User guide

Chapter 13 Creating Your Arrangement 365
Gate Time
The term gate time stems from the technology used in analog synthesizers, and refers
to the time between pressing and releasing a key. This parameter affects the absolute
note duration or length. This should not be confused with the musical note value,
which normally refers to the amount of time until the next note. The practical effect is
to make the notes in the region more staccato or legato. The parameter range is related
to the original note lengths. Fix produces extreme staccato. Values below 100% shorten
the note lengths. Values above 100% lengthen the notes. The “legato” setting produces
a completely legato effect for all notes, no matter what their original lengths,
eliminating all space between notes in the affected region. If this is used on a folder, all
notes in all MIDI regions in the folder will be affected.
Fixing MIDI Region Parameters
You can normalize the MIDI region parameter settings of all selected MIDI regions and
folders with the MIDI > Region Parameters > Normalize Region Parameters command.
This means that all settings are actually written as data, and playback parameters revert
to normal values. The audible result remains the same. The Loop parameter and
extended MIDI region parameters are not affected. Use of this function is effectively like
saying “make these MIDI region/instrument parameter values permanent.” In most
circumstances, it is better not to do this, as leaving the original data untouched
provides more flexibility. This includes unlimited opportunities to change your mind
about MIDI region edits.
Normalize and MIDI Channels
As per the Merge function or the Glue tool, the Normalize function is intelligent in the
way it handles stored MIDI channel numbers. If all stored events have the same MIDI
channel number, the channel will be changed to that of the Instrument assigned to the
current track. If the events are on different channels, Logic Express will ask whether or
not you would like to convert the event channels.
The following Normalize options are also available in the MIDI > Region Parameters
menu:
 Normalize without Channel: Leaves the stored channel number untouched.
 Normalize without Channel & Delay: Leaves the stored channel number and Delay
parameters untouched.
If the playback Instrument has a channel setting of All, or you’re dealing with a
completely different type of Environment object (a channel splitter used as A-Playback
for example), the stored MIDI channel numbers are also unaffected by the usual
Normalize function.
Note: If you’re editing MIDI regions that appear as notation on a polyphonic staff style,
it is recommend to use the Normalize without Channel function, as the event channel
is used to assign notes to individual polyphonic voices in the Score Editor.