PreSonus Studio One Keyboard Shortcuts
Studio One's design philosophy is drag-and-drop first, keyboard-shortcut second, which shows in how its shortcut set covers the essentials cleanly without the sprawling depth of a Cubase or Pro Tools built up over decades. The Console shortcut (F3) exists because Studio One deliberately keeps mixing and arranging in the same single window rather than splitting them into separate views the way most other DAWs do, so the show/hide binding for that console panel gets pressed far more often in Studio One than the equivalent panel-toggle does in a DAW where mixing lives in its own dedicated window. Studio One's Scratch Pads — alternate arrangement snapshots you can flip between without duplicating the whole song — are unique enough to the app that their shortcuts don't map to anything in competing DAWs, reflecting a workflow built specifically around trying alternate song structures quickly during the songwriting process itself. Chord Track, a feature that displays and can even suggest harmonically compatible chords across the timeline, reflects Studio One's stronger lean toward songwriting-assistance tooling compared to some competing DAWs that treat themselves as pure recording and mixing environments without much compositional assistance built in. Melodyne integration, licensed directly into Studio One rather than requiring a separate plugin purchase and rewire-style routing, similarly reflects the product's positioning toward songwriters who want pitch-correction and time-manipulation tools available natively rather than as a bolted-on afterthought.
Transport
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Play / pause | Space | Space | Toggles playback from the current playhead position, the standard convention Studio One shares with virtually every other DAW. |
| Start recording | Ctrl+* | Cmd+* | Begins recording on record-enabled tracks from the current playhead, with an on-screen transport bar alternative for users without a numeric keypad. |
| Toggle loop playback | Ctrl+L | Cmd+L | Toggles looped playback of the current selection range, useful for repeatedly auditioning a section while adjusting a mix or comping a vocal take. |
Editing
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Split at cursor | Alt+X (or Split tool + click) | Option+X | Splits the selected event at the playhead position, a core editing action for isolating a section of audio or MIDI for separate processing. |
| Bounce selection to new track | Ctrl+Shift+B | Cmd+Shift+B | Renders the selected events down to a single new audio event on a new track, commonly used to freeze a CPU-heavy virtual instrument track or consolidate comped takes. |
| Undo | Ctrl+Z | Cmd+Z | Steps back through Studio One's edit history one action at a time, covering both arrangement edits and most parameter changes made in the Console. |
| Edit audio in Melodyne | Right-click audio event > Edit in Melodyne | — | Opens the selected audio event directly in Melodyne's pitch and timing editor, integrated natively into Studio One rather than requiring separate plugin licensing and manual routing the way it does in some other DAWs. |
| Quantize selected MIDI notes | Q | Q | Snaps selected MIDI note timing to the current grid resolution, correcting timing imprecision from a recorded performance. |
Workspace
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toggle Console (mixer) view | F3 | F3 | Shows or hides the mixing console panel within Studio One's single-window layout, reflecting the app's design choice to keep arranging and mixing in one unified workspace rather than separate windows. |
| Open Scratch Pads panel | Alt+9 (varies) | Option+9 | Opens the Scratch Pads panel, a Studio One–specific feature for saving alternate arrangement snapshots of the same song and flipping between them without creating separate song files. |
| Toggle Chord Track | Track menu > Add Chord Track | — | Adds a Chord Track to the arrangement showing detected or manually entered chords across the timeline, part of Studio One's songwriting-oriented feature set beyond pure recording and mixing. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes Studio One's single-window design different from other DAWs' shortcut needs?
Many DAWs split arranging, mixing, and editing into genuinely separate windows or workspaces that you switch between with dedicated shortcuts. Studio One keeps them in one window with toggleable panels, so its 'switching views' shortcuts (like toggling the Console) show and hide panels within the same window rather than jumping between entirely separate workspace layouts.
Are Scratch Pads the same thing as track versions or comping lanes?
No — comping lanes let you choose between multiple takes of the same track, while Scratch Pads snapshot the entire song's arrangement (all tracks, all events) so you can experiment with a different structure, like trying an alternate chorus placement, and flip back to the original arrangement instantly if it doesn't work out.
Can Studio One's default shortcuts be changed to match another DAW I'm used to?
Yes, through Studio One > Options/Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts (or Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts depending on version), which lets you view, search, and reassign the full command list, though there's no official one-click import of another DAW's specific keymap.
Does Studio One require a separate Melodyne license for pitch correction?
No — Studio One bundles Melodyne integration directly, letting you send an audio event to Melodyne's editor for pitch and timing correction without purchasing and separately routing a standalone Melodyne plugin the way you would in most other DAWs.
What does the Chord Track actually do beyond just labeling chords?
Beyond displaying chords across the timeline for reference, Chord Track can help transpose MIDI parts to follow chord changes automatically and can suggest harmonically compatible chords for a section, functioning as a genuine songwriting aid rather than just a passive visual label.
Is quantizing MIDI in Studio One destructive to the original recorded performance?
No — like most modern DAWs, Studio One's quantize is applied non-destructively as an editable parameter, so the original unquantized note timing remains recoverable by adjusting or removing the quantize setting later rather than being permanently overwritten at the moment you apply it.
Does Studio One support third-party VST and AU plugins from other manufacturers?
Yes, Studio One supports standard VST2, VST3, and (on Mac) AU plugin formats from third-party manufacturers, in addition to its own bundled native effects and instruments, so existing plugin libraries generally carry over when switching to Studio One from another DAW.
Can I use Studio One with external MIDI controllers for hands-on mixing?
Yes, Studio One supports MIDI controller mapping for mixer and transport control, letting hardware faders and knobs control on-screen parameters directly, which many producers use as a more tactile alternative to mouse-based mixing for repetitive fader adjustments.
Is there a shortcut for consolidating multiple takes into one comped track in Studio One?
Yes — Studio One's Comping mode, toggled from a track's header controls, lets you switch between layered takes and select the best sections from each with click-based section switching directly on the timeline, rather than a single keyboard shortcut performing the whole comp automatically.