To edit the start and stop times of selected notes

1. Choose Window > Advanced Tools.Click the MIDI tool  , and select the region whose playback data you want to edit. Click to select one measure, SHIFT-click to select additional measures, drag-enclose to select several on-screen measures, click to the left of the staff to select the entire staff, or choose Edit > Select All.
2. If the region you wish to edit is on one staff, double-click the highlighted area to enter the MIDI tool split-window. Select the specific notes whose Start and Stop Times you want to edit. Once you’re in the MIDI tool split-window, you can select entire regions of notes by dragging through the “graph” area of the window. You can also select specific notes to edit by selecting their handles (in the notation display at the bottom of the window). Select one handle by clicking, additional handles by SHIFT+clicking, a group of handles by drag-enclosing, and additional groups by shift–drag-enclosing.
3. Choose MIDI tool > Note Durations. If you’re in the MIDI tool window, you can click the Note Durations icon (second from the top) instead. Once you’ve selected the notes to be affected, you can apply one of the MIDI tool’s menu commands:
4. Choose the desired command from the MIDI tool menu. Each command brings up a dialog box in which you can specify how the selected notes are to be altered. Set To allows you to give every note in the selected region the same Start or Stop Time. In this way, you can shorten or delay all notes by the same amount. Scale gradually shortens (or lengthens) the Start or Stop Times of the selected notes from one value to another. Add alters every selected note’s Start or Stop Time by a positive or negative value you specify. Percent Alter increases or decreases the selected notes’ durations by a percentage of their current values—ideal for creating a staccato effect for the selected music. Limit lets you set a maximum and minimum Start Time and Stop Time value for the selected notes, in effect pulling the beginning and ending of each note closer to the beat. You can think of the Limit command as a form of quantizing.

The Alter Feel command changes the Start and Stop Times of Downbeats, Other Beats, and Backbeats. (Backbeats are defined as the half beats [in a duple meter] or the second and third offbeats [in a triple meter]. For some interesting uses of the Alter Feel command, see Swing.) Finally, Randomize alters the selected notes’ durations by a random amount, giving the music a less quantized, more human feeling. You might enter an EDU value of 1/16 (or less) of the predominant rhythmic values in the music; to subtly soften the rhythmic precision of an eighth note (512 EDUs) passage, for example, you might type 32 into the Start and Stop Times boxes.

5. Enter the desired degree of Start or Stop Time modification, and click OK.
6. Close the MIDI tool split-window by clicking the MIDI tool.

User Manual Home