Question

Hello Forum - first post.

Just purchased my Pro version of Studio a couple of weeks ago and am liking it over all. 

However, one thing that bugs me is that when I move MIDI notes in the edit screen the controller DATA does not move with it.

For example:

- Move the notes of a free piano intro slightly nearer to the beginning of a song and the sustain pedals don't move with it.

- Move a violin phrase 4 bars later and the expression DATA (controlled by MOD wheel) doesn't move with it.

- Doing a synth solo, move it a little bit back for timing and the pitch bend DATA stays put.

Obviously velocity moves with the note but maybe I have missed a simple box to tick which 'locks' notes and 'expression' DATA together?

I can't really think of many examples when you would want the DATA to stay where it is when you move the MIDI notes.......but even if you do, surely this would be less often than moving together?

I understand that there are 'work arounds' but is there a simple answer I have missed?

Many thanks in advance for any help.

Answer 1

Hi,

The way the MIDI standard work only pitch and velocity are tied to the notes you're playing. All the other MIDI CC's or controller parameters like modulation, pitchbend, after-touch++ are entierly separated from the notes.

If the editing workflow you outline were to work, the program would have to attempt to "understand" how you want the different controllers to respond to the different notes. A single solo line with pitch bend would maybe be simple to "guess" for the algorithms, but what if you play multiple notes? How would the DAW know if you played the sustain pedal correctly but one of the notes slighly off? When should the sustain CC move with the note edits and when should it not?

The only way for the editing to make sense is to have the piano roll behave like it does in S1 and any other DAW. The nice thing is that you can edit the whole instrument part (or region as it is called elsewhere) and treat that like a performance. Drag it, slice it, split it and all controllers along with notes will move as one.

Best,

-Frank

Answer 2

Actually, Reaper does this by default, and Logic does it with a simple setting change in the Functions menu (choose Functions > Include Non-Note MIDI Events). So it is not an unreasonable or illogical feature request.

Answer 3

Did you ever find out a better way to do this? It is crazy frustrating when I want to move parts around but the sustain pedal doesn't go along with the notes when I move them (arg).... The only thing I tried and got close to is to right click on the instrument track, right click, and 'render instrument track'. It then removes the sustain option and converts it to 'after touch'. Still doesn't sound quite as flowy but it's close...