Splitting notes - am I being thick?

[wils]

Hi

I often need to split one midi clip into two, which is fine but I run into issues when the "intersection" includes a long midi note. The razor tool seems to split the clip into one at the left, which includes the original midi note at its original length (i.e. extending beyond the new clip size) and one at the right, which doesn't include the midi note at all.

Is there a setting somewhere that says "when you use the razor tool to split a clip and it dissects a midi note, cut that midi note in two"? Or a cunning Shift+Alt+whatever shortcut?

I can see little to no point with the way it's actually been implemented. Seems crazy that PH would think someone would want to cut off a midi clip at a certain point, but not the midi note.

[mashers]

You're not being thick. That's the way it works, and I agree it can be annoying. I'm not aware of a key combination or setting to change this. The only qualifier key that seems to make the razor tool work any differently is ALT, which causes the clip to be split into two new clips and leaves the original untouched. I agree that there should be a qualifier key to split the clip and separate the midi data between them if any notes overlap.

[platzangst]

The difficulty with splitting an overlapping note is: suppose you could do it, well, then, how is that implemented?

Do you, for example, create a new note at the start of the razor edit that has the exact same attack, decay, and all? Or do you try to fudge the note in some way to account for how the note might fade over time?

What about samplers? If it's playing a long sample, do you want it to start over from the beginning, or begin playing from where it would have been at the point of the cut?

There's probably a whole bunch of other similar conditions, considering how many different ways a MIDI note could be used. And there's probably many different opinions on how such a cut should be handled. Should there be a half-dozen checkboxes in Options to determine how that should work? It's far simpler to say that when you split a clip, you sort the notes to one side of the clip or the other, and that's all you do.

[wils]

The difficulty with splitting an overlapping note is: suppose you could do it, well, then, how is that implemented?

Do you, for example, create a new note at the start of the razor edit that has the exact same attack, decay, and all? Or do you try to fudge the note in some way to account for how the note might fade over time?

What about samplers? If it's playing a long sample, do you want it to start over from the beginning, or begin playing from where it would have been at the point of the cut?

There's probably a whole bunch of other similar conditions, considering how many different ways a MIDI note could be used. And there's probably many different opinions on how such a cut should be handled. Should there be a half-dozen checkboxes in Options to determine how that should work? It's far simpler to say that when you split a clip, you sort the notes to one side of the clip or the other, and that's all you do.

I'd expect it to work just like any other DAW - you slice the clip, you slice the note. The "new"one in the second clip is a new note in its own right. Why would you be concerned about how it fades out, or its attack? It's no longer a 2 bar note - it's two, one bar notes. That's why you sliced it!

And yes, I'm sure it's simpler to do nothing, but there's a reason why we're still not on v1.

[wils]

You're not being thick. That's the way it works, and I agree it can be annoying. I'm not aware of a key combination or setting to change this. The only qualifier key that seems to make the razor tool work any differently is ALT, which causes the clip to be split into two new clips and leaves the original untouched. I agree that there should be a qualifier key to split the clip and separate the midi data between them if any notes overlap.

Ah well!

[platzangst]

Why would you be concerned about how it fades out, or its attack? It's no longer a 2 bar note - it's two, one bar notes. That's why you sliced it!

If a note has a gradual decay that reaches 50% of its original volume at the 1-bar mark, then in the resulting clip as you describe it, the note at the start of the 2nd clip will be at full volume at its start, which differs from the original. If that's what you want, fine, then "any other DAW" has the method you prefer. If that's not what you want, then you have to edit the new note to match.

Plus this still doesn't take into account MIDI notes driving samplers with complex or timed samples.

The point is, just because it might be convenient for your way of doing things, or might mimic the way other DAWs do things, doesn't mean there isn't any logic behind why Reason handles the cut the way it does. And as we all should know by now, Reason has gone a long while not doing things the way the rest of the DAWs do them.

[antic604]

I can see little to no point with the way it's actually been implemented. Seems crazy that PH would think someone would want to cut off a midi clip at a certain point, but not the midi note.

I see no point why the note would be "split", because then it would be triggered the 2nd time which is not what was originally happening. I actually think current behaviour is fine.

But I wouldn't mind a toggle in the settings to choose the preferred behaviour, obviously

[miscend]

I agree with you the way it's implemented right now is a bit silly. The work around is too clean up your midi notes before splitting your clips. And by the way you can now use the scissors tool to split midi notes into two.