How can I write sixteenth notes in the MIDI Editor?
Thank you!
Marshall
When I play the Main Track in the Arrange window, some chords are silent. In the MIDI editor, I see the notes are going on far too long, but the scissors tool will not cut the notes, and using the arrow to drag the note to be shorter doesn’t work either. I had this problem using S3 both in Logic Pro and standalone. Please help; this issue makes it unusable for my application.
Hi @Canjo. If you change the Division setting via the drop-down menu in the top right of the Arrange Page to 1/16 (the default is 1 Bar) you should be able to add 16th notes using the Pencil tool in the MIDI Editor.
Hi @WitchofWTF welcome to the forum. If you are unable to shorten notes, or use the scissors tool, it may be on account of the Division setting which defaults to 1 bar. This is a drop-down menu located in the top right of the Arrange page and represents the minimum editing division. So try changing this to a smaller division such as 1/4 and see if that helps.
I’m not sure what may be causing some chords on your main track to be silent. Make sure they have not been accidentally muted by shift+click.
I have selected 1/16 from the upper right corner in Arrange view and still cannot make the 16th note work. I see the spacing for sixteenths at the top of the grid but can’t seem to click the mouse to input a sixteen note. Any suggestions? Thank you.
UPDATE: If I click option while inputting 16ths, it works. Thanks.
Sorry, I still cannot find a consistent way to write sixteenth notes as described above in the standalone version.
Any suggestions?
Hi Canjo. The process should be same for Scaler 3 standalone as it is when running as a plugin.
Note that MIDI editing works differently for the Main Track, as that track is specifically for chords and note resizing is not possible. For more precise MIDI editing e.g. melodies, rhythms etc, you should either create a user track and draw the MIDI pattern from scratch using the pencil tool, or create a motion track e.g. melody, phrase etc. and make changes using the pencil tool.
When modifying a motion clip it is preferable to use the modifier controls to the left of the MIDI editor rather than the pencil tool as this will keep the MIDI clip attached to the chords of the main track, but it sounds as though you are trying to make specific changes, so you may need to use the MIDI editor.
If you are still unclear about this, perhaps you could post a screenshot of what you are trying to do so we can try to understand where the confusion is arising.
@Canjo You are correct there are some quirks that we are ironing out right now. With 3.1 it will al make much more sense. For now your workaround is to click and HOLD with pencil and whilst holding you can shorten/expand to any lengths including 16ths!
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Hey @WitchofWTF Welcome to the forum. I have moved your post into this thread as I think its related.
Thank you, but that’s not it. I have my division set to 1/8th. The chords on my main track are not muted. They play back perfectly in the Browse and Create pages; the problem exists on the Arrange page. The song I’m working on is in 6/8; not sure if that has anything to do with it. I’ve watched every tutorial on your channel (plus some!) and read the manual. I believe this is a bug.
The first chord is a full measure and that plays fine, however when I look in the MIDI editor, the notes extend well into the second measure. The second measure is 2 chords, each half the measure, and they do not play back. The third chord is also a full measure, but it does not play back, and I think it’s because the notes in the prior chords also extend far longer than they’re supposed to (5 beats as opposed to 3). The fourth chord plays staccato (the third chord’s events are the correct length), and the 5th chord plays fine.
This also affects Motions. I tried adding a basic arpeggio motion, and it does not trigger on the ‘bad’ measures.
I typed out a long response (it’s above; I forgot to reply directly to you), but then figured it would be easier to send a screen recording to show how weird this is. Sadly, I can’t attach it here. Instead, there is a screen shot where you can see I have the first chord highlighted, and how long those notes are in the MIDI editor.
Will that fix ALL the issues I’ve brought forth (too long of events, chords not playing, etc)? Am I having these problems only because it’s in 6/8?
I don’t know the DAW, but most will allow at least the alternatives, any of which should solve your problem.
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Step sequencer: duplicate a pattern of 16th notes you want. Most are set-up for drums, so duration won’t be too long. (Might be too short tho.ĺ
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Step recording: similarly some DAWs allow you to record in fixed or or varying patterns. Sonar does. It lets you set note duration
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Arpeggiator: your synth or DAW probably has an arp that can be set for 16th notes. (Scaler also does.)
In any case, once you generate a small sample of your pattern, a text editor wull show you the pattern in the midi file. You can open and edit those files in any simple text editor, but avoid things like MSWord as they will try to embed formatting. Make sure you save (text only!) to a new file.
It canBe as simple or complicated as copying and editting the time stamps. (M:B:T)
The choice depends on your preference and tge complexity of the pattern. It’s good experience. Once you understand the pattern, you could even create a program or macro to generate what you need
Does that help?