Reference and help
Keyboard shortcuts and gestures
A reference for transport, notes, clips, device controls, timeline navigation and keyboard playing.
Studio uses familiar editing keys, with actions determined by your current selection. Text fields keep their typing and text-editing keys. On a Mac, Cmd and Ctrl both work for the main editing shortcuts; use one at a time.
Transport and project
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Play or pause. On a focused button, Space presses that button instead. |
| Ctrl+S / Cmd+S | Save to Glob. |
| Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z | Undo. |
| Ctrl+Shift+Z / Cmd+Shift+Z | Redo. |
| Ctrl+Y / Cmd+Y | Redo. |
| Escape | Deselect or dismiss the active editor/menu first; close Studio when nothing handles it. |
| Shift+Tab | Switch between clip editing and devices while Studio has focus. |
| Ctrl+Alt+L / Cmd+Alt+L | Show or hide the detail dock while Studio has focus. |
Undo and Redo are limited to the current project session. Opening a project resets that session's history. A gesture that fails validation leaves the project unchanged.
Selections and editing
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+C / Cmd+C | Copy the selected notes or arrangement clips. |
| Ctrl+X / Cmd+X | Cut the selected notes or arrangement clips. |
| Ctrl+V / Cmd+V | Paste at the editor's current position. |
| Ctrl+D / Cmd+D | Duplicate the selected notes or clips. |
| Ctrl+A / Cmd+A | Select all notes in the note editor; the arrangement can select all clips when a clip or track is active there. |
| Delete / Backspace | Delete the active selection. |
| Q | Quantise selected notes, or all phrase notes if none are selected, using the note editor's Snap setting. |
| Shift+F10 | Opens an available focused side-panel entry's action menu. |
Selection priority matters. A selected device card can take Delete before clips do. Selected notes take editing keys before arrangement clips behind the editor. Click outside the device chain or clear note selection when you intend to act on clips.
Piano and drum roll
| Gesture | Action |
|---|---|
| Left / Right with notes selected | Nudge by Snap division. |
| Shift+Left / Right | Nudge by one bar. |
| Up / Down | Transpose by one semitone. |
| Shift+Up / Down | Transpose by one octave. |
| Shift-, Ctrl- or Cmd-click a note | Toggle it in the selection. |
| Drag empty space with Select | Draw a selection box; Shift adds to the selection. |
| Double-click empty space with Select | Add a note. |
| Click empty space with Draw | Add a note. |
| Alt-drag a note | Copy and move the selected notes. |
| Drag a note edge | Resize its start or end. |
| Double-click a note | Delete it. |
The note-editor right-click menu includes velocity, length, transpose, mute and quantise actions. See piano roll and drum roll for their exact behaviour.
Arrangement and launcher
| Gesture | Action |
|---|---|
| Up / Down with arrangement focused | Select the adjacent track. |
| Shift-, Ctrl- or Cmd-click a clip | Toggle it in the arrangement selection. |
| Drag empty lanes with Select | Select clips touched by the box; Shift adds. |
| Draw-drag empty lane space | Create an arrangement clip. |
| Alt during arrangement placement | Bypass grid snapping. |
| Trackpad pinch / Shift+mouse wheel | Zoom the arrangement around the pointer. |
| Arrows on a loop handle | Adjust by one grid division; Shift adjusts by a bar. |
| Double-click the loop strip | Reset the loop to the whole song. |
| Enter on an empty launcher slot | Create and edit a clip. |
| Alt-drag a launcher clip | Copy it to another slot. |
| Double-click a launcher column heading | Rename it. |
Launcher slot bodies select or open notes; their small triangles launch playback. Switching views does not itself return a launched track to arrangement control. See clip launcher.
Knobs and value controls
| Gesture | Action |
|---|---|
| Vertical drag on a knob | Change its value; Shift makes fine adjustments. |
| Wheel / arrows on a knob | Nudge by one unit; Shift uses 0.1 units for ordinary factory knobs. |
| Home / End on a knob | Choose its minimum or maximum. |
| Double-click a knob | Reset its default, or zero the route amount while editing modulation amounts. |
| Right-click a supported knob | Open modulation routing actions. |
| Click Tempo or Position | Type a value; Enter or blur applies it, Escape cancels. |
| Arrows on Time signature | Change its numerator; Shift changes the denominator. |
| Arrows on the Editor divider | Resize the note-editor dock. |
An effect's grip also accepts Left and Right to reorder it. The dry/wet bar accepts dragging, arrows and Home/End; double-click restores its default.
Search and computer-keyboard notes
In top search, Up/Down moves through results, Enter adds or opens a listing, and Right Arrow at the end of the query previews a row when a preview exists. Escape clears and closes it.
For musical playing, the sequence A W S E D F T G Y H U J K O L P ; covers seventeen chromatic notes. Z/X changes octave; C/V changes input velocity. These plain keys differ from the Ctrl/Cmd editing combinations. See playing and recording notes for the note map and MIDI behaviour.
The modular editor has its own cable, module and selection actions. Its focused controls handle those keys before the song editor; read the Grid guide.