To extract a short pattern from a longer one
- In the project tree, right-click the DemoMIDI pattern. On the shortcut menu, click Copy.
- Right-click the Patterns folder. On the shortcut menu, click Paste. A new copy of the pattern, called DemoMIDI1, is placed in the Patterns folder. Rename DemoMIDI1 to PatternA.
- Open PatternA in the editing window.
- Select all the parts in the pattern by dragging the cursor along the narrow rectangles at the left end of each track strip. The rectangles turn red to show that the tracks are selected. Do not select the timeline strip, which is the top strip containing the time signature, or the chord track, which is just below the timeline.
- On the Edit menu, click Select All. The selection in the Pattern Editor turns black.
- On the Edit menu, click Cut. PatternA is now a blank pattern with the same parts and time signature as the original pattern.
- On the shortcut menu for PatternA, click Properties.
- In the Properties window, click the Length button and change the value to 2 measures.
- Reopen the DemoMIDI pattern in the editing window.
- Select all the tracks in the DemoMIDI pattern, as you did with PatternA. But this time, rather than selecting the entire length of the pattern, select only the first two measures by dragging the cursor along the timeline strip from the beginning of the first measure to the end of the second measure. The display will scroll as you drag past the right edge of the window.
- On the Edit menu, select Copy to place measures 1 and 2 in the Clipboard.
- Open PatternA again and select the first two measures.
- On the Edit menu, click Paste and Overwrite.
Note All notes that continue beyond the second measure are displayed in their entirety, even though there is no third measure.
You now have a two-measure pattern identtical to the first two measures of the DemoMIDI pattern. In the next step, you will convert the next two measures of the DemoMIDI pattern to a variation on the pattern you have just created.
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