Introduction to MIDI and Computer Music: DP Cut & Paste

Digital Performer Cut & Paste

Digital Performer lets you move and copy music from one place to another, using the familiar “cut-and-paste” method. Since music unfolds in time, this process is a little more complex than in a purely graphic program. But still, it’s a matter of selecting objects, copying or cutting them to the Clipboard (a temporary storage area), and then pasting them into some other place. The trick is getting them to go exactly where you want.

Making Selections

Digital Performer makes a distinction between data selections and time range selections. You get a data selection by clicking on notes or other objects, or by dragging a rectangle around them. You get a time range selection by dragging in the time ruler of an editing window, as in the picture below.

Or you can specify a time range in the Selection Bar that appears in various editing windows. This is circled in red in the picture above. Notice that the time range of the blue selection — from bar 4 to bar 5 — matches the numbers given in the Selection Bar, which shows start time, end time, and duration, using bar|beat|tick notation. Type new numbers to change the current time selection. Click on the left-pointing straight arrow to set the start time from the current Counter (Playback Wiper) location. Click on the right-pointing arrow to set the end time from the counter location. (Click the downward-pointing arrow to see a menu of other ways to set the selection.) The selection applies to any tracks visible in the Graphic Editor when you make the selection, or any tracks whose names you click in the Tracks view.

A time range selection has a starting and ending time that can be distinct from the starting and ending times of notes in the range. In fact, a time range may contain only empty measures. Some commands, like Snip, operate only on a time range selection.

Digital Performer has a feature called Smart Selections that is designed to let you maintain the metrical position of music that you copy from one place and paste into another. For example, if the first copied note starts on the second beat of a measure, then when you paste it into another measure, that note will be on the second beat of the measure that contains the Playback Wiper. You don‘t have to be precise about the placement of the wiper; it just has to be somewhere in the destination measure. This behavior requires that the Smart Selections option in the Edit menu be on when you paste. (The checkbox on the right side of the Selection Bar shown above also controls Smart Selections status.)

If all this seems confusing to you, you’re not alone. I’ll present just one technique that should help you copy and paste data successfully with as little pain as possible. Don’t forget that you can also move and copy material by dragging phrase blocks in the Track Overview.

Cut, Copy, Paste, Merge

You can use the Cut, Copy, Paste and Merge commands in the Edit menu to rearrange musical material. Here’s how to do it.

First, verify that Smart Selections is set the way you want it. (More on that below.) Unless you have a good reason, it’s best to leave Smart Selections turned on.
Make either a data or time range selection in any editing window.
The advantage of a time range selection is that continuous data, such as volume or modulation, will be copied and pasted along with the notes.
Choose Cut (to remove data) or Copy (to copy data) from the Edit menu. Either command copies the selected material onto the Clipboard.
Deselect the material you cut or copied. An easy way to do this is to choose Deselect All from the Edit menu. If you’re in the Graphic Editor, another way is to click somewhere on the piano roll display where there is no note.
NOTE: If you don’t deselect, then the start time of the current selection determines where in time the pasted material will go, regardless of the Smart Selections status or the Counter location.
Open a Graphic Editing window for the track you want to paste into.
Set the Playback Wiper or Counter to a spot in the measure where you’d like the pasted material to start.
If you’re using Smart Selections when you paste the notes, then this causes the notes to retain their relationship to the bar line. (If the first note was on the second beat, it will go on the second beat of the destination measure.)
If you’'re not using Smart Selections when you paste, then the Clipboard contents will fall exactly on the Counter location.
Choose Paste or Merge from the Edit menu. The difference between these two lies in their treatment of any material that was already in the destination track at the paste location: Paste overwrites the existing material, while Merge combines this material with the Clipboard contents. The difference is analogous to recording with the Overdub button turned on or off.

To summarize the method...

Verify Smart Selections status.
Make a selection.
Copy or Cut.
Deselect All.
Position Playback Wiper in Graphic Editing window of destination track.
Paste or Merge.

There’s a lot more to know about copy & paste techniques, but this should get you started.

Other commands

Other useful commands for rearranging a sequence include Snip, Splice and Shift, all in the Edit menu. Snip is like Cut, except that the selected time range is removed, resulting in subsequent material shifting earlier to close up the gap. Splice is like Paste, except that when it inserts the Clipboard material, it makes room for it by shifting subsequent material later, instead of simply overwriting the subsequent material. Shift lets you move selected material earlier or later in time.

To summarize some commands available in the Edit menu...

Command	Description
Cut	Copy data to the Clipboard, erasing it from track.
Copy	Copy data to the Clipboard, leaving it in track.
Paste	Place Clipboard contents, erasing what’s already in track.
Merge	Place Clipboard contents, leaving what’s already in track.
Snip	Copy data to the Clipboard, erasing it and its time range from track.
Splice	Insert Clipboard contents, moving to a later point what’s already in track.
Shift	Move selected data to a different time in track.

The View Filter

The View Filter (Setup menu) lets you temporarily hide information you either don’t want to see or don’t want to select or edit.

Example:
If you want to copy just the aftertouch data from a track, you press the Clear button in the View Filter and then check only the Mono Pressure item. Now you see only mono aftertouch events in the editing windows — the rest of the data disappears (but is not deleted). You then select everything in the track and copy it. This will copy only the visible information, not the notes or any other data you’ve hidden in the View Filter.

Remember to reset the View Filter to show everything by using its Set All button. A common problem when users don’t see information they know is there is that the View Filter has been set inappropriately.