Tracktion MIDI Editing Feedback

[jrlanglois]

Hi everybody,

I'm one of the programmers at Tracktion - the team and I are looking over the MIDI editing portion of the software for the upcoming T5; we want to know what you think, since it needs a bit of TLC!

Assuming we have a step sequencer, what kind of useful MIDI features do you think are missing?

Aside from that, what things bother you the most about the current state of MIDI editing? What needs to be improved, tweaked?

(Though not MIDI related, this is a small pre-emptive aside: the concept of the indecisively named Ghost/Linked/Cloned-clips has been noted!)

[rockstar_not]

I really wish that there was also a flavor of a notation editor for those of us that STILL aren't used to piano roll.

I used to use a program called PowerTracks Pro Audio before I found Tracktion in 2004 time frame. It had an interesting combination of features of piano roll (note length represented as bars off of the note head, but represented on staves.

Mixcraft by Acoustica (priced similarly to Tracktion) also has this feature. Their piano roll is also a bit more helpful as the bars show midi note value at the beginning of the bar, eg. 'G3'.

Notation editor with note lengths represented as light gray bars off of note heads:


Piano Roll showing note value (I assume this feature can be toggled on/off):



Another very cool thing I saw in the Bitwig thread was individual note automation. Whether it really exists or not is fodder for a different thread.

[GermanFafian]

I know this is of little help and will probably get flamed for posting this but if you take a look into the FL Studio Piano roll you will probably will get a good idea of what a good piano roll (if not the best) should be able to do and how to do it!
A play around it will be more useful than a hundred thousand words.

[terrynoakes]

Hi,

1.Right click on mouse to include Velocity & Control buttons.
2.Default to selection arrow instead of pencil when editing track expanded,
or option to select preference.
3.Option to lock midi editor tool bar when clip expanded.
4.Option for global pitch transpose of midifile.
5.Different representation of drum notes in expanded clip ie: diamond shape.

cheers
Terry

[rockstar_not]

Hi,

1.Right click on mouse to include Velocity & Control buttons.
2.Default to selection arrow instead of pencil when editing track expanded,
or option to select preference.
3.Option to lock midi editor tool bar when clip expanded.
4.Option for global pitch transpose of midifile.
5.Different representation of drum notes in expanded clip ie: diamond shape.

cheers
Terry

I agree with most of these - especially #2. How many of us unwittingly add unintentional notes to existing midi clips when we merely wanted to select? Global pitch transpose is easily done already through the pitch transpose filter supplied with Tracktion, however, IMO. Terry, perhaps you mean something other than that?

[dupont]

midi editing features :

cut overlapped notes
Join notes
randomize/humanize velocity within a define range
Drum map as Cubase, with diamond shape, notes mute/solo per row
arpegiator (of course everybody need one)
transformer as Logic studio for transform, replace, select midi events
list event
controler curves as Logic studio
Ghost clips (already notes but just to be sure)
Looped midi clip render in normal midi clip

to be continuated...

[terrynoakes]

Re: Pitch

I'm looking for something like, if working on a clip and transpose it, I can apply values to whole edit, rather than transposing the audio, via a filter after the vsts.
if that make sense

[jrlanglois]

I know this is of little help and will probably get flamed for posting this but if you take a look into the FL Studio Piano roll you will probably will get a good idea of what a good piano roll (if not the best) should be able to do and how to do it!
A play around it will be more useful than a hundred thousand words.

No flaming needed - I'm a keen user of several DAWs, Tracktion and FL Studio being a couple of them!

1.Right click on mouse to include Velocity & Control buttons.

This suggestion appears to be vague; since I'm planning on weighing everything being posted, would you mind elaborating a tad?

3.Option to lock midi editor tool bar when clip expanded.

I'm assuming this is to have a feel of a focused MIDI editing mode?

4.Option for global pitch transpose of midifile.

Is this something that would be popped up on MIDI file import you think, or in general clip editing?


To rockstar_not: Though it is an interface to MIDI in the digital realm, notation is an insanely complex beast of task... In due time, perhaps, but it's impossible to achieve in the T5 time-frame!

[jrlanglois]

Re: Pitch

I'm looking for something like, if working on a clip and transpose it, I can apply values to whole edit, rather than transposing the audio, via a filter after the vsts.
if that make sense

Ah, so something that works in real-time, that doesn't destructively edit your MIDI?

[terrynoakes]

@Jrlanglois
Re 1.
As It stands at the moment on right click we have the selection tool,pencil tool etc, I would like velocity tool and control tool added, or in fact all of the midi editor tool bar functions added to right click.

I personally find the midi editor bar popping in and out of view a bit annoying.

3. yes

[fanta1]

@Jrlanglois
Re 1.
As It stands at the moment on right click we have the selection tool,pencil tool etc, I would like velocity tool and control tool added, or in fact all of the midi editor tool bar functions added to right click.

I personally find the midi editor bar popping in and out of view a bit annoying.

3. yes

That is definitively the best suggestion for improvement!!!

[rockstar_not]

To rockstar_not: Though it is an interface to MIDI in the digital realm, notation is an insanely complex beast of task... In due time, perhaps, but it's impossible to achieve in the T5 time-frame!

Understood, but please add it to the list.

Minimally, the indication of midi note on the head of the bar ala the piano roll I posted from Mixcraft, would help this user quite a bit.

[rockstar_not]

Re: Pitch

I'm looking for something like, if working on a clip and transpose it, I can apply values to whole edit, rather than transposing the audio, via a filter after the vsts.
if that make sense

Maybe you already know this, but your response leads me to believe that you may not since it appears that you feel that pitch shifting can only occur on the output audio from a VSTi:

Since T1 I believe, you can non-destructively pitch shift any midi track lane BEFORE the VSTi by simply putting in the Tracktion supplied pitch shift filter and telling it how many half steps/octaves you want the whole incoming midi into the filter to be transposed by. You can do multiple octaves by stacking two or more of these in series before the VSTi. If the incoming data stream is audio, then it does an audio pitch shift, but if the incoming stream is midi, then it just transposes the midi note values en masse. Very handy. You could even route multiple midi track lanes to a destination track where the pitch shift filter sits before the VSTi.

The 'humanizer' request could be implemented in a similar way - downstream from the source MIDI data, but before the VSTi.

-Scott

[terrynoakes]

Hi Scott,

Yes you are right regarding the pitch filters functions,and have indeed tried using that method,
but for me,as an example, if working with a singer, and I've isolated say the piano part and am trying to find the best pitch for they're range, once found selecting apply values to selected parts or whole edit would be I think a more elegant way of working.

cheers
Terry

[rockstar_not]

Hi Scott,

Yes you are right regarding the pitch filters functions,and have indeed tried using that method,
but for me,as an example, if working with a singer, and I've isolated say the piano part and am trying to find the best pitch for they're range, once found selecting apply values to selected parts or whole edit would be I think a more elegant way of working.

cheers
Terry

Now I understand your point. Agreed, this would be cool to decide which tracks in the edit are pitched and apply it across those tracks in one fell swoop.

-Scott