Notes Display - MIDI Piano Roll

Notes Display - MIDI Piano Roll

Typing the n key, or choosing Notes from the Data Type pop-up menu within the current track's titlebar, changes the desired track to show MIDI note data in the piano roll display. A new (empty) Metro track will automatically default to the Notes display.

The Notes display graphically represents MIDI tracks. The Port assignment of a track’s Output determines whether the track will play MIDI or Audio. When the track’s Output is set to a MIDI port, the Notes display uses the MIDI piano roll to represent MIDI notes; when set to an Audio port, the Audio display uses audio waveforms to represent audio regions.

Note events are displayed as horizontal bars in the 'piano roll' area directly below the track's titlebar. Notes can also be displayed using Metro's Velocity Stems feature (Switches menu). You can edit note events using graphical techniques, such as draggingthe note to a new start time or pitch, or Shift-dragging the note to extend duration.

Selection Tools
To select note data, you first choose a Select Tool: either the Arrow or the Forceps. You can select notes limited in time and pitch by dragging across thedesired notes in the piano roll with the Forceps Tool selected; or you can select notes limited in time only by dragging with the Arrow Tool selected.

Using either Select Tool, you can select one bar increments by clicking the bar number in the Timeline, or one beat increments by clicking between the appropriate beat marks in the Timeline (be sure you click directly in the Timeline; if you click just above it, in the Markers row, you will open the Markers dialog box).

Using either the Arrow or Forceps Tools, notes can be selected non-contiguously by Command-clicking on individual note icons. When a note is selected, it will either appear 'hollowed-out' or change to a new color (depending on how Metro's General Preferences are set).

Important: When working with noncontiguous selections, it is recommended that you choose Use Note Color for Selection Info via Metro's General Preferences. Using this setting will allow you to easily distinguish between selected andnon-selected notes within the Graphic Editor window.

Selected notes in the Notes display of the Graphic Editor can be transposed upor down in half step increments by using the Command-Up/Down Arrow keys. Selected notes can be nudged left or right in time by using the Command-Left/Right Arrow keys. Nudge time amount depends on the degree of the current Zoom resolution.