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>>>...to get a long bass part to sound less unnaturally staccato and manually editing it will take a half hour of time, and it seems computers do this sort of thing well...>>>

I frequently edit staccato and legato manually. Very often on MIDI parts, and sometimes as edits on parts I have played in. If I play in a melody using a Rhodes voice the legato might be fine, but if I change to a horn patch it wont be right, for instance.

BiaB has a unique tool for getting this job done quickly: Staff Roll notation. In the notation window there are 3 modes. Staff Roll is the one with stems going vertically AND horizontally to the right. Staff Roll combines the functions of the more familiar notation window mouse gestures with the visual functions for velocity and duration that are usually found in Piano Roll mode. It is fun and easy to use, but there is a learning curve:

# Only use the RIGHT mouse button ( the other one) for the Velocity and Duration gestures.

# start on the center of the notehead - not on the visual stripes - for velocity and duration.

# 1/4 notes and 1/8 notes lie right ON the vertical lines that look like barlines, not in the horizontal spaces between the lines.

I think this tool will give you the control you are looking for.

Flatfoot sez: Call me when 'Talent-in-a-Box' is ready to ship! -- [8{>

Got some tunes on You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/flatfoot50
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My BiaB lesson site:
http://jdwolfe0.wixsite.com/learnbiab