VST3/CLAP microtonal plugin & standalone DAW — DonutStudio
Use DonutStudio as a plugin, or as the whole DAW
DonutStudio ships two ways: a complete standalone DAW, and as a VST3 and CLAP plugin you drop straight into the DAW you already use. Either way the harmonic-link tuning comes with you. VST3 note expression carries DonutStudio's exact ratios into the host. The standalone gives you a complete traditional workstation: a clip-based arranger with audio and MIDI clips, the freeform harmonic piano roll, MIDI and audio recording, automation, third-party plugin hosting, and Airwindows plus DonutStudio's own Donut Devices. The video editor ships with it. Pro adds per-note sampling, vocals, and the score-reactive Media Machine.
- Ships as a standalone app and as a VST3 / CLAP plugin — compose in DonutStudio, or run it inside Ableton, Bitwig, Reaper, or any VST3/CLAP host
- Per-note microtuning survives the trip — VST3 note expression carries DonutStudio's exact ratios into the host, and MIDI export uses MPE-style per-note pitch bend so JI tuning lands in any DAW
- MTS-ESP, both directions — DonutStudio can be the MTS-ESP master that retunes your other plugins live, or a client that receives tuning
- Host your own plugins — load third-party VST3 and CLAP instruments and effects inside DonutStudio, optionally out-of-process so a plugin crash never takes DonutStudio down (sandbox is beta)
- Clip-based arranger — audio clips and MIDI clips on unified tracks, with cut, move, loop, and dissolve; freeform piano roll and the arranger are two lenses on the same song, sharing one ruler
- Record MIDI and audio takes — arm a track, set count-in bars, hit play, and DonutStudio captures the input as a clip on the timeline
Arrange with clips, or stay freeform
DonutStudio gives you a real clip arranger that keeps its free-flowing composition philosophy. Clips are emergent: you never make an empty clip first, and a clip comes into existence the moment a scissor cut creates a boundary. Tracks are unified, so an audio clip and a MIDI clip live on the same lane, and the whole arrangement shares one ruler with the piano roll.
Audio + MIDI clips, one timeline
Cut, move, loop, and rearrange audio clips and MIDI clips on unified tracks. Convert an audio clip into a MIDI clip with per-note samples in place, tunable by harmonic links.
Clips are emergent
You skip the empty-clip ceremony: write freely, then cut where you want boundaries. Dissolve clips back into freeform MIDI to keep composing, then slice it a new way.
Two lenses, one song
Tab between the arranger and the piano roll. They share the ruler, playhead, and horizontal zoom, so you stay at the same spot in the song at a different altitude. Pop either out onto a second monitor.
Record MIDI and audio takes
Arm a track, set your count-in bars, and hit play. DonutStudio captures the input as a clip on the beat-locked timeline, ready to cut, move, and tune like any other clip. Both MIDI recording and audio clip recording are included.
Loop squares too
You can also arrange right on the piano roll. Loop squares are still there. Draw a loop around material and extend it across bars, with links continuing across the repeats.
Automation follows the clips
CC and plugin automation is clip-owned data: cut carries it into the clip, loop repeats the curve, and dissolve burns it back into the timeline.
Every note can carry its own audio
Per-note sampling is part of DonutStudio Pro. Attach any audio file to any note on the piano roll. A vocal, a guitar take, or a field recording becomes a first-class citizen in the harmonic graph, pitch-shifting by pure ratios alongside synthesized instruments.
Per-note sample attachment
Drag a WAV onto a note. The sample plays at the note's pitch and follows its envelope, with varispeed pitch modulation locked to pure ratios in real time so it holds its place in the harmonic graph.
WORLD vocal resynthesis (beta)
Drop in a recorded vocal and DonutStudio analyzes it with the WORLD vocoder, then resynthesizes it under a dedicated vocal pitch editor. Pull each note's contour onto its target JI ratio and the recording follows the harmonic graph.
Linked audio pitch-shift
Create a 3:2 link on a sample-backed note and the audio pitch-shifts to match in real time, using the same system as synth notes.
Sample consolidation & shared pool
Render all the transformations down to a clean WAV. A shared sample pool caches by reference, so the same file used by ten notes costs no extra memory.
Export anywhere
Render the mix or hand off the MIDI
The hard part of exporting microtonal music is keeping the tuning, and DonutStudio keeps it. Standard MIDI uses the same per-note pitch-bend trick VST3 note expression uses — so it lands intact in any DAW that reads pitch. DAWproject moves whole arrangements between DAWs with the microtuning carried through. Bounce audio to WAV, MP3 (lame), or Opus (libopusenc). The native .arbit format is the only one that keeps the full harmonic graph: links, roots, pitch-bend and vibrato curves, pan, fades, and per-note audio.
Your tuning, everywhere in the session
DonutStudio's whole point is exact just-intonation tuning, so it holds that tuning all the way to the project boundary.
VST3 / CLAP plugin
Run DonutStudio as an instrument inside your DAW. Per-note microtuning rides out on VST3 note expression, so the harmonic relationships you drew survive into the host's mixer and render.
MTS-ESP master & client
Point your other soft-synths at DonutStudio and they retune to its scale in real time, or let DonutStudio receive tuning from an MTS-ESP master, so each session has one source of tuning truth.
MIDI that stays in tune
Standard MIDI export writes MPE-style per-note pitch bend, so the JI tuning lands intact in any DAW that reads it.
Host your own plugins, safely
Load third-party VST3 and CLAP instruments and effects inside DonutStudio, and drop them into the modular node graph as nodes with their GUIs embedded right in the patch. Hosting can run out-of-process, so a crashing plugin goes down on its own while your session keeps running. (Out-of-process sandbox is in beta.) If you work in Bitwig, DonutStudio's Bitwig bridge sends your note data straight across (send-only, beta).
What works where
The editing surface is the same either way — same piano roll, same tuning, same synths. A handful of things are mode-specific: DonutStudio's own mixer strip steps aside once a host is running the show, and only a real DAW session gives you host transport sync and true multi-instance.
| Standalone | Plugin (VST3/CLAP) | |
|---|---|---|
| Piano roll | ✓ | ✓ |
| Harmonic links & JI chord panel | ✓ | ✓ |
| SoundFont / DX7 / VA synths | ✓ | ✓ |
| DiffSinger vocal synthesis | ✓ | ✓ |
| Effects (Airwindows + Donut Devices) | ✓ | ✓ |
| MTS-ESP master & client | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scala tuning import | ✓ | ✓ |
| MIDI import / export | ✓ | ✓ |
| Expression & pitch-bend editor | ✓ | ✓ |
| Arranger (clips & timeline) | ✓ | MIDI clips |
| Video editor | ✓ | ✓ |
| Social publishing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audio-to-MIDI import | ✓ | ✓ |
| Master mixer strip (fader, mute/solo) | ✓ | — |
| Audio recording (mic/line-in) | ✓ | — |
| Group bus routing | ✓ | — |
| Custom title bar & window chrome | ✓ | — |
| Host transport & tempo sync | — | ✓ |
| Host preset management | — | ✓ |
| Multi-instance tuning-output control | — | ✓ |
Works in every major DAW
DonutStudio routes tuned MIDI to your existing instruments. It auto-detects the best channel available: VST3 note expressions in Bitwig and Reaper, CLAP per-note pitch where supported, MPE channel rotation in MPE-aware hosts, and per-channel pitch bend as a fallback for Ableton, FL, and Studio One.
Bitwig Studio
VST3 + CLAP. Native VST3 note expressions for sample-accurate per-note pitch. Transport follows the host automatically.
Reaper
VST3 + CLAP. Native VST3 note expressions deliver per-note pitch independent of the bend wheel. Behaves like a first-class CLAP citizen.
Ableton Live
VST3. Per-channel MIDI pitch bend carries microtuning to any compatible synth. MPE-aware instruments get rotation automatically.
FL Studio
VST3. Per-channel pitch bend carries microtuning to your DAW instruments. Drop DonutStudio on a pattern, route to your favorite synth, and tuning follows the notes.
Studio One
VST3. Pitch bend channels deliver microtonal note streams to any plugin.
No DAW required
It also runs standalone with expandable tracks, the sound engine, and audio export. It hosts your own VST3 and CLAP plugins (instruments and effects) and ships with the Airwindows suite built in. Hosted plugins can run sandboxed out-of-process (beta), so if one crashes it doesn't take DonutStudio down with it. Pro adds per-note sampling and vocals.
Produce without leaving the app
DonutStudio ships the full DAW + video editor + export. Pro adds the production layer (sampling, vocals, Media Machine). Want it first? Join the beta.