User Manual

DRUM EDITOR
443
names for some drum machines, synthesizers and
sound modules. There may be times, however,
when you need to create your own note name list
for a device that isn’t yet supported. Or you may
have customized the drum kit and need to
customize its associated note name list. The Drum
Editor environment is much easier to work with
when note names are present.
Working with pitched percussion
Some drum kits contain a pitched percussion
instrument, like a tom sound or a single snare
sound, that has been mapped across several
pitches. Sometimes, an entire drum kit will be
devoted to such a thing. The Drum Editor has
several powerful features that let you work with
pitched percussion of this kind as well. In a case
like this, you can treat each note separately as usual,
or you can use the Drum Editor’s grouping feature
to treat several pitches as one instrument.
THE NOTE GRID
The note grid displays the MIDI note data for each
drum instrument row. Each cell represents a beat
on the grid. The resolution (duration) of the cells
can be changed globally at any time using the View
Resolution menu above the note list.
Figure 41-15: The View Resolution menu controls the note grid.
Alternatively, you can change the View Resolution
by changing the edit resolution in the Snap
Information window. Note that when the Drum
Editor has the focus, the Snap Information
window’s “Snap to Grid” setting cannot be
disabled.
View resolution
The view resolution menu lets you choose how
much time is represented by the cells (columns) in
the note grid. To be musical, the choices are
expressed in note durations, from a 64th note up to
a whole note. You can choose any resolution you
want and change it at any time. For example, you
might normally work with a 16th note grid, but you
might want to switch to a 32nd note grid to insert a
roll of some kind. The longer grid durations
(quarter, half and whole note) give you more of a
‘birds-eye’ view of the data. You can also set the
grid duration to triplet, dotted, or double-dotted
versions of each note.
The time ruler
The Drum Editor time ruler functions in much the
same way as the time ruler in Digital Performer’s
other windows. However, there are a few minor
differences. First of all, it displays only one of
Digital Performer’s four time formats: measures.
This is because the nature of the Drum Editor grid
is musical; it wouldn’t make that much sense, for
example, to build a drum groove based on SMPTE
frames.
The other difference is, of course, its appearance.
The Drum Editor time ruler looks a little different,
but it is essentially the same as all other time rulers.
For example, you can drag in it to select time
ranges, as usual.
Figure 41-16: Making a time range selection in the ruler.
The marker/memory cycle strip
The marker strip is the area just below the time
ruler. It displays markers, key changes and meter
changes. These items cannot be edited here
(moved, added, deleted), but you can click on
markers to quickly select everything between the
marker you click and the next marker. To edit
them, use the Conductor track.