Documentation

User Manual

Complete reference for NewProject — loop-based composition, live arrangement, VST hosting, and visual customisation.

// Overview

NewProject is a desktop music production application built on the JUCE framework. It combines a pattern-based arranger with a full mixer, VST instrument hosting, a sampler, and a highly customisable visual theme system.

The application is designed for loop-based composition and live arrangement — each section (Intro, Main, Fill, End, and four Variations) can be triggered independently, making it suitable for both studio work and live performance.

Platform

Windows 64-bit. Audio is routed through your system default audio device or any ASIO-compatible interface.

// Interface Layout

Zone	Description
Top Bar	Transport, arrangement mode buttons, variation buttons, tempo, transpose, and utilities.
Melody Column	Melody volume fader, FX chain, load melody, and piano roll access.
Chord Column	Chord volume fader and chord FX chain.
Instrument Columns	Up to 4 instrument channels — fader, pan, mute/solo, and FX sends each.
Drum Panel	Step sequencer grid with per-channel strips (volume, pan, mute, solo, FX).
Bass Grid	Step sequencer for bass patterns.
Sampler Panel	Waveform display, slicing, keyboard mapping, loop playback.
Status Bar	Shows current playback state and active section.

// Transport Controls

Button	Action
▶ Play	Starts playback of the current section in a continuous loop.
■ Stop	Stops playback immediately.
Metronome	Toggles the click track on/off during playback.

Live Use

Arrangement mode buttons can be clicked while playing to switch sections on the fly without stopping.

// Arrangement Modes

Each section stores its own independent pattern data for melody, chords, bass, and drums.

Button	Description
Intro	Intro section — used at the start of a performance.
Main	Primary loop — the core groove of the track.
Fill	Short transitional fill, typically 1–2 bars.
Fill 2	Second fill variant for added performance variety.
End	Outro / ending section.
Vari 1–4	Four free variation slots for breakdowns, B-sections, or alternative grooves.

Note

Pattern data is stored per-section. Editing the drum grid in Main does not affect the Fill pattern.

// Tempo & Transpose

Tempo

The Tempo slider in the top bar controls global BPM. Drag left/right to adjust.

Global Transpose

Shifts all melodic content (melody, chords, bass) up or down in semitones. Use the ▲ / ▼ buttons for single-semitone steps — useful for real-time key changes without re-editing patterns.

Split

The Split slider divides the keyboard between melody and chord input, allowing both hands to play different parts simultaneously from one MIDI controller.

// Melody Editor

Loading a Melody

Click Load Melody to import a MIDI file or a previously saved melody pattern.

Opening the Editor

Click Open Melody Editor to open the piano roll for the melody track.

Toggles

Toggle	Description
Hear L	Routes the left-hand keyboard split to the melody instrument for real-time auditioning.
Chord Hold	Sustains the last chord until a new one is triggered.
Chord Track	Locks chord playback to follow the sequenced pattern rather than live keyboard input.

// Chord Editor

The chord system plays harmonic backing automatically or via MIDI input. The chord column has its own volume fader and FX chain. The Chord Label display shows the currently active chord name during playback.

Tip

Use Chord Hold with live input to strum chords into the arrangement without constant re-triggering.

// Bass Grid

A step sequencer for pitched bass-line patterns. Activate steps by clicking cells. Right-click a step for pitch and velocity options.

Button	Action
Copy Bass	Copies the current bass pattern.
Paste Bass	Pastes a copied bass pattern into the current section.

// Drum Grid

A multi-channel step sequencer. Each row is a drum channel. Each channel has its own volume dial, pan, mute, solo, and FX slots. Channel name buttons flash on each hit during playback as a live VU indicator.

Button	Action
Copy Drums	Copies the entire drum pattern for the current section.
Paste Drums	Pastes a copied drum pattern.
Clear Drums	Erases all steps in the current drum pattern.

// Piano Roll

Note-level editing for melody and drum patterns. Click ↗ to expand into piano roll mode.

Action	Result
Left-click empty cell	Add a note
Left-click existing note	Select / move note
Right-click note	Delete note
Chord Lock	Constrains notes to active chord scale degrees

Tip

Switching tracks while in piano roll mode re-locks the roll to the newly selected track automatically.

// Channel Mixer

Control	Description
Fader	Vertical linear fader — drag to adjust channel volume (0 to +150%).
Pan Strip	Horizontal dual-point pan below the fader. Left dot = L pan, right dot = R pan. Double-click a dot to reset to centre.
M Mute	Silences the channel. Lit when active.
S Solo	Solos the channel, muting all others.
Stereo Meter	Narrow vertical bar showing live L/R levels — green → yellow → red.

Track Name Button

Shows the loaded instrument name. Left-click to select the track. Right-click for the load / clear instrument menu. The small L and C corner buttons provide quick access to Load and Clear.

// FX Slots (Per Channel)

Each channel has 4 VST effect insert slots.

Click Load on the desired FX slot to browse for a VST plugin.
Click GUI to open the plugin's own editor window.
Toggle B (Bypass) to disable the effect without unloading it.

The FX send dials below the fader route signal to the Global FX buses.

// Global FX Bus

Four global buses for parallel processing (reverb, delay, compression, etc.). Any channel can send to any bus via the FX send dials.

Button	Action
Load	Load a VST plugin into this bus.
E	Open the plugin editor GUI.
On	Enable / disable the entire bus.

// VST Instruments

Right-click the track name button (or click the small L button).
Select Load VST... and browse to your .dll / .vst3 file.
Click GUI to open the plugin editor.

Choose Load Sample... instead to load an audio file as a one-shot instrument. Use Clear instrument to remove it.

Solo / Poly Mode

The Solo / Poly button toggles between monophonic and polyphonic MIDI output for that channel.

// Sampler

The built-in sampler provides waveform playback, slicing, and keyboard mapping.

Loading Audio

Click the load button in the sampler panel to import a WAV or AIFF file. The waveform is displayed and playable immediately.

Loop Playback

Use the range start/end markers in the waveform display to define the loop region.

Slicing

Enable slice mode to detect transients and map each slice to a key on the on-screen keyboard.

Sending Slices

Button	Action
Send to Drum	Sends a selected slice to a drum channel for step-sequenced playback.
Send to Multi	Distributes all slices across instrument channels.

Tip

Use Send to Drum to quickly extract individual hits from a loop and map them to the drum grid.

// Theme Editor

Open via the Theme button. Every colour in the interface is editable. Changes apply to the live UI instantly.

Select a Group (e.g. "Fader / Dial Track", "Mute Button").
If the group has states, select the Part (Off Bg, On Bg, Off Text, On Text).
Use the colour picker or type a hex code into the hex field. Click the field to select all for easy copy/paste.

Save & Load

Button	Action
Save As...	Saves theme to a `.json` file. Does not change the startup default.
Set As Default	Sets current theme as the startup default immediately — no file dialog.
Load...	Loads a previously saved `.json` theme file.
Reset Grey	Reverts to the built-in grey default.

Default Location

%AppData%\ArrangerApp\theme.json — The editor window size is also remembered between sessions.

// Theme Presets

The Presets dropdown applies a full theme instantly as a starting point for customisation.

Midnight Purple

Deep purple / violet

Grey Reset

Neutral factory default

Dark Teal

Dark bg, teal accents

Vitesse (Exact)

High-contrast yellow

Obsidian Studio

Cool dark blue

Slate Pro

Muted slate blue

Amber Console

Warm retro amber

Deep Ocean

Deep navy and blue

Carbon Noir

Near-black minimal

// Click Edit Mode

Identify and edit any element's colour by clicking directly on it — no need to search the group dropdown.

Open the Theme Editor and click Click Edit.
The main window gets a blue tint and the cursor becomes a crosshair.
Hover over any element — a highlight border and group name badge appear.
Click the element. The Theme Editor jumps to that group and comes to the front.
Press ESC to cancel at any time.

// Projects

Use Save and Load in the top bar to save and restore projects. All patterns, instrument assignments, mixer settings, and FX chains are stored in the project file.

Note

VST plugin state is saved within the project file. If a plugin is moved or uninstalled it may not load correctly on next open.

// MIDI Learn

Most controls support MIDI Learn — map any hardware knob, fader, or button to any on-screen parameter.

Right-click the control you want to map.
Select MIDI Learn from the context menu.
Move the desired knob or button on your MIDI controller.
The mapping is made automatically and persists with the project.

Right-click a mapped control and choose Clear MIDI Learn to remove the assignment.

Live Use

Transport and arrangement mode buttons also support MIDI Learn — assign them to pads for hands-free section switching during performance.