Mixing & Plugins

The mixer

Open the mixer from View ▸ Mixer (docked) or float it into its own window. Each track has a channel strip:

• Upper rack — inserts and sends (scrollable).
• Lower control — pan and fader.
• Meters — level and peak.

The mixer strip layout mirrors the arrangement's track order and routing.

Volume, pan, and metering

• Drag the fader to set level; reset from the channel context menu.
• Drag pan to place the signal; reset to center from the context menu.
• Meters show live level and peak. Metering is transient and does not mark the project dirty.

Routing and sends

• Sends route a portion of a track to a Return or Bus.
• Output routing sets where a track's signal goes.
• Audio ▸ Audio Connections opens the routing matrix, a grid view of sends and outputs. Click a cell to toggle a send.

Inserts (effects and instruments)

Inserts are plugins placed in series on a track:

1. In the track inspector or mixer strip, add an insert.
2. Pick a plugin from the scanned registry.
3. The insert processes audio in order, top to bottom.

Instruments sit on the input of MIDI/Instrument tracks; effects sit inline on audio, bus, and group tracks.

Plugin formats

Studio hosts native plugins through its own plugin host (no JUCE dependency):

• VST3 — supported.
• CLAP — supported.
• AU / LV2 — planned.

Scanning discovers installed plugins and builds a registry; the registry is kept separate from live plugin instances. Run a scan from Audio ▸ Audio Plug-in Scanner (or the rescan controls in Audio ▸ Audio Plug-in Manager). Rescan after installing new plugins so they appear in the picker.

Plugin editor windows

Opening a plugin's editor shows the plugin's native UI hosted in a Studio shell window:

• The plugin's own view is a native child window owned by the host.
• Studio draws only the shell/header around it — not the plugin UI itself.
• The editor attaches to the live plugin instance, so what you see and tweak is what is playing.
• Resizing follows the plugin's constraints where the plugin supports it.

Close or detach the editor before closing the host window.

Plugin state

Plugin state is saved with the project. On load, each insert's state is restored after the plugin is instantiated and before playback, so presets, parameters, and internal plugin data come back exactly. Studio does not silently discard plugin state; a failed restore is reported.

Automation of plugin parameters

Plugin parameters can be automated end-to-end — see Automation & Export.