Realmpel wrote:Hello,
I'm having a few issues that I have not been able to solve via manuals and previously asked questions. Any help would be much appreciated.
1. I recorded a virtual instrument and opened the Sequence editor to adjust my velocities. However, I am not able to click on the velocity points, as I only see the lasso tool. The piano roll shading is also not present (screenshot 1). I cannot switch the the all-purpose tool using either the tool palette or double-clicking/holding down "a" (note: I saw a previously asked question on this but that user's problem seemed to be that he needed to record some automation before he could get the pencil tool. The velocity points are already there). If I position the lasso over an actual note and select a note, the grid lines and piano roll shading appear (screenshot 2) and I am able to drag the velocity point. After I edit that note, I go back to the lasso tool. Selecting the note (which is not the easiest thing to do) is an extra keystroke that it seems I shouldn't have to do. Is there a way to lock it in the mode that allows me to use there all-purpose tool, rather than having to switch off the lasso every time I edit a note?
If you want to edit, say, note 1 and note 4 of a series, it's easy to select the whole series with the lasso, then use the Reshape Tool (hit the R key twice to switch to that tool) to edit only the ones you want, which would be 1 and 4 in this case. Or you can select just those two notes and edit them in the same stroke with the Reshape Tool. Get very familiar with the keyboard shortcuts for selecting tools. It will save you time. Here's a cheat-sheet to put on a little stand in front of your monitor so that you can have that at your disposal all the time:
Just print it out and cut to size. I think it will print to a 4x6 sheet of paper, also. I make these for my own use, but feel free to spread it around.
Realmpel wrote:2. Often I record a few lines using different VIs and I want to edit them all together in the MIDI window. Usually, only the instrument in record mode will sound. Infrequently, when I introduce a new instrument into the MIDI editor using track selector, it will sound too, but I can't figure out how to repeat this. Usually I have to hunt down the right instrument and record-enable. I want to hear everything that's open in the MIDI editor. Is there a way to do this without record enabling everything (which seems to eat my processor power)?
Use SOLO. Set your solo preferences (DP Prefs) to solo the track in the front-most window. In the MIDI Editor, set for multiple tracks in one window, that has the effect of soloing all tracks that are visible in the editor window at that moment. That, of course, is controlled with the track selector in the margin of that window. Use that track selector rather than the separate Track Selector Window, because if you use the separate window, the MIDI window is no longer the topmost window, and you will not hear your soloed tracks until you go back to that window. So use the track selector in the margin. All visible tracks will be audible, providing they are all play-enabled. You will not have to record enable them just to hear them as you edit. Just hit "SOLO" and you're in business.
Realmpel wrote:3. I seem to be rebuilding tracks using the track selector window very frequently. if I switch from the mixing board to MIDI editor, for example, the tracks I previously selected are gone when I switch back to the mixing board. It takes a long time to rebuild these windows, is there any way to lock them?
There are many ways to work. Some people prefer window sets. Some prefer the Consolidated Windows. I used to have dozens of window sets, but when Apple came out with Spaces, a.k.a. Mission Control, I began to use that for all my work in DP. Spaces are virtual monitors, and you can use many of them. Here's how I go about it:
1) Set Control Panel to "Float." It must be able to follow you from screen to screen.
2) Use Consolidated Windows as your main screen. It will house the Tracks Overview and all the little windows. You may also want to put the Sequence Editor under the Tracks Overview if you don't use a lot of tracks.
3) Set your edit windows and mixing board to NOT use the Consolidated Windows. Or you can pop them out by clicking in the blank space at the top of the window (next to the tabs).
4) Set up Mission Control for keyboard commands. (I'll show you how with a video in a moment)
5) Each time you open a new file, distribute the windows to their respective spaces using Mission Control. I have that set to F1.
Here's a Tips Sheet post, and a YouTube Video explaining it for you:
(Tips Sheet Thread)
You Tube Video:
Now, you might ask, "Why?"
Good question. The reason I use Spaces/Mission Control is because it's the ONLY method I know of which accommodates my constantly changing window arrangements. I can leave open my edit windows at full-width of the monitor and they stay put. Whatever tracks were visible when I last used that window will still be there when I return. Likewise, whatever plugin windows I put there will still be there when I return. Window sets don't work for me, because they take me back to the beginning. They don't evolve with my work.
While OS X will not remember which of your windows you put in which space (they always open in Space 1), it WILL remember their positions on the screen. So, when you distribute them to their respective space, they will automatically go to the position they were in when you last saved the file. It takes less than a second per window to distribute them when you open a file in DP, but you can do that while your VI's are loading. There's really no time lost. Then, once they're in position, they stay put for the entire time you're working in a file. Remember to leave your windows open. You go from window to window either by using the Spaces keyboard command for that, or the DP keyboard shortcut for the particular window you want.
Shooshie
Needed only to open the mini-menu and adjust the velocities in there. 
