Add notes in the Piano Roll Editor in Logic Pro for Mac

In the Logic Pro Piano Roll Editor, do one of the following:

• Control-click the Piano Roll Editor background, then choose Create Note from the shortcut menu.

• Select the Pencil tool, then click the start position for the note.

  Press and hold the Control and Shift keys as you click to add a note at the exact click position, regardless of the current Snap setting.

• Click the MIDI In button if it is not already active (red), and use your music or computer keyboard to enter notes using step input recording methods. See Use step input recording in.

The newly created note’s length, velocity, and channel match that of the previously created or edited note event. When you start a new project, the default values are a length of 240 ticks, a velocity of 80, and MIDI channel 1.

• In the Logic Pro Piano Roll Editor, select the Pencil tool, click the start position for the note, then drag right or left.

  

A help tag shows the length change in real time.

You can make finer adjustments by pressing and holding Option or Control while altering the note length (see Snap to grid in the Piano Roll Editor in Logic Pro).

In the Logic Pro Piano Roll Editor, do either of the following:

• Select the Brush tool, then drag right or left.

  The repetition rate of added notes is based on the current Time Quantize settings, and the pitch based on the current value Scale Quantize settings.

• Select the Brush tool, drag right or left, then press and release Shift while dragging.

  This restricts all notes to the same pitch.

1. In the Logic Pro Piano Roll Editor, select the notes of a short musical phrase you want to use as a pattern.

2. Select the Brush tool, then Control-click the selected notes with the Brush tool.

3. Choose Define Brush Pattern from the shortcut menu.

After you define a brush pattern, you can “paint” the pattern using the Brush tool. The repetition rate of the pattern is based on the current Time Quantize settings. To restrict the pattern to notes of a specified scale adjust the Scale Quantize settings.

1. In the Logic Pro Piano Roll Editor, do one of the following:

   • Control-click the original note, then choose Define as Default Note from the shortcut menu.

   • Click the original note with the Pencil tool.

   Note: Editing an existing note also defines it as the default note.

2. Click a position in the Piano Roll Editor background with the Pencil tool.

The new note’s length, velocity, and channel are the same as the default note.