'Unwarp' or 'Unlock' midi from Ableton's Tempo/grid

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Barfyman69
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Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2022 8:53 am

'Unwarp' or 'Unlock' midi from Ableton's Tempo/grid

Post by Barfyman69 » Sun Sep 18, 2022 9:01 am

Hello all,

I have started recording my various tracks, starting with the drum track, in midi using a controller without a metronome/click track. This is at the default 120bpm.

This works for me. The problem is then when I want to apply any 'groove' to the midi, presumably because it's not 'on tempo' it doesn't go ok.

I would like the midi to be on grid/in tempo - as best as my playing allows.

Is there a way to 'unwarp' a midi track as if it were an audio track, and then adjust the tempo so the midi fits to the click/grid?

I know i could duplicate the midi, export as audio, unwarp, adjust tempo, and then warp the midi track to fit... It just is too much time and I don't like/trust warping the midi like that.. I suspect this is my best/only option though.

Hopefully this makes some sense, and you can help?

Thanks so much!

pottering
Posts: 1804
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2014 4:41 am

Re: 'Unwarp' or 'Unlock' midi from Ableton's Tempo/grid

Post by pottering » Sun Sep 18, 2022 10:17 pm

Either tap tempo before starting (to get a BPM just a bit close to what you want, doesn't need to be exact) or use Capture (will set the BPM from what you played).
♥♥♥

Barfyman69
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2022 8:53 am

Re: 'Unwarp' or 'Unlock' midi from Ableton's Tempo/grid

Post by Barfyman69 » Mon Sep 19, 2022 9:04 am

Thank you, as I understand it - the problem is that the midi I have already recorded will be 'locked' into place when I change the tempo and therefore will still be off grid/tempo.

It would be great if you could 'unwarp' midi just like audio..

EDIT:

I will just export to audio, unwarp the audio, change the bpm to where my playing best fits the grid, and then warp and apply grooves to the exported audio. Works just fine..

This is a niche request so I understand why it wont work.

Thanks,

yur2die4
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Re: 'Unwarp' or 'Unlock' midi from Ableton's Tempo/grid

Post by yur2die4 » Mon Sep 19, 2022 10:11 am

I really do wish they gave us more flexibility with midi. There is quite a bit of room for features.

-Keep original tempo (basically treat it like an unwarped audio clip)
-‘Warping’, to allow you to push and pull sections of midi notes, while not having to clash with section before or after that ‘section’

I’m sure there’s a bit extra we could come up with too.
Midi doesn’t really use ‘tempo’ info in Live at all. It’s always just relative to rhythmic intervals. I get that, especially in the early implementation of midi. And I appreciate how far Live has come with a lot of midi editing possibilities. But it still has some frustrations when it comes to importing and manipulating long streams of midi.

Barfyman69
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2022 8:53 am

Re: 'Unwarp' or 'Unlock' midi from Ableton's Tempo/grid

Post by Barfyman69 » Mon Sep 19, 2022 10:20 am

Yeah i think it would be much better with what seem to be simple changes, maybe to ableton the demand doesn't justify the implementation.

I can also export the audio, then 'warp' the midi to match the audio but that gets difficult with anything other than drums


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