Meet your settings.

Find it in Options → Settings → Projects and backups → Projects.

Choose what happens when you open another project while one is already open. This controls whether Suhina asks you each time, keeps both projects open in separate tabs, or replaces the active project. It does not choose what opens when you start Suhina; use At start for that.

Ask

Show a choice when opening another project, so you can decide each time.

New tab

Open the project in another tab and keep your current project open.

Replace

Open the project in place of the active project. If the active project has unsaved changes, Suhina asks how to handle them before replacing it.

When to change it: Choose New tab when comparing projects or moving between them. Choose Replace when you prefer working with one active project at a time. Leave Ask selected if your workflow varies.

Saved setting: open_projects

Find it in Options → Settings → Projects and backups → Projects.

This controls the first screen when no project is supplied at launch. A template is a saved starting project that Suhina copies into a new, unsaved project. If no start template is chosen or its file is missing, Suhina shows the start panel with an explanation; if there is no last project recorded, it also leaves you on the panel.

Panel

Show the start panel with project and template choices. This is the default.

New

Create a new blank project.

Template

Create a new project from the file chosen in Start template.

Last

Request the project most recently opened or saved, rather than make a new project.

When to change it: Choose Template if you begin most songs with the same instruments and routing. Choose Panel if you usually choose between several projects.

Saved setting: at_start

Find it in Options → Settings → Projects and backups → Projects.

The save dialog starts in this folder for a project that has no file yet. Type a folder path or use Browse. An empty field uses the default folder shown by Suhina. Existing projects keep their files and use their current folder when saving; changing this field does not move them.

When to change it: Set this to your music projects folder so the first save of each new song starts in the right place.

Saved setting: projects_folder

Find it in Options → Settings → Projects and backups → Projects.

Templates are projects used as reusable starting points. This folder supplies the templates listed under New → From a template and is the destination used by Save as template. Type a path or use Browse; leave the field empty to use the default shown by Suhina. Changing the folder does not move existing templates.

When to change it: Change this when you keep reusable starting projects in a dedicated folder or on another drive.

Saved setting: templates_folder

Find it in Options → Settings → Projects and backups → Projects.

Suhina keeps its settings, its keyboard shortcuts, the list of recent projects and the themes folder in its data folder. Choose another folder with Browse, or go back to the default (Suhina's folder of your app data) with Reset; the path is not typed, so it cannot change by accident. Before anything changes Suhina asks whether to move these files there. If you agree, it makes a backup of them beside the current folder (named with the date and time), moves them into the new folder (files the new folder has already are kept) and uses it at once; a small file in the default folder remembers where it is for the next start. Projects, samples and plug-ins are not moved. Starting Suhina with --data-dir <folder> or the SUHINA_DATA environment variable wins over this setting.

When to change it: Change this to keep Suhina's settings and themes where another program can reach them, such as in Documents (apps installed from the Microsoft Store may only see their own copy of the app data folder), on another drive, or in a folder you back up or sync.

Find it in Options → Settings → Projects and backups → Projects.

Enter a template file name from Templates folder, or an absolute path to a template, or use Browse to select the file. Suhina creates a new project from it at startup only when At start is Template. This control is hidden for the other startup choices. An empty or missing template leaves the start panel visible with an explanation.

When to change it: Select your usual recording or songwriting template after setting At start to Template.

Saved setting: start_template

Find it in Options → Settings → Projects and backups → Backups.

A backup is a separate project copy, not a replacement for saving your project. Suhina backs up open projects only when they have unsaved changes that are newer than their last backup. Saved projects keep copies in a .backup folder alongside their project file; projects never saved use Suhina’s settings backup folder. After an interrupted session, recovery can offer these copies.

Before critical operations

Back up before closing a project or quitting, relinking files, adding files or a plug-in, or deleting a track, when the project needs a backup.

Every minute

Check for a changed project to back up every minute.

Every 5 minutes

Use a five-minute interval. This is the default.

Every 10 minutes

Use a ten-minute interval.

Every 15 minutes

Use a fifteen-minute interval.

Every 30 minutes

Use a thirty-minute interval.

Every 60 minutes

Use a one-hour interval.

Every 4 hours

Use a four-hour interval.

Never

Do not create automatic recovery copies.

When to change it: Choose Every minute during intensive editing if you want more frequent recovery points. Continue saving normally to keep the main project file current.

Saved setting: backup

Find it in Options → Settings → Projects and backups → Backups.

Clean-up removes older recovery copies when backups are written, keeping the newest 20 for each project. It does not delete the main project file. It only has new backups to clean up when the Backups setting permits them.

On

Delete older backups beyond the newest 20 for that project. This is the default.

Off

Do not automatically prune older backup copies.

When to change it: Leave this on for a bounded backup history. Turn it off when you deliberately want to retain older recovery versions and will manage the files yourself.

Saved setting: backup_clean_up

Find it in Options → Settings → Audio → Status.

This panel reports live audio rather than saving a preference. Output identifies the device currently playing, including fallback to another output. Delay to the speakers reports the engine-to-speaker delay and underruns: occasions when audio was not supplied in time. Delay when you play a key estimates the current delay for live notes; arming a track makes the engine keep less audio queued ahead. Recording input reports the open input, its channel count and input underruns, or says none is open. List devices again refreshes the available hardware list; it does not itself choose another device. Most changes show up without it, but a new ASIO driver does not. With no playing project, live reports may be empty. Active buffers reports the engine render block and measured driver callback separately. Internal driver buffers can differ, and these frame counts are not the total measured latency. The native driver panel is under Output, beside Device settings.

When to change it: Check this when the selected interface is unplugged, live notes feel late, or playback breaks up. Compare the reports after changing Output settings.

Find it in Options → Settings → Audio → Output.

Driver selects the audio system used to reach your hardware; the listed drivers depend on the platform and build. Each driver remembers its last applied device across restarts, including an explicit Default selection. Choosing Driver restores that device and applies the pair together when it is available. Default and the same host selected by name share this memory. For a new driver or an unavailable remembered device, choose Device, including Default if wanted, before the new driver opens. Until then the current output keeps playing; closing Settings cancels the pending driver choice. Installed ASIO devices stay listed while ASIO plays; restart Suhina after installing a new ASIO driver. Default follows the system choice; a missing chosen output can fall back to the default. The Device list follows the system: headphones connected while this page shows appear within a few seconds. Bluetooth outputs are under the driver that reaches them: WASAPI on Windows and, on Linux with a PulseAudio or PipeWire sound server running, PulseAudio; an ASIO or ALSA list leaves them out. Sample rate is the number of audio frames per second; choose a listed rate or Device’s own. Buffer size controls the device buffer where supported, including WASAPI exclusive mode; when labelled Engine block it controls Suhina’s rendering chunks, while the operating system or driver keeps its own device buffer. Smaller chunks alone do not guarantee the same reduction in the latency shown under Now. Exclusive mode applies to supported WASAPI devices and reserves the device for Suhina; other applications are then not heard on it. Input independently selects Off, the default input or a named microphone/interface input on the chosen driver. Input is Off initially. Choosing an input supplies audio to tracks configured to use it; it does not itself arm or record a track. Default track input, below, gives new audio tracks one of its channels. Device changes retain running plug-in instances. If the effective sample rate changes, Suhina stops processing while it reconfigures those instances and updates their latency; it does not reload their presets or editors. A plug-in that refuses reconfiguration prevents the new output from starting and reports an error. A plug-in still loading when the rate changes starts again at the new rate. When changing outputs, Suhina fades the old device to silence before closing it and fades in the first audio on the new device. The shutdown drain is limited to 500 ms if a device stops responding; the change still interrupts audio and cannot prevent a pop generated inside the hardware. Device settings, immediately below Device, opens Control panel… for the matching active ASIO driver. The button is hidden while a driver choice is pending, when another device is running, or with a non-ASIO host. The native panel configures the running instance, not an external defaults editor; opening it does not reload plug-ins. While the native panel is open, output changes and project closing are rejected until it is closed. A rejected output choice restores the displayed selection and does not replace the driver’s remembered device. If the device itself fails to open, the requested choice stays selected for retry; device history is updated only after a successful selection. Switching to another driver after a failed opening preserves the previous driver’s last working device. Buffer size requests a supported processing buffer; it does not describe every internal driver or hardware buffer. Exclusive mode is shown only for WASAPI. If opening a device fails, selecting an available device opens a new stopped audio engine; restarting the application is not required to retry. ASIO Buffer size lists every size allowed by the driver within 64 to 4096 frames, including fine-grained steps. Default uses the driver’s preferred size when supported. A driver fixed to one size shows that size as text; change it in Control panel…. Returning focus to the Audio settings window, including a detached Settings window, checks the driver again for unannounced buffer-size changes.

Driver: Default / listed driver

Use the default audio system or explicitly select one. WASAPI is Windows’ audio system; ASIO uses an interface’s ASIO driver when available. Returning to a driver restores its available remembered device in the same operation.

Device: Default / listed output

Use the driver’s default output or a named output device. The list follows Driver and what is connected now. The applied selection is saved separately for each driver.

Sample rate: Device’s own / listed Hz value

Keep the device’s preferred rate or request one of its advertised rates. Hz means frames per second.

Buffer size / Engine block: Default / listed frames

Use the default render block or a listed frame count. Read the row’s label and note to see whether this also sets the device buffer.

Exclusive mode: On / Off

On requests WASAPI exclusive access where supported. Off uses shared access. It does not switch ASIO between shared and exclusive operation.

Input: Off / Default / listed input

Off opens no audio input. Default follows the driver’s default input; a named choice uses that input device.

When to change it: Select your audio interface and input before recording. If key-to-sound delay is distracting, inspect Now and try a supported smaller buffer; if underruns increase, try a larger one. Use Control panel… for driver-specific buffer and hardware settings.

Saved setting: audio_hostaudio_deviceaudio_devicesaudio_sample_rateaudio_bufferaudio_exclusiveaudio_input

Find it in Options → Settings → Audio → Output.

Default track input chooses which channels of the input device a new audio track listens to. With None, the default, a new audio track hears nothing until you pick its input under Audio From on the track. With a channel or a stereo pair, every audio track you add from then on, also by dropping audio files or splitting stems, starts with that input, and MIDI tracks are not affected. Arming a track that hears nothing also gives it this input, and the status bar says which; with None, arming gives it the device's first channels as before (1/2, or 1 on a one-channel device). Each audio device (the Device above, your sound card) keeps its own, together with its Input: when you choose another Device, Input and Default track input change to what you last chose for that card, and when you go back, the first card's come back. So an interface you use every day can give In 1 while one you use now and then gives In 1/2 on its own input, without changing anything each time you switch. A card you have not chosen before keeps the Input there is and starts at None. It is only a default for new tracks: you can still choose any input on a track, and the project keeps what each track hears. The list follows that device: its channels one by one, then its neighbouring pairs. A choice the device does not have stays listed and marked, and new tracks are then not given it. While Input is Off the row only says to choose an input device first, so no microphone is used without being chosen. Changing it does not change tracks that already exist, with one exception: in a new project you have not changed yet (blank or from the start template, never saved), its audio tracks that hear nothing take the default as it opens, and follow it while you have changed nothing, also when you choose another Device. Your first change to the project ends that. The choices of every card are kept across restarts.

None

New audio tracks hear nothing until an input is picked on the track. This is the default.

In 1, In 2, …

One channel of the input device, such as a microphone or a guitar plugged into one socket. The track hears it in the middle and pans it like any other sound.

In 1/2, In 3/4, …

Two neighbouring channels as a stereo pair, left and right, such as a keyboard or a mixer's stereo output.

When to change it: Set it when you record from the same socket most of the time, so each new audio track is ready to arm and record. Leave it at None when you rarely record audio.

Saved setting: audio_device_inputs

Find it in Options → Settings → Audio → Cue.

The cue is a separate listening path for browser and sample-map previews and tracks whose headphone cue button is on. Cue output chooses a stereo pair on the same device as the main mix. A separate pair lets previews play through headphones without reaching the main speakers. Cue volume sets this listening path’s level without changing the main mix. If a saved pair is unavailable, previews play with the main output until that pair is available again. MIDI previews played through a selected track’s instrument follow that track’s routing rather than the separate fallback preview path.

Same as main (1/2)

Play previews with the main mix. A track’s cue button adds no separate audible path. This is the default.

Outputs 3/4, 5/6, …

Use an available additional stereo pair on the selected device; the main mix stays on 1/2. A separate second audio device cannot be chosen here.

Cue volume: -12 dB / -6 dB / 0 dB / +6 dB

Set the cue quieter, unchanged in level, or louder. dB expresses relative level; 0 dB is the default, with no level adjustment. Browser Preview volume also affects sample previews.

When to change it: Choose outputs connected to headphones when auditioning samples during playback. Use Same as main on a two-output device.

Saved setting: audio_cue_pairaudio_cue_volume

Find it in Options → Settings → MIDI → MIDI inputs.

MIDI carries notes and controller messages, not microphone audio. Each listed port has its own On/Off control. Enabled ports can feed note-playing tracks according to each track’s input, monitoring and record-ready state. With automatic monitoring, make the intended track record-ready (arm it) to hear its instrument. A port can report Opening or an opening error; On alone does not guarantee it opened successfully. Ports are enabled unless you have switched them off.

On

Open this port and make its MIDI available to tracks configured to receive it.

Off

Exclude this port from MIDI input without disabling the other ports.

When to change it: Turn off a duplicate or unwanted port if one keyboard is sending notes twice, or enable the port of the controller you want to play.

Saved setting: midi_input_off

Find it in Options → Settings → MIDI → Arming.

When this is on, selecting a track (clicking its header, or a clip slot in its column) arms it for recording, and the track armed this way before is disarmed again. On a MIDI track, a MIDI keyboard or controller then plays the track's instrument; on an audio track, the track hears its audio input, and a track with no input chosen gets the device's first input, as its arm button gives it. Return tracks, the main track and groups are left as they are, and the arm does not move while a take is recording. A track you armed yourself stays armed when you select another one. Arming is not an edit: it is not undone and not saved with the project. The setting is off unless you turn it on.

On

Selecting a MIDI or audio track arms it, and the track armed by the previous selection is disarmed.

Off

Selecting a track does not change which tracks are armed; arm tracks with their own buttons.

When to change it: Turn it on when you play a MIDI keyboard or record an input into one track after another and want the arm to follow the track you select. Leave it off when you record several tracks at once or keep particular tracks armed.

Saved setting: auto_arm

Find it in Options → Settings → Plug-ins → Actions.

Scan checks new or changed plug-in files in the folders that are switched on; Rescan all checks every file again. Manage plug-ins opens a searchable table of found, disabled, failed and incompatible files. The buttons sit above the folder list because they act on it. They do nothing while a scan is already running.

Scan / Rescan all

Scan new and changed files, or request a full rescan.

Manage plug-ins

Open the catalog, toggle individual plug-ins and use Scan again on a failed or incompatible file.

When to change it: Add a custom installation folder when a plug-in is missing. Use Manage plug-ins to inspect a loading failure or temporarily disable a problematic plug-in.

Find it in Options → Settings → Plug-ins → Folders.

Plug-ins are separately installed instruments and effects. Each folder has a switch controlling whether scans include it, and a format describing which plug-in files to look for. Standard folders can be disabled; added folders can also be removed from the list without deleting files. Enter a path, choose a format and press Add. Disabling a plug-in keeps it in the catalog but removes it from the browser and prevents newly opened projects from loading it. Folder and plug-in changes wait while scanning runs.

Folder checkbox: On / Off

Include or skip the folder in subsequent scans. Turning a folder off removes its plug-ins from the catalog after the next scan.

All

Look for every format Suhina hosts in an added folder: CLAP and VST3 files, and VST2 `.vst` bundles on macOS. A VST2 `.dll` or `.so` is found only in a folder marked VST2.

VST3

Look for VST3 files only in that folder.

CLAP

Look for CLAP files only in that folder.

VST2

Look for VST2 files in that folder: `.vst` bundles on macOS, `.dll` files on Windows and `.so` files on Linux.

When to change it: Add a custom installation folder when a plug-in is missing. Use Manage plug-ins to inspect a loading failure or temporarily disable a problematic plug-in.

Find it in Options → Settings → Plug-ins → Editors.

A plug-in editor is the instrument or effect’s own graphical controls. Window gives it a separate window above Suhina; Device view embeds it in the selected track’s device panel. Embedded editors are supported on Windows and X11. On macOS a view of the plug-in host’s process cannot attach to Suhina’s window, so editors open in a window of their own instead; the note under the setting says what the current system cannot do. Selecting Device view does not add platform support.

Window

Open the editor in its own window. This is the default.

Device view

Place the editor in the device panel where embedding is supported; elsewhere this choice cannot provide an embedded editor.

When to change it: Choose Device view to keep a plug-in’s controls in the track’s effect chain. Choose Window when you want a separate editor window.

Saved setting: plugin_editors

Find it in Options → Settings → Devices → NAM.

A NAM model is a .nam file containing a captured amplifier, preamp or pedal response. The NAM Amp Modeler uses this folder to list available models in its device panel. Type a folder or use Browse; an empty field uses the default shown in Suhina. Choosing a folder does not itself select or replace the model loaded in an effect.

When to change it: Point this at the folder where you store your .nam captures so you can choose them from the Amp Modeler panel.

Saved setting: nam_models_folder

Find it in Options → Settings → Devices → NAM.

An impulse response, or IR, is a short audio recording of how a speaker cabinet and microphone respond to a brief signal. The NAM Cab Loader lists .wav response files from this folder. Type a folder or use Browse; an empty field uses the default shown in Suhina. Changing the folder does not itself replace the response loaded in an effect.

When to change it: Choose your cabinet-response folder when the Cab Loader list does not show the .wav responses you want.

Saved setting: irs_folder

Find it in Options → Settings → Devices → Device panels.

A device chain is the collection of instruments and effects on a track. Select a track to see these controls in the detail area, the panel used for devices and clip editing. This setting changes how that panel and its device controls are arranged; it does not reorder the effects or change the sound.

Row (default)

Place the detail area below the Session or Arrangement view, with device controls arranged side by side. Use Detail area layout to choose whether this bottom panel also extends underneath the browser.

Stack

Place a track's devices in a column beside the Session or Arrangement view, with device controls arranged vertically. A clip's editor, such as the piano roll, still opens along the bottom; with a clip selected, the Devices tab opens the column beside it and the editor stays open. Detail area layout does not affect the side column.

When to change it: Choose Row when you want to see several effects side by side along the bottom. Choose Stack when you prefer a vertical column of controls beside the tracks.

Saved setting: device_chain

Find it in Options → Settings → Devices → Device panels.

With Device chain set to Row, the Devices tab of a MIDI clip normally puts the track's devices where the piano roll was. With this setting on, the piano roll stays open along the bottom and the devices open in a column at the right of the view, one under another, as with the Stack layout. Both tabs are lit while the column shows; Clip, Devices again, a double-click on the column's edge or dragging it narrow closes the column. It changes only where the devices are shown, not the sound.

Off (default)

Devices replaces the piano roll in the detail area, and Clip brings it back.

On

Devices opens a column of the track's devices beside the view, and the piano roll stays open under it with its keys.

When to change it: Turn it on if you want to adjust an instrument or effect while you keep editing the notes.

Saved setting: stack_in_piano_roll

Find it in Options → Settings → Devices → Device panels.

A device with more parameters than fit in two columns shows those two and an arrow beside its on switch in its header. The arrow opens the rest. This setting decides where they go; it changes neither the parameters nor the sound.

Horizontal (default)

The list continues in further columns to the right, so the device's panel grows wider and the other devices move along the chain.

Vertical

The list stays in two columns and scrolls down inside the panel, so the other devices stay where they are.

When to change it: Choose Vertical if opening a plug-in with many parameters pushes the rest of the chain too far away.

Saved setting: device_list_scroll

Find it in Options → Settings → Devices → Device panels.

The detail area shows the selected track's instruments and effects, or the selected clip's editor. When Device chain is set to Row, this panel sits at the bottom of the window. This setting decides how the bottom panel shares space with the browser, the panel where you find samples, instruments and files. It has no effect while Device chain is set to Stack.

Beside (default)

Keep the browser running down to the bottom of the window. The detail area uses the remaining width beside the browser, so it does not extend underneath it.

Full width

Extend the detail area across the bottom of the whole window, including the space underneath the browser. The browser becomes shorter to leave room for this wider editing panel.

When to change it: Choose Full width if the piano roll or a long row of effects needs more horizontal room. Choose Beside if you want to keep a taller browser visible while editing. Set Device chain to Row first if you currently use Stack.

Saved setting: detail_layout

Find it in Options → Settings → Importing → Dropping files.

When importing several files together, choose whether they share one track or each gets a track. Holding Ctrl while dropping reverses the selected behavior for that drop. This concerns multi-file placement; it does not rearrange files already in the project. On macOS the command modifier is Cmd.

One track

Place the files on one track; Ctrl while dropping uses separate tracks. This is the default.

One each

Give the files separate tracks; Ctrl while dropping places them on one track.

When to change it: Choose One each when importing separate song parts that should have their own mixer channels.

Saved setting: drop_files

Find it in Options → Settings → Importing → Dropping files.

Warping maps a sample’s recorded timing to musical beats so it can follow the project tempo. This setting supplies the stretch mode for dropped samples whose tempo is known. A sample without a known tempo is not automatically warped. It does not change the modes of existing clips. Currently Rhythmic, Tonal, Texture, Smooth and High quality all use the same pitch-preserving stretch algorithm; their names do not give different sound quality yet. Unsupported files or extreme stretch ratios can fall back to Re-pitch.

Rhythmic

Keep pitch while fitting the sample to the project tempo. This is the default.

Tonal

Use the same current pitch-preserving algorithm as Rhythmic, while storing Tonal as the clip’s intended mode.

Texture

Use the same current pitch-preserving algorithm, while storing Texture as the intended mode.

Smooth

Use the same current pitch-preserving algorithm, while storing Smooth as the intended mode.

High quality

Use the same current pitch-preserving algorithm; this choice does not currently enable a different quality level.

Re-pitch

Read audio faster or slower to fit the tempo: faster is higher in pitch, slower is lower. Clip transpose does not apply in this mode.

When to change it: Choose Re-pitch if you want speed and pitch to change together. Keep a pitch-preserving choice when a loop should follow your song tempo without changing its key.

Saved setting: warp_mode

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Clip editing.

Stacking keeps overlapping audio clips on one Arrangement track and lets them all play. With stacking off, placing a clip over another removes the covered part: a fully covered clip is removed, and a partly covered clip is shortened or split. Overlapping clips are shown in sub-rows so they remain reachable. This preference is used for moves and related clip placement actions, not as a command to remove existing overlaps. For a file drop, the current implementation requests stacking if either audio or MIDI stacking is enabled.

On

Keep overlapping audio clips and play them together.

Off

Replace the covered portion when placing clips. This is the default.

When to change it: Turn this on to layer audio clips on one track. Keep it off when a clip you place should replace the material it covers.

Saved setting: sample_stacking

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Clip editing.

Stacking keeps overlapping MIDI clips on one Arrangement track and lets them all play. With stacking off, placing a clip over another removes the covered part: a fully covered clip is removed, and a partly covered clip is shortened or split. Overlapping clips are shown in sub-rows so they remain reachable. This preference is used for moves and related clip placement actions, not as a command to remove existing overlaps. For a file drop, the current implementation requests stacking if either audio or MIDI stacking is enabled.

On

Keep overlapping MIDI clips and play them together.

Off

Replace the covered portion when placing clips. This is the default.

When to change it: Turn this on to layer note-playing clips on one track. Keep it off when a clip you place should replace the material it covers.

Saved setting: midi_stacking

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Clip editing.

This enables double-click creation on an empty Session slot or empty Arrangement lane position of a track that can hold clips. The clip matches the track’s kind: MIDI on a note-playing track, audio on an audio track. An empty audio clip is silent until it has audio content. This is separate from the piano roll’s double-click settings for creating notes.

On

Double-click empty clip space to create a clip. This is the default.

Off

Do not create an empty clip with that double-click gesture.

When to change it: Turn this off if you often create clips accidentally while navigating empty space.

Saved setting: double_click_clip

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Clip editing.

The clip context menu is the menu opened by right-clicking a clip. With this enabled, it contains a name field for editing the clip name. With it disabled, Rename opens name editing on the clip instead. This changes where you type a name, not the clip’s audio or notes.

On

Show an editable name field in the clip menu.

Off

Use Rename, or Ctrl+R, to edit the clip label. This is the default.

When to change it: Enable it if you prefer typing a name inside the right-click menu rather than editing the label on the clip.

Saved setting: menu_name_field

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Clip editing.

A clip can have a name bar above its waveform or note preview. This preference divides the clip into movement and time-selection regions. Ctrl+drag selects time over clips overrides that division when enabled. Very short clip rows without room for a name bar use upper and lower regions. Clicking a clip body can set the play start at the clicked position instead of choosing the whole clip’s span.

Name bar

Drag the name bar to move the clip and drag the body to select time. This is the default.

Lower half

Drag the lower half to move the clip and the upper half to select time.

When to change it: Choose Name bar for a clear move handle above the clip content. Choose Lower half if you prefer moving clips from their lower half.

Saved setting: clip_drag

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Clip editing.

When enabled, pasting with one arrangement clip selected removes that destination and places the clipboard clips at its start. Off pastes after the selected clip. Clicking empty arrangement space chooses that track and beat instead. Undo restores the replaced clip.

Off

Paste after the selected clip.

On

Replace the selected destination at its start.

When to change it: Enable when replacing phrases in place; leave off to append after a selected clip.

Saved setting: replace_clip

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Take lanes.

Sets the fades a part gets when it is copied from a take lane onto its track. Where parts of two takes meet, they crossfade for this long around the cut, and a part edge that meets nothing fades for this long so it does not click. It applies to parts copied from then on; parts already on the track keep their length.

10 ms

A short crossfade that hides the click of a cut. This is the default.

20 ms

A little softer, for most vocal and instrument takes.

40 ms

Softer still, for sustained sounds.

Custom

Uses the length set in Custom take crossfade.

When to change it: Choose a longer crossfade when cuts between takes are audible, for example on sustained notes or room sound; keep it short to keep sharp attacks at the cut.

Saved setting: take_crossfade

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Take lanes.

The crossfade length, from 1 to 500 milliseconds, used when Take crossfade is set to Custom. It has no effect with the other choices, and the row shows only with Custom.

When to change it: Set it when 10, 20 and 40 ms do not suit the material.

Saved setting: take_crossfade_custom

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Time and play.

A time selection is a span of the timeline across one or more tracks; editing can act on material inside that span. This setting changes how you paint that selection over Arrangement clips and lanes. When enabled, an ordinary clip drag moves it and Ctrl-drag selects time; Shift-drag is then the copy gesture. When disabled, Moving a clip determines the clip’s move and selection regions, and Ctrl-drag copies clips. A ruler drag selects time in either mode. Ctrl is Cmd on macOS.

Ctrl+drag

A plain drag moves a clip and holding Ctrl while dragging selects time.

Upper half

Dragging the upper half of a clip or lane selects time and dragging the lower half moves the clip.

When to change it: Choose Ctrl+drag when you prefer the whole clip as a move handle and a modifier key for selecting time.

Saved setting: time_select

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Time and play.

The play start marker is the timeline position used by marker-based playback. With this enabled, changing the whole-clip selection while stopped moves that marker to the earliest selected clip’s start. It does not move the marker during playback. A click in a clip body still sets the position where you clicked; clips on a track edited by an ARA audio editor also keep their own position behavior. Play from, in this group, separately chooses whether Play uses the marker or the selected clip.

On

Move the marker to the first selected whole clip when the selection changes while stopped. This is the default.

Off

Do not move the marker merely because whole clips were selected.

When to change it: Turn this off if whole-clip selection should leave a carefully placed play start marker alone, and set Play from, in this group, to Marker when that is the position Play should use.

Saved setting: play_from_selected_clip

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Time and play.

The play start marker marks the timeline position from which playback can begin. Selected clip instead starts from a whole clip selected in the Arrangement. With no suitable whole-clip selection, Play uses the marker. Clicking a clip body uses the clicked position, and clips on an ARA audio-editor track also use the position set by that editor or a click. Arrangement → Play from the selected clip separately controls whether changing selection moves the marker.

Marker

Start from the current play start marker.

Selected clip

Start at the selected whole Arrangement clip where applicable, otherwise use the marker. This is the default.

When to change it: Choose Marker to audition from a fixed point while changing the clip selection. Also turn off Arrangement → Play from the selected clip if selection should leave that marker in place.

Saved setting: play_start

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Time and play.

The playhead shows the current playback position. Marker returns it to the play start marker when you stop. Stay stops at the current position and moves the start marker there. Pressing Stop again while already stopped returns to the song’s beginning. This sets stop behavior; Play from separately determines how the next Play action chooses its start.

Marker

Return to the play start marker on stopping. This is the default.

Stay

Keep the stopped position and move the start marker there.

When to change it: Choose Marker to rehear a phrase from the same point. Choose Stay when you want to continue from where you stopped.

Saved setting: stop

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → View.

The grid marks musical time with vertical beat and bar lines. Enabling this draws faint lines through clip bodies as well as the empty timeline, making timing easier to compare with waveforms and notes. It changes drawing only; disabling the lines inside clips does not disable snapping.

On

Draw grid lines inside clips. This is the default.

Off

Leave clip bodies without those grid lines; other grid behavior stays available.

When to change it: Turn this off for less visual detail inside clips, or on when aligning visible transients and notes to beats.

Saved setting: clip_grid

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → View.

A waveform shows audio level over time. Waveform zoom magnifies its vertical drawing across the Arrangement’s audio clips, helping quiet detail show up. It does not change the audio, gain or time scale. The waveform slider near the Arrangement ruler and Ctrl+Alt+Up/Down adjust the same preference and can provide values beyond the four buttons here.

×1

Draw at normal waveform size. This is the default.

×2

Draw waveform amplitudes twice as large.

×4

Draw waveform amplitudes four times as large.

×8

Draw waveform amplitudes eight times as large.

When to change it: Increase this when a quiet recording looks almost flat and you want to see its timing clearly.

Saved setting: waveform_zoom

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → View.

Controls the ink used for audio waveforms, MIDI note previews and ARA note overlays in Arrangement. Changes apply immediately to existing clips. Clip names keep their automatic contrast; the sound and project data do not change. Only Theme lets the active theme choose the ink; the other choices override the theme.

Theme

Use the colour the active theme gives waveforms and notes (its .clip-waveform and .clip-notes colour), and dark ink when the theme gives none. This is the default.

Auto

Choose contrasting light or dark ink from each clip background.

Light

Use the same light ink on every clip.

Dark

Use the same dark ink on every clip.

Custom

Use Custom waveform and note colour; selecting this reveals its picker.

When to change it: Keep Theme to see waveforms and notes as the theme designed them; use Auto for contrasting ink on differently coloured clips, or select one ink colour of your own.

Saved setting: waveform_colour

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → View.

This opaque colour picker appears when Waveform and note colour is Custom. Choose an RGB colour with the picker; the hexadecimal value is displayed beside it. Changes apply immediately to Arrangement waveforms, MIDI previews and ARA notes. The saved colour has no effect in Auto, Light or Dark mode.

When to change it: Select Custom first, then choose ink that is readable against your clip backgrounds.

Saved setting: waveform_custom_colour

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → View.

A 0–100% slider mixes the theme surface with the audio clip colour: 0% uses the surface and 100% uses the full assigned colour. The default is 82%. Existing audio clip fills update immediately without changing their stored colours, MIDI clip strength or audio.

When to change it: Lower this for softer audio clip fills, or raise it to make their colours more prominent.

Saved setting: audio_clip_colour_strength

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Tracks.

Sets the initial colour of newly created tracks from the active theme. Existing tracks retain their stored colours when this setting or the theme changes. Change the MIDI and audio defaults in Themes > Edit current theme > Tracks & clips; tracks can also be coloured individually.

By clip type

Use the theme MIDI default for MIDI tracks and audio default for audio tracks. This is the default.

One colour

Use the theme MIDI default for all new tracks.

When to change it: Use By clip type to distinguish MIDI and audio tracks, or One colour for a uniform starting colour.

Saved setting: new_track_colour

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Tracks.

Sets the colour a newly made clip starts with: one drawn with a double-click, recorded, or made from a file. Existing clips keep their stored colours when this setting, a track's colour or the theme changes, and copies and pasted clips keep the colour they had. Clips can still be coloured individually.

Track colour

Give a new clip the colour its track has at that moment. This is the default.

Theme default

Give a new MIDI clip the theme's MIDI clip default and a new audio clip its audio clip default, whatever the track's colour.

When to change it: Keep Track colour so clips match the track they are on; choose Theme default when every new clip should start in the theme's MIDI or audio colour.

Saved setting: new_clip_colour

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Tracks.

A 0–100% slider mixes the theme surface with each track header colour. At 0% the surface dominates; at 100% the full assigned colour is used. The default is 82%. Changes apply immediately without recolouring stored tracks or changing clip strength.

When to change it: Lower this to soften headers, or raise it to make tracks easier to distinguish.

Saved setting: track_header_colour_strength

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Tracks.

Track headers contain each track’s name and controls. This moves their column to the chosen edge of the Arrangement timeline. Theme, the default, uses the side the theme in use gives (a theme says it with track-headers in its sheet) and the right when it gives none; the headers then move when you change theme. Left and Right are your own choice and stay whatever theme is in use. Moving the headers with the button in the view's corner sets Left or Right. It does not reorder tracks, move the browser, or change the Session view’s columns. Browser side is a separate preference.

Theme

Follow the theme in use: its side, or the right when it gives none. This is the default.

Left

Show the header column on the left of the Arrangement lanes, whatever the theme says.

Right

Show the header column on the right, whatever the theme says.

When to change it: Choose Left or Right to keep track controls on the side you usually work on, whatever theme you use; keep Theme to let each theme decide.

Saved setting: track_headers

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Tracks.

Return tracks receive sound sent from other channels, often for shared effects. This preference hides or shows their rows at the bottom of the Arrangement. Hiding is visual: it does not remove return tracks or mute their audio. The Hide returns / Show returns button near the ruler changes the same preference; the main output row remains.

Shown

Include return rows at the bottom. This is the default.

Hidden

Leave return rows out of the Arrangement display.

When to change it: Hide returns to make more room for ordinary tracks when you are not editing return effects or automation.

Saved setting: arrangement_returns

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Tracks.

Return tracks receive sound sent from other channels, often for shared effects. This preference decides whether a new blank project gets the A and B return tracks. With None the project has no returns, so no track shows send controls until you insert a return track. It only affects new blank projects: a project you open that already has returns always shows them, and the New or open dialog offers the other kind for a single project.

A and B

New blank projects get two return tracks, A and B. This is the default.

None

New blank projects have no return tracks and no send controls.

When to change it: Choose None if you never use return tracks and want new projects without them and without send controls; keep A and B if you often send several tracks to shared effects.

Saved setting: new_project_returns

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Tracks.

In the Arrangement view, holding Alt and turning the mouse wheel over the tracks makes them taller or shorter. All tracks changes every track and its automation lanes together. The one under the pointer changes only the track or the automation lane the pointer is over.

All tracks

Every track and automation lane changes height together. This is the default.

The one under the pointer

Only the track or automation lane under the pointer changes height.

When to change it: Pick The one under the pointer when you want to make one track or one automation lane bigger without changing the others.

Saved setting: alt_wheel

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Track sizes.

Applies the selected named height immediately to all ordinary tracks, replacing their previous manual height overrides. Newly created rows of this kind use it too. Heights of return tracks stay unchanged. Customize the named heights with the height controls below; this changes the view rather than project data or undo history.

Tiny

The smallest named row, initially 14 pixels.

Compact

A compact row, initially 20 pixels; the default for returns.

Small

A small row, initially 40 pixels; the default for ordinary tracks.

Medium

A medium row, initially 64 pixels.

Large

The largest named row, initially 104 pixels.

When to change it: Choose a smaller size to fit more rows, or a larger size for clearer clip detail.

Saved setting: arrangement_track_size

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Track sizes.

Applies the selected named height immediately to all return tracks, replacing their previous manual height overrides. Newly created rows of this kind use it too. Heights of ordinary tracks stay unchanged. Customize the named heights with the height controls below; this changes the view rather than project data or undo history.

Tiny

The smallest named row, initially 14 pixels.

Compact

A compact row, initially 20 pixels; the default for returns.

Small

A small row, initially 40 pixels; the default for ordinary tracks.

Medium

A medium row, initially 64 pixels.

Large

The largest named row, initially 104 pixels.

When to change it: Choose a smaller size to fit more rows, or a larger size for clearer clip detail.

Saved setting: arrangement_return_size

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Track sizes.

The initial Tiny height is 14 pixels. Its control keeps it at least 14 pixels and below Compact. Exact track heights, under Advanced, shows an exact pixel field; otherwise use the slider. Changes update matching named row heights immediately and preserve manually sized rows that do not match a named height. The five heights are saved together.

When to change it: Adjust this when the named size is useful but you want a different amount of vertical space.

Saved setting: arrangement_size_heights

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Track sizes.

The initial Compact height is 20 pixels. Its control keeps it above Tiny and below Small. Exact track heights, under Advanced, shows an exact pixel field; otherwise use the slider. Changes update matching named row heights immediately and preserve manually sized rows that do not match a named height. The five heights are saved together.

When to change it: Adjust this when the named size is useful but you want a different amount of vertical space.

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Track sizes.

The initial Small height is 40 pixels. Its control keeps it above Compact and below Medium. Exact track heights, under Advanced, shows an exact pixel field; otherwise use the slider. Changes update matching named row heights immediately and preserve manually sized rows that do not match a named height. The five heights are saved together.

When to change it: Adjust this when the named size is useful but you want a different amount of vertical space.

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Track sizes.

The initial Medium height is 64 pixels. Its control keeps it above Small and below Large. Exact track heights, under Advanced, shows an exact pixel field; otherwise use the slider. Changes update matching named row heights immediately and preserve manually sized rows that do not match a named height. The five heights are saved together.

When to change it: Adjust this when the named size is useful but you want a different amount of vertical space.

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Track sizes.

The initial Large height is 104 pixels. Its control keeps it above Medium and at most 400 pixels. Exact track heights, under Advanced, shows an exact pixel field; otherwise use the slider. Changes update matching named row heights immediately and preserve manually sized rows that do not match a named height. The five heights are saved together.

When to change it: Adjust this when the named size is useful but you want a different amount of vertical space.

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Tools.

With this on, a toolbar runs along the top of the Arrangement with six tools: Select (moves, trims and selects clips, as without the toolbar), Range (a drag selects time anywhere), Split (a click cuts a clip where you click), Erase (a click deletes a clip), Draw (a drag on a lane makes an empty clip as long as the drag) and Mute (a click mutes or unmutes a clip). The keys 1 to 6 choose them while the Arrangement was clicked last; when the piano roll was clicked last, the same keys choose its own tools. The Arrangement is outlined in the accent colour while it has the keys.

Off

No toolbar; the Arrangement always works as the Select tool. This is the default.

On

The toolbar shows and the keys 1 to 6 choose its tools while the Arrangement has the focus.

When to change it: Turn it on if you prefer to pick a tool (split, erase, draw) and click, rather than using menus and modifier keys.

Saved setting: arrangement_toolbar

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Tools.

The Arrangement has a grid of its own, apart from the control bar's Quantize box: its lines, and where clips, fades, automation points and ruler clicks snap. This sets what it starts on. A fixed value keeps its lines that far apart (coarser when zoomed far out); an adaptive grid makes its lines finer as you zoom in. From there the grid menu (the toolbar, an empty lane's right-click menu, an automation lane's menu) and Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+4 change it; changing this setting sets the grid again.

Adaptive widest

The lines follow the zoom, as far apart as the adaptive widths go.

Adaptive wide

The lines follow the zoom, wide apart.

Adaptive medium

The lines follow the zoom, a medium distance apart.

Adaptive narrow

The lines follow the zoom, close together.

Adaptive narrowest

The lines follow the zoom, as close as the adaptive widths go.

8 bars

Lines and snapping every eight bars.

4 bars

Every four bars.

2 bars

Every two bars.

1 bar

Every bar.

1/2

Every half note.

1/4

Every beat (quarter note). This is the default.

1/8

Every eighth note.

1/16

Every sixteenth note.

1/32

Every thirty-second note.

When to change it: Pick an adaptive grid if you zoom a lot and want the lines to follow; pick a fixed value such as 1 bar for arranging whole sections or 1/16 for detailed edits.

Saved setting: arrangement_grid

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Automation.

Off (the default), a click on an automation lane adds a point only on or near the envelope's line, where the pointer turns into a hand and the line's value shows beside it; a click away from the line only ends the painted range and the selected points, and a double-click there adds a point at the pointer. On, a click anywhere on the lane adds a point at the pointer's beat and height, as before.

Off

A click adds a point only on or near the line; a double-click adds one anywhere. This is the default.

On

A click anywhere on the lane adds a point at the pointer.

When to change it: Turn it on if you mostly draw automation point by point and want every click to add one.

Saved setting: automation_click

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Automation.

When you click + on a track's top automation lane, its parameter is mounted as a lane of its own under the top lane. With this on (the default), a lane mounted from a hosted plug-in (CLAP, VST3, VST2) goes into a group named after the plug-in, made the first time and used again for the next lane of the same plug-in; each plug-in on the track gets its own group, a second one of the same name with a number after it. The group heading folds its lanes away and can be renamed, moved or ungrouped like any group. Lanes of the track's own volume, pan and mute and of built-in devices are not grouped. With it off, mounted lanes go under the top lane on their own and you group them yourself.

On

Each plug-in's mounted lanes gather in a group of their own. This is the default.

Off

Mounted lanes stand on their own; group them yourself from a lane header's menu.

When to change it: Turn it off if you prefer to arrange plug-in lanes yourself, or mix lanes of several plug-ins in one group.

Saved setting: automation_group

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Automation.

When you open a track's automation lanes, the top lane shows the parameter you are working on: one you choose in its dropdown, or one you move by hand (a fader, a knob, a plug-in's own editor). Before you do either, it shows the parameter this setting names, unless that parameter already has a lane of its own (then the top lane starts empty). After you pin the top lane's parameter with its circled + it is left empty, whatever this setting says, until you choose a parameter in it or move a control. The setting changes what tracks show when their lanes are next opened, not lanes that are open now.

None

The top lane starts empty, with its dropdown to choose a parameter.

Volume

The top lane starts on the track's volume. This is the default.

Pan

The top lane starts on the track's pan.

When to change it: Choose None if you mostly automate device or plug-in parameters and would rather start from an empty top lane, or Pan if you draw pan moves more often than volume.

Saved setting: automation_top_lane

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Gain envelope.

On (the default), an audio clip whose gain envelope has points shows its line over the waveform in the Arrangement, so you can see where its level changes. Off, the line shows only on the clip whose envelope you are editing. The waveform follows the envelope either way.

On

Clips with points show their envelope line. This is the default.

Off

Only the clip being edited shows its envelope.

When to change it: Turn it off when the lines get in the way of reading the waveforms.

Saved setting: gain_envelope_show

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Gain envelope.

A gain envelope point can be dragged up to this many dB above the clip's own level, the top of the clip on the envelope's scale; 0 dB, the sample as it is, stays in the middle of the clip. A low ceiling keeps a slip of the mouse from making a clip very loud. Points set higher before the ceiling was lowered keep their level and the scale reaches them.

+3 dB

At most 3 dB louder.

+6 dB

At most 6 dB louder. This is the default.

+12 dB

At most 12 dB louder.

+24 dB

At most 24 dB louder, the clip gain's own limit.

When to change it: Raise it when a quiet part of a sample needs more than 6 dB.

Saved setting: gain_envelope_ceiling

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Gain envelope.

While a gain envelope is edited, faint lines show this grid over the clip, and points added or dragged land on it unless Free move is on or Alt is held.

0.5 dB

Half-decibel steps.

1 dB

Whole decibels. This is the default.

2 dB

Two-decibel steps.

3 dB

Three-decibel steps.

6 dB

Six-decibel steps, about half or double the level.

When to change it: Use a coarser grid for quick rides, a finer one for small corrections.

Saved setting: gain_envelope_step

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Gain envelope.

The Free move button under the clip's name, while its envelope is edited, switches between moving points on the dB grid and moving them freely to a tenth of a dB; this setting is what it starts as.

On the grid

Points snap to the dB grid. This is the default.

Freely

Points move to a tenth of a dB.

When to change it: Choose Freely if you mostly draw by ear rather than by numbers.

Saved setting: gain_envelope_move

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Gain envelope.

With all audio clips, Edit gain envelope (Alt+E, or the button by any clip's name) is a mode: every audio clip's envelope line takes points until you turn it off again, so you can set several clips side by side. With one clip at a time, only that clip's envelope opens, and opening another closes it.

All audio clips

Every audio clip's envelope opens and closes together. This is the default.

One clip at a time

Only the clip whose envelope you open can be edited.

When to change it: Choose one clip at a time if you click near the middle of clips to move them while editing envelopes and want the others left alone.

Saved setting: gain_envelope_editing

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Advanced.

Time-stretching changes an audio clip’s duration while aiming to retain its pitch. With this enabled, hold Ctrl+Alt while dragging an Arrangement audio clip’s left or right edge to stretch its content to the new span. Suhina adjusts the timing markers and gives shared content a separate copy where necessary. With it disabled, the edge uses normal trimming behavior. Alt alone allows free edge positioning; it is not the stretch gesture. On macOS use Cmd+Option. MIDI clip edges are not affected.

On

Ctrl+Alt-drag an audio edge to stretch the content. This is the default.

Off

Do not use the edge gesture to stretch audio; edge dragging trims the clip.

When to change it: Enable it to fit a recorded phrase to a different duration by dragging its edge.

Saved setting: stretch_alt_drag

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Advanced.

With multiple Arrangement clips selected, this makes the rename action apply the same typed name to all of them as one undoable edit. With it off, renaming targets the last clicked clip. On macOS the default shortcut uses Cmd+R. This is about clip names, not track names.

On

Rename all selected Arrangement clips together. This is the default.

Off

Rename only the clip clicked last.

When to change it: Keep this on when naming several parts of one phrase together. Turn it off if a multi-selection should not rename the other clips.

Saved setting: rename_selected_clips

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Advanced.

Off shows sliders without numeric units for the five named heights. On replaces them with editable pixel fields. Both modes enforce the same ordering and bounds; switching modes does not reset heights.

Off

Tune heights using sliders without showing pixels. This is the default.

On

Edit each named height directly in pixels.

When to change it: Turn this on when you want to enter exact heights.

Saved setting: arrangement_sizes_advanced

Find it in Options → Settings → Arrangement → Advanced.

When a track named Bass is duplicated or pasted and Bass is already taken, the copy gets a number. Wrapped names it Bass (2), Hash names it Bass #2. A name that contains # without a number after it shows the track's number, so it is kept as it is and every copy shows its own number. Tracks that were never renamed are called # MIDI or # Audio and keep that name.

Wrapped (2)

Copies read Bass (2), Bass (3). This is the default.

Hash #2

Copies read Bass #2, Bass #3.

When to change it: Pick Hash if you prefer numbered names without brackets, for example to match how your other projects are named.

Saved setting: copy_names

Find it in Options → Settings → Launcher and mixer → Launching.

The Session view is the grid used to launch clips independently of the Arrangement timeline. With this enabled, launching a clip with its slot’s launch control also selects the clip and its track, so the detail area follows that clip. With it off, launch playback can change while you keep editing the previously selected clip. Clicking the clip name still selects it without launching.

On

Select the clip when launching it. This is the default.

Off

Keep the existing selection when launching from the slot’s launch control.

When to change it: Turn this off when performing clip launches while keeping another clip open for editing.

Saved setting: select_on_launch

Find it in Options → Settings → Launcher and mixer → Mixer.

Volume sets a track’s level and pan sets its left/right balance. This changes how their controls are drawn, including the Arrangement track headers, without changing the values or sound. Both styles support dragging. Use Ctrl plus the mouse wheel over a value to adjust it instead of scrolling; Ctrl is Cmd on macOS and adding Shift makes the adjustment finer. In Session, Knob changes pan and compact-volume controls; the tall channel fader remains a fader. A narrow themed pan control shows the dial alone, while a wider control retains the value beside it. A theme can override pan presentation through pan { appearance: knob; } or field. Native or no override preserves this preference.

Field

Show volume as a bar field and pan as a centered field. This is the default.

Knob

Show a small rotary control with its numerical value.

When to change it: Choose Knob if a rotary indicator is easier for you to read, or Field for compact level and balance bars.

Saved setting: mixer_controls

Find it in Options → Settings → Clip editor → Piano roll.

The piano roll is the MIDI note editor in the detail area. Dragging its top divider high enough in the Arrangement expands the editor to the top; this also applies to the audio editor supplied by an ARA plug-in. This preference decides whether the edited track’s timeline remains visible. It works the same with Device chain set to Stack, as the clip editor then stays along the bottom too.

Edited track

Keep the Arrangement ruler and edited track’s lane above the editor, hiding the other tracks and returns. This is the default.

Whole window

Let the editor fill the area below the control bar.

When to change it: Choose Edited track when you need to see the clip’s place in the song while editing; choose Whole window for the most editor space.

Saved setting: piano_roll_top

Find it in Options → Settings → Clip editor → Piano roll.

This scales the toolbar’s height, button boxes, gaps and icon strokes together. It gives the note-editing tools larger targets without changing the notes, time ruler or grid size. Appearance → Zoom separately scales the whole interface.

Normal

Draw the toolbar at its base size, 100 percent.

Large

Scale the toolbar to 125 percent. This is the default.

Larger

Scale the toolbar to 150 percent.

When to change it: Choose Larger when the tool buttons are hard to identify or click; choose Normal to leave more vertical room for notes.

Saved setting: piano_roll_toolbar

Find it in Options → Settings → Clip editor → Piano roll.

In the piano roll, the grid where MIDI notes are edited, a note can be drawn, moved, copied, resized, pasted, duplicated, quantised, transposed, made legato, fitted to the scale, inverted, reversed or stretched over other notes of the same pitch. With this off, the note replaces them: a note it covers whole is removed, one that starts before it ends where it starts, and one that runs on past it starts where it ends. Notes that stay selected after an edit, such as notes moved with the arrow keys, replace only once they are let go, so moving them through other notes erases nothing on the way; until then the notes under them show only what will be left of them. A duplicate (the duplicate key, or a copy made by dragging with Ctrl) replaces what it lands on at once. Shift+Right runs over the next note of the pitch, which makes room once the note is let go. What happens to a note covered from its start is Covered notes, under Advanced on this page. With it on, notes may overlap, and nothing else changes. A paste right onto the notes it was copied from keeps them, so the copy can be moved off them. The same choice is in the View menu in the piano roll's top left corner and in its toolbar's workflow menu (Select-first, Draw-first, Mouse-first or Custom).

Off

Notes of one pitch never overlap: a note placed over others replaces them. This is the default.

On

Notes of one pitch may overlap, and both play.

When to change it: Keep this off so no stray notes hide under longer ones. Turn it on for layered notes on one pitch.

Saved setting: notes_replace

Find it in Options → Settings → Clip editor → Piano roll.

The keys at the left of the piano roll, the grid where MIDI notes are edited, are drawn like a keyboard in one of three styles. A theme can set anything about the keys in its sheet, and what it sets wins: when it sets their colours, this choice has no effect and the View menu in the piano roll's top left corner shows Theme. The same choice is in that menu.

Bone

Light keys that stand out from the dark grid. This is the default.

Stone

Keys between light and dark.

Night

Dark keys that sit back with the rest of the window.

When to change it: Pick the one that is easiest on your eyes; it changes nothing but how the keys look.

Saved setting: piano_key_style

Find it in Options → Settings → Clip editor → Piano roll.

The keys at the left of the piano roll, the grid where MIDI notes are edited, can name only the C of each octave, every white key, or every key. Rows lower than 8 points have no room for a name and show none, and a folded view, which leaves keys out, names every row. The notes in the grid always show their names, whatever this says. The same choice is in the View menu in the piano roll's top left corner.

Only C

Only the C of each octave is named. This is the default.

White keys

Every white key is named.

All keys

Every key is named, black keys too.

When to change it: Name more keys while you learn where notes are, or when tall rows leave room for them.

Saved setting: piano_key_names

Find it in Options → Settings → Clip editor → Piano roll.

A black key sits between two white keys, so it has two names: the sharp of the key below it (C#) or the flat of the key above it (Db). This chooses which one Suhina uses wherever it names a note or a scale's root: the notes and the keys in the piano roll and the clip panel's figures and its Scale root list. It only changes the names: the notes, the scale and what plays stay the same, and the project file is not changed. White keys are named the same either way.

Sharps (C#)

C#, D#, F#, G# and A#. This is the default.

Flats (Db)

Db, Eb, Gb, Ab and Bb.

When to change it: Pick flats when the music you write or read uses them, such as in keys like F major or Bb minor, so the names match the score.

Saved setting: note_spelling

Find it in Options → Settings → Clip editor → Piano roll.

A MIDI clip's scale is set in its clip panel: a switch, the root and the mode. While a clip has no scale, the root and the mode there show this scale, and the switch, or a pick of either, turns it on for the clip. Turning a clip's scale off and on again brings back the scale it had, while Suhina is open. This only chooses what a clip starts from: clips that have a scale keep it, and nothing is changed in the project until a clip's switch is used.

Root

The scale's first note, C to B, named as sharps or flats by Note names. C is the default.

Mode

Major, minor, harmonic minor, melodic minor, the church modes, major and minor pentatonic, or blues. Major is the default.

When to change it: Pick the key you write in most, so a clip's scale is right the moment you switch it on.

Saved setting: default_scale_rootdefault_scale_mode

Find it in Options → Settings → Clip editor → Advanced.

With Allow stacked notes off, a note placed over others of the same pitch replaces them: a note it covers whole is removed, and one that starts before it ends where it starts. This setting decides the third case, a note whose start the placed note covers and that runs on past it. Delete them removes that note, the part after the placed note too, so the placed note simply takes its place. Keep the rest cuts only the covered part away, so the rest of the note starts where the placed note ends; lengthening a note into a line of shorter ones then pushes their starts later, which can make new rhythms. It applies to every edit that replaces (drawing, moving, copying, resizing, Shift+Right, pasting, duplicating and the note tools), and to notes that make room once they are let go. The same choice is in the piano roll toolbar's workflow menu, under Allow stacked notes.

Delete them

A note covered from its start goes whole, its tail too. This is the default.

Keep the rest

A note covered from its start keeps what runs on past the note placed over it, starting where that note ends.

When to change it: Keep Delete them for clean lines where a new note takes the old one's place. Choose Keep the rest to keep the tails of notes you draw or lengthen over, for example to find a new rhythm by stretching one note across a line of others.

Saved setting: covered_notes

Find it in Options → Settings → Browser → Browser.

The browser is the panel used to find samples, MIDI files, instruments, effects and projects. This places that panel on the selected side of the main Session or Arrangement view. It does not choose the side of Arrangement track headers. The preference becomes visible when the browser is shown.

Left

Place the browser on the left. This is the default.

Right

Place the browser on the right.

When to change it: Move the browser to the side that makes dragging files into your tracks most comfortable.

Saved setting: browser_side

Find it in Options → Settings → Browser → Browser.

Recent contains recently used items grouped by type, such as Projects, Samples and MIDI. This changes where you choose those types. It does not change what counts as recently used or turn the Library categories into recent-only lists.

Indented

List recent types underneath Recent in the browser sidebar. This is the default.

Chips

Show type buttons above the results while Recent is selected.

When to change it: Choose Chips to shorten the sidebar, or Indented to keep each recent type directly accessible in the sidebar.

Saved setting: browser_recent

Find it in Options → Settings → Browser → Browser.

Samples dragged in the browser and dropped on one of its folders go into that folder. Ask shows a question with Move, Copy and Cancel, and a Remember my choice box that sets this setting. Move takes the files out of where they were; their pins, recent places and colour tags go with them, and a file an open project plays is left where it is. Copy leaves the originals. A name already taken in the folder gets a number (Kick 2.wav); nothing is overwritten. Holding Ctrl while dropping always copies, Shift always moves.

Ask

Ask each time whether to move or copy. This is the default.

Move

Move the samples into the folder without asking.

Copy

Copy the samples into the folder without asking.

When to change it: Set Move or Copy once you always want the same result and the question gets in the way.

Saved setting: browser_folder_drop

Find it in Options → Settings → Browser → Previews.

A preview lets you hear a file before adding it to the project. Auto-play starts it when its browser row is selected. With Auto-play off, use the preview play control or click the preview waveform instead. Previews play at the file’s own timing rather than synchronizing to the song. Sample-map hover preview has its own setting. A MIDI preview can use the selected track’s instrument, or a fallback instrument if no suitable track instrument is available.

On

Start a preview when a sample or MIDI file is selected. This is the default.

Off

Selection alone does not start the file preview.

When to change it: Turn this off when you want to browse silently and start only the previews you explicitly choose.

Saved setting: preview_autoplay

Find it in Options → Settings → Browser → Previews.

This is a relative level adjustment in decibels (dB): negative values make previews quieter and 0 dB adds no reduction. It does not change the gain of files imported as clips. The sample map’s Volume control shares this preference. Audio → Cue controls where sample previews are heard and applies its own cue volume too. A MIDI file preview using a track’s instrument follows that track’s signal path.

-18 dB

Apply the largest reduction offered by these buttons.

-12 dB

Apply a 12 dB reduction.

-6 dB

Apply a 6 dB reduction. This is the default.

0 dB

Apply no preview-level reduction; the source level and cue level still matter.

When to change it: Choose a quieter level if auditioning samples is too loud beside your playing project.

Saved setting: preview_volume

Find it in Options → Settings → Browser → Sample map.

The sample map places analyzed samples near other samples with similar sound characteristics. Cloud keeps their free positions; Grid assigns each sample its own cell while trying to preserve neighboring relationships. This changes the map’s display, not the samples or their place in your project. The Cloud / Grid switch on the map changes the same preference.

Cloud

Draw sample points at their computed positions. This is the default.

Grid

Snap the layout to separate cells so individual samples do not occupy the same cell.

When to change it: Choose Grid when dense clusters make individual samples hard to point at. Choose Cloud to explore the free similarity layout.

Saved setting: map_layout

Find it in Options → Settings → Browser → Sample map.

Hover means placing the pointer over a sample point without clicking. With this enabled, hovering a new sample starts its preview. It uses the shared preview level and cue routing. This is independent of browser list Auto-play; turning one off does not turn the other off.

On

Preview samples as the pointer reaches them. This is the default.

Off

Do not start a preview merely by hovering a sample.

When to change it: Turn it off if moving the pointer across the map triggers unwanted previews; keep it on to browse by ear.

Saved setting: map_hover_preview

Find it in Options → Settings → Browser → Sample map.

The sample map is intended for short sounds and loops. Samples exceeding this duration are omitted from the map, but their files remain in the library and can still be found in the normal browser. Changing the limit uses stored duration information and does not require analyzing the audio again. The map’s status reports samples left out for being too long.

5 s

Show samples up to five seconds long.

10 s

Show samples up to ten seconds long. This is the default.

30 s

Include samples up to thirty seconds long.

60 s

Include samples up to one minute long.

When to change it: Raise the limit when a wanted loop is absent because of its length, or lower it to focus on shorter sounds.

Saved setting: map_max_seconds

Find it in Options → Settings → Browser → Sample map.

The sample map names its groups of similar sounds (Kick, Snare, Vocal and so on) with labels drawn over the points. In a narrow map, large labels can cover the very points they name. This setting scales every label by the same amount, so bigger groups keep their larger labels and labels still never overlap. It is the same choice as Labels in the map's top bar.

Off

Hide the labels; the legend under the map still names the kinds.

50 %

Labels at half their full size.

75 %

Labels at three quarters of their full size.

100 %

Labels at their full size. This is the default.

When to change it: Make the labels smaller or turn them off when they hide samples you want to see or click, most often in the map docked in the browser.

Saved setting: map_label_size

Find it in Options → Settings → Browser → Tags.

A color tag is a named label you assign to library items for filtering and organization. This limits the total number of distinct tags, not the number of files in your library. It is stored with browser library data rather than as a key in settings.txt. Suhina refuses to lower the limit below the number of tags already present; remove unused tags first if needed.

64

Allow up to 64 distinct tags. This is the default.

128

Allow up to 128 tags.

256

Allow up to 256 tags.

1024

Allow up to 1024 tags.

When to change it: Raise this when you have reached the tag limit and need additional labels for your library.

Find it in Options → Settings → Keys → Mouse and key behaviour.

These four switches set how the mouse edits notes in the piano roll: whether a left click in Select draws a note, whether a right click deletes the note under the pointer, whether Shift with a right click splits a note, and whether Alt with a right click plays from the pointer. Each is On or Off. Changing any of them makes the keyboard preset Custom, because a preset is a set of these choices together with its keys. They are saved in keymap.json with the keys.

Left click draws

On: a left click on an empty place in Select draws a note.

Right click deletes a note

On: a right click on a note deletes it.

Shift+right click splits

On: Shift with a right click on a note splits it at the pointer.

Alt+right plays from the point

On: Alt with a right click starts playback from the pointer.

When to change it: Change a switch when the piano roll should answer the mouse the way you are used to; pick a preset on the Shortcuts list to set all four at once.

Saved setting: keymap.json

Find it in Options → Settings → Keys → Shortcuts.

This panel lists actions, their assigned keys and controls to Change or Clear them. Change captures the next key with its modifiers; Escape cancels capture. Clear removes an action’s binding. Filter shortcuts searches action names, groups and keys, and conflicts are displayed when one key triggers several actions. Choosing a preset resets keyboard bindings to defaults and applies that preset’s piano-roll workflow behaviors. Editing a workflow choice makes the mode Custom. Reset all currently resets the entire keymap to its default Select-first state. Keys and workflow preferences are saved in keymap.json. Ctrl means Cmd on macOS; Alt means Option.

Select-first

Use selection-oriented gestures and Ctrl+D to duplicate. This is the default preset.

Draw-first

Use Ctrl+B to duplicate and Ctrl+Shift+B for the browser; right-click deletes notes in Draw and Paint.

Mouse-first

Click to draw in Select, right-click to delete, Shift+right-drag to split, and Alt+right to play from the pointer; duplicate remains Ctrl+D.

Custom

Keep a mixture of individual workflow choices rather than fill in a preset’s behaviors.

When to change it: Rebind an action when its default key is awkward on your keyboard, then check for conflicts. Choose a preset when you want a consistent set of note-editing habits.

Saved setting: keymap.json

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Window.

Window zoom changes the drawing size of the whole interface from 50 to 200 percent. Use the minus and plus controls to change it in ten-percentage-point steps; click the value to return to 100 percent. Ctrl+Plus or Ctrl+Equals, Ctrl+Minus and Ctrl+0 provide the same actions; use Cmd on macOS. This is separate from zooming time in the Arrangement or piano roll.

When to change it: Increase it when interface text and controls feel too small, or decrease it to show more controls in the available window.

Saved setting: zoom

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Window.

This governs Suhina’s interface motion. With animations off, controls go straight to their final visual states instead of interpolating through a transition. It does not change musical timing, audio playback or the saved project. It is an application preference; it does not control animations on this website.

On

Animate interface state changes. This is the default.

Off

Show the final visual state immediately.

When to change it: Turn this off if interface movement distracts you or you prefer immediate visual changes.

Saved setting: animations

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Window.

When you drag a knob, a fader, a slider or a value such as a track's volume, the pointer disappears for as long as the drag lasts and comes back where you pressed. With the mouse the drag also holds the pointer in place, so a long drag never stops at the edge of the screen. Turned off, the pointer stays visible during the drag and shows an arrow for the direction the value moves in; on a bar that can be dragged either way, the arrow appears once the drag has chosen its direction. A theme can choose for its own controls with drag-pointer, which then wins over this setting. It changes nothing in the project or the sound.

On

Hide the pointer while dragging. This is the default.

Off

Keep the pointer visible and show the arrow of the drag's direction.

When to change it: Turn it off if you prefer to see the pointer while dragging, or if your system does not hide or hold the pointer reliably.

Saved setting: drag_hides_pointer

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Window.

Shows File, Edit, View, Projects, Options and Help at the top of the window. On macOS the menu bar at the top of the screen has the same menus and items, so the window's own bar is off by default there; on Windows and Linux it is the only menu bar and is on by default. Keys work either way.

Off

No menu bar in the window.

On

The menu bar shows under the title bar.

When to change it: Turn it on in macOS to keep the menus beside the window; turn it off on Windows or Linux only if you use keys for everything.

Saved setting: menu_bar

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Waveforms.

A waveform is the visible shape of an audio signal over time. Linear drawing makes its height proportional to amplitude, so very quiet passages can look almost flat. The dB scale spreads out quieter levels so those details are easier to see. It affects waveform drawings in clips, browser previews and the sample map; it does not amplify or alter the audio.

Linear

Draw amplitude proportionally. This is the default.

dB

Use a decibel-based display to make quieter waveform details more visible.

When to change it: Choose dB when quiet parts are difficult to inspect, and Linear when you want a direct amplitude picture.

Saved setting: waveform_scale

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Background.

Choose a user-owned PNG or type its path. Clear the field to remove it and restore desktop transparency where the GPU host supports it. While displayed, surfaces blend over the image even on transparent hosts. The image is drawn over an opaque fill, so the desktop does not show through it, and nothing is captured from the screen. Images are decoded away from the UI thread, limited to 32 MiB and 8192 pixels per axis, and displayed at up to 1600 pixels per axis. High Contrast suppresses the image. If loading fails, repair the PNG and choose it again with Browse to retry; failures are not retried continuously.

When to change it: Choose an image when you want a private decorative backdrop behind neutral panels.

Saved setting: background_image

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Background.

Set neutral main-window surface opacity over the selected background image, from 0 to 100 percent. At 100 percent opaque theme surfaces cover the image; lower values reveal the selected image rather than the desktop, including on transparent GPU hosts. Settings uses its original theme surface with Panel liquid independently. Text, controls, track and clip colours are unchanged. Has no effect without a loaded image.

When to change it: Increase for stronger separation and readability, or decrease to reveal more of your image.

Saved setting: background_tint

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Background.

Blur the selected image by 0 to 40 logical display pixels. The source is decoded once and cached; filtering runs in one background worker and obsolete results are discarded. Liquid captures release obsolete GPU texture registrations rather than retaining earlier background versions. Zero bypasses blur. It never samples the desktop. Has no effect without a loaded image.

When to change it: Increase when background details distract from text and controls.

Saved setting: background_blur

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Application bar.

Place the always-visible Suhina name at the left or centre of the application bar. Project fields have their own position; fields sharing a position appear together. Long project names are clipped before they overlap controls. The bar shows on Windows only, where it is the window's title bar; Linux and macOS keep the system's title bar.

Left

Show Suhina on the left.

Centre

Show Suhina in the centre.

When to change it: Choose the location you find easiest to identify when switching windows.

Saved setting: app_name_centered

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Application bar.

Show the active project name and its unsaved marker in the application bar. This affects only the optional project information; Suhina remains visible.

Off

Hide the project name.

On

Show the project name and unsaved marker.

When to change it: Enable when working with multiple projects or disable for a quieter bar.

Saved setting: bar_project_name

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Application bar.

Show the active project tempo in beats per minute and its time signature in the application bar. The fields use Project information position and are omitted when no project is open.

Off

Hide project timing.

On

Show tempo and time signature.

When to change it: Enable for a compact timing reference alongside the project name.

Saved setting: bar_project_timing

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Application bar.

Place enabled project fields at the left or centre, independently of the application name. Fields placed together share a single group and long names are clipped inside it.

Left

Show project fields on the left.

Centre

Show project fields in the centre.

When to change it: Choose Centre to separate project information from a left-aligned Suhina name.

Saved setting: bar_project_centered

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Advanced.

The renderer draws the application window and controls. GPU uses Suhina’s wgpu graphics path; OpenGL uses its OpenGL path. This preference takes effect on the next application start rather than changing the running window. It does not change the audio engine. A command-line renderer choice can override the saved preference for a launch.

GPU

Use the wgpu renderer, backed by the platform’s graphics API. This is the default.

OpenGL

Use the OpenGL renderer on the next start.

When to change it: Try the other renderer when drawing or resizing the interface is problematic on your system, then apply it at your next planned restart.

Saved setting: renderer

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Advanced.

Controls the transparency and edge refraction of the Settings backdrop through the theme tint. A detached Settings window keeps a solid background. This experimental 0–100% slider defaults to 0%, which disables the material. It requires the GPU renderer and Animations on; a high-contrast theme suppresses it. Switching from OpenGL to GPU requires an app restart. A theme with its own liquid overrides uses those values instead; enable Use global liquid settings in its editor to use these sliders. Changes apply live and do not affect audio. Strength controls remain editable without the GPU renderer; values are saved for later. The material itself requires GPU rendering and Animations; switch renderer and restart to see it. These global sliders are disabled while the current theme supplies liquid overrides. Enable Use global liquid settings in the theme editor to edit and apply them again.

When to change it: Increase this to preview a translucent Settings surface. Keep 0% for a flat surface.

Saved setting: liquid_panel_strength

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Advanced.

Controls reflections and edge refraction on MIDI and audio track headers. Track labels and controls are painted sharply afterward. This experimental 0–100% slider defaults to 0%, which disables the material. It requires the GPU renderer and Animations on; a high-contrast theme suppresses it. Switching from OpenGL to GPU requires an app restart. A theme with its own liquid overrides uses those values instead; enable Use global liquid settings in its editor to use these sliders. Changes apply live and do not affect audio. Strength controls remain editable without the GPU renderer; values are saved for later. The material itself requires GPU rendering and Animations; switch renderer and restart to see it. These global sliders are disabled while the current theme supplies liquid overrides. Enable Use global liquid settings in the theme editor to edit and apply them again.

When to change it: Increase this to add a reflective coating to track headers. Keep 0% for a flat surface.

Saved setting: liquid_track_strength

Find it in Options → Settings → Appearance → Advanced.

Controls reflections and edge refraction on clip bodies. Notes, waveforms and labels are painted sharply afterward. This experimental 0–100% slider defaults to 0%, which disables the material. It requires the GPU renderer and Animations on; a high-contrast theme suppresses it. Switching from OpenGL to GPU requires an app restart. A theme with its own liquid overrides uses those values instead; enable Use global liquid settings in its editor to use these sliders. Changes apply live and do not affect audio. Strength controls remain editable without the GPU renderer; values are saved for later. The material itself requires GPU rendering and Animations; switch renderer and restart to see it. These global sliders are disabled while the current theme supplies liquid overrides. Enable Use global liquid settings in the theme editor to edit and apply them again. Clip reflections and rims use a gentler optical range than panels to keep dense arrangements readable, including at 100 percent.

When to change it: Increase this to add a reflective coating to clips. Keep 0% for a flat surface.

Saved setting: liquid_clip_strength

Find it in Options → Settings → Themes → Theme.

Select a preview card to apply a theme immediately. The active theme has a larger preview. Existing tracks and clips keep their stored colours. Edit current theme opens grouped colour controls with opacity for surface colours; changes save live: colours and other settings are saved in a variant of the theme (Custom, made the first time), never in the theme's own file, so a built-in theme needs no copy for them; moving controls or changing artwork of a built-in theme creates a personal copy. A theme with variants shows a row of swatches under its card, the theme's own values first; select a swatch to use that variant. With a variant in use, the name field renames the variant. Theme settings lists the settings a theme declares itself with @property, each with a control for its type (colour, a number in its range, a choice or checked text), saved in the variant in use. Tracks & clips sets the MIDI and audio colours used for future creations. Surface gradients offers independent Panel, Track and Clip overlays, each with a toggle, direction and 2–8 colour/opacity stops. Gradients work without GPU liquid, but reduced effects and high contrast suppress materials. Liquid inherits the global strengths unless Use global liquid settings is turned off to save per-theme overrides; GPU and accessibility restrictions still apply. Save as new theme creates another copy; Reset changes restores the palette captured on entering the editor and its liquid inheritance. Restore built-in offers Save a copy & restore, Restore without a copy, or Cancel restore; existing custom files remain in the library. More provides New variant (starting from the values in use), Duplicate, Reload, Open folder, Back up and Export template. Dropping a theme file or a zip of themes onto Suhina adds it. Interface changes do not alter audio. Select a numbered stop on the shared colour ramp, or drag it to set its position. Only the selected stop shows colour, position and opacity controls. Add selects the new stop; Remove deletes the selected stop while retaining at least two. Direction is separate below. Colour popups have an opaque background for readability. Controls, meters and toolbar adds continuous, segmented, needle and signal-driven artwork-frame meter appearances; the needle display uses existing dBFS measurements, not calibrated analogue VU. Use editable SVG controls installs original vector examples; Restore standard controls removes overrides. Typed SDK device-panel knobs, dials and buttons use the same SVG artwork while retaining labels, readouts and native parameter gestures. Named device-panel/device-control scopes are elements with scoped palette/text styling. Custom toolbar layout stores order and visibility in the theme. Right-click the top control bar, choose Edit toolbar, drag labelled modules, then Done; the editor also has visibility checkboxes and move arrows. A customized bar scrolls horizontally when narrow. Edit an SVG control accepts self-contained vector markup and reports invalid artwork. Native CSS applies settings and layout written in the earlier form and reports unsupported declarations: settings go to the variant in use and layout stays in the theme's theme.css. Each theme is a folder: theme.json, its name, swatch and suggested toolbar; theme.css, its style sheet, in which Suhina's editors change only the declarations they set (placements, artwork) and leave the rest of the author's text as written; an optional thumbnail.svg; variants/NAME.json, values for the theme's settings; and assets/ with its SVG/PNG resources. Colours are custom properties: every theme has each palette token, and may declare more with @property. The other core settings (meter, artwork frame rate, liquid, gradients, background strength, Session geometry) are properties of the meter, window and session elements. A built-in theme's variants are kept in a folder of its id without a copy of its CSS. Changes saved outside Suhina appear within a second, and a save over an unread outside edit of a variant file is refused so the file is kept. Themes saved by earlier versions (JSON, or a theme.css that imports advanced.css) are converted once after a read-back check, keeping the originals in the theme's legacy folder; one that does not read without warnings stays as it is. A folder with a theme.css but no theme.json is not a theme: it is not listed, nothing is written into it, and its name is not given to a new theme. Reset changes also restores the skin captured on entering the editor. Backups hold each theme folder as it is, variants included; the template ZIP holds an editable theme with an example variant, artwork, theme.json, CSS and background images. The Theme style sheet section explains theme.css, opens the themes folder and lists the sheet's notices; the sheet is edited in a text editor. Suhina's own style engine with Taffy layout reads it. It computes modern scoped colour, font and radius styles, and Flex/Grid positions for toolbar module ids. Workspace panel ids are panel-browser, panel-main and panel-detail under workspace. Authored layout declarations opt into CSS geometry, preserving native visibility; CSS-owned sizes disable the native browser/detail splitters. Removing the layout rules restores native placement and saved sizes. Bars and floating windows remain host-managed. This adapter is experimental: the host controls toolbar height. A retained native scope tree supports child and sibling selectors, named track, clip, slot and scene roles, and hover/active/disabled/focus for connected controls. Changes publish on the following repaint. Connected panels pass authored text colour, font size and radius to ordinary egui widgets while preserving native defaults elsewhere. Connected surfaces paint linear, radial and conic gradients, including repeating forms, with CSS colour interpolation and transparency. Radial/conic gradients resolve authored origins, radii and angles against each surface and use bounded cached spatial textures. Session, Arrangement, clip and piano editors, bars, shared numeric fields and choice fields pass their scoped styles to ordinary egui widgets. CSS transitions and keyframes animate connected paint properties using the native frame clock. Turning off animations or selecting high contrast suppresses CSS motion. Structure changes restart animations; geometry animation and the reduced-motion media feature are not connected. Connected surfaces also paint bounded inset/outset box shadows with offsets, spread, currentColor and approximate Gaussian blur, using cached textures and native clipping. Some raw controls, transforms and filters still need integration. The Theme style sheet section reports source-line notices for known unsupported effects and font declarations; these notices are not a complete CSS validator. Source is bounded to 128 KiB and 64 nested blocks/functions. Styles without toolbar layout declarations preserve the ordinary bar arrangement; customized bars scroll when narrow. These limits appear beside the editor. Conditional styles stay in the theme's sheet; a variant's values apply over them. Toolbar edit mode preserves the real controls and existing native or CSS layout. Its overlay shows an 8 point snap grid. Done saves module offsets to the theme, Cancel or Escape discards the draft, and entering and leaving without changes preserves the layout. Offsets remain relative to native or CSS anchors and are saved in the theme's theme.json. Missing SVG roles inherit the embedded Suhina default artwork. SVG files in a theme's folder remain directly editable. Portable theme ZIPs include inherited artwork and a shared README.md for human and AI authors, covering what, why, how, when, supported customization and limitations. The native centred toolbar exposes the same module ids as custom layouts; paint-only module rules keep native geometry. Transport controls expose control-play, control-stop and control-record ids. Shared native and SDK button SVG bodies respect CSS corner radii and compose with gradient/shadow layers below their glyphs and labels. Shared native text helpers and SDK vector labels render up to four inherited/currentColor text-shadow layers without changing glyph layout or hit targets. Zero blur uses one draw per layer; blur uses a fixed nine-tap weighted approximation, limited to 32 points and offsets of 256 points. Ordinary egui text that bypasses the helper still needs integration. The dark gloss example in a theme package's examples folder supplies original paint-only metallic gradients, rounded SVG-backed buttons and box/text shadows without reflow. Controls are placed by hand with .control-NAME rules for offsets, dimensions, bottom anchoring and volume direction; matching instances share the rule. The visual placement editor (Edit interface) has been removed for now, while layout moves to plain CSS. Session mixer name, colour stripe, pan, volume and meter support independent placement and sizing; Arrangement name, colour, volume, pan and meter are connected too. A horizontal Session fader changes the rail, cap, scale and drag axis together. MIDI/audio icons use replaceable track.midi/track.audio SVG roles. Track name and body artwork may select raw colour and state variants, with up to 32 contiguous SVG/PNG frames at 1-30 fps (skin.artwork-fps); disabling animations freezes frame zero. SDK device controls, labels and panels use device-<control-id> placement names. Their drawing and hit areas move/scale together while parameter ids and commands remain native. Long/non-ASCII ids get stable bounded names. Native project shortcuts are suppressed while placing controls. PNG control artwork preserves authored colours and alpha; each image is limited to 8 MiB compressed, 4096 pixels per axis and 4 million pixels, with a combined inline-artwork budget of 16 MiB. SVG remains self-contained and does not embed images. Frames meter style selects contiguous meter.frame-0 through meter.frame-31 artwork by the louder measured peak over -70 to +6 dBFS, independently of animation settings and artwork fps. Missing or invalid sequences fall back to native continuous bars. Native clip indication, accessible measurements and click-to-reset remain active. Arrangement fold, enable, automation, input/output routing, send navigation and individual return-slot sends are connected too. Individual sends use mixer-send-1 or arrangement-send-1 and subsequent slot numbers, following native return order. Load compact Session geometry under Native CSS supplies theme-owned track/return/scene widths (64-512 points), slot heights (16-64) and header heights (20-64), saved as the theme’s session { track-width; … } settings. Use auto to remove an override; absent values retain native defaults. Drawing, scrolling and drop/input targets share the new dimensions. Mixer height retains its existing divider and preference. Session and Arrangement remain separate views; this does not add the separately planned mixer view. Mixer bodies and name surfaces consume their own CSS backgrounds and effects. Meter-vertical and meter-horizontal contain meter-level materials whose gradients stay anchored to the full dBFS scale while native peak/RMS extents and opacity reveal the signal; outset shadows glow around the lit region. Empty rails and segment gaps remain empty. Inline PNG artwork does not prevent applying native CSS edits. Full browser/clip/scene, raw-widget and floating-window placement coverage remains in progress. Fader scale labels/ticks can be placed independently using mixer-volume-scale and styled through fader-scale. Their placement does not change parameter gestures. Compact Session CSS stores pan appearance in the theme through pan { appearance: knob; }. Field forces a numerical pan field; native retains the global preference. This override applies to Session and Arrangement and travels in exported CSS. Meter intensity in the theme editor dims measured ink, artwork and glow from 0-100%, saved as the theme’s meter { meter-intensity } setting. Clip warnings, native bar rails and audio measurements stay unchanged. Frame images dim as a whole, including any authored background. This is opacity rather than saturation; gradient and palette colours remain independently editable. Advanced meter-level opacity also applies to native bars, hold marks and needles. Transparent CSS fills suppress native fill fallback. Suhina Sheet is a built-in playful spreadsheet-style theme with green chrome, white cells, compact Session geometry and original SVG controls. Duplicate it to edit its CSS, or export it to get its CSS and all 16 SVG roles together. Suhina Meadow supplies classic blue/cream paper controls over an original generated green-hill image. Its embedded wallpaper and effective SVG controls travel in theme exports; the empty workspace reveals the private image through translucent blue/cream glass panels. Meadow enables liquid strengths of 48/24/12 for panels/tracks/clips; actual liquid requires animations and a supported GPU renderer. Adapters without encoded/linear texture-view aliases retain alpha/CSS materials. Suhina Blocks adds original brown plank CSS, stone-like controls and eight colour-keyed pixel track textures, without a landscape or background PNG. track-column { track-artwork: on } extends track.body behind Session slots. Empty slots preserve artwork while native hover, stop marks and launch/drop commands remain active. Native custom properties inherit from the nearest authored ancestor.

When to change it: Choose a comfortable theme and, when it has them, a variant, then use Edit current theme to tailor its colours, gradients, liquid and the settings it offers; those changes are kept in a variant, so the theme itself stays as it came. Save a copy before restoring if you want an additional version of your current work.

Saved setting: theme

Find it in Options → Settings → Themes → Folder.

Every theme you make, duplicate or bring in is a folder inside this one, and Suhina watches it, so a theme edited in another program changes the window within about a second. Choose another folder with Browse, or go back to the default (the themes folder in Suhina's data) with Reset; the path is not typed, so it cannot change by accident. Before anything changes Suhina asks whether to move your themes there. If you agree, it makes a backup of the current themes folder beside it (named with the date and time), moves the themes into the new folder (files the new folder has already are kept) and reads them from there at once. Inside the folder, a theme's own folder may be a link (a symbolic link, or a junction on Windows) to a folder elsewhere. The SUHINA_THEMES environment variable, when it is set, wins over this setting.

When to change it: Change this when you want to edit themes in a folder another program can reach, such as one in Documents. Apps installed from the Microsoft Store may only see their own copy of the app data folder, so a folder outside it lets them edit your themes. It also helps when you keep themes on another drive or share one folder between test builds.

Saved setting: themes_folder

Find it in Options → Settings → Agents and updates → Agents.

An agent is an external tool that can inspect and edit a project through Suhina’s command interface. Turning this on enables attachment with suhina-cli mcp --attach. Each connection still requires your approval in Suhina. Approved changes appear in the open projects and project edits can be undone. Turning the setting off disconnects attached agents.

On

Allow agents to request a connection; this does not approve a connection automatically.

Off

Refuse agent attachment and disconnect existing agents. This is the default.

When to change it: Turn this on when you want an assistant to work in the project you are viewing, then approve the intended connection in Suhina.

Saved setting: agents

Find it in Options → Settings → Agents and updates → MCP write permissions.

Allow attached agents to write in the folder of the project they act on, including its subfolders. This is on by default. Turn it off to require an explicitly added folder for writes. An unsaved project has no project folder. This does not restrict exports you choose yourself in File > Export.

On

Allow writes in the project's folder and its subfolders.

Off

Allow writes only in explicitly added folders.

When to change it: Turn this off when agents should write only to a separate export folder.

Saved setting: mcp_project_folder

Find it in Options → Settings → Agents and updates → MCP write permissions.

Choose the folders where attached agents may save projects and export audio. Add folder opens the system folder picker; Remove revokes that folder's grant. Each grant includes subfolders and is saved across restarts. Missing folders grant no access. Agents cannot change these permissions. Revocation applies to new operations and exports still gathering plug-in state, but does not cancel a render already running.

When to change it: Add a destination before asking an agent to export outside your project folder, or to export an unsaved project. Remove folders when access is no longer needed.

Saved setting: mcp_write_folders

Find it in Options → Settings → Agents and updates → Updates.

Suhina asks GitHub about the selected update channel once after starting. A newer build can be offered for you to download; enabling the check does not install or restart anything automatically. Help → Check for updates can still check manually when this is off.

On

Make the startup update check. This is the default.

Off

Skip the automatic startup check; manual checking remains available.

When to change it: Turn this off if you prefer to check for updates manually, for example when working offline.

Saved setting: check_updates

Find it in Options → Settings → Agents and updates → Updates.

An update channel chooses which Suhina builds the checker looks for. Nightly builds follow ongoing development. Test builds are produced for proposed changes and appear as a choice only in Developer mode or when Suhina itself is a test build. Without either condition, the effective channel is Nightly. Checking and installation are separate actions.

Nightly

Look for the nightly build. This is the default channel.

Test builds

List pull-request test builds for your platform when this channel is available. Downloading one requires signing in through the GitHub CLI.

When to change it: Use Test builds when testing a particular proposed change, and return to Nightly for the regular development builds.

Saved setting: update_channel

Find it in Options → Settings → Agents and updates → Advanced.

Developer mode makes the Test builds update channel available. It does not select that channel or download a build on its own. Downloading a test build requires the GitHub CLI and an explicit connection from the update dialog. A running test build already exposes Test builds even with Developer mode off.

On

Add Test builds to the channel choices.

Off

Keep the usual channel choices unless the running app is itself a test build. This is the default.

When to change it: Enable this when you have been asked to try a test build for a fix or feature.

Saved setting: developer_mode