Effective way to duplicate Midi which starts outside bar?

you could use the range tool and copy+paste, or the grid-relative grid settings.

Easy. MIDI Parts can overlap and all the notes still play.

  1. Snap the grid to something like “beat” (quarter note) or whatever is enough to capture your early note.

  2. Use the scissors tool to cut the early section of the part cleanly on the project grid snap setting. Even if there is a large gap between where you cut, and where the early note is, that’s okay.

  3. With snap still on, copy the MIDI part (holding down ALT while moving) to have it overlap by the snap setting.

That’s it.

You can now copy these parts in an easy way, using the snap amount. And you can copy the two part to make 4, the 4 parts to make 8, etc.

If you want to make a change to the MIDI pattern and have it automatically reflect across all the copies, hold down shift during the copy operation to make it a “shared copy.”

If you want to make a few of the shared copies different, later in the song, select the part(s) you’re interested in and use the menu item: Edit → Functions → Convert to Real Copy.

This, and you can even use the Duplicate command after selecting if the selection is precise and your phrase doesn’t overlap, which is what I understood you to be saying.

Thanks for the replies.

Using the method where I mark to grid before the first note, then alt+drag, this worked fine. I didn’t need to use the scissors as it was the first notes the instrument played - but I understand the logic there when required.

Using the Range tool set on exact bars then copy Paste, it did transport all the notes and in the exact right places. BUT the first note, which starts a few ticks before the bar, this note was transported even though it started slightly before the range started, but was showing but was GREY and did not sound. Can I get this note to be “live”?

Mosaic, If you use the the range tool and select not exact bars, but the exact phrase, i.e., including the pickup note, you can simply hit ‘Duplicate’ (ctrl/cmd+D)

e.g., if the first note starts at bar 1 beat 4 and the last note is anywhere before beat 4 in bar 3 (in this example)

Hit ctrl/cmd+D and you get all the notes inside the part:

Thanks Steve

My first note starts just a few ticks away from the bar (2.4.4.74) - and the last note of the phrase ends at 6.4.4.68. I want to copy/duplicate that phrase to start again 6.4.4.74 (exactly 4 bars on) … I don’t think its possible to do that with ctrl+D, right?

Just make sure that your Range selection goes from 2.4.4.74 to 6.4.4.74.

Thanks Vic. I did that, typed in the 2.4.4.74 as start time and it automatically put in 6.4.4.74 as the end time for me. Not sure how it decided that but its good! Just wondered, is there a way to automatically select the start time also - that it “sees” what the first note is and selects that (rather than typing it in) … ?

Not for the Range tool, unfortunately. (at least, I haven’t found a way :wink: )

Well, if You cannot find a way, I am sure it isn’t possible :slight_smile: Thanks for your help.

Oh, you’d be surprised… I’m very good at missing the obvious, sometimes :wink:.

is there a way to automatically select the start time also - that it “sees” what the first note is and selects that (rather than typing it in) …

It would not be automatic but powerful for this kind of selection (before duplicate). Check my feature request for tabbing transients and MIDI notes with the range tool:

Transients and MIDI Notes feature request

Thanks to inspiration from a post by alexis (Range to locators ... am I missing that one somewhere? - #2 by vic_france - Cubase - Steinberg Forums),
I think I have actually found something that works (or at least gets you part way there :wink: )…

  1. Project window - open the MIDI Part in the In-Place Editor and select the first note
  2. create (then use :wink: ) the following Macro…
    New Macro - “Range Start to Selected”
    Tool - Select Tool
    Transport - Locate Selection
    Tool - Range Tool
    Edit - Left Selection Side to Cursor

Obviously, this doesn’t do anything for the Range end (but at least you have a starting point :wink: )

(A big “thank you” to Alexis :slight_smile: )

N.B.
You can make a corresponding macro for the Selection End (substituting “Transport - Locate Selection End” and “Edit - Right Selection Side to Cursor”), but unfortunately you can’t use them both together, because as soon as you switch to the Range Tool, it kills the original selection, but you can at least do this as a “two-step” operation, having to manually re-select the notes after using that first macro and before attempting to use the 2nd one.

And, since we are using the in-place editor there is also setting the Snap Type to events- the range tool will snap to midi notes… You can snap the selection to the first one.

Using the snap type Events + Grid+ Cursor might let you do it all in one move, if the end of the needed selection is at one of those points. (i.e., you could place the cursor at the selection out-point)

Like I said earlier… the obvious sometimes escapes me :stuck_out_tongue: :wink:… Excellent method :wink:.

Vic- it was one of your tips that got me started using the range tool! :laughing:

Thanks guys. The Macro thing worked fine. In my case, I don’t need to select to END, since as I want to use Duplicate, I need the range to be an exact number of bars. So far, I got to select with macro the start of the first note exactly, but still need to type in the range (eg, 4.0.0.0). I didn’t quite get how to snap the range tool to the starting midi note (snap to event) - I would presume if I could do that I could drag the range easily to 4 bars if it was snapping to grid also?

Yes… Snap = “Grid + Events + Cursor” should allow you to do that by dragging the range boundaries. Otherwise, just change modes… “Snap = Events” for setting the range start, then change back to “Snap = Grid” for setting the range end.

My problem is that when I got to Edit In Place, the Range tool does not snap … nor can the Range size be dragged bigger or smaller. Am I missing something obvious?

Hmmm, strange. When you switch to the Range tool, what does the cursor look like? (sometimes you get the “I” cursor, or the double arrows, or the hand tool… you should be able to get them to change depending on where you are in the Project window).
I can’t get it not to work here :confused:
Can you describe a bit more precisely what you are actually seeing?
(try setting Grid Type to “Use Quantize”, and choose a finer Quantize resolution)