diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/editor_drag.cc b/gtk2_ardour/editor_drag.cc
index 4cd069ead9..ebfebdf86e 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/editor_drag.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/editor_drag.cc
@@ -6963,12 +6963,13 @@ HitCreateDrag::y_to_region (double y) const
 
 /*-----------------------*/
 
-HitBrushDrag::HitBrushDrag (EditingContext& ec, ArdourCanvas::Item* i, MidiView* mv)
+HitBrushDrag::HitBrushDrag (EditingContext& ec, ArdourCanvas::Item* i, MidiView* mv, Temporal::Beats slen)
 	: Drag (ec, i, Temporal::BeatTime, ec.get_trackview_group())
 	, _midi_view (mv)
 	, _last_pos (Temporal::Beats ())
 	, _y (0)
 	, added_notes (false)
+	, specified_length (slen)
 {
 
 }
@@ -7037,7 +7038,11 @@ HitBrushDrag::motion (GdkEvent* event, bool first_move)
 			assert (_midi_view->midi_region());
 		}
 
-		length = _midi_view->get_draw_length_beats (timepos_t (next_grid));
+		if (specified_length == Beats()) {
+			length = _midi_view->get_draw_length_beats (timepos_t (next_grid));
+		} else {
+			length = specified_length;
+		}
 
 		Beats start;
 
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/editor_drag.h b/gtk2_ardour/editor_drag.h
index ac46273a12..43808f900b 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/editor_drag.h
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/editor_drag.h
@@ -716,7 +716,7 @@ private:
 class HitBrushDrag : public Drag
 {
 public:
-	HitBrushDrag (EditingContext&, ArdourCanvas::Item *, MidiView *);
+	HitBrushDrag (EditingContext&, ArdourCanvas::Item *, MidiView *, Temporal::Beats specified_length = Temporal::Beats());
 	~HitBrushDrag ();
 
 	void start_grab (GdkEvent *, Gdk::Cursor* c = 0);
@@ -742,6 +742,7 @@ private:
 	Temporal::Beats      stride;
 	Temporal::Beats      next_grid;
 	bool                 added_notes;
+	Temporal::Beats      specified_length;
 
 };