User's Manual

206 Launching Clips
“Previous“ triggers the previous clip (the one above the current one).
“Next“ triggers the next clip down in the group. If a clip with this setting is last in a group, this
Follow Action triggers the first clip.
“First“ launches the first (top) clip in a group.
“Last“ launches the last (bottom) clip in a group.
“Any“ plays any clip in the group.
“Other“ is similar to “Any,“ but as long as the current clip is not alone in the group, no clip will
play consecutively.
There is also the possibility to have no Follow Action by selecting “No Action,“ or leaving the
chooser blank.
Note that a Follow Action happens exactly after the duration that is specified by the Follow Ac-
tion Time controls unless clip quantization is set to a value other than “None“ or “Global.“ Fol-
low Actions circumvent global quantization but not clip quantization.
So why do you need these things? Music is repetition and change. Music based on loops or
short melodic fragments has a tendency to sound static. Follow Actions allow you to create struc-
tures that will repeat but can also be surprising. Remember that you can always record (page
245) the results of your experiments, so this can provide a good source for new material.
In the following sections we will look at some practical examples and ideas for Follow Actions.
13.6.1 Looping Parts of a Clip
Let’s say that you want to play a longer clip, but then you want only the last eight bars to loop.
You can set this up using Follow Actions:
1. Drag the clip into the Arrangement View and make sure that the Clip View’s Loop switch is
not activated. Use the Edit menu’s Split command (page 117) to split the clip between the
non-looping and looping parts.
2. Click and drag the resulting two clips into the Session View by letting the mouse cursor
hover over the Session View selector. Drop the two clips into a track. They now form a Fol-
low Action group.