MIDI Editor

This article explains Audiocube’s MIDI timeline editor. 

The MIDI piano roll and timeline allows you to create, edit, and manage MIDI sequences for any compatible device in your project. 

It enables rhythmic, polyphonic sequencing - and can import and export MIDI files. 

The Interface at a Glance

The MIDI Editor is composed of several key areas designed for an intuitive workflow.

• Piano Roll: The main grid where you'll see and edit your MIDI notes. The vertical axis represents pitch (like a piano keyboard), and the horizontal axis represents time in bars and beats.

• Playhead: A vertical green line that moves across the piano roll during playback, showing you the exact moment in time being played.

• Transport Controls: Buttons and fields to control playback, tempo (BPM), looping, and the metronome.

• Device Information Panel: Displays the type, ID, and loaded sample of the currently selected MIDI device, so you always know what you're editing.

• Editor Settings: Dropdowns and toggles for adjusting the grid, time signature, and more.

Playback & Transport Controls 

The transport controls manage the global playback for all MIDI devices in the scene.

Export to Sheets

The Loop Bar

The loop bar at the top of the piano roll defines the region that will repeat when Looping is enabled. You can click and drag the body of the bar to move the entire loop region, or drag the edges to resize it.

Navigating the Piano Roll 

Efficiently navigating the piano roll is key to a fast workflow. All navigation is done using the mouse scroll wheel while the cursor is over the piano roll.

• Scroll Vertically (Pitch): Use the Mouse Wheel to move the view up and down the piano keys.

• Scroll Horizontally (Time): Hold Shift + Mouse Wheel to pan the view left and right along the timeline.

• Zoom Horizontally (Time): Hold Ctrl (or Cmd on Mac) + Mouse Wheel to zoom in and out of the timeline, showing more or fewer beats.

• Zoom Vertically (Pitch): Hold Alt + Mouse Wheel to zoom in and out of the pitch range.

Working with MIDI Notes 

This is where the magic happens! The editor provides several intuitive ways to manipulate notes.

Creating Notes (Draw Mode)

You can easily create new notes directly on the piano roll.

1. Select a Device: First, make sure you've selected the MIDI device you want to add notes to.

2. Click to Create: Simply click anywhere on the empty grid. A new note will be created, snapping to the nearest pitch and time subdivision.

3. Click and Drag: To create a note of a specific length, click and drag horizontally. The note's length will extend as you drag. You can also drag vertically while creating to change its pitch.

Selecting Notes

You have multiple ways to select notes for editing. Selected notes are highlighted with a border.

• Single Note: Simply click on a note to select it. This will deselect any other notes.

• Add to Selection: Hold Shift and click on other notes to add them to your current selection (or remove them if they're already selected).

• Box Selection: Hold Shift, then click and drag over an empty area of the grid to draw a selection box. Any notes inside the box will be added to your selection.

• Deselect All: Click on any empty part of the piano roll background to deselect all notes.

Moving Notes

• Drag & Drop: Click and drag any selected note to move it. If you have multiple notes selected, they will all move together.

  • By default, notes snap to the grid's time and pitch.

  • To move notes off-grid (disabling the time snap), hold Shift while dragging.

• Nudge with Arrow Keys: Hold Shift and use the Arrow Keys to move selected notes precisely:

  • Up/Down Arrows: Move by one semitone.

  • Left/Right Arrows: Move by the currently selected time subdivision.

Deleting Notes

• Keyboard: Select one or more notes and press Delete or Backspace.

• Mouse Shortcut 1: Double-click any note to delete it. If the note is part of a multi-note selection, all selected notes will be deleted.

• Mouse Shortcut 2: Hold Ctrl (or Cmd on Mac) and click a note to delete it (and any other selected notes).

Advanced Editing & Shortcuts 

Speed up your workflow with these powerful clipboard and editing commands. These shortcuts use Ctrl on Windows/Linux and Cmd on Mac.

Editor Settings & Display

Customize the editor's grid and behavior to suit your needs.

Grid Settings

• Time Signature: Use this dropdown to change the visual organization of the grid's bar lines. This affects how the beat numbers are displayed (e.g., 4/4, 3/4, 6/8).

• Subdivision: This crucial setting determines the "snap" resolution of the grid. It affects where new notes are created, where notes snap to when dragged, and the distance notes are moved with the arrow keys.

Note Preview & Auto Zoom

• Note Preview Toggle: When enabled, you'll hear a preview of a note's sound when you create, move, or select it. This is incredibly useful for finding the right pitch without having to play the whole sequence.

• Auto Zoom Toggle: When enabled, the editor will automatically adjust the zoom and view to perfectly frame all the notes in a clip whenever you select a new MIDI device.

Importing & Loading MIDI Clips 

Bring your existing MIDI compositions into Audiocube with ease.

Step 1: Add MIDI Files to Your Library

To use your own MIDI files, simply place your .mid files into the CubeLibrary/MIDI Imports folder within your project's directory. Audiocube will automatically detect them and make them available in your MIDI library browser.

Step 2: Load a Clip via Drag & Drop

1. Select a Target Device: First, click on the MIDI device in your scene that you want to load the clip into. Its information will appear in the MIDI Editor's device panel.

2. Drag from the Library: Find your desired MIDI clip in the library browser.

3. Drop onto the Piano Roll: Click and drag the MIDI file from the library and drop it anywhere onto the piano roll area in the MIDI editor.

The notes from the file will instantly populate the editor, replacing the previously loaded clip on that device.

Managing & Exporting Clips 

Selecting a Device to Edit

To edit a device's MIDI clip, simply select the device in the main Audiocube scene or hierarchy. Its notes will automatically load into the MIDI Editor, ready for you to work on.

Exporting to a .mid File

You can export the current MIDI clip to a standard MIDI file (.mid) to use in other software or to share.

1. Select the device whose clip you want to export.

2. Click the "Export MIDI" button in the editor's UI.

3. The file will be saved in your project's CubeLibrary/MIDI Exports folder with a unique name based on the device and the current date/time.