...set the channel for the MIDI-pencil-tool?

Getting Stuff Done How do I .... ?
#1

How do I set the channel of the MIDI-pencil-tool? I mean, where can I select the channel for newly drawn notes?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Carsten

#2

make the track slightly taller, the channel selector controls will appear. the pencil will draw notes using the first active channel (which may also be the only active channel)

#3

Thanks!

PS: Sorry for the delayā€¦

#4

New user here, Iā€™m on 6.9. I donā€™t think the channel selector controls are a thing that exists in 6.9?

My question is the same: How do I set the channel for new MIDI notes placed with the mouse in draw mode?

I found a workaround, which is to:

  1. Open the channel selector
  2. Change Playback to ā€œUse a single fixed channel for all playbackā€
  3. Select the channel I want to enter notes for
  4. Change back to ā€œPlayback all channelsā€. (This step is so the track will play existing notes of different channels correctly)

I call this a workaround because it isnā€™t very convenient, and it seems strange to me (as a beginner) that changing Playback settings would have anything to do with note entry, and that the channel would be remembered even after step #4.

#5

Welcome to the Ardour forums.

The central issue is that we have to pick a channel to use from somewhere. If it doesnā€™t come from some existing control-thingamajig, it will have to come from something more or less exactly like an existing control-thingamajig. So we ā€œoverloadā€ the channel selector as the place where we decide on the default current note-creation channel. Thatā€™s all. Yes, it does require switching the setting back if you want other channels BUT most people find multi-channel MIDI pretty confusing (Ableton Live, for example, only allows a single MIDI channel in the entire DAW). If you stick with 1 channel in the track, thereā€™s no need to change the setting back.

#6

By default Ardour picks the channel/velocity from the nearest note.

Upcoming Ardour 7 makes this explicit. In Draw mode, the editor-toolbar has additional dropdown menus (and tooltips explain ā€˜autoā€™ mode for each):

image

3 Likes
#7

I was referring to the first note drawn :slight_smile:

#8

By default Ardour picks the channel/velocity from the nearest note.

Thank you for your thorough replies!

I can see that this is true for velocity. However, in 6.9 I donā€™t see new notes placed in draw mode picking their channel from the nearest note. How do I get this to be the case?

I really dig that Ardour 7 dropdown! Canā€™t wait!