​

Sidebar

​

Overview

• Resizable width - Drag the right edge to adjust (600px minimum, 60% of screen maximum)
• Two-column layout - Navigation on the left, content on the right
• Preview panel - Waveform/MIDI visualization at the bottom
• Hide/Show toggle - Collapse to maximize arrangement space

​

Interface Layout

​

Search Bar

🔍 Search (Ctrl + F)

• Searches file names, folder names, and plugin names
• Case-insensitive matching
• Filters as you type
• Clear by deleting search text

​

Hide/Show Toggle

• ► (Caret Right) - Sidebar is visible, click to hide
• ▼ (Caret Down) - Sidebar is hidden, click to show

​

Navigation Panel (Left Column)

​

Collections

​

Categories

• 🎵 Sounds - Audio samples (not yet implemented)
• 🥁 Drums - Drum samples (not yet implemented)
• 🎸 Instruments - Virtual instruments (not yet implemented)
• 💥 Audio Effects - Built-in effect plugins
• 🔌 Plug-Ins - VST2 plugin files

​

Places

• Shows folders added via + Add Folder…
• Click a folder to browse its contents
• Displays folder name only (not full path)
• Active folder highlighted when selected

1. Click 📁+ Add Folder…
2. Browse to your audio library location
3. Select folder
4. Folder appears in Places list

​

Content Panel (Right Column)

​

Sort Controls

• Name - Click to toggle alphabetical sorting
• Arrow icon - Indicates sort direction:
  • ▼ (Arrow Down A-Z) - Ascending (A to Z)
  • ▲ (Arrow Up Z-A) - Descending (Z to A)

​

Browser Tabs

​

Audio Effects

📁 Category Name
  ⏺️ Effect Plugin 1
  ⏺️ Effect Plugin 2
  ⏺️ Effect Plugin 3

• Dynamics (compressors, limiters, gates)
• EQ (equalizers, filters)
• Modulation (chorus, flanger, phaser)
• Time-based (reverb, delay, echo)
• Distortion (saturation, overdrive)
• Utility (gain, phase, stereo)

• Click tree node to expand/collapse category
• Hover over plugin to highlight in black text
• Drag plugin to Devices View to add to track

​

Plug-Ins (VST2)

📁 vstplugins
  📁 Manufacturer A
    🔌 Plugin1.dll
    🔌 Plugin2.dll
  📁 Manufacturer B
    🔌 Plugin3.dll

• Recursive folder traversal
• Shows .dll files only
• Sorted alphabetically (configurable)
• Displays folder structure

• Click folder to expand/collapse
• Hover shows black text highlight
• Click and drag .dll file to Devices View to load plugin

​

Audio Folder (Places)

📁 My Samples
  📁 Drums
    🎵 kick.wav
    🎵 snare.wav
  📁 Synths
    🎹 bass.mid
    🎵 lead.mp3

• Audio - .wav, .mp3
• MIDI - .mid

• 📊 (Audiobus logo) - Audio files
• 📶 (Bars Staggered) - MIDI files
• 📁 (Folder icon) - Directories

• Click file to preview
• Drag file to Arrangement View to create clip
• Expand/collapse folders with tree nodes

​

Preview System

​

Preview Panel

• Waveform for audio files
• Piano roll for MIDI files
• Volume toggle (🔊/🔇) to enable/disable preview playback

​

Audio Preview

1. Waveform generation - Peaks and valleys calculated for visualization
2. Playback - Audio plays automatically (if volume enabled)
3. Visual display - Waveform renders in preview panel
4. Resize handling - Waveform regenerates when sidebar width changes

• Active (playing): Bright/highlighted
• Muted: Dimmed/grayed

​

MIDI Preview

1. MIDI parsing - File loaded and analyzed
2. Playback - MIDI triggers preview instrument (if volume enabled)
3. Visual display - Piano roll preview in panel
4. Note visualization - Shows note positions and lengths

​

Volume Control

• 🔊 (Volume High) - Previews enabled (orange when active)
• 🔇 (Volume Mute) - Previews disabled (grayed out)

​

Drag and Drop

​

Audio/MIDI Files → Arrangement

1. Click and hold on a file
2. Drag cursor to a track in the arrangement
3. Release to create a clip at that position

• .wav, .mp3 → Audio tracks
• .mid → MIDI tracks

​

VST2 Plugins → Devices

1. Click and hold on a .dll file
2. Drag to the Devices View
3. Release to add to the selected track’s plugin chain

• VST2 Effects → Any track
• VST2 Instruments (VSTi) → MIDI tracks only

​

Built-in Effects → Devices

1. Click and hold on an effect
2. Drag to the Devices View
3. Release to instantiate and add to chain

• All built-in effects → Any track

​

Search Functionality

​

Search Behavior

• Case-insensitive - “KICK” finds “kick.wav”
• Filename only - Searches file/plugin name, not path
• Real-time - Results update as you type
• Across categories - Works in all browser tabs

​

Search Examples

​

Clear Search

​

Folder Management

​

Adding Audio Folders

​

Removing Folders

​

Visual Feedback

​

Hover Effects

• Files/Plugins - Text changes to black when hovered
• Folders - Icon and text highlighted
• Cursor change - Hand pointer (👆) on clickable items

​

Selection States

• Active Category - Highlighted background color
• Selected Folder - Distinct background in Places
• Expanded Trees - Folder icon and indented children

​

Collapsed/Expanded Indicators

• ▶ (Collapsed) - Click to expand and show contents
• ▼ (Expanded) - Click to collapse and hide contents

​

Technical Details

​

File Filtering

// Audio/MIDI files
string[] extensions = { "*.wav", "*.mp3", "*.mid" };

// VST2 plugins
string[] extensions = { "*.dll" };

// Sorted results
var files = _sortAscending 
    ? Directory.GetFiles(path, ext).OrderBy(f => Path.GetFileName(f))
    : Directory.GetFiles(path, ext).OrderByDescending(f => Path.GetFileName(f));

​

Waveform Optimization

// Check if window was resized
if (windowSize.X != _previousWindowSize)
{
    // Regenerate waveform at new width
    var (peaks, valleys) = WaveformRenderer.Resize(
        (int)_waveformWidth, 
        _waveformData.samples
    );
    _waveformData.peaks = peaks;
    _waveformData.valleys = valleys;
}

​

Preview Engine

• AudioPreviewEngine - Plays audio files with automatic stop on new file
• MidiPreviewEngine - Triggers MIDI through preview instrument

​

Customization

​

Sidebar Width

• Minimum - 600px (enforced)
• Maximum - 60% of screen width (enforced)
• Default - 25% of screen width

​

Font Icons

• FontAwesome6 - UI icons (folder, search, etc.)
• Fontaudio - Audio-specific icons (waveform, VST logo, etc.)

​

Best Practices

​

Keyboard Shortcuts

​

Related Documentation