PulseGrid Studio 1.6.0

PulseGrid Studio 1.6.0: VST3 instruments

On Windows, the VST3 instruments installed on your PC now play right inside PulseGrid, with no MIDI cable or second program.

New

• VST3 instruments. PulseGrid finds your VST3 instruments and lists them under VST3 plugins in the browser and the Add menu. Each one gets a channel like any other: play it from the computer keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, write notes for it in the piano roll, and mix it in the mixer.
• The plugin's own window. Click the channel's synth button, or press F8. The window stays above the studio while you use it and hides when you minimise the studio.
• Saved and exported. The sound you pick in a plugin is saved with your project, and WAV/MP3 exports include plugin channels.
• Crash-safe. Plugins run in a separate program. If a plugin crashes, the studio keeps running, tells you, and starts the plugins again.
• Settings → Plugins. See the plugins found, add folders to search, and search again after installing something new.

Good to know

• VST3 is Windows only for now, and instruments only. Effect plugins in the mixer come later.
• Some plugins must be activated in their maker's app first, or they stay silent.
• The Mac app is unchanged apart from the version number. On a Mac, use MIDI Out to play plugin instruments in another program.

Downloads

• Windows: PulseGrid-Studio-Setup-1.6.0.msi
  SHA-256: 456C9C1F3F04CE4DAFEC483AA46ADA577C500BF444A210980418128C198C7090
• Mac: PulseGrid-Studio-1.6.0-mac.dmg (unsigned: right-click → Open the first time)

Installed copies of 1.3.0 or newer update themselves.

PulseGrid Studio is free and open source under the GNU GPL v3. It uses the Steinberg VST3 SDK (MIT licence). VST is a registered trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.

Full Changelog: v1.5.0...v1.6.0

PulseGrid Studio 1.5.0

PulseGrid Studio 1.5.0

PulseGrid Studio is now open source. The code is in this repository under the GNU GPL, version 3: read it, build it, change it and share your changes. Bug reports and pull requests are welcome; see CONTRIBUTING.md.

This is also the biggest update so far: 150 instruments, drum kits you can build a beat from, a new playlist, and a header and browser in the style of FL Studio.

Download

	File
Windows 10 / 11	PulseGrid-Studio-Setup-1.5.0.msi (148 MB)
Mac (macOS 12+, Intel and Apple Silicon)	PulseGrid-Studio-1.5.0-mac.dmg
Browser	Open the web studio, nothing to install

Installed 1.3 or 1.4 on Windows? The app updates itself. Had 1.2 or earlier (the old .exe)? Uninstall it first under Settings → Apps; your projects stay where they are.

New

• 150 instruments, sorted by family: Drums, Keys, Mallets & Bells, Guitars, Bass, Strings, Brass & Winds, Voices, Synths, Pads and FX. The desktop apps include recorded pianos, organs, guitars, basses, an orchestra, choirs and drum kits. They work offline and are included when you export.

• Drum kits you can build a beat with. Each kit has its own folder:

  • The Drum Set adds its kick, snare, clap and hats as separate channels, so you click a beat in on the channel rack.
  • The Full Kit puts every drum on one channel, with each key named in the piano roll (Z on the computer keyboard is the kick).
  • Every drum is also there on its own.

  A kit's panel has 16 pads, and a list of kits to swap to.

• A new playlist.

  • Draw, delete and mute tools; muting silences a clip without removing it.
  • A strip showing the whole song: drag it to scroll, drag its edges to zoom.
  • A ruler you drag to move the playhead, a zoom readout and a button that fits the song in the window.
  • Tracks have a mute light, solo and a menu.
  • Drag a pattern from the list onto a lane to place it, and double-click a clip to open its pattern.

• A piano roll that shows what's playing. Keys light up as their notes play, and as you play them on the computer keyboard or a MIDI keyboard. The notes under the playhead glow. Hold a key to hear it, and slide along the keys to play them in turn.

• Hear it first, then add it. Click an instrument or sample in the browser to hear it, and drag it onto the channel rack to add it.

• A header like FL Studio's.

  • The top row has menus, transport, tempo and a master monitor: an oscilloscope, a peak meter with a clip light, and CPU, memory and voices.
  • The second row holds the hint panel, the windows, snap and the pattern.

• FX for builds and drops: riser, downlifter, impact, sub drop, reverse crash, noise sweep and atmospheres.

• A Settings window (F10): audio output and latency, metronome volume, keyboard velocity, MIDI, theme and interface size.

• Choose what goes to the cloud. Only the projects you choose are synced, and you can delete projects (they go to the Recycle Bin).

• MIDI Out sends a channel to instruments in another program, such as the Akai Studio Instrument Collection that comes with the MPK mini IV, through a virtual MIDI cable like loopMIDI.

• Touchpads: two fingers scroll and a pinch zooms in the piano roll and playlist.

Improved

• The window you click comes to the front, and the sound panels go behind the windows when you click one.
• Panels can sit partly out of view, lock to the sides, and resize from any edge.
• Menus open just under the menu bar, with shortcuts and flyouts like a desktop program.
• The mixer no longer shows "C" under every centred pan knob.
• The channel rack's playhead sits exactly on the playing step.
• Keyboards with several ports, like the MPK mini IV, play without stray notes.
• You stay signed in when you close the app.

Good to know

• The installers aren't code-signed yet.
  • Windows: if SmartScreen warns you, choose More info → Run anyway.
  • Mac: right-click the app and choose Open the first time.
• The user agreement now says the app is open source, so you'll be asked to accept it once more.

SHA-256 of PulseGrid-Studio-Setup-1.5.0.msi:
f6ead3072837beb4986bb7e54d14fa4c2d9c44a77bffa17311a4399fb0fb9634

PulseGrid Studio 1.4.0

added mac version

Full Changelog: v0.4.5...v1.4.0

PulseGrid Studio 1.3.1

added serum as a real plugin

Full Changelog: v0.4.5...v1.3.1

PulseGrid Studio 1.3.0

serum style synthesizer
new .msi installer and updater

Full Changelog: v0.4.5...v1.3.0

PulseGrid Studio 1.1.0

Added discord login/signup

PulseGrid Studio 1.0.0

PulseGrid Studio 1.0.0

The first full release. Free to use, and you own everything you make with it.

Cloud sync (optional)

• Create a free account under Cloud and your projects follow you between PCs and the web studio, uploading after each save. Without an account, nothing is sent anywhere.
• If a project was changed on two PCs, the other version is kept as its own cloud project instead of being overwritten.
• Up to 100 projects and 250 MB per account, with a usage line showing how full you are.
• Search your projects by name once you have 6 or more.

Keyboard and mouse

• Zoom the piano roll and playlist with the scroll wheel, around the spot under your mouse. Shift+wheel scrolls sideways, Alt+wheel scrolls up and down, and Ctrl+wheel always zooms.
• Many more keyboard shortcuts. Press F1 for the full list. The keys that play notes are never taken.

Interface

• New, clearer icons, especially the window buttons in the top bar.
• A cleaner layout: one menu bar, one transport row, an aligned channel rack, and playlist clips that show their contents.

Everyday

• Automatic updates: the app downloads new versions in the background and offers Restart to update. Your project is saved first.
• A guided first-run tour covering zooming, cloud sync and shortcuts. Replay it from Help → Take the tour.
• Help → Report a problem opens an issue with the version filled in.
• A short, plain user agreement and a privacy notice that says exactly what cloud sync stores.

Install

Download PulseGrid-Studio-Setup-1.0.0.exe below. The installer isn't code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may warn you: choose More info → Run anyway.

Full Changelog: https://github.com/BerdalYe/pulsegrid-studio/commits/v1.0.0

PulseGrid Studio 0.4.7

v0.4.7

Initial commit

PulseGrid Studio 0.4.6

v0.4.6

Initial commit

PulseGrid Studio 0.4.5

Automatic updates, a cleaner top bar, and a status bar for hints.