Speed up Your Workflow With Keyboard Shortcuts

Speed and efficiency are critical factors for any music producer. The shorter the time it takes for ideas to get from your mind to your song, the more fulfilling and productive your creative process will be. For this purpose, most DAWs offer a wide range of shortcuts to help musicians improve their workflow, and mastering keyboard shortcuts will make you spend less time on strenuous things like GUI browsing and mouse clicks.

A streamlined workflow can help you focus more on the creative aspect of music production, improve your productivity, and complete projects much faster. It's always advisable to know all the standard keyboard shortcuts and create shortcuts for any process you frequently do that is not already provided. In this article, we'll show you how to speed up your workflow with keyboard shortcuts in SoundBridge.

Basic Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Have at Your Fingertips

1. Tab: Toggle Between the Mixer and Sequencer Views

Hitting the Tab key switches you from the sequencer view to the mixer view or vice versa.

This is a screen capture showcasing the SoundBridge Sequencer View

~ SoundBridge: Sequencer View

This is a screen capture showcasing the SoundBridge Mixer View

~ SoundBridge: Mixer View

2. "1": Show/Hide the File/Plugin Browser

You can use your keyboard's "1" key to show/hide the file browser quickly. This can help you free up screen space when you need it.

This is a screen capture showcasing the SoundBridge File Browser

3. "2": Show/Hide the Edit Window

The "2" key on your keyboard can help you show/hide the edit window.

This is a screen capture showcasing the SoundBridge Edit Window

4 "3": Show/Hide the Insert Rack.

Hit the "3" key on your keyboard to show/hide the insert rack.

This is a screen capture showcasing the SoundBridge Insert Rack

5. "P": Open the Preferences

Hitting the P key on your keyboard helps you open the Preferences widget, where you can find basic SoundBridge settings.

This is a screen capture showcasing the SoundBridge Preferences

6. "Q": This Selects the Select Tool

Use the Q key to change your cursor to the Select tool. This is equivalent to clicking the Select tool on the transport bar in SoundBridge.

This is a screen capture showcasing the SoundBridge Select tool

7. "X": This Selects the Cut Tool

You can hit the X key to make your cursor a Cut tool for cutting blocks in the sequencer or edit window.

This is a screen capture showcasing the SoundBridge Cut tool

8. "D": This Selects the Draw Tool

Hitting the D key makes your cursor a Draw tool, helping you quickly draw blocks, MIDI notes, or automation points.

This is a screen capture showcasing the SoundBridge Draw tool

9. "Z": This Selects the Mute Tool

Use the Z key to make your cursor a Mute tool for muting Audio, MIDI, or automation blocks in SoundBridge.

This is a screen capture showcasing the SoundBridge Mute tool

10. "T": Open/Close the Tutorial.

Hit the T key to open the SoundBridge in-app manual.

This is a screen capture showcasing the SoundBridge Tutorial

11. Ctrl + F: Freeze

Use Ctrl + F to open the freeze menu and freeze tracks in SoundBridge when you need to.

This is a screen capture showcasing the SoundBridge Freeze Menu

12. Ctrl + D: Duplicate

Ctrl + D duplicates the selected track(s) or block(s) in SoundBridge with all automation information.

This is the selected block before it is duplicated

~ Selected Block Before Duplicating With Ctrl + D

This is the selected block after it is duplicated.

~ Selected Block After Duplicating With Ctrl + D

13. Ctrl + Shift + D: Duplicate Without Automation

Ctrl + Shift + D duplicates selected blocks without duplicating their automation information.

This is the selected block before it is duplicated

~ Selected Block Before Duplicating With Ctrl + Shift + D

This is the selected block after it has been duplicated without automation

~ Selcted Block After Duplicating it WIth Ctrl + Shift + D

14. Ctrl + B: Paste to the Selected Track

Ctrl + B Pastes whatever block was copied to the currently selected track.

Please note that you can only paste audio blocks into audio tracks, MIDI blocks into MIDI tracks, and automation blocks into automation tracks.

This a screen capture of the copied block before it is pasted to another track

~ Copied Block Before Pasting to Another Track with Ctrl + B

~ Copied Block After Pasting to The Selected Track with Ctrl + B

15. Ctrl + G: Group Selected Tracks

Ctrl + G helps you group selected tracks. Select any tracks you want to group and hit Ctrl + G on your keyboard to do so quickly.

These are the selected tracks before they are grouped

~ These are the selected tracks before they are grouped with Ctrl + G

These are the selected tracks after they are grouped.

~ These are the selected tracks after they are grouped with Ctrl + G

16. Ctrl + L: Loop Selected Blocks

This sets the left and right loop markers to encompass the borders of the selected blocks.

This is a screen capture of the selected blocks before we encompass them in the loop

This is a screen capture of the selected blocks after they are encompassed in the loop region

17. Ctrl + Shift + S: Split

Using the Ctrl + Shift + S shortcut splits all blocks on the sequencer at the point where the play head is on the timeline.

Image representing the use of Split to cut through blocks in SoundBridge

18. Ctrl + M: Merge Selected Blocks

If you want to merge some blocks quickly, select them and use Ctrl + M to merge them.

Image representing two separate blocks before being merged

~ These are the selected blocks before they are merged with Ctrl + M

Image showing the two blocks merged into one block

~ These are the selected blocks after they are merged with Ctrl + M

19. Ctrl + Alt + L: Adjust Length

Use this tool to round the duration of selected MIDI notes to the nearest increment determined by the Beat Selector to the right of "Snap"

Image showing the MIDI notes before being adjusted to the nearest increment in the Beat Selector.

~ These are the selected MIDI notes before they are adjusted with Ctrl + Alt + L

Image showing the MIDI notes after being adjusted to the nearest increment in the Beat Selector.

~ These are the selected MIDI notes after they are adjusted with Ctrl + Alt + L and snapped to the grid.

20. Ctrl + Shift + Q: Quantize

Use Ctrl + Shift + Q to quantize whatever is selected to the nearest grid line as selected in the beat selector.

image of Midi notes before being Quantized into the nearest grid line

~ These are the selected MIDI notes before they are quantized with Ctrl + Shift + Q

image of Midi notes after being Quantized into the nearest grid line

~ These are the selected MIDI notes after they are quantized with Ctrl + Shift + Q

Practice Using These Shortcuts to Improve Your Workflow

Learning these keyboard shortcuts requires practice, and even though learning these shortcuts by heart may take some time, the rewards are well worth the effort. Using shortcuts often will become second nature if you make it your habit. Also, consider making a cheat sheet with the shortcuts you use the most frequently and keeping it handy while working.

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