20
Shortcuts, formats and terms
General shortcuts
Tool shortcuts depend on the active area: V, B, C, and M only work in Editor mode. When you're typing in a text field, keystrokes go to that field, not to the transport.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New Session | Cmd+N |
| Open Session | Cmd+O |
| Save Session | Cmd+S |
| Save Session As | Cmd+Shift+S |
| Close Session | Cmd+W |
| Import MIDI | Cmd+I |
| Close MIDI | Cmd+Shift+W |
| Export Video | Cmd+Shift+E |
| Visualizer / Practice / Editor | Cmd+1 / Cmd+2 / Cmd+3 |
| Zoom the waterfall in / out (Visualizer and Practice) | Cmd++ / Cmd+− |
| Reset Waterfall Zoom | Cmd+0 |
| Zoom in / out / fit in the Editor | Cmd++ / Cmd+− / Cmd+0 |
| Start or stop playback | Space |
| Go to start | Return, or Enter on the numeric keypad |
| Previous / next bar | , / . (also 1 and 2 on the numeric keypad) |
| Eight bars back / forward | Shift+, / Shift+. |
| Previous / next beat | Control+, / Control+. |
| Previous / next marker | Option+, / Option+. |
| Start recording right away | Cmd+R (also 3 on the numeric keypad) |
| Turn loop on/off | Cmd+L |
| Undo / Redo | Cmd+Z / Cmd+Shift+Z |
| Copy / Paste | Cmd+C / Cmd+V |
| Left Hand / Right Hand (editor selection) | Cmd+Option+L / Cmd+Option+R |
| Settings | Cmd+, |
| Help | Cmd+? |
| Full Screen | Control+Cmd+F |
Space also starts an armed recording and stops a take in progress. To pause while keeping the position, use the Pause button.
Tools and gestures
| Context | Action | Gesture |
|---|---|---|
| Editor | Move Tool | V |
| Editor | Pencil Tool | B |
| Editor | Camera tool | C (press it again to exit) |
| Editor | Marker at the playhead, with its name ready to type | M |
| Piano roll | Left / right hand for the selection | L / R |
| Editor ruler | Set loop | Cmd-drag |
| Markers | Locate marker | Cmd-click |
| Markers | Rename | Double-click |
| Editable selection | Delete | Delete/Backspace |
| MIDI overview | Locate | Click |
| MIDI overview | Zoom | Option+scroll wheel |
| Stopped waterfall | Scroll through | Scroll wheel |
| Visualizer | Zoom the waterfall in or out | Cmd+scroll wheel |
| Audio track | Trim one end | Drag the edge |
| Audio track | Fade in or fade out | Drag the handle at the top |
| Audio track | Fade curve | Right-click the handle |
| Audio channel fader | Return to 0 dB | Option-click or double-click |
| Instrument EQ | Change Q | Option-drag |
| Instrument EQ | Reset band to 0 dB | Double-click |
| Mapping | Multiple selection | Shift/Cmd-click |
| Mapping | Duplicate zone | Option-drag |
Files you'll come across
| Format | Contents or purpose |
|---|---|
.mdss | Medussa session. |
.mid, .midi | MIDI notes, timing, and controllers. |
.mdss-settings | Reusable Medussa settings. |
.mdprofile | Appearance profile: a complete look for the scene. |
.mdpreset | Preset for a single visualizer (keys, waterfall, particles…). |
.mdsshis | Exported practice history. |
.asti and its samples | Medussa instrument. Keep its samples folder with it when you share it. |
.wav | Rendered audio; can also be imported as a reference. |
.aiff, .mp3 | Audio you can use as a reference. |
.mp4 | H.264 or HEVC video with an opaque background. |
.mov | ProRes video or the available alpha formats. |
.pdf | Chart or practice report, depending on the export. |
Glossary
MIDI: instructions that say which note to play, when, how hard, and with which controllers. It is not a sound recording.
Session: the content and settings you save so you can pick up your work again.
Transport: the playback, stop, and record controls.
Playhead: the marker showing the current position in the piece.
BPM: beats per minute; the speed of the beat.
Bar: a group of beats, such as 4/4 or 3/4.
A/B Loop: a section that repeats between two boundaries.
Count-Off: bars of metronome before the exercise begins.
Velocity: how hard a MIDI note is played. Its audible effect depends on the instrument.
CC: a MIDI control message; CC64 usually corresponds to the sustain pedal.
Pitch Bend: a continuous control that shifts pitch.
Piano roll: an editor that shows notes by pitch and length on a time grid.
Lane: an area of the timeline dedicated to one type of information.
Snap: aligning edits to a grid.
Quantization: moving notes toward chosen rhythmic positions.
TICK / SMPL: anchoring to a musical position or to absolute time, respectively.
Audio Unit / AU: the audio plugin format Medussa uses.
Sampler: an instrument that plays back audio samples.
Zone: the assignment of a sample to a range of notes and velocities.
Chart / Lead sheet: in this help, a chord sheet organized by bars.
Hand: the tag each note in the piece carries—left or right—which decides which colors it's drawn with. It travels inside the MIDI, not on a separate track.
Appearance Profile: a complete look for the scene, with its presets, active layers, background, floor, and glow.
Preset: saved settings for a single visualizer.
Scene Glow / HDR Bloom: light that spills from the brightest parts of the image onto what's around them.
Trim: cutting the ends of an audio clip. It doesn't change the file: it only changes which part plays.
Fade: a gradual rise or fall in a clip's volume, with the chosen curve.
Fader: a channel's level control. In Medussa, the audio track's fader lives in its channel strip and in the Mixer.
dBFS: decibels relative to digital full scale. 0 dBFS is the ceiling; useful values are negative.
Peak hold: a marker that stays for a few seconds at the highest level reached, so you can see it even after it has passed.
Alpha channel: transparency information inside an image or video.
Frame Rate / FPS: the number of images per second of video.
Resolution: the image's dimensions in pixels.
Aspect Ratio: the relationship between width and height, for example 16:9 or 9:16.
DAW: an audio production application where you can continue recording, editing, and mixing.
General preferences
In Settings > Global, set what happens when Medussa opens, automatic backups, and how linked media is managed. In Settings > Scene > Main, choose the interface theme; that theme doesn't change the colors of the exported visualization.
The interface is available in Spanish, English, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese. Some instrument controls and musical terms may keep their English names.
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