Exploring the Event List Editor

The Event List can be daunting at first glance, because it shows a long list of words and numbers that are a bit harder to read than the graphic displays found in the other MIDI editors. Nonetheless, the Event List makes it easy to filter MIDI events to find just the type of event you want. This is a priceless tool when you need to quickly find certain types of data and make precise edits that are difficult to do using the other editors. An example might be finding a single program-change message in a complex MIDI Region.

Opening the Event List

Let's open the Event List now and take a look around.

1.

In the Arrange window, make sure that the MIDI Region in the Drum Kits Audio Instrument track is selected, and choose Windows > Event List.

The Event List opens.

Your Event List might look a bit different from the one in the figure above, but that doesn't really matter. It still shows basically the same thinga chart displaying MIDI events. Across the top of the Event List several headings are displayed: Position, Status, Cha, Num, Val, and Length/Info.

Position Displays the event's bar, beat, division, and tick.

Status Displays the event type (for example, a note or control-change event).

Cha Displays the MIDI channel used to record events (this is not the channel used to play back the event!).

Num For note events, Num displays the note's keyboard position; for control-change events, it displays the controller number.

Val For note events, Val displays the note's velocity; for control-change events, Val displays the control-change value.

Length/Info For note events, this column shows the note's length; for control-change events, it shows the controller name.

Editing Event Settings

Now that you have an overall picture of what the Event List controls, let's use it to change some event settings.

1.	If it is not already open, open the Matrix Editor. As you experiment with the Event List, it helps to have the Matrix Editor open to provide a visual display of the changes you make in the Event List.
2.	Position the Event List beside the Matrix Editor so you can see both clearly.
3.	In the Matrix Editor, select a note. The note is highlighted in the Event List.
4.	In the Event List, double-click the selected note's Num setting, enter C4, and press Return. In the Matrix Editor, the selected note jumps to C4.
5.	In the Matrix Editor, select the Arrow tool and then move the note back to its original position. The Event List's Num setting reverts.

Filtering Events

The Event List is currently a mess of data, and with all these entries it's difficult to find exactly the event you're looking for. Event type buttons to the rescue! The event type buttons filter the Event List so it shows only a specific type of event, making it easier to find the event(s) you need to change.

1.	Click the Note Events button to disable it. All note events are removed from the Event List display, and it now displays only pan control-change events.
2.	Click the Control-Change Events button. The MIDI Region contains only note and pan events. All note events are already filtered out of the Event List. Because pan events are control-change events, clicking the Control-Change button filters all remaining events out of the Event List, which clears the list completely!
3.	Click the Note and Control-Change Events buttons again to activate them.