Dividing Regions

In the Arrange window, dividing Regions is the act of splitting one Region into two, and for this Logic provides the Scissors tool. This tool is one of the few that operate differently for MIDI Regions and Audio Regions, so you'll look at Audio Regions first, then move on to MIDI Regions.

Dividing Audio Regions

Dividing Audio Regions is a straight-ahead affairjust grab the Scissors tool and cut. Regions divide where you click the Scissors tool.

1.	From the Arrange window's toolbox, select the Scissors tool.
2.	On the Audio 1 track's House Deep Tribal Beat Region, click and hold at the beginning of bar 5 (5 1 1 1), but don't release the mouse. An indicator line extends vertically down the Arrange area to show you the position of your divide. Additionally, a help tag pops up to show the position of the indicator line, which in turn displays the position where the divide will occur if you release the mouse.
3.	Drag the crosshair along the House Deep Tribal Beat Region. As you drag, Logic enters Solo mode and plays a preview of the sound under the crosshair, and the indicator line snaps along behind the cross hair. The degree of this snapping is determined by the Arrange window's zoom setting, so using the telescopes to zoom in causes the indicator line to snap with a finer degree of resolution. This is an important consideration, because all Regions divide at the position of the indicator line, not at the position of the Scissors tool. TIP To temporarily disable snapping, hold down the Control key as you divide Regions. The indicator line will now precisely follow the pointer, enabling you to divide Regions between grid points.
4.	Drag the pointer back to the beginning of bar 5, and then release the mouse. The House Deep Tribal Beat Region divides at the start of bar 5, cutting the old Region into two new ones.

Dividing MIDI Regions

For the most part, dividing MIDI Regions works exactly the same as dividing Audio Regions, but with one difference: It's possible for MIDI notes to overlap the point where you are dividing the Region. When this happens, Logic asks if you'd like to keep, shorten, or split the overlapping notes.

Keep Leaves all the notes unaltered. The Region is divided, but the new Region on the left of the division will have a note, or notes, that extend beyond the end of the Region. These notes will play in their entirety. Keep is the default action.

Shorten Truncates all overlapping notes at the point where the Region is divided.

Split Divides the overlapping notes. Two notes are created with the same pitch and velocity; together, their lengths equal the total length of the original note.

Now that you know the theory, let's put it into action by dividing the Bass Line Region. But before doing so, select the Bass Line Region and open up the Matrix Editor so you can see the effect that dividing a MIDI Region has on the MIDI events it contains.

1.	From the toolbox, select the Arrow tool.
2.	Select the Bass Line MIDI Region and choose Windows > Matrix Edit (Cmd-6). The Matrix Editor opens.
3.	Horizontally scroll the Matrix Editor until you can see the beginning of bar 9 (9 1 1 1). Notice that a single MIDI note crosses from bar 8 into bar 9. Let's now see what happens when you divide the Bass Line Region at bar 9.
4.	Position the Matrix Editor and Arrange window so that you can see both.
5.	In the Arrange window, select the Scissors tool, then click the Bass Line Region at bar 9 1 1 1. An Alert pops up to tell you that overlapping notes have been found. This means at least one MIDI note crosses the boundary between bar 8 and bar 9. At this point you are presented with the three choices detailed above: Keep, Shorten, or Split. These choices are a result of that single note spanning the transition between bar 8 and bar 9right where you're cutting the Region!
6.	Choose Shorten. The Region is divided in two, and the overlapping MIDI note is shortened to fit within the new Region on the left, as you can see by taking a quick look at the Matrix Editor. NOTE The decision to select Keep, Shorten, or Split is based entirely on the MIDI Region and the type of sound it triggers. If this were a long synth sweep, or a note triggering a long sample, you would instead choose to keep the note so that the synth swell or sample finished playing in its entirety.
7.	Close the Matrix Editor.

Dividing Regions by Locators (Logic Pro Only)

Dividing Regions by locators provides a quick way to create Regions that are the same size as a cycle Region.

1.	In the top portion of the Bar Ruler, drag from 3 1 1 1 to 5 1 1 1 to create a two-bar cycle Region.
2.	In the Track List, select the Audio Instrument 1 track that contains the Bass Line MIDI Regions.
3.	From the Arrange window's local menus, choose Region > Split/Demix > Split Regions by Locators (Cmd-Y). The Bass Line Region is divided at bar 3 and bar 5.
4.	Click the top portion of the Bar Ruler to disable the Cycle mode. The cycle Region disappears.

NOTE

A cycle Region does not have to be enabled to split Regions by locatorsthis function merely looks at the position of the left and right locators and isn't concerned with whether the Cycle mode is enabled. However, setting a cycle Region is the fastest way to set the locators, so you'll often end up creating a cycle Region before activating the Split Regions by Locators function.