Build an arrangement and read it back
“Start a 124 BPM house track in A minor: drums, bass, chords and a pad, the drums in a group, an 8-bar intro and a 16-bar drop with markers. Loop the drop.”The assistant sets key, scale and tempo, adds and colors the tracks and the group, places drum patterns and samples, writes the bass and chord MIDI, marks the sections and sets the loop. It then reads the whole arrangement back with
get_session_overview to check its work.
Tidy and color the tracks
“Name the tracks after what they play, color the drums red and the synths blue, group the drums and fold the group shut. Delete the empty tracks.”The assistant reads the tracks and their clips, renames them, sets the colors, groups the drums and collapses the group with
track_configure, and deletes the empty tracks with track_manage. ⌘Z takes the changes back one tool call at a time.
Make the kick duck the bass
“Make the kick duck the bass, only below 120 Hz, and start the dip a 1/16 early.”The assistant sets up ducking with
ducking_configure: the kick’s notes and clip starts trigger it, the bass is the target, the range is set to the lows and the lookahead to 1/16. Ask for a compressor instead and it routes a sidechain with plugin_configure.
Check the mix against a reference
“Compare the drop with Reference.wav. What is different, and what fights in the low end?”The assistant measures the loop region with
analyze_mix, giving the file as reference, and reports the differences in loudness, peak, band balance and width, plus the tracks that compete in the same band. It adjusts faders, EQ or the clipper, then measures again. With a collection of finished tracks instead of one file, style_profile gives target ranges to mix toward.
Sort samples into a collection
“Find my dark, punchy kicks, put them in a new collection called Dark Kicks and tag them dark.”The assistant finds the kicks by sound with
sample_search (this needs Smart Search), then creates the collection, files the kicks and adds the tag with library_organize. The collection appears in the library window and syncs to your other devices.
Ask how a feature works
“How do I unlink one copy of a linked clip?”The assistant searches these docs with
docs_search, reads the matching page with docs_read, and answers with the steps and keys from it. It can then do the steps for you.
Good to know
- Name the musical goal, not the tool. “Make the chorus hit harder” works; the assistant chooses between faders, the clipper and a compressor and says what it changed.
- Ask it to measure, change and measure again. A mix change is only checked once
analyze_mixruns a second time. - Library sorting cannot be undone with
⌘Z. Collections, tags and renames in the Sample Library behave as they do by hand; What Assistants Can Do lists what asks you first. - A later chat can pick up where this one stopped. Ask it to read the project back first;
get_session_overviewwithclipsgives it the whole arrangement.
Writing a whole project
Writing a whole project
- The tools come in two halves. The mixer, plugin, send and ducking tools nudge a project you have open and are listening to. The rest (placing clips as windows into a file,
clip_configure,marker_configure,project_configure,group_create) build a project from nothing. transport_controlsits on both sides: it drives playback while you listen, and it builds, withset_tempobefore anything is placed andset_looponce there is something to loop over.- The audio window makes building work. A real arrangement is a long stem cut into sections, each clip reading the part of the file that belongs where it sits. Setting
source_offset_beatsequal to a clip’sstart_beatreproduces that cut, so every section stays in sync with the song. - A workable build order: key and scale with
project_configure, tempo withtransport_control; tracks and groups; colors; audio; MIDI parts and automation; sends; section markers; the loop region. - Finish by measuring with
analyze_mixand reading the result back withget_session_overview.