip will loop with the sustained notes as you played them.

What you want essentially already works... it is just not automatic when looping. If Bitwig also made the notes loop, it would work in realtime. Basically, when in loop mode, write the notes double like the manual function above.

[Dehenry]

Thanks! It's still a bit difficult to hear without a metronome click when exactly the loop restarts. Can you post a screenshot of the arrange?

[pdxindy]

Thanks! It's still a bit difficult to hear without a metronome click when exactly the loop restarts. Can you post a screenshot of the arrange?

It was just a simple test and I did not keep the project... If I have time and inclination, I may redo it and post a screenshot, but it is easy to hear that there is always at least 1 note sustaining through 3 iterations... and it is easy to try for yourself as I described above.

[Dehenry]

I tried more than enough and it's a fact that notes are cut off, so I'm curious how what you did to get around that limitation. I guess you fiddled around with offset/ start marker etc., but that's just where this whole discussion started...

[pdxindy]

I tried more than enough and it's a fact that notes are cut off, so I'm curious how what you did to get around that limitation. I guess you fiddled around with offset/ start marker etc., but that's just where this whole discussion started...

If you record a 4 bar loop and you hold some notes past the end of the clip, if you look at the clip in the editor, you will see that those notes are recorded past the clip end.

There are two ways to make that clip loop with the sustained notes that extend past the clip end.

First and easiest is to use the Content x2 button in the inspector which will double the clip length from 4 to 8 and it also duplicates the notes. Then in the inspector set clip start and loop start both to 5.1.1 and set loop length to 4.0.0

The other way is to go into the editor of the 4 bar clip and select all the notes and Alt-drag a copy of all the notes and drag them 4 bars earlier. This gives the same practical result as the first method.

Both will work in the Launcher or in Arrange. It should be relatively easy for Bitwig to make this work automatically and in realtime.

[db3]

It should be relatively easy for Bitwig to make this work automatically and in realtime.

Was this ever resolved? Seems like a no brainer to have an option so note lengths aren't cut at the end of a looping clip.

[djangotsp]

I'd like to add my support for this feature request.

I've been trying to find a DAW that handles MIDI loop recording properly and it's driving me crazy. If I try to play a note at 1:1:1 while a bar or more is looping, chances are since I'm not a robot, I'll play it a fraction early or late. If it's early, Bitwig, Reaper and FL Studio cut the note off, making them totally unusable for me in a live performance.

Ableton seems to handle it slightly better, at least retaining my note length, even if it retriggers the note at the start of the clip. EDIT: my retrigger must've been an anomaly - testing it now, it works perfectly in Ableton. If the clip is looping, the note sustains from the end of the loop through 1:1:1, but if I trigger another clip, the note gets cut off. That's a great compromise for my use case.

I'd prefer to use Bitwig though, because it has global swing. In Live I could only record straight 16ths or no quantize at all. Ideally I'd have input quantize strength and swing mapped to knobs on my controller, or set per track (Reaper has this ability).

[profquad]

Joined and necro'd this horrific thread to vote for this functionality in the only way I know how. Commenting on the internet.

[Dionysos]

Joined and necro'd this horrific thread to vote for this functionality in the only way I know how. Commenting on the internet.

Write an email to support@bitwig.com if you want the devs to know.

[Milkman]

This behavior is indeed still present. I just happened to be building a track along with a trainer video yesterday, and when I tried to create a "never let go" loop (where the note extends slightly beyond the start and end of the defined loop), I noticed this. The note gets cut if it is outside the defined loop.

What's weird is that there is a training video on the Bitwig site that shows someone drawing a note like this. (slightly larger than the defined loop), and in his video it played. At 2:33 in this video, he builds it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32xOzCW3M78

[db3]

What's weird is that there is a training video on the Bitwig site that shows someone drawing a note like this. (slightly larger than the defined loop), and in his video it played. At 2:33 in this video, he builds it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32xOzCW3M78

It's because he manually creates a note which starts before, and ends after, the clip loop. This is a fiddly workaround rather than a solution.

In Ableton it simply works as played. i.e. any note recorded before end of clip always retains its held length when the clip loops.

[bronswerk]

I remember vaguely that for a famous musician who used custom made sequencers it actually stored the number of loops a certain note did. So in a 1-bar loop you could play notes that were recorded for lets say 5 bars an then stop. When in playback it was correctly played for 5 bars. The same principle was for sustain events I believe.