AUTOMATION

// TWO PLACES IT LIVES

Glitch has two automation surfaces. They behave the same — points on a curve, played per-sample as the playhead crosses them — but they live in different places and are scoped differently.

• Track automation — lanes that hang underneath a track and run the full length of the timeline. The curve persists no matter what clips come and go on the track.
• Clip automation — a tiny lane inside a single audio clip. It moves, copies, and splits with the clip.

SHOWING A LANE

Right-click a track header and choose Show Automation to reveal the lane area beneath the track. Lanes stack vertically — you can have several open at once on the same track. Drag the divider at the bottom of a lane to resize its height.

WHAT YOU CAN AUTOMATE

Pick the parameter for a lane from the parameter menu on the lane header. Available parameters on a track include:

• Track volume & pan — the fader and balance you see on the strip.
• Effect parameters — every parameter of every effect in the track's chain. Reverb wet/dry, EQ band gains, compressor threshold, AutoPan rate, anything.
• Instrument parameters — Sampler controls (gain, pan, detune, ADSR, root note), DrumRack per-pad controls (gain, pan, pitch, envelope), and any parameter a VST3 plugin exposes.
• Master track — the master volume and any effect parameter on the master chain are automatable in the same way.

Track automation persists across clips. A filter sweep drawn on a track stays on the track even if you replace the audio or MIDI underneath it.

Clip automation lives inside a single audio clip. Move the clip, and the curve moves with it. Duplicate the clip, and the curve is duplicated. Split the clip, and each half keeps the portion of the curve that lies within it.

Two parameters can be automated at the clip level:

• Clip gain — level for this clip alone, layered on top of the track fader.
• Clip pitch — semitone shift applied to the clip. Only available when the clip is warped in Complex mode (pitch-preserving stretch); the Repitch warp mode does not expose a separate pitch lane.

// BREAKPOINTS & CURVES

A lane is a sequence of breakpoints connected by curves. Each breakpoint pins a value at a moment in time; the curve between two breakpoints describes how the parameter moves from one to the other.

• Add a point — click on the lane at the position where you want a new breakpoint.
• Move a point — drag it horizontally to change when it happens, vertically to change the value it pins.
• Delete a point — right-click the point and choose delete.
• Curve shape — the segment between two points can be Linear, Exponential, Logarithmic, Stepped, or S-Curve. Use Stepped for things that should jump instantly (mute, filter type, choke group), and S-Curve for musical fades.

Under the hood, the engine interpolates per sample and applies a one-pole smoothing filter so that even sharp curves never produce zipper noise. Smoothing is always on and there is no knob for it — it is a property of the engine, not a parameter you tune.

// MANUAL OVERRIDE

When a parameter is being automated and you grab its knob or fader mid-playback, Glitch disables the lane and locks the parameter to your manual value. The curve is still in memory — it just turns gray and is ignored. This lets you audition a different setting without erasing the automation you wrote.

To get the curve playing again, click Enable Automation on the lane. Playback resumes the curve from the playhead position.

// DISABLING & CLEARING

• Disable a lane — temporarily ignore the curve without losing the breakpoints. The curve grays out; the parameter holds its current value.
• Clear a lane — remove every breakpoint on the lane. The parameter snaps back to its default static value.
• Hide the lane— collapse it under the track without touching the curve. Reopen from the track's context menu.

// SAVED WITH THE PROJECT

Every lane, every breakpoint, every curve shape, and the enabled/disabled state of each lane is written into the .gpf project file. Open the project tomorrow and the automation is exactly where you left it.