Working in the Timeline Display

Updated August 21, 2024 18:53

This article includes the following topics:

Using rulers
Automatically scrolling the timeline
- Enabling or disabling automatic scrolling
Showing items in Clips
Showing Grid Lines
Duplicating tracks
- To duplicate a track with content
- To duplicate a track without duplicating content
Using Align Bar and Align Grid to derive tempo from audio tracks
- Choosing Align Bar or Align Grid

Using rulers

Rulers allow you to track timeline data and add markers, time signatures, and tempo changes to the timeline display. You can also make selections, loop, and make selections on all tracks.

Working with the Bars and Beats ruler

In the Bars and Beats ruler, you can place the playhead, set the Grid resolution, enable Snap, link Edit and Play selections, and make selections.

Playhead, play selection, and play start

When the transport is stopped or playing, click on the Bars and Beats ruler to immediately move the playhead to another location. Playback immediately restarts at the spot you click if the transport is playing. Any selection you make on the Bars and Beats ruler immediately plays if the transport is playing and stops at the end of the selection, or plays and then loops if Loop Playback/Record is enabled. Clicking or selecting on the Bars and Beats ruler overrides selections in the Timeline and on the Loop ruler, regardless of the Link Edit and Play Selections setting. Even if Snap is not enabled, clicking on a bar number on the Bars and Beats ruler moves the playhead to that exact position.

Link Edit and Play Selections

Enable Link Edit and Play selections to simplify editing and auditioning audio and MIDI. This setting enables you to listen to the selection you are working on at all times. When you make a selection in the Timeline, the same selection is made on the Bars and Beats ruler, and vice versa. When Link Edit and Play selections is disabled, you can edit audio and MIDI on the Timeline, while playing from a location or selection on the Bars and Beats ruler or the Loop ruler, without affecting the selection or start point.

To enable Link Edit and Play selections, from the LUNA menus, choose Navigation > Link Edit/Play Selections, or click the Link Edit/Play Selection icon on the Bars and Beats ruler.

Pre-roll and post-roll

Pre-roll and post-roll specify time selections that play back before (pre-roll) and after (post-roll) a selection. Pre-roll plays when you press play, before the playhead or a selection; post-roll plays only after reaching the end of a selection. Pre-roll and post-roll can be useful to hear a selection in context, or to provide a lead-in and lead-out when punch-in recording.

To set pre or post-roll on the Bars and Beats ruler:

Option+Click (macOS) or Alt+Click (Windows) on the Bars and Beats ruler to the left of a selection or the playhead to use the pre/post-roll Editing Tool to make a pre-roll selection.
Option+Click (macOS) or Alt+Click (Windows) on the Bars and Beats ruler to the right of a selection to make a post-roll selection.
Click on the pre-roll/post-roll boundary and drag to change the pre-roll or post-roll length.

To set a specific length for pre-roll and post-roll:

Enable the Record workflow.
Click the power buttons to enable pre-roll, post-roll, or both.
Next to the Pre/Post-Roll buttons, type the amount of pre-roll or post-roll, and press Return.

Regardless of the Counter units setting, pre-roll and post-roll are always specified in Bars and Beats. In the text entry field you can specify bars, bars and beats, or bars, beats and ticks with a separator (space, comma, semicolon, colon, period, or |). For example, you can type 1 3 480, 1:3:480, 1.3.480, or 1,3,480, then press Return, to specify 1 bar, 3 beats, and 480 ticks. You can type 2 to specify 2|0|000, or 3:1 to specify 3|1|000.

Pre-roll plays when you start playback or recording. Pre-roll only plays the first time a selection is played, and does not play when a selection loops.
Post-roll plays only when a selection is made, and the selection is not looped, after the playhead reaches the end of the selection.
Post-roll does not play when a selection loops, or when the playhead is placed without a selection.
The pre/post-roll selections remain active on either side of the selection or playhead, even if you change the selection length or deselect.
You can enable or disable pre/post-roll with the menu items Transport > Pre-Roll and Transport > Post-Roll. You can Toggle the state of both pre-roll and post-roll with the menu item Transport > Pre/Post-Roll, or Command+K (macOS) or Ctrl+K (Windows).
You can enable or disable pre-roll and post-roll individually with options in the Record workflow. For more information about workflows, see Using Workflows.

Enable the Record workflow

Enable or disable pre/post-roll

Grid, Snap, and Relative Snap

Grid resolution determines how finely items are selected and snapped when Snap is enabled. Grid resolution also specifies the default duration of a MIDI note and the resolution at which automation breakpoints are added, whether Snap is enabled or disabled.

When Snap is enabled, items snap to the grid, based on the grid resolution. Snap mode snaps items exactly to the grid: if a note is slightly ahead of, or behind a beat, when you drag that note to a new location in Snap mode, the start of the note snaps to the nearest grid line. Snap mode applies to MIDI and audio edits and selections and automation breakpoints.

When Relative Snap mode is enabled, MIDI notes snap to the grid, while maintaining their previous time relationships (offsets) to grid markers. If a MIDI note is offset from a grid line, and you drag it to another grid line, the note remains the same distance offset from the new grid line. Relative Snap mode applies to MIDI and audio edits and selections and automation breakpoints.

To set the Grid resolution and enable Snap:

On the Bars and Beats ruler, click Grid. From the menu, select the grid resolution. You can select Bar, Beat, a note from 1/2 to 1/64th, and Dotted or Triplet resolution.
To enable Snap, click Snap. Snap is enabled when it is highlighted.
To enable Relative Snap mode, click the lower right corner of the Snap control, and choose Relative. To disable Relative Snap mode, deselect Relative from the same menu.

Working with the All Tracks ruler

In the All Tracks ruler, you can set the size for all tracks, show or hide track versions, and make selections across all tracks in the session. When you make a selection on the All Tracks ruler, all tracks are selected, so if you make volume or pan changes, make edits, or add Tape or plug-ins, LUNA will make those changes to all applicable tracks.

Note: All tracks are selected when you use the All Tracks ruler. Be sure to deselect tracks that you don’t want to affect before you make any non-global changes.

The All Tracks Ruler also includes the Track Heights control and the Versions panel toggle.

Resize all track heights

Click the Resize Tracks control and choose a track height to resize all tracks in the session to one vertical height. To resize and zoom individual tracks, see “Resizing and zooming the audio track.”

Show track versions

Click the Versions panel toggle to show track versions. The initial version and any version you create or duplicate is labeled with a V (for example V1 and V2). Any track version automatically created by loop recording is labeled with a T (for example, T3 and T4). This allows you to easily distinguish between versions you have manually created and versions that are automatically generated.

To change the visible items in Timeline View, use View > Timeline Settings from the menu. The options appear in the Contextual Browser at the left of the LUNA window. An item is visible when its box is active.

Loop ruler

Select View > Timeline Settings > Loop to show the Loop ruler. In the Loop ruler you can select a loop, and move the loop location and change the duration. To enable or disable loop playback, click the Loop Record/Playback button on the transport, or type Control+L. When you enable Loop Playback, the current selection (if any) becomes the loop.

Minutes and Seconds ruler

Select View > Timeline Settings > Min:Sec to show the Minutes and Seconds ruler. This shows the actual time scale for the session.

Samples ruler

Select View > Timeline Settings> Samples to show the Samples ruler. This shows the time scale of the session in number of samples.

Tempo ruler

Select View > Timeline Settings > Tempo to show the Tempo ruler. This shows the tempo of the session on the timeline.

The Tempo ruler has special functions, as you can use it to change the tempo of the session, or add instant or gradual tempo changes. To make tempo changes, see Setting the tempo and making tempo changes. You can also derive tempo changes over time from pre-existing material using the Align Bar workflow. See Using Align Bar and Align Grid to derive tempo from audio tracks.

Note: Changing the tempo of the session, or a section of the session, will cause MIDI data, and audio tracks that are in Track Follows Tempo mode to conform to those tempo changes by stretching or contracting.

Signature ruler

Select Signature to show the Time Signature ruler. This shows the time signature of the session on the timeline.

The Time Signature ruler has special functions, as you can use it to change the time signature of the session. See Setting the time signature and making meter changes.

Note: Time signature changes do not change the audio or MIDI data in the session, but merely change the grid, counters, and click behavior.

Markers ruler

Select Markers to show the Markers ruler. Markers provide a visual reference to locations in the session. For example, you might mark a chorus or verse, or a tempo or meter change. You can resize the marker ruler vertically to easily see section changes.

The Markers ruler has special functions, and you can add, delete, move, name, and color markers for usability. See “Using Markers.”

Note: Marker location is associated with the tempo information of the session. When you change tempo, all markers within the area affected by the tempo change move to reflect the new locations that the tempo change causes.

Automatically scrolling the timeline

To scroll the timeline automatically, press Shift+A, or choose Navigation > Auto-Scroll. Auto-Scroll moves one viewable timeline screen or “page” at a time, and also auto-scrolls with loops, if the loop extends beyond the length of a screen. With auto-scrolling enabled the display jumps to the playhead location when you start playback. If you manually scroll the timeline during playback or record while Auto-Scroll is enabled, Auto-Scroll is temporarily disabled until you stop and start again. You can press Shift+A to restart auto-scrolling during playback or record.

Enabling or disabling automatic scrolling

On the Bars and Beats ruler control area, click the Auto Scroll button to enable or disable automatic timeline scrolling.

Showing items in Clips

With Timeline Settings, you can specify the items that are shown on audio clips, by selecting or deselecting items under Clips Show.

Setting clip names

In the Timeline Settings browser, under Clips Show, select Names to show clip Names at the top of audio clips. You can double-click a clip name to change it.

Showing the clip Quantize control

In the Timeline Settings browser, under Clips Show, select Quantize to show the Quantize button on audio clips. See Quantizing audio for more information.

Using the clip Gain control

In the Timeline Settings browser, under Clips Show, select Gain Control to show the gain control at the top of each clip. Hover the mouse cursor over the gain control icon at the top of an audio clip to show the Gain Control Editing Tool. Move the slider up and down to increase or reduce the gain of a clip, without altering the gain of other clips on the track. Clip gain allows a wide range of adjustment, from -144 dB to +48 dB. As you adjust clip gain, the waveform display shows the resulting changes to the audio level. If you select multiple clips and adjust the gain slider on one clip, the same amount of gain change is applied to all selected clips.

Note: Tracks must be at the Medium (Default) size or larger to see the clip gain control on the track.

Using the clip Pitch control

In the Timeline Settings browser, under Clips Show, select Pitch Control to show the pitch control at the top of an audio clip. Hover the mouse cursor over the pitch control icon at the top of an audio clip to show the Pitch Control Editing Tool. You can move this slider up and down to raise or lower the pitch of a clip by tenths of a semitone. If you select multiple clips and adjust the pitch slider on one clip, the pitch change is applied to all selected clips. To enter a pitch change value in semitones, double-click the Pitch control and type a number (for example, 5 to raise the pitch by five semitones, or -12 to lower the pitch an octave).

Showing Grid Lines

In Timeline Settings, select Grid Lines to show grid lines in the timeline. Grid lines provide a visual reference for bars, beats, and subdivisions, depending on the subdivision settings you specify.

Duplicating tracks

You can duplicate a track or tracks with or without content.

Note: You can duplicate tracks in Edit or Mix view.

Duplicate a track with content to copy the track and all audio clips, MIDI clips, track inputs, gain settings, Unison inserts, other inserts, and send and cue routing. This command also copies track versions.
Duplicate a track without content to duplicate the track inputs, gain settings, Unison inserts, other inserts, sends, and cue routing, without duplicating existing audio or MIDI clips or track versions.
When you duplicate a send without content, the send routing is copied, effectively creating a doubled bus. Duplicate a send without content to copy just the inserts without the send routing.

To duplicate a track with content

Select a track by clicking the track name. You can select multiple tracks with Selection Grouping, or by selecting a track in an enabled group.
Right-click or Control-click and select Duplicate.

The tracks are duplicated with the current content.

To duplicate a track without duplicating content

Select a track by clicking the track name. You can select multiple tracks with Selection Grouping, or by selecting a track in an enabled group.
Right-click or Control-click and select Duplicate Without Content.

The tracks are duplicated without the current content.

Using Align Bar and Align Grid to derive tempo from audio tracks

If you have imported audio tracks, or recorded audio tracks without a click, you can use Align Bar and Align Grid to derive tempos from those tracks. This is useful, for example, when you have a live drum recording or band recording that you now want to edit or overdub with other tracks, and you want a click, or you want tempo information for MIDI instruments or effects.

Align Bar and Align Grid work to set the tempo for a session with many tracks, but you should use one or two mono or stereo audio tracks as a time reference. It is also best if the tracks you are using for a time reference have strong rhythmic information and strong transients. For example, a kick and snare drum track that hit on particular beats of every bar are ideal time source.

Choosing Align Bar or Align Grid

Align Bar and Align Grid essentially do the same thing: they place tempo markers at transients to help define the tempo of a piece. However, Align Grid assumes that every tempo marker you place is a Bar line (for example, 2|1|0 or 24|1|0). Align Grid uses the current grid, and assumes that the tempo marker you have placed is at the closest grid value. So Align Grid can place a tempo marker at 20|3|0 if your grid resolution is quarter notes, or 66|2|320 if your grid resolution is 1/4 note triplets.

Note: Align Bar and Align Grid add tempo markers to the session. Make sure your audio tracks are set to Track Follows Time mode. Any tracks that are set to Track Follows Tempo mode will be time stretched or time compressed as you align bars and align to the grid.

To set tempo using Align Bar and Align Grid:

1. Identify the first bar line of your music source. Place the playhead in an audio file that contains transient information that is aligned with the tempo of the song (for example, a kick drum track), and press the Tab key to locate the first transient. You can also locate the first bar line manually.
2. Choose Edit > Set Bar One.
3. Press Tab until you reach the transient for the bar you want to mark (or press Option+Tab (macOS) to tab backwards through transients). When you find the bar you want to mark, press Command+Option+Shift+I (macOS) or Ctrl+Alt+Shift+I (Windows) or choose Edit > Align Bar. The Align Bar popover opens, with a bar number that LUNA estimates.
4. Type or accept the bar number in the box and press Return or click OK. A tempo marker is added and the audio visually adjusts on the timeline.
5. Continue to add bar markers, if needed. Press Tab until you find the beginning of a bar, and pressing Command+Option+Shift+I (macOS) or Ctrl+Alt+Shift+I (Windows) or choose Edit > Align Bar.
6. To add Grid markers, set the Grid to a workable increment (for example quarter notes).
7. Tab to a transient that is on the grid, and press Command+Option+I (macOS) or Ctrl+Alt+I (Windows), or choose Edit > Align Grid.

You can continue to add tempo markers in this way for as many bars as you want, with granularity as fine as a single grid increment.

Note: The tracks visually appear to stretch and contract as you add tempo markers, but the audio remains unchanged as long as the tracks are set to Track Follows Time mode.