Keyboard shortcuts in a beginner music program
Press F1 in Loop by Zaweba for the full list. Space plays, R records, M is the metronome, L the loop region, and F2 and F3 switch mode.
Loop by Zaweba, a free music maker for beginners, keeps its keyboard shortcuts short and memorable, and F1 (Help > Keyboard shortcuts) shows the whole list whenever you need it. The ones you'll use from the first minute are Space to play or pause, R to record, M for the metronome, L for the loop region and Ctrl+Z to undo. F2 and F3 switch between Loop mode and Studio mode.
You can do everything with the mouse, but a handful of keys makes the app feel much quicker. Here they are, grouped by what you're doing.
Playing and recording
Space plays or pauses. Home jumps back to the start of the song. Esc stops all sound at once, which is handy if a note gets stuck or a preview keeps going.
M toggles the metronome and L toggles the loop region, so playback repeats the same bars while you work. R records. Together with a count-in, those three are all you need for a recording session. The metronome and loop previews are never exported, so you can leave them on without worrying.
Changing modes and views
F2 switches to Loop mode, the simple view with the grid, the loop library and the transport bar. F3 switches to Studio mode, which adds tabs for the piano roll, instruments, chord helper, recording, mixer, effects and automation. The same song works in both, so you can flip back and forth freely.
For moving around the grid, Ctrl+wheel zooms, Shift+wheel scrolls along, Ctrl++ and Ctrl+- zoom in and out, and Ctrl+0 fits the whole song on the screen.
Ctrl+T switches between the dark navy theme and a light one.
Editing
Ctrl+Z undoes and Ctrl+Y redoes, for every edit, up to 100 steps. Ctrl+D duplicates the selected clip, and Delete removes it. In the piano roll, Ctrl+A selects all notes, and Delete removes selected notes too.
Mouse moves round these out: drag a clip to move it, Ctrl-drag to copy it, drag its right edge to repeat it, and double-click to edit it in the riff editor.
Files
Ctrl+N starts a new song, asking only for a genre and a tempo. Ctrl+S saves and Ctrl+Shift+S saves as a new file. Ctrl+E exports a WAV. Ctrl+, opens Preferences, where you choose the sound output and buffer.
Playing notes from the keyboard
The letters double as a piano. With a track selected, A W S E D F T G Y H U J K play notes, the middle row as white keys and the row above as black keys. Z and X move the octave down and up. It's a good way to try a sound or record a melody without a MIDI keyboard.
Which to learn first
Don't try to learn them all at once. Start with Space, Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+S, because playing, undoing and saving are what you do most. Add L and M when you start recording or fine-tuning a section, and Ctrl+0 once songs get long enough to scroll.
Everything else can wait until you notice yourself reaching for the same menu item over and over. That is the moment to look it up with F1 and let the shortcut take over.
