Steinberg Nuendo 4 Manual

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The MIDI editors
Creating and editing notes
To draw in new notes in the Key Editor, you use the Pencil 
tool or the Line tool.
Drawing notes with the Pencil tool
With the Pencil tool, you insert single notes by clicking at 
the desired time (horizontal) and pitch position (vertical).
When you move the pointer in the note display, its bar 
position is indicated in the toolbar, and its pitch is indicated 
both in the toolbar and on the piano keyboard to the left.
This makes it easy to find the right note and insert position.
If Snap is activated, this determines the start position of 
the created note.
If you click once, the created note will have the length 
set on the Length Quantize pop-up menu on the toolbar.
You can create a longer note by clicking and dragging. The length of the 
created note will be a multiple of the Length Quantize value.
Drawing notes with the Line tool
The Line tool can be used for creating series of contigu-
ous notes. To do so, click and drag to draw a line and then 
release the mouse button.
ÖThe Line tool has several different modes.
To select one of the modes, click on the Line tool icon on the toolbar 
when the tool is already selected. This opens a pop-up menu from which 
you can select one of the Line tool modes.
The tool icon will change appearance according to the se-
lected mode.
Setting velocity values
When you draw notes in the Key Editor, the notes will get 
the velocity value set in the insert velocity field on the tool-
bar.
You can use one of four different methods for determining 
the velocity:
When a key command is assigned for the Select tool–
Edit Velocity action (in the Editing–Tool Modifiers page of 
the Preferences dialog), you can select one or more notes, 
press [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Shift] and click on one of the 
selected notes to change the velocity. 
The cursor changes into a speaker and, next to the note, a field with the 
velocity value appears – the Note Velocity slider. Move the mouse 
pointer up or down to change the value. Value changes will be applied to 
all selected notes, as you can see in the controller lane. 
Selecting a predefined velocity value from the insert ve-
locity pop-up menu.
The menu contains five different predefined velocity values. The “Setup…” 
item opens a dialog that allows you to specify which five velocity values 
should be available on the pop-up menu. (This dialog can also be opened 
by selecting “Insert Velocities…” from the MIDI menu.)
Mode Description
Line This is the default mode for the Line tool. When this 
mode is selected, you click and drag to create a straight 
line, in any angle. When you release the mouse button a 
series of notes will be created, aligned with the line. If 
Snap is activated, the notes will be spaced and sized ac-
cording to the Quantize value.
Parabola, Sine, 
Triangle, SquareThese modes insert events along different curve shapes. 
While they can be used for creating notes, they’re proba-
bly best suited for controller editing (see “Adding and 
editing events in the controller display” on page 379).
Paint Allows you to insert multiple notes by dragging with the 
mouse button pressed. If Snap is activated, the notes will 
be positioned and sized according to the Quantize and 
Length Quantize values. If you press [Ctrl]/[Command] 
while painting, movement will be restricted to horizontal 
only (i.e. the painted notes will have the same pitch). 
						

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The MIDI editors
Manually entering the desired velocity value by clicking 
in the insert velocity field and typing in the desired value.
Using a key command.
You can assign a key command to each of the five available velocity val-
ues in the Key Commands dialog (MIDI category – the items Insert Ve-
locity 1-5). This allows for quick switching between different velocity 
values when entering notes. See “Setting up key commands” on page 
518 for instructions on how to set up key commands.
Selecting notes
Selecting notes is done using any of the following methods:
Use the Arrow tool.
The standard selection techniques apply, like selecting by clicking on the 
note or using a selection rectangle. Note that when you press [Shift] and 
click on notes or draw a selection rectangle, these notes will be added to 
the overall selection. When you press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click on 
notes or draw a selection rectangle, these notes will be removed from 
the overall selection (standard Windows behavior).
Use the Select submenu on the Edit menu or Quick 
menu.
The Select menu options are:
You can also use the left and right arrow keys on the 
computer keyboard to step from one note to another.
If you press [Shift] and use the arrow keys, the current selection will be 
kept, allowing you to select several notes.
To select all notes of a certain pitch, press [Ctrl]/[Com-
mand] and click on the desired key in the keyboard display 
to the left.
You can also press [Shift] and double-click on a note to select all the fol-
lowing notes of the same pitch – or use the Equal Pitch functions on the 
Select submenu.
If the option “Auto Select Events under Cursor” is acti-
vated in the Preferences (Editing page), all notes “touched” 
by the project cursor are automatically selected.
Toggle selections
If you want to toggle the selected elements within a selec-
tion rectangle, press [Ctrl]/[Command] and enclose the 
same elements within a new selection rectangle. Once 
you release the mouse button, the previous selection is 
deselected and vice versa.
Selecting controllers within the note range
You can select the controllers within the range of the se-
lected notes. The following applies:
When the Auto Select Controllers button is activated 
on the toolbar, the controllers will always be selected 
when the respective notes are selected.
When you select “Select Controllers in Note Range” on 
the Select submenu of the Edit menu, the controllers 
within the note range (i. e. between the first/leftmost and 
last/rightmost note) will be selected.
Please note that for this to work, only two notes have to be selected. All 
controllers within this range will be selected.
A note range lasts until the start of the next note or the 
end of the part. 
Selected controllers for notes are moved when the cor-
responding notes are moved.
Option Description
All Selects all notes in the edited part.
None Deselects all events.
Invert Inverts the selection – all selected events are deselected 
and all notes that were not selected are selected instead.
In  Loop Selects all notes that are partially or completely inside the 
boundaries of the left and right locators (only visible if lo-
cators are set).
From Start to 
CursorSelects all notes that begin to the left of the project cur-
sor.
From Cursor to 
EndSelects all notes that end to the right of the project cur-
sor.
Equal Pitch – 
all OctavesThis function requires that a single note is selected. It se-
lects all notes of this part that have the same pitch (in any 
octave) as the currently selected note.
Equal Pitch – 
same OctaveAs above, but selects notes of the exact same pitch only 
(same octave).
Select Control-
lers in Note 
RangeSelects the MIDI controller data within range of the se-
lected notes, see below.
All notes of the corresponding pitch are selected. 
						

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The MIDI editors
Moving and transposing notes
To move notes in the editor, use any of the following me-
thods:
Click and drag to a new position.
All selected notes will be moved, maintaining their relative positions. If 
Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can move the 
notes, see “Snap” on page 370.
Use the up and down arrow keys on the computer key-
board.
This method allows you to transpose the selected notes, without risking 
to move them horizontally. You can also use the Transpose function (see 
“Transpose” on page 357) or the info line (see “The info line” on page 
366) for this. Note that pressing [Shift] and using the up and down arrow 
keys will transpose notes in steps of one octave.
Transport is also affected by the global transpose setting, see “The 
Transpose functions” on page 114.
Use the Move to Cursor function on the Edit menu.
This moves the selected notes to the project cursor position.
Select a note and adjust its position or pitch on the info 
line.
See “Editing on the info line” on page 375.
Use the Move buttons in the Nudge palette on the tool-
bar.
This moves the selected note(s) by the amount set on the Quantize pop-
up menu. 
By default, the Nudge palette isn’t shown on the toolbar – see “The Se-
tup dialogs” on page 506 for more information.
ÖNote that when you move selected notes to a different 
position, any selected controllers for these notes will move 
accordingly.
See also “Moving and copying events” on page 380.
You can also adjust the position of notes by quantizing 
(see “The Quantizing functions” on page 352).
Duplicating and repeating notes
Notes are duplicated much in the same way as events in 
the Project window:
Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag the note(s) to a new 
position.
If Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can copy 
notes (see “Snap” on page 370).
Selecting Duplicate from the Edit menu creates a copy 
of the selected note and places it directly after the original.
If several notes are selected, all of these are copied “as one unit”, main-
taining the relative distance between the notes.
Selecting Repeat from the Edit menu opens a dialog, al-
lowing you to create a number of copies of the selected 
note(s).
This works like the Duplicate function, but you can specify the number of 
copies.
You can also perform the Repeat function by dragging: 
Select the note(s) to repeat, press [Alt]/[Option], click the 
right edge of the last selected note and drag to the right.
The longer to the right you drag, the more copies are created (as indi-
cated by the tool tip).
Using cut and paste
You can use the Cut, Copy and Paste options on the Edit 
menu to move or copy material within a part or between 
different parts. When you paste copied notes, you can ei-
ther use the regular Paste function or the function “Paste 
Time” from the Range submenu of the Edit menu.
 “Paste” inserts the copied notes at the project cursor position 
without affecting existing notes.
!Note also that you can restrict movement to horizon-
tal or vertical only by holding down [Ctrl]/[Command] 
while dragging. 
						

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The MIDI editors
 “Paste Time” inserts at the project cursor position, but moves 
(and if necessary, splits) existing notes to make room for the 
pasted notes.
Resizing notes
To resize a note, use one of the following methods:
Position the arrow tool at the start or end of the note, so 
that the pointer takes on the shape of a small double ar-
row. Click and drag to the left or right to resize the note.
This method allows you to resize the note from either direction.
Click with the Pencil tool within the note box and drag 
to the left or the right (to make the note shorter or longer, 
respectively).
With both these methods, the resulting length will be a 
multiple of the Length Quantize value on the toolbar.
Use the Trim Start/End buttons on the Nudge palette on 
the toolbar.
This resizes the selected note(s) by moving their start or end positions, in 
steps according to the Length Quantize value on the toolbar. By default, 
the Nudge palette isn’t shown on the toolbar – see “The Setup dialogs” on 
page 506 for more information.
Select the note and adjust its length on the info line.
See “Editing on the info line” on page 375 for details on info line editing.
Use the Trim tool, see “Using the Trim tool” on page 369.
Splitting notes
There are three ways to split notes:
Clicking on a note with the Scissors tool splits the note 
at the position you pointed (taking the Snap setting into 
account if activated).
If several notes are selected, they are all split at the same position.
If you select “Split at Cursor”, all notes that are inter-
sected by the project cursor are split at the cursor position.
If you select “Split Loop”, all notes that are intersected 
by the left or right locator are split at the locator positions.
Gluing notes
Clicking on a note with the Glue Tube tool will “glue it to-
gether” with the next note of the same pitch. The result will 
be one long note spanning from the start of the first note 
to the end of the second note and with the properties (ve-
locity, etc.) of the first note.
Muting notes
Individual notes can be muted in the Key Editor, as op-
posed to muting an entire MIDI part in the Project window. 
This allows you to exclude notes from playback, but keep 
the option to bring them back again at any time. To mute a 
note, use one of the following methods:
Click on it with the Mute tool.
Drag a rectangle with the Mute tool, enclosing all notes 
you want to mute.
Select the note(s) and choose Mute from the Edit menu. 
The default key command for this is [Shift]+[M].
Muted notes are “dimmed” in the note display.
To unmute a note, either click it or enclose it with the Mute 
tool, or select it and choose Unmute from the Edit menu. 
The default key command for this is [Shift]+[U].
Selecting “Paste Time” with this data on the 
clipboard and the project cursor here…
…will give you this. 
						

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The MIDI editors
Deleting notes
To delete notes, either click on them with the Eraser tool 
or select them and press [Backspace].
Editing on the info line
The info line shows the values and properties of the se-
lected event(s). If a single event is selected, its values are 
displayed on the info line. If several events are selected, 
the info line shows the values of the first of these events in 
yellow.
Several events selected.
You can edit the values on the info line using regular value 
editing. This allows you to move, resize, transpose or 
change velocity of events in a very precise manner. It’s also 
possible to click the Pitch or Velocity field in the info line 
and play a note on your MIDI keyboard – the pitch or veloc-
ity will be adjusted according to the note you played.
ÖIf you have several events selected and change a value, 
all selected events will be changed by the set amount.
ÖIf you have several events selected, hold down [Ctrl]/
[Command] and change a value, the change will be abso-
lute.
In other words, the value setting will be the same for all selected events.
How the Key Editor handles drum maps 
(Nuendo Expansion Kit only)
When a drum map is assigned to a MIDI track, the Key 
Editor will display the drum sound names as defined by 
the drum map.
This allows you to use the Key Editor for drum editing, e. g. 
when editing drum note lengths (which may be necessary 
for some external instruments) or when editing several 
parts, to identify drum events.
Editing notes via MIDI
You can change the properties of notes via MIDI. For ex-
ample, this can be a fast way to get the right velocity value, 
since you will hear the result even as you edit:
1.Select the note you want to edit.
2.Click on the MIDI connector symbol on the toolbar.
Click this button to enable editing via MIDI.
The drum sound names are displayed…
…in the info line, in the Pitch field……in the Mouse Note Value field…
…in the event itself (provided the 
zoom factor is high enough). …when dragging a note… 
						

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The MIDI editors
3.Use the note buttons on the toolbar to decide which 
properties should be changed by the MIDI input.
You can enable editing of pitch, note-on and/or note-off velocity.
With this setting, the edited notes will get the pitch and velocity values 
of the notes input via MIDI, but the note-off velocities will be kept as 
they are.
4.Play a note on your MIDI instrument.
The note selected in the editor will get the pitch, velocity and/or note-off 
velocity of the played note.
The next note in the edited part is automatically selected, 
making it easy to quickly edit a series of notes.
If you want another try, select the note again (e. g. by 
pressing the left arrow key on the computer keyboard) and 
again play a note on your MIDI instrument.
Step input
Step input, or step recording, is when you enter notes one 
at a time (or one chord at a time) without worrying about 
the exact timing. This is useful e.g. when you know the part 
you want to record but are not able to play it exactly as you 
want it.
Proceed as follows:
1.Click the Step Input button on the toolbar to activate 
Step Input mode.
2.Use the note buttons to the right to decide which 
properties should be included when you input the notes.
For example, you may not want to include the velocity and/or note-off ve-
locity of the played notes. It’s also possible to turn off the pitch property, 
in which case all notes will get the pitch C3, no matter what you play.
3.Click anywhere in the note display to set the start po-
sition (the desired position of the first note or chord).
The step input position is shown as a blue line in the note display, and in 
the lower mouse pointer display in the toolbar.
4.Specify the desired note spacing and length with the 
Quantize and Length Quantize pop-up menus.
The notes you input will be positioned according to the Quantize value 
and have the length set with the Length Quantize value. For instance, if 
you set Quantize to 1/8 notes and Length Quantize to 1/16 note, the 
notes will be sixteenth notes, appearing on each eighth note position.
5.Play the first note or chord on your MIDI instrument.
The note or chord appears in the editor and the step input position ad-
vances one quantize value step.
ÖIf Insert mode is activated, all notes to the right of the 
step input position will be moved to “make room” for the 
inserted note or chord.
Insert mode activated.
6.Continue in the same way with the rest of the notes or 
chords.
You can adjust the Quantize or Length Quantize value as you go along, 
to change the timing or note lengths. You can also move the step input 
position manually by clicking anywhere in the note display.
To insert a “rest”, press the right arrow key on the com-
puter keyboard.
This advances the step input position one step.
7.When you’re done, click the Step Input button again 
to deactivate step input. 
						

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The MIDI editors
Editing in the controller display
About controller lanes
By default, the controller display has a single lane, show-
ing one event type at a time. However, you can add lanes 
by right-clicking in the display and selecting “Create new 
controller lane” from the Quick menu. This allows you to 
view and edit different controllers at the same time.
The controller display with three lanes set up.
To remove a lane, right-click in it and select “Remove this 
Lane” from the Quick menu, or click on the minus button.
This hides the lane from view – it doesn’t affect the events in any way.
If you remove all lanes, the controller display will be 
completely hidden.
To bring it back again, select “Create new controller lane” from the Quick 
menu.
Selecting the event type
Each controller lane shows one event type at a time. To 
select which type should be displayed, use the pop-up 
menu to the left of the lane.Selecting “Setup…” opens a dialog in which you can 
specify which continuous controller event types should be 
available on the pop-up menu.
Each MIDI track has its own controller lane setup (num-
ber of lanes and selected event types). 
When you create new tracks, they get the controller lane setup used last.
Controller lane presets
Once you have added the required number of controller 
lanes and selected the event types you need, you can 
store this combination as a controller lane preset. You 
could for example have a preset with one velocity lane 
only, another with a combination of velocity, pitch bend 
and modulation, and so on. This can make working with 
controllers much quicker.
To add the current controller lane setup as a preset, pull 
down the pop-up menu to the left of the horizontal scroll-
bar and select “Add”.
Enter a name for the preset in the dialog that appears and click OK.
To apply a stored preset, select it from the pop-up menu.
This immediately brings up the controller lanes and event types in the 
preset.
To remove or rename presets, select “Organize” from 
the pop-up.
Controller types in this 
list are already listed on 
the pop-up menu.Controller types in this 
list are not listed on the 
pop-up menu.
Click this button to add 
the selected controller 
type to the pop-up menu. Click this button to remove the 
controller type selected in the 
left list from the pop-up menu. 
						

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The MIDI editors
Editing velocity values
When “Velocity” is selected for viewing, the lane shows 
the velocity of each note as a vertical bar.
Velocity values are edited with the Pencil or the Line tool. 
The different tools and Line tool modes offer several pos-
sibilities, as listed below.
ÖIf the option “Controller Lane Editing: Select Tool de-
faults to Pen” is activated in the Preferences (Editing–MIDI 
page), the Arrow tool automatically switches to the Pencil 
tool when you move the pointer into the controller display.
If you want to use the Arrow tool to select events in the controller display, 
press [Ctrl]/[Command].
ÖIf the Speaker icon (Acoustic Feedback) is activated 
on the toolbar, the notes will be played back when you ad-
just the velocity, allowing you to audition your changes.
You can use the Pencil tool to change the velocity of a 
single note: click on its velocity bar and drag the bar up or 
down.
While you drag, the current velocity value is shown in the display to the left.
You can use the Pencil tool or the Line tool in Paint 
mode to change the velocity values of several notes by 
painting a “freehand curve”.
When editing velocity, these two methods have the same functionality.
Use the Line tool in Line mode for creating linear veloc-
ity ramps.
Click where you want the ramp to start and drag the cursor to where you 
want the ramp to end. When you release the mouse button, the velocity 
values are aligned with the line between the two points.
Parabola mode works in the same way, but aligns the 
velocity values to a Parabola curve instead.
Use this for smooth, “natural” velocity fades, etc.
The remaining three Line tool modes (Sine, Triangle and 
Square) align the velocity values to continuous curve 
shapes (see below).
Note:
If there is more than one note at the same position (e.g. a 
chord), their velocity bars will overlap in the controller lane. 
If none of the notes are selected, all notes at the same position will be set 
to the same velocity value when you draw. To edit the velocity of only one 
of the notes at the same position, first select the note in the note display. 
Now, editing will only affect the velocity of the selected note.
You can also adjust the velocity of a single note by select-
ing it and changing its velocity value on the info line. 
						

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The MIDI editors
Adding and editing events in the controller display
When any option other than “Velocity” is selected for a 
controller lane, you can create new events or edit the val-
ues of existing events using the Pencil tool or the Line tool 
in its various modes: 
Clicking with the Pencil tool or the Line tool in Paint 
mode creates a new event.
Note the “Select Tool defaults to Pen” option – see “Editing velocity va-
lues” on page 378. 
Press [Alt]/[Option] and use the Pencil tool or the Line 
tool in Paint mode to modify the value of an event (without 
creating a new one).
Note that you can click and drag to change or add multiple events, draw 
controller curves, etc. You can press or release [Alt]/[Option] while draw-
ing, switching dynamically between “edit mode” and “create mode”.
ÖWith the Pencil tool and the Line tool in Paint mode, the 
quantize value determines the “density” of created control-
ler curves (if Snap is activated, see “Snap” on page 370).
For very smooth curves, you should use a small quantize value or turn off 
Snap. However, this will create a very large number of MIDI events, which 
can cause MIDI playback to “stutter” in some situations. A medium-low 
density is often sufficient.
Clicking and dragging with the Line tool in Line mode 
shows a line in the controller lane, and creates events with 
values aligned to this line.
This is the best way to draw linear controller ramps. If you press [Alt]/[Op-
tion], no new events are created – use this mode for modifying existing 
controller curves.
The Parabola mode works in the same way, but aligns 
the values to a parabola curve instead, giving more “natu-
ral” curves and fades.
Note that the result depends on the direction from which you draw the 
parabola.
In Parabola mode, you can use modifier keys to deter-
mine the shape of the parabola curve.
If you press [Ctrl]/[Command], the parabola curve will be reversed. If you 
press [Alt]/[Option]+[Ctrl]/[Command] while Snap is activated, you can 
change the position of the whole curve (in both cases the snap value for 
the positioning will be a quarter of the quantize value). If you press [Shift], 
the exponent will be increased or decreased.
If you want to enter or adjust a single event, click once with the Pencil 
tool or the Line tool in Paint mode.
If you want to “paint a curve”, drag the tool (with the mouse button 
pressed):
When you move the pointer in the controller lane, the 
corresponding value is displayed in this field.
Converting a controller curve to a ramp 
using the Line tool. 
						

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The MIDI editors
ÖIn Line and Parabola modes, the length quantize value 
determines the “density” of created controller curves (if 
Snap is activated).
For very smooth curves, you should use a small length quantize value or 
turn off Snap. To avoid over-dense controller curves (which may cause 
MIDI playback to “stutter”), use a medium-low density.
The Sine, Triangle and Square modes create events 
with values aligned to continuous curves.
In these modes, the quantize value determines the period of the curve 
(the length of one curve “cycle”) and the length quantize value deter-
mines the density of the events (the lower the length quantize note value, 
the smoother the curve).
In Sine, Triangle and Square mode you can also use 
modifier keys to determine the shape of the curve.
If you press [Ctrl]/[Command] you can change the phase of the beginning 
of the curve, if you press [Alt]/[Option]+[Ctrl]/[Command] while snap is 
activated you can change the position of the whole curve (in both cases 
the snap value for the positioning will be a quarter of the quantize value).
ÖYou can also set the curve period freely by holding 
down [Shift] when you insert events in Sine, Triangle or 
Square mode.
Activate Snap, [Shift]-click and drag to set the length of one period. The 
period length will be a multiple of the quantize value.
In Triangle and Square mode, you can press [Shift] + 
[Ctrl]/[Command] to change the maximum position of the 
triangle curve (to create sawtooth curves) or the pulse of 
the square curve. As in other modes, you can press [Alt]/
[Option] if you want to change the existing events rather 
than creating new ones. Again, the snap value for the po-
sitioning will be a quarter of the quantize value.
Moving and copying events
You can move or duplicate events in a controller lane, 
much like you can with notes:
1.Click with the Arrow tool to select the events you want 
to cut or copy.
If the option “Controller Lane Editing: Select Tool defaults to Pen” is ac-
tivated in the Preferences (Editing–MIDI page), you need to press [Ctrl]/
[Command] to get the Arrow tool.
2.Click and drag the events to move them.
If Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can move the 
events (see “Snap” on page 370).
If you hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag, the events will 
be copied rather than moved. 
Using cut, copy and paste
You can use the standard Cut, Copy and Paste options on 
the Edit menu to move or copy events in the controller dis-
play:
1.Select the events you want to cut or copy.
2.Select Cut or Copy from the Edit menu.
3.If you want to paste the events into another MIDI part, 
open that part in another Key Editor window.
4.Position the project cursor where you want to paste 
the events.
5.Select Paste from the Edit menu.
The events on the clipboard are added, starting at the project cursor po-
sition, maintaining their relative distances. If a pasted event ends up at 
the same position as an existing event of the same type, the old event is 
replaced. 
!If there is an event of the same type at the exact 
same position already, this will be replaced by the 
moved event.
!Remember that a non-note event doesn’t have a 
length – it’s “valid” until the next event (see “The 
controller display” on page 368.
!When the Auto Select Controllers button is activated 
in the Key Editor toolbar, selecting controller events 
will also select the corresponding notes. Moving 
events (either using cut/copy/paste or drag & drop) 
in the note display will also move the corresponding 
controller events and vice versa. See also “Selecting 
controllers within the note range” on page 372.