Syncing is what makes your lyrics scroll and highlight in time with the music. How smooth it looks in playback depends on when you press the start and end markers.
Here’s how the sync workspace works.
1. Keyboard shortcuts
Use these while the song plays:
- `Spacebar`: Plays or pauses the audio.
- `Down Arrow`: Tap once to set the Start marker. Tap again to set the End marker and jump to the next line.
- `Up Arrow`: Clears the current line’s timing and steps back to the previous line.
- `Left` / `Right` Arrows: Nudge the audio backward or forward by 1 second.
2. Splitting and syncing ad-libs
Background vocals, echoes, and chants in parentheses (like this) can be pulled out on their own by clicking Split Adlibs.
CRITICAL RULE: An ad-lib’s timestamps live inside its parent line. An ad-lib can’t extend past the end timestamp of its main line.
Four rules to follow when you sync ad-libs:
1. Sync the main line first. Map the main sentence before you touch the ad-lib.
2. Click ad-lib lines manually. Normal line-by-line syncing with Down Arrow skips ad-lib lines entirely, so you have to click an ad-lib line yourself to select and sync it.
3. Parent looping is automatic. Clicking an unsynced ad-lib line loops the audio between the start and end markers of its main line.
4. There’s a shortcut for the ending. Click the ad-lib line and tap Down Arrow once when the echo starts, then let the song play. When playback reaches the end of the main line, the ad-lib automatically gets that same end marker.
3. Auto-Sync and database mapping
You can save time by pulling pre-timed files from open databases:
- Auto-Sync Lyrics: Searches online libraries and fetches fully timed lyrics for you.
- Map Timings from Auto: Copies the time markers from public databases onto lyrics you typed yourself.
4. Switching audio sources
Different audio files can play at slightly different speeds or start at different points. If your timing feels off, try another source.
QUICK TIP: Click the Source Badge Name (YouTube, Deezer, or Local MP3) in the top bar to cycle through the available audio feeds.
A reliable first pass
Choose the exact recording first, load lyrics, and then sync from the beginning with the audio playing. Press the down arrow once at the first audible syllable of a line and again when that line finishes; the workspace advances between main lyric lines. Revisit transitions and short lines at a slower playback rate if your timing needs more precision.
For an ad-lib, select its split line directly. Its start and end are stored within the parent lyric, and its end cannot run later than the parent line’s end. The workspace can loop the parent’s interval while you time the ad-lib. Auto-Sync can provide candidate timings, but listen through the result and correct mismatches rather than assuming a fetched lyric file uses the same edit of the song.