Working with linked clips

Music Creator makes it easy to repeat a pattern over and over using a feature called linked clips. Linked clips always have the same contents, name, and display color. Any change you make to the internal contents of one of the clips, such as adding or editing notes or effects, automatically applies to all of them. Any number of clips may be linked with each other. To create linked clips, copy the clips and when pasting, check the Linked Clips option in the Paste dialog box or the Drag and Drop Options dialog box. Linked clips are displayed with a dotted border, so they are easy to spot. You can also identify linked clips from the Clip Inspector or by using the Select All Siblings command in the Clips pane context menu. You can easily unlink linked clips, and then edit them individually. You have two options when unlinking linked clips:

Table 53.  

Option	How it works
New linked group	The clips you selected will still be linked to each other, but won’t be linked to any clips that are not selected
Independent	Every selected clip will be completely independent

Once you have unlinked linked clips, you cannot re-link them except by using Edit > Undo.

If you attempt to copy only a portion of a linked clip, the copy will not be linked to the original. Copies of a clip can be linked to the original only when you select and copy the entire clip.

To make linked copies of a clip using drag and drop

1.	Click the Track view Options menu and choose Drag & Drop Options to display the Drag and Drop Options dialog box.

2.	Select the option labeled Copy Entire Clips as Linked Clips.

3.

Click OK.

4.	Select the clips you want to copy.

5.	Position the mouse over one of the selected clips.

6.	Press and hold down the CTRL key.

7.	Press and hold down the left mouse button. A rectangle is displayed around the selected clips.

8.	Drag the clips to their new location, and release the mouse button.

9.	If necessary, confirm the options in the Drag and Drop Options dialog box, and click OK.

Music Creator creates copies of the selected clips that are linked to the originals. Any change you make to one of the clips is applied to all linked clips, including the original clip.

To make linked copies of a clip using copy and paste

1.	Select the clips you want to copy.

2.	Choose Edit > Copy Special to display the Copy dialog box.

3.	Choose options as desired and click OK. Music Creator copies the clips to the Clipboard.

4.	Click in the Track pane to set the current track to be the one where clips should be pasted.

5.	Set the Now time to be the time at which the clips should be pasted.

6.	Choose Edit > Paste Special to display the Paste dialog box.

7.	In the Paste dialog box, choose one of two options:

Linked Repetitions. If you choose this option, only the new copies of the original clip are linked together. Edits you make to the new copies do not affect the original, and vice versa.

Link to Original Clip(s). If you choose this option, the new copies and the original clip are linked together. Edits you make to any of the linked clips, including the original, affect all other linked clips in the group.

8.	Choose the other options you want and click OK.

Music Creator creates copies of the selected clips that are linked in the way you chose.

To unlink linked clips

1.	In the Clips pane, select the clips you want to unlink.

2.	Right-click on any selected clip and choose Unlink from the pop-up menu. Music Creator displays the Unlink Clips dialog box.

3.	Choose the unlink option you want, and click OK.

Music Creator unlinks the clips and updates the Clips pane accordingly. From now on, any changes you make to one of the clips are applied only to remaining linked clips, if any.

To select the clips that are linked to another clip

1.	Select one or more clips in the Track view.

2.	Right-click on any selected clip and choose Select All Siblings from the pop-up menu.

Music Creator selects any clip that is linked to one of the currently selected clips.