Live Studio Manual
Everything you need to know to record, mix, and collaborate in the Micscape Live Studio — available on Web and Android.
Transport Controls
The transport bar sits at the bottom of the studio and controls playback, recording, and audio levels.
Toggles playback. When playing, the playhead moves across the timeline and all unmuted tracks are mixed in real-time.
Stops playback and rewinds the playhead to the beginning (time 0:00). This is different from Pause, which keeps the playhead in place.
Instantly jumps the playhead back to 0:00 without stopping playback.
Starts recording from your microphone onto the armed track. You must arm a track first (see Track Management).
Sync: All transport actions are synced live to all collaborators in the room. When you press Play, everyone hears playback simultaneously.
Track Management
Tracks are horizontal lanes on the timeline. Each track holds audio clips and has its own mixer controls.
Click the + button (floating action button) or go to Track ▼ → Add Audio Track. A new empty track appears with a unique color.
Click the 🗑 icon on a track's header to remove it and all its clips. This action is undoable.
Click the red ● button on a track to arm it. Only one track can be armed at a time. When you press Record, audio captures to this track.
Track Colors
Each new track is automatically assigned a color from the palette: purple, blue, emerald, amber, rose, violet, cyan, orange. Colors help visually distinguish tracks.
Mixer & Pan
Each track has a set of mixer controls on its left header panel:
Adjust track volume from −60 dB (silent) to +6 dB (boost). Default is 0 dB (unity gain).
Drag left/right to position the track in the stereo field. L = full left, C = center, R = full right. Uses an equal-power pan law for consistent volume.
Silences this track. Click again to unmute. Use Track ▼ → Mute All / Unmute All for batch operations.
Isolates this track — only the soloed track plays. Multiple tracks can be soloed simultaneously.
Master Volume
The master fader in the transport bar controls the overall output level (−60 to +6 dB). This affects all tracks equally and does not change individual track volumes.
Timeline & Clips
The timeline is the main workspace where audio clips are arranged. It scrolls horizontally and shows a time ruler at the top.
Working with Clips
Click the + icon on a track header, or go to File ▼ → Import Audio. Select an audio file — it uploads to the cloud and appears as a waveform clip on the track.
Web: Click and drag a clip horizontally. Android: Long-press a clip until it highlights (cyan border), then drag to reposition. Clips snap to the tempo grid (quarter-note intervals) for precise alignment.
Web: Right-click or hover for the delete option. Android: Double-tap a clip to reveal the ✕ Delete badge, then tap the badge to confirm. Tap elsewhere to dismiss.
Playhead
The cyan vertical line is the playhead. It shows the current playback position. You can:
- Tap/click anywhere on the timeline to jump to that position
- Drag the playhead triangle handle for precise scrubbing
- The view auto-scrolls to follow the playhead during playback
Zoom (Android)
Pinch-to-zoom on the timeline to see more or fewer details. The ruler adapts its tick marks automatically.
Recording
Recording captures your microphone input onto the timeline as a new audio clip.
Step-by-Step:
- Create a track (or use an existing one)
- Press the ● button on the track to arm it for recording
- Press the Record button on the transport bar
- Playback starts automatically — the transport will play while recording
- Press Record again to stop recording
- Your recording is automatically uploaded to the cloud and appears as a clip at the position where recording began
Mic Gain (Android): The GAIN slider in the transport bar amplifies your microphone input (1x–50x). Use this if your mic signal is too quiet. The MIC IN meters show your input level in real-time.
Tempo & Metronome
The tempo setting controls the BPM (beats per minute), which affects the grid snap and metronome.
Web: Type directly into the BPM input field. Android: Use the − / + stepper buttons. Range: 40–300 BPM. Changes sync to all collaborators.
Toggle the metronome icon to enable a click track during playback. The downbeat (beat 1) plays a higher pitch (1000 Hz) and regular beats play at 800 Hz. The metronome does not record to any track — it is only audible in your headphones.
When you drag clips, they snap to quarter-note positions based on the current BPM. At 120 BPM, each grid unit is 0.5 seconds (1 quarter note).
Real-Time Collaboration
Micscape's Live Studio supports real-time multi-user collaboration powered by WebRTC. Multiple musicians can work on the same session simultaneously from any device.
Open any project's Studio page — you automatically join the live room. Your avatar appears in the header, and collaborators see you in real-time.
All participants can hear each other through their microphones. Use the Mic Mute button to toggle your mic on/off.
When any collaborator plays, pauses, adds clips, changes tempo, or drags clips — all peers see and hear the changes immediately. No manual sync needed.
Participant avatars glow with a purple ring when they are actively speaking, so you always know who's talking.
Cross-Platform: Web and Android users can collaborate in the same session. A web user can press Play and the Android user hears playback — and vice versa.
Bounce & Export
When your mix is ready, you can export it as a stereo mixdown file.
Go to File ▼ → Bounce to Stage. The engine renders all tracks offline into a single WAV file, respecting your volume, pan, mute, and solo settings. The bounced file is uploaded to the cloud and appears on the project's Stage page for playback and sharing.
Your session state (tracks, clips, mixer settings, tempo) is automatically saved every 2 seconds. You never need to manually save — just close the tab and come back later.