MIDI edit in 1 region only - please!

[krans]

Complaints about MIDI in Mixbus/Ardour are so common, I guess everyone's tired of them.

But as someone who edits a lot of MIDI in MB32C, I quite enjoy the solutions we have.
A lot of them are quite simple, but then also effective. I think the workflow is pretty good, with handy transform options that are easy to understand.

However there is one behaviour that I just cannot like. Like I really hate it. It's ruined so many hours of work for me during my years as a MB32C user:
The fact that editing a MIDI region in Edit mode could mean you're editing some other MIDI region as well, if you're not really, really paying attention.
I'm not talking about linking/unlinking. That one's fine and useful.

But if I've made a MIDI region in track 1, and I dived into it in Edit mode to fix the length of some notes, change the octave for a few others etc.
And I then go to this other MIDI region in track 2. They are not linked, it's a different melody. I dive into that one, change the length, doubling with an octave below, whatever.
But I didn't notice that some notes in track 1's MIDI region were still selected. From when I edited it earlier on.
In Grab mode, the region in track 1 isn't selected. Only the region in track 2, which I'm currently working on.
But in Edit mode these couple of notes there are still selected, and while I'm concentrating on getting my MIDI region in track 2 right, I'm just completely messing up my MIDI region in track 1, adding octaves below that should not be there, changing note lengths and just ruining the whole thing.

I'm surprised if you're still hanging on.
But I cannot be the only one experiencing this.
And I cannot find a way to turn this off. No "Edit 1 MIDI region at the time only" option.

Could we please, please get this sorted out?
It's making me want to "do the MIDI in Bitwig/Studio1/Cubase/random DAW, and then mixing in Mixbus" which people seem to write on the internet all the time.
But in most cases I don't need the complex MIDI (even though I love that as well), I just want our straight forward MIDI to be rock solid.

[Ben@Harrison]

As a quick-fix to your specific problem, I suggest that you adopt the regular use of the ESC key to deselect all notes before you start a new selection.

Longer-term: yes I agree that something needs to be done about the MIDI editing model.

MIDI works fine for these 3 workflows:
1) importing a multi-timbral midi piece (StayingAlive.mid) and using it as a backing track or other old-school general-midi type usage
2) recording linear midi performances like an old-school sequencer, tweaking individual notes in the resulting region
3) importing loops and phrases, and assembling them in layers on a track while keeping the regions distinct (other DAWs can't do this)

...but combining these features (I want to record some MIDI, chop it up into phrases, assemble them in layers and then edit the notes sensibly) is impractical. We know

Our tentative plan is to add a piano-roll editor to the Cue page, so you can edit the contents of the selected MIDI Clip. Then we could do the same thing for individual midi regions on the timeline. However our ToDo list is very full, so I don't know exactly when that will be ready for release.

-Ben

[krans]

As a quick-fix to your specific problem, I suggest that you adopt the regular use of the ESC key to deselect all notes before you start a new selection.

Longer-term:  yes I agree that something needs to be done about the MIDI editing model.

MIDI works fine for these 3 workflows:
1)  importing a multi-timbral midi piece (StayingAlive.mid)  and using it as a backing track or other old-school general-midi type usage
2)  recording linear midi performances like an old-school sequencer, tweaking individual notes in the resulting region
3)  importing loops and phrases, and assembling them in layers on a track while keeping the regions distinct (other DAWs can't do this)

...but combining these features  (I want to record some MIDI, chop it up into phrases, assemble them in layers and then edit the notes sensibly)  is impractical.  We know

Our tentative plan is to add a piano-roll editor to the Cue page,  so you can edit the contents of the selected MIDI Clip.  Then we could do the same thing for individual midi regions on the timeline.  However our ToDo list is very full, so I don't know exactly when that will be ready for release.

-Ben

Your quick-fix is really handy.
Thank you so much, I didn't know. I've just been clicking somewhere in the MIDI region to unselect.

I appreciate your thoughts on a longer term MIDI plan as well. The ability of editing MIDI in the Cue page makes sense.
And even though I'm always happy for MIDI improvements, I don't really long for a giant step into advanced MIDI in MB32C. We can use Bitwig or other software for stuff like that.

I think the easy workflow, with high quality simple solutions that just sound great, is what makes MB32C stand out.
It's why I'm such a fanboi.
And I quite enjoy having MIDI the same way. Don't need infinite options, just a quick and easy workflow that doesn't get in the way.
Which is really why I hope for an "edit 1 MIDI region at the time" solution, as the current situation so easily can make a total mess.

To be honest, I can't think of a situation where I've wanted to edit several MIDI regions at the same time. Even when layering them (as you mention in your number 3, and which I'm also a big fan of).

[Nathan@Harrison]

I am trying this myself and I can't get the notes from one region to stay selected when i am editing notes in the second region. I assume you are using the internal edit mode to select the notes you want. G is to grab the region, D is to draw in notes and E is to edit the notes. Then I select a range and press Z to zoom in on a group of notes.

[Nathan@Harrison]

If you have duplicated the region and put it on another track then the two regions will be connected by default unless you go to Session Properties/Misc and check the box for make MIDI regions independent. I wonder if that feature should be on by default and an optional button somewhere up top to turn that on/off.

Hope that helps.