Automation lanes

Automation lanes allow you to view, input, and edit MIDI controller data that applies to the corresponding instrument/voice. Each instrument track has its own automation lane that you can show in the event display.

  • You can hide/show the automation lane for an instrument track/voice by clicking Show the automation lane in the instrument track header.

    Note

    For instrument tracks with independent voice playback enabled, you can only show the automation lane when a single voice is selected. You cannot show the automation lane for All voices.

  • You can change the MIDI controller whose data is displayed in the automation lane by selecting the controller from the menu in the automation lane track header.

    Tip

    Dorico Pro displays generated values as a non-editable value line in the corresponding automation lane. For example, for sound libraries that use MIDI CC 1 to control dynamics, the automation lane for CC1 displays values from the dynamics you input, including dynamic points, combined with humanization.

Figure 1. Automation lane below an instrument track

Automation lanes comprise the following:

  1. Lane height adjuster

    Allows you to change the height of the lane by clicking and dragging its bottom corner.

  2. Lane header

    Contains the MIDI controller menu and MIDI value field.

  3. Show the automation lane

    Hides/Shows the automation lane. This button is located in the track header for the corresponding instrument track.

  4. MIDI Controller menu

    Allows you to select the MIDI controller whose automation data you want to view and edit in the automation lane. Controllers that already contain automation data are shown with an asterisk beside their name in the menu.

  5. Automation value field

    Displays the value of the currently selected automation point. You can change this value by changing the value in the value field. The available range depends on the type of controller. For example, MIDI CCs have values from 0 to 127.

  6. Automation event region

    A highlighted region that contains multiple automation points with smooth transitions between each event, input by clicking and dragging in a single motion with the Draw tool in the automation lane. By default, automation points within a region are linear and the last point is constant.

  7. Gradual automation event

    A smooth change in value between two automation points, input using the Line tool. Gradual automation events have a linear point at the start, a constant point at the end, and a highlighted region.

  8. Automation point

    A single change to the automation value, input using the Draw tool. Automation points are constant by default.

  9. Selected automation point

    The currently selected automation point appears larger and highlighted.

    Tip

    Clicking and dragging automation points in the automation lane causes a read-out to appear temporarily, showing their value.

Although only a single automation lane can be displayed, it is possible to create data for multiple MIDI controllers in the same lane.

Automation data is included when exporting MIDI files.