Undo, zoom, windows and settings
Undo and redo
Every change to the song can be undone: notes, steps, chords, clips, tracks, a style tried from the Library, a new key or tempo, a mixer setting. Ctrl+Z undoes the last change and Ctrl+Shift+Z (or Ctrl+Y) does it again. The Edit menu names what they would undo and redo, as in Undo add notes. The app keeps the last hundred changes.
The style editor has an undo of its own, apart from the song’s (see Your own styles).
Windows
The chord sheet, the channel rack, the piano roll and the mixer open over the playlist, each at the size of what it shows, and each where you left it last. Each has a key, and a button in the toolbar that is lit while it is open:
| Window | Key |
|---|---|
| Chord sheet | F5 |
| Channel rack | F6 |
| Piano roll | F7 |
| Harmony keys | F8 |
| Patterns and Library panel | Alt+F8 |
| Mixer | F9 |
- × at a window’s top right closes it; its key or its button opens it again.
- ▼ at its top left folds it up to its title, out of the way.
- View lists every window and panel, and also opens the Lead sheet, the Style editor… and Ear training.
- View > Chord sheet in the main window puts the chord sheet in the playlist’s place, with more bars to a line.
The app remembers the size of its own window, which windows were open and where they were, and starts with them the next time. The first time, it starts with the chord sheet, the Library and the harmony keys.
Zoom
The zoom keys zoom what is under the pointer:
| Over | Ctrl with +, − or the wheel | Alt with +, − or the wheel |
|---|---|---|
| the playlist | bars wider or narrower | tracks taller or shorter |
| the piano roll | steps wider or narrower | rows taller or shorter |
| the channel rack | the whole rack bigger or smaller | |
| the chord sheet in the main window | text, buttons and menus bigger or smaller, everywhere: smaller names fit more bars on a line | |
| anything else | text, buttons and menus bigger or smaller, everywhere |
The step under the pointer stays under the pointer. Ctrl+0 takes what is under the pointer back to 100%. On a Mac, ⌘ takes the place of Ctrl. The playlist’s two zooms are also at the right of the status bar.
Settings
Edit > Settings… has five pages. What you change is kept at once, also for the next time; Done closes the window.
Appearance
- Language: English or Español. The whole app changes at once, menus, hints and chord explanations included.
- Interface size: text, buttons and menus bigger or smaller throughout the app.
- Editor zoom: the playlist’s and the piano roll’s zooms, across (Horizontal) and up and down (Vertical), and the channel rack’s, which is one for both. Reset all zoom levels to 100% resets them all.
- Zoom shortcuts: the keys above, as a reminder.
Harmony
- Note naming: Letters (C, D, E…) or Solfège (Do, Re, Mi…), for notes, keys and chords everywhere in the app (see Notes, intervals and scales). Until you choose, they follow the language: letters in English, solfège in Spanish.
- Roman numerals in minor keys: how the chords on the third, sixth and seventh notes of a minor key are numbered. bIII bVI bVII counts them from the major scale, as pop and jazz books do: in A minor, C is ♭III. III VI VII counts them from the minor scale, as classical harmony books do: C is III. Both name the same chords (see What chords do).
Library
The style list, the choices each style’s window starts with, and the folder of your own styles: see Styles and the Library.
Audio
- Output: the sound card in use, with its sample rate and channels. Restart audio opens it again, for instance after plugging in headphones.
- Instrument playback: SoundFont instruments and SoundFont drums, and SoundFont library: the SoundFont in use and Choose SoundFont…. See Sounds.
Playback
- Follow playhead: keeps the music that plays in sight in the playlist, the chord sheet and the piano roll.
- Count-in, Metronome, Practice speed and the Speed trainer: see Practising.
- Write a trace while playing: writes every note played to a text file, to check what the app plays by reading it. It is off each time the app starts, and is useful when reporting a problem with playback.