midi note stretch - wtf?
midi note stretch - wtf?
i've been slow at work so i've been reading over the live manual to pass time and maybe find some new features or just ones i didn't know existed. so i come across this "MIDI note stretch" function (pg 139 in Live 7 manual). i don't get it. "note stretch markers will then appear in the note editor, allowing notes to be scaled proportionally in time." doesn't midi scale the notes proportionaly in time anyway? what exactly does this do, and what would one use it for? anyone use this function? why come?
Scale works on ALL notes.
the MIDI note stretch funcrtion can be used on only the notes you highlight.
Sometimes I'll play a bassline and decide I like the really low notes, but the ones I play up in the next octave are a bit too dominant, so I select those and shrink their duration. making them a bit more like blippy accents.
or maybe my pinky finger got retarded and only brushed the note it was suppposed to hold in a chord. I don't have to re-record the whole MIDI clip, I can just stretch the one dumb note.
the MIDI note stretch funcrtion can be used on only the notes you highlight.
Sometimes I'll play a bassline and decide I like the really low notes, but the ones I play up in the next octave are a bit too dominant, so I select those and shrink their duration. making them a bit more like blippy accents.
or maybe my pinky finger got retarded and only brushed the note it was suppposed to hold in a chord. I don't have to re-record the whole MIDI clip, I can just stretch the one dumb note.
simple example:
you have a midi phrase 1 bar long. you like the melody but feel it would sound better if it were played in half-time. with note stretch, you can select the notes and 'expand' them to 2 bars keeping the same *relative* note durations, so the same exact notes are played but over two bars instead.
*note^ - not the same as copying over two bars, i.e. you don't get the same phrase played twice consecutively but played once at half the speed.
. . . . ____ . . . .
. . ____ . . . . . .
becomes:
. . . . . . . . ________ . . . . . . . .
. . . . ________ . . . . . . . . . . . .
if you highlight and then use the bracket to adjust length then it's the same phrase terms of duration, only the individual notes are longer.
this feature is easier to understand if you try it i.e., the manual doesn't explain it too well
you have a midi phrase 1 bar long. you like the melody but feel it would sound better if it were played in half-time. with note stretch, you can select the notes and 'expand' them to 2 bars keeping the same *relative* note durations, so the same exact notes are played but over two bars instead.
*note^ - not the same as copying over two bars, i.e. you don't get the same phrase played twice consecutively but played once at half the speed.
. . . . ____ . . . .
. . ____ . . . . . .
becomes:
. . . . . . . . ________ . . . . . . . .
. . . . ________ . . . . . . . . . . . .
if you highlight and then use the bracket to adjust length then it's the same phrase terms of duration, only the individual notes are longer.
this feature is easier to understand if you try it i.e., the manual doesn't explain it too well
no, it's a different thing. it moves the timings proportionally.memes_33 wrote:can't you just do this by stetching the note durations? highlight the notes you want to stretch/shrink and use the bracket tool to do the stretching?
I use it to play without the metronome, then when I want to put what I played in time with the app I use 'stretch midi notes' and align my notes with the grid.
You can also use stretch midi notes to reverse midi.
I think you ought to try it, perhaps that will be the best explanation.
ok, well, this was a feature I found in ableton after I bought it, but wasn't sure if was actually there, but definitely hoped it would be there, and it was.
"Stretch Notes" AKA "Time Stretch MIDI"
This is a very important feature that I always use when working in a DAW.
I used to be a Cubase user, and used this feature all the time. I will tell you exactly why this feature is so useful and important.
The main reason is, when I start a new song, I refuse to record to a click track, UNLESS, I am actually performing the set LIVE. Here's how you do it: Pick a midi track that has a synth, or drum kit on it, something that obviously uses midi data to record, then turn off the metronome click. As Long as this is the first track you use to start a song your all good.
Next, hit record, and then, immediately after, completely forget the fact that you hit record. When recording MIDI only, you can record hours of data and only use maybe 1 mb or 2.
So bang away for minutes or hours, and completely drift away in making music without thinking about a click track or anything constricting like that. After you feel like you've played some stuff worth keeping, hit stop, and listen to the recorded midi over again. Just pretend it's audio. When you hear the parts you like and want to keep, highlight the first note/down beat of a part you like, and select the notes between there and the last down beat you want to keep. Then use the "stretch notes" function, and drag the first beat to the beginning of a loop marker, and also drag the last note to the downbeat of the last loop. Whalah, you now have MIDI data that is perfectly synced to loops without having to record to those horrible click tracks. As you know, Ableton treats audio the same way, so technically you could start a song the same way when recording a mic, or instrument.
Just remember, it's always useful to tap the "tap tempo" button a few times to get Ableton's tempo as close to the one in your head before recording. This way, after you "stretch" the notes, the tempo of the MIDI recording will sound relatively the same. It's too bad Ableton doesn't allow a feature to be able to lock the midi data, and stretch ableton's tempo to the MIDI. This would make the work-flow even more flexible. Who knows, maybe one day they'll figure out a way to get this feature to actually work for live performance.
I also use this feature a lot since it is way more convenient that using the "quantize" function.
"Stretch Notes" AKA "Time Stretch MIDI"
This is a very important feature that I always use when working in a DAW.
I used to be a Cubase user, and used this feature all the time. I will tell you exactly why this feature is so useful and important.
The main reason is, when I start a new song, I refuse to record to a click track, UNLESS, I am actually performing the set LIVE. Here's how you do it: Pick a midi track that has a synth, or drum kit on it, something that obviously uses midi data to record, then turn off the metronome click. As Long as this is the first track you use to start a song your all good.
Next, hit record, and then, immediately after, completely forget the fact that you hit record. When recording MIDI only, you can record hours of data and only use maybe 1 mb or 2.
So bang away for minutes or hours, and completely drift away in making music without thinking about a click track or anything constricting like that. After you feel like you've played some stuff worth keeping, hit stop, and listen to the recorded midi over again. Just pretend it's audio. When you hear the parts you like and want to keep, highlight the first note/down beat of a part you like, and select the notes between there and the last down beat you want to keep. Then use the "stretch notes" function, and drag the first beat to the beginning of a loop marker, and also drag the last note to the downbeat of the last loop. Whalah, you now have MIDI data that is perfectly synced to loops without having to record to those horrible click tracks. As you know, Ableton treats audio the same way, so technically you could start a song the same way when recording a mic, or instrument.
Just remember, it's always useful to tap the "tap tempo" button a few times to get Ableton's tempo as close to the one in your head before recording. This way, after you "stretch" the notes, the tempo of the MIDI recording will sound relatively the same. It's too bad Ableton doesn't allow a feature to be able to lock the midi data, and stretch ableton's tempo to the MIDI. This would make the work-flow even more flexible. Who knows, maybe one day they'll figure out a way to get this feature to actually work for live performance.
I also use this feature a lot since it is way more convenient that using the "quantize" function.