Calling MIDI experts - drum pad recording conundrum

Keefy

Rather than depend on online MIDI files or (please god no) step programming, I have been inputting my drums into a Reaper MIDI track in real time and then tweaking as necessary.

When inputting from my Korg X50 keyboard, Reaper faithfully records all my hits. However, this method is not great for faster fills and flams, as the piano key does not recover quickly enough. I therefore purchased a Cubeat drum pad set. Despite being marketed as a fun learning aid, it is apparently a class-compliant MIDI input device. When I route its output to my Alesis SR18 drum machine, it responds perfectly well to what I play.

But when I try to record its output into Reaper, it misses some of what I am playing. Here is a snare phrase I have been playing - 16th triplets, 8ths, then straight 16ths [EDIT: realise I wrote the 16ths as 8ths - d'oh!]:



When I play this from the Cubeat into Reaper with quantise off, this is what is recorded on the event list (see bar 6):



Only 6 of the 9 D2 notes appear, despite me hearing them back from the SR18 which is being used as track monitor. The notes from 7.1.00 onwards were played in previously from my X50. These all have Off Values of 64, whereas the Cubeat doesn't seem to generate an Off Value.

I need to set Reaper to record all my snare hits, but it seems as though it won't record a re-trigger until a certain time has elapsed, perhaps related to the note length. I have also tried playing the fill on two different pads with a view to changing the notes afterwards, but Reaper still doesn't record them all.

Does anyone know a fix for this? Google hasn't helped!

Thanks in advance. I am quite happy to feel stupid when the blindingly obvious answer is pointed out to me.

Keefy

Based on some online searches, I've tried varying the recording types (replace/overdub etc) but to no avail. Then I remembered I have the MIDI Monitor app, so I played the fill into that, and this is what I get:


You can see all nine Note On messages with their velocities, and nine Note Off messages (velocity 0). Many of the Note Offs don't happen until after one or more further Note Ons - could that be the problem?

I tried checking 'Automatically correct overlapping notes' but it made no difference.

Keefy

Well I think I've found a fix in the form of a JS plugin called MIDI Fixed Note Length. I downloaded it from Reaper Stash and put it in the folder with the other JS MIDI utilities, then added it as an input effect so that it operates on all incoming MIDI notes from the Cubeat. It's not entirely clear how it's supposed to be used, but if I set Note Length nice and low (1ms of time rather than a subdivision of a note) then all my MIDI hits get recorded properly into Reaper. I presume this is because a Note Off has been received before the next Note On arrives.

So that's nice

WiresDreamDisasters

Typically in any DAW multiple note on messages followed by a single note off message would result in both notes being tied together, the reason is that in midi it doesn't actually specify which of the note ons a particular note off is for, so it just results in a single note starting at the earliest time that the note was received.

What the plugin will be doing is regenerating the midi data on the fly, and as you suggest, generating a midi note off message at the correct time for your playing.

Keefy

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Typically in any DAW multiple note on messages followed by a single note off message would result in both notes being tied together, the reason is that in midi it doesn't actually specify which of the note ons a particular note off is for, so it just results in a single note starting at the earliest time that the note was received.

What the plugin will be doing is regenerating the midi data on the fly, and as you suggest, generating a midi note off message at the correct time for your playing.

That makes sense. It looks like the Cubeat outputs notes with a fixed length that equates to about 0.3 beats at 120bpm (the tempo of my project). A semiquaver is 0.25 beats, and a semiquaver triplet is approx 0.17 beats, so some of the Note Ons are being sent before the preceding Note Off.