Editing MIDI events and continuous controllers (CC)

Sonar lets you edit the events in your projects in dozens of different ways. The Piano Roll view lets you add and edit notes, controllers, and automation data interactively, using a graphic display. Sonar’s many editing commands can improve the quality of recorded performances, filter out certain types of events, and modify the tempos and dynamics of your projects. The Event List view lets you see and modify every detail of your project. Finally, you can apply a variety of effects and filters to enhance your MIDI data.

Note: For a basic overview over MIDI data, please see MIDI.

To specify the default editing view for MIDI clips

Sonar provides several views you can use to edit MIDI data. You can specify which editing view should open by default when you double-click a MIDI clip. To do so, click the Track view Options menu, point to Click Behavior > Double-Click > MIDI Clips, and select the desired default editing view. The options are as follows:

-Nothing-. Prevent any view from opening when you double-click a MIDI clip.

Clip Properties. Open the Clip Properties Inspector when you double-click a MIDI clip.

Event List View. Open the Event List view when you double-click a MIDI clip.

Staff View. Open the Staff view when you double-click a MIDI clip.

Piano Roll View. Open the Piano Roll view when you double-click a MIDI clip.

Inline Piano Roll View. Open the Inline Piano Roll view when you double-click a MIDI clip.

You can override the default editing view and assign a specific editing view to each MIDI clip. To do so, click the MIDI Editor indicator in the top right corner of the MIDI clip, then choose the desired editing view on the pop-up menu.

Figure 339. Click the MIDI Editor indicator to assign a default editing view.

The following table describes the various MIDI clip header indicators.

 

Table 72. MIDI clip editing view indicators  

Indicator	Description
	Double-click the clip to open the Piano Roll view. For details, see The Piano Roll view.
	Double-click the clip to open the Step Sequencer view. For details, see Step Sequencer view.
	Double-click the clip to open the Staff view. For details, see The Staff view.
	Double-click the clip to open the Event List view. For details, see The Event List view.

Sonar has many additional commands and features for working with audio. For more information, see Editing audio.

Non-destructive MIDI editing

To use non-destructive MIDI editing, select the following options in the Track view MIDI menu:

Non-Destructive MIDI Editing. Select this option to make all MIDI editing non-destructive. When toggled on, this option forces deleted data to be retained even though it is not visible.

When you split or crop clips, the old MIDI events are still there but they're hidden. So you can extend the ends of the clips to reveal the MIDI events again. If this is turned off, you lose those events when you split. In most cases you should leave this option enabled.

Split MIDI Notes. Select this option to split any underlying MIDI notes when you split clips, and insert MIDI chase events (such as continuous controllers, Pitch Wheel, and Patch Change) at the split position.

The advantage of this is that you don’t get lost notes when copy/pasting or cut/pasting notes that start just before the split point.

The disadvantage of this is that if you extend the clip ends, as the note has now been split, it will be retriggered at the split point.

These options also impact Arranger track editing.

 

See:

Event Inspector

The Piano Roll view

The Inline Piano Roll view

Selecting and editing events

Changing the timing of a recording

Snap to Scale

Searching for events

Controllers, RPNs, NRPNs, and automation data

Multiple automation controller lanes

MIDI Transform tool

The Event List view

Articulation maps

MIDI effects (MIDI plug-ins)

To sync the project tempo to freely played MIDI

 

See also:

To convert audio to MIDI

Step Sequencer view

Drum maps and the Drum Grid pane

Ripple editing

Working with MIDI clips

Working with MIDI notes

Arpeggiator