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Is there any way to import or export an event list? Say to/from a text file? Not SMF.

I have been composing for decades using code to generate events as text files. I can make my output conform to any syntax and format. This would be a natural fit for DP's event list view if I could only get my events in there.

Thanks,

Andrew Culver

You can use the Print function to write the list to a PDF, then copy paste into a plain text edit window. There will be some editing to do but not that difficult with a basic search and replace.

Here's an example of a simple event list done that way.

1|1|320 Audio-1 ----  4|262
2|1|253 Audio-1 ----  4|262
3|1|400 Audio-1-03#.2 ----  0|399
4|1|133 Audio-1-03#.3 ----  0|245
4|1|240 Audio-1#.2 ----  0|318
4|1|440 Audio-1 ----  4|262
4|2|464  Volume  -7.33
4|2|467  Volume  -7.33
5|1|339 Audio-2 ----  2|021
11|1|000 Audio-2 ----  2|021

That's cool. Thanks.

What about the other way -- import?

Import a text file? I don't think so. You'd need to turn it in to a MIDI file first. I suppose you could do that with a Sysex editor if you're thoroughly familiar with the MIDI spec.

aculver wrote:That's cool. Thanks.

What about the other way -- import?

Think of it this way - the Event List represents data in the DP file.
Turning that into text (as above) is one thing.
Turning that text back into the original data doesn't make sense.
You'd have to import the data itself, not a text readout of it.

If the event list represents the MIDI data, then it is by definition a "representation" of music, at least as MIDI represents it. And it certainly looks like text.

I have looked into it over the years, and neither a standard MIDI file, nor raw MIDI, is as simple and human-readable as DP's event list. (In fact, within my code, I often use the variable EventList.)

And I have worked with other programs that welcome text input: Score, Csound and Max to name 3.

But I think the consensus seems to be that DP's event list is not really a form of musical data within DP -- it is just a visual presentation of something else. A desire to import a well-formatted text file into DP as an event list is missing of MOTU's programmers and managers. If I have it right.

Too bad. DP is such a natural for this use case -- and it would make DP unique in yet one more way.

Are there any other folks out there that would like to see text-file import into DP's event list for their compositional needs?

AC

DP's event list looks to me like the event list in any other DAW. It's meant to allow you to micro edit MIDI data. I see it as a holdover from the very earliest version of DP (and other DAWs) and If it wasn't already there, I doubt anyone would develop it now. There are a zillion ways to get MIDI into DP and any other DAW, and a lot ways to edit it, most of them more musical than a text editor. Adding plain text would not a priority for me.

The event list can contain MIDI on/off, other MIDI, Soundbites, Markers, tempo/meter changes etc. I stick with what I said in my earlier post.
I think it's obvious that on the deepest level EVERYTHING in DP is a mere representation of audio/music etc.

The event list is useful in that it provides an overview of the data within a project for musical and problem solving purposes - spotting controller data causing unexpected changes in playback as well as precise placement of musical events.

On a side note, one of the biggest gripes of Studio One users is that it doesn't have an event or list editor.