MIDI Transform tool

It is often desirable to manipulate MIDI continuous controller (CC) events while preserving the original performance. This allows you to more precisely fine-tune the events and also correct any mistakes without re-recording the data.

The Transform tool lets you move, ramp, flex, stretch, and scale MIDI continuous controller events by simply dragging the Transform tool bounding box.

A. Transform tool B. Transform tool bounding box 

To enable/disable the Transform tool

Click the Transform tool button. When enabled, the button is highlighted and a bounding box appears in the Controller pane.

 

Note: The Transform tool is only available when displaying a single controller lane. To toggle between displaying a single and multiple lanes, click the Piano Roll view View menu and select Show Multiple Lanes. For more information, see Multiple automation controller lanes.

Transform modes

The Transform tool has several modes that can be selected by right-clicking the Transform button:

Soft mode . When Soft mode is enabled, the Transform tool will produce a smooth transition between continuous controller events that exist inside and outside the bounding box. You can control the width of the transition by dragging the Soft Transform handles. Soft mode prevents abrupt and drastic changes between edits when using the Transform tool. When Soft mode is enabled, the Transform tool bounding box is drawn with round corners. For details, see Using Soft mode.

Mask mode . When Mask mode is enabled, you can only edit continuous controller events that appear inside the bounding box. This is very useful, for example, if you want to focus on continuous controller events that are tied to the selected Note event, without accidentally modifying other surrounding continuous controller events. For details, see Using Mask mode.

Auto Focus . When Auto Focus is enabled, the Transform tool bounding box follows the current selection, and automatically encloses any continuous controller events that overlap the selected time range. For details, see Using Auto Focus.

Auto Focus (Monophonic) . Auto Focus (Monophonic) is similar to Auto Focus, except it only focuses continuous controller events up to the next Note event. This mode is meant to be used with legato/monophonic material, and only applies if the selected Note event and next Note event overlap by 50% or less. For details, see Using Auto Focus (Monophonic).

Tip: Auto Focus is very useful when using the TAB and SHIFT+TAB shortcuts to jump to the next or previous Note event.

Note: When using Auto Focus and Mask mode together, the bounding box automatically extends the full height of the Controller pane so you can draw events with any max value.

To select a mode, do one of the following:

Click the Transform tool button and keep the mouse button pressed for a brief moment, then select the desired mode on the pop-up menu.

Right-click the Transform tool button and select the desired mode on the pop-up menu.

Figure 351. Right-click the Transform button to select a mode.

Using the Transform tool

When you select the Transform tool, a bounding box appears in the Controller pane. You can move and resize the bounding box to enclose the continuous controller events you want to modify. The bounding box has 9 handles that each perform a different transformation (6 handles when editing velocities). When positioned over a handle, the mouse pointer becomes a double arrow. Drag the bounding box handles to easily ramp, stretch, flex, and scale the enclosed continuous controller events.

If you change your mind while dragging a handle, press the ESC key to cancel the operation.

Figure 352. Transform tool bounding box handles.

A. Ramp up/down B. Scale up/down C. Soft mode toggle D. Stretch left/right E. Flex left/right 

Figure 353. As you drag a handle, a black line indicates how the events will be transformed.

 

See also:

Using Soft mode

Using Mask mode

Using Auto Focus

Using Auto Focus (Monophonic)

To select continuous controller events for editing

1.	Select the Transform tool to show the bounding box in the Controller pane.

2.	Use any combination of the following gestures to enclose the continuous controller events you want to edit:

To redraw the bounding box. Drag outside the bounding box with the right mouse button.

To resize the bounding box. Drag any bounding box edge (not a handle), or drag a corner with the right mouse button.

To move the bounding box. Drag inside the bounding box with the right mouse button.

 

Tip: To shrink-wrap the top and bottom of the bounding box around the selected controllers, double-click the top or bottom bounding box line (not on a handle).

To ramp events up or down

Drag a corner handle up or down.

To scale events up or down

Drag the upper-middle handle or bottom-middle handle up or down.

To stretch events left or right

Drag the leftmost or rightmost middle handle left or right.

 

Note: Stretch handles are not available when editing note velocities.

To flex events left or right

Drag the center handle left or right.

 

Note: The flex handle is not available when editing note velocities.

Using Soft mode

The Transform tool can be used in either the default (Hard) mode, or in Soft mode. Each mode controls how transformed events interact with nearby data.

By default, the Transform tool is very precise and produces hard edges at the left/right edit locations. Soft mode allows the Transform tool to produce a smooth transition at the left/right edit locations.

Soft mode prevents abrupt and drastic changes at the bounding box edges, and you can control the width of the transition by dragging the Soft mode handles.

To enable Soft mode, do one of the following:

Select the Transform tool and click the Soft mode toggle in the top left corner of the bounding box.

Right-click the Transform button and select Soft Mode on the pop-up menu.

When Soft mode is enabled, the bounding box is drawn with round corners.

A. Soft mode toggle B. Adjust softness amount (drag handle left/right) C. Softness amount 

A. Abrupt transition B. Soft transition 

Using Mask mode

When Mask mode is enabled, you can only edit continuous controller events that appear inside the bounding box. This allows you to focus on continuous controller events that are tied to the selected Note event, without accidentally modifying other surrounding continuous controller events.

To enable Mask Mode mode, right-click the Transform button and select Mask Mode on the pop-up menu. When enabled, the Controller pane background is dimmed outside the bounding box.

 

Note: When using Auto Focus and Mask mode together, the bounding box automatically extends the full height of the Controller pane so you can draw events with any max value.

Figure 354. In Mask mode you can only draw inside the bounding box.

Using Auto Focus

When Auto Focus is enabled, the Transform tool bounding box follows the current selection, and automatically encloses any continuous controller events that overlap the selected time range. This is very useful when using the TAB and SHIFT+TAB shortcuts to jump to the next or previous Note event, especially when used in conjunction with Mask mode .

To enable Auto Focus, right-click the Transform button and select Auto Focus on the pop-up menu.

 

Note: When using Auto Focus and Mask mode together, the bounding box automatically extends the full height of the Controller pane so you can draw events with any max value.

Figure 355. Use Mask mode and Auto Focus together with TAB and SHIFT+TAB shortcuts to quickly modify note-specific controller events.

Using Auto Focus (Monophonic)

Note events can often overlap slightly when recording legato and monophonic material. In such situations, it is usually desirable to only transform continuous controller events that extend up to the next Note event, instead of the full duration of the selected Note event. Auto Focus (Monophonic) allows you to do this easily. Auto Focus (Monophonic) is similar to Auto Focus, except it only focuses continuous controller events up to the next Note event.

If the selected Note event overlaps other Note events, the bounding box will extend to the first Note event that overlaps by 50% or less, otherwise it will extend the full duration of the selected Note event.

To enable Auto Focus (Monophonic), right-click the Transform button and select Auto Focus (Monophonic) on the pop-up menu.

Figure 356. Use Auto Focus (Monophonic) to only focus continuous controller events up to the next Note event.

A. Selected Note event B. Bounding box extends the full duration of the selected note C. Bounding box only extends up to the next Note event 

 

Note: If the selected Note event and next Note event overlap by more than 50%, the bounding box will extend the full duration of the selected note.

 

See:

Working with multiple tracks in the Piano Roll view

Adding and editing controllers in the Piano Roll

Multiple automation controller lanes