Editing

Each track has an editor that can be opened using the Edit button located on the right hand side of the track. The Tempo Editor affects the tempo of MIDI tracks, and optionally audio tracks as well. The Song Editor can remove or insert parts and affects "everything" (tracks, automation, markers, etc.).

Time Bar

All editors feature a "needle" which indicates the current transport position (its position matches the transport's position counter). The thumb at the top of the needle can be moved using the mouse. At the top of every editor is a Time Bar that shows either seconds or bars (this can be changed in the Editing Options section). Clicking this bar will move the needle to the corresponding position, and the transport's position counter will be updated accordingly. You can also grab the time bar itself with the mouse and drag it left or right. In this case, the transport position remains unchanged unless the needle moves out of the visible area. Double-clicking the time bar starts the transport, clicking stops it.

Selecting a part

A part can be selected by left clicking the editor and dragging the mouse while holding the button down. The selection can be resized by dragging its beginning or end. The editor will scroll horizontally automatically if the mouse approaches the left or right edge.

Moving or copying a part

The selected part can be moved. The part is copied if the Ctrl key (Windows) / Option key (Mac) is pressed while moving.

Stretching or Time Warping a part

Resizing the selected part while the Alt key (Windows) / Command key (Mac) is pressed stretches (or shrinks) the part. The part can also be "time warped" using this key. It's recommended to ensure any monophonic audio tracks use the monophonic transpose algorithm. Use the editor's EDIT button to access this option (a part needs to be selected for this button to be enabled).

Tweakable Edits

MultitrackStudio features "tweakable edits", which means that after performing an edit (for example, pasting some audio), you can tweak the edit (e.g., adjust the position and length of the pasted part, adjust volume, or even add effects). Every time you make an adjustment, the initial edit is completely redone, ensuring optimal sound quality. An edit is tweakable as long as the selected part is surrounded by a dotted line.

Common Editor features

Most editors feature the following buttons:

• UNDO: Undoes the last edit.
• REDO: Redoes an edit that was previously undone.
• DELETE: Deletes the selected part.
• COPY: Copies the selected part to the clipboard.
• PASTE: Pastes from the clipboard into the editor. The data on the clipboard will be placed at the current transport position (where the needle is).
• SEL ALL: Selects all.

In addition, the MORE button offers:

• Cut: Copies the selected part to the clipboard and then deletes it.
• Repeat: Repeats the selected part a specified number of times.

All editors have a popup menu with these options:

• Find Selected Part: Adjusts the transport position so the selected part becomes visible.
• Unselect
• Select Left: Selects the part to the left.
• Select Right: Selects the part to the right.

Editing Options

The editing options area at the top of the main window contains several editing-related options:

• Time Sig (*) : Changes the time signature or tempo for the entire song. Right clicking opens the Tempo / Time Signature Editor.
• BPM (*) : Changes the tempo for the entire song. If the tempo varies throughout the song, the different tempo values will be adjusted proportionally. Right clicking opens the Tempo / Time Signature Editor.
  The down arrow next to the Tempo box offers 3 options:
  • Tempo / Time Signature Editor: Open this editor.
  • Tap Tempo: Tap a new tempo using the space bar.
• Song Editor: Opens the Song Editor.
• Ripple: When enabled, pasted or drag-and-dropped parts will be inserted (the right-hand part will be moved to the right). Deleting won't leave a gap (the right-hand part will be moved to the left). Ripple mode is usually disabled to keep tracks aligned.
• Snap: Snaps the start and end points of selected parts to the grid. All subsequent mouse movements will also snap to the grid. Use Zoom In/Out to change the grid resolution. If the grid is set to bars, you can click the Editor Grid box at the bottom of the main window to override the automatic settings. Options include swing and custom tuplets.
• Bars (*) : Shows grid in bars. Also, MIDI paste and drag operations will be done in beats instead of seconds (e.g., the part will be sped up if you move it to a faster part of the song).
• Follow: Makes editors follow the transport position. You can disable this if you want to make edits while the transport is running, so the editor won't scroll to a new page unexpectedly. If Follow is off, the Page Up/Down and Left/Right arrow keys control the editors instead of the transport position.
• Zoom In/Out: Changes the horizontal scale of the editors (all editors use the same time scale). The current scale is shown on the bottom bar. Scale 1:1 means one screen pixel equals one audio sample. Zooming out fits more samples into each pixel.
• Editing Options menu: Provides access to various editors. If the main window is small, some items from the editing options area may appear in this menu.

(*) These options are available only if there is at least one MIDI track.