Provides a simple and fast piano roll to create melodic patterns and sources by hand, as well as to record and edit recorded melodies.
The Piano Roll Node can be connected to an audio source Node to drive audio synthesis with the created melody, such as the Oscillator Node or the Sampler Node.
The Piano Roll Node appears on the Timeline when you place it.
Editing
This Node provides a simple and fast piano roll to edit melodic patterns. The piano roll can be opened either from the properties panel, or by double clicking on the node (both in Patcher and Timeline). Navigation is mostly identical to that of the Timeline (e.g. hold and drag to move the viewport, zoom with mouse-wheel or pinch-zoom), with the following additions:
Place note
Left-click or tap on an empty cell. If a note is selected, the new note’s duration will be the same as that of the selected note; otherwise, the current grid-size setting is used to determine the new note’s duration.
Select note
Left-click or tap on a note. Hold the Ctrl key to add/remove from selection.
Open note properties
Right-click or tap-and-hold on a note, then select Properties.
Delete note
Right-click or tap-and-hold on a note, then select Delete.
If multiple notes are selected, the operation is performed on each selected note. The Del hotkey can also be used.
Clone note
Right-click or tap-and-hold on a note, then select Clone. If multiple notes are selected, the operation is performed on each selected note. The Ctrl-D hotkey can also be used. If holding Ctrl when notes are moved, they are also cloned before moving.
Move note
Left-click-and-hold or touch-and-hold then drag a note. If holding Ctrl when notes are moved, they are also cloned before moving.
Move note to end
Right-click or tap-and-hold on a note, then select Move to end. The Ctrl-End
Octave up
Right-click or tap-and-hold on a note, then select Octave up. The option is only enabled when the +1 octave is available for that note, with that specific music notation (for example, G10 pitch cannot be increased by a whole octave since it is the highest available here)
Octave down
Right-click or tap-and-hold on a note, then select Octave down. The option is only enabled when the -1 octave is available for that note, with that specific music notation (for example, C0 pitch cannot be decreased by a whole octave since it is the lowest available here)
Select all notes – on a specific pitch
Right-click or tap-and-hold on a note (for example, with C5 pitch), then select Select all C5. The option is only visible when every already selected notes are on the exact same pitch.
Recording
The Piano Roll Node can record live play through its Melody input. If a source with a live Melody is connected (such as a MIDI Keyboard Node), click or tap the Record button in the “dropdown” section of the header when the Piano Roll is open. This will start recording as soon as the connected input updates (e.g. by pressing a key on a connected MIDI keyboard). When finished, simply click or tap the Record button again.
Note: melody preprocessing can be applied to the input before it reaches the Piano Roll Node. For example, to automatically record each note from a keyboard as a chord, connect your Melody source through a Component Extension Node.
Snapshots
The Piano Roll Node can also take a snapshot of non-live Melody data, such as the output of another Piano Roll, or a Sequencer Node. To do this, simply connect a non-live Melody line to the Melody input, then click on the Snapshot button in the “dropdown” section of the header when the Piano Roll is open. This will copy the source Melody into the Piano Roll. This can also be used to inspect the effect of Melody preprocessor Nodes (such as the Component Extension Node).
Note: taking a snapshot will erase any previous contents in the Piano Roll editor. The previous contents can be restored by doing an Undo.
Importing
The Piano Roll Node can consume a .mid or .midi file uploaded from a local folder. Then, each track can be selected or de-selected, to be imported or be left out from the import.
Note: grid size set on the full screen editor does not have an impact to the imported notes, they remain as they are regarding to their timing.
Inputs
Melody Input
The Melody to record.
Settings
Most of this Node’s settings are accessible by opening the Piano Roll editor.
Grid size
Sets the grid size to use in the editor.
Snap to grid
When set, notes are snapped to the nearest grid cell.
Lock editing
When set, editing is disabled. This is useful to prevent accidental modifications.
Repeat
When set, shows a window that lets you define a region to repeat for the entire project duration.
Holding Ctrl and dragging on an empty editor area can also be used to set the repeat region quickly.
Track name
A visual name by which the Piano Roll’s track can be identified on the Timeline.
This is purely visual.
Outputs
Melody Output
The Melody created in the Piano Roll.