Chapter 6
Tracks and arrangement
Tracks and selection #
Select a sidebar track to edit its instrument and device chain. The track options menu includes Rename Track, Duplicate Track and Track Color.... The MIDI Channel submenu sets the track channel. Recording commands and their availability depend on the runtime and recording setup.
Single Track and Multi Track control which track notes are available for Piano Roll editing. In Arranger, a Pointer click selects a clip, Shift-click toggles it in the selection, and a drag in empty space makes a marquee. Time Selection selects a beat range instead of a set of clip objects.
Use the track selection and the clip border together to confirm the target before deleting or moving material. A group row can show an aggregate span of its children; that span is not a separate editable media clip.
Make and edit clips #
From a track's freeform MIDI area, choose Make Clip to wrap all of that track's loose MIDI notes in one clip. Double-click a MIDI clip to open its notes in Piano Roll. Drag a clip to place it on the timeline and drag its edges to trim it. For a MIDI clip without note loops, this trim path crops notes and controller points outside the new span. Duplicate the clip first if you need an untrimmed copy. Edge trimming of clips that contain note loops is not supported by the reviewed path. The Knife tool splits at its clicked beat. Hold Alt where the gesture supports it to bypass snapping. Draft: these paths are source-reviewed; native clip-editing acceptance remains unverified.
Right-click a clip for Duplicate, Delete, Split at Playhead and Rename.... Split at Playhead uses the transport playhead, which can differ from the time-selection boundary. Consolidate Selected requires multiple selected clips. Dissolve to Freeform MIDI returns MIDI clip content to freeform editing. Audio and video clips keep their own media workflows.
Draft: on freeform MIDI, the Knife can form two clips at the cut and split a crossing note between them. Cutting an existing clip follows its separate clip-split action. Native acceptance of these gestures is pending.
Dissolve to Freeform MIDI has an embedded Note Loop restriction. If the selected MIDI clips include embedded Note Loops, each selected clip must contain them and use a single clip pass. Unsupported combinations can leave the clips unchanged without a warning. The action does not establish a video dissolve workflow.
Clips with embedded Note Loops currently reject edge trimming. Ordinary MIDI trimming commits cropped notes and controller points, so extending the edge in a later gesture does not restore that content. Duplicate the clip before trimming if you need an untrimmed copy.
Copy and paste clips #
Select clips in the Arranger and use the Copy and Paste shortcuts shown in Settings > Keys. Copy captures the selected clips together. Paste places the selection at the moving preview playhead during playback, or at the preview start position while stopped, then selects the pasted clips. Draft: these instructions follow the source; native keyboard, focus and clipboard acceptance remains unverified.
Clip loops #
Draft: these loop instructions describe reviewed source behavior. Native playback and editing acceptance are pending. Right-click a clip for Loop Count and choose 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x or 16x. The 1x option disables internal repetition. In the reviewed source, higher labeled values enable repeats up to the placed clip end rather than limiting playback to the labeled number of passes. The final repeat can be partial. Loop Region > Set from Time Selection uses the overlap between the selected time range and the clip. Reset to Whole Clip removes the custom loop region.
The clip loop has its own source region. Repeated boundaries show where the period begins again. A loop-boundary drag changes that period. Ctrl-dragging the right edge can activate repetition at the existing clip length. A time selection overlapping the clip supplies the loop region for that activation.
MIDI loop regions also offer MIDI Events: Starts Only and MIDI Events: Window Overlap. Starts Only uses note starts to decide which events belong to each pass. Window Overlap can include a note that starts before a repeated window and continues into it, clipping that carried-in contribution to the window. Check long notes across the repeat boundary before choosing the event policy.
Embedded Note Loops can prevent a requested region change. The current GUI may leave the region unchanged without a warning. Check the resulting region before using it.
Draft editing limitation: a direct Piano Roll edit to a note in the first clip pass changes the clip content shared by other repeats. Some selected actions can first separate a later pass where supported; this depends on the action, and embedded Note Loops prevent that separation path. Check the resulting arrangement. Native editing and playback verification are pending.
Comp ranges #
Choose the Comping tool, then drag over a clip range. The state at the starting point decides whether the range becomes muted or audible. The preview shows the affected beat range and rows before you release the mouse.
A vertical comp drag can cover several eligible rows, so inspect the highlighted rows before release. Hold Alt to bypass comp snapping. Comping changes mute regions on the targeted clips; it does not create an audio recording or a new take. Use Undo to restore the previous range.
Transport and timeline loops #
Playback, the playhead, time selection and a clip loop are separate states. Moving a clip does not make it the transport loop. Use the transport loop controls for repeating a project range and the clip Loop Region controls for repeating content inside a clip.
Standalone owns preview transport and project tempo. A hosted instance follows the host transport. Check the runtime before troubleshooting a playhead that follows the DAW. Replacing a project stops the old preview transport rather than letting it continue against the newly loaded score.
Time-signature markers #
Draft: ruler editing and playback behavior have source review but remain native-unverified.
In Piano Roll, leave Performance Grid inactive, then double-click an empty beat on the top ruler to enter a time signature. Type a value such as 3/4 and press Enter to commit, or Escape to cancel. Double-click an existing marker to edit it. The signature applies from its marker beat onward.
Right-click a marker and choose Delete Time Signature Marker to remove it. The last remaining marker cannot be deleted. An active Performance Grid uses its own ruler gestures.
Groups and buses #
Use Group Selected Tracks or Group Track from the track options menu to create a group. In standalone, instrument and per-note sample audio reaches the nearest enclosing group bus; nested groups pass on to their parent, and the outer group reaches the master. In plug-in mode, groups organize tracks while audio routes flat to the host. Draft: the routing distinction is source-reviewed; native playback acceptance remains unverified.
A group has volume, pan and effects. Muting a group silences its descendants. Soloing a group includes its descendants; soloing a child keeps the containing group bus open so that child can still reach the master. Standalone shows track mute and solo buttons. Hosted instances leave those controls to their runtime workflow.
Arranger audio clips currently bypass track and group effect chains. Group volume still applies to them. This is a source-reviewed limitation; native playback and export verification remain open.
Delete Group (Keep Tracks) removes the grouping while keeping the tracks. Delete Group and Tracks removes both. Read the command before confirming. For project routing beyond groups and device chains, enable Patch Bay and use its MIDI, audio, control and hardware connections.
A short arrangement check #
Save a project version, make a short MIDI clip, and duplicate it. Split one copy at the playhead. Select a subrange in the original and set its Loop Region from Time Selection, then choose 2x. Play across the repeat boundary.
Try a comp range on one copy, then Undo. Group the tracks and compare child solo with group mute. These are useful checks of the intended editing behavior on your installed build. This draft has not recorded a native test pass for this complete exercise.