comp folders in a midi track

Hey,

Going to be doing some tracking today with a keyboard, sending audio signal from the keyboard into logic audio track, but also sending midi into a software inst. track to give myself flexibility with the sound later. I seem to remember that midi tracks don't comp in the way that audio tracks do-- or did Logic fix that? Will I be stuck with whatever the last midi "take" was? Probably fine if that's the case, since the last one is usually the take. But I'm just trying to avoid having to send to multiple midi tracks.

Thanks!

-Peter

You can change your MIDI record settings in Project Settings > Recording. It all depends on how you record your MIDI. If you like to cycle record, you can change this setting accordingly. I like to make my MIDI parts more complex by merging with the selected regions. You can also have it set up to record each take on a separate track and then (optionally) mute before starting the next take.

 

But no, you can't create comps like you do with audio.

psmitty88 said:

Will I be stuck with whatever the last midi "take" was?

As mentioned, you can't do swipe comping with MIDI takes but you're not limited to the last take that you performed. In the MIDI take folder's menu (under the disclosure triangle), you can choose whole takes from the list. And if you double-click the folder's header, all the takes will be displayed at once and you can click on any one of these to put it "on top".

The problem with a potential MIDI swipe comping feature is that any time you want to cut out a section, and there are any overlapping notes hanging into the adjacent sections, you invoke the MIDI dialogue - "keep, shorten or split". I suppose they could do away with that for the purpose of MIDI swipe comping but it would likely still be a global preference for any such MIDI take editing. In other words, you'd have to decide in advance how overlapping notes would be dealt with - "OK, I'll just split them all" - and let the chips fall where they may as you make the swipes. By just cutting the notes as you would do with audio, MIDI swipe comping would be very similar to audio swiping. But it gets more complicated. What if you have controller data on the track as well? Now we're dealing with discontinuities between performances which might require additional editing after the comp was exported.

From a programming standpoint, it may be doable but it's not as straightforward as audio comping.

Thanks, guys. Very helpful. Since I'm most likely not doing an inordinate amount of takes, I think my best bet is to just give each new take it's own software instrument track (and keep the audio on a comp track). Seems cleanest, since I hope to get it right (in the playing) without having to go too crazy with the takes.

It's not actually necessary to create a whole new track for each take. The command "New with same Channel Strip/Instrument" (In Track menu) will create a subtrack that still points to the same instrument. I use this all the time and have a keycommand assigned to that so I can just bang them off easily.

That's an interesting solution David! I'm gonna have to try that sometime.

... and the interesting thing is, you do not get a "Shorten, keep, split" dialog when cutting a MIDI take folder: the "keep" behavior is just forced upon you.

Wow, it just gets better! That makes it even more workable.

One last thing: Lately I've gotten used to double-clicking the marquee to cut a region, and that also works for MIDI take folders. That's one more thing the Marquee can do, and one more time when I don't have to switch to another tool to do what I need.

Neat solution, David. Especially quick if marquee click zones are enabled.

Neat solution, David. Especially quick if marquee click zones are enabled.

I never have it enabled, but I keep the default tool assignments, so my Marquee tool is always only a Command-key away.

I like that workaround! Thanks!

You're welcome!

The workaround is fine, buy Why can't the wizards at Apple / Emagic implement swipe comping for midi takes? With the same warnings / options around regular midi region editing.

The workaround is fine, buy Why can't the wizards at Apple / Emagic implement swipe comping for midi takes? With the same warnings / options around regular midi region editing.

They most likely could, my guess is it's either not a priority, or too difficult to implement, or cumbersome to use with all those warnings every time you make a new edit (a swipe, or adjusting the range of a swipe), or a combination of all of the above.

Thank you David, your suggestion was a real big help to me.

Thanks for pointing me to this thread David.

 

One thicko question though: How do you 'cut the take folder into several smaller take folders'?

From the image it looks like it's been sliced vertically - but does a vertical slice make it a different take folder? In my mind take folders are horizontal, not vertical, if you see what I mean...

 

My other challenge is my takes don't all fall into neat vertical slice areas. I have different tracks going across different bars/sections. Perhaps nothing can be done, and I just have to slice it as best I can. I guess as long as I slice around the performance section I want it will be OK...

 

But I still don't know how to do that anyway!

 

Thanks.

When you cut a take folder (vertical cut), you're dividing the take folder into two new smaller take folders. For example instead of a single take folder from bar 1 to bar 5, if you cut at bar 3 now you have two take folders, one from bar 1 to bar 3 and the other from bar 3 to bar 5. You can perform the cut with scissors tool, or by double-clicking with the Marquee tool, or splitting at playhead commands, etc.

 

If that's not the solution in your case because there are too many overlapping notes in the positions where you'd need to cut the folder, then perhaps give up on take folders, export the MIDI takes onto new tracks, and cut out the parts of each takes you don't want.

Thanks. I'll try it.

I had actually just been thinking the best way may be to explode to separate tracks and then use mute automation to mute/unmute the parts of each track that I like. I'll try that as well.

 

Thanks.

Yes with all these techniques it's best to experiment with various test recordings and/or your existing material and see what works best for you after you've understood how the different Logic tools behave. Let us know if you have further questions!

I had actually just been thinking the best way may be to explode to separate tracks and then use mute automation to mute/unmute the parts of each track that I like. I'll try that as well.

 

Thanks.

Yes, why not. You can even make Marquee selections of the sections you want to mute and press Control-M to cut and mute them in one go. Might be a more elegant workflow.

Well this is fun Logic....

 

So I exploded to unpacked tracks, but somehow they are still all linked so that when I mute one they are all mute! Argh!!

 

Ah, is it because they are linked to the same intrument, so when I try to mute the track it's not actually the track I'm musing but the instrument? Is there a way to mute just the track?

 

Or do I need to load a suppurate instrument for each track so they can be muted independently?

 

Thanks!

Mark

Did you try to use Control-M like I suggested?