> ## 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.

# Tracks, Clips and Sources

> A project is a list of tracks, each with one sound source and one effects chain, and clips that place that source along the timeline. This page covers that model and the few ideas that work differently from other DAWs.

## One source per track

Each track has a single **sound source**, one audio sample or one instrument, followed by one effects chain: one source, one chain, one output. On a sample track every clip is a region of that track's one audio file; on an instrument track every clip is MIDI for that one instrument. To play a second sound, add a second track. To change a track's kind: [Convert Tracks](/tracks/convert-tracks.md).

## Track types

| Type | Lives in | What it is |
| - | - | - |
| **Sample** | Track list | Tied to one audio file; its clips are regions of it. |
| **Instrument** | Track list | Hosts an Audio Unit instrument or the built-in [Sampler](/samples/sampler.md), played by MIDI clips. |
| **Automation** | Track list | A lane of parameter changes, listed below the track it automates. |
| **Group** | Track list | A sub-mix bus for the tracks inside it. A header row, with no row of its own on the timeline. |
| **Return** | Output buses | A shared bus fed by [sends](/mix/sends-and-returns.md): one effect, many tracks. |
| **Master** | Output buses | The project's final stereo output. Always there; can't be deleted or renamed. |
| **Listen Bus** | [Monitor Profiles](/mix/monitor-profiles.md) | Monitoring effects you hear while you work but that never reach a [bounce](/mix/bounce-and-export.md). |

## Clips

A clip is a region on a track with its own position and length. Editing a clip never alters its source, so trimming, splitting and moving are non-destructive, with full undo.

| Clip | On | Holds |
| - | - | - |
| **Audio** | Sample tracks | A region of the track's sample, with its own offset, fades, time-stretch and [gain](/arrange/clip-gain.md). |
| **MIDI** | Instrument tracks | Notes, edited in the inline [piano roll](/edit/piano-roll.md). |
| **Automation** | Automation tracks | A `0–1` curve, edited like a clip and mapped to one or more parameters ([Automation](/mix/automation.md)). |

Duplicating a clip keeps the copies [linked](/arrange/linked-clips.md) by default, so an edit to one updates them all. Creating, moving and looping clips: [Clips](/arrange/clips.md).

## What works differently

* **Keyboard first.** The [Command Palette](/work-fast/command-palette.md) (`⌘K`) reaches any command by name, and almost every command has a key.
* **One window, inline editing.** There is no separate piano-roll or audio-editor window: [Focus Mode](/edit/focus-mode.md) opens a clip where it sits and folds it back into the arrangement.
* **Recording is a mode.** `Caps Lock` turns it on and the selected track is the target; there is no per-track arm button ([Record MIDI](/record/record-midi.md)).
* **Groove moves the grid.** A [groove](/timing/groove.md) shifts the grid itself, so snapping and editing swing the way playback does.
* **Automation lanes stack.** One lane can drive several parameters and several lanes one parameter, setting the value or offsetting it ([Automation](/mix/automation.md)).
* **Ducking needs no plugin.** A track is turned down by a drawn shape whenever another track's clips fire, with no latency ([Ducking](/mix/ducking.md)); the [sidechain](/mix/sidechain.md) modes trigger from positions too.
* **No bundled plugins.** Gridshift hosts the Audio Units installed on your Mac.

## What stays familiar

A bar-and-beat ruler with tracks stacked vertically and clips laid out horizontally; groups, buses and a master; Audio Units, MIDI, sends and quantize; drag, trim, split, copy and paste.


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