MIDI Clip Length Behavior

[Lee D]

Last night I spent an undue amount of time extending the MIDI clip lengths because they either didn't start exactly on the measure, or they didn't finish exactly on the measure.  The problem is that if I don't make these adjustments, then copying/pasting or groove clip looping doesn't work like I want it to.

For example, when I drag in a 2-bar drum loop from Addictive Drums, Cakwalk will consider it to be slightly less than 2 bars, possibly because it doesn't have a MIDI note right at the very end.  But this also happens with MIDI playing.  Or even while making edits, it seems like Cakewalk is overly eager to make my MIDI clip lengths less than I want them!

Other DAWs don't seem to have this behavior. . . they round off to the nearest bar with the MIDI clip.

Does anyone else deal with this issue?  Is this something to do with my settings?  Or is this is a Cakewalk-unique workflow that I need to understand better?

[Starship Krupa]

In Preferences/Editing/MIDI, do you have Non-Destructive MIDI Editing checked? I ran into this one myself, and if I remember correctly, that solved it.

The option is not-well documented. I may be wrong about it. Try it and let me know if it helps.

I do know that I have the option checked and that I haven't had occasion to be exasperated about it lately, so there is hope. ?

[UDmr]

I'm so glad I found this response. This solution has finally resolved one of my biggest frustrations when working in Cakewalk.

The option to check off/on Non-Destructive MIDI Editing is now (as of late 2020 version of Cakewalk) under the "MIDI" menu in the Track view window.

Thanks!

 

Edited January 19, 2021 by UDmr

[Starship Krupa]

Whoever referred to the default behavior as "destructive" knew what they were saying.

Yes, please, do not destroy my MIDI clips!

[sjoens]

Ctrl+Z ?

[msmcleod]

For 99% cases I recommend you keep "Non-destructive MIDI editing" checked.

Non-destructive MIDI editing is probably a misnomer nowadays. What it actually means, is that if you copy/paste part of a MIDI clip (or split it), instead of removing the MIDI events, it makes a copy of the whole clip and slip edits the ends to match the new duration. This allows you to slip edit the ends to "retrieve" the rest of the clip if you want.

There are two other options that are destructive, even when this option is checked:

• Split MIDI Notes - this splits the notes at the boundaries, so that you don't have to slip edit them back into view if they start a bit early. However slip editing the original back into view will result in two notes (the note at the original time, and the note at the split time). It's up to you to then "heal" the split note in the PRV (CTRL + ALT will bring up the 'glue' tool and allow you to glue the notes back together by swiping over the split while the left mouse button is down).
   
• The new "Arranger Section Event Overlap Threshold" setting - when doing a section move, this will actively remove notes from one clip and place them in another if they're deemed part of the overlap.

Of course, when I say destructive, it's all relative... you can always undo.