Performing with Grit
Load decks, launch sections in time, and shape a performance around one shared tempo.
On this page
Perform turns prepared tracks into playable sections. Each deck holds a track, its section pads, and its own mix. A shared session tempo and two launch grids keep your changes coordinated.
If your music is not ready yet, start with Library and import and Preparing tracks.
Start a deck#
- Open Perform and choose a deck. Press 1–8 to focus the corresponding deck, or click its controls.
- Use an empty deck’s primary button to open the library. Choose a track and load it into the intended deck.
- Wait for loading to finish. A loaded track is ready to launch; loading alone does not start it.
- Click a section pad, or select a section with ↑ / ↓ and press Enter.
The focused deck receives performance shortcuts. ← / → changes deck focus, while Q–P launches the ten sections in the current keyboard bank. For longer tracks, [ / ] changes that bank. The section list itself can contain more than ten sections.
In Perform, Space operates the focused deck’s primary transport: start a ready deck, pause or resume playback, or cancel a queued start. Option+S stops the focused deck. Stop All stops every deck. Text fields and editors take keyboard input while you are editing them; close them before using performance shortcuts.
Choose when a launch happens#
Two grids in the toolbar decide when a press lands, one for each kind of gesture. Neither overrides the other.
Sections, the button with section bands, times section launches (Q–P, Enter, the section bands on a deck and controller clip pads) as well as deck stops and scenes. It offers Free, 1 Beat, 1 Bar, 4 Bars, 8 Bars, and End. End waits for the end of the section the deck is playing, or for the point where a looping section wraps. A scene waits for the first section end the music reaches, and a deck that plays no section starts on the next bar. Start with 1 Bar for straightforward transitions. A pad press can queue a launch until its boundary, so watch the queued state before pressing again.
Juggle, the button with a hop between pads, times bar juggles (A–L, clicks in the waveform and controller bar pads) as well as Space play and resume, and Sync. It offers Free, 1/16, 1/8, 1 Beat, and 1 Bar. With Sections on End and Juggle on Free, sections change at the end of the phrase while bar juggles land at once.
Choose Free for an immediate response. Longer boundaries give you time to prepare changes across several decks. Option+Q cycles the Sections grid and Option+W the Juggle grid; add Shift to cycle backward.
Escape clears pending launches when no overlay or scratch gesture owns the key. It is useful for cancelling a transition while the current music continues.
Decide what happens at the section end#
These choices belong to each deck and are independent of its stem mix:
| Control | Shortcut | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Cont | V | Continue from the launched section through the rest of the track. |
| Loop | B | Repeat the launched section. |
| Stop | N | Play the section once, then stop the deck. |
Section-end Loop repeats a musical section. The numbered loop pads create loops of a chosen bar length; see Loops and scratch for those controls.
Move inside a section#
Use A–L to trigger the nine pads in the focused deck’s current bank. ; / ' moves backward or forward through the banks. The pads belong to the active section, making them useful for repeating a phrase or jumping to its final bars.
By default each pad starts a bar. Under Pads, the Juggle menu also splits them into 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, or 1/16 of a bar, on every deck; Option+; / Option+' makes the pads finer or coarser. At a finer step the deck’s bar view zooms onto the nine pads the keys reach, with a line at each jump, and ; / ' moves the view with the bank. Changing the step keeps the bank where it was in the music. To play the pads like an instrument, let juggles land on the same step or on Free: with Juggle on 1 Bar, every pad waits for the next bar.
Accurate bar jumps depend on the beatgrid. If a jump lands in the wrong place, correct the track in Preparing tracks before relying on it in a set.
Match tempo and key#
Set the session BPM for the mix. The tempo editor accepts a typed value with Enter and cancels with Escape. Option+T taps a tempo. Hold , / . to momentarily bend the focused deck backward or forward, then release to return to normal speed.
Pitch lock keeps musical pitch steady as tempo changes. Key Sync follows the chosen master key and enables pitch lock, preserving the track’s major or minor mode. Disconnect Key Sync to keep the current transposition without following later master-key changes.
For a first transition, use two decks: keep one instrumental playing, cue the next vocal section, then bring it in at a bar boundary. Continue with Stems and mixer or save the combination as a scene.