Scale Tool Clicking the Scale Tool in the graphic editor, allows you to use the cursor to scale time to fit note data into a specific measure range. The Scale Tool performs a function similar to that of the Scale Time command in the Options menu, except it scales everything to a bar or measure level, and scales tempo in order to preserve playback speed. Think of the Scale Tool as allowing you to move any of Metro’s bar lines to fit precisely around your music. The Scale Tool is extremely useful, for example, to scale a single repeat of a sample loop to fit perfectly inside a one- or two-bar area. Since tempo (and not the note’s original duration) is automatically scaled when using the Scale Tool, you’ll never have to worry about the sample loop playing out of time, because you’ll simply be retriggering it every measure or two. To top it off, your whole tune will be scaled to that sample loop’s tempo, making it a breeze to add additional percussive and rhythmic ideas. The Scale Tool feature is also great for scaling each measure of a freely improvised passage. Using this technique, bar lines can literally be dragged to fit around existing musical data. And remember, since the tempos are scaled, all note data plays back just as it sounded before the Scale Tool was applied. To use this feature, click on the Scale Tool and position the cursor around the bar line you desire to move. When the cursor is positioned properly over top of a bar line, it will change into the Resizing Tool. When the Resizing Tool icon appears, click and drag the bar line in either direction and let go to lock the bar line in its new place. You may wish to adjust the Zoom amount in order to achieve a finer resolution. Say you’ve got the killer loop happening on your sampler. Now you want to transfer the loop to Metro to use it as the basis for your piece. Set Metro to Wait for First Note and select Record in the Transport window; next, play the loop on your sampler for exactly one repeat of the loop; immediately release the key on your sampler at the exact moment that the loop is about to repeat itself; then stop Recording. You now have a MIDI event recorded in Metro starting at Bar 1, Beat 1, and Clock 0 with a note duration extending for the exact duration of a single repeat of the sample loop. Now, click on the Scale Tool and move the bar line from the beginning of measure two to the very end of the displayed note duration of the recorded sample loop. You have now made Metro conform its entire Bar, Beat, Clock scheme directly to the sample loop you recorded. In addition, you can put different sample loops (of varying lengths and tempos) into each of Metro’s 32 Sections and then compose different compositional arrangements using Metro’s SubSection editing techniques. If you’re working with shorter loops (with a duration less than a single measure), follow the same technique but record the sample loop’s duration for a number of repeats instead of a single repeat. Use the Scale Tool to move the bar line to the end of the sample loop’s duration (remember, the sample loop’s duration encompasses multiple repeats). This same technique can also work with sample loops longer than a single measure. For example, you can scale a two measure sample loop down to a single measure, and then divide the resulting tempo by 2 so that the sample loop plays for a two measure duration.