Focus Mode Shortcuts

Focus Mode opens a single clip for detailed editing — the Piano Roll for MIDI, slice playback for audio, and a curve editor for Automation. This page lists its keyboard and mouse shortcuts.

Entry & exit

Double-click a clip to enter Focus Mode for detailed editing:

Clip Type	Focus Mode
MIDI	Piano Roll editor
Audio	Slice playback
Automation	Curve editor

Action	Shortcut
Enter Focus Mode	`⌥↓` or double-click
Exit Focus Mode	`Escape` or `⌥↑`
Focus Next Clip	`Tab`
Focus Previous Clip	`⇧Tab`

If the clip picker is open, Escape closes it first and a second press exits Focus Mode.

Clip mode

Automation clips carry a two-segment mode switch in the focus bar. The number keys reach both segments:

Action	Automation	Shortcut
Draw the curve by hand	Draw	`⌘1`
Shape it with an LFO	LFO	`⌘2`

These two keys belong to the inspector tabs — Tracks and Browser — everywhere else, and take on the mode switch only while an Automation clip is in Focus Mode. MIDI and audio clips have no mode switch, so they leave the keys alone. Both tabs stay one Escape away, and the Command Palette (⌘K) reaches them without leaving Focus Mode.

MIDI (Piano Roll)

The Piano Roll uses the same modifier conventions as the main timeline, but applied to MIDI notes instead of clips.

Modifier mapping

The same modifier hierarchy applies, but to notes instead of clips. What is marked decides what the bare arrows act on: with notes marked they move those notes, and with nothing marked they move the cursor.

Modifier	Timeline (Clips)	Piano Roll (Notes)
(none)	Move the marked clips in time, or the cursor	Move the marked notes, or the cursor
`⌥`	Finer horizontally — or zoom, with nothing marked	Finer horizontally — or zoom, with nothing marked
`Fn`	One bar horizontally	One bar horizontally, one octave vertically
`⇧`	Extend marquee	Extend marquee
`⌘`	Navigate clips	Navigate notes
`⇧⌘`	Add clip to selection	Add note to selection
`⌃⌘`	Timestretch clips	Change the length of selected notes

The vertical arrows part company. A clip is bound to its track, so ↑ / ↓ do nothing at all on the timeline while clips are marked; a note is free in pitch, so they transpose it.

Horizontal (←/→)

Modifier	Action
(none)	Move the marked notes by one grid division — or the cursor, when nothing is marked
`⌥`	The same step, finer — or zoom the timeline, when nothing is marked
`Fn`	Move the marked notes by one bar — or the cursor by four grid steps, when nothing is marked
`⇧`	Extend the marquee
`⌘`	Select next/previous note (by start time)
`⇧⌘`	Add note to selection
`⌃⌘`	Change the length of the selected notes (`⌥` for a fine step). A marquee region on its own is not enough

Vertical (↑/↓)

Modifier	Action
(none)	Transpose the marked notes by one semitone — or move the cursor by one pitch row, when nothing is marked
`Fn`	Transpose the marked notes by one octave
`⌥`	Also one semitone — pitch has no finer step. With nothing marked, `⌥↑` / `⌥↓` leave and enter Focus Mode
`⇧`	Extend the marquee
`⌘`	Select note with higher/lower pitch
`⇧⌘`	Add note to selection

Fn↑ / Fn↓ (Page Up / Page Down) only transpose in the MIDI piano roll, and only when notes or a marquee region are marked. They move by ±12 semitones, clamp pitches to the MIDI range 0...127, and participate in undo. With nothing marked the same keys stay the musical-typing octave.⌃ on its own carries no meaning anywhere in this scheme, which is why length needs ⌃⌘. macOS claims ⌃← / ⌃→ for Mission Control’s move one space and ⌃↑ / ⌃↓ for Mission Control and App Windows, and takes them before Gridshift is asked.

Note editing (keyboard)

Action	Shortcut
Delete Notes	`⌫`
Duplicate Notes	`⌘D`
Select All Notes	`⌘A`
Mark the Whole Chord (again for the next one)	`⌘⇧A`
Transpose Selected Notes by Octave	`Fn↑` / `Fn↓`
Change Selected Note Length	`⌃⌘←` / `⌃⌘→` (`⌥` for a fine step)
Copy	`⌘C`
Paste (at the clip start, offsets preserved)	`⌘V`
Cut	`⌘X`
Exit Piano Roll	`Escape`

Note editing (mouse)

Action	Result
Click on note	Select note
`⇧`-click on note	Add/remove from selection
Double-click on note	Delete note
Right-click on note	Delete note
Right-click + drag	Eraser (delete multiple)
Drag note	Move note (snaps to grid, transients and other notes)
Drag note edge	Change duration (same snapping)

Creating notes and marking them

Action	Modifier	Result
Click on empty area	(none)	Set cursor, start marquee
Drag on empty area	(none)	Mark a region (snaps to grid and rows)
Drag on empty area	`⇧`	Free selection box — marks every note it covers, even in part
Click on empty area	`⌘`	Create new note
Drag on empty area	`⌘`	Create note + set duration

Two boxes, two things markedA plain drag marks a region: it snaps to the grid and to the note rows, it stays on screen when you let go, and the commands act on the span — ⌘D stamps it onto the next region, ⌘E splits at its edges, Backspace carves it out, and the arrow keys move it.⇧-drag marks notes: the box lands exactly where you drag it, snapping to nothing, and it takes every note it covers even if it covers only part of one. It disappears when you let go, leaving the notes marked. Every sweep starts fresh — the moment the box starts moving it releases whatever stood marked, however it got marked, and then writes only what it covers. To add a single note to what is already marked, ⇧-click that note.

Brush modeHold ⌘ to enter brush mode. A ghost note appears under your cursor showing where the note will be placed. Click to create, or drag to set the note’s duration.

Musical Typing & slices

Letter keys play MIDI notes or trigger audio slices without any modifier. See the dedicated Musical Typing page for full keyboard layouts (Scale / Piano / Drums / Follow) and slice triggering.

Slice definition

Each slice starts at a transient marker, so N markers give N slices:

Slice 0: From the first transient to the second
Slice 1: From the second transient to the third
Last slice: From the last transient to the clip end

Audio before the first transient is not a playable slice.

Slices are defined by transient markers. Transient detection and marker editing live in the Sample Editor (⌥X). Use ⇧⌘E on the main timeline to split a clip at all transients, creating separate clips from each slice.

Splitting at transients

Action	Shortcut
Split Clips at Transients	`⇧⌘E`

This creates individual clips from each slice, useful for rearranging drum hits or creating variations.

Automation (curves)

The Automation Focus Mode uses the same modifier hierarchy for editing automation points on parameter curves.

Action	Shortcut
Select next point	`⌘→`
Select previous point	`⌘←`

When you reach the last point in a clip, pressing ⌘→ jumps to the first point of the next automation clip. Similarly, ⌘← at the first point jumps to the previous clip.

Cursor & marquee

With no point selected, the bare arrows are the cursor:

Action	Shortcut
Cursor horizontal (1 grid)	`←` / `→`
Cursor vertical (1/32 value)	`↑` / `↓`
Cursor horizontal (fine)	`⌥←` / `⌥→`
Extend marquee horizontal	`⇧⌘←/→`
Extend marquee vertical	`⇧⌘↑/↓`
Extend marquee horizontal (fine)	`⌥⇧⌘←/→`

Points within the marquee are automatically selected.

Moving points

Select a point and the same bare arrows move it instead — the rule the timeline and the piano roll follow. Escape hands the keys back to the cursor.

Action	Shortcut
Move horizontal (1 grid)	`←` / `→`
Move vertical (1/32 value)	`↑` / `↓`
Move horizontal (fine)	`⌥←` / `⌥→`
Move vertical (fine, 1/64 value)	`⌥↑` / `⌥↓`
Move horizontal by one bar	`Fn←` / `Fn→`

⌃ is unbound here in either direction: it is the “change the length” key, and an automation point has no length.

Point editing (keyboard)

Action	Shortcut
Delete selected points	`⌫`
Exit Automation Mode	`Escape`

Point editing (mouse)

Action	Result
Click on point	Select point
`⇧`-click on point	Add/remove from selection
Double-click on point	Delete point
`⌥`-click on point	Delete point
Right-click on point	Open the curve-type menu
Drag point	Move (with grid snap)
`⌥`-drag point	Move (fine, no snap)

Creating points

Action	Modifier	Result
Double-click on empty area	(none)	Create new point
Click on empty area	`⌘`	Create new point

Step recording

When Automation Focus Mode is active, recording is armed, and the transport is stopped, the number keys insert automation points directly at the cursor position:

Key	Value
`1`	10%
`2`	20%
`3`	30%
`4`	40%
`5`	50%
`6`	60%
`7`	70%
`8`	80%
`9`	90%
`0`	100%

After each keystroke, the cursor advances by one grid division automatically. If a point already exists at the cursor position (within a small tolerance), it is replaced.

Non-reassignable shortcut: The 0–9 step recording keys are processed directly and are not part of the Command Palette system. They cannot be rebound: shortcuts are assigned in the Command Palette (⌘K, then ⌘S on the selected command), and these keys are not palette commands. The same applies to clip volume keys (1–9, 0 on the main timeline), audio slice playback keys, the Sample Editor’s transient / grid-offset nudge (⌘← / ⌘→, with ⌥ for a single-sample step), and Musical Typing.

Grid snapping

Horizontal: Points snap to the current grid (same as MIDI notes)
Vertical: Points snap to a 32-step grid (0%, 3.125%, 6.25%, … 100%)
Option: Fine mode — free positioning without grid snap

Reference

Focus Mode Shortcuts

Entry & exit

Clip mode

MIDI (Piano Roll)

Modifier mapping

Note navigation

Horizontal (←/→)

Vertical (↑/↓)

Note editing (keyboard)

Note editing (mouse)

Creating notes and marking them

Musical Typing & slices

Slice definition

Splitting at transients

Automation (curves)

Point navigation

Cursor & marquee

Moving points

Point editing (keyboard)

Point editing (mouse)

Creating points

Step recording

Grid snapping

​Entry & exit

​Clip mode

​MIDI (Piano Roll)

​Modifier mapping

​Note navigation

​Horizontal (←/→)

​Vertical (↑/↓)

​Note editing (keyboard)

​Note editing (mouse)

​Creating notes and marking them

​Musical Typing & slices

​Slice definition

​Splitting at transients

​Automation (curves)

​Point navigation

​Cursor & marquee

​Moving points

​Point editing (keyboard)

​Point editing (mouse)

​Creating points

​Step recording

​Grid snapping

Entry & exit

Clip mode

MIDI (Piano Roll)

Modifier mapping

Note navigation

Horizontal (←/→)

Vertical (↑/↓)

Note editing (keyboard)

Note editing (mouse)

Creating notes and marking them

Musical Typing & slices

Slice definition

Splitting at transients

Automation (curves)

Point navigation

Cursor & marquee

Moving points

Point editing (keyboard)

Point editing (mouse)

Creating points

Step recording

Grid snapping