User Manual

Swar Studio User Manual 

Table of Contents 

About this Manual .......................................................................................... 5 

Document Conventions ................................................................................ 5 

Document Organization ............................................................................... 5 

Feedback ...................................................................................................... 5 

1. General Information .................................................................................... 7 

1.1. Overview ............................................................................................... 7 

1.1.1. Key Features ...................................................................................... 7 

2. Getting Started ............................................................................................ 8 

2.1. Swar Studio Installation ......................................................................... 8 

2.1.1. On Windows ...................................................................................... 8 

2.1.2. On Mac OS X ...................................................................................... 9 

2.1.3. Swar Studio Activation ....................................................................... 9 

2.2. System Requirements .......................................................................... 10 

2.2.1. Windows .......................................................................................... 10 

2.2.2. Mac ................................................................................................. 10 

3. Key Concepts ............................................................................................. 11 

3.1. What is MIDI? ...................................................................................... 11 

3.2. What is sampled audio? ...................................................................... 12 

3.3. What is a loop/fill? .............................................................................. 12 

3.4. What is a plug-in? ................................................................................ 12 

3.5. What is a sequencer/DAW? ................................................................. 13 

3.6. What is quantization? .......................................................................... 13 

4. Using Swar Studio ..................................................................................... 14 

4.1. Adding Tracks ...................................................................................... 14 

4.1.1. Instrument Track ............................................................................. 14 

4.1.1.1. Built-in Instruments ..................................................................... 15 

4.1.2. Audio Track ...................................................................................... 15 

4.2. Adding loops into your Track ............................................................... 16 

4.2.1. Drag and Dropping Loops ................................................................ 16 

4.2.2. Recording Audio Loops .................................................................... 18 

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4.2.3. Recording MIDI Loops ...................................................................... 19 

4.2.4. Creating MIDI loops from scratch .................................................... 20 

4.3. Editing Loops ........................................................................................ 21 

4.3.1. Edit MIDI Loop ................................................................................. 21 

4.3.2. Edit Audio Loop ................................................................................ 22 

4.4. Repeating/Copying Loops .................................................................... 23 

4.5. Fine-tuning the Tracks .......................................................................... 23 

4.6. Saving and Exporting ............................................................................ 24 

4.6.1. Saving .............................................................................................. 24 

4.6.2. Adding Song Information ................................................................. 26 

4.6.3. Exporting as MIDI file ...................................................................... 27 

4.6.4. Exporting as audio file ..................................................................... 27 

4.6.5. Exporting as MP3 file ....................................................................... 28 

4.6.5.1. Installing the LAME MP3 encoder ................................................ 28 

4.6.5.2. Exporting ..................................................................................... 29 

5. User Interface ............................................................................................ 30 

5.1. Swar Studio’s Main Window ................................................................ 30 

5.2. Transport Area ..................................................................................... 30 

5.3. Swar Studio’s Icons .............................................................................. 31 

5.4. Swar Studio’s Menus ............................................................................ 32 

5.4.1. File Menu ......................................................................................... 32 

5.4.2. View Menu ...................................................................................... 33 

5.4.3. Edit Menu ........................................................................................ 34 

5.4.4. Track Menu...................................................................................... 34 

5.4.5. Tools Menu ...................................................................................... 35 

5.4.6. Help Menu ....................................................................................... 35 

5.5. Track Controls ...................................................................................... 35 

5.5.1. Track Properties Panel ..................................................................... 37 

5.6. Loops Panel .......................................................................................... 38 

5.6.1. Mouse Actions ................................................................................. 39 

5.6.2. Loop Popup Menu ............................................................................ 40 

5.6.3. Track Popup Menu ........................................................................... 41 

5.7. Karaoke Panels .................................................................................... 41 

5.8. Library Panel ........................................................................................ 43 

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5.8.1. Manage Folders ............................................................................... 44 

5.8.2. Add your own loops to Library ......................................................... 44 

5.8.3. Export a base ................................................................................... 44 

5.9. MIDI Loop Editor ................................................................................. 45 

5.9.1. Modes .............................................................................................. 46 

5.9.2. Adjust Velocity ................................................................................. 47 

5.9.3. Pitch Bend and Volume Subpanel .................................................... 48 

5.10. Audio Loop Editor .............................................................................. 51 

5.10.1. View Selection.................................................................................. 52 

5.10.2. Trim or Delete selected area ............................................................ 52 

5.10.3. Fade in and Fade out option ............................................................ 52 

5.10.4. Change Volume................................................................................ 53 

5.11. Tools Options Panel ........................................................................... 54 

5.11.1. Audio Settings Tab ........................................................................... 54 

5.11.2. External Tools Tab ........................................................................... 55 

5.11.3. Sound Engines Tab ........................................................................... 56 

5.12. Effects Browser .................................................................................. 57 

5.13. Karaoke Editor ................................................................................... 58 

5.14. About Box .......................................................................................... 62 

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Credits 

Special thanks to: 

Magnus Hoernqvist for the Swar Studio user interface, logo and packaging graphics; 

Nandkishore Jasnani for relentless work on sound engines and Library loops; 

Divya for female voice loops; Jerry Gervacio for user guide editing. 

Copyright Notice 

© 2012 Swar Systems 

All rights reserved. 

Under the copyright laws, this manual cannot be copied, in whole or part, without 

the written consent from Swar Systems, except in the normal use of Swar Studio. 

The same proprietary and copyright notices must be affixed to any permitted copies 

as were affixed to the original. Under the law, copying includes translating into 

another language or format. 

Specifications and descriptions are subject to change without notice. 

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About this Manual 

This guide introduces Swar Studio and provides an overview of its features. This 

provides details and steps that guide you through when you add and edit your 

tracks; add loops to your tracks, fine-tune your tracks, save and export songs you 

have created, etc… 

This manual also includes comprehensive description of all controls in the user 

interface. 

Document Conventions 

Font/Icon 

Bold 

Italic 

Courier New 

Meaning 

Navigation links, tabs and terms you see in 

Swar Studio user interface 

Icon name 

File extension 

Notes 

Important 

Document Organization 

This document includes the following sections: 

Feedback 

• “General Information” provides overview of Swar Studio and its features. 

• “Getting Started” describes the installation steps and requirements and 

the supported systems. 

• “Key Concepts” defines and describes the key terms used in Swar Studio. 

• “Using Swar Studio” describes the key functions and steps on how to 

create modern and traditional Indian music using Swar Studio. 

• “User Interface” describes all controls in Swar Studio user interface. 

Swar Systems appreciates any comments, complaints or suggestions. Your opinion 

on what is right or wrong with this document is very helpful. Please visit our website 

at www.swarsystems.com. 

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Swar Studio User Manual


1. General Information 

Swar Studio is a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) that allows you to create 

modern and traditional Indian music. It includes both Indian and Western virtual 

instruments that allow you to create songs from the film or classical repertoire 

without the need of any additional tool. 

Swar Studio can also serve as a karaoke player that can display both Roman and 

Indian scripts. 

1.1. Overview 

1.1.1. Key Features 

• Audio tracks for recording or dragging audio loops 

• Instrument tracks for recording from keyboard or dragging MIDI 

loops 

• Library panel with hundreds of included MIDI loops 

• Piano Roll editor for MIDI loops and Audio editor for sampled loops 

• Karaoke panels to create and view lyrics in both Roman and Indian 

scripts 

• Export to MIDI, audio, and MP3 format 

• 41 built-in virtual instruments 

• Supports VSTi/Audio Units synths and effects 

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2. Getting Started 

2.1. Swar Studio Installation 

Swar Studio’s setup wizard will guide you through the installation of the 

software. 

2.1.1. On Windows 

1. If not automatically launched, run (double-click) the Swar Studio 

installer (setup.exe). You will see a message that the setup is 

loading. 

2. Wait until you see the Swar Studio Setup Wizard. 

3. Click Next to continue. Review the license terms and click I Agree to 

continue. 

4. You will be prompted to choose the features of Swar Studio you 

want to install. Select Full (default) and then click Next to continue. 

5. Choose the directory where Swar Studio should be installed. You 

can leave the default destination folder. Click Install. 

6. You will see the progress while Swar Studio is installed. Wait until 

the installation is completed 

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7. Click Finish. Swar Studio is now installed in your system. From now 

on you can launch it from the Start menu, Swar Studio section. 

2.1.2. On Mac OS X 

1. Run (double-click) the Mac OS X Swar Studio installer 

(STUDIOOSX.pkg). You will see a message that the setup is 

loading. 

2. Wait until you see the Install Swar Studio screen. 

3. Press Continue, review the license terms, then press Continue and 

Agree to continue. 

4. Press Install (you may possibly have to enter your computer 

password) to start the actual installation. 

5. When completed, you should see a message “The installation was 

successful”. Press Close to exit the setup. Swar Studio is now 

installed on your system, in the Applications folder. 

2.1.3. Swar Studio Activation 

The first time you run Swar Studio you’ll need to enter a valid Product Key 

to unlock it. Your Product Key is included in the manual for packaged 

versions or sent by email for downloaded versions. 

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You can type or copy and paste this activation code to Product Key input 

field. 

You will see a success message when Swar Studio is successfully unlocked. 

2.2. System Requirements 

2.2.1. Windows 

• Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 

• About 1 GB disk space 

• 512 MB RAM (recommended) 

2.2.2. Mac 

• Mac OS X 10.5 or higher version 

• About 1 GB disk space 

• 512 MB RAM (recommended) 

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3. Key Concepts 

3.1. What is MIDI? 

In short, MIDI (Musical Instruments Digital Interface) is a language used 

between musical software/hardware to exchange information about the 

notes being played, their intensity, duration, among others. 

In the MIDI model, the events triggering the notes are clearly separated 

from the actual sound being played. 

When you press on a key of a keyboard, it will automatically generate a 

MIDI event that will contain the information about the key being pressed, 

the intensity (called velocity) at which it was pressed. 

In general, that event will go to the part of the keyboard in charge of 

producing the sound out of sine-waves (a synthesizer) or sampled audio (a 

sampler), which will read the event and echo that note with the sound of 

the instrument (voice) that is selected. 

MIDI events can also be sent to other devices. A device that just outputs 

MIDI without producing sound is called a MIDI controller. When you plug a 

MIDI controller to your computer, you can actually play MIDI events into 

the built-in virtual instruments of Swar Studio, so that it will sound just as 

the instrument you selected in the track you are recording. 

MIDI events are not only played live, but can also be stored into MIDI 

(.mid) files. These can then be loaded and played using a specific 

instrument. 

As MIDI events do not contain any sampled data, they have a lot of 

advantages: 

• they are very small 

• they can be pitch shifted without changing the speed 

• they can be accelerated without changing the pitch 

• they can be played using any number of different instruments. 

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3.2. What is sampled audio? 


Sound, the way we perceive it, is a wave that propagates as fluctuation of 

pressure in the air. A microphone can record these fluctuations in the form 

of complex sine waves. 

In digital music, these waves are chopped a certain number of times per 

second (44100 in CD quality) and the corresponding points stored as 

samples. In this way, sound can be echoed back by transforming the 

samples into air fluctuations, what the speakers do. 

This format is also very practical because it can be kept for ages without 

deterioration, and it can also be processed through simple functions. 

In Swar Studio, all audio loops that you either dropped from external files 

or recorded on your own can be edited with the Audio Editor. 

3.3. What is a loop/fill? 

Loops are a general term for a musical file (MIDI or audio) that can be 

repeated. A fill is a one-time musical piece that often does the bridge 

between loops. 

In Swar Studio, to simplify, we refer to anything dropped on tracks or 

recorded as loops. 

3.4. What is a plug-in? 

A plug-in is a piece of software that adds functionality to a program. In the 

case of music software, a plug-in can be either an effect or a virtual 

instrument. Both can be considered as a black box that transforms an 

input into an output flow. An effect receivesaudio samples as input, 

transforms them and returns them as output. A simple example can be a 

reverb. 

A virtual instrument receives MIDI input and returns audio output. This is 

the case of all sound engines in Swar Studio. The MIDI notes and events 

sent through them are converted into sound data, which is then returned 

in the output buffer. 

The main formats for plug-ins are VST (Steinberg GmbH), Audio Units 

(Apple), RTAS (Avid), DXi (CakeWalk). 

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3.5. What is a sequencer/DAW? 


A sequencer, or a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), is a music software 

that allows you to create tracks of various instruments and sequence 

notes/audio into them. 

Swar Studio is an entry-level DAW. 

In the professional range, you find software like ProTools, Logic, Cubase, 

among others. 

3.6. What is quantization? 

Quantization is the operation that adjusts the MIDI events to a specific 

subdivision of a beat. This allows the notes you enter with a keyboard to 

be automatically on sync with the composition. 

In Swar Studio you can quantize any MIDI loop. You can also set the autoquantize 

option on so that anything you drop or record on your MIDI track 

will automatically be quantized. 

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4. Using Swar Studio 

Swar Studio is designed for both beginners and advanced users. For beginners, 

steps and descriptions are included in this document to guide you through. Once 

Swar Studio is installed in your system, you will quickly start to enjoy its benefits 

and key features. 

4.1. Adding Tracks 

The first step in creating a song is to add your tracks. A track corresponds 

to a voice in the song. You can add either an Instrument Track or an Audio 

Track. 

4.1.1. Instrument Track 

An Instrument Track is one that is linked to a virtual (MIDI) instrument, 

and that can be played from an attached keyboard or by putting notes on a 

loop editor canvas. 

To add an Instrument Track: 

1. Locate the Add MIDI Track icon 

2. Click the icon. Instrument Track control will show up at the left 

navigation panel of Swar Studio. 

3. Alternatively, go to Track menu. 

4. Click Track >Add Track>Instrument Track. You will see the 

Instrument Track control board at the left navigation panel. 

5. From Instrument Track control board, scroll through the instrument 

list and choose the instrument you wish to add. 

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4.1.1.1. Built-in Instruments 


Swar Studio has 41 built-in instruments that you can use in your tracks: 

Accordion, Bansuri, Bass, Bells, Brass Section, Brightness, Cello, 

Chimta, Choir Aahs, Clean Guitar, Dhol, Dholak, Drums, Duff, Duggis, 

Electric Bass, Electric Guitar, Ghatam, Guitar, Gunghroo, Harmonium, 

Lead Synth, Manjeera, New Dulcimer, Piano, Santoor, Sarod, 

Saxophone, Sitar, Slap Bass, Slow Strings, Strings Ensemble, Synth 

Pad, Tabla, Tambourines, Tanpura, Trumpet, Tumbi, Vibraphone, 

Violin, and Whistle. 

More instruments can be added in the form of VSTi or Audio Unit 

plugins. 

4.1.2. Audio Track 

An Audio Track is one where you place audio (recorded) files. You can also 

record your voice or an instrument directly into it. 

To add an Audio Track: 

1. Locate the Add Audio Track icon 

2. Click the icon. Audio Track control will show up at the left navigation 

board of Swar Studio. 

3. Alternatively, go to Track menu. 

4. Click Track>Add Track>Audio Track. Audio Track control board will 

show up at the left navigation panel of Swar Studio. 

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4.2. Adding loops into your Track 

These are three easy ways to add loops into your tracks: 


• by dragging and dropping loops from Swar Studio loops Library. 

• by recording MIDI or Audio loops. 

• by creating MIDI loops from scratch. 

4.2.1. Drag and Dropping Loops 

The simplest way of adding music into your track is by dragging and 

dropping ready-made loops. Swar Studio has a wide collection of loops at 

the Library. 

To drag and drop loops from the Swar Studio Library: 

1. Locate the Library icon 

2. Alternatively, go to View menu and click Library. 

3. The Library window opens. 

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4. You may choose the loops base and what you would like to audition 

with. 

5. Listen to the loops by selecting one and clicking the Audition button 

at the bottom of the Library window. 

6. You may increase the speed by clicking and buttons along 

Speed. 

7. Once you find the loop you need, select it and then drag & drop it 

onto your track. 

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4.2.2. Recording Audio Loops 


Just note that you can also use any MIDI, Wav or AIFF loop 

stored on your computer and drag it the same way to your 

track. If you wish to reuse it, you can also drag that loop or 

even a complete folder to the Library (see the Library Panel 

section on ways customizing the Library). 

You can also record your own audio loops. You need a microphone in this 

case. 

Once the microphone is plugged in, go to Tools>Options>Audio Settings. 

The device should be properly selected in the « input » drop-down list. 

You can then test your voice or instrument. Do this before your start 

recording. Go to Audio Settings Tab section for additional details. 

To record audio loops: 

1. Place your playing cursor at the position where your recording 

should start by clicking on the top golden ruler. If you want to start 

from the beginning, just press the Stop button; this will move the 

play cursor to the beginning. 

2. Arm your Audio Track for recording by clicking on the record button 

on the track controls. 

When already armed for recording, your track will blink. 

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Once the track is armed for recording, you can always click 

elsewhere on the golden ruler, for playback to start there. 

This can be practical if you want the song to play for a while 

before the actual recording starts. 

3. Start recording by clicking on Play button or by simply pressing the 

spacebar of your computer keyboard. All input from your 

microphone before the recording cursor will be discarded. 

4. You will see audio event as you record. 

5. When you are done with your recording, press spacebar (computer 

keyboard) again and your loop will appear on the track. 

4.2.3. Recording MIDI Loops 

Alternatively, you can select a range (drag movement on the 

play bar). Recording will be limited to that selected section 

only. This is practical to overwrite part of a recording for 

instance. If you have not selected a range, recording starts at 

the position the play cursor was when the track was armed 

for recording. 

The process in recording MIDI loops is similar to Audio loops recording, 

except that you will need a MIDI controller (keyboard) for inputting the 

notes. 

Once the MIDI controller is plugged in, go to Tools > Options > Audio 

Settings and select it in the « active MIDI inputs » box. Go to Audio 

Settings Tab section for additional details. 

To record MIDI loops: 

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1. Place your playing cursor at the position where your recording 

should start. To do this, click on the top golden ruler. 

2. Arm your Track as seen before. Track will blink. 

3. You can also select a range (drag movement on the play bar). 

Recording will be limited to that section only. 

This is practical to overwrite part of a recording for instance. 

If you have not selected a range, recording starts at the position the 

play cursor was when the track was armed for recording. 

4. Press spacebar (computer keyboard) to start the recording. You 

will see the MIDI event as you record. 

5. When done, press the spacebar (computer keyboard) to stop 

recording. 

4.2.4. Creating MIDI loops from scratch 

You can also create MIDI loops from scratch. 

1. Right-click on a track and click New Loop. 

2. A New Loop will be added. 

3. Resize it to cover the required duration. 

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4. Right-click on the loop to rename it. 

5. Right-click on the loop and click Edit MIDI. Alternatively, double-click 

it to open the Loop Editor. 

6. Enter MIDI events. 

4.3. Editing Loops 

MIDI Loop and Audio Loop are edited in their respective editor. You may 

also use an external editor to edit them. See how to do that in the External 

Tools Tab. 

4.3.1. Edit MIDI Loop 

To edit a MIDI Loop: 

1. Go to your Loop and double-click it. This opens the Loop Editor. 

2. Alternatively, right-click MIDI Loop. This displays the loop popup 

menu. Click Edit MIDI to open the editor. 

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3. Do the customization from the Loop Editor. Please see also MIDI 

Loop Editor section in this document for details on its key functions. 

4.3.2. Edit Audio Loop 

To edit an Audio Loop: 

1. Go to Audio Loop and double-click it. This opens the Audio Editor. 

2. Do the customization from the Audio Editor. Please see also Audio 

Loop Editor section in this document for details on its key functions. 

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4.4. Repeating/Copying Loops 


Repeating loops is done when you want to play the same loop a certain 

number of times. 

To repeat loops: 

1. Right-click on the loop. 

2. Select Repeat and the nr of times you want it repeated. 

You can also select « Till the end » to have the loop repeated 

for the whole song. This can be practical for a rhythmic loop. 

3. Customize one or other loop instances to make it lively. 

4. Alternatively, copy and paste a loop either in the same track or on 

another one. The loop is pasted at the position of the play cursor. 

If there is no sufficient space, you have the option to shorten your 

loop; to shift other loops to the right, or you may cancel the 

operation. 

Repeating a loop reuses the same underlying loop events or audio, 

while copy and paste creates a new copy. This can take up 

considerable space, especially for Audio Loops, so the repeat 

feature should be preferred when iterating a same loop. 

When you edit a loop that was repeated elsewhere, you will be 

given the choice to update the shared events/audio for all other 

instances, or create a separate copy. 

4.5. Fine-tuning the Tracks 

Start fine-tuning your track by selecting the proper settings in the track 

control panel: 

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• You can define the relative volume and panning of a specific track 

against the others. 

• You can also click on the FX button and add VST/Audio Units effects 

(must be scanned earlier in Tools>Browse Effects screen). See the 

Effects Browser section. 

• You can pitch shift or transpose an Instrument Track. Use this to 

adjust the global pitch of a track. 

• For instrument tracks, additional controls are also available at the 

underlying sound engine user interface. See Track Properties Panel. 

4.6. Saving and Exporting 

Save your song and add information into it. When you are done, you can 

export your song as MIDI, audio, or MP3 file. 

4.6.1. Saving 

To save: 

1. Click the Save song icon 

2. Alternatively, go to File menu then click Save. 

3. If you have opened a song clicking Save automatically saves your 

changes. 

4. If are working on a new song, a dialog opens and you need to enter 

the name of your song. Leave the default file extension, *.stz 

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5. By default, your file will be saved in Swar Studio > Songs folder. 

However, you can also save it in different directory. 

6. Click Save. 

If you are working on a previously created song and you want to save 

another copy of it with your new changes, use Save As option. 

To save your song as new file: 

1. Click the Save song as icon 

2. Alternatively, go to File menu then click Save as. 

3. A dialog opens. Input your new song name. 

4. Leave the default file extension, *.stz 

5. You may save your file in the default folder or in any directory. 

6. Click Save. 

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4.6.2. Adding Song Information 

To add song information: 

1. Go to File menu and choose Song Info option. 

2. This opens the Song Info window, where you can enter the details of 

the song. 

3. Once done, click OK. You should save the song to retain these 

changes. 

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4.6.3. Exporting as MIDI file 


You can also export as a MIDI file for further editing or reuse. Take note 

that Audio Tracks will not be included. So if you want to reuse the 

exported MIDI file on another sequencer or tool, you will need to attach a 

proper sound engine like SwarPlug to each track, since MIDI files do not 

contain any actual sound in them. 

To export as MIDI file: 

1. Go to File menu and choose Export, then MIDI. 

2. The file will be saved as file type:*.mid 

4.6.4. Exporting as audio file 

Exporting your file as audio file allows you to export a CD quality version of 

your song. 

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To export as audio file: 

1. Go to File menu and choose Export, then Audio. 

2. If you as using Windows, you can save your audio file into *.wav 

format. If you are using Mac, save your audio file as *.aif(AIFF) 

4.6.5. Exporting as MP3 file 

This is the preferred format for sharing a song with your friends. MP3 

format is high quality audio but condensed so it’s light for 

uploading/downloading. 

MP3 is a technology that was developed by various sources that 

hold several patents on it. As a result, MP3 encoding cannot be 

bundled in a commercial product without specific licensing. But 

anyone is free to download such tools for his or her own use. 

4.6.5.1. Installing the LAME MP3 encoder 

LAME is an MP3 encoder that can be freely downloaded from the web. 

The main location of the project binaries is at 

http://lame.sourceforge.net/links.php#Binaries 

On Windows 

You’ll find a recent LAME bundle at the following address: 

http://www.rarewares.org/mp3-lame-bundle.php 

Just download it and extract it on your system. Once done: 

1. Run Swar Studio 

2. Click on Tools, then Options and select the External Tools Tab 

3. Click on the button next to the LAME MP3 ENCODER field 

4. Browse your hard drive and select the lame.exe included in the 

bundle you just downloaded 

5. Press OK until you are back on the main window 

On Mac OS X 

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You’ll find a recent LAME bundle at the following address: 

http://www.thalictrum.com/ 

Select the LAME Audio Encoder section, and click on the link to 

download the installer. You can then run that setup and it will install the 

LAME components on your system. 

No further action is required, since Swar Studio will be able to locate 

them in their default libraries. 

4.6.5.2. Exporting 

The URLs given here are subject to change. If that was the case, 

you should be able to find the new links by Googling “LAME 

encoder binaries”. 

Once done, you can now export your file in MP3 format. 

To export as MP3 file: 

1. Go to File menu and choose Export, then MP3. 

2. Select the right folder and give your file a proper name. 

3. The file will be saved as file type:*.mp3 

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5. User Interface 

5.1. Swar Studio’s Main Window 

The Swar Studio’s main window has areas with different tools and options. 

For convenience, Swar Studio’s windows retain their size from your 

previous session. You can also fully use undo and redo functions when 

working with editors. 

5.2. Transport Area 

Transport Area has controls that allow you to drive your composition. 

The transport buttons allow you to: 

• move forward; 

• move backwards; 

• play/pause (alternatively Space bar); 

• increase/decrease the tempo; 

• change the BPM value; 

• change the bar size to 3/4 (for waltz-like composition), 2/4 (for 

military-like songs). By default, bar size is set to 4/4 (for rock, pop). 

To change the value, click on the first digit and then change the 

value. 

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5.3. Swar Studio’s Icons 


For convenience, you can use Swar Studio’s icons to perform different 

functions. You can also use Swar Studio’s menus. 

• Open Song: Shows an Open File dialog to load an existing song. 

• Save Song: Saves the current song. 

• Save Song As: Opens a Save File dialog to allow you to save the 

current song under a different name. 

• Copy: Copy loop 

• Paste: Paste copied loop 

• Add MIDI Track: Add MIDI track 

• Add Audio Tack: Appends a new, empty Audio Track to the song. 

• Show Library: Opens the Library panel for browsing or selecting 

loops. 

• Undo: Undo action 

• Redo: Redo action 

• Metronome: plays a metronome tick as a guide 

• Auto-quantize: automatically quantizes any MIDI recorded/dropped 

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5.4. Swar Studio’s Menus 

5.4.1. File Menu 

• File > New: Closes any previously loaded song and creates a new 

empty one. 

• File > Open: Shows an Open File dialog to load an existing song. 

• File > Save: Saves the current song. 

• File >Save as...: Opens a Save File dialog to allow you to save the 

current song under a different name. 

• File > Song Info: Displays the Song Info panel where you can 

enter the various credentials of the song. 

• File > Export> MIDI: Exports the current song as a MIDI file. 

• File > Export >Audio: Exports the current song as an audio file 

(bounce). 

• File > Export > MP3: Exports the current song into *mp3 format 

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5.4.2. View Menu 

• View > Library: Opens the Library panel for browsing or selecting 

loops. 

• View > Loop Editor: If a loop is selected, it opens the Loop Editoror 

Audio Editor to edit it. 

• View > Show/Hide Karaoke View: Toggles the display of the 

Karaoke panels. 

You can also drag the panels split bar manually. 

• View > Karaoke Editor: Opens the Karaoke Editor to allow you to 

browse or enter lyrics for your song. 

• View > Zoom In: Stretches the display horizontally. 

You can also hold press your computer keyboard’s SHIFT key and 

press + key to stretch the display. 

• View > Zoom Out: Condenses the display horizontally. 

You can also use your computer keyboard; hold press SHIFT and 

press – key to condense the display horizontally. 

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5.4.3. Edit Menu 

• Edit > Copy: Marks the selected loop for further duplication 

(through Paste). 

• Edit > Paste: Copies a previously selected loop at the playing cursor 

position. 

5.4.4. Track Menu 

• Track >Add Track >Instrument Track: Appends new Instrument 

Track to the song. 

• Track >Add Track >Add Audio Track: Appends a new, empty Audio 

Track to the song. 

• Track > Remove Track: Removes the currently selected track. 

• Track > New Loop: Creates a new loop on the selected MIDI track, at 

the cursor point. 

• Track > Import Loop > MIDI: Shows an open file dialog to select a 

MIDI loop to be imported in the currently selected track and also at 

the position of the play cursor. 

• Track > Import Loop > Audio: Shows an open file dialog to select an 

audio loop to be imported in the currently selected track and also at 

the position of the play cursor. 

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5.4.5. Tools Menu 

• Tools > Options: Displays the Options panel with three (3) sub-tabs: 

Audio Settings, External Tools and Sound Engines 

• Tools > Browse Effects: Opens the Browse Effects panel where you 

can manage the VST and/or Audio Units effects you want to use in 

Swar Studio. 

5.4.6. Help Menu 

• Help > Help: Opens the Swar Studio user manual. 

• Help > About: Displays the About box of the software with version 

information. 

5.5. Track Controls 

The track controls allow you to define how your track will sound. 

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You can: 

• select the virtual instrument to be played, by clicking on the MIDI 

track name 

• define the volume (horizontal slider) and panning (knob) 

• set to solo (solo button changes to yellow and mute button of all 

other track controls turn to green): as a result, only the soloed 

tracks play 

When you set the track to solo all other track will be muted. Clicking 

the solo button will bring the button back to its previous state and 

will also un-mute the rest of the tracks. 

• set to mute: that track doesn’t play anymore 

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• use record button to arm the track for recording 


• apply additional customization by pressing the FX button: the Track 

Properties Panel appears 

• rename track name using left-click mouse action 

5.5.1. Track Properties Panel 

The Track Properties panel lets you define further settings of your track. 

• The rectangle button next to the track instrument name lets you 

show the virtual instrument user interface, where you can do all the 

specific customization. 

• Pitch shift box lets you change the pitch of your track in notes, so as 

to match other tracks. 

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• The Effects table lets you define effects to be used for the track, like 

reverb, echo, LFO, etc... These effects need to first be scanned using 

the Tools >Browse Effects panel. Options are: 

5.6. Loops Panel 

a. “+” button lets you add an effect from a list of available 

effects 

b. “-“ removed the currently selected effect 

c. Upward arrow moves the selected effect upwards 

d. Downward arrow moves the selected effect downwards 

e. Rectangle button shows the selected effect user interface 

At the Loops panel, you can: 

• drop your loops, edit, and resize them. 

• select multiple loops at a time with shift-click to delete them all. 

• double-click to open the Loop editor. 

• right-click to display a popup menu with various other options. 

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5.6.1. Mouse Actions 


Note: Loops can only be dropped or created if there is sufficient 

space to accommodate them. If there is no sufficient space, you will 

have the option to shorten the loop; to shift other loops to the right; 

or to cancel the operation. 

• Left-click Loop: Selects the loop for further action. The loop 

becomes red. 

• Right-click Loop: Displays the loop popup menu. 

• Double-click Loop: Opens loop for editing with the default editor. 

• Drag Loop: Moves the selected loop along the track. Take note that 

it can only be dropped at a location where it fully fits. If there is no 

sufficient space, you will have the option to shorten the loop; to 

shift other loops to the right; or to cancel the operation. 

• Drag + Shift Loop: Drags the underlying audio/MIDI file for dropping 

outside Swar Studio, or in the Library panel to store it for reuse. 

• Drag Loop (border): Resizes the loop on the track. Events inside the 

loop are compressed or decompressed accordingly. This is practical 

to change the speed of a specific loop (like reducing the size by 2 

doubles the speed of the loop). 

• Drag + Shift Loop (border): Expands/truncates a loop on the track. 

Events inside the loop are not compressed or expanded. If dragging 

to the right, extra space is added to the loop. If dragging to the left, 

those events falling in the area trimmed are removed. Of course, 

you can always undo it. 

• Left-click Track: Selects the underlying track. Its shade becomes a 

little darker. 

• Right-click Track: Displays the track popup menu. 

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5.6.2. Loop Popup Menu 

Right-clicking on a loop displays a popup menu with the following options: 

• Edit Loop: This option opens the default editor for the selected 

Loop. This will be the Loop Editor for MIDI loops, the Audio Editor 

for audio loops, or any specific external tool specified in the Tools > 

Options panel. 

• Rename Loop: Lets you rename the loop. 

• Delete Loop: Deletes the loop. You can also do it by selecting the 

loop and pressing the Delete key on your keyboard. 

• Repeat X time(s): Creates x copies of the selected loop. 

• Repeat Till the end: Creates copies of the selected loop until the end 

of the song. 

• Copy: Copies the selected loop for pasting it elsewhere. 

Note: You can also paste the loop on a different track. The 

only limitation is that an audio loop can only be pasted on an 

Audio Track and vice-versa. 

• Quantize Off: Un-quantizes a loop (reverts to the original). 

• Quantize : Quantizes a loop with a specific factor. 

• Quantize Finalize: Permanently replaces the original loop with the 

quantized version. 

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5.6.3. Track Popup Menu 

If an item was copied previously, right-clicking on a track displays a popup 

menu with the following option: 

• New Loop: On MIDI tracks, adds and empty loop at that location. 

• Paste Loop: Tries to paste a previously copied loop at that location. 

If no sufficient space is available, it will automatically be shifted to 

the first available place after that. 

5.7. Karaoke Panels 

These panels allow you to visualize the lyrics as they move. Swar Studio 

supports both Roman and Indian scripts. Both can be shown in karaoke 

panels. 

To view your lyrics in Indian script, you need to have the proper font 

installed. For Hindi, you can use the Sanskrit 99c font. This can be found at 

(subject to change):www.sanskritweb.net 

Once installed, select Sanskrit 99 c font on the Karaoke Editor. 

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You will find the Karaoke panel at the bottom of the Swar Studio main 

screen. Karaoke View should be enabled so that the Karaoke panels will 

show up. Lyrics are set up in the Karaoke Editor. 

Here are your options: 

• Drag the horizontal split bar upwards to reveal more or less of the 

Karaoke panels 

• Select the Karaoke set of your choice in the drop-down box. Plus (+) 

and Minus (-) buttons are for increasing or decreasing the size of the 

text. 

• You can also toggle these panels through the View > Show/Hide 

Karaoke View. 

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5.8. Library Panel 

The Library panel is a repository where you can store loops you plan to use 

in your composition. 

It comes with hundreds of loops in MIDI and Audio format that you can 

simply drag and drop into your tracks and customize them there according 

to your exact needs. 

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5.8.1. Manage Folders 

5.8.1.1. Add subfolder 

1. Select the folder where you wish you add subfolder. For 

example, if you want to add subfolder under Cycles folder, 

you need to click Cycles folder. 

2. Click the button. A new subfolder will be added. 

3. Double-click the new subfolder to rename it. 

5.8.1.2. Delete folder or item 

To delete, select the folder or item you wish to delete and press 

the delete key. 

Note that the folder or item will be removed permanently. All 

files under the folder will also be removed permanently. 

5.8.1.3. Move folder or item 

To move an item or folder, drag and drop the folder or item into 

another folder. The folder or item will be moved to the new 

location. 

5.8.2. Add your own loops to Library 

Add your own loops to the Library by simply dragging and dropping them 

into a folder of a specific Loops base. Just note that you can also drag a 

complete folder structure from your hard drive, and Swar Studio will 

replicate it in the Library, while only including the MIDI and/or Audio files. 

5.8.3. Export a base 

You can also export all the files and folders of the selected base to a 

location of your hard drive by pressing the Export button and selecting a 

proper destination folder. 

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5.9. MIDI Loop Editor 

This screen lets you edit a chosen MIDI Loop in a Piano Roll view. Notes 

that are shown as rectangles are added, removed and/or moved across the 

piano layout. 

With the MIDI Loop Editor, you can: 

• Audition your changes by pressing on the Play button (or space bar). 

• Simply resize the canvas by dragging the rightmost border. Just note 

that this will impact the timing of all events in it, so you may need to 

re-quantize. 

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The left pane shows the available strokes name (in case of drum kits) or 

note name (for melodic instruments). 

5.9.1. Modes 

There are two toggle buttons at the top that allow you to switch between 

modes: 

Select mode and Add Notes mode . 

5.9.1.1. Select mode 

Select mode allows you to move events, resize them and set their 

velocity. 

Drag an event. You will see snap lines which appear or disappear when 

you drag an event into the loop editor. 

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Select boundaries on the empty canvas by left-clicking and or rightclicking 

your mouse button. 

Use the Trim and Delete buttons to either remove the unselected area 

or remove the selected area. 

5.9.1.2. Add Notes mode 

Add Notes mode allows you to add new events wherever you click. You 

can also adjust velocity. 

5.9.2. Adjust Velocity 

You can adjust velocity (volume) in both Select mode and Add Notes 

mode. Set velocity on each note by dragging the upper border vertically. 

Velocity is shown in dark red. 

You may use the Zoom in button 

to increase the size of the canvass. 

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5.9.3. Pitch Bend and Volume Subpanel 


Pitch Bend and Volume subpanel allows you to set up pitch and/or volume 

modulations throughout the loop. 

5.9.3.1. Pitch Bend 

To setup Pitch Bend: 

1. Click Add Notes mode. 

2. Go to Pitch Bend and Volume subpanel. Make sure that you 

have selected Pitch Bend. 

3. Click on the graph panel at the required position to draw the 

curve that should be followed. Pitch bends ranges from -8 to 

+8 half notes. 

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4. You can move a point by clicking on it (it becomes red) and by 

dragging it. 

5. You can also select multiple points by dragging a rectangle 

around them. To do this, position your cursor at the point 

where you want to start drawing. 

Hold-press the right button of your mouse, then drag your 

mouse upward or downward, depending on the area you 

want to select. You’ll see red rectangle that is drawn as you 

move your mouse. 

6. When you release your mouse button, multiple points are 

selected (see red tips). 

7. Finally, you can delete one or more points by selecting them 

and pressing the Delete key. 

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5.9.3.1. Volume 

To setup Volume: 

1. Click Add Notes mode. 

2. Go to Pitch Bend and Volume subpanel. 

3. Make sure that you have selected Volume. 

4. Click on the graph panel at the required positions to draw the 

curve that should be followed. Volume ranges from minimum 

to maximum. 

5. You can move a point by clicking on it (it becomes red) and by 

dragging it. 

6. You can also select multiple points by dragging a rectangle 

around them. To do this, position your cursor at the point 

where you want to start drawing. 

Hold-press the right button of your mouse, then drag your 

mouse upward or downward, depending on the area you 

want to select. You’ll see red rectangle that is drawn as you 

move your mouse. 

7. When you release your mouse button, multiple points are 

selected (see red tips). 

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8. Finally, you can delete one or more points by selecting them 

and pressing the Delete key. 

5.10. Audio Loop Editor 

This screen lets you edit a chosen Audio Loop. With the Audio Loop Editor, 

you can: 

• Audition your changes by clicking on the Play button (or space bar). 

• Simply resize the canvas by dragging the rightmost border. 

• Zoom in and zoom out view using the and buttons. 

• Undo or redo actions. 

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5.10.1. View Selection 


You can select an area in the canvas by setting boundaries. Selected 

area can be viewed. 

1. Select boundaries on the canvas by left-clicking and or rightclicking 

your mouse button. 

2. To view selection, click the View Selection button . 

3. To view all, click View All . 

5.10.2. Trim or Delete selected area 

Click Trim 

button to remove anything but the selected area. 

Click Delete button 

to remove the selected area 

5.10.3. Fade in and Fade out option 

You can use fade in and fade out option to create a smooth 

volume change across the selected area. 

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5.10.4. Change Volume 


You can change volume by increasing or decreasing it, in the selected 

area. 

1. Click the Change volume button. 

2. This opens the volume panel. 

3. Make changes by clicking the up and down buttons in percentage 

of volume to apply. You can also type in the exact percentage you 

want. Enter 100% to double the current volume, -50% to reduce 

it to half, etc… 

4. Click OK button to apply your changes. 

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5.11. Tools Options Panel 

5.11.1. Audio Settings Tab 

The Audio Settings tab lets you define the audio and MIDI settings to 

use in Swar Studio. 

• If you have a specific audio card or MIDI keyboard you want to 

use, you can select it here. You can also define the sample rate 

and size of the audio buffer. 

• If you experience small cracks when playing your song, you can 

solve that by specifying an audio buffer that is a little larger. 

• The Force mono is useful when you have a stereo input port and 

plug your (mono) mike on the first port. 

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5.11.2. External Tools Tab 

External Tools tab lets you define the paths to external software that 

can be used to edit Audio loops and MIDI loops, or the MP3 encoder. 

To link external applications: 

• Click the button along MIDI LOOP EDITOR to locate the path of 

an external MIDI editor you want to use. 

• Click the button along AUDIO LOOP EDITOR to locate the path of 

an external audio editor you want to link. 

• Click the button along LAME MP3 ENCODER to locate the path of 

lame.exe (see Exporting as MP3 file section). On Mac OS X, this 

will be pre-filled with the exact path to the LAME binaries. 

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If you specify an external MIDI or Audio editor, that program will be 

called whenever a MIDI loop is edited, instead of the default editor. 

This can be used in case you need more functionality than what is 

provided in Swar Studio. Just pay attention to always close this 

external program when you have done editing the loop, to avoid 

locking it. 

5.11.3. Sound Engines Tab 

Sound Engines tab lets you override the sound engine to be used for 

each built-in instrument, as well as to define your own custom 

instruments. 

For example, you have a better virtual instrument for Guitar than builtin, 

you can: 

• Select the Guitar line-browse for your plug-in and then select it. 

• You may also specify a program nr to be forced when loading the 

plug-in in case it has multiple programs. 

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• The Drum Kit box specifies if the instrument should be handled 

as a drum kit (one sample per key) or not. This is important when 

pitch shifting. 

• You can also change the Photo to be shown for an instrument by 

scrolling them. 

• Save your changes by pressing Apply. 

If you have a different virtual instrument, you can also add it as a 

new sound engine by clicking on Add New, then proceeding as 

shown above. New instruments can be also deleted using the 

Delete button. 

Redefining the default sound engines requires a perfect 

understanding of how virtual instruments work. In case you 

have made changes in this that create problems, you can always 

revert back to the default settings by closing Swar Studio, going 

to your program’s data folder (you can locate that by pressing 

File | Open and noting down the path shown there) and 

deleting the Instruments.dat file, then restarting Swar 

Studio. 

5.12. Effects Browser 

Browse Effects lets you browse your computer for valid effects (VST and 

Audio Units). 

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Click on Options, and then scan for the plug-in type of your choice. This 

will let you specify the paths where you have stored your VST and/or 

Audio Units plugins. Then start the scan. The valid plugins should now 

appear on the list, and also be available for inclusion in the Effects table of 

the Track Properties panel. 

5.13. Karaoke Editor 

Karaoke Editor lets you create karaoke lyrics for your song. You can create 

various sets of lyrics, each in a specific script so that you can for instance 

play them both in Roman and Devanagari (Indian) script. 

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Here is your quick guide in using the Karaoke Editor: 


1. Once you have selected the set on which you will be working, you 

can give it a proper name and select a specific font for it. 

For instance, if you want to have a Hindi script, you can select the 

Sanskrit 99 font. 

Note that you can only select Sanskrit 99 c if the font has been 

installed on your system. 

2. When done, you can start adding your words through the Add Line 

button. Alternatively, you can also prepare a text file with a word or 

syllable per line and use the Import function to import the text. 

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3. Use the track selection to help you place the syllables or words at 

their exact position. 

Track selection in Karaoke Editor shows MIDI notes and or audio 

samples that act as your guide for placing the words. 

4. You can then click on the New Line box where the line should wrap 

in the viewer. And uncheck the Space box where the following word 

should be attached to the current one (this is for syllables being 

sung at different times). 

5. Once your words are all set, you need to map each of them to a 

specific position in the song. For that, you can use the playing ruler 

to the left. 

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6. When you select a line in the words table, a small red arrow will 

appear next to the ruler. You can drag this arrow to the exact place 

where the word must be sung. 

7. You can play the song to find out where the word should go. To 

make it easier, you can zoom in the song using the icon. You can 

also click on the ruler wherever you want to re-start the song. 

8. One very useful option is also the Spread Arrows button 

The best way of using that is to properly set the position of the first 

word and of the last one. 

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9. You then select both lines (click on Shift key of your computer 

keyboard while clicking). Press the Spread Arrows button 

This will arrange the arrows of all lines in between at equal distances 

from each other. This will most certainly not be the exact position 

you want, but it will help get closer. 

10. You can then use the same function on smaller ranges, making the 

distance even smaller. 

11. As a final check, you can play the song and it will highlight the rows 

as they have been set up, when their position is reached. 

12. Once this is all set, press OK and you can then select your lyrics in 

the Karaoke viewer panels. 

13. You can of course also create additional sets, probably the easiest 

5.14. About Box 

being by clicking on Duplicate button, which will make a 

copy of your current set that you can customize afterwards. 

The About box displays the version of Swar Studio you are running. This is 

important in case you need to apply an update. 

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