Step Record

Step Recording is a special, note-by-note method of recording musical note data. Rather than playing in real time, or drawing in notes with the Paint tool, you can simply specify a rhythmic value and press keys on your MIDI controller to enter notes and chords with ease and precision.

Step Record Toolbar

To access Step Record mode, click to select the Instrument Track you wish to record to, open the Editor by clicking the [Edit] button, then click the [Step] button in the Editor toolbar to display the Step Record toolbar. When you're finished, you can hide the Step Record controls by clicking the [Step] button again.

The Step Record toolbar contains the following controls:

  • Enable: Toggle this on to enter Step Record mode. When enabled, playing notes on the keyboard adds notes and chords to the currently-selected Instrument Part. Toggle Enable off to exit Step Record mode.
  • Follow Q: Enable this to link the Step Length setting to the current Quantize setting. If you change the Quantize value, the Step Length value changes to match it.
  • Step Length: With these selectors, you can choose a Step note length between whole notes and 64th notes, in the following musical note groupings: Straight, Triplet (3 notes in the space of 2), Quintuplet (5 notes in the space of 4), Septuplet (7 notes in the space of 8), or Dotted (notes are increased in length by 50% from the chosen rhythmic value).
  • Back: Click this button to erase the most recently added note or chord and move the cursor back to where that note or chord started. Press Back multiple times to erase multiple notes.
  • Rest: Click this button to move the cursor forward in time, according to the currently selected Step Length, in effect, creating a musical rest for that step.

Recording in Step Mode

To record a Part in Step Mode, follow these steps:

  1. Place the cursor at the point within the chosen Instrument Track that you wish to record to.
  2. Open the Step Record toolbar by pressing the [Step] button in the Editor toolbar.
  3. Press [Enable] to enable Step Recording.
  4. Choose a rhythmic value from the Step Length selectors. You can change this value at any time as you create the Part.
  5. Play a note on a connected MIDI controller to create a note with the specified length at the cursor location. When you release the note, the cursor moves ahead according to the Step Length setting, and you're ready to enter the next note. If you wish to enter a chord, simply play and hold the notes that make up the chord, then release.
  6. When you're finished, press [Enable] again, to exit Step Record mode.