Tempo and time signature

A project has a base tempo (5 to 990 BPM) and time signature, set in the control bar’s LCD or in File › Project Settings › General. Changes along the timeline live in the Global Tracks. Show them with View › Show Global Tracks (G); they sit between the ruler and the tracks: the Arrangement track at the top, then the Signature and Tempo tracks.

Tempo track

• Click empty space to add a tempo change at the snapped position, starting at the tempo in effect there, and drag straight away to set it.
• Drag a point up or down to change its tempo (Shift for 0.01 BPM steps), or sideways to move it. A drag locks to whichever direction you move first.
• Double-click a point, or select it and press Delete, to remove it. The first point can’t be removed.
• Right-click a point › Ramp to Next Tempo to glide smoothly to the next change instead of jumping. Ramps are exact: beats, the click and MIDI all follow the curve.
• Drag the lane’s bottom edge to resize it.

Signature track

• Double-click empty space to add a time signature change at that bar, or double-click a label such as “7/8” to edit it. Changes always start on a bar line.
• Right-click a label to delete it.

What follows the tempo map

These follow tempo and signature changes: the ruler’s bar numbers, the grid and Snap, quantize, nudge, the metronome (including subdivisions and accents on each bar), count-in (it uses the tempo and signature at the punch point), the bar/beat display, markers, cycle and punch defaults, the Bounce dialog’s bar range, the Piano Roll and the Audio Track Editor, and the tempo and position reported to plug-ins.

The LCD shows the tempo and signature at the playhead, live while playing. Changing the tempo there (drag, or double-click and type) edits the tempo change in effect at the playhead; the signature menu edits the signature of the playhead’s bar.

Regions stay where they are in time. Recorded audio and MIDI keep their position when the tempo changes, so audio never drifts. To keep MIDI on its bars and beats instead, turn on right-click › Move MIDI Regions with Tempo in the Tempo track before editing: tempo edits from the Tempo track or the LCD then move and stretch MIDI regions, notes and controllers to keep their musical positions. Audio, frozen tracks, automation and markers never move.

MIDI files carry their tempo and signature changes: importing into a project with no regions adopts the file’s tempo map; importing into a project that already has regions places the notes using the file’s own timing. Export writes the project’s tempo map and signatures (ramps become steps every sixteenth note, with exact durations).