This thread is for suggestions regarding the Piano Roll view. This is for specific suggestions only, not general comments. There are a few ideas extracted from the main user interface enhancements thread
Jim Fogle Please set up the Piano Roll window so the keyboard displays the drum kit sound name associated with each key of the Pitch Selector keyboard. Presently the Pitch Selector keyboard displays note names such as C3, C4 or C5.
Rustyspoon:
1) Default tool should be a pen tool, not a "selection" tool.
2)There are no UI buttons for selecting one or the other. Holding a current two button shortcut (Ctrl+Shift) to draw is just wrong. You should not hold anything to draw.
3)Full length overlay guides, horizontal and vertical running all the way from piano roll to the note when drawing. Current little green arrows do not cut it.
4)Full cursor on playback
5) A choice of free hand drawing note length. Not just preselecting duration.
6) Adopt a "freehand" move tool, not a separate up down and right. Holding mouse button should grab a note or selection and user should be able to move/drag it anywhere until you let go of the mouse button.
7)Better graphics for Pen / Delete tools. Currently they are too large and blurry.
8)User defined note color. (maybe this is possible already)
9)On the upper right, Help and Video buttons are covering other stuff. Should be fixed.
as in one daw i like ... i would like to see double click on track midi in track view and piano roll thus appears automatically.
om
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This thread is for suggestions regarding the Piano Roll view. This is for specific suggestions only, not general comments. There are a few ideas extracted from the main user interface enhancements thread
Jim Fogle 1) Please set up the Piano Roll window so the keyboard displays the drum kit sound name associated with each key of the Pitch Selector keyboard. Presently the Pitch Selector keyboard displays note names such as C3, C4 or C5.
Rustyspoon:
1) Default tool should be a pen tool, not a "selection" tool.
2)There are no UI buttons for selecting one or the other. Holding a current two button shortcut (Ctrl+Shift) to draw is just wrong. You should not hold anything to draw.
3)Full length overlay guides, horizontal and vertical running all the way from piano roll to the note when drawing. Current little green arrows do not cut it.
4)Full cursor on playback
5) A choice of free hand drawing note length. Not just preselecting duration.
6) Adopt a "freehand" move tool, not a separate up down and right. Holding mouse button should grab a note or selection and user should be able to move/drag it anywhere until you let go of the mouse button.
7)Better graphics for Pen / Delete tools. Currently they are too large and blurry.
8)User defined note color. (maybe this is possible already)
9)On the upper right, Help and Video buttons are covering other stuff. Should be fixed.
1) JF +1
1) RS + 1 Don't get me started. The piano midi editing window needs a ton of love. Yes, to all as they entire things needs to be revamped. New consistent timeline, new loop area, new tools, major change to editing actions.
Originally Posted by justanoldmuso
Andrew. as in one daw i like ... i would like to see double click on track midi in track view and piano roll thus appears automatically. om
Yes, this is true for ALL TRACK TYPES.
Last edited by jpettit; 01/22/2507:13 AM.
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#1 can be an adventure, naming the part of a drum kit associated with each note. I've seen several incompatible implementations of this. I have no knowledge of drums but the drummers I use tell me that the notation isn't standardized fully. I don't know; this is just to sound an alert that more study is needed.
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Matt, your drummer friends are right and wrong. GM compatible electronic keyboards, sound modules and plugins follow the GM1 standard which includes drum sounds. Many of the drum plugins add additional drum sounds which are not covered by the GM1 standard.
PG Music has the capability to implement this suggestion using a tool already at their disposal, the INS &PAT files. MIDI channel 10 is the MIDI standard drum channel while MIDI Bank Numbers select drum kits. Drum labels load with the files.
PG Music has much more information available in +++ THIS +++ GM1 tutorial. I've copied and edited the information below.
Quote
General MIDI (GM) 1 Percussion Map: (Channel 10) MIDI channel 10 is the drum channel on most MIDI synthesizers. On the drum channel, different notes are interpreted as different drum sounds, instead of being different pitches of a particular instrument.
In addition to note numbers listed below (for example, 60,61,62), PG Music software often refers to note names (for example, C5, Db5, E5). For reference, note 60 = C5 = middle C.
MIDI Standard Drum Kit Sound Key
35 Acoustic Bass Drum 36 Bass Drum 1 37 Side Stick 38 Acoustic Snare 39 Hand Clap
MIDI Standard Drum Kit Sound Key
40 Electric Snare 41 Low Floor Tom 42 Closed Hi Hat 43 High Floor Tom 44 Pedal Hi-Hat 45 Low Tom 46 Open Hi-Hat 47 Low-Mid Tom 48 Hi Mid Tom 49 Crash Cymbal 1
MIDI Standard Drum Kit Sound Key
50 High Tom 51 Ride Cymbal 1 52 Chinese Cymbal 53 Ride Bell 54 Tambourine 55 Splash Cymbal 56 Cowbell 57 Crash Cymbal 2 58 Vibraslap 59 Ride Cymbal 2
MIDI Standard Drum Kit Sound Key
60 Hi Bongo 61 Low Bongo 62 Mute Hi Conga 63 Open Hi Conga 64 Low Conga 65 High Timbale 66 Low Timbale 67 High Agogo 68 Low Agogo 69 Cabasa
MIDI Standard Drum Kit Sound Key
70 Maracas 71 Short Whistle 72 Long Whistle 73 Short Guiro 74 Long Guiro 75 Claves 76 Hi Wood Block 77 Low Wood Block 78 Mute Cuica 79 Open Cuica
MIDI Standard Drum Kit Sound Key
80 Mute Triangle 81 Open Triangle
The following Percussive Sounds are sometimes available for use to Percussion MIDI Channel 10
The GM1 standard does not specify program change numbers for different drum sets. However many synths use Program Change messages on the drum channel to choose a drum kit. Program Change 1 is the Standard Drum Kit on most synthesizers.
Other Drum Kits
Many General MIDI compatible synths have additional drum kits, often the eight listed below. Other drum kits are often similar to the Standard Drum Kit but have variations of the same drum sounds. For example, note 38 is an Acoustic Snare in the Standard Drum Kit. When you are using the Room Drum Kit, you still hear a snare with note 38 but it will be a "Room Snare".
Program Number Drum Kit Name
1 Standard Drum Kit 9 Room Drum Kit 17 Power Drum Kit 25 Electric Drum Kit 26 Rap TR808 Drum Kit 33 Jazz Drum Kit 41* Brush Drum Kit
* A special note about the Brush Kit * The Brush Kit is usually the same as the Standard Drum Kit with the following three exceptions:
Note #38 is a Brush Tap instead of a Snare Drum. Note #39 is a Brush Slap instead of a Hand Clap. Note #40 is a Brush Swirl instead of an Electric Snare Drum.
Some Yamaha synths use a somewhat different map for the brush sounds. On these synths:
Note #25 is a Brush tap. Note #27 is a Brush Slap. Note #26 is a Brush swirl.
Last edited by Jim Fogle; 02/04/2512:07 AM. Reason: added file info.
Agree but PGM is looking for details. What do you like about your favorite piano roll?
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Color background to chosen scale Color background to chord root/chord notes (option to set color for color blind) Snap notes to scale Snap notes to chord Set Keyswitches notes to lock by entering keyswitch note range
I did make vsti's to snap to scale or chord notes but you are not allowed to chain another vsti after it to get sound.
I am partially color blind and can't tell many colors. In some threads I have to highlight some areas as I can't read them. Thus any color theme in BiaB must have the option to adjust or change any color.
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I am partially color blind and can't tell many colors. In some threads I have to highlight some areas as I can't read them. Thus any color theme in BiaB must have the option to adjust or change any color.
Yes/+1
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Band-in-a-Box had color themes in the past but I haven't seen any new one in years. I don't believe the older themes have been maintained to properly work with the 2025 versions of the Minimal and Normal screen modes.
Does anyone remember if the themes of old were user or PG Music created?
Does anyone know if the older themes are shipped with 2025 Band-in-a-Box?
Mario, do you know if the Institute for the Blind or any similar organization offers any best practice guidelines to follow when creating a theme for someone that is color challenged?
I think a color blind theme is a good idea but have no idea what it would take to create one or maintain it from year to year.
Mario, do you know if the Institute for the Blind or any similar organization offers any best practice guidelines to follow when creating a theme for someone that is color challenged?
No I don't. There are different levels of color blindness, from total to slight.
Originally Posted by Jim Fogle
I think a color blind theme is a good idea but have no idea what it would take to create one or maintain it from year to year.
I'm not asking for a color blind theme, just the availability to change colors, maybe via a color wheel. I color my tracks in Studio One Pro 7, i.e drums one color, cymbals another, guitars another etc. They are extremely different colors. I can see them but others look at them and say "Oh my God"
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Thanks for the suggestions! No, there aren't currently options for customizing the color of the Piano Roll. Display Prefs has the ability to set the color of many of the Chord Sheet and Mixer elements, and it is possible to create themes but as it stands there aren't many pre-made themes. That said, we should try to keep this thread focused on the Piano Roll window specifically.
If you want to learn from the best (concerning Piano Roll), download the demo of FL Studio.I don't think there is a better one. Maybe some of their approaches will spark ideas...
1) Default Tool as Pen Tool: Users want the default tool to be a pen tool instead of a selection tool. This change would make it easier to start drawing notes immediately, streamlining the workflow and reducing the need to switch tools.
2) Full-Length Overlay Guides: Adding full-length horizontal and vertical guides would help users align notes more accurately when drawing. This feature would enhance precision and make it easier to create well-aligned compositions.
3) Full Cursor on Playback: Having a full cursor during playback would make it easier to see the exact position of notes and make precise adjustments. This would improve the editing process and help users create more accurate musical arrangements.
4) Freehand Drawing Note Length: Allowing users to draw notes of any length freely, rather than just preselecting durations, would give more flexibility in creating music. This feature would enable users to be more creative and express their musical ideas more freely.
5)User-Defined Note Color: Enabling users to customize the color of notes would help in visually organizing and distinguishing different parts of the composition. This would improve the overall user experience and make it easier to manage complex compositions.
6) Display Drum Kit Sound Names: Show the drum kit sound names associated with each key on the Pitch Selector keyboard instead of just note names like C3, C4, etc. This would make it easier for users to identify and use specific drum sounds.
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Not sure I understand all the above points so this may have been covered but ...
In the Piano Roll window, the scroll wheel on the mouse, moves the bars to the left or to the right. If I also have a Moveable Audio Edit window open, the scroll wheel changes the LENGTH of each bar.
1. It would be nice if the scroll wheel did the same thing in each window, not at the same time, but wherever the cursor was 2. If would be helpful if the horizontal scale (i.e. width) of the bars in those 2 windows could be "sync'd" so that you could line up the bars in both windows to the exact bar lines, one window above the other
When editing MIDI ( or audio for that matter ) in modern DAWs there are "Ripple Edit" features so that - for example you can select or specify a time-range and then have the DAW delete/insert a time portion for the track and automatically shift all subsequent MIDI notes backward to close the gap.
( This would work on the MIDI in the track only and NOT song-wide )
I've attached a screenshot of the same kind of proposed features as implemented in Ableton
Last edited by nonchai; 07/10/2508:27 AM.
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If you delete and move all the remaing data to fill in the blank, isn't that going to mess up the track's bar timeline as the track relates to the remaining tracks?
I'm guessing you are wanting BiaB to stretch the remaining midi to "fill in" the empty space while also continue to sound natural. Is that correct?
Ripple delete is popularly used in video editing, but video isn't tied to a time signature, it's tied to a frame. Ripple delete in music audio that is already locked to a time signature could only realistically be done at bar level, maybe beat level. (There are other functions available that can delete bars etc)
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