<p>
- Ardour's handling of <dfn>MIDI editing</dfn> differs from most other DAWs
- and MIDI sequencers.
+ Ardour's handling of MIDI and how it allows the editing of MIDI data differs
+ in key ways from most other DAWs and MIDI sequencers. Also, unlike its
+ handling of audio data, the editing of MIDI data in Ardour is necessarily
+ <em>destructive</em> by nature.
</p>
-<h2>Key features of Ardour MIDI handling</h2>
+<h2>Key features of Ardour MIDI editing</h2>
+
<ul>
<li>
- All editing is done in-place, in-window. There is no separate piano roll
- window or pane. Edit notes right where you see them.
- </li>
- <li>
- MIDI, just like audio, exists in regions. MIDI regions behave like audio
- regions: they can be moved, trimmed, copied (cloned), or deleted. Ardour allows
- either editing MIDI (or audio) regions, or MIDI region content (the notes), but
- never both at the same time. The <kbd class="menu">e</kbd> key (by default)
- toggles between region level and note level editing
+ All editing is done in-place, in-window; there is no separate piano roll
+ window or pane. Notes are edited right where they appear.
</li>
<li>
- Editing note information in Ardour occurs in only a single region. There is no
- way currently to edit in note data for multiple regions at the same time, so for
- example notes cannot be selected in several regions and then all deleted, nor
- can they be copied-and-pasted from one region to another. Region(s), though, can
- be copy-pasted just as with audio.
+ Editing note information in Ardour occurs in only a single region. There is
+ no way currently to edit note data for multiple regions at the same time;
+ so, for example, notes cannot be selected in several regions and then all
+ deleted, nor can they be copied and pasted from one region to another.
+ Regions, however, <em>can</em> be copied and pasted just as with audio.
</li>
<li>
- All MIDI I/O is done via JACK for sample accurate timing and maximal
- efficiency when communicating with external software synthesizers.
+ When using jackd as the audio server for Ardour, all MIDI I/O is done
+ via JACK for sample accurate timing and maximal efficiency when communicating
+ with external software synthesizers. Otherwise, Ardour connects to midi
+ via the existing OS MIDI system.
</li>
<li>
- Every MIDI track has its own JACK MIDI port for input; it may have an
+ Every MIDI track has its own MIDI port for input; it may have an
arbitrary combination of audio and MIDI outputs, depending on the signal
- processing in the track; the full flexibility of JACK connectivity is
- present for MIDI just as it is for audio.
+ processing in the track.
</li>
<li>
Full automation for MIDI tracks, integrated with the handling of all MIDI
data).
</li>
<li>
- There is a Normal and a Percussive mode for note data editing.
+ There is a Normal and a Percussive mode for note data editing.
</li>
<li>
- The <dfn>scroomer</dfn> is a combination scroll/zoom tool for altering
- the zoom level and range of visible MIDI data.
+ The vertical dimension of the region window is controlled by a
+ <dfn>scroomer</dfn> widget, which is a combination scroll/zoom tool for
+ altering the zoom level and range of visible MIDI data.
</li>
</ul>
-<h2>Notable Differences</h2>
-<ul>
- <li>
- Fader (volume) control currently operates on transmitted MIDI data, not by sending CC
- #7.
- </li>
- <li>
- All note/data editing is per-region. There are no cross-region operations at this
- time.
- </li>
- <li>
- By default, copying a MIDI region creates a <dfn>deep link</dfn>—both
- regions share the same data source, and edits to the contents of
- one will affect the other. To break this link, select
- <kbd class="menu">MIDI > Unlink from other copies</kbd> from the region
- context menu, after which the selected region(s) will have their own copies
- of <em>only</em> the data that they visually display on screen. You will not
- be able to trim the region back its original length after an Unlink operation,
- and the operation cannot be undone.
- </li>
-</ul>
projects / ardour-manual / blobdiff