Timeline & Markers
The ruler, the region drawer, and marker/region editing.
Guide: Jump between markers and regions, and queue the next song
Keep a thin timeline ruler under the top bar on every mode so you always know where you are in the song, or hide it when you need the screen space.
How to use
- Tap the ruler button in the nav bar to hide the ruler.
- Tap it again to bring the ruler back.
Tips
- The setting is per device, so a phone can hide the ruler while the iPad keeps it.
- With an extension older than v0.1.11 the ruler space shows the update notice. Install the latest extension from mixsurface.app/setup.
Zoom in on the part of the song you are working on and scroll along it, without ever moving the playhead by accident.
How to use
- Pinch on the ruler to zoom in or out around your fingers, at any angle. The spot between your fingers stays under them, so sliding both fingers sideways while you pinch also scrolls.
- Drag one finger sideways to scroll, or flick to let it glide; touch to stop it. Dragging never moves the playhead.
- Pinch all the way out to see the whole project again, or tap with two fingers to fit it in one go.
Tips
- The closest zoom shows a tenth of a second; the widest shows the whole project.
- You can scroll past the end of the project into empty time, as in REAPER.
- Each project remembers its own zoom while MixSurface is open.
Zoomed in on a chorus and need to see where you are in the song? Tap the ruler with two fingers to see the whole project, and tap again to land back exactly where you were.
How to use
- Tap the ruler with two fingers at once, without moving them. The view zooms out to the whole project.
- Tap with two fingers again to go back to the zoom and position you had.
Tips
- It works on the arrange lanes too.
- If you pinch or scroll after fitting, that becomes your view: the next two-finger tap fits again from there.
- A one-finger tap still moves the playhead as before. Two fingers never move it.
Keep the playhead in view#
FreeWhile you are zoomed in and REAPER is playing, the ruler pages along with the playhead so you never lose your place. Switch it off in the menu when you want the view to stay put.
How to use
- Zoom in on the ruler and start playback in REAPER.
- The ruler pages forward when the playhead reaches the edge.
- If you scroll away by hand during playback, following pauses. To jump back to the playhead, pause or stop, then press play.
- To turn following off, open the menu (the three dots in the top bar) and switch off Follow playhead.
Tips
- Following also comes back on its own when the playhead moves back into the part of the song you are looking at.
- While REAPER is stopped you can scroll freely; pressing play brings the view to the playhead.
- The setting is saved on this device.
Jump straight to a song section or a cue while tracking away from the computer or playing live.
How to use
- Tap a colored region band on the ruler to go to the start of that region.
- Tap a marker tick to go to that marker.
Tips
- Jumps follow REAPER’s smooth-seek setting, exactly like pressing the key in REAPER. With smooth seek on, a jump while playing waits for the end of the measure.
- The left end of the ruler shows the name of the region you are in and the current position.
- Each marker and region name sits on a chip in its own color, so it stays readable over the bar numbers.
Tap any empty point on the ruler to move the playhead there, as a click on REAPER's ruler does.
How to use
- Tap an empty part of the ruler. The playhead moves to that point.
Tips
- Tapping a marker or region jumps to it instead.
- Zoom in first for a more precise spot.
- With snapping on in REAPER, the playhead lands on the nearest grid line.
- Holding on a region band loops that region.
- Holding, then sliding sideways, draws a loop.
Set REAPER's loop to a region and turn Repeat on, from the ruler or the region drawer.
How to use
- Press and hold a region on the ruler until you feel a tap, then lift your finger.
- REAPER’s loop now covers that region and Repeat turns on.
- Or open the region drawer and tap the loop button on a region’s row.
Tips
- The loop button stays lit while the loop matches that region.
- The ruler shows the loop as a band: bright with Repeat on, dim with it off.
Hold on the ruler, then slide sideways to draw a loop of any length. It turns Repeat on when you lift your finger.
How to use
- Press and hold where the loop should start until you feel a tap.
- Without lifting, slide left or right. A band shows the loop as you draw it.
- Lift your finger. REAPER’s loop is set and Repeat turns on.
Tips
- Drawing works in either direction and over regions too.
- Put a second finger down to cancel without changing the loop.
- Start a new loop away from the ends of the current one: a hold and drag on an end’s tab moves that end instead.
- With snapping on in REAPER, the loop jumps from grid line to grid line as you draw.
Move the loop's start or end to the playhead, or clear the loop, from a small sheet on the ruler.
How to use
- Tap the bar along the top of the ruler, inside the loop.
- Choose Start to playhead or End to playhead to move that edge.
- Choose Clear loop to remove it.
Tips
- Changes you make to the loop in REAPER show on the ruler straight away.
The ruler shows REAPER's bars and beats. When snapping is on in REAPER, drawn loops and long-press seeks land on the grid.
How to use
- Look at the ruler: bar lines carry bar numbers (or the time at that bar when the top bar shows time), numbered the way REAPER numbers them, including a project’s measure offset and start time offset, and beat lines appear as you zoom in.
- To snap, turn on snapping in REAPER (Options: Toggle snapping). The ruler follows it.
- Draw a loop or tap to seek. Both land on the nearest line you can see.
Tips
- Zoom in to snap to beats, zoom out to snap to bars.
- If your project starts at bar 0 or bar 101, or at a time offset, the ruler matches the top bar.
- Tempo and time-signature changes in REAPER show up on the grid.
- Jumping to a marker always goes to the marker itself, never to the grid.
Each end of the loop has a line and a small tab on the ruler. Drag one to move just that end, as you would drag a time selection edge in REAPER.
How to use
- Find the loop’s start or end: a thin line in the loop colour with a small tab at the top of the ruler. In the arrange, the line runs down through the tracks too.
- Put your finger on or near the tab and slide left or right. Only that end moves, and the loop shows its new length as you go.
- Lift your finger. REAPER’s loop is set to the new range.
Tips
- With snapping on in REAPER, the end jumps from grid line to grid line, just like drawing a loop.
- Drag one end past the other and they swap, so the loop never turns inside out.
- Put a second finger down to cancel. The loop goes back to where it was and nothing changes in REAPER.
- A tap on the tab still does what a tap there always did: inside the loop it opens the loop sheet.
- Moving an end leaves Repeat as it was.
See every marker and region as a big, easy-to-hit list and jump to any of them. Built for live sets, so nothing in the drawer can edit your project.
How to use
- Tap the drawer button on the ruler.
- Tap a row to jump to that marker or region.
- Tap outside the drawer, or swipe it away, to close it.
Tips
- The row the playhead is in is highlighted.
- While playing, REAPER jumps at the end of the bar or the current region. Until it does, the row you tapped pulses and says NEXT, and the same marker or region pulses on the ruler.
- Each row shows the number, name and start time, plus the length for regions.
- The drawer opens below the top bar, so play, stop and record stay in reach while it is open.
Pin the marker and region list to the left side so it stays open while you work in the Mixer, Channel, Control or Arrange. Needs a landscape screen about 950 px wide or more.
How to use
- Open the drawer from the ruler.
- Tap the pin left of the title. The drawer stays and everything else moves to its right.
- Tap the close button to put the drawer away. It stays pinned, so the next time you open it, it comes back docked.
- Tap the pin again to unpin.
Tips
- Pinning is only offered with the screen in landscape and at least about 950 px wide, which covers iPads and wide tablets but not phones. Turn to portrait and the drawer steps aside; turn back and it returns.
- The pin is remembered when you reopen the app.
In a live set, line up the next song so REAPER finishes the current region and then carries on from the one you picked.
How to use
- Open the region drawer while REAPER is playing.
- Press and hold the row of the region you want next.
- REAPER plays to the end of the current region, then continues from the start of the one you picked.
Tips
- A plain tap on a region or marker row jumps straight away. Only regions have the long-press; a marker has no end to wait for.
Cut the drawer down to just the regions, just the markers, or one ruler lane, so the song list stays short.
How to use
- Open the region drawer.
- Tap All, Regions or Markers.
- If your project uses ruler lanes, tap a lane to show only what is on it.
Tips
- Ruler lanes need REAPER 7.62 or later. On older REAPER there are no lanes and the lane filter does not appear.
- Markers and lanes you hide in REAPER stay hidden in MixSurface.
Drop a marker or a region where you are while tracking, so you can find the take or the section later without going back to the computer.
How to use
- Open the region drawer and tap Edit. The editor opens in the section you are in, under the top bar and the ruler.
- Tap + Marker or + Region.
- The new item appears at the playhead.
Tips
- A new region covers REAPER’s time selection if you have one, otherwise the next 4 bars.
Name your song sections and color-code them so the ruler and drawer read at a glance on stage.
How to use
- Open full mode from the drawer’s Edit button.
- Tap the name of a row to rename it.
- Tap the color chip to pick a new color.
Tips
- On REAPER before 7.62, a color cannot be reset to REAPER’s default from MixSurface.
Fix up a section's start or end while you listen, by parking the playhead where it should be.
How to use
- Move the playhead to the right spot.
- Tap the marker or region row to open its editor, then tap Start to playhead.
- For a region, tap End to playhead to move its end to the playhead.
Tips
- A region’s end cannot move before its start; MixSurface tells you if REAPER refuses.
Set the number REAPER's own go-to-marker keys use, so your keyboard shortcuts and MixSurface agree.
How to use
- In full mode, tap the number on a row.
- Enter the new number and confirm.
Tips
- Two regions cannot share a number. If the number is taken, MixSurface shows that REAPER refused the change.
Clear out markers and regions you no longer need without walking back to the computer.
How to use
- In full mode, tap Delete on the row.
- Confirm.
Tips
- Deleting uses REAPER’s own delete, so REAPER’s undo brings it back.
Set up REAPER's ruler lanes from the iPad, so your songs, cues and notes each get their own row on the ruler without going back to the computer.
How to use
- Open the region drawer and tap Edit.
- Tap Lanes. Every lane is listed, hidden ones too.
- Type a new name and tap Done, or tap the colour chip to pick a colour.
- Tap the eye to hide or show a lane on REAPER’s ruler.
- Tap + Lane to add a lane at the bottom.
- Tap the bin to delete a lane, then confirm.
Tips
- Deleting a lane deletes the markers and regions on it too. The confirm says how many. You can undo it in REAPER.
- You cannot delete the last lane.
- A hidden lane’s eye lights up, so the lanes you have hidden stand out.
- The Lanes button needs REAPER 7.62 or later.
Choose whether a jump while playing happens at once or waits for the end of the bar, so a song change lands in time.
How to use
- Open the region drawer and tap Edit.
- Set Smooth seek to On or Off.
Tips
- On: while playing, a jump waits for the end of the bar. Off: it happens at once.
- This is REAPER’s own setting, so it changes seeking in REAPER too, and a change made in REAPER shows here.