Keys to Tap — FastTracker Help

Keys to Tap

FastTracker is happiest when your hands stay on the keyboard, and the good news is that you need only a few keys to do almost everything. To begin with, the only one you need to remember is K, for keys. Tap it anywhere in FastTracker and the Keyboard Guide slides out at the right edge of the window, listing what every key does, with a search box ready for you to type in: type limiter, split or mark and only the matching shortcuts stay. Tap K again, or press Esc, to put it away. Everything below is on that list, so you can learn the rest as you go.

💡

Leave the Keyboard Guide open at the right of your project while you’re learning. The search box is ready the moment it opens: type a word, see the key. Esc clears the search, and again puts the Guide away. More in The Drawer.

Here are the keys worth memorizing, in roughly the order you’ll fall in love with them.

The Daily Taps

Key	What it does
`Space`	Play from the playhead, and press it again to stop: the playhead goes back to where playing began. You’ll press this about a thousand times a day. It also ends a recording.
`⇧Space`	While playing: pause right here (the playhead stays, and `Space` plays on from it). While stopped: play from the very start of the project. While recording: stop the recording right where it is and keep the take.
`⇧L`	Loop playback on or off. With looping on, `Space` plays the marked selection round and round (the whole file when nothing is marked).
`⌘E`	Export: opens the Export window, the same as the orange Export button.
`R`	Record on the chosen track, starting at the playhead; the clips to the right on that track are pushed along to make room. Tap `R` again to stop. See Recording a Voice.
`M`	Drop a marker at the playhead, whether it is still or playing. With a selection marked, you get a marker at each end. See Markers.
`Shift` `N`	Add a Note, in both modes: a yellow sticky note opens at the playhead, ready to type. See Notes.
`⌘M`	Drop a marker and open its name box, ready to type (Multitrack Mode, with the playhead still). In the Single Track Mode window, `⌘M` converts a stereo selection to mono instead.
`Shift` `M`	Multitrack Mode: mute or unmute the marked selection, on every track it covers. With no selection marked, it mutes the selected clips (they are drawn dimmed, even if they are just pieces split from one recording), or, with no clip selected, the chosen track, the same as its M button. See Lesson 2 and Lesson 3. In the Single Track Mode window the key is `S` instead, for the marked selection or just one channel of it.
`⇧⌘M`	Clear every marker in the project. It asks first, and `⌘Z` brings them all back.
`Shift` `C`	With one channel selected in Single Track Mode: copy that channel onto the other one (again to put it back). See One Channel.
`Option` `D`	Switch between the Dark and the Light look (View ▸ Switch Between Dark and Light).
`Option` `M`	Max Mode (View ▸ Maximize Window): toggles the window between its normal size and full-screen. Press it when you want every pixel for your tracks, and press it again to come back.
`←` `→`	Nudge the selected clips (a selection or a whole group moves together) a hair to the left or right, 10 thousandths of a second at a time. Hold `Option` (the key next to `Command`) for bigger steps of a tenth of a second. Presses in a row on the same clips are one undo step. With no clip selected, the arrows move the playhead instead: 10 thousandths of a second at a time, or a tenth of a second with `Option`.
`⇧←` `⇧→`	Jump the playhead to the next clip edge on the chosen track in that direction: the edge of the clip you are inside first, then the next clip’s. Handy for stepping through a track and for placing a recording or a cut exactly at a clip boundary.
`N`	Normalize the selection (drag across a clip’s waveform first), or the selected clips if there is no selection. A window opens with a fader (like a track’s volume fader) for how loud the loudest peak should be; Apply (or `Return`) changes the volume of the selection to get there. No clip is split. See Work on a Selection.
`L`	Simple Limiter (Single Track Mode): bring the loudest peaks of the selection, or of the whole file when nothing is marked, down to a ceiling you set. A slider and a number; `⌘Z` takes it back. In Multitrack Mode the key tells you what to do instead: select a clip or a track, click the Mode Button to go to Single Track Mode, and tap `L` there.
`P`	Pop Fixer (Single Track Mode): take the low thump out of a breath pop (a P or B) in the selection and leave the voice alone. Drag across just the pop and a little around it first. One slider, starting at 50. `⌘Z` takes it back. See Take Out a Breath Pop. (The pan line is `⇧P`, a different key.) In Multitrack Mode, `P` tells you to select a clip or a track, click the Mode Button, then select the pop and tap `P` in Single Track Mode.
`F`	Fine Tune the volume of the selection or the selected clips: a tall fader (drag it, or use `↑` `↓` `←` `→`, `⇧` for bigger steps) sets how many dB to turn it up or down. Apply or `Return` makes the change.
`⌘T`	Add a new empty track directly below the chosen one.
`Z`	Zoom to the whole project, and tap again to return to where you were zoomed before.
`⌘X` `⌘C` `⌘V`	Cut, copy and paste: selected clips, or, when a selection is marked, the selection. A selection is cut out like `Delete` (the gap closes), and pasting it puts it in at the playhead and moves everything after it over to make room. See Cut, copy and paste a selection.
`H`	Show or hide the splits between touching pieces of the same recording, so an edited narration reads as one waveform. Hidden in Single Track Mode and shown with all tracks, until you change it. See Show or hide the splits.
`A`	Select all: every clip in the project. (`⌘A` does the same.)
`C`	Open the FastTracker Cookbook for the chosen track, in the drawer: ready-made sets of effects you can hear on your own audio. Click a track’s name, a clip, or an empty spot in its lane first. Tap `C` again, or `Esc`, to cancel: the track gets its own sound back. See The Cookbook.
`X`	Open or close the Effects Deck in the drawer: the effect cards for the chosen track (or, in Single Track Mode, for the recording). Switch cards on, reorder them, save the deck, and in Single Track Mode Apply puts the effects into the audio.
`T`	Trim silence: select one or more clips and tap `T`, and each clip’s ends are trimmed in to the first and last sound. See Settings for the threshold.
`D`	Duck: select the music and tap `D`, and it dips under the clips on the track directly above it. `⇧D` takes ducking off. See Ducking.
`⇧R`	Record over: like `R`, but nothing is pushed along; the take goes down over what is there. See Recording.
`V`	Punch and roll: plays the clip under the playhead, then records from its end (a Ripple Record). `V` again stops. See Recording.
`S`	Split the clip under the mouse pointer, at the playhead. Beeps if the pointer isn’t over a clip or the playhead isn’t inside it. In the Single Track Mode window, `S` instead mutes or unmutes the selection (see `ShiftM` below).
`ShiftV`	Open or close the script in the drawer at the right edge (to the width it last had), in both modes. While the script is showing, `1`, `2` and `3` set its row spacing to its own, double or triple.
`⇧S`	Insert silence. A small window asks how many seconds (type it like 1.50, then `Return` or Apply); the number is remembered for next time. The silence goes in at the left edge of the selection, or of the left-most selected clip, or at the playhead on the chosen track, and everything to the right of it on those tracks moves later. `⌘Z` undoes it. (Splitting every clip at the playhead is in the Clip menu: Split All Clips at Playhead.) With a selection marked, the silence replaces the selection.
`ShiftO`	Paste Over (Single Track Mode): mix the copied audio over what is at the playhead, at a loudness you choose, instead of pushing things along. See Paste Over.
`I`	Open or close ClipView, the drawer of sounds you reuse in every project. `Esc` puts it away too (if the search box has text in it, the first `Esc` clears the search).
`Home` `End`	Jump the playhead to the start or the end of the recording, in both modes.
`Option`-drag the waveform	Grab the waveform with a hand and slide it along when you are zoomed in, in any mode.
`G`	Group the selected clips so they move as one. Tap `G` again on a whole group to ungroup it.
`ShiftP`	Switch the selected clip between its volume line (white) and its pan line (green).
`ShiftE`	Show or hide every volume and pan line (envelope) in the project.
`Delete`	Delete the selected line point, or the selected clips. If you’ve made a selection by dragging across a waveform, it cuts that selection out and closes the gap instead. See Cut Out a Selection.
`Esc`	While recording (`R`, `⇧R`, `V`): throws the take away and puts the playhead back where it was. Otherwise: clear a selection, then deselect everything. A good “never mind” key.
`↑` `↓`	Jump the playhead to the previous or next proofreading flag; the script pane shows its word. The flags come from recording with Follow-Along.
`⇧⌘F`	Clear every proofreading flag in the project. It asks first, and `⌘Z` brings them back.
`⇧⌘←` `⇧⌘→`	Select from the playhead to the next marker on that side (or to the start or end of the file). Press again to reach on to the next marker.
`K`	Opens the Keyboard Guide in the drawer: every shortcut (it opens on Most Used), with a search box ready to type in, so you never have to remember them. `Esc` clears the search, then puts the Guide away; `K` closes it too when the keyboard is on the waveform. (Also Help ▸ Keyboard Guide.)
The “How do I…” box	Click the quiet box at the top right (left of the ? button), type a question, press `Return`. See Lesson 1.

Key

What it does

Space

Play from the playhead, and press it again to stop: the playhead goes back to where playing began. You’ll press this about a thousand times a day. It also ends a recording.

⇧Space

While playing: pause right here (the playhead stays, and Space plays on from it). While stopped: play from the very start of the project. While recording: stop the recording right where it is and keep the take.

⇧L

Loop playback on or off. With looping on, Space plays the marked selection round and round (the whole file when nothing is marked).

⌘E

Export: opens the Export window, the same as the orange Export button.

R

Record on the chosen track, starting at the playhead; the clips to the right on that track are pushed along to make room. Tap R again to stop. See Recording a Voice.

M

Drop a marker at the playhead, whether it is still or playing. With a selection marked, you get a marker at each end. See Markers.

Shift N

Add a Note, in both modes: a yellow sticky note opens at the playhead, ready to type. See Notes.

⌘M

Drop a marker and open its name box, ready to type (Multitrack Mode, with the playhead still). In the Single Track Mode window, ⌘M converts a stereo selection to mono instead.

Shift M

Multitrack Mode: mute or unmute the marked selection, on every track it covers. With no selection marked, it mutes the selected clips (they are drawn dimmed, even if they are just pieces split from one recording), or, with no clip selected, the chosen track, the same as its M button. See Lesson 2 and Lesson 3. In the Single Track Mode window the key is S instead, for the marked selection or just one channel of it.

⇧⌘M

Clear every marker in the project. It asks first, and ⌘Z brings them all back.

Shift C

With one channel selected in Single Track Mode: copy that channel onto the other one (again to put it back). See One Channel.

Option D

Switch between the Dark and the Light look (View ▸ Switch Between Dark and Light).

Option M

Max Mode (View ▸ Maximize Window): toggles the window between its normal size and full-screen. Press it when you want every pixel for your tracks, and press it again to come back.

← →

Nudge the selected clips (a selection or a whole group moves together) a hair to the left or right, 10 thousandths of a second at a time. Hold Option (the key next to Command) for bigger steps of a tenth of a second. Presses in a row on the same clips are one undo step. With no clip selected, the arrows move the playhead instead: 10 thousandths of a second at a time, or a tenth of a second with Option.

⇧← ⇧→

Jump the playhead to the next clip edge on the chosen track in that direction: the edge of the clip you are inside first, then the next clip’s. Handy for stepping through a track and for placing a recording or a cut exactly at a clip boundary.

N

Normalize the selection (drag across a clip’s waveform first), or the selected clips if there is no selection. A window opens with a fader (like a track’s volume fader) for how loud the loudest peak should be; Apply (or Return) changes the volume of the selection to get there. No clip is split. See Work on a Selection.

L

Simple Limiter (Single Track Mode): bring the loudest peaks of the selection, or of the whole file when nothing is marked, down to a ceiling you set. A slider and a number; ⌘Z takes it back. In Multitrack Mode the key tells you what to do instead: select a clip or a track, click the Mode Button to go to Single Track Mode, and tap L there.

P

Pop Fixer (Single Track Mode): take the low thump out of a breath pop (a P or B) in the selection and leave the voice alone. Drag across just the pop and a little around it first. One slider, starting at 50. ⌘Z takes it back. See Take Out a Breath Pop. (The pan line is ⇧P, a different key.) In Multitrack Mode, P tells you to select a clip or a track, click the Mode Button, then select the pop and tap P in Single Track Mode.

F

Fine Tune the volume of the selection or the selected clips: a tall fader (drag it, or use ↑ ↓ ← →, ⇧ for bigger steps) sets how many dB to turn it up or down. Apply or Return makes the change.

⌘T

Add a new empty track directly below the chosen one.

Z

Zoom to the whole project, and tap again to return to where you were zoomed before.

⌘X ⌘C ⌘V

Cut, copy and paste: selected clips, or, when a selection is marked, the selection. A selection is cut out like Delete (the gap closes), and pasting it puts it in at the playhead and moves everything after it over to make room. See Cut, copy and paste a selection.

H

Show or hide the splits between touching pieces of the same recording, so an edited narration reads as one waveform. Hidden in Single Track Mode and shown with all tracks, until you change it. See Show or hide the splits.

A

Select all: every clip in the project. (⌘A does the same.)

C

Open the FastTracker Cookbook for the chosen track, in the drawer: ready-made sets of effects you can hear on your own audio. Click a track’s name, a clip, or an empty spot in its lane first. Tap C again, or Esc, to cancel: the track gets its own sound back. See The Cookbook.

X

Open or close the Effects Deck in the drawer: the effect cards for the chosen track (or, in Single Track Mode, for the recording). Switch cards on, reorder them, save the deck, and in Single Track Mode Apply puts the effects into the audio.

T

Trim silence: select one or more clips and tap T, and each clip’s ends are trimmed in to the first and last sound. See Settings for the threshold.

D

Duck: select the music and tap D, and it dips under the clips on the track directly above it. ⇧D takes ducking off. See Ducking.

⇧R

Record over: like R, but nothing is pushed along; the take goes down over what is there. See Recording.

V

Punch and roll: plays the clip under the playhead, then records from its end (a Ripple Record). V again stops. See Recording.

S

Split the clip under the mouse pointer, at the playhead. Beeps if the pointer isn’t over a clip or the playhead isn’t inside it. In the Single Track Mode window, S instead mutes or unmutes the selection (see ShiftM below).

ShiftV

Open or close the script in the drawer at the right edge (to the width it last had), in both modes. While the script is showing, 1, 2 and 3 set its row spacing to its own, double or triple.

⇧S

Insert silence. A small window asks how many seconds (type it like 1.50, then Return or Apply); the number is remembered for next time. The silence goes in at the left edge of the selection, or of the left-most selected clip, or at the playhead on the chosen track, and everything to the right of it on those tracks moves later. ⌘Z undoes it. (Splitting every clip at the playhead is in the Clip menu: Split All Clips at Playhead.) With a selection marked, the silence replaces the selection.

ShiftO

Paste Over (Single Track Mode): mix the copied audio over what is at the playhead, at a loudness you choose, instead of pushing things along. See Paste Over.

I

Open or close ClipView, the drawer of sounds you reuse in every project. Esc puts it away too (if the search box has text in it, the first Esc clears the search).

Home End

Jump the playhead to the start or the end of the recording, in both modes.

Option-drag the waveform

Grab the waveform with a hand and slide it along when you are zoomed in, in any mode.

G

Group the selected clips so they move as one. Tap G again on a whole group to ungroup it.

ShiftP

Switch the selected clip between its volume line (white) and its pan line (green).

ShiftE

Show or hide every volume and pan line (envelope) in the project.

Delete

Delete the selected line point, or the selected clips. If you’ve made a selection by dragging across a waveform, it cuts that selection out and closes the gap instead. See Cut Out a Selection.

Esc

While recording (R, ⇧R, V): throws the take away and puts the playhead back where it was. Otherwise: clear a selection, then deselect everything. A good “never mind” key.

↑ ↓

Jump the playhead to the previous or next proofreading flag; the script pane shows its word. The flags come from recording with Follow-Along.

⇧⌘F

Clear every proofreading flag in the project. It asks first, and ⌘Z brings them back.

⇧⌘← ⇧⌘→

Select from the playhead to the next marker on that side (or to the start or end of the file). Press again to reach on to the next marker.

K

Opens the Keyboard Guide in the drawer: every shortcut (it opens on Most Used), with a search box ready to type in, so you never have to remember them. Esc clears the search, then puts the Guide away; K closes it too when the keyboard is on the waveform. (Also Help ▸ Keyboard Guide.)

The “How do I…” box

Click the quiet box at the top right (left of the ? button), type a question, press Return. See Lesson 1.

💡

The letter keys work when you aren’t holding Command, Option, Control, or Shift, and they ignore Caps Lock. Holding a key down won’t make G or P flip back and forth. We thought of your enthusiasm.

The Command Keys

Keys	What it does
`⌘Z`	Undo (up to 100 steps). The Undo button just left of the magnet does the same, one step per click.
`⌘C` `⌘X` `⌘V`	Copy, cut, and paste clips. Paste lands at the playhead.
`⌘←` `⌘→`	Playhead to the start or the end of the project.
`⌘I`	Add Audio: choose files and place them at the playhead.
`⌘N`	New project, in a new tab. It first asks whether to begin in single track mode or multitrack mode (it starts on the mode you used last; `↑` `↓` move the highlight in the order Single Track, Multitrack, Cancel, `Return` presses it and `Esc` cancels). It asks every time. With a Single Track window in front it skips the question and just offers the new document settings.
`⌘O`	Open a project or an audio file, in either mode.
`⌘S`	Save. In Multitrack Mode it saves the project; in the Single Track Mode window it saves quietly over the file it came from (asking only for a name if there is no file yet).
`⇧⌘S`	Save As. In Multitrack Mode, a window where you choose Audio file or FastTracker project; in the Single Track Mode window, one panel with a Format menu beside the name. See Save As and Export.
`⌘W`	Close the front tab (it asks first if there are unsaved changes). An audio file opened in its own window just closes; it doesn’t build a project and ask you to save it. (The Mode Button still carries a recording over.) Closing the last tab brings back the Welcome Window; it doesn’t quit.
`⌃⇥` `⇧⌃⇥`	Show the next tab, or the previous one.
`⌘+` `⌘−` `⌘0`	Make the whole interface larger, smaller, or back to the default size.
`⌘,`	Settings.
`⌘?`	This manual.

Keys

What it does

⌘Z

Undo (up to 100 steps). The Undo button just left of the magnet does the same, one step per click.

⌘C ⌘X ⌘V

Copy, cut, and paste clips. Paste lands at the playhead.

⌘← ⌘→

Playhead to the start or the end of the project.

⌘I

Add Audio: choose files and place them at the playhead.

⌘N

New project, in a new tab. It first asks whether to begin in single track mode or multitrack mode (it starts on the mode you used last; ↑ ↓ move the highlight in the order Single Track, Multitrack, Cancel, Return presses it and Esc cancels). It asks every time. With a Single Track window in front it skips the question and just offers the new document settings.

⌘O

Open a project or an audio file, in either mode.

⌘S

Save. In Multitrack Mode it saves the project; in the Single Track Mode window it saves quietly over the file it came from (asking only for a name if there is no file yet).

⇧⌘S

Save As. In Multitrack Mode, a window where you choose Audio file or FastTracker project; in the Single Track Mode window, one panel with a Format menu beside the name. See Save As and Export.

⌘W

Close the front tab (it asks first if there are unsaved changes). An audio file opened in its own window just closes; it doesn’t build a project and ask you to save it. (The Mode Button still carries a recording over.) Closing the last tab brings back the Welcome Window; it doesn’t quit.

⌃⇥ ⇧⌃⇥

Show the next tab, or the previous one.

⌘+ ⌘− ⌘0

Make the whole interface larger, smaller, or back to the default size.

⌘,

Settings.

⌘?

This manual.

A Few Mouse Moves Worth Knowing

Do this	To get this
`⌘`-click on a clip’s line	Add a point to the volume (or pan) line.
`Shift`-click a clip	Add it to, or remove it from, the selection.
`Shift`-drag a clip’s name bar	Ripple: the clips to its right follow it (left or right), or are pushed along to make room when you drop it on another track. See Lesson 2.
`⌥`-click a grouped clip	Pick just that one clip instead of its whole group.
`⌘`-drag from empty space, or right-button drag	Draw a box that selects every clip it touches. Add `Shift` to keep what was already selected.
Drag a clip toward the edge of the window	The view scrolls along with it, faster the longer you hold.
Right-click a clip or a lane	The context menu: cut, copy, paste, delete, split, group, show the pan envelope, Clear All Envelope Points, and Browse for Replacement or Audio Clip.
Click a clip, or an empty spot in a lane	Chooses that track (the one `R`, `⌘V`, `⌘T`, `C` and `M` act on), as clicking its name does.
Drag across a clip’s waveform	Marks a selection on that clip’s track; the playhead goes to its start. `Delete` cuts it and closes the gap; `N` and `F` change its volume. `Esc` or a click clears it. A plain click still just moves the playhead.
Drag an edge of the red band	Fine-tunes the selection: the pointer changes when you are on an edge.
Click the button at the lower right, left of Undo	A toggle: with a single track on it, it shows just the chosen track in Single Track Mode; with bars on it (while one track fills the window) it goes back to all your tracks. See Lesson 2.
`Shift`-drag a stereo clip’s waveform (Single Track Mode)	Selects one channel: start in the top half for the left, the bottom half for the right. See One Channel.
Drag the thin bar at the right edge of the track area	Slides out the drawer: the script, the Cookbook, ClipView or the Keyboard Guide, whichever you asked for last. Double-click the bar to open or close it (closed, it brings back the last script or ClipView). Drop a text, Word or PDF file on it to add your script.
`Option`-click a menu item	Puts that command on the favorites bar, the column of one-click buttons at the left of the window, in either mode. Each mode keeps its own list. `Option`-click it again, or the button, to take it off. See the Multitrack bar.
Right-click a track, or its name	Remove This Track (not offered in Single Track Mode).
Right-click a stereo clip ▸ Split into Mono Clips	The clip becomes its left channel and stays put; the right channel follows it on the same track, and later clips move right. See Lesson 2.
Drag the thin gray bar at the left edge of the track area (Single Track Mode)	Opens or closes the track header. Double-click the bar to flip between closed and fully open. It starts closed; FastTracker remembers your choice. See Lesson 2.
`Shift`-drag across a clip’s waveform	Marks the selection on every track at once, not just the clip you drag across.
Drag the red triangle on the playhead	Marks a selection on the chosen track (hold `⇧` for every track). `Delete` cuts it and closes the gap; `N` and `F` change its volume. `Esc` or a click clears it. See Cut Out a Selection.
Drag the orange square at an end of the volume line (press `ShiftE` to show the line)	Straight up or down raises or lowers that end of the line. Drag it clearly inward for a fade, a smooth curve that gets longer the farther in you go; drag it back to the edge to take the fade off.
`Shift`-click points on a volume line	Picks several points; they light up. Drag one and they all move together, up, down or sideways. `Delete` removes them all, and `Shift`-click a picked point to let it go. Each is one undo step.
Click a word in the script (when the recording has Follow-Along marks)	Moves the playhead to that word and hands the keyboard back to the waveform, so `Space` plays from it. Double-click to type instead (FastTracker asks first, because changing the script erases the marks). A click on a pink word, a pink flag in the strip under the ruler or a numbered take circle puts the playhead half a second before it.
Drag a volume or pan point (or the line) near 0 dB	It snaps to 0 dB (pan: the center) and stays there until you pull a little way off. Hold ⌥ to turn the snap off.
Double-click a clip’s name	Rename the clip.
Scroll wheel (or two fingers up and down), or pinch	Zoom the timeline, centered on the pointer. (`⌘`-scroll zooms too.) You can zoom in very far, to about 20,000 points per second, close enough to see a single click or pop; selections can be as short as about two thousandths of a second.
Drag out a selection while the audio is playing	Playback stops and the playhead waits where your drag began. (A drag shorter than a fiftieth of a second counts as a click, unless you are zoomed in far enough.)
`Shift`-scroll	Move up and down through the tracks.
`⌥`-scroll, or a sideways two-finger swipe	Move left and right through time.
Double-click a fader’s handle	Back to 0 dB.

Do this

To get this

⌘-click on a clip’s line

Add a point to the volume (or pan) line.

Shift-click a clip

Add it to, or remove it from, the selection.

Shift-drag a clip’s name bar

Ripple: the clips to its right follow it (left or right), or are pushed along to make room when you drop it on another track. See Lesson 2.

⌥-click a grouped clip

Pick just that one clip instead of its whole group.

⌘-drag from empty space, or right-button drag

Draw a box that selects every clip it touches. Add Shift to keep what was already selected.

Drag a clip toward the edge of the window

The view scrolls along with it, faster the longer you hold.

Right-click a clip or a lane

The context menu: cut, copy, paste, delete, split, group, show the pan envelope, Clear All Envelope Points, and Browse for Replacement or Audio Clip.

Click a clip, or an empty spot in a lane

Chooses that track (the one R, ⌘V, ⌘T, C and M act on), as clicking its name does.

Drag across a clip’s waveform

Marks a selection on that clip’s track; the playhead goes to its start. Delete cuts it and closes the gap; N and F change its volume. Esc or a click clears it. A plain click still just moves the playhead.

Drag an edge of the red band

Fine-tunes the selection: the pointer changes when you are on an edge.

Click the button at the lower right, left of Undo

A toggle: with a single track on it, it shows just the chosen track in Single Track Mode; with bars on it (while one track fills the window) it goes back to all your tracks. See Lesson 2.

Shift-drag a stereo clip’s waveform (Single Track Mode)

Selects one channel: start in the top half for the left, the bottom half for the right. See One Channel.

Drag the thin bar at the right edge of the track area

Slides out the drawer: the script, the Cookbook, ClipView or the Keyboard Guide, whichever you asked for last. Double-click the bar to open or close it (closed, it brings back the last script or ClipView). Drop a text, Word or PDF file on it to add your script.

Option-click a menu item

Puts that command on the favorites bar, the column of one-click buttons at the left of the window, in either mode. Each mode keeps its own list. Option-click it again, or the button, to take it off. See the Multitrack bar.

Right-click a track, or its name

Remove This Track (not offered in Single Track Mode).

Right-click a stereo clip ▸ Split into Mono Clips

The clip becomes its left channel and stays put; the right channel follows it on the same track, and later clips move right. See Lesson 2.

Drag the thin gray bar at the left edge of the track area (Single Track Mode)

Opens or closes the track header. Double-click the bar to flip between closed and fully open. It starts closed; FastTracker remembers your choice. See Lesson 2.

Shift-drag across a clip’s waveform

Marks the selection on every track at once, not just the clip you drag across.

Drag the red triangle on the playhead

Marks a selection on the chosen track (hold ⇧ for every track). Delete cuts it and closes the gap; N and F change its volume. Esc or a click clears it. See Cut Out a Selection.

Drag the orange square at an end of the volume line (press ShiftE to show the line)

Straight up or down raises or lowers that end of the line. Drag it clearly inward for a fade, a smooth curve that gets longer the farther in you go; drag it back to the edge to take the fade off.

Shift-click points on a volume line

Picks several points; they light up. Drag one and they all move together, up, down or sideways. Delete removes them all, and Shift-click a picked point to let it go. Each is one undo step.

Click a word in the script (when the recording has Follow-Along marks)

Moves the playhead to that word and hands the keyboard back to the waveform, so Space plays from it. Double-click to type instead (FastTracker asks first, because changing the script erases the marks). A click on a pink word, a pink flag in the strip under the ruler or a numbered take circle puts the playhead half a second before it.

Drag a volume or pan point (or the line) near 0 dB

It snaps to 0 dB (pan: the center) and stays there until you pull a little way off. Hold ⌥ to turn the snap off.

Double-click a clip’s name

Rename the clip.

Scroll wheel (or two fingers up and down), or pinch

Zoom the timeline, centered on the pointer. (⌘-scroll zooms too.) You can zoom in very far, to about 20,000 points per second, close enough to see a single click or pop; selections can be as short as about two thousandths of a second.

Drag out a selection while the audio is playing

Playback stops and the playhead waits where your drag began. (A drag shorter than a fiftieth of a second counts as a click, unless you are zoomed in far enough.)

Shift-scroll

Move up and down through the tracks.

⌥-scroll, or a sideways two-finger swipe

Move left and right through time.

Double-click a fader’s handle

Back to 0 dB.