Is "Set Project From MIDI Clip" Possible? [YES]

[sjoens]

Similar to Audio Snap for audio tracks, is there away to change Project Tempo [from a] MIDI clip?

If I record a MIDI sequence with it's own tempo [external time stamp] without first setting the Project Tempo to match, the MIDI data will be off beat with the Project.

If I simply change the Project Tempo, the MIDI data will still be off beat.

[Edited]

Edited April 7, 2022 by sjoens

[reginaldStjohn]

Anytime I record midi it always follows the changing tempo. How did you record it with its "own" tempo?

[David Baay]

Shift+M is Set Measure/Beat At Now. It allows you to tell Cakewalk where  measures/beats are in your MIDI, and automatically calculates and inserts tempo changes to align the timeline to the MIDI, adjusting start times and durations of MIDI events to preserve the absolute playback timing of the performance. I live by it.

[sjoens]

Seems complex to me. If I have time I'll try it. For now it's faster to just re-record the piece after setting the correct tempo.

Found an even faster way. I have a 3rd party sysex utility for my keyboard that allows you to load a saved sequence from the keyboard, edit it if needed, then save it as a .mid file that can be opened in CbB without having to set up, play & record the sequence from the keyboard. How cool is that?!

[sjoens]

Just saw your thread on this topic in another forum. How about right-click clip and choose Set tempo to clip bpm? ?

[David Baay]

First of all, don't have any tempo changes in the project before you start recording, and don't have CW syncing to tempo from some external MIDI clock.

A MIDI clip won't really have a tempo of its own unless you take it out of the project as a MIDI file or turn it into a groove clip. It has 'inherent' musical tempo based on the absolute time that goes by between quarter-note events at the current project tempo, but that doesn't have to match the project tempo. If you change the project tempo by any direct method other than Shift+M mentioned above, the MIDI will follow that change proportionally because MIDI event timestamps are based on where they fall in the timeline at the time they're recorded, not on absolute time.

[David Baay]

I should add that this thread may seem a little confusing because the first post is not not asking the same question as the title. The answer to the title is: MIDI already follows project tempo changes by default. What is really being asked is how to 'Set Project From MIDI Clip' which is what I posted. Once you've done that, the MIDI will follow any tempo changes you make from there.

[John Vere]

1 hour ago, David Baay said:

I should add that this thread may seem a little confusing because the first post is not not asking the same question as the title. The answer to the title is: MIDI already follows project tempo changes by default. What is really being asked is how to 'Set Project From MIDI Clip' which is what I posted. Once you've done that, the MIDI will follow any tempo changes you make from there.

I'm glad you added this as I was totally scratching my head on the OP tittle. I might expect a newcomer to ask but not a long time user. 

[sjoens]

2 hours ago, David Baay said:

I should add that this thread may seem a little confusing because the first post is not not asking the same question as the title. The answer to the title is: MIDI already follows project tempo changes by default. What is really being asked is how to 'Set Project From MIDI Clip' which is what I posted. Once you've done that, the MIDI will follow any tempo changes you make from there.

In my mind it does. But that's another story. ? I changed the title & post to clarify.

3 hours ago, David Baay said:

.... and don't have CW syncing to tempo from some external MIDI clock.

 I played a 142 bpm sequence on a keyboard and recorded it in default 120 bpm CbB. Then when I changed the tempo to 142, I expected the MIDI data to stay 142, but it didn't. Yes, it followed the change but not how I expected. Guess slip-stretching then quantizing would have worked.

So default was all mine. Sorry if I wasted your time. Anyway, I found a better alternative in my case.

Edited April 5, 2022 by sjoens

[sjoens]

This is kind of what I'm talking about, tho:

 

[John Vere]

Is what you’re saying you played a midi sequencer via midi into Cakewalk and recorded it with out using midi sync? 
Example I have a drum machine and if I want a pattern from it I connect both midi in and out cables, put the drum  machine in midi sync mode, set Cakewalk to transmit midi sync and arm a midi track hit record  and Cakewalk starts the drum machine playback at the Cakewalk set tempo and the midi data gets recorded in sync with Cakewalk. 

If I didn’t use midi sync and simply recorded a pattern played by the drum machine I would have useless data. Might as well have your cat walk on a keyboard. 

Edited April 6, 2022 by John Vere

[David Baay]

Goto measure 121, Shift+M, enter measure 143, beat 1, Enter.

No fuss, no muss, no fixing the meter, tweaking mistaken detection results or removing superfluous tempo changes due to the piece 'breathing' a little within the context of a fixed tempo.

 

 

[sjoens]

On 4/6/2022 at 6:54 AM, John Vere said:

Is what you’re saying you played a midi sequencer via midi into Cakewalk and recorded it with out using midi sync? 

Yes.

On 4/6/2022 at 6:54 AM, John Vere said:

If I didn’t use midi sync and simply recorded a pattern played by the drum machine I would have useless data. Might as well have your cat walk on a keyboard. 

On 4/6/2022 at 8:01 AM, David Baay said:

Goto measure 121, Shift+M, enter measure 143, beat 1, Enter.

No fuss, no muss, no fixing the meter, tweaking mistaken detection results or removing superfluous tempo changes due to the piece 'breathing' a little within the context of a fixed tempo.

I think I got it, thanks. Simple to do as you say it but makes no sense to me how it works and would have never figured it out on my own.

 

Edited April 18, 2022 by sjoens

[David Baay]

The more intuitive way would be to go to the Now time at the end of beat 120, and tell Cakewalk that you want to be at the end of beat 142 at that same absolute time. Using measures avoids doing the beats/measure math (142 measures in the time of 120 is the same tempo as a 142 beats in the time of 120) and the +1 is needed because measures are counted from  1 not zero.