Focus Mode

Focus Mode expands a single clip inline in the timeline for detailed editing, so you stay in context with your arrangement visible. The timeline has three vertical zoom levels: Compact (⌥↑) drops all tracks to minimal height for an arrangement overview, Normal is the default track height, and Focus (⌥↓ or double-click a clip) expands a single clip for detailed editing. Exit Focus Mode with Escape or ⌥↑; your zoom and scroll position is restored automatically. While in Focus Mode, move to an adjacent clip on the same track without exiting — Tab / ⇧Tab step to the next / previous clip, and → / ← do the same.

Audio Focus Mode

Audio clip in Focus Mode showing the waveform

The track expands to show a detailed waveform of the clip. Transient detection and marker editing live in the Sample Editor — open it via a click on the inspector waveform preview or ⌥X.

Slice playback

Letter keys trigger slices between transient markers. Z and X switch between pages of slices when there are more slices than keys.

Upper row:   Q W E R T Y U I O P
Middle row:  A S D F G H J K L
Lower row:   [Z] [X]  C V B N M
             ↑ page   ↑ first slice

The Inspector provides playback options: slices play in full, and you can apply a decay time across all slices.

MIDI Focus Mode

MIDI clip in Focus Mode showing piano roll with notes

An inline piano roll grid appears inside the track lane. Musical Typing is active — play notes from your computer keyboard in real time. See the Musical Typing page for the full keyboard layouts.

Create and delete notes

Hold ⌘ and click on an empty area to create notes. The behavior mirrors clip creation on the timeline:

Context	Result
No note selected	Creates a new note at the clicked position
Note selected	Stamps a duplicate of the selected note

Drag after clicking to set the note duration. Right-click a note to delete it. Right-click and drag to erase multiple notes.

Automation Focus Mode

Double-click an automation clip to edit automation curves inline. See Automation for the full editing reference.

Focus Bar

A floating bar appears at the top of the focused clip. Its contents depend on the clip type:

Clip Type	Control	Range
Audio	Gain slider	-24 dB to +12 dB
MIDI	Velocity slider	0–127 (applies to selected notes)
Automation	Draw / LFO mode toggle and shape controls	—

Clip picker

The bar leads with a clip picker — a shade swatch plus a badge counting how many clips are linked together. Open it to switch the focused clip to another one on the track (each row shows a live mini-preview) or to Unlink so the clip stops sharing its body. Press Escape once to close the picker, again to exit Focus Mode. See Linked Clips for the full model.

Shortcuts

The keys for entering, exiting, and navigating Focus Mode are below. The Focus Mode Shortcuts reference has the complete grid — piano-roll note editing, audio-slice triggers, and automation-curve editing.

Action	Shortcut
Enter Focus Mode	`⌥↓` or double-click
Exit Focus Mode	`Escape` or `⌥↑`
Compact zoom	`⌥↑`
Focus next / previous clip	`Tab` / `⇧Tab`
Move to next / previous clip	`→` / `←`
Open Sample Editor	`⌥X`
Split clip at all transients	`⌘⇧E`

Getting Started

Interface

Recording & Input

Editing & Timing

Mixing

Advanced

Project

Audio Focus Mode

Slice playback

MIDI Focus Mode

Create and delete notes

Automation Focus Mode

Focus Bar

Clip picker

Shortcuts

​Audio Focus Mode

​Slice playback

​MIDI Focus Mode

​Create and delete notes

​Automation Focus Mode

​Focus Bar

​Clip picker

​Shortcuts

Audio Focus Mode

Slice playback

MIDI Focus Mode

Create and delete notes

Automation Focus Mode

Focus Bar

Clip picker

Shortcuts