25.12. Option-Drag Copy and paste is all very well, but it's a four-step procedure. When you want to copy a region into a nearby spot, there's a much more efficient techniqueOption-dragging. Press the Option key (called Alt on non-U.S. keyboards). While it's down, drag a region to a new position. You peel off a perfect copy of the original. (You may recognize this technique from working with icons in the Finder.) As with copy-and-paste , this feature is very useful when you drag horizontally , because: -
Unlike looping, Option-dragging offers a quick and easy way to make a region repeat periodically , as opposed to immediately. -
As noted earlier, Option-dragging creates a separate, fully independent region. That's a handy tactic when you want to edit the copy or copies, creating slight variations from the original. But Option-dragging (or copy-and-paste, for that matter) is also useful when you drag a region vertically into a different track. For example, you can: -
Set up part doubling . Doubling , in orchestration parlance, means "two instruments playing the exact same notes." Setting up two of the same instrument gives the melody a more intense , louder sound. But dragging a green Software Instrument region into a different Software Instrument track gives you the sound of two different instruments playing the same line, which creates a new, hybrid sound. Try, for example, dragging the loop called 80s Dance Bass Synth 08 into a track of its own, and then Option-dragging it straight up or down into a green piano or bass track. Because it's now played simultaneously by two different instruments, suddenly the lick has more kick. -
Chorus yourself . It's an age-old studio trick made famous by the Beatles. To get this effect, option-drag a region vertically into a second track; then offset the copy by a fraction of a beat by dragging it a hair to the right. (Turn off the grid as described on Section 26.10.3 before you drag.) The result is a cool, reverby, sound-bouncing effect that you can heighten by slightly reducing the volume of the duplicate.  |
