Subject:Erase Tool in MIDI Clip editor - won't erase event

Posted by: DD12

Date:9/2/2009 1:46:14 PM

Anyone else have trouble erasing MIDI events in a MidiClip with the Erase Tool?

If I draw new events in with the Paint or Draw Tools, I can easily erase them, but if I am editing existing events, they won't erase. The Clip in question was created with the Merge tool and a 4bar loop.

Acid7.0c build 653
Apple MBPro, 2Gb RAM, WinXP, RME FF800 interface

Subject:RE: Erase Tool in MIDI Clip editor - won't erase event

Reply by: joshiwashi

Date:10/29/2010 6:26:34 PM

I wish I knew what an event is. There is no explanation. I want to delete a few seconds of a track. Do you know how to do that? Seems like you can record a track but then editing it is completely impossible.

Subject:RE: Erase Tool in MIDI Clip editor - won't er

Reply by: pwppch

Date:10/29/2010 7:15:34 PM

An Event is where Audio or MIDI data is presented on a track in ACID.

An audio track contains audio track events. A MIDI track contains MIDI track events.

Events on tracks make what is called the timeline.

You should get the ACID manual from our download section and read through it. It explains this and many of the other concepts. There is also a glossary of terms.

You should also look in the Training area of this web site. There are a number of free videos that present the basics of ACID.

Have you tried the Show Me How tutorials built into ACID? They are a great way to get started.

Peter

Subject:RE: Erase Tool in MIDI Clip editor - won't er

Reply by: pwppch

Date:10/29/2010 7:21:51 PM

Where do you want to delete from? The beginning, middle, or end?

A Track Event is where timeline editing is done. An event shows a view on the media - audio or MIDI - on the timeline. You can drag the left or right edge to expose more or less of the media. To remove from the middle of an event, you can use the selection tool to delete or split the event using the S key. You can then drag the event's edge to hide the portion you don't want.

There are so many different ways to "delete" or edit the timeline events. You should read the ACID users manual. It will explain everything. We also have a seminar series of DVDs.

Peter

Subject:RE: Erase Tool in MIDI Clip editor - won't er

Reply by: joshiwashi

Date:10/30/2010 2:25:01 PM

Peter,

I've tried reading the manual, all 44 pages. I can assure you that there is not even a single sentence in that manual that describes how to delete even one second of music from a track.

Today I just finished watching all of the training videos. I did not find any information in those as to how to delete time from within a track.

Then I pressed F1 there are no instructions there either as to how to delete time from a track. I looked under delete, remove, erase. Nothing works.

I think I just want to kill myself.

Dave

Subject:RE: Erase Tool in MIDI Clip editor - won't er

Reply by: cyrilfb

Date:10/30/2010 3:31:49 PM

I am assuming that you want to erase the midi notes for one period of time and move all notes following that period forward to cover the empty area.

1. you must 'Enable Inline Midi Editing' before you can do anything to the midi track events. See the little piano roll icon on the toolbar next to the pencil icon and click it.
2. I would advise zooming or unzooming the view until you can see all of the time frame that you wish to delete. Use the + and - buttons on the time slider or drag the ends (double bars) of the time slider.
3. to delete events (midi notes in this case) they must be selected. There are many ways. Here are 3:
a. click each note while holding the Ctrl key down until all are selected.
or
b. click the selection tool (the arrow next to the pencil on the tool bar). Use your mouse to draw a box around all the events that you wish to delete.
or
c. This may be best for your question: click the time selection tool which is next to the pointing hand on the toolbar click where you want to start deleting and drag to the time you want to stop deleting.
4. Press the delete key on your keyboard or choose 'Edit->Delete' from the menu.
5. to move the remaining events to fill in the space, you can use the methods above to select the events or you can right click on the first event and choose 'Select Events to End'. This will select all events in the track to the end of the track, you can then drag the selected events anywhere you want.

Remember that if you make a mistake, you can always use the Undo button on the tool bar or Ctrl-Z.

I find ACID Music Studio to be very powerful. As such there are so many options that it can be hard at first to wrap your head around them.

Subject:RE: Erase Tool in MIDI Clip editor - won't er

Reply by: pwppch

Date:10/30/2010 7:02:38 PM

Dave,

The AMS manual does cover this. I understand that you are new, and the terminology is causing you problems.

You may want to download the ACID Pro manual. While not all functionality is available in AMS, the basics of editing tracks and events is there.

The MIDI clip editor edits the media that is used on the timeline track events. Edits in the clip editor do not change the timeline. To remove data from the time line you have to edit the track events. If you use the eraser tool on the track events, you change the portion of the clip that is played back, the actual MIDI data that the clip contains. ACID is a non-destructive editor. This means that you edit the portions of the clips you want to hear.

Example:

Let say you have a recorded 2 min of MIDI or audio to a track. A single track event appears on the timeline with a single track event. You recorded a clip. The track event shows you all of that clip as a single event on the track.

Now, you want to remove a portion of the clip. Let's say you want to remove from bar 4 through bar 6 inclusive. Select the event, and drop the edit cursor at bar 4. Hit the 'S' key. You just split the single event into two events. The first event exposes the clip from bar 1 to the end of bar 3. The second event exposes then clip from bar 4 through the end.

Now, place the edit cursor at bar 6 and hit the S key again. You now have 3 events on the track. The second exposes the original clip from bar 4 through the end of bar 5. The last event exposes bar 6 through till the end.

To remove bar 4 through 6, select the second event on the track and hit the delete key. What you will see is 2 events remain on the track. Event 1 - space - event 2. You can the. Drag the second event to butt up against the first event.

Try this. It will give you a feel for how ACID - and most other DAWs - work.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Peter

Subject:RE: Erase Tool in MIDI Clip editor - won't er

Reply by: joshiwashi

Date:10/31/2010 9:00:31 PM

Peter,

Oh my gosh, that worked. I finally get it. I did not realize my initial recording is one event and that I need to split it. Plus, I did not know that once I split it somewhere in the middle I can just grab the now new event to the right and drag it over to close up the gap (after I delete what's in the middle).

Whew, thank you! I've been trying every day for a week to figure out how to remove a mistake. I thought I would go insane. :)

I'm so used to thinking like I'm using something like Word or Excel that I could not grasp the concept.

Thanks again. I'm so grateful.

Dave

Subject:RE: Erase Tool in MIDI Clip editor - won't er

Reply by: pwppch

Date:11/1/2010 9:05:30 AM

Of course it worked<g>.

This and other event editing is covered in depth in the on-line help. Look for the section "Editing Events on the Timeline". It covers everhthing.

Note that there are many other ways to edit the time line and track events. This is just one. There are many different levels of editing for MIDI data as well.

Peter

Subject:RE: Erase Tool in MIDI Clip editor - won't er

Reply by: fartheststar

Date:11/30/2012 3:52:33 AM

FWIW, the discussion here about looking in the clip editor, going to the list editor, and manually setting the loop points there was helpful to me also.

I was just beginning manually building midi clips and have found the going a little frustrating. I search google and youtube for Acid Midi Clips deleting or removing time, and can't find anything. In the editor I'm just looking at time that I want to delete out of the midi clip - extra time that I just want to make the extra measures go away - and I just want to highlight the extra time and make it go away... From what I can tell it just wont do it. I have to type in the beginning and end points like 1.1.0000 and 3.1.0000 to make it do a two bar loop. It's not hard once you know what to do, but it's frustrating when you just look at blank time and want it to go away.

I realize this is a couple years old - I'm just posting here just in case someone else searches the same thing.