Editing
Tempo, meter, key & grid
Set the musical structure and snapping for your project.
In this guide
Tempo and meter
BPM means beats per minute. Drag the BPM value, click to type it or use TAP. From the second tap, TAP follows your recent timing; T taps too, and Return taps while TAP has focus. A tempo edit turns active tempo automation off. Re-enable it from the tempo lane or BPM menu when you want the stored lane to control playback again.
Meter groups beats into bars. Click its numerator or denominator area to choose a time signature. Custom supports 1–31 beats and note values 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32. The confirmation can apply a project signature or insert a change at the playhead's bar. Cancel, Escape or clicking outside leaves the signature unchanged. Signature edits are unavailable while recording.
Use the Tempo, Signature and Marker controls above the track headers to show their lanes. Hidden lanes retain their events. A scene performance tempo or meter can override the arrangement map; use Use Arrangement Tempo and Meter to return to it.
Song key, scale and style
The root and scale have separate header controls. Click either for a direct choice; Escape closes its menu without an edit. Song key and style… opens the combined dialog. Other… offers additional scales and styles. Apply or Return commits that dialog; Cancel or Escape leaves the song unchanged.
A Song Style supplies relevant chord and pattern choices. Choosing a style does not change the song's tempo or meter automatically. Some styles include alternate harmony; read their description before playing. Removing the style leaves the scale, tempo and pattern choices in place.
MIDI clips follow the song scale unless they set an override. A scale is a pitch reference; choosing a key does not automatically transpose existing audio or rewrite every note. Read MIDI Keyboard for scale-matched playing.
Choose Snap
Smart follows zoom and meter. Bar snaps to bar boundaries. Fixed divisions include 1/4, 1/8 and 1/16; T marks a triplet division. Off disables musical snapping. Snap changes edit placement, not playback speed, and does not move existing notes when you choose it. Hover Snap for the current choice.
Mark song sections
Double-click the ruler outside its loop to add a marker, or right-click → Add Marker anywhere. When a marker exists there, the double-click selects it. Use its name control to rename it and drag to move it. Undo restores a completed marker edit. These markers help navigation without cutting clips.
Dawnamite user guide for macOS. For changes between versions, see update history.