Bogus error message?

[Jim]

I must have experienced this hundreds of times. I open a MIDI file I found on the internet of some Prog Rock or Classical music that has shifting meters. DP asks me if I want to fix the partial measures. I click Yes.

I can save the file, close it, and then reopen, and I get the same message.

This happens even if I have prefs set to do this automatically (in the Editing > Edit Windows pane).

I suspect this does nothing at all. Am I wrong? I've not seen this affect the Conductor track ever.

[mikehalloran]

Probably not bogus. Real question: Is this anything you want to fix?

[Jim]

It does appear to be bogus to me. I would love for it to work.

Many of the MIDI files I find have pretty messed up Tempo Maps / Conductor Tracks. Since my application for them is trying to learn the meters and the changes, and then playing a drum kit part to it, having an accurate Conductor Track and clicks with the proper downbeats is very helpful.

If you're asking if clicking Yes or No is an insufferable burden on me, obviously it isn't. I usually just click either one, which produces the same result - nothing, and then go on about my business. It's a very slight irritant, but the frequency I see them was enough for me to post here whether anybody else has noticed this.

Presumably, if it worked properly, once you clicked Yes to fix the improper measures, that would be that, the measures would be fixed, and the message wouldn't pop up again.

However, once I fix the partial measures manually, I don't get the error messages any longer. From that, I infer DP "knows" something's amiss, but doesn't know how to fix it.

Sidebar: It's often interesting to see how others have calculated their meters. For example, 11/8 can be noted as one measure of 5/8, then 6/8 and repeat. I've seen some instances of a string of that cycle, when combining them into 11/8 declutters the Conductor Track.

Conversely, it can be helpful to break longer meters like 11/8, 13/8, 15/8, etc. into smaller bits to work out how to best play them in context.

[mikehalloran]

However, once I fix the partial measures manually, I don't get the error messages any longer

So, the message is definitely not bogus when it's describing something that is going on. Strictly speaking, it's an info message asking you if there's an error with the file.

There are Preferences that can be checked/unchecked on this. Page 91 of the manual, starts with

EDIT WINDOWS

Fix partial measures automatically
A partial measure is a measure that does not have
a complete set of beats in it as determined by the
current meter. Partial measures can be created in
Digital Performer by inserting a Meter Change
event in the middle of a measure.
…
If the Fix partial measures automatically is turned
on (checked), and you open a Digital Performer
project that has partial measures,

[Jim]

Yes, I mentioned that I have Fix Partial Measures checked. Checked or unchecked, I get the same error screens when DP detects a partial measure.

The message is at least half-bogus because while DP has detected a partial measure, it doesn't fix them when I answer Yes to the question if I want to fix them. If it did fix them, I shouldn't get the message on a subsequent opening of the project after I've asked DP to fix them.

[Irimi Nage]

Changing the conductor track in DP can be REALLY finicky. You really have to do it just the right way for the circumstance or DP will smite you. This was actually confirmed to me by MOTU customer support at one point on the phone. I asked them about the same error on one of my files. Every time I open that file I get the partial measure message. MOTU said the message may or may not be legitimate.

I must have done a conductor track change on this file at some point before talking with MOTU and getting info on how to deal with it. In my case I opted to not mess with it. Zooming in on every conductor change in the song showed nothing out of order, and the song plays back fine so I didn't see a need to risk screwing it up.

There are indeed some times when you will find a weird measure, and DP can often clean that up for you through that error message. You'll find a measure that's a millisecond long or something, and/or can see in the timeline that there is a measure that seems to be missing. Like after bar 45 you won't see a bar 46, it'll go right to 47. Measure 46 is there but something got weird and it's tiny so you don't see it unless you zoom in enough.

DP has been this way since the 90's btw.

[Jim]

Changing the conductor track in DP can be REALLY finicky. You really have to do it just the right way for the circumstance or DP will smite you.
...
DP has been this way since the 90's btw.

I've done quite a bit of Conductor Track editing. One of my learning exercises has included finding Progressive Rock MIDI files, bringing them into DP, then drumming along to them. Due to the fact that many in that genre incorporate meter changes, I need to figure those out before I can hit all the downbeats and fills correctly. Often, the Conductor Tracks / Tempo Maps are just wrong. A whole song may be registered as 4/4, but that's certainly not what's going on.

Where I've gotten off track has been that whatever change I make cascades later in time, and changes the Event times for everything. One has to be sure to note Conductor events after the ones being edited to ensure you can bring the proper meters back at the right place in time.

I've not encountered a one tic measure yet, or what you've described, but I'll keep an eye out. Thanks for your input.

[Irimi Nage]

Jim, you're totally right in that to get Conductor Track editing to work smoothly you kind of have to work backwards. Where the meter changes are GOING needs to be accounted for. It won't work to just edit a meter change and be done with it.

It's also necessary to make sure any soundbites going across the meter change are split in advance at the Conductor Track's edit point. DP usually won't split it for you and for me some sloppiness in this approach is one of the ways to make things go wrong.

Also, note that there seems to be some long standing weirdness where if you split the audio once like one would normally do, a conductor track edit (also copy/paste) will often deliver undesired results. So nowadays I've just learned to highlight and split audio TWICE to make sure I get the edits I'm looking for. Some DP quirkiness there, that I'm sure every DAW has its share of in their own ways. Good luck to you sir!