> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gridshift.studio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Clips

> Arrange a song as clips on tracks, against a ruler of bars and beats. Double-click an empty spot to create a clip, then move, split and duplicate it.

## Create clips

<video src="/videos/timeline-create.mp4" poster="/videos/timeline-create.jpg" aria-label="A double-click on the instrument track makes an empty four-bar MIDI clip; on a sample track it places the track's sample" title="A double-click on the instrument track makes an empty four-bar MIDI clip; on a sample track it places the track's sample" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Double-click an empty spot on a track. An instrument track gets an empty 4-bar MIDI clip, a sample track gets its sample at its natural length.

## Create a clip of an exact length

<video src="/videos/timeline-range.mp4" poster="/videos/timeline-range.jpg" aria-label="Shift right arrow marks a range from the cursor, and Return makes a clip exactly that long" title="Shift right arrow marks a range from the cursor, and Return makes a clip exactly that long" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Click an empty spot to put the cursor there, press `⇧→` to mark a range, and press `Return`. The new clip is exactly that long.

## Select and move clips

<video src="/videos/timeline-move.mp4" poster="/videos/timeline-move.jpg" aria-label="A clicked clip moves one grid step with the right arrow, and a finer step with Option right arrow" title="A clicked clip moves one grid step with the right arrow, and a finer step with Option right arrow" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Click a clip to select it. Press `→` or `←` to move it one grid step, `⌥→` or `⌥←` for finer steps, or drag it.

## Split and delete clips

<video src="/videos/timeline-split.mp4" poster="/videos/timeline-split.jpg" aria-label="Escape lets go of the clip, the arrow keys move the cursor onto it, and Command E cuts it there" title="Escape lets go of the clip, the arrow keys move the cursor onto it, and Command E cuts it there" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Press `Escape` to let go of the clip, move the cursor onto it with the arrow keys, and press `⌘E` to cut it there. `⌫` deletes the selected clips.

## Duplicate clips

<video src="/videos/timeline-duplicate.mp4" poster="/videos/timeline-duplicate.jpg" aria-label="Command D three times fills four bars with linked copies of a one-bar drum clip, each landing right after the last" title="Command D three times fills four bars with linked copies of a one-bar drum clip, each landing right after the last" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Select a clip and press `⌘D` for a [linked](/arrange/linked-clips.md) copy right after it, or `⇧⌘D` for an unlinked one.

## Drop a clip on a track that does not exist yet

<video src="/videos/timeline-newtrack.mp4" poster="/videos/timeline-newtrack.jpg" aria-label="A clip dragged off the Snare track with Command held opens a gap between two tracks; released there, it sits on a new track of its own" title="A clip dragged off the Snare track with Command held opens a gap between two tracks; released there, it sits on a new track of its own" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Start dragging a clip, then hold `⌘`. Release on a line between two tracks, and the clip lands on a new track spliced in there.

## Good to know

* **Everything snaps to the grid.** The grid follows the horizontal zoom. Hold `⌥` while dragging to place a clip, note or edge exactly where the pointer is.
* **`Return` creates a clip at the edit cursor on the selected track.** With a range marked it sizes the clip to that range; with the cursor inside a clip, that clip is split at the cursor first.
* **Paste lands at the edit cursor, on the cursor's track.** `⌘C`, `⌘X` and `⌘V` copy, cut and paste clips.
* **With a range marked, `⌘E` cuts at both of its edges**, on every track the range covers, and `⌫` deletes everything inside it.
* **Double-click a clip to edit what is inside it** in [Focus Mode](/edit/focus-mode.md). Track heights and zoom: [Zoom and Navigate](/arrange/zoom-and-navigate.md).

> **Details**
>
> * **Every track except a group gets a row**, whether or not it holds clips. Groups act as summing buses and appear only in the sidebar ([Groups](/tracks/groups.md)).
> * **A double-clicked empty spot keeps you in the arrangement view**, with no Focus Mode. On an automation track it makes an empty 4-bar automation clip.
> * **With a range marked, `Return` makes an empty clip that wide on MIDI and automation tracks**, and the source trimmed to the range on a sample track.
> * **You can also mark a range by dragging across an empty area.** `⇧`-click an empty spot extends it from the cursor.
> * **`⌘`-click creates or stamps clips.** With no clip selected it creates one (empty MIDI or full-length sample), and a new MIDI clip opens in Focus Mode. With a clip selected, on a compatible track, it stamps a linked duplicate. Drag after the click to set the length.
> * **`⇧`-click adds a clip to the selection or takes it out.** `⌘A` selects every clip on the selected track, `⇧⌘A` every clip in the project. `⌘→` / `⌘←` select the next or previous clip, `⌘↑` / `⌘↓` the clip on the track above or below.
> * **A dragged clip moves along its track or onto another track of the same kind.** `Escape` lets go of the selection and hands the arrow keys back to the cursor.
> * **A clip is a handle everywhere.** Press it anywhere and you drag it. Hold `⌘` and the pointer becomes an arrow: a click sets the cursor and a drag makes a marquee inside the clip. Where that click would snap to a transient or a clip edge, a thin ghost line previews the cursor's spot; plain grid positions show none.
> * **Hover a clip and its grips appear.** A pill at each side resizes it; on audio clips wide enough, a grip at each top corner pulls a fade. `⌘` on the trailing pill time-stretches instead ([Time Stretching](/timing/time-stretching.md)); that is the only pill `⌘` keeps a meaning on. Over the leading pill, as everywhere else on the clip, `⌘` gives way to the cursor.
> * **The pills sit a few points inside the clip's edge**, so `⌘`-clicking the clip's exact start or end puts the cursor on that boundary.
> * **Without a range, `⌘E` cuts every clip under the cursor, on every track.** `⇧⌘E` cuts the selected clip at every transient ([Slices](/samples/slices.md)). **Join MIDI Clips** (`⌘J`) is the reverse for MIDI clips.
> * **`⌘J` with a range marked makes one clip per track exactly as long as the range**, from the MIDI clips inside it (a track needs at least two there). With clips selected instead, it joins each track's selection from the first clip to the last, and the gaps between them stay empty; an unselected clip in between breaks the run.
> * **Right-click a clip to delete it**, or right-click and keep dragging to erase every clip the pointer crosses. `⌘`-right-click slices a clip at the pointer instead.
> * **`⌘` held before you grab a clip starts a marquee inside it**, so for a new track press `⌘` after the drag has started. The between-track targets appear while `⌘` is down, so you can arm and disarm mid-drag.
> * **`⌘` also helps when the row under the pointer cannot take the clip**: an instrument track under an audio clip, or a sample track already playing a different sample. Held, the clip lands on a fresh track of the right kind below that row. Not held, the drag refuses there and the clip stays where it was.
> * **Without `⌘`, a drag inside the timeline never creates a track.** Dropping on a new track is a single-clip gesture: drag several selected clips and `⌘` does nothing.
> * **Samples dragged from the Inspector or files from the Finder** get the same between-track targets with no key held.
> * **`⌥` releases snapping mid-drag too.** Press and release it while you drag. With the arrow keys, `⌥` steps by 1/8 of the grid, so the step gets finer as you zoom in.
> * **Drags also snap to clip edges, transient markers and MIDI note starts anywhere in the project**, not just on your track. These targets win only within 8 px of the pointer and when closer than the grid line.
> * **Markers and note starts need room to be aimed at.** They are ignored below roughly 40 px per beat, and a marker closer to its neighbor than the snap window is skipped. Zoom in and they come back.
> * **A horizontal clip drag eases onto its snap target** instead of jumping, only when the grid moved the clip further than the pointer moved, so a fast drag stays locked to the pointer.
> * **Swing moves the grid.** A [groove](/timing/groove.md) shifts the lines clips and notes snap to.
> * **Align Clips to Downbeat slides each clip's audio onto the grid** using the Sample Editor's downbeat. Run it from the Command Palette. Clip positions and lengths stay put; it applies to the selected track and lands as one undo step.
> * **While any track is soloed, the others are dimmed.** Their clips and waveforms fade back.

> **Keys**
>
> | Action | Shortcut |
> | - | - |
> | Create clip | Double-click, or `⌘`-click |
> | Insert clip at cursor / range | `Return` |
> | Mark a range | `⇧→` / `⇧←` |
> | Move selection by a grid step / finely | `→` `←` / `⌥→` `⌥←` |
> | Select next / previous clip | `⌘→` / `⌘←` |
> | Copy / cut / paste | `⌘C` / `⌘X` / `⌘V` |
> | Split at cursor or range | `⌘E` |
> | Delete selection | `⌫` |
> | Duplicate, linked / unlinked | `⌘D` / `⇧⌘D` |
> | Drop clip on a new track | Drag, then hold `⌘` |
>
> The complete grid: [Timeline Shortcuts](/shortcuts/timeline.md).


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