Pro Tools is often considered a creative slouch when it comes to MIDI, but Real-Time Properties proves that you can make powerful MIDI decisions in a moment, without worrying about the future implications. We explain.

In Short

MIDI Real-Time properties do what they say on the tin. They take the MIDI part in a track and transform it on the fly. In other words they act as real-time translators for the MIDI information. The best part is, they are non-destructive, so you can experiment while leaving the original performance intact.

In Depth

Real-Time Properties for MIDI in Pro Tools are sometimes not given the credit they deserve. They offer creatives the chance to make changes to the MIDI note data fast, offering experimentation without any faff or having to commit the decision and then undoing it when it doesn’t work.

It’s the MIDI equivalent of saying to a musician ‘can we try this?’ For example, you want to know how the drum beat would sound if it were pushed a little more. Easy. Or what about trying that piano part in Eb and with a little more swing? Easy. You choose the relevant options, hit a button and try the idea. If it doesn’t work, just turn it back off and try again.

Timing

The Quantize option is a favourite in Real-Time Properties, so much so that in Pro Tools 2022.9 it was promoted to a dedicated position in the Toolbar of the Edit and MIDI Editor windows. This streamlined set of controls are handy but look at the Quantize controls in the Real Time MIDI Properties and you find there’s far more to it than the basic toolbar controls offer.

Of course, as with any basic Quantize feature in a DAW, Real-Time offers you the chance to apply regular quantization to performance. Secondly, you can then apply swing to the correction.

However, sometimes it’s not correction you want to apply, but some groove. Real-Time features a library of popular grooves from other DAWs like Cubase and Logic and hardware like the Akai MPC - perfect when using Pro Tools for a track that needs that vibe.

Going deeper, what makes Real-Time properties so powerful is that you can extract the groove from any audio track and apply it to the MIDI. That means every track can follow the drummer or the bass player, for example.

Apply a groove in Real-Time is a cinch. Open Beat Detective and choose the Groove Template Extraction. Find the audio track you want to take the groove from, then select the audio waveform. Next, hit ‘Capture Selection’, then use the Detection options to fine tune the groove. Once captured, save the groove using the ‘Save To Disk’ option in the pop up menu.

Now when you use the Quantize option in Real-Time Properties you’ll find your saved groove at the bottom of the list. In this example the MIDI parts will follow Suzie’s bass part.

Push It!

A second very cool use for Real- Time Properties is to push and pull the timing of parts.

Try this. Take a MIDI drum part on an already arranged song and turn on the DLY (Delay button).

You can apply a delay or an advance on the part using either ticks or milliseconds. Whilst the track is playing you can make the drum part push or pull against the entire track. You’d be surprised how it can transform the feel of a track.

Again, it’s real-time. Doing this on a MIDI part in the conventional fashion is laborious and makes instant comparison harder to appreciate.

Key Change

The most obvious way to use Real-Time Properties on a track is using the TRN (Transpose) option.

Here you can apply note shifts in Octaves and in Semitones. You can choose to place a track in a particular key, or to a key.

It’s a fast way to try the entire song in a new key or the change Octaves on parts to see if they work better.

Of course, you can duplicate tracks and create fast harmonies on parts too.

Duration & Velocity

MIDI Real-Time Properties also offer Duration and Velocity changes. Both are useful to reduce or increase note lengths using various options or to change the level of notes at speed.

Duration has a comprehensive set of tools that allow the user to set note length to a preset length, add or subtract by ticks or standard note divisions. Scale the duration by a percentage and also legato.

Velocity is a fast way to get parts under dynamic control via MIDI. Grab some hi-hats and pull them up or down using a percentage or MIDI velocity number.

What You See Is Not Always What You Get

A final word on the timeline display when using the Real-Time Properties in MIDI. Depending on your settings, your timeline display may not reflect the changes you make. Remember they are real time conversions of what’s on the timeline.

However, some may find it helpful to have the timeline display reflect the changes being made. To ensure this happens go to Preferences/MIDI and check the Display Events as Modified by Real-Time Properties option. Then the timeline will reflect any changes made.

In Closing

MIDI Real-Time Properties is a fast and easy way to try out new ideas on a MIDI track quickly. It’s also worth noting that there’s also a pop-up Window that offers these features, found in the Event menu or by using the keyboard shortcut Option 4 (Mac) Alt 4 (Windows).

Real-Time Properties have been a Pro Tools feature for many years, but are sometimes overlooked as a powerful composition tool when trying out ideas.