🎛️ Tonic Audio Plugin - JUCE Effect Rack

This project is a cross-platform audio effect rack plugin built using the JUCE framework. Follow the instructions below to set up your environment and build the plugin on macOS or Windows.

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✅ Prerequisites

Before building, ensure the following are installed on your machine:

• JUCE 8.x
  Download from: https://juce.com/get-juce
  Install it and launch the Projucer app.

• C++ Toolchain:

  • macOS: Xcode (latest)
  • Windows: Visual Studio 2022 (Community or better) with "Desktop development with C++" workload

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📁 Project Structure

• .jucer — JUCE project file
• Source/ — C++ source files
• Builds/ — Platform-specific build files (auto-generated by Projucer)

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🧰 Building on macOS

1. Open TonicAudioPlugin.jucer using Projucer.
2. Ensure:
   • JUCE modules path is set correctly
   • "Xcode (macOS)" exporter is enabled
3. Click File → Save Project and Open in IDE
4. Xcode will launch with the project. Choose Tonic_AU or Tonic_VST3 as the target and click Run (⌘+R).

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🧰 Building on Windows

1. Open TonicAudioPlugin.jucer using Projucer.

2. Ensure:

   • JUCE modules path is set correctly
   • "Visual Studio 2022" exporter is enabled

3. Under Visual Studio Exporter > Extra Linker Flags, paste:

   /LIBPATH:"$(WindowsSdkDir)um\x64" user32.lib ole32.lib shell32.lib advapi32.lib uuid.lib gdi32.lib comdlg32.lib
   

4. Click File → Save Project and Open in IDE

5. Visual Studio will launch. Set the Tonic_VST3 project as the Startup Project.

6. Build the solution using Debug | x64 configuration.

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🧪 Testing the Plugin using JUCE AudioPluginHost

1. Launch AudioPluginHost, located in the JUCE/Extras/AudioPluginHost/Builds directory.
   • You may need to build it first using Projucer + Xcode/Visual Studio.
2. In the plugin host:
   • Go to Options → Edit Plugin Search Paths
   • Add your plugin build output folder:
     • macOS (AU): ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/
     • macOS (VST3): ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/
     • Windows (VST3): C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\
3. Scan for new plugins and drag your plugin into the graph to test it.

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🧠 Notes for Developers

• The .jucer file defines modules, plugin formats, and platform settings.
• If you make changes to the .jucer file (e.g., adding a new source file or module), re-save and regenerate IDE files.
• Always commit both the .jucer file and your Source/ files to Git.

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💬 Troubleshooting

❌ LINK : fatal error LNK1181: cannot open input file 'tonic.lib'

Remove tonic.lib from:

Projucer > Exporters > Visual Studio > External Libraries to Link

❌ LNK2019: unresolved external symbol juce::String

Ensure Tonic_SharedCode project builds successfully. If not:

• Clean solution and rebuild
• Check JUCE modules are properly included

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🧪 Want to Try a Quick Test?

You can build the plugin and run it inside AudioPluginHost by connecting a sine oscillator → your plugin → output speakers. This helps you visualize how your effect manipulates audio in real time.

We have tested before with success!

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Happy hacking! 🎶