How to loop & edit clips

Loop clips

When you loop a clip, it repeats for how long you want. This way, you don’t have to copy and paste the clip over and over again.

To loop an audio or MIDI clip, all you have to do is drag the upper-right corner out to the right. You can also decrease the looped area by dragging the upper-right corner to the left.

You can alter the length of a clip by dragging its left or right side. Just make sure it’s not the upper-right corner since that will loop the clip. A MIDI clip can always be expanded but an audio clip can only be expanded if you’re restoring a trimmed clip. Keep in mind that if the clip is looped, you have to drag the side of the original clip length, not the looped area.

To copy, paste, cut, duplicate, or delete a clip, right-click on it and choose which one you want to do. You can also select the clip and use one of the following shortcuts.

• Copy = Ctrl/Cmd + C
• Paste = Ctrl/Cmd + V
• Cut = Ctrl/Cmd + X
• Duplicate = Ctrl/Cmd + D
• Delete = Del/Backspace

The duplicate shortcut will place the duplicate clip right after the original clip. You can also duplicate clips by holding down the Alt key and dragging the clip.

Reverse clips

Reversing clips is a fun way to experiment and come up with new ideas. It will make the audio or MIDI clip play backward.

To reverse a clip, right-click on it and choose Reverse clip.

Mute clips

When you mute a clip, that clip will become silent while all other clips on the channel are still playing. Muting clips is good for when you’re not sure if you want to delete the clip but you want to see what it sounds like without it. You can always bring it back by unmuting it.

To mute a clip, right-click on it and choose Mute clip. To unmute the clip, right-click and choose Unmute clip.

Consolidate clips

Consolidating will fuse together selected clips into a new clip. This is good for simplifying the arrangement and turning looped clips into long clips so you can create variation. Consolidate only works on MIDI clips.

To consolidate clips, select them, right-click and choose Consolidate or use the shortcut Ctrl/Cmd + J.

To rename a clip, double-click on the current name, type in a new name, and hit enter or click elsewhere. You can also right-click on the clip and choose Rename clip.

To change the color of a clip, right-click on it, go to Region color, and then choose the desired color.

Scissor tool

The Scissor tool is used for cutting up clips into smaller clips. These clips can then be moved around and rearranged however you want.

Select the Scissor tool and click on the clip where you want to cut it. It will automatically snap to the grid. If you don’t want it to snap, hold down the Alt key while you cut it. Go back to the Pointer tool when you’re done.

Stretch tool

The Stretch tool is used for changing the tempo and pitch of clips. This can either be to fit an audio loop with a different tempo in your project or it can be used for a creative effect.

There are two ways of stretching a clip, Time stretch and Pitch stretch. Time stretch keeps the original pitch of the clip while Pitch stretch changes the pitch when stretching audio clips. Generally, Pitch stretch is good for drums and percussion and Time stretch is good for notes when you want the key to stay the same. The pitch in MIDI clips will stay the same either way. MIDI clips will also automatically conform to and follow the tempo of the project.

Click on the Stretch tool and choose either Time stretch or Pitch stretch. Then drag the left or right side of the clip to the desired length.

If the clip is an audio loop from Soundation’s Sound library, you can also right-click on it and choose Time stretch to fit song tempo or Pitch to fit song tempo to automatically stretch it.

Auto-stretch

Set your auto-stretch preferences in the Settings tab, locate Auto-stretch samples, and set it to Yes for default automatic tempo adaptation. This keeps your samples in sync with your project. For manual control, choose No.

With auto-stretch turned on, when you drag a loop into an empty project, your project's tempo adjusts to match the loop's tempo. Any subsequent loops you add will auto-stretch to the project's tempo. One-shots maintain their original length.

For individual sample control, right-click and use the Auto-stretch option to enable or disable it. Adjusting your project's tempo will affect all auto-stretched samples.

Right-click and go to Stretch mode to choose between Time-stretch for maintaining key and pitch consistency, ideal for melodic samples, or Pitch-stretch to change the pitch along with the tempo, ideal for rhythmic loops without a clear key. Experiment with both modes to find your preference.

Auto-stretch activates when importing your own loops unless the sample is too short or long. The tempo of the loop will automatically be analyzed and detected. If the detected tempo is incorrect, correct it by right-clicking and selecting Set original BPM and then typing in the tempo of the sample.

Recorded audio auto-stretches to match your project's tempo with its original BPM set to the project’s tempo at the time of recording.

For older projects, manually enable auto-stretch and select stretch modes to change the tempo.