Bucag

Q: When programing midi in logic pro x what the quickest way of switching rhythmic subdivisions (straight 8ths to triplets)

Hi friends, Just wondering about midi workflow in logic pro x. When writing for a monophonic instrument that is soloing, I wanted to mix the rhythmic subdivisions so the instrument is playing a mix of triplets and straight 8th notes in the same take. what is the easiest workflow solution to writing like this and staying in the creative flow (improvising) with out too much moving midi events around manually? I still want to be able to quantize midi events after recording, maintaining the subdivisions I've chosen, without having to copy the take and quantize it in another midi channel.

 

Hope this makes sense

Many thanks Logikers

Logic Pro X, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Sep 1, 2016 2:16 PM

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Q: When programing midi in logic pro x what the quickest way of switching rhythmic subdivisions (straight 8ths to triplets)

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  • by Indyuser,

    Indyuser Indyuser Sep 1, 2016 6:40 PM in response to Bucag
    Level 4 (2,110 points)
    Audio
    Sep 1, 2016 6:40 PM in response to Bucag

    is this after you have recorded the midi in real time or is this as you are creating the midi manually.

    upload a screen shot of what you have right before you want to mix the rhythms....

  • by Bucag,

    Bucag Bucag Sep 2, 2016 11:41 AM in response to Indyuser
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Audio
    Sep 2, 2016 11:41 AM in response to Indyuser

    Screen Shot 2016-09-02 at 12.10.44 PM.png

    Ok so I made a little example of what I mean. So in the first bar I have 8th notes in straight time that have no quantization then in the second bar I have a run of triplets = 3 quavers to a beat. if i quantize channel 1 to straight eighth notes (or quavers) the triplets will snap to straight eight notes and the triplet subdivision would be lost. How I've been working so far is to copy the region to another channel that I then quantize to triplets to snap my sloppy midi events into triplet time. If I do a lot of this though it takes up time where I would rather be playing than editing. So I guess what I'm asking is, is there any work around where I can have both mixed subdivisions and quantization on a single channel? Is there a way of making logic recognize when Im playing triplets and when I'm playing straight eights or sixteenth notes and quantize them accordingly? Don't know if you have checked out any of the artist "Lone" but I like a lot of the mixed subdivision stuff he does on the album Lemurian and have been wondering how he programs those beats that are a mixture of straight eighth notes and triplets in the same bar. Sounds like some wicked quantization to me. 


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL_OZs--kNEhttp://http://


    Here's a track as an example. Maybe on this one the subdivisions are different for bass and snare giving this mixed subdivision effect. Any guidance on how to work with the sequencer in different subdivisions across different channels would be awesome as well. Many thanks yo!

  • by Indyuser,

    Indyuser Indyuser Sep 2, 2016 12:43 PM in response to Bucag
    Level 4 (2,110 points)
    Audio
    Sep 2, 2016 12:43 PM in response to Bucag

    Let's start with some basics first to be sure we are talking the same talk.

     

    Logic's inspector ( which is the left column of your screen) show two inspectors and a channel strip.

    One is the region inspector and the other is the track inspector. When you select a region ( green bounded container on the track) the region inspectors context is associated with the currently select region(s).

     

    In you example you have 2 regions on the first track ( let's call them Region A and Region B).  If you select Region A the region inspector parameters apply "Only" to that region, if you select Region B it "Only" applies to region B.

     

    If you select both regions A and B and they are both selected (highlighted) then the region parameters will apply to both.

     

    So you can select the first region (region A) and quantize it one way, then select only region B and you can quantize it differently than region A.

     

    So you are note quantizing Midi channel 1 - you are quantizing regions ( of which yours happen to be on midi channel 1) - the midi channel is not relevant.

     

    There is one special case, when you have no regions selected  the region inspector at the top says "Midi Thru" -

    This has nothing to do with any regions you currently have in the arrange window, but rather are the default region parameters applied to a region immediately after a recording.

     

    So for example - lets say you workflow would be to record 4 bars and after recording, you manually quantize them to the 1/8th note. This is fine.  However another way would be to set your midi thru region parameter to 1/8th quantize and when you record, immediately after you are don, the region will be automatically quantized to the 1/8th note for you.  Hence eliminating the manual step of quantizing afterwards. ( for now I would turn off quantization on Midi thru)

     

    So in your screen shot - You  will see that you are looking at the midi thru region parameters in the inspector. This will not have any effect on any of those three regions currently in the arrange window.  You must select one or more regions for the region inspectors focus to pertain to them.

     

    Each region has its own region parameter, hence each region has its own quantization setting. For which they could be the same value or different.

     

    So in short the answer is simply the following....

     

    On track 1 select the first region and set the region quantization parameter to 1/8th notes. Then select region 2 and set the region quantization parameter to Triplet(?)....Done!

    No need to copy to additional tracks etc... etc.

     

    Hope this makes sense and I fully understood you question. If you knew most of this - feel free to ask a follow up.

  • by Bucag,

    Bucag Bucag Sep 2, 2016 2:10 PM in response to Indyuser
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Audio
    Sep 2, 2016 2:10 PM in response to Indyuser

    ahhh, so midi region thru is kind of like an insert point that will apply settings to regions during performance and I can also apply it to an individual midi regions after performance on a region by region basis, depending on which region I select/highlight.  

     

    I think I didn’t realize entirely what the the two inspectors on the channel strip represented. Thanks so much for clearing that up. The left one inspects and controls regions and the right one inspects and controls the track. I’ve obviously got too used to doing everything in the mixer. I’m really looking forward to applying this now, so thanks so much. 

     

    I'm just thinking back to why I haven’t discovered this. I think it’s because when I’ve applied the quantize after recording in the “region midi thru” panel, I remember it quantizing all regions on that track (sorry I meant track in my question not midi channel, my bad). Perhaps I had just not made cuts in the region to denote the separate parts I wanted to be quantized. Unless there's some kind of default control setting that applies quantize globally by track after recording, even if there are separate regions on the track? or I’ve just selected quantize before recording and that has quantized the performance of notes as they have been played?

     

    My guess is I’ve totally spaced on the details this feature. You totally nailed it with your answer, thanks so much for your patience and generosity.

  • by Indyuser,Solvedanswer

    Indyuser Indyuser Sep 2, 2016 3:27 PM in response to Bucag
    Level 4 (2,110 points)
    Audio
    Sep 2, 2016 3:27 PM in response to Bucag

    remember if you want to see the midi thru parameters make sure nothing is selected by clicking in the arrange window on the background - just not on a region - so nothing is selected.

     

    hope this solves your understanding of the issue. Glad to help.