change Meter, while preserving the MIDI

[erikjamesmusic]

Hey folks, I'm in quite a predicament here.

I'm in the final stages of an arrangement that is sounding exactly like I want it to sound. I will have to export a MIDI file into Sibelius and transcribe it cleanly when I'm done. Here's the problem. I recorded this whole track in 4/4 (with some bars of 2/4), and decided that it should really be notated in 12/8 (with some bars of 6/8). I called MOTU tech support and asked how I could "lock" the MIDI data, so the way it's currently sounding doesn't change at all, but change the 4/4 bars to 12/8 (so 8th note triplets become straight 8ths), and so forth. Tech support said this was not possible, because I would be changing the grid.

Does anyone know of a workaround? Or should I try to conquer this in Sibelius?

[Booter]

In the change meter window, there is an option to keep the MIDI in the same place. That should do it.

[Kubi]

Did you try to simply lock the MIDI track (click in the "Lock" column)? I'm pretty sure that'll fix the notes to absolute time location...

[Kubi]

I just tried it out and it works fine if you're diligent.

I'm assuming you're changing from a 4/4 to a 12/8 while basically turning each former quarter beat into a dotted quarter, correct?

So if you have the conductor set to 4/4 at 96 bpm per quarter, and you want it to be 12/8 with 96 bpm per dotted quarter, you do this:

• Be sure the conductor track has all the old meter and tempo settings,

• Lock the MIDI track,

• Change the meter to 12/8, click set to dotted quarter, (don't panic as your MIDI fucks up at this point, because you still have to...)

• change the tempo from XX bpm per "quarter" to XX bpm per "dotted quarter"

Voila, the MIDI should be back where it belongs, and now magically every duration is dotted where it used to be simple.
______________________________

Another option would be to simply change the meter and tempo, shift all MIDI tracks in one operation to make sure the first note is in the proper spot, and then scale time by 150% on all the MIDI tracks, with the selection starting at the downbeat. This will probably work better if it's quantized fully, since any deviation from the grid would be magnified by 50%.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Don't know about Sibelius but in Finale you could change the durations and rebar the music without a hitch. This is a job for your notation program, not your DAW.

[Kubi]

Says who...? Easily done in DP, see above.

[erikjamesmusic]

Thanks for this, Kubi. I'm going to try this later today and will post back with results. I don't know why ***** at MOTU tech support didn't offer this suggestion.

This particular person at MOTU has always been very attitude-y and is clearly "over it".

[Kubi]

Yes, I was surprised to hear Mr Tech Support there said it 'cant be done'.

Maybe time for him to ???

[mhschmieder]

Good advice -- I seem to have missed the "lock the MIDI track" action the last time I tried this. Changing meter is a very frequent task for me after I really give more thought to how a composition is starting to pulse its phrasing -- sometimes because a backing may have been written before the main melody, for instance. This is a very helpful post.

[Booter]

Did you try the option in the change meter window? When I tried it it had the same effect as locking the track and doing all the other steps, but it did it with on simple step. I'm petty sure that the option is in the window for exactly this problem. Does it not work for you?

[Kubi]

In this case those options don't work because he needs to change the actual tick value of the notes, i.e. from 1/8 triplet (160 ticks) to 8th note (240 ticks). So they either come up short by 33% in every bar (when using "Realign music automatically") or as a whole from the top of the piece (when using "Only move barlines".)

Now there is an option to "adjust durations" in the Change Meter window, but when I tried it it keeps the notes at their tick value when changing a 4/4 with triplet feel to a 12/8, with quarter in the 4/4 = dotted quarter in the 12/8.

So the OP is left with the two options outlined above.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

[bonehead remark by MLC self-edited - see photo of poster below]

[Kubi]

I was referring to the MOTU tech support guy who said to the OP it couldn't be done in DP... as mentioned in the post immediately preceding the one that rubbed you the wrong way...

(Should I put an "eye roll" here? Should I....? Nah...!)





Relax. You'll live happier, if not longer...

[MIDI Life Crisis]

OK, I'll put the bonehead hat on. I'm sorry.

Self portrait of MLC below...

[erikjamesmusic]

Success! This was as easy as it should be. Thanks, Kubi, and thanks, DP. It took me about 20 minutes to accomplish, however, because I also many bars of 2/4 that I had to make 6/8.

For future reference, I found that after you lock all MIDI tracks in the sequence, you bring up Change Meter function, change the meter to 12/8 with click on the dotted quarter, and instead of "Realign music automatically" pick "Only move barlines". after trying both ways, this worked the best. Then, in the change tempo function, all I had to do was make it the same tempo (94bpm) to the dotted quarter instead of to the quarter. Presto!

I DID have to realign all 20 of my markers, however. All in all, easy, breezy.