OK here we go again... for the Abletonites, and gurus out there.

I have only dabbled in Ableton due to roadblocks and a fair amount of flat out ignorance,
but I am dabbling again. Everything going smoothly, enjoy the flow.. then I hit the
roadblock again with something seemingly simple.. that becomes complicated in this daw.

Now simple ignorance is not the only culprit here, as I did search on this issue, and did
not come up with a solution ( at least not an efficient one) but I did come across
others with similar issues and sentiments.

this little rant pretty much sums up my feelings, though I am not the author...

https://www.ableton.com/answers/unable-to-drop-midi-clips-from-one-track-to-the-other


Come on now... I braced some midi in the piano roll from a bassline, I want to copy it and paste it to
a new clip (track ). Seems like pretty simple stuff to me. I want to keep the original track
intact as an alternate in case I want to use some variants on that bassline later.

No matter what I try, crop, or copy from the edit menu it does not work! I was able to paste
one time using ctrl-c , v and I could hear it.. but not SEE it as midi data within the new clip !
weird....

I know a solution, just chopping off the ends of a duplicated track to get the part I want,
but this seems like a totally bone-headed workflow. Why should one have to jump through such
hoops to accomplish such a simple task. So as the rant goes, either this program is stupid
or I am !

I praise Reaper all the time for being intuitive, and this is case in point, exactly. I tried the
same operation in Reaper and it took me less than 1 minute to accomplish.

After 20-30 minutes searching Ableton forums and complaints and yt vids..and here also,
still nothing on this. So if I have to do it "Live's" way...maybe someone here can tell me what that is !!?

thanks for listening...

 

Last edited by a moderator: Oct 11, 2016

Hit Ctrl Shft T to make a new midi track. Then lasso or select the clip(s) you want to copy. Then Ctrl+click and drag to the new track you just created, to copy it. Dont hit ctrl if you just want to move it.

Oh from the piano roll? Never tried it like that. I think it only works in the arrangement. Like each section is edit specific? I know you can copy and paste from the clip view to the arrangement view, but not from the roll to the arrangement view

Maybe you could deacivate the notes and try the variations on another midi track?

But I know you can copy notes from one piano roll to a roll on another track

So copy the midi in the roll. Make a new midi track, Brace the area in the new track in the arrangement where you want the midi. Sht Ctrl M to make an empty midi clip. Double click the midi clip to open the roll. Then paste. Whew. Got that?

 

Last edited: Oct 11, 2016

You might have to re-enable Arrangement View with this button (in orange)
You could also click the lighter grey play icon to enable individual tracks.


Or your track needs to be switched from In (recording) to AUTO (playback)

I think...

Session View has the same button. It's called Back to Arrangement (F10).

 

Last edited: Oct 11, 2016

I think subGENRE is correct with the arrangement being able to move midi around, they should add all work arounds in Ableton though

 

Just give me a friggin short cut for freezing and Ill be happy. Multi clip midi editing would be nice if it was native too

 

will give these a shot.. thanks guys.. not trying to rag on Ableton..
it has a lot of powerful functions at your fingertips no doubt

just trying to LIKE it..at this point and be productive with it...

 

I'm probably missing something here but I just drew 10 notes into the piano roll in Arrangement View and copied the first 5 [CTRL+C]
Went to another track, inserted a MIDI clip and pasted [CTRL+V] and I got it inserted just fine.

Maybe your missing the Insert MIDI Clip part? Highlight the number of bars and Right-Click > Insert MIDI Clip [CTRL+Shift+M]. You can't paste MIDI notes from the piano roll directly into the track without having a MIDI clip in place. Creating a MIDI clip also gives you a piano roll.

In the bottom right corner you should see your track name with a darker grey background. To the left of that is a light grey oblong (Clip View Selector) Click on that to bring up the piano roll.

@subGENRE beat me to it.

 

Yeah I'm not sure I understand the problem. If it were me, and I wanted the same melody on another track, I'd just ctrl+drag the clip into the second track. That's probably the easiest way. But if for some reason I wanted to copy the midi notes themselves, Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C, then go to the new clip and ctrl+v. Note - if your melody doesn't start on the 1 then you have to move your cursor to wherever it starts. Seems like this would be standard practice but I only do midi in Ableton and have done a tiny but in FL but it's been a long while.

I don't mean to treat you like a dummy but... we all have these moments, so I'm gonna float another possibility here. You said at one time you could hear the notes but not see them. Is it possible that because what you're pasting is a bassline that the melody is a couple octaves down the piano roll's default view?

 

Me too. lol I woke up late.# this morning!!

@ Herr durr Mornin HD

 

@Sylenth.Will.Fall top of the morning as well Sir Moose...

certainly possible, except in that instance I was looking at the arrangement view, where all the other midi was visible in a compact form, when I ctrl-v on the top track with another instrument I heard the notes played in a higher octave as you mentioned, but why wouldn't they display in this view regardless? You can't manipulate the notes anyway from that position, and it seems to merely be a visual indicator that the data is in fact "there"? no ?

correction: was a ctrl drag

as they say a picture is worth a thousand words.. if it shows me to be a "dummy" so be it.. it would be accurate to say I am dumb about Ableton, alternately I feel accurate in saying I'm dealing with some kind of dumb behavior internal to this program !

here you go... for clarity I was trying to paste a selection of notes into the top midi track with Saw 8
note: obviously the midi is not shown as selected in this view, but previously
had been lassoed and copied, then undone for another try

​

 

Last edited by a moderator: Oct 11, 2016

I do like Ableton but every now and then it does behave oddly. Just yesterday after about 4 hours solid, the entire library went 'poof' and promptly disappeared. Music , presets. the lot. The only thing that remained was VST. Luckily I use Shadow Defender, which operates a snapshot when I switch the computer on. When I turn it off , that snapshot disappears and I get a fresh one after reboot, so everything was back again exactly how I wanted it.

Odd because all I was gonna ask is how you were , and I got a bit sidetracked.

 

@Pinkman sorry just got back to your post... sounds like you are doing it right.. and I'm doing it wrong..
let me try again following your example to overcome dumbness ,or stupidity or both...
it's the frustration in getting there that rankles... lol

what adds to it.. is that I checked the manual and other sources and found nothing of clarity on the process
whereas with Reaper , if it is doable , someone has outlined how to do it in their forum, yt , etc.. ahhh

that may be the issue, as with Reaper you have to insert a new midi- item on the track, but then Reaper from the beginning
has totally neutral tracks, where in Ableton they are already labeled "MIDI" before you do anything.. with the default on
opening with several tracks titled midi or audio...gaaaaaa

 

@Sylenth.Will.Fall thanks for the tip.. that deffo sounds like something essential for this kind of work..

I''ll be hunting that one down.. avail for Win ?

 

wow @Pinkman... you should do a series for Groove3 or something..
but make sure you let us be your beta tester audience here first..

good stuff

 

I've realised sommit. I can do most of the stuff on Ableton with my eyes closed, but as soon as anyone gets in to difficulty I'm like a fish out of water.

I just posted you the link for it :P At least I THINK I did, I should really know my way around here by now.

 

Last edited: Oct 11, 2016