DP7 PENCIL TOOL IN MIDI EDITOR

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Cosmos275
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DP7 PENCIL TOOL IN MIDI EDITOR

Post by Cosmos275 »

Can this thing only insert quarter notes? I see no way to change it to eighth notes. The manual is no help. Thanks
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stubbsonic
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Re: DP7 PENCIL TOOL IN MIDI EDITOR

Post by stubbsonic »

What if you set the grid value to something different?
M1 MBP; OS 12, FF800, DP 11.3, Kontakt 7, Reaktor 6, PC3K7, K2661S, iPad6, Godin XTSA, Two Ibanez 5 string basses (1 fretted, 1 fretless), FM3, SY-1000, etc.

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Cosmos275
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Re: DP7 PENCIL TOOL IN MIDI EDITOR

Post by Cosmos275 »

I did and it didn't work.. quarters anyway.

Now, playing with some more, it does kinda work. However, I have to enter several notes for the value to change. 3 specifically. If I change it from quarter to eighth, then stuck penciling, I will get: quarter, quarter, quarter, eighth, eighth...

weird.

Thanks for the guidance, better than nothing as it's working now!
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Re: DP7 PENCIL TOOL IN MIDI EDITOR

Post by FMiguelez »

Can´t you click and drag? The dragging would give you the desired length. Watch out for the quantization button.

IIRC, there's a way to pop a window out to also mess with the default velocity.
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Cosmos275
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Re: DP7 PENCIL TOOL IN MIDI EDITOR

Post by Cosmos275 »

I will try that. Thanks for the idea. The only popup I can find is in the drum editor which is mentioned in the manual. I'm not sure, but it might be governing the pencil tool in that editor only, considering it didn't seem to help, but I will try again. Thanks
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stubbsonic
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Re: DP7 PENCIL TOOL IN MIDI EDITOR

Post by stubbsonic »

In DP8, the way it works on my rig is if I click and create a note it will continue to make quarter-notes regardless of the grid, HOWEVER, if I click-drag to a different note-length, it will now create that new length of a note whenever I click. So whatever the length I dragged to will keep making those. Kinda nice. I couldn't find or figure out the little window to change the velocity that the penciled notes default to. "Oh... SHOO--shie! " :D
Last edited by stubbsonic on Fri Jun 24, 2016 8:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
M1 MBP; OS 12, FF800, DP 11.3, Kontakt 7, Reaktor 6, PC3K7, K2661S, iPad6, Godin XTSA, Two Ibanez 5 string basses (1 fretted, 1 fretless), FM3, SY-1000, etc.

http://www.jonstubbsmusic.com
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Shooshie
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Re: DP7 PENCIL TOOL IN MIDI EDITOR

Post by Shooshie »

Here's the rule for the pencil tool, at least as far as I've ever known. If you want a certain length, set your grid for that length. When you drag the pencil, it will either go that length or some multiple of it. For instance, if the grid is set to quarter note, you can drag a quarter, half, dotted half, or whole note, or any multiple beyond that. But to drag an eighth note, you'll have to hold down the COMMAND key to break the grid-lock.

However, there's another way, and it's the way I think most of us probably work: just leave the grid off, then click & drag the length you want. From that point onward, every time you click, it will make a note of that length. Want to change it again? Click & Drag again.

Sometimes you want the grid. Sometimes you don't. At any time, the COMMAND key will toggle the grid to the opposite of its current state. (On/Off) with these rules, you get pretty good at making MIDI notes of any length.

Yet another way is to pencil the first note, then OPTION-DRAG the rest. You can change the length of them easily by dragging their release handles. Want to make a run of chromatics over the whole keyboard? Option-drag the 2nd note, then select those two and option drag the 3rd & 4th notes, then select all of them and option-drag the 5th-8th notes, then 9-16, then 17-32, and so forth. When you get the whole range, use the reshape tool to work with the velocities. At any time when your selection gets unwieldy, COMMAND-LEFT ARROW to zoom out and make more room for working with long selections. As you drag these groups of notes, be sure to hold down the COMMAND key to place them on the beat, exactly. Or quantize when you're done.

If you are having trouble getting a note the exact length you want, just hit the keyboard command to open Change Duration. Use the "Set" selection, and type in the length you want. The subdivisions are:
960 = ½ note
480 = ¼ note
240 = ⅛ note
120 = 1/16 note
60 = 1/32 note
30 = 1/64 note

Triplets:
640 = ¼ triplet
160 = ⅛ triplet
80 = 1/16 triplet
40 = 1/32 triplet
etc.

If you want to learn those numbers really well, use the Event List for a while. That's all we had when I started, so you learned the numbers for everything, including the phrasing of classical music.

More than you asked for, but I don't look at tools as isolated things. I look at work processes, and each one has a number of tools and workflows that get it done. You need to know all of them. I didn't even get in to Step Recording, but that's another valid option, and it DOES have a key-press for each note length. Very fast way to record something you can't play in, or something that needs extreme accuracy, saving you the steps of quantizing attacks and releases.

So many more methods & shortcuts. So little time and space.

Shoosh
|l| OS X 10.12.6 |l| DP 10.0 |l| 2.4 GHz 12-Core MacPro Mid-2012 |l| 40GB RAM |l| Mach5.3 |l| Waves 9.x |l| Altiverb |l| Ivory 2 New York Steinway |l| Wallander WIVI 2.30 Winds, Brass, Saxes |l| Garritan Aria |l| VSL 5.3.1 and VSL Pro 2.3.1 |l| Yamaha WX-5 MIDI Wind Controller |l| Roland FC-300 |l|
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Cosmos275
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Re: DP7 PENCIL TOOL IN MIDI EDITOR

Post by Cosmos275 »

Thanks for the excellent explanation! Far better than the manual! I was step recording before. I'm transcribing solos. I thought to try pencil tool for a phrase where I thought it would save time. Looks like I have all the info to get it working. Thank you all very much!
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Re: DP7 PENCIL TOOL IN MIDI EDITOR

Post by stubbsonic »

Hey Shooshie, is there an easy way to set the default velocity for the pencil notes? (And a quick way to adjust besides clicking on the note and typing a one in?)
M1 MBP; OS 12, FF800, DP 11.3, Kontakt 7, Reaktor 6, PC3K7, K2661S, iPad6, Godin XTSA, Two Ibanez 5 string basses (1 fretted, 1 fretless), FM3, SY-1000, etc.

http://www.jonstubbsmusic.com
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Shooshie
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Re: DP7 PENCIL TOOL IN MIDI EDITOR

Post by Shooshie »

stubbsonic wrote:Hey Shooshie, is there an easy way to set the default velocity for the pencil notes? (And a quick way to adjust besides clicking on the note and typing a one in?)
I don't know of a way. It's not like I'd ever be leaving them at defaults, anyway, so it never mattered to me. There may be a way, but I never sought to find out.

Shooshie
|l| OS X 10.12.6 |l| DP 10.0 |l| 2.4 GHz 12-Core MacPro Mid-2012 |l| 40GB RAM |l| Mach5.3 |l| Waves 9.x |l| Altiverb |l| Ivory 2 New York Steinway |l| Wallander WIVI 2.30 Winds, Brass, Saxes |l| Garritan Aria |l| VSL 5.3.1 and VSL Pro 2.3.1 |l| Yamaha WX-5 MIDI Wind Controller |l| Roland FC-300 |l|
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