Bars & Pipes Professional: The List Editor

Overview

While Bars&Pipes Professional's Graphic Editor provides a powerful graphics-based environment for editing music, certain editing operations require finer detail. For low-level, numeric editing of MIDI events, Bars&Pipes Professional provides the List Editor.

Accessing the List Editor

To open the List Editor, you must first open the Graphic Editor for the Track you want to edit, then select List Editing from the Prefs menu. Open the Graphic Editor for a Track by either double-clicking on a Track in the Tracks window, using the Magic Wand in the Song Construction window, or double-clicking a Track in the Media Madness Window.

Once you select List Editing, Bars&Pipes Professional closes the Graphic Editor window, then opens the List Editor window for that Track. The List Editor displays a list of all MIDI events in the Track.

Note
Double-clicking on a Track in the Media Madness Window automatically opens the List Editor, if the Graphic Editor for that Track has not been previously opened.

The List Display

The List Editor window contains most of the Command and Default Note Buttons of the Graphic Editor window. The List Editor, however, does not have the Magnifying Glass, Hand, Bounding Box, Duplicator, or Zoom buttons. Below the buttons is a slider, used for modifying events or data (more on this later). Finally, the bulk of the window consists of MIDI events of various types, one event per line. Use the scroll bar to the right of the events to move through the event list.

Use the Show menu to select which MIDI events to display.

Note
The List Editor does not display Song Parameters.

To display Note events, select any of the following options from the Show Menu: Staff-Notation, Tablature, Staff-Hybrid, Piano Roll, or Velocity.

The List Editor displays an event as a start time, followed by the type of event (please see the event types below), followed by event data.

The start time displays in either SMPTE time (hours, minutes, seconds, frames) or music time (measures, beats, clocks.) Use the SMPTE/Music button to select which time format is used.

When the button displays a film strip, the List Editor draws events in SMPTE time. Otherwise, the button displays musical notes and the List Editor draws events in music time.

The MIDI Events Display

The second field denotes the type of MIDI event. A listing of the different MIDI events and an explanation of their data fields follows. The name in parenthesis is the abbreviation the List Editor uses to display the MIDI event type.

Note (Nt)

The Note MIDI event contains the pitch, both as a note/octave (from C0 to G10) and as a numeric MIDI value (from 0 to 127), the velocity of the note (from 0 to 127), and the duration of the note (in Song-time).

With the Hit List option selected in the Display menu, the Hit List name of the Note event displays instead of the Note duration. This is particularly useful when used in conjunction with the Media Madness feature (please see Chapter 28, Media Madness).

Pitch Bend (PB)

The Pitch Bend MIDI event contains the amount of shift, from +8192 (maximum shift down) to 8191 (maximum shift up). Remember, the value given to Pitch Bend determines the proportion of the shift to the maximum. For example, a value of -4096 shifts the current note downward by half the maximum. The MIDI specification uses this scheme because different instruments have different Pitch Bend ranges; full range on one synth may be an octave while only a whole step on another.

Mono After-Touch (MT)

The Mono After-Touch MIDI event contains the overall keyboard pressure, from 0 to 127.

Poly After-Touch (PT)

The Poly After-Touch MIDI event contains the note value for the key being pressed (like Mono After-touch) and the pressure on that key (from 0 to 127). Poly After-Touch is featured only on the most expensive keyboards, since the hardware must sense pressure on each individual key.

Control Change (CC)

The Control Change MIDI event contains the Control Change type (0 to 127) and the Control Change data (0 to 127). Control Change governs continuous controllers such as volume pedals and breath controllers.

Program Change (PC)

The Program Change MIDI event contains the patch number (0 to 127). Program Change controls the sound used by your MIDI device to play subsequent notes.

System Exclusive (SX)

The System Exclusive MIDI event contains no visible data. When you edit a System Exclusive event, Bars&Pipes Professional opens the System Exclusive requester. Please see System Exclusive for more on this requester.

System Exclusive events are special commands unique to the instrument (or product line). Manufacturers use System Exclusive events, for example, to set pitch bend ranges, transpose keys, send new patch data to the instrument, and to execute many other functions.

Note
The user's manual for your MIDI instrument can tell you whether your instrument supports System Exclusive events, and what the commands do.

The Edit Flags

To the left of the event list are the Edit Flags. Use these to set the boundaries of a Clip section for editing with Clips, just like in the Graphic Editor. The "begin Clip" Flag is a triangle pointing upward; the "end Clip" Flag is a triangle pointing downward.

Use the Flags in conjunction with the options in the Edit menu. Please refer to Note Editing for a complete description of these commands.

Except for being turned sideways, the Edit Flags in the List Editor work just as they do in the Graphic Editor. As you probably know, the Edit Flags align with boundaries assigned by the Align with... Preferences option.

Tip

When you try to place an Edit Flag right after an event in the List Editor, don't be surprised if the flag jumps behind a number of events because you have "Align with... Measures" selected. Change it to "Align with...Anywhere" to able to place an Edit Flag after any event. Even then, if several events have the exact same time, the Flag jumps to just before all of the events. because the position of the Flag is actually the time it occurs, not its position in the list.

Remember: in the List Editor, one event may be at one time, and the next event in the list could be a beat later, a measure later, or several measures later. Because of this, be careful when cutting and pasting.

Command Buttons

The first five buttons from the left are the Command Buttons. As you click each one with the mouse, the mouse's icon changes. All of these buttons have keyboard equivalents as well. Set the Command Buttons to determine how you use the mouse. The following list describes each button briefly. Later in this chapter, we'll delve into greater detail.

The Pencil

The Pencil, or function key "Fl" enters MIDI events. Clicking with the Pencil on a specific event creates a duplicate of the event, substituting the chosen default note parameters.

The Magic Wand

The Magic Wand, or function key "F2" alters the MIDI events type and data.

The Eraser

The Eraser, or function key "F5" deletes events.

The ToolPad

The ToolPad contains selected Tools and processes notes with the currently-displayed Tool. The mouse pointer turns into a Wrench when the ToolPad is selected.

The Step Entry

The Step Entry button enables step entry of events from a MIDI keyboard.

Default Note Buttons

Before drawing or step-entering events, set the Default Note. The Default Note consists of a note value (eighth, quarter, etc.), a modifier (triplet, dotted, normal), an articulation (staccato, legato, etc.), and a dynamic level (pp through ff). Four separate buttons set these standards.

Upon pressing them with the mouse, each button reveals a pop-up menu with the options displayed. Drag the mouse to the desired option and lift up to select it. Bars&Pipes Professional displays your choice on the appropriate button.

Note Value

The first button determines the currently selected note division. Your choices range from a whole note to a sixty-fourth note. Select your choice from the menu by dragging the mouse to the desired choice. You can also press function key "F7" to decrease the note value without using the mouse, or press SHIFT and function key "F7" to increase the note value.

Note Modifier

The second button modifies your selected note value. The first item in this menu, a triplet, shrinks the size of the note to two-thirds its note value. The second menu item, a "normal" note, leaves the selected note value as is. The third item, the dotted note, adds half of the note to the selected note's length. In other words, Bars&Pipes Professional multiplies the note value by one and one-half. Select your choice by dragging the mouse to the desired choice. You can also press function key "F8" to decrease the note length without using the mouse, or press SHIFT and function key "F8" to increase the note length.

Articulation

The third button determines the relative length of the selected note. The menu range extends from staccato (short) to legato (slurred). Staccato, signified traditionally as a dot above a note, usually indicates a duration of 1/4 its full length value; Portato, signified traditionally by the absence of a marking above the note, indicates a note duration of 1/2 its full length value; Leggiero, traditionally signified as a horizontal line above a note, indicates a note duration of 3/4 its full note value; and Legato, traditionally signified with an arched line above a series of notes, indicates a note duration equal to its full value, with no perceptible space between each note. Make your selection by dragging the mouse to the desired choice and lifting up. You can also press function key "F9" to make the articulation longer in duration without using the mouse, or press SHIFT and function key "F9" to make the duration shorter.

Velocity

The final button, the farthest to the right, determines the velocity of the note. You have six choices ranging from very soft (pp) to very loud (ff). Make your selection by dragging the mouse to the desired choice and lifting up. You can also press function key "F10" to increase the note volume without using the mouse, or press SHIFT and function key "F10" to decrease its volume.

Editing Events

Use the Command buttons described earlier to edit events in the List Editor.

== Entering Events v

To enter new MIDI events, activate the Pencil by clicking on the Pencil button or by pressing function key "F1". Then, click the Pencil on the MIDI event located just after the point where you want to insert the new event. If you want to enter a new event at the very bottom of the list, click in the blank area below the last event.

The type of event you enter is the same as the one you clicked on. If you clicked on a note, the note also has the same pitch of the note you clicked on, and the volume, duration, and articulation set by the Default Note. Other MIDI events use data from the events you clicked on.

Altering MIDI Events

With the List Editor, you can edit MIDI Events directly by changing the data associated with the Events, or even by changing the Events themselves. To edit Events, activate the Magic Wand by clicking on the Magic Wand button or pressing function key "F2".

When editing Events, the slider above the event list becomes active. To edit an Event, click on any part of the event. Bars&Pipes Professional highlights the selected data in red. Now, you can drag the slider to the desired value (or use the arrow buttons to the right of the slider).

You can also directly edit the text to the right of the slider.

Note
If the Hit List option is enabled in the Display menu, the textual translation of note value to Hit List name displays here, Use this field to enter new Hit List translations. Remember, each note can have only one Hit List equivalent. If you set C4 to be "dog bark", all C4 notes display as "dog bark."

Erasing Events

To erase events, select the Eraser by clicking the Erase button or by pressing function key "F5" then click on each event you want to erase. If you make a mistake, you can select Undo (Right Amiga-U) from the Edit menu to restore the last event you erased.

Toolizing Events

The List Editor window contains the same ToolPad as the Graphic Editor and Song window. You can place, select, and edit Tools from the List Editor in the same manner as for other windows in Bars&Pipes Professional. Toolizing events in the List Editor can be both powerful and confusing. Powerful, since you can edit the results exactly to your liking. Confusing, since Tools can remove an event, reposition it in time, or add additional ones. For example, if you use the Echo Tool on a note, the echoes get mixed in with other notes and events down the line.

Tip
Another powerful way to use the ToolPad in the List Editor is to explore how Tools affect specific MIDI events. When you Toolize an event in the List Editor, you see the results accurately in numerical form. You can use this knowledge to edit Tool parameters to your liking, with less guesswork and better results.

Step Entering Events

To enter MIDI events into the List Editor from any MIDI instrument, click on the Step Entry button. Then, set the "begin editing" flag (the flag with the arrow pointing upward) to the point where you want to enter new events.

Like the Graphic Editor, any notes you step-enter from your MIDI keyboard automatically conform to the length, articulation, and velocity set by the Default Note parameters. To move forward one note length without entering an event, press the Space bar. To delete the previous event, press the Backspace key. Please see Note Editing for a thorough explanation of Step Entering.