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Record live

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Enter notes step by step

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Audition, then commit

Without record mode, play keys until the note, chord or slice sounds right. Press Return while still holding them, and they are written at the edit cursor as one step. Use → / ← before releasing to set the length.

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Record in a loop

Turn looping on with ⌘L, then record live. Each pass adds a layer to the previous one, and ⌘Z takes back the last layer only.

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Quantize while recording

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Delete the previous step

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Good to know

  • Record mode arms the selected track; there is no per-track arm. It does not start playback. Leave it with Esc or Caps Lock; during a live take, Esc ends the take and keeps it.
  • What gets recorded depends on the track. An instrument track records MIDI notes from Musical Typing or a controller, a sample track with transients records slice triggers. An empty sample track records audio.
  • Automation is recorded on any track. Move a plugin knob or a mixer fader while record mode is on, and the moves become automation points.
  • Each note appears in the clip when you release it. Notes played over an existing clip go into that clip; elsewhere a new clip is created, rounded to whole bars.
  • A whole live take is one undo step, Record Take.
  • The record button in the transport bar blinks red while record mode is on, and the Caps Lock light follows record mode exactly, however it was switched. Record mode is also Record On/Off in the Command Palette and the record button itself.
  • Caps Lock leaves record mode alone while you type in a text field or while the Command Palette is open.
  • An open plugin window and an active drag take Esc first. The next Esc leaves record mode.
  • In Focus Mode, recording goes to the focused clip’s track. With no instrument or sample track selected, a Return for example, record mode captures only automation.
  • A live take from a stopped transport starts after the count-in.
  • A note you are still holding shows as a ghost.
  • In a loop, notes from every pass stay. A note from a later pass replaces an earlier note of the same pitch where they overlap. Each pass is its own undo step.
  • Recorded slices replace whatever they land on, in a loop or not. Clips under a new slice are trimmed, split or removed.
  • Several keys pressed within 50 ms form a chord at the same position in step entry.
  • Releasing the key ends the resize. ⌘, ⇧ and ⌥ arrows keep their navigation meaning.
  • On a sample track, step entry writes each slice at full natural length, and the cursor lands on the next grid line at or after the slice’s end.
  • Hold-and-Return needs no record mode. Computer keyboard, hardware MIDI and the number-row levels all work. The held pitches are written at the velocity you auditioned them at, a slice at the gain it played at, and the cursor moves on.
  • Hold-and-Return also works inside an open MIDI clip. The step lands at the piano roll’s cursor, one grid cell long, and the cursor steps on by that cell, so holding a chord and pressing Return repeatedly lays out a row of steps. It stops at the end of the clip where a neighboring clip leaves no room to grow.
  • Return keeps its usual meaning in record mode (every key already writes), during live recording, with a range marked (Return fills the range), and in an open clip with marked notes or a drawn region (Return stamps or duplicates them).
  • ⌫ works whenever the timeline has focus and nothing is selected, in record mode or not. A clip inside the step is removed, and a clip running through it is split or trimmed, so only that step’s content goes. If the step is empty, the cursor still moves back. With a clip or range selected, ⌫ deletes the selection instead.
  • Record Quantize lets your playing feel natural and still land on the beat. It moves starts only, and a note never moves out of the clip it was played into. It also applies to MIDI committed with MIDI Capture, and you can still quantize afterwards.
Last modified on October 22, 2026