Keyboard shortcuts in the pattern editor

[calvin]

Implement as many shortcuts as possible from Impulse tracker. Here's an excerpt from IT.TXT:

         5) Editing Functions

             For a complete list of available functions, check the help screen
             for the pattern editor (on F1)

           Ctrl-Backspace       IMPORTANT! This one will save you a lot of
                                frustration - it's a 10-stage listed Undo
                                function!

           Grey Plus    Advance to next pattern
           Grey Minus   Goto previous pattern
           Shift-GPlus  Advance 4 patterns
           Shift-GMinus Go back 4 patterns
           Ctrl-GPlus   Go to the next order's pattern
           Ctrl-GMinus  Go to the previous order's pattern

           Alt-Delete   Remove an entire row from the pattern
           Alt-Insert   Insert an entire row into the pattern

           '.'          erase data.
           Space        will enter the previous data for that column.
           '4'          play the note under the cursor.
           '8'          play entire row.
           Ctrl-F6      play pattern from the current row.
           Ctrl-F7      Set playback mark - this will be the position that
                        subsequent playback will occur when you press F7.
                        Remove the mark by pressing Ctrl-F7 on the row
                        that is already 'marked.'

           Alt-0 -> 9   Quick select "skip value"
                        The skip value is the number of rows that the
                        editor advances by when a note is entered - this
                        makes it easy to enter notes on alternate rows
                        (press alt-2 first!)

                        If the skip value is 0, then the editor will
                        advance to the next channel (making it easier to
                        enter chords)

                        If the skip value is 0, AND template mode is on,
                        then entering a note will cause the editor to
                        advance by the length of the template block.

           Alt-Enter     Store current pattern in memory
           Alt-Backspace Restore current pattern

         6) Block Functions
           Alt-B        Mark top left of block
           Alt-E        Mark bottom right of block
           Alt-L        Mark entire column (channel)
           Alt-L*2      Mark entire pattern
           Alt-D        Mark the minor row hilight number of rows. Pressing
                        this repeatedly doubles the length of the block.
                        eg. Pressing Alt-D once may mark out 16 rows,
                        pressing it twice will mark 16 rows.

           Alt-A        Transpose all the notes in the block a semitone
                        down If no block is marked, then the current note
                        will be transposed a semitone down.
           Alt-C        Copy marked block into the clipboard
           Alt-F        Double the length of the selected block
           Alt-G        Halve the length of the selected block
           Alt-I        Toggle Template mode... read part 8
           Alt-J        Volume Amplifier... modify the volume controls
                        between 0 and 200%
           Alt-K        Slide volume... if you want to manually control a
                        fadeout, or fadein, then set the volumes at the
                        extreme ends of the blocks, then press Alt-K ONCE!
           Alt-K*2      Remove all volume controls in the selected block
           Alt-M        Mix clipboard with pattern data.. try it out, and
                        you'll understand (it's like an advanced paste
                        command - it'll only copy the data IF there is nothing
                        on the row it is copying to.)
                        Pressing this two times will copy the data if there's
                        nothing in the same FIELD (not just same row).
           Alt-N        Toggle Multichannel mode.. Multichannel mode allows
                        you to select for each channel whether it should be
                        part of the multichannel list. If you enter a note
                        while on a channel which is in the multichannel
                        list, then the editor will advance to the next
                        channel.
           Alt-N*2      Multichannel menu.
           Alt-O        Overwrite pattern data with clipboard. Like paste,
                        but without the "insert" part :)
           Alt-P        Paste clipboard into pattern at current position
           Alt-Q        Transpose all the notes in the block a semitone up
                        If no block is marked, then the current note will
                        be transposed a semitone up.
           Alt-S        Set all the instrument (sample) values to the
                        current instrument (sample) within a block
           Alt-U        Unmark block / release clipboard from memory.
           Alt-V        Set all the volume controls to the current
           Alt-W        Remove all volumes not associated with a note/inst
           Alt-X        Slide command value. Similar to Alt-K (slide
                        volume). This command can be convenient to slide
                        the panning from one position to another, or to
                        slide global volume effects, channel volume, sample
                        offsets... whatever...

           Alt-X*2      Erase all effect data in the selected block!
           Alt-Y        Swap selected block with a samesized/shaped block
                        starting at the current position. Swap blocks
                        CANNOT overlap.
           Alt-Z        Cut current block.
                        Warning: If you don't have enough memory, the
                        current block WILL be erased, although there is no
                        record of it in the clipboard....

[calvin]

Thanks for Benjamin Bruheim for this

[user]

a request :

for area selection buze could have ( when in track parameters. without interfering with the new selection commands ) shift +up; for select current field shift +up+up; select all parameters in current track shift +up+up; select all tracks shift +up+up+up; select all parameters of machine

: )

[user]

or maybe ctrl+shift+(up, up+up, up+up+up) ?

[user]

While all of these shortcuts are worth implementing, there are a few that are not yet in Buze but that are not very difficult to implement and are (at least for me) very important for composing without hassles.

Among these are the marking shortcuts (especially Alt-L for selecting a whole track)

Alt-B Mark top left of block Alt-E Mark bottom right of block Alt-L Mark entire column (channel) Alt-L*2 Mark entire pattern Alt-D Mark the minor row hilight number of rows. Pressing

this repeatedly doubles the length of the block. eg. Pressing Alt-D once may mark out 16 rows, pressing it twice will mark 16 rows.

this makes selecting pretty much a gazillion times faster than scrolling with shift (how boring!...) or shamefully using a mouse!

I'm also used to having ALT-Q and ALT-A perform the transpose up/down one semitone. These are the classic keystrokes used since ScreamTracker?.

The "space" to enter the previous data in the column is also an important (and easy to implement) keystroke for rapid editing.