Editing MIDI with keyboard - what am I missing?

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antic604
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18 Dec 2020

Few thing missing I hope I just overlooked while editing MIDI from computer keyboard:
- how do I resize (lengthen, shorten) the note that's currently selected?
- how do I adjust velocity of note that's currently selected?
- how do I change the grid density (1/8, 1/16, 1/32, etc.) when the zoom-dependant setting isn't right?
- how do I zoom in/out vertically? there's no modifier I could add to G/H (that zoom horizontally) to achieve that?
- why am I not hearing the notes play when moving them with Ctrl ("trigger notes while editing" is *on* in Settings)?

I *did* consult the Operation Manual, but without much success.

Those basic things surely can't be missing from DAW that's 20 years old, right? :?
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demt
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18 Dec 2020

I'm to smashed to tell you but it's all there erm click on the note in the piano roll with the arrow tool to lengthen it click on the below bar at the bottom of the roll with the pen tool to adjust vel just set the grid density and adjust the size of reason on your daw with added adjust the size of reason erm there again at the bottom of the sequencer panel is a visually easy but verbally complex way of getting the piano roll to any resolution size you want, play around with it erm I've never had a problem triggering notes high ho the pills are kicking in got to go
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demt
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18 Dec 2020

Get a better keyboard
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RoryM0
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18 Dec 2020

demt wrote:
18 Dec 2020
I'm to smashed to tell you but it's all there erm click on the note in the piano roll with the arrow tool to lengthen it click on the below bar at the bottom of the roll with the pen tool to adjust vel just set the grid density and adjust the size of reason on your daw with added adjust the size of reason erm there again at the bottom of the sequencer panel is a visually easy but verbally complex way of getting the piano roll to any resolution size you want, play around with it erm I've never had a problem triggering notes high ho the pills are kicking in got to go
Mods can now mark this thread as solved.

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antic604
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18 Dec 2020

RoryM0 wrote:
18 Dec 2020
demt wrote:
18 Dec 2020
I'm to smashed to tell you but it's all there erm click on the note in the piano roll with the arrow tool to lengthen it click on the below bar at the bottom of the roll with the pen tool to adjust vel just set the grid density and adjust the size of reason on your daw with added adjust the size of reason erm there again at the bottom of the sequencer panel is a visually easy but verbally complex way of getting the piano roll to any resolution size you want, play around with it erm I've never had a problem triggering notes high ho the pills are kicking in got to go
Mods can now mark this thread as solved.
Yeah :lol:

I've feeling @demt actually works for Reason Studios as a product manager, judging by glacial progress... ;)
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syncanonymous
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19 Dec 2020

it's all pretty easy
almost always left click is the answer
where you put the pointer, which tool you have, which view you are in kinda matters more

the best way to approach it is look at the keyboard shortcuts in last pages in the user manual

where you are getting stumped is literally Reason Sequencer lesson 1
just keep at it

alt or cntl/cmd + lft clk are your first go to
if you are using a track pad, then I can't really help

Selection Tool [Q]: to select and then resize notes
starts on pg 250 of my PDF operation manual:
enter EDIT MODE [Cntl+E]
ensure the snap value is what you want it to be!
pg 260 of my PDF manual:
lft clik drag to select notes> hover over a note and mouse pointer becomes a "<|>" then drag

If moving notes: hover over note> hold down lft mouse button: one of the issues with editing note positions is there is a lag-
you need to wait for the little pointer callout box to appear after you select and before you drag

@demt said "pen" tool.
In my version of Reason (10) the tool is called "Pencil"
...I don't think Reason has a "Pen" tool ;-P

edit velocities starts on pg 280 of my PDF operation manual:
in edit mode> edit velocities with PENCIL tool [W]>
lft clk drag to edit one at a time;
to affect many velocities with a single drag is cntrl+lft clk drag
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guitfnky
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19 Dec 2020

I love how people are answering a question about how to do things with the computer keyboard with “use your mouse”. 😂
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antic604
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19 Dec 2020

syncanonymous wrote:
19 Dec 2020
it's all pretty easy
almost always left click is the answer
where you put the pointer, which tool you have, which view you are in kinda matters more
Yes, "it's pretty easy" - just read the damn post you're replying to :thumbs_down:
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IamFredrik
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20 Dec 2020

They should make all editing functions assignable to shortcut keys. Problem solved.

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syncanonymous
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21 Dec 2020

antic604 wrote:
19 Dec 2020
syncanonymous wrote:
19 Dec 2020
it's all pretty easy
almost always left click is the answer
where you put the pointer, which tool you have, which view you are in kinda matters more
Yes, "it's pretty easy" - just read the damn post you're replying to :thumbs_down:
What did I do? I mean, your welcome. With such rudimentary questions I was just trying help.
Your hostility is unwarranted.
Typically, RTM posts are frowned upon because, in the past, pirate users would ask "how to" questions in the old Reason forum.

I read your entire post. You are clearly a complete newbie to Reason, I was kindly trying to help.
You will find I answered a couple of your questions, in detail
No swearing, no contempt...just being helpful
I assumed if I got you rolling you'd be able advance on the other Qs on your own, whoops!

you make it sound like the Operation Manual is written in javascript!
I use the manual all the time; I've been using Reason since version 1.
One thing I was noticing lately is the answer in the Reason manual is almost always "click"
which is fairly unhelpful.
Also, the Reason 10 Operation Manual is nearly 1400 pages; that will be why I gave page numbers.
I'm not thrilled with the way the Reason user manual is written, but it is what pheads wrote.

merry christmas

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syncanonymous
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21 Dec 2020

IamFredrik wrote:
20 Dec 2020
They should make all editing functions assignable to shortcut keys. Problem solved.
many, many keyboard shortcuts already assigned; they just need to be learned.
You are essentially talking about how Reaper works, where the keyboard shortcuts can be customized
Is that what you want for Reason? Not me

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antic604
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21 Dec 2020

syncanonymous wrote:
21 Dec 2020
I read your entire post. You are clearly a complete newbie to Reason, I was kindly trying to help.
You will find I answered a couple of your questions, in detail
No swearing, no contempt...just being helpful
I assumed if I got you rolling you'd be able advance on the other Qs on your own, whoops!
You're kidding, right? :lol:

I was asking - quite clearly, I thought! - if you can do things I mentioned WITH KEYBOARD ONLY, i.e. without touching a mouse, which you can do in many other DAWs. Your answers were like: do this, "click", do that, "click". I don't want to "click". Do you understand now? :roll:

And no, I've been using Reason for over 3 years and I'm pretty sure I could teach you a thing or two.
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syncanonymous
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21 Dec 2020

antic604 wrote:
21 Dec 2020
syncanonymous wrote:
21 Dec 2020
I read your entire post. You are clearly a complete newbie to Reason, I was kindly trying to help.
You will find I answered a couple of your questions, in detail
No swearing, no contempt...just being helpful
I assumed if I got you rolling you'd be able advance on the other Qs on your own, whoops!
You're kidding, right? :lol:

I was asking - quite clearly, I thought! - if you can do things I mentioned WITH KEYBOARD ONLY, i.e. without touching a mouse, which you can do in many other DAWs. Your answers were like: do this, "click", do that, "click". I don't want to "click". Do you understand now? :roll:

And no, I've been using Reason for over 3 years and I'm pretty sure I could teach you a thing or two.
Nope, I did read...I just didn't grasp your bold text
sorry about that...

I mean, I kinda did supply an answer as I am a little like you; I'd rather use less mousing wherever possible
and the manual is full of "click, click, click"
so I do relate to the frustration

so...let's see if there are ways to handle what you ask :-)

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MannequinRaces
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21 Dec 2020

syncanonymous wrote:
21 Dec 2020
antic604 wrote:
21 Dec 2020


You're kidding, right? :lol:

I was asking - quite clearly, I thought! - if you can do things I mentioned WITH KEYBOARD ONLY, i.e. without touching a mouse, which you can do in many other DAWs. Your answers were like: do this, "click", do that, "click". I don't want to "click". Do you understand now? :roll:

And no, I've been using Reason for over 3 years and I'm pretty sure I could teach you a thing or two.
Nope, I did read...I just didn't grasp your bold text
sorry about that...

I mean, I kinda did supply an answer as I am a little like you; I'd rather use less mousing wherever possible
and the manual is full of "click, click, click"
so I do relate to the frustration

so...let's see if there are ways to handle what you ask :-)
The thread title has keyboard in it, lol!

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antic604
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21 Dec 2020

syncanonymous wrote:
21 Dec 2020
so...let's see if there are ways to handle what you ask :-)
Thanks :) :thumbs_up:

The only thing that is sort of possible from my list is vertical zoom, but instead of using a modifier + [G] / [H] one has to use [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Plus] and [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Minus]. The problem is on most laptops [Plus] requires addition of [Shift], whereas [Minus], so that's very inconvenient and needlesly confusing :?
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syncanonymous
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21 Dec 2020

OK, I am ready for you to teach me :-D
[my current job has a bunch of tracks both audio and midi
we are both on Win, so that helps]

back up a minute...
so:
-focus on Seq Window= F7
-select a MIDI track= up/down arrows
how are you selecting a clip from here without mouse/ trackpad?
Arrow r/l doing nothing for me in Song View (Arrange) or Edit Mode; Alt+Arrow l/r navs to loop locations (L and R)...

until press cntl+enter= record
this action selects the clip under the playhead
(pressing [enter] did nothing)

[spacebar] stops recording
but now clips are selected when nav Arrange view;
so can now edit MIDI...

just catching up to you...

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syncanonymous
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21 Dec 2020

manual sez:
"To edit the events in a note clip, open the clip by double-clicking it, or select it and press [Return]." :-/

by which action was said clip SELECTed

anyway...when the Seq View is first opened; the TRACKS, not the LANES have focus
so, the cntl+enter gets us into the lanes where Arrows U/D allow clip selection

then ctl+E or just [enter] opens the the clip under the playhead

Arrows L/R select a clip at a time or use shift or cntl for multiple notes

so, we need to get into the Seq Toolbar and/or Inspector somehow....how do we give focus to Seq Toolbar and/or Inspector without mouse/ trackpad/touch?

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syncanonymous
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21 Dec 2020

F8= Tool Window
can we get in this way?

so far, no good for me...
[alt] and [tab] and variations of them= navigating the LANES views and remove focus from the selected midi note...
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syncanonymous
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21 Dec 2020

yeah, sadly, the better keyboard answer is kinda valid

I am using a LogiTech Craft

and learned a fair a bit here...
number pad area with a bit of timeline and transport nav
I couldn't get into the Tool Window :-/

I think it is fair to say Reason does not cater to deep keyboard shortcuts like Adobe and others;
and Reaper will let you do a massive amount of keyboard shortcut editing...yet Reaper certainly is not Reason!

Reason is such mouse/trackpad environment

I do the majority of my audio mixing and mastering in SawStudio Lite and the keyboard control is awesome in SAW

users can easily select and edit clips, navigate to clip boundaries, move, cut, etc; these are vital in a pro environment IMO
Power users often find road blocks in Reason, I reckon

I gotta get back to comping guitars! Sorry I couldn't do more than validate what can't be done
I am surely missing something and will report back if I stumble upon relevant workarounds :-)
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djsmex
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23 Dec 2020

From an accessibility point of view, as I have very limited sight, I can appreciate wanting full keyboard control. Myself I use the arrow keys to select notes then click and edit the values in the toolbar, as this is easier for me than click and drag control. It would be nice to have more keyboard control and I understand many blind musicians use reaper. However, I've been using Reason from the start and have found work arounds. I would like to see more remote control of things like the browser panel and perhaps the toolbar across block/edit views etc. This I feel
will open things up to more external hardware/software control of reason, reducing the need for so much mouse control. The computer keyboard is quite limited where as the remote system can be used in both a very flexible and extensive way.

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Creativemind
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23 Dec 2020

guitfnky wrote:
19 Dec 2020
I love how people are answering a question about how to do things with the computer keyboard with “use your mouse”. 😂
I know, I was close.
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IamFredrik
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26 Dec 2020

syncanonymous wrote:
21 Dec 2020
IamFredrik wrote:
20 Dec 2020
They should make all editing functions assignable to shortcut keys. Problem solved.
many, many keyboard shortcuts already assigned; they just need to be learned.
You are essentially talking about how Reaper works, where the keyboard shortcuts can be customized
Is that what you want for Reason? Not me
I know the shortcuts. There aren't enough of them. The less I need to use the mouse the better.

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syncanonymous
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26 Dec 2020

IamFredrik wrote:
26 Dec 2020
syncanonymous wrote:
21 Dec 2020


many, many keyboard shortcuts already assigned; they just need to be learned.
You are essentially talking about how Reaper works, where the keyboard shortcuts can be customized
Is that what you want for Reason? Not me
I know the shortcuts. There aren't enough of them. The less I need to use the mouse the better.
hey, I agree with you
if you read the whole thread you'll see I misunderstood the OP and

then I went thru trying to do what OP asked...

I did find some unexpected benefits not outlined in the Operation Manual
like how to select a clip in a lane if there is no clip currently selected
...it isn't much...but it is something

It is a shame for Reason to just give users a mousing environment that feel rather non-professional once a user gets to power user level

IamFredrik
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26 Dec 2020

syncanonymous wrote:
26 Dec 2020
IamFredrik wrote:
26 Dec 2020


I know the shortcuts. There aren't enough of them. The less I need to use the mouse the better.
hey, I agree with you
if you read the whole thread you'll see I misunderstood the OP and

then I went thru trying to do what OP asked...

I did find some unexpected benefits not outlined in the Operation Manual
like how to select a clip in a lane if there is no clip currently selected
...it isn't much...but it is something

It is a shame for Reason to just give users a mousing environment that feel rather non-professional once a user gets to power user level
I'm sorry, my reply wasn't really in the christmas spirit.

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SoundObjects
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26 Dec 2020

Recent bought this keyboard I find quite useful - but
of course a little expensive solution.
https://www.thomann.de/dk/editors_keys_ ... 1bc1e3ea90
The Universe Is Vibrating

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