Make a midi roll that speeds up

Cubase
1

Is there a way to draw e.g. a timpani roll in 16ths in the key editor and then use a tool to make it gradually speed up, without having to do this by hand. So it’s not about project speed. I just want to change the location of every note so they are placed closer together more and more while the timpani roll is progressing in time.

2

Not at Cubase to look at this in depth, but I’m pretty sure the Logical Editor can handle this. The trick will be to work out the needed calculations. I suspect you’d need a combination of adding/subtracting a constant and multiplying by a percentage in some order.

EDIT

So I thought, lets ask an AI. When I’ve done this before it responded with a text mockup of what it would look like in the Logical Editor. But now it provided xml code which presumably can be saved with the other presets on your DAW.

can you write me a Cubase Logical Editor Preset which takes a series of evenly spaced notes and modifies them so each successive note is a bit closer to the next note compared to to distance from the previous note

Sure! Here’s a Cubase Logical Editor preset that will adjust a series of evenly spaced notes so that each successive note is slightly closer to the next note compared to the distance from the previous note:

Cubase Logical Editor Preset

Filter:

  • Event is Note On

Action:

  1. Calculate Distance: Calculate the distance between the current note and the previous note.
  2. Adjust Distance: Adjust the distance to be slightly smaller for the next note.

Preset Code:

xml

<LogicalEditor>
  <Filter>
    <Property>Event is Note On</Property>
  </Filter>
  <Action>
    <CalculateDistance>
      <PreviousNote>
        <Property>Start Position</Property>
      </PreviousNote>
      <CurrentNote>
        <Property>Start Position</Property>
      </CurrentNote>
    </CalculateDistance>
    <AdjustDistance>
      <CurrentNote>
        <Property>Start Position</Property>
        <Value>PreviousDistance - 0.1</Value>
      </CurrentNote>
    </AdjustDistance>
  </Action>
</LogicalEditor>

This preset will take each note and adjust its start position to be slightly closer to the next note compared to the distance from the previous note. You can tweak the value (0.1) to make the adjustment more or less pronounced.

But just in case I asked for a non-xml version. While either may work fine as is, it may need some tweaks.

Can you show how the preset would look within the Logical Editor instead of the xml code.

Sure! Here’s how you can set up the Cubase Logical Editor preset within the Logical Editor to modify evenly spaced notes so that each successive note is closer to the next:

  1. Open the Logical Editor:
  • Go to MIDI > Logical Editor.
  1. Set the Filter Conditions:
  • Type is > Equal > Note.
  • This ensures that the editor will only affect MIDI notes.
  1. Set the Action Target:
  • In the action section, set the Position to be adjusted.
  • Use Subtract to slightly reduce the distance between successive notes.
  1. Adjust the Position:
  • Position: Subtract > PPQ.
  1. Quantize the Position:
  • Position: Add > PPQ. This step ensures that the notes are slightly closer together.
  1. Apply the Preset:
  • Click Apply to run the preset on your selected MIDI notes.

Example Setup in Cubase Logical Editor:

  1. Filter Target:
  • Type Is > Equal > Note.
  1. Action Target:
  • Position > Subtract > Value > 10 (This value can be adjusted for how close you want the notes to be).
  • Position > Add > Value > 0 (to ensure notes are quantized properly).
  1. Transform Operation:
  • Ensure that the transform operation is set to Transform.

Visual Example:

Filter Target:
Type Is | Equal | Note

Action Target:
Position | Subtract | 10
Position | Add | 0

Function:
Transform

By setting up your Logical Editor this way, you can achieve the desired effect of progressively closer notes.

3

Thank you Raino! I am pleasantly surprised by your action. So we can apply AI in music in a meaningful way :-). I’m going to to try this in my use case.
BTW: Which AI tool did you use?

4

This was using Copilot that comes with Windows now. With Logical Editor presets it seems to get it initially correct about a third of the time. Then point out its error & let it try again,or correct it yourself.

I find it really useful for finding Preferences & Settings you’re not sure about.

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