Editrack Platinum
Part-2 of MIDI Mania

by Ken Kittredge



Well, last time we took a look at the numerous ways of inputting and organizing MIDI data into Edit Track. This time we are going to take a look at the numerous editing features that are available on Edit Track.

The Big Picture

As with most editing functions, the user must define a region to be affected. In the case of Edit Track, it is possible to affect the entire sequence, a limited number of tracks, only one track, a portion of one track and/or a portion of the notes within that one track. This provides an amazing amount of flexibility when performing edits.
Another important feature in a sequencer is nondestructive editing. This means the original material is not destroyed in the creation of new material. Edit Track always provides the user the option of replacing the current track being edited or placing the edited material on another track. Personally, I always feel a little more comfortable going with the second option, but don't let my opinion deter you daredevils out there.
There are a few editing functions that do affect the original material on the track. In order to keep with the basic philosophy of nondestructive editing, Edit Track provides the user with the in-famous UNDO command. I must admit that I found myself 'boldly editing, where no man had edited before knowing that the UNDO was only a mouse click away. I did put it through quite a few tests and it worked flawlessly each time.

Track Management

A number of the editing features are designated as track management functions and are accessed under a separate pull down menu.  So let's take a look at those first.
Let's face it. With 60 tracks of available workspace, things are bound to get a little messy. Edit Track provides a number of different house cleaning tools that can make the messiest sequences look good. It is possible to copy MIDI data from one track to another track. It is also possible to swap the data on two different tracks. The program also allows the user to sort the data on the tracks alphabetically according to MIDI channel or to MIDI port assignment.
One of the neat things about working in a sequencer environment is the fact that you can always combine several several tracks, often referred to as bouncing down, without introducing any additional noise into the recording. When you mix several tracks on Edit Track, the mixed data is placed on a single track. However the MIDI channel assignments are all still preserved. It is possible to then assign all that information to one MIDI channel, but "unmixing' the tracks will be very difficult. Edit Track allows the user to either 'unmix' several channels of MIDI data from a single track and place the MIDI data for each MIDI channel on a separate track or it is possible to extract the MIDI data on one particular channel and place that on a separate track.
Up to this point, all data manipulation will include all the notes played on a particular MIDI channel within a specified zone. What if you only want to get-at a limited range of keys on a particular MIDI channel? Good question! Edit Track allows the user to specify a range of keys that can be either moved or copied to another track. The specified range of keys can then be edited in any manner desired. Keep in mind that in addition to defining only a limited key range. It is also possible to define a limited region, within the specified track(s), for the edit to take place. Once the edit is complete, the tracks can be mixed into a single track again.  Ahh, life is good. Edit Track also has a feature, called Keysplit, which takes a given note value and places all identical note values, from the source track, on different tracks. This is great for taking a drum track, composed of multiple drum sounds, and placing each key assignment that triggers the drum sound on its own track. It is then very easy to edit, to your hearts content, each drum sound on its own track. Then try sliding the tracks slightly forward and backward using the Track Shift function. When you are all done, mix all the tracks back clown to one track and voila -instant improvement!
Last, but not least, the program allows the user to delete single or multiple tracks from the sequence. It seemed a little odd that when only deleting the data from a single trac,. the track name is not deleted from the Track Tile. However, when deleting multiple tracks, the track name is deleted from each of the tracks. No big deal though, since naming a track is only a mouse click away.

Graphic Edit Screen

Before we take a look at the different editing features let's take a look at the two different modes that Edit Track will display MIDI information.
Figure 1 shows the Graphic Edit screen. The information on the bottom left of the screen shows note on/off data in a piano roll fashion. Unlike some other programs, the note data does NOT scroll thru the window. Rather the range of the window must be changed to display all notes that need to be viewed and a song location indicator proceeds across the screen during playback and the sequence stops playing at the end of the window instead of the end of the track. The disadvantage of this is that in order to view a longer length of your sequence. the note bars may become too small to be provide useful visual information. You can however point to a specific note and the MIDI data for that note appears in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
In this case, the note data for G3 is displayed. The top part of the screen displays note dynamics information including attack velocity (currently shown), release velocity, pitch bend, channel pressure and even poly pressure (for every key!). This same area also displays any of the 120 MIDI control messages as previously discussed in the Control Tile. All these types of data reside in this same area and the user can scroll through the options at the click of the mouse. It is important to note that in addition to displaying the above mentioned MIDI data, it is also possible to edit the current MIDI data by 'drawing~in' new MIDI data values. Edit Track will allow the input of either free hand curves or user defined straight lines. Referring back to Figure 1, both a free hand curve (on the left) and a straight line (on the right) have been used to modify the attack velocity of the currently displayed track.  

The lower right hand corner displays information regarding the currently displayed MIDI data and the region and zone that will be affected by edits. In this case, Register Al. defines the current zone from the measure 2, beat 2 to measure 4, beat 3. The key range has been assigned notes E2 to D#3. The active zone and region is displayed in inverse video, but can be turned off if desired. It is also possible to define a new region by dragging either side of the existing region to the desired location. The key range can only be modified thru the use of the key range pick box. I should also point out that the default settings of Edit Track make the Graphic Screen show up as white on black, however I reversed this (and saved it as the new default!) in the user options menu. The reversed screen looks a little better on a color monitor, but a little harsh on the eyes on a monochrome monitor.

Event Edit List

Figure 2 shows the Event Edit List. This is a listing of every MIDI event as it occurs in the sequence. The advantage to this type of display is that you can get extreme fine tuning' thru the use of numerical input and editing of data. Each entry displays the event location, event hex equivalent, MIDI channel, event description, note value and attack/release velocity of the note. The upper right hand corner provides four pick boxes to designate the type of information to be shown. Any combination can be displayed. In addition to editing existing MIDI data, it is also p055ible to both insert and delete MIDI data. I personally do very little editing in this environment, but rather use it to provide detailed information about specific MIDI events. Also notice, above the Events shown boxes, is a box called Flip that will enable y6u to hop back and forth between the Graphic Screen and the Event Edit List. Exit will return you to the main menu.

Editing Functions

With that out of the way, it's time to delve into the editing functions available. The first edit function everyone always thinks of first is quantization. Well, Edit Track certainly provides the user with some great options in this category. Referring to Figure 3, we can see that in addition to the usual note values, Edit Track also provides the option of defining your own quantization value. To avoid that mechanized feel, there is a Humanize option that will add a user defined degree of randomness to the placement of the notes. It is also possible to specify that only a percentage of the selected MIDIdata by quanized. Then when you are all done with that, be sure to try out the Swing beat. It took me years of playing to get this type of style down and now anyone can do it in the click of a mouse - hey, I'm sold. Once you have everything the way that you like, you can save those quantization settings in any one of 10 memory locations for use in other sequences.  
	Now keep in mind that all of this is for the sole purpose of 'moving' existing notes to a specific beat structure within the sequence. The actual duration of the note has not been changed. If you wish to change the duration of a group of notes, the Durate function will allow you to choose from a number of preset values or define your own durations. There is also a function called Beat Align that moves the notes in the sequence so that each note, or the downbeat of each bar, falls exactly on a metronome click. The last function that is dependent on timing is the Alter Timespan. This allows the user to define a timespan that the sequence must 'fit' into and the note durations are all scaled accordingly.

Another function in the Edit Menu is Transposition, which is the ability to shift the pitch assignment of a note up or down. It seemed a little strange that this should show up in the Edit menu because it was also present in the multifunction column of the Track Tile. After some investigation, it appears that Transpose in the Track Tile does not change the actual note values. but rather shifts the output of the note values. The Transpose in the Edit menu actually changes the pitch assignments of the MIDI notes. This becomes an important difference when exporting files to MIDI file formats.

Duringthe discussion of the Graphic Screen, we saw that both the attack and release velocities could be modified by drawing the desired curves or lines over the desired regions.
The Edit menu provides even more extensive control over these values. It is possible to Shift, Scale or Set attack and/or release velocities. Shifting the velocities will add, or subtract, a user input value to the existing velocity values. Scaling will multiply, or divide, a user input value to the existing velocity values. The Scaling will occur around a user defined center point. The Set velocity will change all note velocities to a user-defined value.
The Edit menu also provides some good tools for editing continuous MIDI Control data. The first of these is the ability to Eliminate Every occurrence of one particular type of MIDI controller. Let's say that you recorded a lead synth track. We're satisfied with the notes, but hated the Pitch Bend. No problem; this function allows you 'eliminate' the pitch bend and you are left with only the notes for the track. If you are really into it, Edit Track allows you to Replace Every occurrence of one type of MIDI control data with another type. This would allow you to do such things as modify channel after-touch to polyphonic aftertouch for individual notes. Finally, it is possible to Optimize Every occurrence of one type of MIDI controller. Let's say you used a lot of pitch-bend in a sequence and need to free up a bit more of memory to finish the song. The Optimize command will let you 'thin out' the pitch bend data and decrease the amount of memory required. Many times the decreased resolution can not even be heard upon playback - unless, of course, you got a little too radical.

Last, but not least, Edit Track provides some good features for manipulating blocks of notes. The first of these is the ability to either insert or remove a user defined period of time at a specific point in the sequence. The program will then allow you to 'glue' a previously defined section into that space. Although Edit Track does provide the user with a listing of sections, the program does not provide the user with an interactive graphic representation of how all the sections fit together.
Well, that concludes our tour through Edit Track Platinum. As I said before, this program can be 'easily' used by the MIDI neophyte or those involved with professional applications. Both the program and the manual present information in a manner that really does an excellent job of breaking down some of the more complicated aspects of MIDI sequencing into basic fundamental components. The user interface is easy to use and provides lots of different options for information display. The only type of information display that the program lacks, and I found myself wishing for, is interactive scoring capabilities.
Although I can't say much at this point, I will say that Barefoot Software is not 'noted' for letting the competition pass them by. If you are in the market to buy a MIDI sequencer, this program definitely deserves a good long look before you go out and put your hard earned money down.

EDIT TRACK PLATINUM
Barefoot Software
19865 Covello St.
Conoga Park, CA 91306
818-727-7143
Cost $249
Gold Upgrade $119

ABOUT THE AUTHOR  Ken Kittredge, with his trusty sidekick IO4OST, has taken a firm stance on teaching the world about a 'kinder and gentler' MIDI in the hopes that, maybe - just maybe, there is a hope that man and machine will at last be able to live in harmony thru the Zen of MIDI.

Atari ST Informer December 1993.
