Automation

Automation records how a control changes over time: a fader that rises into the chorus, a filter that opens across eight bars, a reverb that grows on the last word. Each automated control gets its own lane under the track, drawn in musical time so it stays in place when the tempo changes. Playback and export follow the same lanes, and the engine aligns every move with the audio even when effects add latency.

When to use it

Use it for anything you would otherwise do by hand on every pass: volume rides, pan moves, send levels into a reverb, an effect parameter that should change in one section, or an instrument control that opens over a phrase. Automation is the difference between a static mix and an arrangement.

Controls

Adding a lane

Open the parameter selector beside the G button on a track and pick a control. Channel level, pan and sends are always available. Every effect in the rack lists its parameters, grouped as the effect shows them, and the virtual instruments list theirs. A track can hold as many lanes as you need; each one shows and hides independently.

Managing lanes

Open the track’s automation button to see Lanes on this track, including hidden and bypassed lanes. Reading / Bypassed switches between the lane and the manual value. Shown / Hidden changes only visibility; hidden lanes keep playing. Delete removes a lane, and Undo brings it back. The overview stays available while you search for another parameter.

The track button shows the lane count and uses the accent color while any lane is reading, including hidden lanes. Track rows and automation lanes share the same timeline grid as you zoom.

Editing points

Click in a lane to add a point and drag a point to move it. Right-click a point to choose a ramp or hold, or double-click it to delete it. Values are shown in the control’s own units.

Manual override

Turning an automated control bypasses its lane so you can try a manual value without erasing the points. Resume the lane explicitly when you want automation to read again; stopping and restarting playback does not resume it.

LFO

A continuous lane can carry a modulation panel: a shape, a rate in beats or hertz, and a depth that adds to the drawn curve. The timeline previews the result, so a slow sine on a filter cutoff is visible before you hear it.

Tips

• Automate the send into a reverb instead of the reverb’s mix when you want one voice to bloom while others stay dry.
• Automation points stay at their song positions when you move or copy clips.
• Frozen tracks keep their lanes; unfreeze to edit them again.
• Master has no automation lanes yet. To fade or ramp the whole mix, nest every track in one group and automate the group’s fader and effects instead. Right-clicking a Master control says the same.