Working in Dr. Tape
Short guides, the same ones the studio shows under Help. Instruments and effects have their own pages.
Workspace
Live input monitoring
Hear your input through the track's effects while you practise or record.
Multitrack workspace
Tracks, piano roll, instrument, effects and mixer on one page, each a keystroke away.
Performance meter
See how hard the audio engine is working while the song plays.
Playback
Press Space and keep working; the song plays on through edits, seeks and imports.
Project sample rate
One rate for the whole project; files at any other rate come in converted, with the originals kept.
Recording
Arm a track, press Record, and the take lands on the timeline as a clip you can edit.
Single-file editor
Open one WAV, trim and fade it, run it through effects and export the result.
Studio sketches
Open a musical starting point and make it your own.
Track freezing
Print a track to audio, give the engine a rest, and come back to the original any time.
Workspace layouts
Five places, the number keys to reach them, and a rack or split view to arrange them in.
Your account
Your songs on every device, saved as you play, with every version kept.
Editing
Arpeggiator
Hold a chord in the clip and let the Arp play it in order, rhythm and range.
Audio clips
Trim, split, fade, mute and move recordings on the timeline without stopping the song.
Audio comping
Keep the performance you like, then borrow a phrase from another take.
Beat editor
Build a drum pattern by clicking steps, one row per sound.
Chord track
One row of chords above the song; the tracks that follow it play the right notes.
ChordPad
A circle of fifths beside the notes; click to hear a chord, drag it onto the grid.
Clip looping
Pull a clip's corner and it repeats; the phrase stays one clip you can still edit.
Clip rendering
Print a clip with its effects, reverse it, or save it as a WAV from the clip menu.
Groove
Swing and feel for a track or a clip, picked from its G button or groove menu.
Piano roll
Draw, move, quantize and transpose notes, with the other tracks showing through.
Strumming
Sections under the notes turn held chords into down and up strokes.
Sustain pedal
A pedal lane under the notes, a real pedal on your keyboard, and instruments that answer to both.
MIDI
Convert audio to notes
Turn a recorded melody into an editable MIDI clip.
Keyboard view
Play the track's instrument on a keyboard across the editor.
MIDI file import
Drop a .mid file on the timeline and get editable clips, one track per part.
MIDI input
Play the instruments from your keyboard or pads, and record the take.
Mixing
Automation
Draw how any control moves through the song.
Copying effects
Move the compressor that works onto the next track with one drag or one shortcut.
Effect chain presets
Save a whole rack, with its order and settings, and load it anywhere.
Instrument automation
Move an instrument's own controls over the song, not just the mix.
Mixdown and export
Print the song as a WAV, or every track as its own file in one ZIP.
Mixer
Every track on one surface, with its effects a click away.
Sidechain
Let one track drive an effect on another: ducking, pumping and keyed gates.
Sound library
Files
Importing audio
Drop WAV files on the timeline and keep playing while they land.
Offline app
Install it, open it from the Dock and keep composing without a connection.
Opening older projects
Old files open against today's instruments, with a report of what changed.
Project files
One .drtape file holds the song, its media and its settings.
Project recovery
A closed tab, a crash or a reload does not lose the song.
Your songs
Keep every song in your library, find it fast and go back to any version.
Interface
Audio devices
Choose the microphone you record with, the output you listen on and how much audio is buffered.
Interface scale
Make everything larger on a dense screen or smaller on a small one.
Keyboard shortcuts
The keys that keep your hands off the mouse while the song plays.
Themes
Graphite by default, Paper when the room is bright.
Touch and tablet
Compact phone controls, touch tools for notes, and a hold where you would right-click.