Timeline Basics

The timeline is where your song takes shape. It's a visual representation of your arrangement—every clip, every track, every moment of your music laid out horizontally across time.

Understanding the Timeline

The timeline shows time horizontally (left to right) and tracks vertically (top to bottom). Each horizontal lane is a track, and the colored blocks on those tracks are clips.

• Bars & Beats — The ruler at the top shows bar numbers. Each bar contains beats (typically 4 beats per bar).
• Playhead — The vertical cyan line shows your current position. This is where playback starts.
• Clips — Rectangles containing audio waveforms or MIDI notes.
• Tracks — Horizontal lanes for organizing different sounds.

Navigating the Timeline

Zooming

• Scroll wheel + Alt/Option — Zoom in and out horizontally
• Pinch gesture — On trackpad, pinch to zoom
• Zoom buttons — Use + and - in the toolbar

Scrolling

• Click and drag — On empty timeline space to scroll
• Scroll wheel — Scroll vertically through tracks
• Shift + scroll — Scroll horizontally through time

Setting the Playhead

• Click the ruler — Jump the playhead to any position
• Click empty timeline — Move playhead while selecting position
• Press Enter — Return playhead to the beginning

Working with Clips

Selecting Clips

• Click a clip — Select it (cyan border appears)
• Shift + click — Add to selection
• Cmd/Ctrl + A — Select all clips
• Click empty space — Deselect all

Moving Clips

1. Select the clip
   Click on the clip you want to move.
2. Drag to new position
   Click and hold, then drag left/right to change time position, or up/down to change track.
3. Release to place
   Clips snap to the nearest beat by default for tight timing.

Duplicating Clips

• Alt/Option + drag — Creates a copy as you drag
• Cmd/Ctrl + D — Duplicate selected clips in place
• Cmd/Ctrl + C, Cmd/Ctrl + V — Copy and paste

Deleting Clips

• Backspace/Delete — Remove selected clips
• Right-click → Delete — Context menu option

Trimming Clips

Trimming lets you shorten a clip from either end without deleting the underlying audio.

1. Hover over a clip edge
   Move your cursor to the left or right edge of a clip. The cursor changes to a resize handle.
2. Drag inward
   Pull the edge toward the center to trim. The clip shortens but the audio is preserved—you can always extend it back.
3. Drag outward
   If you trimmed too much, drag the edge back out to restore the hidden audio.

Splitting Clips

Split a clip into two separate clips at the playhead position:

1. Position the playhead where you want to split
2. Select the clip to split
3. Press S or right-click and choose Split at Playhead

Loop Mode

Loop mode repeats a section of your timeline continuously:

1. Set loop region
   Click and drag on the ruler to select a region, or set loop start/end points in the transport bar.
2. Enable loop
   Press L or click the loop button in the transport bar. The loop region appears highlighted.
3. Play
   When playback reaches the loop end, it jumps back to the loop start automatically.

Snap Settings

Snap controls how clips align when you move or trim them:

• Bar — Clips snap to bar lines
• Beat — Clips snap to beat divisions
• 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 — Finer snap divisions
• Off — Free placement (no snapping)

Access snap settings from the toolbar or hold Cmd/Ctrl to temporarily disable snap.

Timeline Keyboard Shortcuts

Space	Play/Pause
Enter	Stop and return to start
L	Toggle loop mode
S	Split clip at playhead
Backspace	Delete selected clips
Cmd/Ctrl + D	Duplicate selection
Cmd/Ctrl + A	Select all clips
Cmd/Ctrl + Z	Undo
Alt + scroll	Zoom in/out

Next Steps

• Deep dive into clips and tracks
• Advanced trimming techniques
• Arranging full songs
• Complete keyboard shortcuts reference