Query:Complicated Tempo changes dragging MIDI twixt projects

Cubase
1

Hi -

I have an early version of a MIDI piano track that I am realizing now has a groove that got lost as I quantized, many versions ago - I realize now, I want it back, badly! (I’ve never quantized before, and I’m sorry I did now, but that’s a different story). That early project version with the great groove has a variable tempo track, created by applying Time Warp to the freely played piano in that early project.
A major change I’ve made since that early project version was that I duplicated 6 bars in the middle of the song, so the version I have been working with for quite a while now is 6 bars longer.

Finally, another difference from that early version is that I have edited some individual tempo points here and there since then - so even prior to where the extra 6 bars were inserted, the tempo tracks of the two project versions are different.
So my problem is: I want to bring the beautiful MIDI groove from last month’s project into the project as it stands today, but have to get around the fact that the new project version is 6 bars longer, and has different tempo points here and there.

I was going to try doing it like below … can someone look this over and let me know if they see any problems this way, or maybe a better way to do it?

Thank you!

1 - “Housekeeping” first - In the old project (that has the MIDI groove I want back), go ahead and duplicate the six bars for the 2nd solo, so now the total # of bars is the same in each project.

2- Then in that old project, with MIDI piano track in Musical Time Base, flatten the tempo track. (The MIDI notes should “move” with it, right?)

3- Then in the current version, create an empty MIDI track, export the tempo track to keep it safe, then set all tracks to Linear Time Base, then flatten the tempo track of the current version.

4- Then drag the MIDI part from the old project into the new project, and line up its start with its proper musical origin. (Just to clarify … since the track it is drug to is in Linear Time Base, it shouldn’t change as a result of the drag, right?

5- Then import the tempo track back into this current version. (The notes in the MIDI piano part should still not “change”, because the track is in Linear Time Base, right?)

6 - Then set all the tracks to back to Musical Time Base, including the MIDI piano. (Should the MIDI piano part then somewhat magically align to match the music in the other MIDI and audio tracks in the rest of the project? This is the part I’m least sure about …)

Thanks for any thoughts!

2

Hi,

Quantize is non-desteuctive process. You should be able to Reset Quantize. This button |<<, in the Quantize panel.

Does it help?

3

Thank you, for the sake of simplicity I did not include that after quantizing I did some manual note shifting as well, so unfortunately “un-quantize” won’t do it in this case.

So it’s a matter of reusing a MIDI part from a project with one variable tempo track in another project with a different tempo track. I’ll have a chance to test out my “recipe” in a few days, but just hoping someone could eyeball it first and let me know what they think.

Thanks!

4

I don’t really understand…
In step #1, is the tempo track the way you want it (with or without the duplicated 6 bars), and does the MIDI piano play correctly to it?
If not, do you want to correct the Tempo track to fit the MIDI piano (which you can do via the TimeWarp Tool, and I’d recommend doing so from within the Key Editor, and setting the Snap to “Events”, so that the beat/bar lines snap to the actual start of the desired MIDI note)…
…or…
Do you want the piano to be tighter with the Tempo track?.. in which case, you should Quantize… but I am almost predicting a situation in which you might have done your tempo mapping such that it is ok on bar start, but not necessarily on the beats between the bars (and, if your piano is playing in quarter-notes or half notes (or faster), then quantizing could prove to be disastrous between the barlines.
If I am correct about that last bit, you should try correcting the Tempo Map, via “Merge Tempo from Tapping”… manually record a “tapping track” (e.g; tapping out all the quarter-notes… as if you were “conducting” the piece). Then set all tracks to Linear Timebase, then use the function “Merge Tempo from Tapping”. You will now have tempo reference points on every beat, rather than just once on every bar.
In any case, I didn’t really understand what you meant by “flatten the Tempo Track”.

Once you have the Tempo track correct in that original Project, why don’t you simply Save the Tempo Track, then Import it into the new project?

5

Hi vic_france!

I’m sorry, I think I probably confused the issue with too many details. At its simplest, what I am looking to do is reuse a MIDI part that plays well in a project with one variable tempo track … bringing it to another updated/edited version of the same project that has a slightly different variable tempo track.

So as it stands now the MIDI piano part in the early version of the project plays nicely with the other audio and MIDI parts there (with its variable tempo constructed successfully by use of the Time Warp tool). The later version of the project, where I’d like to bring the MIDI piano part to, has a slightly different tempo track.

Is there a good way to bring the MIDI piano part over to the new version of the project? (My “step-by-step” of the OP is my best attempt)?

Thanks!

[EDIT: By “flattening” of the tempo track, I meant to temporarily set it to one constant value throughout the song.]

6

In Cubase 8.5 you could just import track from project. Very nice feature! :wink:

In Cubase 7, you can export selected track, and then import it as a Track Archive. So the track from not-Quantize project would be exported and imported to the project with the correct tempo.

7

OK, thanks, Martin. My mind cannot get figure out ahead of time what the MIDI will do when snatched from one variable tempo track environment and plopped down on another, so I will just have to try it and see!