Transport

Play, stop, record, the skips and the loop toggle.

Play

Starts playback from the edit cursor, or from the start of the selection if you have one.

Once playback is running the same button becomes Pause. Press it to stop at the current position, and again to carry on from there.

• No selection: plays from the edit cursor to the end of the project.
• A selection: plays the selected region only.
• A loop region enabled: plays the loop region and repeats it. See Toggle Loop Region.

Playback follows whichever tracks are unmuted. A soloed track plays on its own; see the Track Control Panel for mute and solo.

Stop

Stops playback or recording. The playhead returns to where playback started rather than staying where you stopped it.

Stopping ends a recording and keeps what was captured: the audio stays in the track. Stopping is not undoing: to discard a take, stop first and then undo.

Record

Starts recording from the currently selected input. While recording, the button shows its active state.

While a take is running the button turns red, so you can tell recording is live without watching the meter. Pressing it again stops the recording.

Before you record, check the input device and the record level. A signal that never moves the meter won’t be captured, and one that pins it will clip. See Microphone level for the meter, and Audio setup in the Project Toolbar for choosing the input.

Connect your microphone walks through the whole recording setup rather than just this button.

Recording adds audio to a track. Where it lands depends on your selection and which track is focused. See the Track Control Panel pages for adding and selecting tracks.

Rewind to Start

Moves the playhead back to the start of the project. The button carries a skip-back icon.

Rewinding also clears any time selection. It is present in every workspace.

Rewind to End

Moves the playhead to the end of the project. The button carries a skip-forward icon.

Like Rewind to start, it is present in every workspace.

Toggle Loop Region

Turns the loop region on and off. Unlike Play, Stop and Record, this is a toggle: it stays lit while looping is on, and the button reflects that state rather than firing once and returning to rest.

With looping on, playback repeats the loop region rather than continuing to the end of the project. The region itself is set on the timeline. See the Timeline pages for creating and clearing a loop region, and for whether creating a loop also changes your selection.

Turning looping off leaves the region defined but inactive, so you can switch it back on without setting it up again.

Last updated 3 September 2026