Defining sections of your song

To use the Arranger track, you must first define time range sections such as Intro, Verse, Chorus, etc. Sections can be of any duration, but it is common to start/end them at measure boundaries.

 

Tip: When drawing section in the Arranger timeline, enable Snap to Grid and set the snap resolution to Measure.

Section behaviors

Sections are presented above the Clips pane, immediately below the time ruler.

Sections cannot overlap, but do not have to be contiguous.

Changing the position of a section changes the relative positions of track content within the section, with ripple effect.

Section position can also be changed without modifying track events.

To add a section

If the Arranger track is not visible, click the Track view View menu and select Arranger Track Show/Hide, or press A.

If the Arranger Inspector is not visible, click the Show/Hide Arranger button at the top of the Inspector pane.

New sections can be created by any of the following means:

Draw a range within the Arranger track timeline (below the time ruler).

Hold down the ALT key to overwrite any downstream sections you draw over.

Hold down the SHIFT key to move over any downstream sections.

Double-click a blank area in the Arranger track. The new section duration is inherited from the last clicked section.

To insert a new section that spans the gap between two existing sections, hold down the ALT key and double-click the gap, or right-click the gap and select Span Sections.

To insert a section at the mouse position, right-click the blank area in the Arranger track timeline and point to Insert Section, then select Here and select the desired section type.

To insert a section at the Now Time, right-click the blank area in the Arranger track timeline and point to Insert Section, then select At Now Time and select the desired section type.

A new section appears at the Now Time position.

If there is space between the Now Time and the next section, the new section will be equal to the size of the previous selected section, or truncated to fit in the gap.

If there is no space between the Now Time and the next section, the new section will be equal to the size of the previous selected section, and downstream sections move to make room. Any selected track events also move.

If the Now Time position overlaps an existing section, the new section is added at the end.

Click the Add Section button in the Arranger Inspector.

The new section duration is inherited from the last clicked section, or defaults to 1 measure.

If no sections are selected, the new section is added at the end.

If at least one section is selected, the new section is added at the beginning of the selection, and downstream sections move to make room. Any selected track events also move.

Tip: Right-click the Add Section button to insert a section of a specific type (see Section types).

Make a time selection, for example by selecting a range of track events, then right-click in the time ruler and select Create Section from Selection. A new Arranger section is created with start/end times defined by the selection.

You can convert existing text markers to sections. For details, see Converting markers to sections and vice versa.

New sections are given a default name and color, which can be changed by right-clicking the section (see To rename a section and To change the section color).

Figure 166. Adding a section in the Arranger track timeline adds it in the Arranger Inspector as well.

Figure 167. Adding a section in the Arranger Inspector adds it in the Arranger track timeline as well.

By default, drawing a section or clicking the Add Section button creates a new unassigned section, which can then be assigned to a specific section type (see To assign a section type to a section). However, you can also directly insert a section of a specific type. This can be done in the following ways:

Right-click in the Arranger track and point to Insert Section, then select the desired section type from the submenu.

Right-click the Add Section button in the Arranger Inspector and select the section type from the pop-up menu.

In the Media Browser, select the Arranger Templates content location preset, then open the Single sections folder and drag the desired template to an Arranger track.

Figure 168. Insert Section menu.

A. Insert the section at the location you clicked B. Insert the section at the Now Time C. Insert an unassigned section D. Section type to insert

For more information about section types, see Section types.

Converting markers to sections and vice versa

You can automatically create Arranger sections based on existing text markers (see Creating and using markers), and vice versa.

To convert markers to sections, make a time selection in the time ruler that spans the text markers, then right-click in the time ruler and select Create Sections from Markers.

The easiest way to use this is to use CTRL+A to select all before invoking this command. Sections are created, beginning at each text marker location, and ending at the location of the next marker in the timeline. Note that if you have markers beyond the last clip, you may have to extend your selection to encompass this marker.

The Create Markers from Sections command is similar, except it creates markers from sections. In both cases, any duplicates are skipped.

Figure 169. Convert markers to Arranger sections.

A. Markers B. Sections 

To delete a hole between two sections

1.	Drag in the time ruler to select the time range that spans the hole you want to delete.

 

Tip: You can hold ALT and double-click the gap in the Arranger track timeline to create a temporary new sections that spans the gap, then select the new section.

2.	Enable Ripple Edit All (click the Ripple Edit On/Off button , or click the Track view Options menu and select Ripple Edit All (see Ripple editing).

3.	Go to Edit > Delete.

The hole is removed, and track events shift over to fill the gap.

Remember to disable Ripple Edit All if you no longer need to use ripple editing.

 

See:

Arranger tracks

Arranger tracks

Arranger Inspector

Section types

Section types

Editing sections

Creating arrangements

Navigating by Arranger sections

Exporting arrangements

Arranger templates