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Editing MIDI In Reaper

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Once you have recorded a MIDI performance there are many tools
available to help you shape the recorded data. Some of the parameters
that can be changed are the note timing, velocity, and pitch. In fact,
many parameters of virtual instruments can be edited and automated
after your performance. This tutorial will get you started with editing.
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The picture below is of a MIDI clip that was saved after my last recorded
performance. It’s important to remember that this clip contains no actual
audio. MIDI clips contain data about a performance that can be sent to
other sound generating devices, such as the TX16WX sampler. 16
Channels of MIDI data can be sent simultaneously through one MIDI
cable or routed through your DAW.

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Dragging from left to right in the area above the recorded region creates
a loop. Try selecting a region and looping playback by turning on the
global loop button (the circular arrow symbol just to the right of the
global record button). If you double click on the MIDI clip in the arrange
window a MIDI edit window with a piano roll pops up. In the picture
below you can see the loop in both the arrange window and in the MIDI
edit window. To edit this selection we want to make it into it’s own
discreet loop.

After you’ve made your selection on the time line, look under the Item
menu and select Split Item at Time Selection.
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You can zoom into the selection by pressing the + key. You can zoom out
by pressing the - key. When I zoom in on some of the notes I recorded I
can see that they are not in time with the grid.

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Sometimes this might add to the groove or human musicality of our
performance, but on many occasions we’ll want to correct the timing so
that it falls in line with the grid that follows the tempo we’re using.
Correcting the timing by moving notes into place on the grid is called
Quantization. To start the process of quantizing our performance we’ll
need to select the notes we want to move onto the grid.
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There are many ways to select notes. Clicking a single note makes it a
selection. Shift or Ctrl/Cmd clicking other notes will add to this selection.

Ctrl/Cmd clicking a selected note will deselect it. Command A selects all
notes in the MIDI clip.



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Some versions of Reaper have the following added selection abilities:
-Right click and drag to select a range of notes with the lasso.
-Right click one of the piano keys on the left side to select all of MIDI
data corresponding to that key.
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Selecting notes also selects corresponding Velocity and CC values.
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Once your notes are selected, look for the small Q above the piano keys
in the MIDI edit window. Pressing the Quantize button brings up a
dialogue asking how you would like to quantize the selection. Position
and Note End will make notes of regular duration that start in place on
the grid. The quantization resolution for the grid matches the proportion
for the Note resolution (pictured at 1/16 below).

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If you want to automatically quantize incoming notes to the grid as they
are recorded you can do this by setting up Auto Quantize. Start by
looking for the small grey “In Out” box next to the green speaker
(monitor) button on the channel you want to record to. You may need to
drag the lower edge of the channel box down in the arrange window to
make the “In Out” window visible. Command Click on the grey “In Out”
box and select Track Recording Settings.

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Turn on “Quantize Track MIDI Recording” and set the resolution to auto
quantize incoming MIDI data to the grid.
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Next, let’s try drawing some new notes with the pencil tool. Hover the
pencil tool over the area where you would like to place a note. Double
click to add a note to the performance. Holding Option Command lets
you paint notes with a paintbrush tool.

Let’s try copying the pattern we just added to a new key. This can be
used to great effect when programming rhythms. Select the notes you just
drew and hold down Command while dragging them to a new location
on the keyboard. This copies patterns from one voice to another. Another
way to copy / paste notes is by using Command C to copy and
Command V to paste.
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Next, let’s edit some velocities. This will get you familiar with how flexible
and nondestructive MIDI editing can be. Select some of your notes on the
piano roll. Next, select “Velocity” from the drop down menu just below
the piano keys. The vertical bars that show up under the notes represent
the values we will be editing. Drag the bars up or down to either raise or
lower velocities.

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Back in the arrange window, you can use Command C to copy and
Command V to paste your loop. Try making multiple copies that repeat
one after another.

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Glue clips together by selecting “Glue Item” under the Item Menu.
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Setting Up Sends and Receives
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While there are times you may want to add effects directly to the audio
channel your working with, it is often useful to use a send channel for
effects. This allows the original signal and the effected signal to be
processed separately and routed to the master output. One possible use
that is quite common is setting up a reverb send. The reverb can be EQed
and treated with dynamic effects separately from the original signal, thus
you can exercise greater control over it’s sonic footprint in the final mix.
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Start by creating a new track that will serve as your reverb send. Select
“Insert New Track at End of Track List” from the Track menu.

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Add a reverb effect to the new send track by clicking on it’s FX button
and selecting a reverb VST or AU. The send I just created was on track
#14, so this is the FX button I look to engage in the mixer. The reverb
effect I want to use is under
AU : Apple : AUMatrixReverb.

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Drag the Dry / Wet slider to the far right to make the send channel
entirely wet with reverb. I can return to this window in a moment to
further tweak the reverb parameters. First, I need to route audio through
the send
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To send an audio signal through the new send track, start by clicking the
I/O button in the mixer for the channel you want to send.

Select the drop down menu Add New Send and scroll to the track
number of the send you just created. In my example, the reverb send is
on track #14.
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In the picture below, I can see that the audio is now being routed from
my new send and into the reverb channel. For future reference, this is
also where MIDI data is routed from. The menu Post Fader / Post Pan has
options available in case you want to process the signal in the mixer and
have the original un-effected signal routed to the reverb. This can be
useful for keeping the volume of the channel mixer independent of the
volume of the send.

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Try using some other effects on the send track. Distortion, Bit Reduction,
Compression, Delay; all can be interesting tools in your journey as a
sonic landscape painter. I particularly enjoy using filters to create sounds
that remind me of the worn cassettes I grew up with. Make some changes
and see how those changes make you feel. We’ll cover different effects,
routing, and automation in future tutorials.
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Contact Steven Trimmer, TA for Laptop Music MUSC80Z :
strimmer@ucsc.edu
 SD Card

Note:
1. After formatting, all previous data in the card will be erased.
Please make sure that you have backed up any important
information in your SD card.
2. The kt4 supports FAT16 and FAT32 only, some SD cards with a
small capacity (under 32M) may be using FAT12, in this case,
the card would be formatted into FAT16.

Error Messages during a Card

Operation
You may see some error information displayed during a card
operation. They are caused by the hardware or file system error on
the SD card.
LCD Display Description
No Card! The card is not properly inserted into the card slot.
Card Locked! The card is found protected/locked during
save/delete or format.*
Card Error! A fatal error occurred during reading or writing the
card. **
FS Error! The file system of the card is not supported. ***
* Please take out the card, unlock the card and try again.
** The fatal error can be caused by a damaged card, poor
contact, etc. Please clean the metal connection part of the card
and try again.
*** The kt4 module can support only FAT16 and FAT32.

Making the Settings for MIDI

About MIDI
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a standard that
allows performance data and other information to be exchanged
among electronic musical instruments and computers. With a
MIDI cable connecting MIDI connectors equipped on a device, you
can play multiple instruments with a single keyboard, have
multiple instruments perform in ensemble, program the settings
to change kits automatically to match the performance as the
song progresses, and more.

MIDI Connection
MIDI IN: This terminal receives MIDI data from an external MIDI
device.
MIDI OUT: This terminal transmits data from the drum module to
other MIDI devices.

USB Connection
The USB connector allows you to connect the kt4 module directly
to your computer. It can be connected without installing a driver in
Windows XP/Vista/Win7 or MAC OSX environments.
The kt4 module will be recognized as a “USB Audio device” to
receive and transmit MIDI messages through a single USB cable.
The USB port is used only for MIDI messages (MIDI via USB)

Note:
When the USB port is connected to a computer, all MIDI messages
will be received and transmitted via USB.

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Making the Settings for MIDI

Connecting to an External Sound

Device
The kt4 drum module transmission channel for the drum kit is fixed
to Channel 10. It will output MIDI data generated by the triggers
when hitting the pads or stepping on the Hi-Hat control pedal
(Note ON/OFF, and Foot messages). Song playback data and
metronome notes are not transmitted.

Recording Your Performance to an External Sequencer

1. Connect the MIDI OUT of the digital drum to the MIDI IN of your
sequencer, and the MIDI OUT of your sequencer to the MIDI IN
of the kt4 module. If you are using a software sequencer on a
computer, you can simply connect the USB port of the kt4
module to a USB port of your computer using a single USB A-B
cable.

2. Setup the active track of your sequencer on Channel 10.

Activate RECORD on your sequencer.

3. Play the pads of your kt4 kit.

4. Stop recording. Reset your sequencer to the start of your

recording.

5. Playback the recorded sequencer.

Using the kt4 module as a Sound

Module
Connecting an external keyboard or sequencer to the MIDI Input
allows you to use the kt4 module as a multi-part, polyphonic sound
module to play various instrument parts in addition to your drums
(for instance, Piano on Channel 1, Bass on Channel 2, Strings on
Channel 3, etc). The voices on each MIDI channel are selected
using MIDI Program Change messages (refer to GM Backing
Instrument List ).

The MIDI system in the kt4 module has 16 reception channels

numbered from 1-16. Each of the channels is responsible for a
voice. When the instrument receives MIDI information from an
external device, the active channel is determined by the control
message. Channel 10 is reserved for Drums. The kt4 module
has two options for Channel 10: GM ON or OFF, as selected in
UTILITY MIDI menu.

When GM Mode is ON,Channel 10 will play the GM percussion

kits.
When GM Mode is OFF, Channel 10 will play the kt4 module
internal kits.

Note:
For more information on received MIDI messages, refer to MIDI
implementation chart.

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 Troubleshooting
Problem Possible Cause and Solution
No sound 1. Rotate the [VOLUME] knob to be sure that the volume isn’t down.
2. Check that the Local Mode is set to “ON”
No sound from Pads 1. To be sure that the pad is connected correctly.
2. Be sure that the volume of the pad is not set to "0".
No click sound 1. Be sure that the metronome is turned on.
2. Be sure that the click volume is not set to "0".
The Pad volume doesn’t match 1. Adjust the song playback volume to match the pad volume.
the Song playback volume
Cannot connect to the computer 1. Make sure the USB has been correctly connected.
2. Do the connect operation again (Keep the computer on, and then turn the module on,
connect the USB cable).
3. The kt4 module can connect to a computer without loading a driver.

Specifications
Maximum Polyphony Display
64 Backlit with segment code LCD

Drum kits Connectors

Kit: 99 (55 Presets + 44 Users) 9 TRIGGER INPUT JACK, 2 EXTER TRIGGER INPUT JACK
GM Drum Kit: 9 GM Drum Kits (TOM4, CRASH2), PHONES, AUX IN,
OUTPUT ( R, L/MONO), USB-MIDI, MIDI IN/ OUT
Instruments
Instrument: 762 (Drum Voice, Percussion Voice, Effect Voice) SD Card
18 Hi-hat Combination Group Save/Load kit, song and user setting
Play back MIDI song (maximum 16 tracks)
Effect
Reverb with 8 Variations , 4-band EQ Power Supply
DC 9V, 500mA
Sequencer
Preset Pattern: 142 Dimensions
User Song: 100 300（W）× 330（H）× 160（D）mm
Tick: 192 ticks per beat
Record: Real-time Record Module Weight
0.5 kg
Tempo
30~280 * All specifications and appearances are subject to change
without notice.

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