How do I set the key in Neutral Tracks?

The key track is a global timeline lane. Set a key and scale for the project or add key changes at any bar, and the piano roll highlights in-scale notes at every position. Scale snap constrains input to the active key; 13 scales are built in. The chord track shows chords with roman numerals.

How do I add a key change mid-song?

The key track is a global timeline lane. Set a key and scale for the project or add key changes at any bar, and the piano roll highlights in-scale notes at every position. Scale snap constrains input to the active key; 13 scales are built in. The chord track shows chords with roman numerals.

Why are some notes highlighted in the piano roll?

The key track is a global timeline lane. Set a key and scale for the project or add key changes at any bar, and the piano roll highlights in-scale notes at every position. Scale snap constrains input to the active key; 13 scales are built in. The chord track shows chords with roman numerals.

What scales does Neutral Tracks have built in?

The key track is a global timeline lane. Set a key and scale for the project or add key changes at any bar, and the piano roll highlights in-scale notes at every position. Scale snap constrains input to the active key; 13 scales are built in. The chord track shows chords with roman numerals.

Can I turn scale snap off?

The key track is a global timeline lane. Set a key and scale for the project or add key changes at any bar, and the piano roll highlights in-scale notes at every position. Scale snap constrains input to the active key; 13 scales are built in. The chord track shows chords with roman numerals.

What does the chord track show in Neutral Tracks?

The key track is a global timeline lane. Set a key and scale for the project or add key changes at any bar, and the piano roll highlights in-scale notes at every position. Scale snap constrains input to the active key; 13 scales are built in. The chord track shows chords with roman numerals.

Keys, scales, and chords

Set a key and scale for the whole project on the key track (a global lane on the timeline, alongside tempo and time signature), or add key changes at any bar. The piano roll reads the key at the current position and highlights the in-scale notes, so writing in key is visual, not memorized. The chord track shows each chord’s function in the current key as roman numerals.

Scales and scale snap

Thirteen scales are built in, from major and minor through the modes and pentatonics. Scale snap constrains note input to the active key and scale. Notes land where they belong, so the key you set once shapes every note you draw after it. Toggle scale snap off any time for chromatic freedom.

Key changes mid-song

A key change at bar 17 is a region on the key track, placed on the timeline like any other global lane content. Everything that reads the key (piano roll highlighting, scale snap, chord analysis) updates at that position automatically. There’s nothing to re-point or refresh: the current position decides which key applies.

The chord track

The chord track displays chord symbols along the timeline, with roman numeral analysis showing each chord’s function in the current key (I, IV, V, vi), so the harmonic structure of the song is readable at a glance. Chord regions re-analyze automatically when the key changes: the same chord shows its new function in the new key. Roman numerals toggle on or off in project settings.

Seeing MIDI on the timeline

MIDI clips render their instrument’s waveform faintly behind the note blocks on the timeline, so amplitude and timbre are visible without bouncing anything to audio. You can see what a part sounds like, not just which notes it plays.