- In general, most MIDI editing will probably be done with the mouse in object - mode. This allows to select notes, copy, move or delete them and alter their - properties (see below). But at some point, adding notes to a MIDI - region using the mouse will mean dragging with the mouse. Since this would - normally be a selection operation if the mouse is in object mode, there needs - to be some way to tell Ardour that the user is trying to draw new - notes within a MIDI region. Ardour provides two ways do this. One is to leave - the mouse in object mode and Left-drag. The - other, useful to enter a lot of notes for a while, is to switch the mouse into - Draw Notes mode, which will now interpret any drags - and clicks as requests to add a new note. For obvious reasons, Draw Notes mode - can not be used while using region-level editing. +
+ MIDI notes can be added a few different way in Ardour: +
+ +
+ Drawing notes with the mouse requires that a MIDI track exists, and a blank MIDI region has + been created in this track. +
++ In either Draw or Internal Edit Mode new notes can be added with a click or + drag: a mouse click creates a note at the pointer location + (or the nearest grid anchor if grid is enabled), and its duration is + one Grid unit. A mouse drag + creates the note like a click does, but allows continuously setting + the duration of the note until the mouse button is released.
-So, to summarize:
-| Selecting, moving, copying, trimming, deleting regions | -Note Level Editing disabled, using object, - range or other mouse modes |
|---|---|
| Selecting, moving, copying trimming, deleting notes | -Note Level Editing enabled, and using mouse object mode |
| Adding new notes | -enabling "Note Level Editing" and then either
-
|
- Note that there is also a step entry editor allowing to - enter notes from a virtual keyboard and lots more besides. +
+ The Step Entry editor allows to enter a + melody in sequence along time, using a virtual keyboard and specific + controls. It can be a very handy and fast way create MIDI lines, in a + kind of typewriter way, all the more when using its different + keyboard shortcuts. +
++ The Step Entry window is shown by right + clicking the record button in the MIDI track header and selecting Step Entry. This will automatically create a MIDI + region to type into at the playhead position, which will automatically expand at each step. +
+ ++ The Virtual MIDI Keyboard — or + a real MIDI keyboard plugged in as the tracks input — can be + used to record MIDI, as a microphone would record audio. +
++ It can be started by choosing the Window > + Virtual Keyboard menu. Exactly like for audio recording, the + track(s) must be armed for recording, the main record engaged, then + the transport started. As for the Step Entry, a MIDI region will be + auto-generated at the playhead position, and expanded as long as the + recording lasts.