Lock Tracks or Events

It can be a lifesaver to prevent a Track or Event from being accidentally changed, or worse, deleted. Once a Track or Event has reached a certain level of completion, you may want to lock it that way while working on something else. This is simple to do.

What Locking Does Not Do

There are some actions that are still allowed after a Track is locked. You are still able to Mute or Solo the Track, change its order in the Track List, change the color of the Track, and rename it. But every action that is not allowed will be greyed out and inaccessible until the Track is unlocked again.

Locking an Event provides two options: Time Lock and Edit Lock. You can select one or both when locking an Event. Those options will be described in the Event Lock section below.

Note that as with any other action, the process of locking a Track or Event becomes part of the Undo/Redo history. It can be undone with [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+Z. So you may want to use the Save New Version feature as an additional backup after an important Track or Event is locked.

Track Lock

The Lock Track option is available for Audio Tracks, Instrument Tracks, Automation Tracks, and Folder Tracks. To lock a Track, locate its name in the Track List, use [Right]/[Ctrl]-click, and select Lock Track from the menu. Use the same action to unlock the Track by selecting Unlock Track from the menu.

Locking a Track prevents the addition or deletion of any of the Events it contains. It also will not allow any new Events to be recorded or pasted into the Track. A locked Track cannot be removed from the Song. It also cannot be used by the Arranger Track.

Event Lock

To lock an Event, locate the desired Event and use [Right]/[Ctrl]-click to open the menu. At the very top, under the Transpose and Velocity fields, are two options:

• Time Lock: Select this option to keep the Event from being moved to a different time position within the Track. A small circle-slash clock icon will appear in the lower left corner of the Event window to indicate the Time Lock status of the Event. When an Event is Time-Locked data can be added, removed, or altered inside the Event. The Event can be copied and pasted to any time position on any Track (even on top of itself). You can also Duplicate this Event by pressing [D] on the keyboard repeatedly. A time-locked Event that has been pasted or duplicated will also be time-locked.
  Note that the Arranger Track is also not allowed to relocate an Event when the Time Lock option is active for that Event.
• Edit Lock: Select this option to prevent the contents of the Event from being altered in any way. This also locks the Transpose and Velocity fields at the top of the menu. A small circle-slash pencil icon will appear in the lower left corner of the Event window to indicate the Edit Lock status of the Event.

Note that it is possible for both Time Lock and Event Lock to be active for an Event. When this is true a small lock icon will appear in the lower left corner of the Event window.