Shape the sound
Factory instruments
Choose among eight instruments and understand their source, filter, envelope and sound controls.
An instrument makes a track's sound from its notes. Studio has eight factory instruments, each built from the same modular audio system you can open in the Grid.
Select a track and choose Device in the dock to see its instrument card. The Instrument selector replaces that track's sound source while keeping its notes and other track settings. It also replaces any custom instrument graph, so save a custom device before switching away from it.
Choose from the Devices panel
Open Devices in the side panel. Use All, Instruments or Effects, then Search devices to filter the list. Group headings expand and collapse. A single click selects a library entry; double-click or Enter uses it on the selected track. You can also drag an instrument onto a track or its device chain.
Right-click an instrument for Use on the selected track or Add as new track. A new track needs space within the 32-track project limit. Choosing an effect adds processing rather than replacing the instrument; see effects.
The eight sources
| Instrument | Sound source and source controls |
|---|---|
| Analog Poly | A detuned saw source with separate sub and noise layers. Mix sets the main source level, Noise adds noise, Detune spreads its saw voices, and Sub sets the lower oscillator's level. |
| Spectra WT | A wavetable oscillator. Position selects among its saw, square, triangle and sine shapes in four regions of the knob's travel. Brightness changes a high-frequency shelf. Detune adjusts the source tuning. |
| FM Matrix | A sine carrier driven by another oscillator. Ratio steps the modulator's pitch relationship and FM depth changes its frequency modulation amount. |
| Phasefold | A phase-modulated source followed by a wavefolder. Fold drives the folding stage; Detune adjusts the source tuning. |
| Sampler | Plays internally generated sample material. Position changes the start point. The source is provided by Studio; there is no audio-file import control on this card. |
| Drum Rack | Five individually shaped drum sounds played through drum samplers. See the Drum Rack for every model and pad control. |
| Granular Dust | Plays grains from internally generated material. Position chooses the source region, Spread changes position randomness, Size changes grain duration, Density changes grain frequency, and Texture selects a grain window shape. |
| Mono Bass | A single-voice oscillator with a sub layer. Detune changes tuning, Sub sets the low layer, and Drive adds saturation. |
The factory voice counts are 16 for most instruments, four for Granular Dust and one for Mono Bass. Playing more simultaneous notes can replace an older voice. A custom Grid patch can use its own voice settings.
Granular Dust's Grain position and spread pad changes two controls together: move horizontally for Position and vertically for Spread. Focus the pad and use the arrow keys to adjust it; Shift gives finer steps. The individual knobs below it offer the same settings.
Filter and amplifier
Most pitched instruments show Filter, Amp and Mod after their source section. Mono Bass puts Drive in Voice and shows only Cutoff and Reso in Filter.
| Control | Current sound behaviour |
|---|---|
| Cutoff | Changes the filter cutoff frequency. Low settings darken the current low-pass sound. |
| Reso | Emphasises frequencies near the cutoff. |
| Drive | Changes the saturation stage after the filter. |
| Attack | Time taken for the amplifier envelope to rise after a note starts. |
| Decay | Time taken to fall towards the sustain level. |
| Sustain | Level while the note remains held. |
| Release | Fade after the note ends. |
The amp envelope is often called ADSR, after Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release. A short attack and release suits a tight phrase; increasing them softens its beginning and tail.
The factory cards also expose LP / BP / HP, Key trk, and, on Analog Poly and Mono Bass, Saw / Square / Sine. These choices are retained and their sketches change, but the current pitched factory sound path does not apply them. Use the filter or oscillator's controls inside the Grid when you need to change those properties. Drum Rack's per-pad filter-type control does apply to its generated sound.
The waveform, envelope and source pictures on these cards are control illustrations. They are not measurements of the live output. Use the level meters and Grid analysis when you need to inspect the signal itself.
Use the knobs
Factory knobs use a 0–100 control range. That number is the knob's position, not necessarily Hz, milliseconds or a percentage of audible loudness.
- Drag up or down to adjust. Shift slows the movement.
- Roll the mouse wheel, or use arrow keys on a focused knob, for one-unit steps. Shift gives 0.1-unit steps.
- Double-click to reset the knob's default.
- Home and End choose the range endpoints.
- Right-click a routable knob to attach modulation.
Ordinary instrument and effect knob changes can update the running sound. Changes to the instrument graph or other project structure can rebuild playback at the current position.
Card controls, presets and removal
Bypass instrument, the power button, mutes the whole track. It uses the same mute state as M in the track header; it is not a separate way to pass an instrument's dry signal.
The preset selector says Init until a preset name is stored. It lists factory sounds, Browse presets… and Save current sound…. The last two open the Presets panel. Read presets and search for saving a reusable sound.
The collapse arrow hides sound sections while keeping the factory macro controls. Macros and the expandable Mod section are described in modulation and macros.
Click a card to select it. Delete or Backspace removes the selected instrument, leaving Add a device and keeping its effects. The track remains silent until you add an instrument. Clicking outside the chain clears that device selection.
The instrument's right-click menu also offers Edit in Grid, Bypass, Duplicate, Delete, Save patch, Reset and freezing. In this menu, Duplicate copies the track, Delete resets its instrument to Analog Poly, and Reset restores the conventional sound-control defaults. This differs from the selected-card Delete key, which removes the instrument. Check which action you are using before changing a sound you want to keep.