Old 07-30-2018, 01:16 AM   #1
meradium
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Default One MIDI Editor to rule them all

There is much to love about Reaper. Yet in the short time since I left Cubase I have had several frustrating experiences which made me want to reconsider my choice...

My frustrations concentrate on the MIDI Editor.

I know there are quite a few things that Cubase would not even remotely allow you to do currently, but overall it's operation in this area feels much more robust and also intuitive.

I almost exclusively work with a large orchestral template so this area is crucial for me and I am sure also for a lot of other people with similar needs.

What I think is missing:
* easier way to reliably edit multiple MIDI items in the MIDI Editor
* ability to dock windows inside the MIDI Editor window (e.g. Reaticulate)
* global default for MIDI Editor window size and position on open

--

Easier way to reliably edit multiple MIDI items in the MIDI Editor:

Editing multiple MIDI items in Reaper can be really frustrating. In my current setup I have chosen to view all MIDI in only one editor for the project. Visibility is governed by selection.

What I would love to see:

When I double-click on a bunch of selected MIDI items they open in a single window.

Initially I would only see the selected items' MIDI content. However, MIDI data from other takes on these tracks should also be faintly visible to allow the user to quickly continue editing the next take on the same track if he likes to.

The track list would automatically only show the tracks whose MIDI items I have selected. Furthermore, It would include a "selection folder" at the top which would parent all visible tracks. This would allow me to easily toggle solo/viability/editability for the opened MIDI items. Ideally these toggles should be accessible via keyboard shortcuts.

I could cycle through individual tracks via a shortcut.

In addition, when a single track is armed, I could individually toggle solo/mute/viability/editability via keyboard shortcuts.

Clicking any of the MIDI notes (even if faintly visible) would automatically arm the corresponding MIDI track/item, except if via an option I explicitly tell Reaper to stick to the current track/item.

Closing the editor window would automatically reset the solo/mute state of the individual tracks.

I think this would be an editors dream come true. Editing multi-voiced string parts and counterpoint melodies would be soooo much easier.

--

Ability to dock windows inside the MIDI Editor window:

Unlike the stuff described above not crucial but still would be nice to have...

I am an absolute fan of Tack's Rearticulate plugin. It is by far the best articulation manager I have seen to date.

There is unfortunately one problem: let's assume you want to open the MIDI Editor in full-screen AND keep the Reaticulate window visible at the same time. How do you do that?

Currently you can only dock the plugin to e.g. the right docker and then manually resize the MIDI Editor so that it doesn't overlap with the plugin window.

Plus you have to do this over and over again for all your tracks since there is no global default which leads me to my next request...

Now imagine we could just plug the Reaticulate instance right into the MIDI Editor as well. All problems solved.

--

Global default for MIDI Editor window size and position on open:

It would be great to be able to define a global default for the MIDI Editor's window size and position. That way you would set it up the way you want once and you would be good to go for any MIDI editing you would ever want to do inside your project.

It would also kind of "resolve" the request made above.

--

What are other people's thoughts about this? Wouldn't this be really cool?

Regards,
Seb
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Old 07-30-2018, 01:19 AM   #2
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Originally Posted by meradium View Post
Initially I would only see the selected items' MIDI content. However, MIDI data from other takes on these tracks should also be faintly visible to allow the user to quickly continue editing the next take on the same track if he likes to.
This is already possible, though? Link both editability and visibility to selection, and it works over here. Oh yeah, also disable "Avoid automatically setting MIDI items from other tracks editable", perhaps?

Quote:
Originally Posted by meradium View Post
It would be great to be able to define a global default for the MIDI Editor's window size and position. That way you would set it up the way you want once and you would be good to go for any MIDI editing you would ever want to do inside your project.
There's an option not to close the MIDI editor when no active MIDI items are selected for editing. I use that, along with docked MIDI editor on second screen, no problems. It's always there. If I need to focus on a large mixer, I load a different screenset.
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Old 07-30-2018, 06:03 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by EvilDragon View Post
This is already possible, though? Link both editability and visibility to selection, and it works over here. Oh yeah, also disable "Avoid automatically setting MIDI items from other tracks editable", perhaps?
I think it is not possible.
If you link item selection to visibility and editability, then the notes of unselected items on tracks of selected items are not shown faintly visible. The notes of unselected items are not shown at all.

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Old 07-30-2018, 06:56 AM   #4
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Yeah, editing multiple MIDI items at the same time can already be done.
It's one of the things that caused me to leave Ableton 9 for Reaper a few years ago.
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Old 07-30-2018, 07:53 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by meradium View Post
Initially I would only see the selected items' MIDI content. However, MIDI data from other takes on these tracks should also be faintly visible to allow the user to quickly continue editing the next take on the same track if he likes to.
You could use following preferences and custom action:




The custom action can be added to right click menu of item context.

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Old 07-30-2018, 11:51 AM   #6
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You could use following preferences and custom action:




The custom action can be added to right click menu of item context.

jnif
SWS: select only track(s) of selected item(s) function is terribly slow to execute on my template. Is that normal? Win 64Bit. I found a similar script which is blazingly fast compared to it...

But yeah, I would actually be more interested in any of the other ideas to improve the editorˋs productivity. With some creative scripts I might be able to achieve some of it already. But other things (e.g. the temporary parent track) would definitely require some dev input.
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Old 08-01-2019, 05:49 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meradium View Post
Ability to dock windows inside the MIDI Editor window:

Unlike the stuff described above not crucial but still would be nice to have...

I am an absolute fan of Tack's Rearticulate plugin. It is by far the best articulation manager I have seen to date.

There is unfortunately one problem: let's assume you want to open the MIDI Editor in full-screen AND keep the Reaticulate window visible at the same time. How do you do that?

Currently you can only dock the plugin to e.g. the right docker and then manually resize the MIDI Editor so that it doesn't overlap with the plugin window.

Plus you have to do this over and over again for all your tracks since there is no global default which leads me to my next request...

Now imagine we could just plug the Reaticulate instance right into the MIDI Editor as well. All problems solved.
I'm so supporting this request!
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Old 03-31-2020, 07:37 AM   #8
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I'm so supporting this request!
Me too!
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Old 05-23-2020, 09:10 AM   #9
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How about the ability to switch between tracks in midi editor? I cannot find an action that I could assign a hotkey to that would toggle this list:
I know you can edit multiple tracks etc. but it's too distracting for me and simple tabs/toggle for tracks would be the most convenient..
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Old 06-26-2020, 01:47 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by Sagittary View Post
How about the ability to switch between tracks in midi editor? I cannot find an action that I could assign a hotkey to that would toggle this list:
I know you can edit multiple tracks etc. but it's too distracting for me and simple tabs/toggle for tracks would be the most convenient..
Try these

Activate next MIDI track
Activate previous MIDI track

And they're also circular
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Old 12-14-2020, 07:51 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sagittary View Post
How about the ability to switch between tracks in midi editor? I cannot find an action that I could assign a hotkey to that would toggle this list:
I know you can edit multiple tracks etc. but it's too distracting for me and simple tabs/toggle for tracks would be the most convenient..
In MIDI-editor: Contents -> Track List

Is that what you're looking for?
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Old 05-01-2021, 03:30 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by fbeauvaisc View Post
Me too!
+1

If you have two tracks visible in the midi editor, it would be great to switch between which track is highlighted by selecting a note from that track.

In other words, by clicking a note it should set the "focus" to the track which contains that note, while still displaying the content of the other tracks.
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Old 05-01-2021, 04:06 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by R.Cato View Post
+1

If you have two tracks visible in the midi editor, it would be great to switch between which track is highlighted by selecting a note from that track.

In other words, by clicking a note it should set the "focus" to the track which contains that note, while still displaying the content of the other tracks.
This?
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Old 05-01-2021, 07:15 PM   #14
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This?
Cool feature. Didn't know about it. Thanks.
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Old 05-10-2023, 09:00 AM   #15
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Edit: actively discussing this feature (activate midi item when click note not in item) over here: https://forum.cockos.com/showthread....84#post2676584

Last edited by ultraGentle; 05-10-2023 at 10:06 AM.
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Old 05-11-2023, 10:22 PM   #16
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Don’t compare midi editor of Cubase and Midi editor of Reaper… if you use big virtual orchestrations, with huge libraries, Cubase is now unusable… Expression maps are a nightmare to program and to use in the midi editor (try to view expression maps with 20 or 30 articulations… there is no place for notes!) and except if you have an elephant memory, it is impossible to remind the assignation of midi cc… with Reaper, using midinotename file, all midi cc are named for each virtual instruments.. And drum maps is also difficult to prepare in Cubase… with Reaper it is very easy and you may gather keys using the same instruments (we group hit hat, snares rudiments …)…
And in Cubase, you can’t select tracks in the midi editor… you have to previously choose the tracks and if you want to modify your choice, you are obliged to close and re-open the midi editor… this feature is in all others DAWs… but not in Cubase !
It is possible that Cubase includes a feature you like … but globally, it is not the reference for Midi … Cubase is a very nice tool for audio editing, good channelstrip and FX… but not for midi edition …
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Old 05-14-2023, 02:35 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by ultraGentle View Post
Edit: actively discussing this feature (activate midi item when click note not in item) over here: https://forum.cockos.com/showthread....84#post2676584
This is exactly what I suggested.
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Old 05-15-2023, 09:14 AM   #18
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Yes, I suspect that lots of folks would assume that Reaper would work this way, anyway! I've been using the script, and it's great.

I've created a thread with a poll, so folks can vote on this, over here:
https://forum.cockos.com/showthread....85#post2677585

and here's the thread where development on the script is happening:
https://forum.cockos.com/showthread....21#post2677521
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