Playback
In the Session Rack, you can open a recording to use its mixer. Press the round play button or Space to play and pause the selected stems. Drag the playback marker or click a waveform to move to a passage. ← and → move five seconds at a time.
Choose 0.5×, 0.75×, or 1× to change the speed without changing the pitch. Slowing down can make a phrase or rhythm easier to follow.
Solo and Mute
Choose Mute to silence a stem. Press Solo once to bring one stem forward while the others play quietly; its button changes to Front. Press it again for Only, then once more to restore your previous mix. To play several stems together, clear Solo and mute the stems you want to leave out.
When you listen on your own, changes to the mix stay in your browser. During a live session, you can follow the instructor's playback while still using your own mute switches.
Returning to a Recording
For your own saved recordings, the app remembers your position, speed, mute choices, and loop in this browser. When you open another recording or collapse the current one, playback stops. Press play when you are ready to continue.
Loops
Press L to repeat the current passage. Press Esc to clear both the loop and any solo.
Shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Play or pause |
| ← → | Back or forward five seconds |
| 1–9 | Mute or unmute stem 1–9, top to bottom |
| Shift+1–9 | Solo stem 1–9 |
| [ ] | Previous or next note |
| L | Set a loop |
| Esc | Clear the loop and any solo |
Focus the mixer before using a shortcut. The shortcuts control that recording without interfering with text fields. You can also find them below the notes when a recording is open.
Labels and Colors
| Stem | Typical contents |
|---|---|
| vocals | Lead and backing voices. Spoken word and crowd noise may appear here too. |
| drums | Drum kit and most percussion. |
| bass | Electric and upright bass, and low synth bass. |
| other | Horns, strings, organ, synths, and other sounds. |
| guitar | Acoustic and electric guitar. Available when you choose six stems. |
| piano | Piano and some keyboard parts. Available when you choose six stems. |
When you choose two stems, instrumental contains the accompaniment. See Classes for course folders and settings.
Reading the Labels
The labels describe what the app tries to separate, but the results are not always exact. A stem can contain more than one instrument or include sounds from another part of the recording. Listen to the stems to check what the app separated.
See Sample Activities for ideas for listening and taking notes.