Piano Roll enhancements

Improved velocity editing

SONAR introduces several enhancements for displaying and editing note velocities:

Velocity lines are thicker and match the note color. The lines become thinner when you zoom out horizontally. Velocity lines also have a thin black outline to make it easier to distinguish overlapping velocity lines.

You can directly edit velocities in the Controller pane. Simply drag the top of a velocity line up/down.

There are two new methods to quickly scale multiple selected velocities in the Controller pane, Note pane, or Drum Grid pane:

Velocity scaling. Hold down the SHIFT key and adjust any selected velocity line. All other selected velocities scale accordingly.

Anchored velocity stretching. Hold down the CTRL key and adjust any selected velocity line. The first and last selected velocities remain stationary, while all other selected velocities ramp toward the dragged velocity line. The result typically resembles the letter “V”, or an inverted “V”, depending on which direction the velocities are dragged.

The mouse pointer looks like when stretching or scaling velocities.

Figure 99. Editing velocities in the Controller pane.

A. Drag top of velocity line up-down B. All overlapping velocity lines are visible

Figure 100. Anchored velocity stretching.

A. First and last selected velocity lines remain stationary B. Hold down the CTRL key and drag any selected velocity; all other selected velocities ramp toward the dragged velocity line

Display multiple controllers simultaneously

When the Piano Roll view Controller pane is hidden, you can specify if the Piano Roll view should show only a single controller type, or allow multiple controller types to be displayed simultaneously. The setting is independent for the Piano Roll view and the Inline Piano Roll.

For the Piano Roll view. Click the Piano Roll view Controllers menu and select Display Multiple Controllers. When enabled, you can select multiple controllers on the Track view MIDI menu. When disabled, you can only select a single controller type at a time. When you disable Display Multiple Controllers, the Piano Roll view will default to show the event type that is selected in the Piano Roll view’s Edit Filter control (see To hide or show data in the Piano Roll view).

For the Inline Piano Roll. Click the Track view MIDI menu, point to Show Controllers and select Display Multiple Controllers. When enabled, you can select multiple controllers on the Track view MIDI menu. When disabled, you can only select a single controller type at a time. When you disable Display Multiple Controllers, the Inline Piano Roll will default to show the event type that is selected in the track’s Edit Filter control (see Displaying notes and controllers in the Inline Piano Roll view and Selecting the data type to edit).

Continuous controller events visually extend to the next event

Continuous controller events now visually extend to the next controller event. This allows you to see the value of the previous controller event, even if the controller start time is off-screen.

You can drag the horizontal line up/down to adjust the controller value.

Selected controller events become darker.

Figure 101. Continuous controller events extend to the next controller event.

A. Controller value extends to the next controller event B. Drag line up/down to adjust event value C. Selected controller events are dark

Stretching Note events

You can stretch the duration of all selected notes in the Piano Roll view and Inline Piano Roll.

1.	Set the track’s Edit Filter control to Notes.

2.	Select the Note events you want to stretch. For details, see To select MIDI notes.

3.	Do one of the following:

To stretch all notes proportionally. With the Smart tool , position the pointer where you want to split the note, then hold down the CTRL key and drag the end of any selected note.

To stretch all notes to the same absolute duration. With the Smart tool , position the pointer where you want to split the note, then hold down the SHIFT key and drag the end of any selected note.

Tip: You can easily create tuplets by stretching note events. First draw the desired number of notes, then select them and hold down the CTRL key while you drag the end of any selected note. For example, draw 5 quarter notes, then stretch them to fit in the space of 4 quarter notes.

Selection enhancements

Click the blank space above the piano keys to clear the current selection.

Splitting notes with the Smart tool or Split tool clears the current selection. For details, see Using the Smart tool on PRV notes and Using the Split tool on PRV notes.

Gluing notes with the Smart tool or Draw tool clears the current selection. For details, see Using the Smart tool on PRV notes and Using the Freehand tool on PRV notes.

Other Piano Roll UI improvements

More realistic piano keys.

When moving a note, the mouse pointer is hidden so it doesn’t obscure the note.

Optimized vertical zoom resolution. The Piano Roll view now zooms out less and zooms in more.

When editing in the Controller pane, the active lane is highlighted and all other lanes are gray.

Note event corners are rounded when zoomed in, and become angular when zoomed out.

The Piano Roll view menu has been reorganized and streamlined. For details, see Piano Roll view menu.

A. Click to clear selection B. Streamlined menu C. Rounded note edges D. Updated piano keys

 

See:

Editing MIDI events and continuous controllers (CC)

Piano Roll view

Pattern tool

New features