ChipWave Studio 0.2.17.0: built-in user manual, digital rain About, exports end cleanly

A built-in user manual, a digital rain About page and cleaner exports

0.2.17.0 puts a 38-page user manual inside the app (Help > User Manual, or the new button on the About page), opens the About page with a short burst of digital rain, fixes the About window that used to grow and creep up the screen, and makes WAV and MP3 exports stop exactly at the end of your song. Live playback, looping and the song format are unchanged. Help > Check for updates offers this version.

Download

• Windows: ChipWave-0.2.17.0-setup-x64.exe (installer) or the portable ChipWave-0.2.17.0-windows-x64.zip. The installer isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen may warn: click "More info", then "Run anyway".
• macOS (universal, unsigned: Control-click > Open): ChipWave-0.2.17.0-macos-universal.dmg (or the .zip) runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 11 or later. It isn't notarised, so the first time, Control-click the app and choose Open, or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ChipWave.app. See MACOS.md.
• SHA256SUMS.txt lists the checksums of all eight files.

New: the user manual, built in

• Help > User Manual (at the top of the Help menu) and a User manual (PDF) button on the About page open the ChipWave Studio user manual in your PDF viewer.
• 38 pages: installing, your first song in 10 minutes, a tour of the screen, the Timeline, the piano roll and Tracker, instruments and generators, the mixer and effects, automation, MIDI, plugins, exporting, settings, a shortcuts table and troubleshooting.
• The manual is inside the app, so it works on every install and offline. You can also read it on GitHub.

New: a digital rain About page

• Help > About now opens with green code falling over the window, revealing the page in about a second and a half.
• Press any key or click to skip it. Reduce motion in Settings turns it off.
• Fix: the About window used to open a little too tall and keep growing and creeping up the screen for a few seconds. It now opens at its final size, straight away.

Fix: exports end cleanly

• When a song reached its end, WAV and MP3 exports (and --render) played the song's first row once more in the tail. They now stop at the end of the song.
• Live playback and looping are unchanged.

The song format is unchanged, so songs from 0.2.17.0 open in 0.2.16.0.

Before release, these checks were run on the release code (the merge into main has the same files): the automated test suite (1215 tests passed, 18 slow ones skipped, plus 3 more in a second suite); the 11 racks acceptance tests, 6 Rack tests, 10 piano-roll copy tests and 13 display tests; rustfmt; clippy for the Linux and Windows targets; an icon check; and a render check. Because exports now stop at the song's end, the 8 song render fingerprints changed on purpose: old and new renders were compared sample by sample and match exactly up to the end of each song, differing only in the tail where the extra row used to play. The render check confirmed the new reference renders, and all 82 generator preset renders are identical to 0.2.16.0. The macOS build passed its CI build, launch smoke test and dmg check.

Full details are in the CHANGELOG.

Known limits

• The manual is in English only.
• Testing: the Mac build was tested on CI only, not on a real Mac. This Windows installer was built and checked on Linux, not run on Windows before release. Please report anything odd in an issue.

Credits

• The user manual, the digital rain About page, the About window fix and the clean export ending by Del (postmanpat).

The full list of the libraries and authors ChipWave builds on is in Help > About, the README and THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt.

ChipWave Studio 0.2.16.0: Controller maps, named Undo and a glowing display

Controller maps, named Undo steps and a glowing display

0.2.16.0 lets you save and load controller maps for your MIDI keyboard, makes the Edit menu say what it will undo ("Undo: Move clip"), and gives the top display a soft glow and glassy shine in whichever backlight colour you pick. Behind the scenes, every knob now comes from one shared list, and a new contributor guide says where each kind of new feature goes. Every song saves, plays and renders exactly as before. Help > Check for updates offers this version.

Download

• Windows: ChipWave-0.2.16.0-setup-x64.exe (installer) or the portable ChipWave-0.2.16.0-windows-x64.zip. The installer isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen may warn: click "More info", then "Run anyway".
• macOS (universal, unsigned: Control-click > Open): ChipWave-0.2.16.0-macos-universal.dmg (or the .zip) runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 11 or later. It isn't notarised, so the first time, Control-click the app and choose Open, or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ChipWave.app. See MACOS.md.
• SHA256SUMS.txt lists the checksums of all eight files.

New: controller maps

• File > Save controller map… saves the knobs you've MIDI-learned as a small file for that controller (by default in the settings folder under Controllers, named after the MIDI device).
• File > Load controller map… brings a saved map back, replacing the learned list. The same two buttons sit under the learned list in Settings > MIDI.
• A map is plain data (CC numbers and knob names, no scripts). Knobs it doesn't recognise are skipped and named in the status bar. See MIDI.md.

New: named Undo steps

• The Edit menu now says what it will undo or redo, for example Undo: Move clip or Redo: Add note.
• Named so far: clips (move, copy, resize, fade, delete, duplicate, split, paste), notes, tracker cells and rows, tracks and knobs. Other edits still undo as plain "Undo".

New: glow and shine display

• The top display has a soft backlight glow in the middle and a glassy shine across the top, tinted by the backlight colour you choose (Mint, Amber, Ice and the rest).
• The text stays easy to read: at least 4.5:1 contrast on the brightest spot for every backlight. It's paint only, so nothing sounds different.

Behind the scenes

• One knob list: every knob in a song (instrument, patch, generator, effect, mixer, modulation, tempo) now comes from one shared list with its name and range. MIDI learn, controller maps, automation lane names, modulation and generator knob names all read it, with tests that keep them from drifting apart. New knobs will be easier and safer to add.
• Where does this go? A new contributor guide, ARCHITECTURE.md, says which files a new knob, effect, instrument, saved setting, MIDI feature or named edit touches, plus the rules for the audio thread.

The song format is unchanged, so songs from 0.2.16.0 open in 0.2.15.0.

Before release, these checks were run on the release code (the merge into main has the same files): the automated test suite (1205 tests passed, 18 slow ones skipped, plus 3 more in a second suite); the 11 racks acceptance tests, 6 Rack tests, 10 piano-roll copy tests and 13 display tests; rustfmt; clippy for the Linux and Windows targets; an icon check; and a render check. The render check confirmed that the demo songs, the older-version fixture songs and the generator presets render bit-identically to the same reference renders 0.2.15.0 matched, and StringWave's Velvet Ensemble preset renders the same as before. The macOS build passed its CI build, launch smoke test and dmg check.

Full details are in the CHANGELOG.

Known limits

• Controller maps hold MIDI CC learn only (no notes, pitch bend or pressure), and loading a map replaces the learned list rather than merging it.
• Not every edit has a name yet; the rest undo as plain "Undo".
• Testing: the Mac build was tested on CI only, not on a real Mac. This Windows installer was built and checked on Linux, not run on Windows before release. Please report anything odd in an issue.

Credits

• Controller maps, named Undo steps, the glow and shine display, the one knob list and the contributor guide by Del (postmanpat).

The full list of the libraries and authors ChipWave builds on is in Help > About, the README and THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt.

ChipWave Studio 0.2.15.0: Chords that write to the timeline

Chords that write to the timeline

0.2.15.0 rebuilds the Chords, Melody and Bass generators. Write to timeline now always writes real notes onto a melodic track, to the place the WRITE card names, as one undo step. It also works with no clip open, on an empty song, and from a new Chords… button beside + Add track. Chords, Melody and Bass now only appear on pitched sounds: they're hidden on drum kits, drum generators and drum-named sounds. Every song saves, plays and renders exactly as before. Help > Check for updates offers this version.

Download

• Windows: ChipWave-0.2.15.0-setup-x64.exe (installer) or the portable ChipWave-0.2.15.0-windows-x64.zip. The installer isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen may warn: click "More info", then "Run anyway".
• macOS (universal, unsigned: Control-click > Open): ChipWave-0.2.15.0-macos-universal.dmg (or the .zip) runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 11 or later. It isn't notarised, so the first time, Control-click the app and choose Open, or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ChipWave.app. See MACOS.md.
• SHA256SUMS.txt lists the checksums of all eight files.

New: Write to timeline, every time

• Always writes notes: the GENERATORS panel no longer depends on the piano roll's chord lane, so Write to timeline works with no clip open, no track selected, an empty song or a drum track selected. The notes always go onto a melodic track.
• Pick the target: on the WRITE card, Chords writes to this track, a new track below it, or this clip. A new clip starts at the loop start, or at the play marker's bar if there's no loop.
• It says where: the card shows where the notes will go before you write, and the status bar says where they went afterwards, for example 4 chords in a new 8-bar clip on new track 06 "Chords", song bars 33–40. Clips grow to show everything that was written, and one Ctrl+Z takes it all back.
• Melody and Bass without a clip make a new track at the song position.
• Chords… on the Timeline: a new button beside + Add track opens the Chords tab. With no track (or Master) selected, it makes a new melodic track.
• See CHORDS.md.

New: chords only on pitched sounds

• On a track whose sound is percussive, the track pie has no Chords…, Melody… or Bass…, the piano roll has no chord lane or Generate, and the Chords… button beside + Add track is hidden.
• These count as percussive: drum kits and drum generators, plugins in the Drums category or tagged Drums or Percussion, and sounds with a drum word in their name (kick, snare, hat, clap, tom, perc, cymbal, rim, shaker, 808 or 909 kit and so on). That means a synth called "Trance Kick" counts as a drum.
• A new Chords, Melody or Bass track always gets a pitched sound and never copies a drum sound.

Fixed

• The Write card's length no longer reads "Bars bars".
• Preview plays the chords on a melodic sound.

The song format is unchanged, so songs from 0.2.15.0 open in 0.2.14.0.

Before release, these checks were run on the release code (the merge into main has the same files): the automated test suite (1192 tests passed, 18 slow ones skipped, plus 3 more in a second suite), including 18 new end-to-end generator tests for the write targets, undo, an empty song, drum tracks, the hidden options and the sounds of new tracks; the 11 racks acceptance tests, 6 Rack tests and 10 piano-roll copy tests; rustfmt; clippy for the Linux and Windows targets; an icon check; and a render check. The render check confirmed that the demo songs, the older-version fixture songs and the generator presets render bit-identically to the same reference renders 0.2.14.0 matched, and StringWave's Velvet Ensemble preset renders the same as before. The macOS build passed its CI build, launch smoke test and dmg check.

Full details are in the CHANGELOG.

Known limits

• The drum check goes by engine, catalogue category and name. A pitched sound with a drum word in its name (for example "Tom's Lead") is treated as a drum, and a drum sound with a neutral name on a plain synth is treated as pitched.
• Testing: the Mac build was tested on CI only, not on a real Mac. This Windows installer was built and checked on Linux, not run on Windows before release. Please report anything odd in an issue.

Credits

• The rebuilt Chords, Melody and Bass generators by Del (postmanpat).

The full list of the libraries and authors ChipWave builds on is in Help > About, the README and THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt.

ChipWave Studio 0.2.14.0: Round Robin, key pressure and clip copy and paste

Round Robin, key pressure and clip copy and paste

0.2.14.0 brings Round Robin: loops that sound a little different on each pass or each hit, through step conditions, clip variations, drum pad round robin and follow actions, while every render stays exactly repeatable. Your keyboard's key pressure (aftertouch) can now move any knob and is recorded with your notes, and .mid files import as note clips. On the Timeline you can copy and paste clips, loop a clip with a double-click or the new Loop button, and the pie menus are bigger. Every song saves, plays and renders exactly as before. Help > Check for updates offers this version.

Download

• Windows: ChipWave-0.2.14.0-setup-x64.exe (installer) or the portable ChipWave-0.2.14.0-windows-x64.zip. The installer isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen may warn: click "More info", then "Run anyway".
• macOS (universal, unsigned: Control-click > Open): ChipWave-0.2.14.0-macos-universal.dmg (or the .zip) runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 11 or later. It isn't notarised, so the first time, Control-click the app and choose Open, or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ChipWave.app. See MACOS.md.
• SHA256SUMS.txt lists the checksums of all eight files.

New: Round Robin

Everything comes from the clip's or pad's seed plus the pass or hit number, so seeking, looping and exporting always give the same result. It's all off by default and nothing is saved until you use it. See ROUND_ROBIN.md.

• Step conditions: a note can play every X of Y passes, only the first time, never the first time, only in fills or never in fills, next to its Chance. The piano roll has new Conditions and Chance lanes and a Play this note… popover; conditional notes are striped, and a live Fill toggle turns any pass into a fill.
• Clip variations: up to four takes (A–D) per note clip, one per loop pass: in order, random, random no repeat, ping-pong or every N. A strip shows which take the first 16 passes play.
• Drum pad round robin: up to four sounds per pad take turns, with per-hit drift of pitch, level, tone, decay, timing and pan, a seed and a "Next 8 hits" preview.
• Follow actions and Capture: launcher clips can move on after N loops (X % Next / Again / Other / First / Last / Any / Stop), with a » badge and a "From here" preview. Capture to timeline writes the performance into the arrangement.

New: MIDI key pressure and .mid import

• Key pressure (aftertouch): poly and channel pressure from your keyboard drive a new Pressure modulator, from the quick-mod popover or the Movement list. Hover the toolbar's MIDI light for a live pressure meter. See MIDI.md.
• Recorded pressure: recorded notes keep their pressure curves and play them back exactly. The piano roll's new Pressure lane shows, draws and clears them, and pressed notes get a shaded foot.
• .mid import: MIDI files in the browser become one note clip with their notes, velocities and pressure, on the cursor track or dropped onto a track.

New: clip copy and paste, and looping

• Copy and paste clips: Ctrl+C / Ctrl+X / Ctrl+V on the Timeline (and the Edit menu), snapped to the grid, with a highlight on what was pasted. The clip pie has Copy and Cut, an empty lane's pie has Paste here (an independent or a linked copy), and the track pie has Paste at playhead.
• Loop button: a Loop toggle with two curved arrows sits beside the metronome. It's the same switch as L and the LCD's Loop pill, with the loop's bars in its tooltip.
• Double-click a clip to loop exactly that clip; double-click again turns the loop off. It's one undo step. Alt+double-click or Enter opens the clip.
• Bigger pies: pie menus are 30 % bigger and trimmed to fit the window. Settings > Look > Pie menus sets Small, Normal or Large.

Fixed

• Drum kits: a kit added to a track after StringWave or WaveForge now plays the kit, and a kit loaded onto a default-named track names the track.
• Amiga ⏮: the go-to-start button (and the Loop button when off) is drawn in a dimmed ink that's legible on Amiga's white buttons.
• The piano roll gives the computer keyboard back when you click outside it or it's hidden.

The song format only grows when you use the new features, so songs that don't use them still open in 0.2.13.0.

Before release, these checks were run on the release code (the merge into main has the same files): the automated test suite (1174 tests passed, 18 slow ones skipped, plus 3 more in a second suite), including new tests for step conditions, clip variations, drum pad round robin, follow actions, key pressure, .mid import, clip copy and paste, the Loop button and the double-click loop; the 11 racks acceptance tests, 6 Rack tests and 10 piano-roll copy tests; rustfmt; clippy for the Linux and Windows targets; an icon check; and a render check. The render check confirmed that the demo songs, the older-version fixture songs and the generator presets render bit-identically to the same reference renders 0.2.13.0 matched, and StringWave's Velvet Ensemble preset renders the same as before. The macOS build passed its CI build, launch smoke test and dmg check.

Full details are in the CHANGELOG.

Known limits

• Pressure modulates per instrument, not per voice: live, it follows the hardest-pressed held key of that instrument.
• .mid import ignores tempo changes, controllers and program changes, and puts every track and channel into one clip. SMPTE-timed files are refused.
• Fill is a toggle, not a key you hold. Launcher clips with variations unroll 16 passes before repeating.
• Tracker rows, live keys and previews count drum hits from the start of play, so seeking in the tracker doesn't recall the hit number. Timing drift only moves hits later, and tone drift moves one macro per drum kind.
• Follow actions work on note clips, and Capture always goes after the arrangement's end.
• Testing: the Mac build was tested on CI only, not on a real Mac. This Windows installer was built and checked on Linux, not run on Windows before release. Please report anything odd in an issue.

Credits

• Round Robin, key pressure, .mid import, clip copy and paste, looping and pie work by Del (postmanpat).
• Round Robin ideas only, no code copied: the round-robin and random opcodes of the SFZ format and sfizz, the layered drum instruments of Hydrogen and DrumGizmo, and the per-cycle alternation of Strudel / TidalCycles.
• Still building on egui (Emil Ernerfeldt), cpal, CLAP via clap-sys, the vst3 crate, Symphonia, sfxr by DrPetter, Pink Trombone by Neil Thapen, the Atkinson Hyperlegible fonts by the Braille Institute of America, and all the other Rust crate authors.

The full list is in Help > About, the README and THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt.

ChipWave Studio 0.2.13.0: live recording, quick modulation and a backlit LCD

Live recording, quick modulation and a backlit LCD

0.2.13.0 shows your recording live, in a block that grows as you play. Every knob gets a quick modulation dot, with Speed and Length controls in plain words. The instrument header is tidier, the top display is now a backlit mint LCD, and a keyboard icon turns on playing notes from the computer keyboard. Every song saves, plays and renders exactly as before. Help > Check for updates offers this version.

Download

• Windows: ChipWave-0.2.13.0-setup-x64.exe (installer) or the portable ChipWave-0.2.13.0-windows-x64.zip. The installer isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen may warn: click "More info", then "Run anyway".
• macOS (universal, unsigned: Control-click > Open): ChipWave-0.2.13.0-macos-universal.dmg (or the .zip) runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 11 or later. It isn't notarised, so the first time, Control-click the app and choose Open, or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ChipWave.app. See MACOS.md.
• SHA256SUMS.txt lists the checksums of all eight files.

New: a live recording block

• Press Record and a REC block opens on the recording track straight away. It grows with the playhead with no length limit, staying about two bars ahead, even past the song's end.
• Each note appears as you play it, with a short fade-in. The block has a red tint and outline, a pulsing edge and a "● REC" label.
• On Stop it becomes a normal clip, with its length rounded up to the bar. The whole take is one undo step, and a take with no notes is dropped.
• Loop recording overdubs into the same block in place, and Follow keeps the playhead in view. With Motion set to reduced there's no pulse or fade.

New: quick modulation on every knob

• Click the small dot on a knob, or right-click > Modulate with…, to open "Modulate with…". Choose LFO, Envelope, Random, Velocity or Mod wheel.
• Speed is a labelled slider in plain words: "1/16 note", "1 beat (1/4 note)" or "2 bars", up to 8 bars, with Sync to tempo. Untick it for 0.02 to 20 Hz. Ctrl+drag gives fine steps and a double-click resets.
• Length and Attack for envelopes are in ms / s, or in beats and bars when synced. Smooth glides between Random steps, and Amount ("+25 %") sets how far the knob moves.
• A live preview draws the shape, with a dot moving at the real speed while the song plays.
• One Movement list per instrument shows everything that moves, with rows such as "LFO 1 sine · 1 beat → Cutoff · +25 %". Click a row to edit it. The list replaces the old Routings card, the modulator chips and WaveForge's Src / Dst pickers.
• Where an instrument has its own modulators (WaveForge, StringWave, the ChipWave synth), quick modulation uses them. Otherwise it adds a song-level modulator, so the song format is unchanged.

Changed: a tidier instrument header

• No tab counts and a Modulation dot on the tab. The tab is now called "Synth". Hints are in a ? tooltip, full view is an F11 icon, Save rack is in a ⋯ menu, and the duplicate breadcrumb is gone.

Changed: a backlit mint LCD and a keyboard icon

• The top display is now light, backlit glass with Atkinson Mono digits, toggle pills for Loop / Click / Rec / Follow, and DSP and BUF meters. Mint is the new default. Cyan, Amber, Green, Red and Ice are now backlight tints, and saved choices keep working.
• Keys → Notes is now a keyboard icon, lit while it's on, with the octave and velocity in its tooltip. It's on by default when no MIDI keyboard is connected and off when one is. Once you switch it yourself, your choice is saved.

The song format is unchanged, so songs still open in 0.2.12.0.

Before release, these checks were run on the release code (the merge into main has the same files): the automated test suite (1112 tests passed, 18 slow ones skipped, plus 3 more in a second suite), including new tests for the live block, quick modulation, the Movement list, the LCD and the keys default; the 11 racks acceptance tests, 6 Rack tests and 10 piano-roll copy tests; rustfmt; clippy for the Linux and Windows targets; an icon check; and a render check. The render check confirmed that the demo songs, the older-version fixture songs and the generator presets render bit-identically to the same reference renders 0.2.12.0 matched, and StringWave's Velvet Ensemble preset renders the same as before. The macOS build passed its CI build, launch smoke test and dmg check.

Full details are in the CHANGELOG.

Known limits

• A synced envelope Length is stored in seconds at the tempo it was set at, so it doesn't follow later tempo changes. StringWave's LFOs only run in Hz, so their synced speed is converted at the current tempo.
• The ChipWave synth's own LFO syncs up to 2 bars. Slower speeds use a song-level LFO.
• On WaveForge, the Envelope uses its own filter envelope, so there's no Length slider there. Its Attack and Decay knobs set the length.
• The LFO shape can be changed in the popover only for song-level LFOs. Engine LFOs keep the shape set on their own card.
• The preview dot runs at the real speed but isn't locked to the song position.
• The popover's source buttons can wrap "Mod wheel" onto a second row.
• Testing: the Mac build was tested on CI only, not on a real Mac. This Windows installer was built and checked on Linux, not run on Windows before release. Please report anything odd in an issue.

Credits

• Live recording, quick modulation, header, LCD and keyboard icon work by Del (postmanpat).
• Still building on egui (Emil Ernerfeldt), cpal, CLAP via clap-sys, the vst3 crate, Symphonia, sfxr by DrPetter, Pink Trombone by Neil Thapen, the Atkinson Hyperlegible fonts by the Braille Institute of America, and all the other Rust crate authors.

The full list is in Help > About, the README and THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt.

ChipWave Studio 0.2.12.0: Bigger, resizable and movable tracks

Bigger, resizable and movable tracks

0.2.12.0 makes Timeline tracks taller by default and lets you resize each track, resize them all at once, and move tracks up and down. The selected track now stands out clearly in every theme. Every song saves, plays and renders exactly as before. Help > Check for updates offers this version.

Download

• Windows: ChipWave-0.2.12.0-setup-x64.exe (installer) or the portable ChipWave-0.2.12.0-windows-x64.zip. The installer isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen may warn: click "More info", then "Run anyway".
• macOS (universal, unsigned: Control-click > Open): ChipWave-0.2.12.0-macos-universal.dmg (or the .zip) runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 11 or later. It isn't notarised, so the first time, Control-click the app and choose Open, or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ChipWave.app. See MACOS.md.
• SHA256SUMS.txt lists the checksums of all eight files.

New: taller tracks you can resize

• Taller tracks: Timeline rows are 60 pt high by default (they were 46 pt), and a tall row centres its name and buttons.
• Resize one track: drag the bottom edge of a track's header. The cursor changes to a resize arrow, and heights go from 28 to 200 pt. Each resize is one undo step and is saved with the song.
• Reset: double-click the edge to put the track back to the default height.
• Resize every track: Ctrl+wheel over the track headers, or Alt+wheel anywhere on the Timeline. The new default height is remembered in the settings. Ctrl+wheel over the clips still zooms time.

New: move tracks up and down

• Drag a track's header up or down. A "move track NN" label and a line show where it will land.
• Or use Move up / Move down in the track pie.
• The clips, instrument, colour, name, height and mix all move with the track, and Undo puts everything back.

Changed: the selected track stands out

• The selected track's header has an accent-tinted fill, a wide accent bar and an accent outline, and its name is in bold, brighter on dark themes and darker on light ones.
• Its lane gets an accent tint and outline over the clips, in every theme. In Amiga the outline is lightened so it shows on the blue lanes.

Songs only store a height for tracks you resized, so older songs load unchanged and still open in 0.2.11.0.

Before release, these checks were run on the release code (the merge into main has the same files): the automated test suite (1097 tests passed, 18 slow ones skipped, plus 3 more in a second suite), including new tests for resizing, resetting, resize-all, moving tracks, undo and saving heights, the 11 racks acceptance tests, 6 Rack tests and 10 piano-roll copy tests; rustfmt; clippy for the Linux and Windows targets; an icon check; and a render check. The render check confirmed that the demo songs, the older-version fixture songs and the generator presets render bit-identically to the same reference renders 0.2.11.0 matched, and StringWave's Velvet Ensemble preset renders the same as before. The macOS build passed its CI build, launch smoke test and dmg check.

Full details are in the CHANGELOG.

Known limits

• Tracker mode: in a song without a Timeline, track heights last for the session only and don't follow inserted or deleted tracks.
• The Song / Master row can't be resized, and resizing every track isn't an undo step.
• Small screens: at 1366 × 768 with the lower panel open, about 3.8 tracks fit at the new default height. Ctrl+wheel over the headers makes them all shorter.
• Testing: the Mac build was tested on CI only, not on a real Mac. This Windows installer was built and checked on Linux, not run on Windows before release. Please report anything odd in an issue.

Credits

• Track sizing, reordering and highlight work by Del (postmanpat).
• Still building on egui (Emil Ernerfeldt), cpal, CLAP via clap-sys, the vst3 crate, Symphonia, sfxr by DrPetter, Pink Trombone by Neil Thapen, the Atkinson Hyperlegible fonts by the Braille Institute of America, and all the other Rust crate authors.

The full list is in Help > About, the README and THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt.

ChipWave Studio 0.2.11.0: Easier-to-read text, UI scale and Text size

Easier-to-read text, UI scale and Text size

0.2.11.0 changes every font to the bundled Atkinson Hyperlegible fonts and sets all text sizes from one type scale. It adds UI scale and Text size settings and makes every view fit small and scaled screens. It also raises text contrast, makes an imported instrument the active one, and gives the Timeline clips one gradient over all tracks. Every song saves, plays and renders exactly as before. Help > Check for updates offers this version.

Download

• Windows: ChipWave-0.2.11.0-setup-x64.exe (installer) or the portable ChipWave-0.2.11.0-windows-x64.zip. The installer isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen may warn: click "More info", then "Run anyway".
• macOS (universal, unsigned: Control-click > Open): ChipWave-0.2.11.0-macos-universal.dmg (or the .zip) runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 11 or later. It isn't notarised, so the first time, Control-click the app and choose Open, or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ChipWave.app. See MACOS.md.
• SHA256SUMS.txt lists the checksums of all eight files.

New: Atkinson Hyperlegible and one type scale

• Atkinson Hyperlegible Next is used for text and Atkinson Hyperlegible Mono for numbers, the tracker and the LCD, in every theme. Both are bundled under the SIL Open Font License.
• One central type scale sets every size, and nothing is drawn smaller than 10 pt.

New: UI scale and Text size

• Settings › Look › UI scale and Text size each go from 90 to 150 % in 5 % steps. Ctrl+= and Ctrl+- step the UI scale by 10 %, and Ctrl+0 resets it.
• ChipWave follows your display scale on Windows, Wayland and X11.

Changed: fits small and scaled screens

• Every view fits at 1366 × 768 at 100 % and at 1920 × 1080 at 150 %, in Slate, Dark and Amiga.
• When space is short, long names and hints end in "…" with the full text in a tooltip.
• The piano roll's toolbar goes to two rows with shorter button names. Screen readers still get the full names.
• The Rack's device chain and the tracker channels scroll sideways.

Changed: contrast and the track gradient

• Dark's secondary text is now at least 4.5:1, selected text stays readable, and text takes its colour from the surface under it.
• One gradient over the tracks: Timeline clips share one top-to-bottom gradient across the whole track area, instead of each clip having its own. Track colours and the selection highlight are unchanged.

Fixed: importing an instrument

• An imported instrument becomes the active one. This covers a .cwi from File, the Library or a drop, a WAV import, and Browser › Add as a new instrument. On the Timeline it goes to the selected empty track or a new track below, in one undo step.

Songs are saved exactly as in 0.2.10.0; the song format didn't change.

Before release, these checks were run on the release code (the merge into main has the same files): the automated test suite (1091 tests passed, 18 slow ones skipped, plus 3 more in a second suite), including the 11 racks acceptance tests, 6 Rack tests and 10 piano-roll copy tests; rustfmt; clippy for the Linux and Windows targets; an icon check; and a render check. The render check confirmed that the demo songs, the older-version fixture songs and the generator presets render bit-identically to the same reference renders 0.2.10.0 matched, and StringWave's Velvet Ensemble preset renders the same as before. The first test run had one timing test (a render-speed check) fail on the busy build machine; the full rerun passed. The macOS build passed its CI build, launch smoke test and dmg check.

Full details are in the CHANGELOG.

Known limits

• Trade-offs to fit 1366 px:
  • The LCD drops its GR / CLIP captions.
  • Compact drum pads keep their key and choke settings in the tooltip.
  • Long track names may end in "…".
• Amiga contrast: the Amiga theme's secondary text on the top background is 3.8:1, while its panels meet 4.5:1.
• Testing: the Mac build was tested on CI only, not on a real Mac. This Windows installer was built and checked on Linux, not run on Windows before release. Please report anything odd in an issue.

Credits

• Fonts, scaling and layout work by Del (postmanpat).
• Atkinson Hyperlegible Next and Atkinson Hyperlegible Mono by the Braille Institute of America (SIL Open Font License 1.1). Inter by Rasmus Andersson is the fallback for symbols, Greek and Cyrillic.
• Still building on egui (Emil Ernerfeldt), cpal, CLAP via clap-sys, the vst3 crate, Symphonia, sfxr by DrPetter, Pink Trombone by Neil Thapen, and all the other Rust crate authors.

The full list is in Help > About, the README and THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt.

ChipWave Studio 0.2.10.0: Generators, the LCD toolbar and smarter pies

Generators, the LCD toolbar and smarter pies

0.2.10.0 brings a Generators panel with Chords | Melody | Bass tabs, an LCD toolbar with a compact Master, track pies that know the track, and a tidier Rack. Every song saves, plays and renders exactly as before. Help > Check for updates offers this version.

Download

• Windows: ChipWave-0.2.10.0-setup-x64.exe (installer) or the portable ChipWave-0.2.10.0-windows-x64.zip. The installer isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen may warn: click "More info", then "Run anyway".
• macOS (universal, unsigned: Control-click > Open): ChipWave-0.2.10.0-macos-universal.dmg (or the .zip) runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 11 or later. It isn't notarised, so the first time, Control-click the app and choose Open, or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ChipWave.app. See MACOS.md.
• SHA256SUMS.txt lists the checksums of all eight files.

New: Generators (Chords | Melody | Bass)

• One panel, three tabs and one fixed Write card. Drag the ⠿ GENERATORS grip to move the panel; it stays on screen and reopens where you left it. A double-click on the grip puts it back at the top centre.
• Melody: a seeded tune over your chords, with Rhythm, Contour, Motif, Density, Range and Octave, plus Lock rhythm and Lock notes.
• Bass: a bass line that follows the chord roots in six styles: Root, Octave pump, Walking, Acid (accents and ties), Syncopated and Euclid.
• A big Preview pad: Preview, Dice and Another one sit in one large rounded pad beside the controls.
• Write to timeline keeps your sound: the new Melody or Bass track gets a copy of your track's instrument, with its settings and effects, so it sounds like the preview. Bass uses Fat Moog Bass (Acid Squelch for Acid) when the track has no instrument or plays drums. One Ctrl+Z takes a write back.
• Open it with Generate in the piano roll, or Chords…, Melody… or Bass… in a melodic track's pie.

New: the LCD toolbar

• A display for tempo, position, time, signature and load, in Cyan, Amber, Green, Red, Ice or your own colour.
• A compact Master meter whose popover holds the Master panel.
• Settings › Top display turns it off for the classic toolbar, which now shows the Master meter while the Clip Arranger is hidden.

New: context-aware pies and tracks

• The track pie's first ring follows the track (empty, drum or melodic): a drum track gets Swap kit, Drum pattern and Dice kit; a melodic track gets Instrument, Sounds, New pattern, Chords…, Melody… and Bass….
• A New track pie: right-click the empty space under the tracks.
• Empty tracks start empty: a new empty track has no instrument (its Rack says Drag an instrument here) and is silent until it gets one. A Drum Kit picked in the pie fills that track, and a new track with an instrument is always the active one.
• Song / Master sits at the bottom of the track list.

Changed: the Rack, the Clip Arranger and the piano roll

• Compact instrument card: a built-in instrument added from the pie or the Browser opens as its compact card, with a Drag an effect here box beside it (a click opens Browser › Effects). The Choose an instrument row is gone.
• Double-click a side tab to collapse or expand any instrument or effect card; a single click still selects it.
• Clip Arranger: a playing slot's ▶ shows ■, and a click stops it. The Arranger button (Ctrl+Shift+8) hides or shows the panel for room.
• Piano roll: Shift+arrows nudge the selection a semitone or a grid step; the octave move is now Ctrl+Up/Down.

Fixed: clean exit

• A normal exit leaves no recovery copy, so the recovery dialog only appears after a real crash.

Songs are saved exactly as in 0.2.9.0; the song format didn't change.

Before release, these checks were run on the release code (the merge into main has the same files): the automated test suite (1083 tests passed, 18 slow ones skipped, plus 3 more in a second suite), including the 11 racks acceptance tests, 6 Rack tests and 10 piano-roll copy tests; rustfmt; clippy for the Linux and Windows targets; an icon check; and a render check. The render check confirmed that the demo songs, the older-version fixture songs and the generator presets render bit-identically to the same reference renders 0.2.9.0 matched, and StringWave's Velvet Ensemble preset renders the same as before. The macOS build passed its CI build, launch smoke test and dmg check.

Full details are in the CHANGELOG.

Known limits

• The Acid bass style has accents and ties but no slides yet, because Timeline notes can't glide.
• The Mac build was tested on CI only (build, smoke test, dmg check), not on a real Mac. This Windows installer was built and checked on Linux, not run on Windows before release. Please report anything odd in an issue.

Credits

• Generators, LCD toolbar and pies by Del (postmanpat).
• Melody generator research (ideas only, no code copied): Computoser by Bozhidar Bozhanov, Godfried T. Toussaint's Euclidean rhythms (after E. Bjorklund's algorithm), total-serialism by Timo Hoogland, isobar by Daniel Jones and Emilie Gillet's open Eurorack firmware.
• Bass generator research (ideas only, no code copied): acid-banger by David Whiting (vitling), aciduino and JC-303 by midilab (its engine Open303 by Robin Schmidt), acid-test by Zack Scholl and WalkingBass by philxan.
• StringWave by Del (postmanpat), MIT.
• Oceans 11 is a chiptune arrangement of music by Martin Galway, whose Commodore 64 soundtracks for Ocean Software inspired a generation of chiptune musicians. Thank you, Martin.
• Still building on CLAP (free-audio, MIT) via clap-sys, the vst3 crate, Symphonia, egui (Emil Ernerfeldt), cpal, sfxr by DrPetter (Chip FX), Pink Trombone by Neil Thapen, the Inter, Barlow and Geist Mono fonts, and all the other Rust crate authors.

The full list is in Help > About, the README and THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt.

▶ Watch the promo: https://youtu.be/ygVueHcGakw · more demos and promos on YouTube

Created by Del (postmanpat). Like it? Buy me a coffee or PayPal.

Early version, so expect rough edges. GPL-3.0.

ChipWave Studio 0.2.9.0: The New Rack

The new Rack

0.2.9.0 gives every track's sound a new home: the Rack. Click a track and its instrument and effects sit under the Timeline in one sideways row, the instrument first and then its effects in order. Each card has side tabs for bypass, remove and collapse, the device you pick is highlighted, and Delete or Ctrl+D work on it with undo. The lower panel gets one Notes | Rack switch instead of three tabs, and Browser › Instruments now lists just the instruments. Every song saves, plays and renders exactly as before. Help > Check for updates offers this version.

Download

• Windows: ChipWave-0.2.9.0-setup-x64.exe (installer) or the portable ChipWave-0.2.9.0-windows-x64.zip. The installer isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen may warn: click "More info", then "Run anyway".
• macOS (universal, unsigned: Control-click > Open): ChipWave-0.2.9.0-macos-universal.dmg (or the .zip) runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 11 or later. It isn't notarised, so the first time, Control-click the app and choose Open, or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ChipWave.app. See MACOS.md.
• SHA256SUMS.txt lists the checksums of all eight files.

New: the Rack

• One row for the whole sound. Click a track and the Rack opens under the Timeline: the instrument, then its effects in the order the sound goes through them, then a + zone for more. A long row scrolls sideways.
• Side tabs on every card: ⏻ bypass, ✕ remove and ‹ collapse to a slim name strip. The instrument can only collapse: to change it, right-click › Replace instrument….
• Pick a device and it lights up. Click a card and it is outlined (violet for ChipWave's own instruments). Delete removes it and Ctrl+D duplicates it, and Ctrl+Z brings it back. These keys only act on the Rack after you click it, so Delete on the Timeline still deletes clips.
• Starter knobs: each instrument card shows a few chosen knobs and Volume, so the important ones are right there. Advanced › opens the full instrument editor.
• Drum Kit pad picker: a Drum Kit's card shows the knobs of the pad you pick.
• Racks in place: a layered rack shows its layers inside its card, each with Open › to edit it.
• Drag from the Browser onto the row, its + zone or a Timeline track. Drag a card's title to move it.
• Save rack… keeps the whole row in My Racks, ready for any song.
• The tree from 0.2.7.0 is still there as the chain editor, for Splits, layer settings and moving a device into another chain: right-click an effect › Open in the chain editor, and ‹ Back to Rack returns. Its Cards and Fold tree buttons are gone.

New: Notes | Rack

• The lower panel's three tabs (Piano roll, Devices and Instrument) are now one switch: Notes | Rack. Ctrl+7 shows the Rack. With the Tracker on, Order list and Automation sit on the Notes side.

Changed: Browser › Instruments

• Instruments only: the list shows ChipWave's own instruments and your plugin instruments. Their presets are on the Rack card: its preset field and right-click › Presets ›. A location you pick (This song, Library, Favourites, a folder) still shows everything in it.

Fixed: checks and tests

• The Windows (MSVC) check build links again, two security advisories in the update checker's secure-connection crates are fixed by newer versions, and two tests that could fail on a busy machine are steady now. The release builds were not affected.

Songs are saved exactly as in 0.2.8.0; the song format didn't change.

Before release, these checks were run on the merged code: the automated test suite (1025 tests passed, 18 slow ones skipped, plus 3 more in a second suite), including the 11 racks acceptance tests and 5 Rack tests; rustfmt; clippy for the Linux and Windows targets; an icon check; and a render check. The render check confirmed that the demo songs, the older-version fixture songs and the generator presets render bit-identically to 0.2.8.0, and StringWave's Velvet Ensemble preset renders the same as in 0.2.8.0, from the Tracker and the Timeline.

Full details are in the CHANGELOG.

Known limits

• Splits and layer settings are edited in the chain editor, not on the Rack row.
• The racks limits from 0.2.7.0 still apply: plugin instruments can't be layers, live MIDI and the note preview only play the first layer, and there are no plugin effects or automation inside a Split.
• The Mac build was tested on CI only (build, smoke test, dmg check), not on a real Mac. This Windows installer was built and checked on Linux, not run on Windows before release. Please report anything odd in an issue.

Credits

• The Rack by Del (postmanpat).
• StringWave by Del (postmanpat), MIT.
• Oceans 11 is a chiptune arrangement of music by Martin Galway, whose Commodore 64 soundtracks for Ocean Software inspired a generation of chiptune musicians. Thank you, Martin.
• Still building on CLAP (free-audio, MIT) via clap-sys, the vst3 crate, Symphonia, egui (Emil Ernerfeldt), cpal, sfxr by DrPetter (Chip FX), Pink Trombone by Neil Thapen, the Inter, Barlow and Geist Mono fonts, and all the other Rust crate authors.

The full list is in Help > About, the README and THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt.

▶ Watch the promo: https://youtu.be/ygVueHcGakw · more demos and promos on YouTube

Created by Del (postmanpat). Like it? Buy me a coffee or PayPal.

Early version, so expect rough edges. GPL-3.0.

ChipWave Studio 0.2.8.0: StringWave, the Violet Look and Pie-Ring Add

StringWave, the violet look and pie-ring Add

0.2.8.0 adds StringWave, a new built-in string instrument with eight presets. It also gives ChipWave's own instruments one violet look, so you can tell them from plugins at a glance, and turns Track pie › Add into rings, so a new drum track is three clicks away. On top of that come a smarter piano roll ruler, fixes for CLAP plugins and a lot of polish. Songs without StringWave save, play and render exactly as before. Help > Check for updates offers this version.

Download

• Windows: ChipWave-0.2.8.0-setup-x64.exe (installer) or the portable ChipWave-0.2.8.0-windows-x64.zip. The installer isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen may warn: click "More info", then "Run anyway".
• macOS (universal, unsigned: Control-click > Open): ChipWave-0.2.8.0-macos-universal.dmg (or the .zip) runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 11 or later. It isn't notarised, so the first time, Control-click the app and choose Open, or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ChipWave.app. See MACOS.md.
• SHA256SUMS.txt lists the checksums of all eight files.

New: StringWave

• A string ensemble, built in. It has three layers, each with Octave, Detune, Tone, Level and Pan, plus undertones: a sub and a drone under the chord.
• Shape it: an amp envelope with Swell, a 12 / 24 dB filter with its own envelope, two LFOs and a mod envelope, plus chorus, echo and a big reverb on board.
• Eight presets: Velvet Ensemble, Bowed Cathedral, Harp Shimmer, Undertow Drone, Hollow Body Pad, Echo Strings, Slow Swell Orchestra and Init.
• Play it your way: the mod wheel, expression and sustain pedal work out of the box. It plays from Timeline clips, the piano roll, Tracker blocks, rack layers and live MIDI.
• Its panel has three pages (Layers, Filter & Mod, FX & Master), a full view and a knob pie.
• Find it in Track pie › Add › Instrument or Browser › ChipWave Instruments.

New: the violet look for ChipWave's own instruments

• Every built-in instrument shares one violet tint: its panel, its card in Nested Device Chains and its row in the Browser. Each theme has its own shade.
• Plugins stay neutral, so violet always means "made by ChipWave". The theme's own colour still marks the selection, the playhead and the transport.

New: Add rings in the track pie

• Track pie › Add now opens rings round the pie instead of a panel. Pick Drum pattern › an instrument or Drum Kit › a kit to get a new track with an empty 1-bar pattern, ready to fill.
• Instrument ›, Automation lane › and Browse… work the same way. Esc or ‹ Back steps back a ring, and everything a ring makes is one Ctrl+Z.

Fixed: Drum Kit Kits… and Dice kit

• Loading a kit, or rolling the dice, now brings the kit's name, sounds and pad names together. Before, the old name and pad names stayed behind.
• An empty pattern gets the kit's starter groove, all in one undo step.

New: piano roll ruler

• Click or drag the ruler to set a paste marker. Ctrl+V pastes there and the next paste goes right after it.
• The play marker follows the Timeline, also while playing.
• Bar, beat and grid ticks with beat labels, readable in every theme.
• Box select: drag on empty space to select notes (Shift adds). Alt+drag selects every note the line crosses. A click still draws a note.

Fixed: CLAP plugins

• Knob moves in a plugin's own window are now heard on every track that plays it.
• A plugin's sound is always saved, also when you close its window, even for plugins that never say they changed.
• A new track with the same plugin starts from its current sound.
• Plugin windows use your monitor's real scale.

Also new

• Clip colours show at once on the Timeline, linked copies too.
• Studio knobs in the Slate theme, with the name in caps and the value in orange.
• A steady lower panel: Piano roll, Instrument and Nested Device Chains keep one height, and the height you drag is remembered (Ctrl+6 resets it).
• A calmer Master level history: the last 30 seconds, moving slowly. Right-click to pause or hide it.
• Nested Device Chains opens on Cards, and remembers if you pick Tree.
• Silent plugin previews: Browser thumbnails are made off-screen, without a taskbar flash.
• VST & CLAP: the Browser's Plugins category has a new name, and a plugin with many programs lists just its main instrument (search or Show all programs finds the rest).
• A simpler Browser: tiles, search with a filter, one ••• menu and a preview bar.
• Keys → Notes: the Typing button has a new name and a small keyboard icon.
• Play / Stop is one button (Space still plays and stops).
• Metronome and count-in: a Metronome button that swings with the beat, and a count-in of Off, 1 bar or 2 bars. Record blinks and the position counts down while it counts in.
• Visual fixes: readable lights and labels in Amiga Workbench, knob badges and lock marks that no longer touch long names, a clearer filter picture, and macro names that no longer run into each other on narrow cards.

Songs that use StringWave are saved as reader version 8, which older versions refuse cleanly instead of playing them wrong. Every other song is saved exactly as before.

Before release, these checks were run on the merged code: the automated test suite (1021 tests passed, 18 slow ones skipped, plus 3 more in a second suite), including the 11 racks acceptance tests and 10 piano roll copy and paste tests; rustfmt; clippy for the Linux and Windows targets; an icon check; and a render check. The render check confirmed that the demo songs, the older-version fixture songs and the generator presets render bit-identically to 0.2.7.0, and pinned StringWave's Velvet Ensemble preset, which renders the same from the Tracker and the Timeline.

Full details are in the CHANGELOG.

Known limits

• StringWave is a ChipWave instrument, not a plugin, so it can't be used in other music programs.
• The Drum pattern ring needs the Timeline: it's greyed out in the Tracker.
• The racks limits from 0.2.7.0 still apply: plugin instruments can't be layers, live MIDI and the note preview only play the first layer, and there are no plugin effects or automation inside a Split.
• The Mac build was tested on CI only (build, smoke test, dmg check), not on a real Mac. This Windows installer was built and checked on Linux, not run on Windows before release. Please report anything odd in an issue.

Credits

• StringWave by Del (postmanpat), MIT.
• Oceans 11 is a chiptune arrangement of music by Martin Galway, whose Commodore 64 soundtracks for Ocean Software inspired a generation of chiptune musicians. Thank you, Martin.
• Still building on CLAP (free-audio, MIT) via clap-sys, the vst3 crate, Symphonia, egui (Emil Ernerfeldt), cpal, sfxr by DrPetter (Chip FX), Pink Trombone by Neil Thapen, the Inter, Barlow and Geist Mono fonts, and all the other Rust crate authors.

The full list is in Help > About, the README and THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt.

▶ Watch the promo: https://youtu.be/ygVueHcGakw · more demos and promos on YouTube

Created by Del (postmanpat). Like it? Buy me a coffee or PayPal.

Early version, so expect rough edges. GPL-3.0.