Controls
Every screen in ElkTracker uses the same small vocabulary of button combinations. Screen-specific exceptions (a field that steps by 12 instead of 16, for example) are called out in that screen's own chapter.
| Console | Keyboard | Action |
|---|---|---|
| D-pad | Arrow keys | Move cursor |
| A (hold) + D-pad | Z + arrows | Edit value (←→ ±1, ↑↓ ±16 / ±octave) |
| A (tap) | Z | Insert last value in empty cell |
| B | X | Clear cell |
| R shoulder | Space | Dive in (song → chain → phrase → instrument) |
| L shoulder | Backspace | Back out |
| Select + → (Song/Chain/Phrase) | — | Dive into item at cursor (like R shoulder) |
| Select + ← (Chain/Phrase/Instr) | — | Back out (like L shoulder) |
| Select + ←→ (other screens) | 1–8 | Switch screen |
| Select + R (Dive) | — | Next chain / phrase / instrument (see Quick Nav) |
| Select + L (Back) | — | Previous chain / phrase / instrument |
| Start | Enter | Play / stop |
| Select + A | Ctrl+C | Copy cell (or set range anchor) |
| Select + B | Ctrl+X | Cut cell / cut range |
| R2 | Ctrl+V | Paste |
| L2 | Ctrl+Z | Undo (64 levels) |
| Select + L2 | Ctrl+Shift+Z | Redo |
| Select + R2 | — | Duplicate chain / phrase / instrument |
| Select + Start | Ctrl+P | PANIC — hard-stop all sound (while playing) |
| Select + Start (stopped) | — | Isolation play — see below |
| R (sample browser) | Space | Preview highlighted wav |
| ←→ (sample browser) | — | Jump one full page up / down the list |
| R (waveform editor) | Space | Preview marked start..end region |
| — | Ctrl+S | Save project |
Editing values: hold A and press a direction to change a value. Left/right adjust by 1, up/down adjust by 16 on most numeric fields (one full hex digit), though several screens use a different step for up/down where appropriate (chain transpose steps by 12 semitones, for instance). Holding a direction auto-repeats. A-tap on an empty cell inserts the last-used value for that column.
Start plays from the cursor row when pressed on the Song screen,
from every other screen it starts the song from row 00.
Isolation play (Select+Start when stopped): behaviour depends on the current screen:
| Screen | Result | Status bar indicator |
|---|---|---|
| Song | Loops the currently selected row — all 8 channels play the chains on that row and restart them when done | ↺ (circular arrow icon) |
| Chain | Plays the current chain on its own (channel 0, looping) | C |
| Phrase | Plays the current phrase on its own (channel 0, looping) | P |
| Any other screen | PANIC | — |
Press Start alone to stop isolation playback. Select+Start while playing always triggers PANIC, regardless of screen.
Double-tap to create in next free slot: tap A twice quickly on the same empty cell to find the next unused chain (Song screen), phrase (Chain screen), or instrument (Phrase screen, instrument column) and fill the cell with it. The first tap still inserts the last-used value as usual; the second tap replaces it with the first unused slot. A status message confirms the slot number.