Reference Manual

14 0 Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities

10.4.4 Editing Notes

Editing in the MIDI Editor is similar to editing in the Arrangement (page 80). In both cases,

your actions are selection-based: you select something using the mouse, then execute a menu

command (e.g., Cut, Copy, Paste, Duplicate) on the selection.

Here is how selection works:

•Clicking a note selects the note. Multiple notes can be selected in unison: “rubber-band”

select more than one note with one mouse motion by clicking in empty space, then drag-

ging to enclose the notes in the dotted line that appears. [Esc] deselects all selected notes.

•Clicking into the background of the MIDI Editor selects a point in time, represented by a

ﬂashing insert marker.

•Clicking and dragging in the background selects a timespan. Press [Enter] to toggle the

selection between the timepan and any notes that begin within it.

After placing the insert marker, you can manipulate it using your computer keyboard.

•Press the left or right arrow keys to move the insert marker to the left or right, according to

the grid settings. [CTRL](PC) / [CMD](Mac) plus the left or right arrow keys moves the in-

sert marker to the next note boundary.

•Hold down [Shift] while pressing the arrow keys to extend or retract the selected timespan

by moving the insert marker. [ALT](PC) / [ALT](Mac) plus [Shift] while pressing the arrow

keys extends or retracts from the opposite side of the selection.

•The insert marker can be moved to the beginning or end of a MIDI clip by pressing the

[Home] or [End] key, respectively.

As we have seen, notes in the MIDI Editor can be moved both horizontally (changing their posi-

tion in time) and vertically (changing their transposition). They can be moved either by clicking

and dragging, or with the arrow keys on your computer keyboard. Notes moved with the arrow

keys are always subject to grid and offset snapping, while notes dragged with the mouse can be

freely moved until reaching the previous or next grid or offset point. If you are playing the clip

while you edit notes, you can listen to them play in their new assignments as you change them.

Several key modiﬁers also apply to note editing:

•To transpose selected notes by octave, hold down [Shift] while pressing the up or down