# MixSurface: guides and docs, full text > MixSurface is a control surface app for REAPER on iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets. It connects to REAPER over the local network or USB through a free REAPER extension (macOS, Windows, Linux beta), with no account and no cloud. The mixer, with custom fader layers, transport and Sends on Fader, is free. A one-time in-app unlock adds the Arrange view, Channel Detail, the multi-touch EQ and Control View. MixSurface is independent and not affiliated with Cockos or REAPER. Short index: https://mixsurface.app/llms.txt ## How to ### Set a track's input from your iPad or Android tablet URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/set-track-input/ Tier: Free You can set a track's record input from the mixer strip or from Track Setup. Both open the same input picker, and both are free. Output routing (hardware outputs, the routing matrix) is not supported yet: set outputs in REAPER. 1. In the Mixer, tap **⋮** (More) in the top bar and choose **Mixer strip layout**. 2. Set **Show Input** to **On**. Every strip now shows its current input. 3. Tap a strip's input to open the **Input** sheet, then pick **Mono**, **Stereo**, **MIDI** or **None** and the input you want. **Stereo** only appears when REAPER sees two or more audio inputs. 4. To set up several tracks at once, long-press a track's name, or tap **⋮** and choose **Track setup**. Each row has an input cell that opens the same sheet. 5. To give tracks consecutive inputs, select them first (slide across their names in the mixer, or link the rows in Track Setup), tap one input cell and choose **Assign inputs sequentially**. The sheet says **Applies to N tracks** at the top when more than one track will change, so you see the reach before you commit. #### If it doesn't work - **No input field on the strips.** Show Input is off by default. Turn it on in Mixer strip layout. - **The list shows your old interface.** The input list is read from REAPER each time you open the picker. Check that REAPER itself sees the new device under its audio settings. - **Assign inputs sequentially is missing.** It only appears when more than one track will be filled. - **The master has no input.** That is expected: master has no record input. ### Give every band member their own monitor mix URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/band-monitor-mixes/ Tier: Free Give each musician a monitor bus in REAPER, then let them run MixSurface on their own phone or tablet in Sends on Fader mode. Their faders control the sends into their bus, not your main mix. All of this is free, so nobody needs the unlock. 1. In REAPER, create one track per monitor mix and route it to that musician's headphone or wedge output. 2. Each musician installs MixSurface and connects to the same REAPER from the list on the connection screen. Every device connects on its own. 3. On their device, they tap **SoF** in the top bar. The **Send to…** picker opens. 4. They tap their own monitor bus. The button now reads **Send to** and the bus name, tinted in the bus colour. 5. Each fader now sets how much of that track goes into their mix. The pan bar sets the send pan, and **M** mutes only the send, so the main mix is untouched. 6. To leave send mode, they tap the button again. In the picker, a long-press on a track pins it to the top under **PINNED**, so a monitor bus is always one tap away. #### If it doesn't work - **A strip looks faded.** That track has no send to the bus yet. The first touch on its fader creates the send. - **Someone moved the main mix.** They were not in send mode. Check that the top-bar button reads Send to and their bus name. - **Two people fight over one fader.** Each musician should send to their own bus. Two devices on the same bus move the same sends. - **A device does not find REAPER.** See the connection guides, or use **Connect by IP** on the connection screen. ### Pin the master or any track to the edge of the mixer URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/pin-a-track/ Tier: Free Open Track Setup and tap the pin next to the track. The track moves into a fixed zone at the edge of the mixer and stays there on every layer and every bank, while the other strips scroll. Pinning is free, and it works for master too. 1. In the Mixer, long-press a track's name. You can also tap **⋮** (More) in the top bar and choose **Track setup**. 2. Find the track you want to keep in view and tap its pin. 3. For master, tap the pin on the slim **Master** row at the top of the list. 4. Go back to the Mixer. The pinned strips sit in their own zone at the edge. 5. To unpin, open Track Setup again and tap the same pin. You can also pin from a layer's setup screen: on the layer rail, long-press to enter edit mode, tap one of your layers, and use the pin on a track's card. #### If it doesn't work - **The zone is on the wrong side.** It sits where REAPER's mixer shows master. Change the REAPER mixer option that shows master on the right side, and the zone follows. - **Another tablet shows different pins.** Pins are saved with the REAPER project, so every device on that project sees the same pins. Check that both are connected to the same project. - **Many pins on a small screen.** The pinned zone scrolls on its own instead of squeezing the other strips. ### Use your phone or tablet as a REAPER remote control URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/control-reaper-from-phone-or-tablet/ Tier: Free Any phone or tablet on the same network as REAPER can be a remote control. There are three ways to do it, and they differ in how much setup they take and how much of REAPER they reach. I make MixSurface, so weigh that part. #### The Web Remote, built into REAPER Nothing to install on the phone. It covers transport, track faders, sends and headphone mixes, not plugin editing. 1. In REAPER, open **Options > Preferences > Control/OSC/web**. 2. Click **Add**, pick **Web browser interface**, choose a default page and press **Apply**. 3. Open the **Access URL** that REAPER shows in a browser on the phone or tablet. 4. On Windows, if the page does not load, let the port (8080 by default) through the firewall. I use it for musicians' in-ear mixes, with the more_me.html page: start the server, send them the link. It works surprisingly well, the UI is a bit clunky. #### An OSC app, like TouchOSC This is the way when you want your own layout, pads or MIDI, or to control other software too. In REAPER you add an OSC control surface on the same preferences page, match the IP addresses and ports with the app, then load or build a layout. It reaches as far as the layout you build, and you rebuild the connection when your network changes. #### MixSurface A REAPER app for iPhone, iPad and Android. No OSC addresses, no IPs to type. 1. Install the free extension from the [setup page](/setup/) and add it in REAPER under **Control/OSC/web**. 2. Open MixSurface on the same Wi-Fi, or connect over a USB cable. 3. Tap your computer in the list. The mixer is free: faders, pan, mute, solo, meters, track layers and Sends on Fader. A one-time unlock adds the whole FX chain with plugin control, the multi-touch EQ and Control View. #### Which one - Free headphone mixes for musicians: the Web Remote. - Pads, MIDI or your own layouts: TouchOSC. - Faders, sends, plugins and EQ that feel right, with no setup: MixSurface. Every app I have tried, with prices and platforms, is in [REAPER remote apps in 2026](/blog/best-reaper-remote-apps/). ### Show only the tracks that are visible in REAPER's mixer URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/show-only-reaper-visible-tracks/ Tier: Free Tap **Visible** in the Mixer's top bar and choose **Follow REAPER's mixer**. The ALL layer now shows only the tracks REAPER's mixer shows, so hiding tracks in REAPER (by hand or with a script) hides them on the tablet too. It is free. 1. Open the Mixer and tap **Visible** in the top bar. On a narrow screen it may be in the **⋮** (More) menu, with the same label. 2. Choose **Follow REAPER's mixer**. The button now reads **Visible: REAPER**. 3. Hide or show a track in REAPER's mixer. The tablet follows within about half a second. 4. To go the other way, choose **Drive REAPER's mixer** (the button reads **Visible: Surface**). Tapping one of your layers then sets REAPER's mixer to show only that layer's tracks. 5. To turn it off, choose **Show every track**. While tracks are held back, the ALL chip in the layer rail shows a count such as **13/150 tracks**. #### If it doesn't work - **My own layer still shows hidden tracks.** Only the ALL layer is filtered. Your own layers always show exactly the tracks you put in them. - **Master is still there.** Master always stays on the tablet. - **The mixer is empty.** Every track is hidden in REAPER. The app says so; set Visible back to Show every track or pick one of your layers. - **Two tablets keep changing REAPER's mixer.** In Drive REAPER's mixer, another device in the same mode will fight yours and the last tap wins. Use it on one device only. ### Make a button for any REAPER action, custom action or script URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/custom-action-button/ Tier: Free, some steps need the unlock You never type an action ID. Start listening in MixSurface, then run the action in REAPER, and it becomes a button. This works for native actions, SWS actions, custom actions and ReaScripts. A toolbar button is free; a button on a Control View page needs the unlock. #### On a toolbar (free) 1. Tap **⋮** (More) in the top bar and choose **Customize toolbar…**. 2. Under **Add**, tap **REAPER action…**. The sheet says **Run the action in REAPER now**. 3. Run the action in REAPER: from the Actions list, a shortcut or a toolbar. It is added to the bar. 4. Tap the new item to give it a **Short label**, or turn on **Keep in bar** so it is the last thing to fold into More. #### On a Control View page (unlock) 1. In Control View, tap **Edit** in the top bar. 2. Tap an empty spot on the page and choose **From listen**. 3. Run one or more actions in REAPER. Each one lands as a button. 4. Tap **Done**. To make a button latch on and off, open its settings and set **Button mode** to **Toggle**. #### If it doesn't work - **Nothing is added.** Main and MIDI Editor actions can be bound. For an action from another section, wrap it in a ReaScript in the Main section and run that. - **A MIDI action does nothing.** Open a MIDI editor in REAPER first; MIDI Editor actions need one. - **"That action isn't set up on this computer".** Custom actions and scripts have IDs that belong to one REAPER install. The app offers to re-bind, but action buttons can't be re-bound: delete the button and learn the action again on this computer. - **The action is already there.** MixSurface tells you which button already holds it instead of adding a second one. ### Clean up a plugin's auto-generated layout URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/clean-up-generic-plugin-layout/ Tier: Needs the unlock Some plugins expose hundreds of parameters, and the Generic view shows them all. Tap **Edit** on that view and choose how to begin: **Edit detected layout** keeps everything so you can trim it, **Start fresh** gives you an empty page that you fill by touching controls in REAPER. Plugin layouts are part of the one-time unlock. 1. Open the plugin in Channel Detail and switch the view to **Generic**. 2. Tap **Edit** in the plugin header. The **Edit this plugin** sheet opens. 3. Choose **Edit detected layout** to keep every detected control, or **Start fresh** to build from nothing. 4. To clear a whole page, tap the **✕** on its page tab and confirm **Delete**. Every control on that page goes. 5. To remove one control, tap the **×** on it and confirm **Delete**. 6. To move a control to another page, drag it against the left or right edge of the screen and hold. The page flips; drop it where you want it. 7. With Start fresh, tap an empty spot, choose **From listen**, and touch each control you want in the plugin's window in REAPER. 8. Tap **Done** to save the layout for this plugin. The saved layout is used for every instance of that plugin, in every project. #### If it doesn't work - **No Edit this plugin sheet.** It only appears while the plugin has no saved layout. With a saved one, **Edit** opens it directly. - **Controls shove each other around when you drop them.** In Settings, under **Control View**, set **Reorder on collision** to **Off**. - **An AUTO-FIT tag shows.** The layout was made on a different screen size and some controls were moved to fit. Edit and save on this device to keep a version for it. - **A touch in REAPER is not picked up.** See [When listen mode does not pick up a parameter](/guides/learn-mode-does-not-pick-up/). ### Jump between markers and regions, and queue the next song URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/navigate-with-markers-and-regions/ Tier: Free, some steps need the unlock The timeline ruler shows REAPER's markers and regions. Tap one to jump there. The region drawer lists them all, and a long-press on a region queues it to play after the current one, which is how you run a live set. Navigating is free; adding and editing markers needs the unlock. 1. If the ruler is hidden, tap **⋮** (More) in the top bar and choose **Show timeline ruler**. 2. Tap a marker tick or a coloured region band on the ruler to jump there. Tap an empty part of the ruler to move the play cursor. 3. Tap with two fingers on the ruler to fit the whole song. Tap with two fingers again to go back to your zoom. 4. Tap the list button on the ruler to open the **Markers & regions** drawer. Use **All**, **Regions** or **Markers** to filter it. 5. Tap a row to jump there. 6. While REAPER plays, long-press a region row. It is marked **NEXT**, and REAPER plays to the end of the current region, then carries on from the one you picked. 7. On a wide screen in landscape, tap the pin in the drawer header to keep it open beside the view. The **Rewind** and **Forward** buttons in the transport also jump to the previous or next marker. Hold one to scrub. #### If it doesn't work - **A jump waits before it happens.** REAPER's smooth seek is on, so a jump while playing waits for the end of the bar. It is REAPER's own setting; the marker editor has a **Smooth seek** switch for it. - **There is no pin.** The drawer can only be pinned in landscape on a screen wide enough to keep the view usable beside it. - **A marker is missing.** Markers and regions hidden in REAPER's Region/Marker Manager are hidden on the tablet too. - **Edit asks to unlock.** Adding, renaming and moving markers is part of the unlock. With it, tap **Edit** in the drawer, then **+ Marker** or **+ Region**. ### Control item FX (take FX) from your iPad or Android tablet URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/control-item-fx/ Tier: Needs the unlock Open the Arrange view and tap the **FX** badge on an item. Channel Detail opens on that item's FX chain instead of the track's. From there you work exactly as on a track: add, reorder and bypass plugins, open templates and the EQ surface. Arrange and Channel Detail are part of the one-time unlock. 1. Tap the **Arr** tab to open the Arrange view. 2. Find the item. A green **FX** badge in its label means its active take already has FX. A dim badge means it has none yet. 3. Tap the badge. Channel Detail opens with a banner that reads **ITEM** and the item's name. 4. Add a plugin, tweak one, or open its template or EQ view, the same way as on a track. 5. Use the arrows in the banner to step to the previous or next item on the same track. REAPER selects that item too. 6. Tap **Track FX** in the banner to go back to the track's own chain. In item mode the fader is the item's volume, the pan is the take's pan and **M** mutes the item. Templates you made for a plugin on a track work on an item with the same plugin. #### If it doesn't work - **No badge on the item.** The item is too narrow to hold it. Zoom in, or add the **Item FX** button to the edit bar: in Edit Mode, tap the edit bar's **⋮** and choose **Customize toolbar…**. Then select one item and tap **Item FX**. - **No badges anywhere.** Item FX needs a current REAPER extension. Update it from the setup page and restart REAPER. - **No sends or automation.** Items have no sends, solo or automation in Channel Detail. Those stay on the track. ### Add a loudness and metering page to Control View URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/add-metering-page/ Tier: Needs the unlock Control View has two ready-made metering pages. Add a page, choose **From template**, and pick **Mastering metering** or **Mixing metering**. Control View is part of the one-time unlock. 1. Open Control View (the **Ctrl** tab). 2. Tap **+** on the page rail. On an empty Control View, tap **From template** in the middle of the screen instead. 3. In the **New page** sheet, choose **From template**. 4. Pick **Mastering metering** (super meter, loudness history with a true-peak band, spectrum, loudness columns, spectrogram, stereo cloud, phase and VU) or **Mixing metering** (spectrum, stereo cloud, phase, VU, super meter, spectrogram and loudness history). 5. Press play in REAPER. The meters move with what you hear. The meters are fed by the MixSurface Analyzer. If it is not in REAPER's monitoring FX chain yet, MixSurface puts it at the top of that chain when you add the page. The new page is a global page, so it is there in every project. #### Use the meters - Pinch or spread on the spectrum, the spectrogram or the loudness history to zoom. Double-tap to reset the view. - On the loudness history, tap **Live** to jump back to now. - Long-press the loudness meter, the super meter or the loudness history to reset its reading. - On a smaller screen the same meters spread over more pages. #### If it doesn't work - **The meters don't move.** Open REAPER's monitoring FX chain and check that MixSurface Analyzer is there and not bypassed. ### Use several phones and tablets with one REAPER URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/use-several-devices/ Tier: Free Connect each phone or tablet to the same REAPER, the same way as the first one. There is no main device: each one connects on its own, and what you change in REAPER from one shows up on the others. Connecting several devices is free. 1. Install the app on each device and open it on the same network as the computer (or on a USB cable). 2. On each device, tap your REAPER in the list on the connection screen. 3. Give each device its own job: the mixer on one, a Control View page on another, a monitor mix in Sends on Fader on a third. 4. Move a fader, mute a track or change a plugin on one device. The others follow. #### What is shared and what is not - **Shared through REAPER:** everything REAPER holds (levels, mutes, plugins, automation), plus what you build in MixSurface: layers and pinned tracks (saved with the project), plugin templates and Control View pages. - **Per device:** settings such as **Follow**, **Visible**, the ruler and Fine mode, the toolbar layout each device picked, and which layer, bank or page each device is looking at. With **Follow** on in the top bar (**Follow REAPER selection** in **⋮** More), Channel Detail on that device jumps to whichever track REAPER selects. It is set per device, so a tablet parked on an EQ is not dragged around by someone else's selection. #### If it doesn't work - **Two devices fight over REAPER's mixer view.** Only one device should use **Drive REAPER's mixer** under **Visible**; the last tap wins. - **Two people ride the same fader.** Both moves reach REAPER and the last one wins. Split the work by layer or by bus. - **A second device does not find REAPER.** Use **Connect by IP** on the connection screen. ### Ride faders smoothly on a phone or tablet URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/ride-faders/ Tier: Free Put your finger anywhere on the fader and drag. The fader moves from where it is, so it never jumps to your finger. Slow moves give finer steps, fast moves follow your finger, and **Fine** halves the travel when you need more precision. All of this is free. 1. Touch the fader anywhere along its lane and drag up or down. The level starts changing on the first bit of movement, and a dB readout shows while you drag. 2. For small moves, push slowly. A slow push moves the level less than your finger travels. A fast throw follows your finger one to one. 3. For a delicate ride, tap **Fine** in the top bar. Every drag now moves half as far. Tap **Fine** again to turn it off. On a narrow screen it is under **⋮** (More) as **Fine control**. 4. To get back to unity, double-tap the fader. It glides to 0 dB. 5. To record the ride as automation, tap the track's automation badge (it reads **TRM** in Trim) and choose **TCH** (Touch) or **LAT** (Latch). Press play and ride. REAPER writes the move. 6. In Touch, lift your finger and REAPER hands the fader back to the existing automation. Fine works on every draggable control in the app, not only faders, and it turns itself off when you relaunch the app. #### If it doesn't work - **No automation badge on the strips.** Tap **⋮** (More), choose **Mixer strip layout** and set **Show Automation** to **On**. - **The automation mode can't be changed.** A global automation override is on. Tap **Auto** in the top bar and choose **No override**. - **The fader stops at +12 dB.** That is the top of its travel. MixSurface warns you when a track is already louder than that. - **A slow drag on an Android tablet starts late.** Some budget tablets ignore very small finger movements. See [Choose a tablet for MixSurface](/guides/choose-a-tablet/). ### Use MixSurface as a layer switcher for a hardware controller URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/layer-switcher-for-a-hardware-controller/ Tier: Free A hardware controller with a few faders is fast to touch but slow to navigate. Keep a phone or tablet next to it with the free MixSurface mixer: build a layer for each group of tracks, and set the visibility link to **Drive REAPER's mixer**. Each layer tap then sets REAPER's mixer to show only that layer's tracks. A controller that follows REAPER's visible mixer tracks then banks over that layer only. 1. In the Mixer, tap **+** on the layer rail and choose **New layer**. 2. Name the layer, tap the tracks you want in it, and tap **Save**. Repeat for each group: drums, vocals, FX returns. 3. Tap **Visible** in the top bar and choose **Drive REAPER's mixer**. The button reads **Visible: Surface**. 4. Tap a layer on the rail. REAPER's mixer now shows only that layer's tracks. 5. Bank and ride on the controller. Tap another layer when you need other tracks. 6. Tap **ALL** to show every track in REAPER's mixer again. Each layer tap lands as one undo step in REAPER, so one undo at the computer puts the old view back. Only REAPER's mixer changes; the arrange window is left alone. #### If it doesn't work - **The controller still shows every track.** Not every controller follows REAPER's mixer visibility. Check your controller's REAPER integration for an option to skip hidden mixer tracks. - **REAPER's mixer did not change.** Nothing is written until you tap a layer. Tap the layer again to push it. - **The tap was refused.** Tracks were added or deleted at the computer. The app refreshes; tap the layer again. - **Two tablets keep changing the view.** Two devices in this mode fight, and the last tap wins. Let one device drive. ### Move, line up and resize controls on a page URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/arrange-controls-on-a-page/ Tier: Needs the unlock Plugin templates and Control View pages share one editor. In edit mode, press and hold a control, then drag it where you want it. To change its size, tap it and pick a **Slot size**. Templates and Control View are part of the one-time unlock. 1. Open the page in edit mode: tap **Edit** in the plugin header for a plugin template, or **Edit** in the top bar in Control View. 2. Press and hold a control until it lifts, then drag it. 3. Watch for the guide lines. When an edge or the centre lines up with a neighbour, a line appears and the control snaps to it. Everything also snaps to an 8-pixel grid. 4. To carry a control to another page, hold it against the left or right edge of the screen until the page flips, then drop it. 5. To resize, tap the control. Its settings sheet opens. Under **Slot size**, pick a size and tap **Save**. 6. To remove a control, tap the **×** on it, or tap **Delete control** in its settings, and confirm. 7. Tap **Done** to keep your changes, or **Cancel** to throw them all away. A bigger control stays on its page while there is room. It moves to the next page only when the current one is full. #### If it doesn't work - **The drop turns red and the control jumps back.** The spot is taken. Move the other control first, or open Settings, then **Control View**, and set **Reorder on collision** to **On** so the control underneath moves aside. - **Tapping a control shows "Finish or cancel listen mode to configure a control".** A listen session is still running. Tap **Done** or **Cancel** on the listen sheet first. - **Nothing moves when you drag.** You are not in edit mode, so the drag moves the value instead. ### Change a control's type, label, colour and value readout URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/change-a-controls-type-and-look/ Tier: Needs the unlock Every control you add by listen arrives as a knob. Tap it in edit mode to open its settings, then change its **Type**, **Label**, **Color** and **Value readout**. It keeps its binding when you change the type. This works the same in plugin templates and on Control View pages, both part of the one-time unlock. 1. Open the page in edit mode and tap the control. Its settings sheet opens, with what it is bound to under **BOUND TO**. 2. Type a name in **Label**. 3. Under **Type**, pick **Knob**, **Fader**, **Button**, **Segmented** or **Dropdown**. Use a button for an on/off parameter and Segmented or Dropdown for a parameter with a few fixed modes. 4. Pick a swatch under **Color**. A button has **Active color** and **Inactive color** instead. 5. Set **Value readout** to **Auto**, **Show** or **Hide**. Auto shows the value on larger controls and hides it on the smallest. 6. For a button, choose **Button mode** (**Momentary** or **Toggle**) and **Label position** (**Beneath** or **Inside**). 7. Tap **Save**. For Segmented and Dropdown, the sheet lists the segments. Tap **Scan values from FX** to read them from the plugin, or add them by hand with **+ Add segment**. #### If it doesn't work - **There is no Type row.** Meters, gain-reduction meters and labels keep their type. Delete the control and add the one you want. - **The sheet does not open.** A listen session is running. Finish it with **Done** or **Cancel** first. - **The control is dim with a broken-link mark.** Its parameter was not found on this plugin. See [Re-bind a control to a different parameter or track](/guides/rebind-a-control/). ### Group controls into a labelled section URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/group-controls-into-a-section/ Tier: Needs the unlock A section is a labelled, coloured box that holds a group of controls, such as Input and Compressor on a channel strip plugin. Controls in a section move together and stay on the same page. Sections work in plugin templates and on Control View pages, both part of the one-time unlock. 1. Open the page in edit mode and tap an empty spot. The **Add** sheet opens. 2. Choose **New Section**. The section's settings open. 3. Type a **Label**, pick a **Render style** (**Container** or **Underlay**) and a **Color**, then tap **Save**. 4. Add controls into the section with its own **+** button, for example **From listen** to touch parameters in REAPER. 5. To put an existing control into a section, tap the control, pick the section under **Group**, and tap **Save**. Pick **None** to take it out again. 6. To move the whole section, press and hold the header strip on its left edge, then drag. Hold it against the screen edge to carry it to another page. 7. Tap **Done** to keep your changes. Tap the header strip to change the section's label, style or colour later, or to delete it with **Delete section**. #### If it doesn't work - **The section turns red and jumps back.** A section only drops into free space. It never pushes other controls aside, whatever your collision setting. - **A control lands outside the section.** Controls added from the page's **Add** sheet go on the page, not into a section. Use the section's own **+**, or set **Group** in the control's settings. ### Add a track level meter or a gain-reduction meter URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/add-level-and-gr-meters/ Tier: Needs the unlock Open the page in edit mode, tap an empty spot, and pick a meter from the **Add** sheet. **Meter from track…** shows a track's level. **GR Meter** shows how hard a compressor is working. Meters on Control View pages and in plugin templates are part of the one-time unlock. #### A level meter 1. Open the page in edit mode and tap an empty spot. 2. Choose **Meter from track…**. The **Pick tracks** sheet opens. 3. Tap one or more tracks, then tap **Add meter** (it counts the meters you picked). 4. Tap **Done**. #### A gain-reduction meter 1. Open the page in edit mode and tap an empty spot. 2. Choose **GR Meter**. 3. In a plugin template, the meter is placed and bound to that plugin straight away. On a Control View page, touch any control on the compressor in REAPER to bind it. 4. Tap the meter to set its **Style** (**Line**, **Bar** or **Arc**), its **Range** in dB and **Show ticks**. Line and Bar also have an **Orientation**. Tap **Save**. 5. Tap **Done**. For loudness, spectrum, phase and VU meters, choose **Meter (analyzer)…** instead, or add a whole ready-made page: see [Add a loudness and metering page to Control View](/guides/add-metering-page/). #### If it doesn't work - **The GR meter stays flat.** It reads the gain reduction a plugin reports to REAPER. Most VST, VST3 and AU compressors do; JSFX compressors do not. - **The meter watches the wrong track.** Tap it in edit mode and tap **Re-bind…**. The same track picker opens. ### Make a layout fit a phone, a tablet and both orientations URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/fit-a-layout-to-each-screen/ Tier: Needs the unlock A plugin template or Control View page is one long layout. MixSurface splits it into pages that fit the screen you are on, and repacks it when you rotate. Usually that is all you need. To arrange a screen size by hand, edit on that device and orientation, and MixSurface keeps a layout for that width. Templates and Control View are part of the one-time unlock. 1. Hold the device the way you will use it, portrait or landscape. 2. Tap **Edit**. The pill in the corner shows the orientation and the screen width, for example **PORTRAIT · 744**. It is a readout, not a switch. 3. Arrange the controls for this screen and tap **Done**. The layout is saved for this orientation and width. A larger screen with no layout of its own uses the closest one saved at or below its width. 4. To see every size you saved, tap the gear next to the pill (**Manage saved sizes**). The **Saved sizes** sheet lists them; delete one you no longer need. 5. To hand the current size back to the automatic layout, tap the refresh icon next to the pill and confirm **Reset**. 6. To change how you move between pages, open Settings, then **Control View**, and set **Page navigation** to **Dots** (swipe) or **Tabs** (tap). Every saved size shares the same controls and bindings. Only positions and sizes differ. A control added on one size is placed automatically on the others until you arrange it there. #### If it doesn't work - **An AUTO-FIT tag shows on the page.** Some controls were moved to fit this screen. Tap it to see the size it was made at, then arrange and save on this device to keep your own layout. - **There is no gear or refresh icon.** They only appear once a size has a saved layout of its own. - **The page has more pages than on your tablet.** A smaller screen splits the same layout into more pages. Nothing is hidden. ### Make fine adjustments with Fine mode and focus zoom URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/make-fine-adjustments/ Tier: Free, some steps need the unlock Two tools make small moves easier. **Fine** halves how far every drag moves a value, everywhere in the app, and it is free. Focus zoom works on a knob or fader in a plugin template or on a Control View page, which are part of the one-time unlock: double-tap it and its full travel covers a narrow window around the current value. #### Fine mode 1. Tap **Fine** in the top bar. If the bar is narrow, it is under **⋮** (More) as **Fine control**. 2. Drag any fader, knob or send. The value moves half as far for the same finger travel. 3. Tap **Fine** again to turn it off. #### Focus zoom 1. Double-tap a knob or fader in a plugin template or on a Control View page. It zooms in around its current value. 2. Drag to set the value. A full drag now makes a small, precise change. 3. Double-tap again to leave the zoom. 4. Triple-tap to jump back to the control's default value and leave the zoom in one go. Fine and focus zoom work together, so with both on a drag is finer still. #### If it doesn't work - **There is no Fine button.** The top bar may have been customized. Tap **⋮** (More), choose **Customize toolbar…**, and add it back. - **Double-tap does nothing.** Focus zoom is for knobs and faders in templates and on Control View pages, not mixer faders or buttons. ### Re-bind a control to a different parameter or track URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/rebind-a-control/ Tier: Needs the unlock Point a control at a different parameter without deleting it: tap it in edit mode, tap **Re-bind…**, and touch the parameter you want in REAPER. Its position, size, type and colour stay as they are. Templates and Control View are part of the one-time unlock. You need this when: - A plugin update renamed or reordered its parameters, and a control is dim with a broken-link mark (**Needs relearn**). - A plugin control sits on a global Control View page and you open a project where it is not bound yet. Each project keeps its own binding for it. - You want to reuse a control for something else. 1. Open the page in edit mode: **Edit** in the plugin header, or **Edit** in the top bar in Control View. 2. Tap the control. Its settings sheet shows the current parameter under **BOUND TO**. 3. Tap **Re-bind…**. The listen sheet opens. 4. In REAPER, touch or move the parameter you want. In a plugin template, only that plugin is accepted. 5. The sheet shows the plugin and parameter it caught. Tap **Add** to use it. 6. Tap **Done** in the top bar or plugin header to save. For a level meter, **Re-bind…** opens the **Pick tracks** sheet instead: pick the track and add it. For a gain-reduction meter, touch any control on the compressor in REAPER. #### If it doesn't work - **The touch is not picked up.** See [Listen mode doesn't pick up a parameter or action](/guides/learn-mode-does-not-pick-up/). - **The settings sheet does not open.** A listen session is running. Finish it first. ### Add, rename, reorder and share Control View pages across projects URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/add-and-organise-control-view-pages/ Tier: Needs the unlock Control View is a set of pages you build yourself. Add one with **+** on the page rail. Long-press the rail to manage pages: tap a page to rename it, colour it, or set its **Scope** to **Project** or **Global**. Control View is part of the one-time unlock. A **Project** page is saved with the REAPER project and only shows in that project. Use it for controls tied to one song. A **Global** page follows this device into every project. Use it for a transport panel or action buttons you want everywhere. 1. Open Control View (the **Ctrl** tab). 2. Tap **+** at the end of the page rail and choose **Blank page**. New pages are project pages. (**From template** adds a ready-made page instead.) 3. To manage pages, long-press the page rail. It switches to edit mode. 4. Tap a page. The **Edit page** sheet opens. Change its **Name** and **Color**, set **Scope** to **Project** or **Global**, and tap **Save**. 5. To reorder, long-press a page in the rail and drag it. 6. To delete a page, tap the **×** on it and confirm. Every control on it goes too. A global page shows a globe badge in the rail, and global pages sort ahead of project pages. #### If it doesn't work - **The + button and page tabs do nothing.** A page is open in edit mode. Tap **Done** or **Cancel** in the top bar first. - **A plugin control on a global page does nothing in another project.** Each project keeps its own plugin binding for a global page. Bind it once in this project: see [Re-bind a control to a different parameter or track](/guides/rebind-a-control/). Action buttons work in every project as they are. ### Put plugin parameters from several tracks on one Control View page URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/put-plugin-parameters-on-a-control-view-page/ Tier: Needs the unlock A Control View page can hold parameters from any plugin on any track. Start listening, then touch each parameter in REAPER, and a bound knob appears for each one. Control View is part of the one-time unlock. 1. Open Control View (the **Ctrl** tab) and pick a page in the rail. 2. Tap **Edit** in the top bar. 3. Tap an empty spot on the page. The **Add** sheet opens. 4. Choose **From listen**. The listen sheet asks you to touch parameters in REAPER. 5. In REAPER, touch or move a parameter in any plugin window. A knob for it appears on the page. Repeat for every parameter you want, across as many tracks and plugins as you like. 6. Tap **Done** on the listen sheet to keep them, or **Cancel** to throw the whole batch away. 7. Tap **Done** in the top bar to save the page. The same listen session also catches REAPER actions: run one and it becomes a button. See [Make a button for any REAPER action, custom action or script](/guides/custom-action-button/). Every control arrives as a knob. To turn it into a fader, button or dropdown, see [Change a control's type, label, colour and value readout](/guides/change-a-controls-type-and-look/). #### If it doesn't work - **A parameter is skipped.** It is already bound in the same section, and MixSurface names the control that has it. - **Nothing arrives.** See [Listen mode doesn't pick up a parameter or action](/guides/learn-mode-does-not-pick-up/). - **You want a track's volume or pan.** Those live in the Mixer. A track appears on a Control View page as a meter: see [Add a track level meter or a gain-reduction meter](/guides/add-level-and-gr-meters/). ### Ride a reverb or bus send from every fader with Sends on Fader URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/ride-sends-with-sends-on-fader/ Tier: Free Sends on Fader turns the mixer into a send mixer for one destination. Tap **SoF**, pick the bus, and each strip's fader, pan and mute now control that track's send to it. This is free. 1. In the Mixer, tap **SoF** in the top bar. The **Send to…** picker opens. 2. Tap the bus you want, for example your reverb. The button now reads **Send to** and the bus name, tinted in its colour, and the mixer border takes the same tint. 3. Drag a fader to set that track's send level. The pan bar sets the send pan, and **M** mutes the send only. 4. Tap the routing button, where solo usually sits, to cycle **POST**, **PREFX** and **PRE**. Post follows the channel fader, which suits a reverb. Pre ignores it, which suits a headphone mix. Prefx taps the signal before the track's plugins. 5. A faded strip has no send to this bus yet. Touch any of its controls and the send is created on the spot. 6. Trim the whole send mix on the master slot, which now shows the bus's own fader tagged **AUX**. 7. Tap the button again to leave send mode. To send to another bus, tap **SoF** and pick it. In the picker, long-press a track to pin it under **PINNED**, so the buses you use every session are one tap away. **RECENT** fills in as you go. Automation still works in send mode. In Touch, Latch or Write, your fader rides are recorded as send automation. #### If it doesn't work - **The bus is not on any strip.** While you send to a bus, it is hidden from the strips so you cannot send it to itself. Its fader is the **AUX** master slot. - **There is no SoF button.** The bar may be folded or customized. Look under **⋮** (More). ### Add, ride and remove one track's sends in Channel Detail URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/set-up-a-tracks-sends/ Tier: Needs the unlock Every send a track feeds can be set up on one screen. Open the track in Channel Detail and switch the rail from **FX** to **SENDS**. Each send becomes a strip with its own fader, pan, mute and routing, next to the track's own fader. Channel Detail is part of the one-time unlock. 1. Open the track in Channel Detail. 2. At the top of the plugin rail, tap **SENDS** on the **FX** / **SENDS** switch. One strip appears per send, footed in the destination's colour. 3. To add a send, tap the **＋** card at the end of the row and pick the destination in **Send to…**. The new send starts at −inf. Raise its fader. 4. Ride each send with its fader and pan, mute it with **M**, and tap its routing button to cycle **POST**, **PREFX** and **PRE**. 5. To remove a send, long-press the coloured footer under its strip and confirm **Remove**. 6. Tap any plugin in the rail to go back to the FX chain. The picker leaves out the master, the track itself and buses it already sends to, so you cannot add a duplicate. To silence a send without removing it, pull its fader down or mute it. These are the same sends that Sends on Fader moves, so a change in one shows in the other. #### If it doesn't work - **There is no FX / SENDS switch.** The master track and take FX have no sends. - **You want to balance everything going into one bus.** Open the bus instead and switch to its receives: see [Mix a reverb or monitor bus from its receives](/guides/mix-a-bus-from-its-receives/). ### Mix a reverb or monitor bus from its receives URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/mix-a-bus-from-its-receives/ Tier: Needs the unlock To balance everything feeding a reverb or headphone bus, open the bus itself and switch to its receives. Each track that sends to it shows as a strip, with the same fader, pan, mute and routing as that track's own send. Channel Detail is part of the one-time unlock. 1. Open the bus in Channel Detail. 2. At the top of the plugin rail, tap **SENDS** on the **FX** / **SENDS** switch. 3. In the header, tap **RECEIVES** on the **SENDS** / **RECEIVES** switch. On a narrow screen the switch is under **⋮** in the header. The header now reads RECEIVES. 4. Balance the sources: each strip, footed in the source track's colour, sets that track's send into this bus. 5. To add a source, tap the **＋** card and pick the track in **Receive from…**. It starts at −inf. Raise its fader. 6. To remove a source, long-press its footer and confirm **Remove**. A receive is the source track's send seen from the other end. Adding one here also shows it on that track's own SENDS view. #### If it doesn't work - **The master has no receives view.** Tracks reach the master through their main output, not a send. - **You want each musician to set their own mix.** Use Sends on Fader on their own device instead: see [Give every band member their own monitor mix](/guides/band-monitor-mixes/). ## Fix a problem ### The Unlock button does nothing or says Check again URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/unlock-button-does-nothing/ Tier: Free If the unlock button reads **Check again** instead of a price, your device is not allowed to make purchases. On iPad and iPhone this is almost always a Screen Time restriction. Allow in-app purchases, come back to MixSurface and tap **Check again**. 1. On the iPad or iPhone, open **Settings** → **Screen Time** → **Content & Privacy Restrictions**. 2. Open **iTunes & App Store Purchases** and set **In-app Purchases** to **Allow**. 3. Back in MixSurface, open the unlock screen: tap a locked tab, or tap **⋮** (More) → **Settings** → **Purchase** → **Unlock MixSurface**. 4. Tap **Check again**. When purchases are allowed, the button shows the price. Tap it and complete the store's purchase sheet. 5. Bought it before, on another device or before a reinstall? Tap **Restore Purchases** instead. The unlock is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. The mixer, layers and Sends on Fader stay free without it. #### Why this happens - **Screen Time blocks purchases.** It is easy to forget a restriction set for a child or for a shared device. MixSurface shows the notice "Purchases are turned off on this device" when this is the cause. - **The device is managed.** An iPad from an employer or a school often has purchases blocked by its management profile. Ask whoever manages it. - **Restore finds nothing.** The purchase belongs to the store account it was bought with. Sign in with that account and tap **Restore Purchases** again. - **Anything you already own stays unlocked**, whatever the store says at the moment. ### Faders ignore automation or won't snap back in Touch URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/faders-snap-back-or-ignore-automation/ Tier: Free The fader shows what REAPER is using for that track. In Trim it shows the trim level and ignores the envelope. In Read, Touch, Latch, Latch Preview and Write it shows the automation. A global override in REAPER beats every track's own mode, so check that first. 1. Look at **Auto** in the top bar. If a global override is on, tap **Auto** and choose **No override**, or the mode you want for every track, such as **All tracks: Touch**. 2. Tap the automation badge on a strip (**TRM**, **READ**, **TCH**, **WRT**, **LAT** or **LATP**) and pick the track's mode from the list. 3. For a Touch ride, press play, grab the fader, move it and let go. REAPER writes while you hold, and hands the fader back to the existing automation when you release. 4. Make sure the REAPER extension is current. Install the latest from the setup page and restart REAPER. #### Why this happens - **A global override is on.** REAPER's global automation override replaces every track's mode. While it is on, tapping a strip's badge shows a message telling you to turn the override off in the top bar first. - **The track is in Trim.** Trim never follows the envelope, so the fader stays where you left it and does not snap back. Pick **TCH** or **READ** instead. - **Bypass all automation is on.** With the global override set to bypass, faders show the trim level, the same as Trim. - **An older extension.** Early extensions ignored the global override and read the trim value under automation. Current versions follow the effective mode, and also follow envelopes inside automation items. ### Listen mode doesn't pick up a parameter or action URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/learn-mode-does-not-pick-up/ Tier: Needs the unlock MixSurface's learn mode is called listen. It only takes a touch on the plugin instance the page belongs to, and only while the listen sheet is open. If nothing arrives, check that you touched the right plugin, that the project is saved when you add to a project page, and that the app and extension are current. 1. Start listening: in edit mode, tap an empty spot on the page and choose **From listen**. The sheet asks you to touch a parameter in REAPER. 2. In REAPER, move the control in that plugin's own window with the mouse. 3. Watch the sheet. It shows **Listening** while it waits and **Got it** when a touch lands. 4. If you are adding to a page that belongs to this project, save the REAPER project first. A project page is stored in the project's folder, and an unsaved project has none yet. 5. Still nothing? Close the sheet with **Cancel**, reconnect, and start listening again. #### Why this happens - **You touched a different plugin.** A plugin template only accepts touches on its own plugin. The app says "Touched" and the plugin's name, followed by a note that the template is bound to a different plugin. - **The parameter is already on the page.** The app tells you which control already holds it instead of adding a second one. - **You ran an action on a plugin page.** Actions can only be added to a Control View page. - **An older build.** Before app build 13, listen mode could stop working after the app had been in the background or the connection had dropped, while the sheet still looked live. Update the app and the extension. ### Install the extension into a portable REAPER URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/portable-reaper-install/ Tier: Free The macOS installer puts the extension in the standard REAPER location, so a portable REAPER never sees it. For a portable install, copy the extension file into the **UserPlugins** folder that belongs to that REAPER, then restart it. The extension is free. 1. In the portable REAPER, choose **Options** → **Show REAPER resource path in explorer/finder**. That folder is where this REAPER keeps its settings. 2. Open the **UserPlugins** folder inside it. Create it if it is not there yet. 3. Get the file from the [setup page](/setup/): - **macOS:** download **Portable install (.dmg)**, open it, and copy **reaper_mixsurface.dylib**. - **Windows:** download the zip, unzip it, and copy **reaper_mixsurface.dll**. - **Linux:** unpack the download and run **install.sh** with the portable folder, for example `./mixsurface-extension/install.sh ~/opt/REAPER`. 4. Restart REAPER. 5. Open **Settings / Preferences** → **Control / OSC / web**, click **Add**, choose **MixSurface** and click **OK**. #### Why this happens - **The installer only knows the standard place.** On macOS it installs into `~/Library/Application Support/REAPER/UserPlugins/`, which a portable REAPER does not read. - **MixSurface is not in the Add list.** REAPER did not load the file. Check that it sits directly in UserPlugins, not in a subfolder, then quit and reopen REAPER fully. - **Two REAPERs on one computer.** Each needs its own copy of the extension, and its own ports. See [Run MixSurface against a second REAPER instance](/docs/setup/#setup-multi-instance). ### Install the MixSurface extension on Linux URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/install-on-linux/ Tier: Free Yes, MixSurface runs with REAPER on Linux. The extension has a Linux build for x86_64 and ARM64, still marked beta. Unpack it, run the installer, restart REAPER and add MixSurface as a control surface. The app on your phone or tablet is the same as for macOS and Windows. 1. On the [setup page](/setup/), choose **Download for Linux x86_64** or **Download for Linux ARM64**, to match your computer. 2. Unpack the download and run `./mixsurface-extension/install.sh`. It copies **reaper_mixsurface.so** into `~/.config/REAPER/UserPlugins/`. 3. For a portable REAPER, pass its folder: `./mixsurface-extension/install.sh ~/opt/REAPER`. 4. Restart REAPER. 5. Open **Settings / Preferences** → **Control / OSC / web**, click **Add**, choose **MixSurface** and click **OK**. 6. Open MixSurface on your phone or tablet and tap your computer in the list. #### Why this happens - **REAPER does not load the extension.** The build needs glibc 2.35 or newer: Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12 and later. Older distributions cannot load it. - **The app does not find REAPER.** A firewall is blocking discovery or the connection. Allow UDP 5353, UDP 24780 and TCP 24790, or use **Connect by IP** on the app's connection screen. - **Something else looks wrong.** The Linux build is tested automatically but has had less real-world use than macOS and Windows. Reports are welcome on the [support page](/support/). ### Connect over a USB cable instead of Wi-Fi URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/connect-over-usb/ Tier: Free Yes, MixSurface works over a USB cable. Plug your phone or tablet into the computer running REAPER: the cable shows up as a wired network connection, and MixSurface finds REAPER on it the same way it does on Wi-Fi. You can turn Wi-Fi off on both. For live use it is the most stable option. 1. Install the extension in REAPER and add it under **Control / OSC / web**, as in the [setup guide](/setup/). 2. Connect the phone or tablet to the computer with a USB cable. 3. Open MixSurface. Your computer appears in the list on the connection screen. Tap it. 4. On iPhone and iPad, allow **Local Network** access the first time the app asks. Discovery over the cable needs it too. 5. If your computer does not appear, tap the refresh button on the connection screen, or use **Connect by IP**. #### Why this happens - **Bluetooth is not supported.** MixSurface talks to REAPER over a network connection (TCP and UDP), so it needs Wi-Fi, a LAN or a USB cable. A Bluetooth pairing is not a network connection the app can use. - **The computer does not list the device as a network.** The connection only works when the computer treats the cable as a network interface. Check the computer's network settings for a new wired connection after you plug in. - **The list shows "Local Network access is off".** Turn on Local Network for MixSurface in the device's Settings, then tap refresh. - **It drops when you unplug.** MixSurface reconnects by itself when the computer is reachable again, over the cable or over Wi-Fi. ### Choose a tablet for MixSurface URL: https://mixsurface.app/guides/choose-a-tablet/ Tier: Free Start with the phone you already own: the mixer is free, so you can judge the fader feel before you buy anything. For mixing, a bigger tablet shows more strips and bigger controls. The one thing to avoid is a budget Android tablet with an imprecise touchscreen, because it misses the start of slow fader moves. 1. Install MixSurface on your phone and connect it to REAPER. Ride a few faders slowly and quickly. 2. Pick the screen size for how you work. MixSurface runs on iPhone, iPad, Android phones and Android tablets, and rearranges its layouts for the screen and for portrait or landscape. 3. On iPhone and iPad, check that the device runs iOS 15 or newer. 4. On Android, try the tablet in a shop if you can: drag a fader very slowly and see if it moves from the first millimetre. 5. If you already own a tablet that feels sticky, look for a **Touch sensitivity** option in its display settings (on Samsung: **Settings** → **Display** → **Touch sensitivity**) and turn it on. #### Why this happens - **Cheap touch controllers.** Some budget Android tablets do not report very small or slow finger movements, so a slow drag has a dead spot at the start before it catches up. Other mixer apps show the same thing on the same tablet. It does not happen on iPads or higher-end Android tablets. - **MixSurface reacts at once on good hardware.** Controls start moving on the first pixel of movement, with no dead zone of their own, so what you feel is the screen. - **Fast moves always track.** Faster, more deliberate drags work fine even on a budget tablet. ## Overviews - [Build your own plugin template](https://mixsurface.app/guides/plugin-templates/): Replace a plugin's Generic layout with your own: pick the parameters, set their types and sizes, and arrange them across pages. - [Build your own control surfaces](https://mixsurface.app/guides/control-view/): Build pages of faders, knobs, buttons and meters, each bound to a plugin parameter, a REAPER action or a track. - [Ride your sends](https://mixsurface.app/guides/sends/): Sends on Fader turns the mixer into a monitor-mix desk. Channel Detail sets up one track's sends, or mixes a bus from its receives. ## Docs: Mixer URL: https://mixsurface.app/docs/mixer/ ### Drag the volume fader Free · Drag Set a track's level with a vertical drag on its fader cap, the core mixing gesture, tuned with an analog-console dB taper so the top half of travel gives fine control near unity. #### How to use 1. Touch the fader cap in the channel strip's fader lane. 2. Drag up to raise level, down to lower it. A live dB readout appears while you drag. 3. Release to set. #### Tips - Turn on "Show Fader dB" in the Mixer strip layout menu to keep that level printed under every strip, not only while you are dragging. - Turn on FINE (top bar) for slower, more precise moves across the whole drag. - The taper reserves position 0.75 for exactly 0 dB (unity) so it's easy to land back on unity by feel. - Drag all the way to the bottom of the lane to reach silence. The readout counts down past -60 dB and lands on -∞ at the very end of the travel. - The fader tops out at +12 dB. If a track is already louder than that (set in REAPER, by an envelope, or by a script), touching the fader drops it to +12 dB, so MixSurface warns you before it happens. ### Drag the pan bar Free · Drag Position a track left/right in the stereo field with a horizontal drag on the strip's pan bar, the readout (C, L23, R45) renders inside the bar as you move. #### How to use 1. Touch the horizontal pan bar above the fader. 2. Drag left or right. The fill grows from center and the readout updates live. 3. Release to set. ### Select a track by tapping its strip Free · Tap One tap on a channel's name plate selects that track in REAPER, so you can pick the channel you want to work on from the iPad without reaching for the mouse. #### How to use 1. Tap the colored name button at the bottom of any channel strip. 2. That track becomes the selection in REAPER, and its strip deepens to its selected shade on every connected device. #### Tips - Selection is instant. It is not held back waiting to see whether you are about to double-tap. - Double-tap the same name button to open Channel Detail for that track. - Press and hold it instead to open Track Setup. - A tap always selects that track *alone*. If several tracks were selected, tapping one of them narrows the selection down to it. - To select several at once, drag sideways across the name buttons instead. ### Select a range of tracks by dragging across them Free · Horizontal drag Press a channel's name plate and slide sideways to select every strip you pass, so you can grab a whole group of tracks and move their faders together. #### How to use 1. Put your finger on the coloured name button at the bottom of any channel strip. 2. Slide sideways across the strips you want. Each one deepens as you pass it. 3. Lift. All of those tracks are now selected in REAPER. #### Tips - Drag in either direction. The range runs from where you started to wherever you lift. - Nothing is sent until you lift, so you can sweep back and forth to adjust the range before committing. - Move one fader in a range and REAPER moves the rest with it. Mute, solo, record-arm, polarity and input monitoring follow the selection too, and so does the record input: tap the input cell on any selected strip and the sheet covers the whole range, sequentially if you ask it to. - A quick tap still selects that one track on its own, and a press-and-hold still opens Track Setup. Only a sideways slide paints a range. - Sliding past the last strip stops there; it does not page the mixer across to the next bank. ### Open Channel Detail from a strip, and go back Free · Double-tap Double-tap a channel's name plate (the scribble strip) to jump straight into that track's FX chain and plugin workspace, and double-tap it again to go back where you came from. #### How to use 1. Double-tap the colored name button at the bottom of any channel strip (shows channel number, REAPER track color, and name). Channel Detail opens for that track. 2. To go back, double-tap the same track's name button in Channel Detail. You land on the screen you came from, the Mixer or the arrange. #### Tips - Going back works once per trip. If you reached Channel Detail another way, from its tab or after switching screens, the double-tap there does nothing. - A single tap on the same button just selects the track in REAPER without leaving the mixer. The first tap of your double-tap does that too, which is harmless. - Channel Detail (and its EQ surface) is a paid feature. The mixer strip and this navigation gesture are free, but the destination screen is behind the unlock. ### Reset a fader to unity (0 dB) Free · Double-tap Instantly snap a track's level back to 0 dB without hunting for the exact drag position. #### How to use 1. Double-tap the fader cap to snap it back to 0 dB. 2. Double-tap the pan bar the same way to recenter it. #### Tips - Both resets glide smoothly into position rather than snapping instantly, see 'Watch a fader glide smoothly when it's moved for you'. ### Set a track's automation mode Free · Tap, pick Switch a track, or every selected track, between Trim, Read, Touch, Write, Latch and Latch Preview right from the strip so you can drop into writing automation without opening REAPER. #### How to use 1. Tap the colored AUTO badge below Solo (labelled TRM/READ/TCH/WRT/LAT/LATP). 2. A menu opens with all six modes, the current one highlighted: TRM, READ, TCH, WRT, LAT and LATP. 3. Tap the mode you want. Tap outside the menu to close it without changing anything. #### Tips - Select a range of strips first and one pick moves all of them, the way mute, solo and record-arm already do. - LATP is Latch Preview. You ride the fader and hear the change without committing it, then commit it with the write button that appears in the top bar beside Auto. - The badge color and label always reflect REAPER's live automation mode for that track, including changes made inside REAPER itself. - While a global automation override is active it wins over every track, so every badge shows the override's mode and tapping one opens no menu, it just tells you why. Clear the override from the Auto button in the top bar to get per-track control back. ### Set REAPER's global automation override Free · Tap Force every track into one automation mode at once, or clear the override, from the Auto button in the top bar. It mirrors REAPER's own Global automation override, so whatever you set in either place shows up in the other. #### How to use 1. Find the **Auto** button in the top bar, just to the right of the transport controls. It reads just "Auto" when no override is active. 2. Tap it and pick a mode. The list is REAPER's own, in REAPER's order: **No override** and **Bypass all automation** at the top, then **All tracks: Trim/Read**, **All tracks: Read**, Touch, Latch, Latch Preview and Write (each reads "All tracks: …"). 3. The button always reads "Auto" and lights up in the mode's colour. The full name, for example "Auto: Touch", is in the picker, in the More menu when the button has folded there, and in what a screen reader announces. 4. To go back to per-track modes, tap it again and choose **No override**. #### Tips - While an override is active it wins over every track's own AUTO badge, so the badges show the overridden mode. That is what REAPER is actually doing. - Setting the override to **Latch Preview** puts every track in preview: ride the faders, hear the change, and nothing is written until you commit it with the save button that appears in the top bar. - **Bypass** is not a mode: it switches automation off entirely, so every strip reads TRM until you clear it. - While an override is engaged the Auto button stays in the bar even on an iPad mini; only on a phone does it move into the More menu, where its row names the mode. - Setting the override in REAPER's Options menu updates the button within a moment, and every fader and pan refreshes to match. ### See which tracks are automating at a glance Free · None Any channel strip that is reading or writing automation outlines itself in that mode's colour, so one look across the mixer tells you which tracks are armed to move. Resting tracks stay borderless. #### How to use 1. Put a track into Read, Touch, Latch, Latch Preview or Write, from its AUTO button or from REAPER. 2. That strip outlines itself in the mode's colour: green for Read, yellow for Touch, purple for Latch, blue for Latch Preview, red for Write. 3. Tracks sitting in Trim stay borderless, so the only strips wearing a ring are the ones that will actually move. #### Tips - The colours are REAPER's own, so a strip outlined in yellow here is the same yellow you see on that track's automation button in REAPER. - Setting a global automation override outlines every strip at once, because the override really does put every track into that mode. - The border reflects the same mode the AUTO badge shows, so it keeps working if you hide the AUTO row from the mixer's three dot menu to save space. ### Commit a Latch Preview ride Free · Tap Ride a fader in Latch Preview to hear the change without writing it, then tap the write button that appears in the top bar to commit those values to the time selection. #### How to use 1. Tap a track's AUTO badge until it reads **LATP** (Latch Preview). 2. Make a time selection in REAPER covering the part you want to write. 3. Press play and ride the fader or pan. You hear the change, but nothing is written yet. 4. Tap the **write** button that has appeared in the top bar, just before the More (⋮) button. Your previewed values are written to the time selection. #### Tips - The button only exists while at least one track is in Latch Preview. If it is not there, no track is previewing and there would be nothing to write. - It commits every envelope that is actively writing, not just the track you last touched, so you can preview several tracks together and commit them in one tap. - It stays in the bar together with Auto. On a phone it folds into the More menu, where it reads "Write automation to time selection". ### Watch the fader and pan follow live automation Free In Read mode (or any mode with an active envelope), the fader and the pan bar physically move to show the automated value in real time, not just the track's trim level, so you always see what's actually playing. #### How to use 1. Set a track's automation mode to Read (or Touch/Write/Latch with an existing envelope). 2. Press play. The fader rides the volume envelope, and the pan bar rides the pan envelope, as playback passes over automated points. #### Tips - A global automation override counts too: with the override set to Read or Touch, every track follows its envelopes even if its own badge said Trim. ### Write automation by grabbing the fader (Touch/Latch) Free Grab the fader or pan control while in Touch or Latch mode and your move gets recorded straight into REAPER's automation. Release cleanly and playback stays put. #### How to use 1. Tap the track's AUTO badge and pick Touch (TCH) or Latch (LAT) from the menu. 2. Press play, then grab the fader (or pan bar) at the point you want to start writing. 3. Move it live. REAPER records the automation as you drag. 4. Lift your finger to release; the control lets go and (in Touch) hands back control to the existing curve. ### Build a custom fader layer Free Group any subset of tracks (a drum bus, your vocal chain, a monitor mix) into a named, reorderable layer so you only see the channels you care about at that moment. #### How to use 1. Tap "+ Add layer" in the layer rail. 2. Type a name for the layer. 3. Tap tracks in the grid to include them (tap again to remove). 4. Optionally pick an accent color and a channel-count mode (see related cards). 5. Tap Save. ### Show only the tracks REAPER's mixer shows Free · Tap On a big session you have already hidden the channels you never touch in REAPER's own mixer. Point the ALL layer at that same choice and the tablet stops showing the other hundred and thirty. #### How to use 1. Go to the Mixer and tap **Visible** in the top bar. On a narrow window it is one of the first controls to move into the overflow (⋮) menu, where it keeps the same label. 2. Choose **Follow REAPER's mixer**. The chip now reads "Visible: REAPER". 3. The ALL layer shows only the tracks REAPER shows. Hide or show a track in REAPER's mixer and the tablet catches up within about half a second. #### Tips - The ALL chip in the layer rail reads something like `13/150 tracks` while tracks are being withheld. If it just says `150 tracks`, nothing is hidden. - Your own layers are never filtered. They are your curation, so they always show exactly the tracks you put in them. - The master strip always stays, even if REAPER's mixer is hiding it. - This mode never changes anything in REAPER. It only reads. - If you hide everything in REAPER, the mixer says so rather than going blank. ### Drive REAPER's mixer from a layer Free · Tap Turn a layer tap into a view change on the computer as well: pick your drums layer on the tablet and REAPER's mixer narrows to the same channels, so the engineer at the desk sees what you see. #### How to use 1. Go to the Mixer and tap **Visible** in the top bar. On a narrow window it is one of the first controls to move into the overflow (⋮) menu, where it keeps the same label. 2. Choose **Drive REAPER's mixer**. The chip now reads "Visible: Surface". 3. Tap any layer in the rail. REAPER's mixer narrows to that layer's tracks. 4. Tap ALL to put every track back in REAPER's mixer. #### Tips - Tap the layer you are already on to push it again, which is how you force REAPER back into agreement if someone changed it at the desk. - Nothing is written until you tap a layer. Launching the app, reconnecting, waking the tablet, or deleting a layer never changes REAPER's mixer. - Each push lands as a single undo step in REAPER, named "Set mixer visibility". One Ctrl+Z at the computer puts the old view back. - Selecting ALL means all: it shows every track in REAPER again, including any you had hidden by hand. In this mode layers are how you curate. - REAPER's arrange window is left alone. Only the mixer changes. - If someone adds or deletes tracks at the computer, the next tap is refused rather than applied to the wrong list. The app refreshes and says to try again. - Two tablets both driving REAPER will fight, and the last tap wins. One drives, the others watch. ### Pin a track to the edge of the mixer Free · Tap Keep master, a vocal bus or any track you always need in a fixed zone at the mixer's edge, on every layer, while the other strips bank and scroll. #### How to use 1. Long-press a strip's name to open Track Setup, or open Layer Setup from the rail. 2. Tap the pin next to the track you want to keep in view. Master has its own slim row at the top of Track Setup (or its card in Layer Setup); tap its pin the same way. 3. The track moves into a fixed zone at the edge of the mixer and stays there on every layer. 4. Tap the pin again to unpin it. #### Tips - The zone sits on the same side as master in REAPER's mixer. Flip "Show master track on right side" in REAPER and the zone follows. - Pins belong to the project, so every iPad on the same project sees them. - With many pins on a small screen the zone scrolls on its own instead of squeezing the other strips. - In Sends on Fader, a pinned master slot shows the send destination's return, just like the normal master slot. ### Collapse a folder in the mixer Free · Tap Fold a folder track's children away so a big session fits, and keep that in step with REAPER's own mixer when the visibility link is on. #### How to use 1. Find a folder track. Its name bar has a small chevron on the right. 2. Tap the chevron to hide the folder's children. Tap it again to show them. 3. Tracks inside a folder carry a thin bar in the folder's colour, so you can see what belongs together. #### Tips - With Visible set to follow REAPER or drive REAPER, folding here folds the folder in REAPER's mixer too, and folding in REAPER shows up here within about half a second while REAPER's mixer is open. A fold done by an action while the mixer is closed shows when the mixer next opens or at the next track change. - With the visibility link off, folding only affects this iPad and is forgotten when you open another project. - Folding works the same on every layer. If one of your layers holds a folder's tracks but not the folder itself, those tracks stay visible. - A pinned track stays in the pinned zone even if its folder is folded. ### Reorder tracks within a layer Free · Drag Drag a track's tile in the layer editor's order dock to change the left-to-right position it renders in on that layer, independent of REAPER's own track order. #### How to use 1. In the layer editor, find the "Layer order" dock at the bottom. 2. Drag a track tile to a new position. ### Color-code a layer Free Give a layer an accent color so its rail button (and spine) stands out at a glance, handy once you have several layers stacked up. #### How to use 1. In the layer editor, tap a swatch in the Color row. 2. Save the layer. #### Tips - The first swatch is the empty one, crossed by a diagonal line. Pick it to leave the layer with no color at all, so its rail button shows no spine. - It is the same palette you color tracks and controls from, so a layer can carry the color of the tracks on it. - On a short screen (a small tablet in landscape) the Color section opens folded up, so the track grid above keeps its rows. Tap the COLOR label to open it; it stays open until you leave the screen. ### Set a layer's own strip count Free Override how many channel strips render when a specific layer is active, follow the global setting, auto-fit the layer's exact track count onto one bank, or lock a fixed number (2–40). #### How to use 1. In the layer editor, under "Channels", pick GLOBAL (follow the app-wide setting), FIT ALL (exactly as many strips as this layer has tracks, no banking), or step a fixed count from 2 to 40. #### Tips - On a short screen (a small tablet in landscape) the Channels section opens folded up, so the track grid above keeps its rows. Tap the CHANNELS label to open it; it stays open until you leave the screen. ### Switch layers from the rail Free · Tap Jump between your saved layers (or the pinned ALL view) with a single tap on the side/bottom rail, the fastest way to change what's on screen mid-session. #### How to use 1. Tap any layer button in the rail (ALL is pinned first, then your custom layers). 2. The strip row immediately shows that layer's tracks, banked per its channel-count mode. ### Edit, reorder, or delete layers from the rail Free · Long-press Long-hold any custom layer in the rail to enter an edit mode where you can open it for editing, drag it to a new position, or delete it, without leaving the mixer. #### How to use 1. Long-press any user layer button in the rail. The list starts wiggling with a Done bar and ✕ delete badges. 2. Tap a layer to open its edit screen, drag a layer to reorder it, or tap its ✕ to delete (with confirmation). 3. Tap Done to exit edit mode. #### Tips - The pinned ALL layer is never editable, reorderable, or deletable. It's a fixed entry point. ### Page through track banks with the chevrons Free When a layer has more tracks than fit on screen, step through them a bank at a time with the rail's chevron pager instead of scrolling. #### How to use 1. When a layer overflows one screen, a "BANK 1 / N" pager with ◄ ► chevrons appears at the end of the rail. 2. Tap the right chevron to advance a bank, left to go back. #### Tips - Each layer remembers its own last-viewed bank when you switch away and back. ### The selected track comes into view Free Pick a track anywhere, in REAPER, the arrange or another screen, and the Mixer pages to it and the Track Setup list scrolls to it, so you never hunt for the channel you just selected. #### How to use 1. Select a track anywhere: click it in REAPER, tap it in the arrange, or step to it in Channel Detail. 2. In the Mixer, the bank flips to the one that holds that track. 3. In Track Setup, the list scrolls just far enough to show that track's row. #### Tips - Nothing moves if the track is already on screen, pinned, or not part of the current layer. - It only follows a new selection. Page or scroll away by hand and the view stays where you put it until the selection changes again. ### Play, stop, and record from the top bar Free Control REAPER's transport from anywhere in the app. The play/stop/record cluster sits dead-center in the top bar on every tab. #### How to use 1. Tap Stop to stop. 2. Tap Play to play (the icon becomes Pause while playing; tap to pause). 3. Tap Record to arm and start recording. #### Tips - The cluster tells you what REAPER is doing at a glance: the button fills in when playing, and fills red while recording. Stop stays quietly lit when the transport is parked. - If the icons look dimmed, MixSurface has not heard from REAPER yet. That is different from "stopped", so nothing lights up until the real state arrives. ### Set the record mode (auto-punch) Free · Long-press Record Switch REAPER's global record mode between normal, time selection auto-punch, and auto-punch selected items, the same three choices as right-clicking Record in REAPER. #### How to use 1. Press and hold the Record button in the top bar until the menu opens. 2. Pick a mode: normal, time selection auto-punch, or auto-punch selected items. The current mode has a tick. 3. Tap Record as usual. A quick tap always records straight away; only a hold opens the menu. #### Tips - Record shows the mode the way REAPER does: a ring for normal, circular arrows for time selection auto-punch, a rectangle for auto-punch selected items. A punch left on from an earlier session is visible before you start a take. - Changing the mode in REAPER updates the tick and the mark here too. ### Rewind and fast-forward the playhead Free · Tap or hold Jump to the previous or next marker with a tap, or scrub continuously by holding, using the rewind/fast-forward buttons in the top bar. #### How to use 1. Tap the rewind or fast-forward icon (left of Stop) for a quick jump to the previous or next marker. 2. Press and hold either icon for a moment (about 0.4 seconds) to start scrubbing continuously. 3. Keep holding to keep scrubbing. Lift your finger to stop. #### Tips - A held scrub keeps going as long as you hold, so lift as soon as the playhead reaches where you want. - At narrow phone widths, these two buttons are the first thing to make way for the rest of the top bar. ### Tap in a tempo Free Set REAPER's project BPM by tapping along to a beat, right from an explicit TAP button, no risk of a stray touch on the readout changing your tempo. #### How to use 1. Tap the BPM readout in the top bar to open its popover. 2. Tap the TAP button in time with the beat you want; the BPM readout updates live as you tap. ### Toggle loop (cycle) playback Free Turn REAPER's loop/cycle playback on or off from the top bar, with the button lighting up to reflect REAPER's own loop state. #### How to use 1. Tap the loop icon in the top bar (folds into the kebab under width pressure, or hides entirely while editing a Control View page). #### Tips - A dimmed icon means MixSurface has not heard REAPER's loop state yet, which is not the same as loop being off. It brightens as soon as the state arrives. ### Toggle the metronome (click) Free Switch REAPER's metronome click on or off from the top bar, lit when active. #### How to use 1. Tap the metronome icon in the top bar (folds into the kebab first under width pressure, ahead of any other toolbar item). ### Read the inline stereo meter Free A thin L/R peak meter built into each fader lane gives an at-a-glance level check without needing a separate meter bridge. #### How to use 1. Look at the narrow bars to the left of each fader. Left and right channel peaks update live as audio plays. ### Set the global strips-per-bank Free Decide device-wide how many channel strips show per bank, auto-FIT them to the screen width, or lock a fixed count (e.g. 10 to mirror a hardware console) for every layer that doesn't override it. #### How to use 1. Open Settings from the top-bar kebab and tap **Mixer**. 2. Under "Channels per layer", tap FIT for automatic width-based sizing, or step to a fixed number (2–40). #### Tips - Any individual layer can still override this with its own Channels setting. ### Switch the timecode readout format Free · Tap Tap the transport's timecode box to flip between Time, Bars (beats), and SMPTE display. Pick whatever format you think in. #### How to use 1. Tap the timecode readout in the top-bar transport cluster. 2. Choose Time, Bars, or SMPTE from the popover. #### Tips - Your choice is remembered across app restarts. ### Choose how Solo behaves (Follow REAPER, In Place, or Normal) Free Let Solo do whatever REAPER itself does (the default), or force it to keep the track's sends/routing active or to isolate it outright, a global preference that shapes every solo press. #### How to use 1. Open Settings from the top-bar kebab and tap **Mixer**. 2. Under "Solo mode", choose one: - **Follow REAPER** (default) solos the way REAPER itself is set to, so the Solo button matches the one in your own mixer. - **In place** always keeps the soloed track routed through its sends. - **Normal** always isolates the track, ignoring routing. #### Notes - The two overrides ignore REAPER's preference on purpose. Pick one only if you want MixSurface to solo differently from your mixer. - Solo follows your track selection and track groups, the same way mute, record-arm and phase do. ### Customize which channel-strip buttons show Free Declutter or extend every channel strip at once, hide Mute/Solo/Automation, or opt in to Rec-Arm and Phase, from one settings sheet. #### How to use 1. Open the top-bar overflow (kebab) while the Mixer tab is active. 2. Tap "Mixer strip layout". 3. Toggle Show Mute / Show Solo / Show Automation (default on) and Show Rec-Arm / Show Phase / Show Input / Show Input Monitor / Show Fader dB (default off). ### Keep the fader dB printed on every strip Free Show each channel's level as a number under its fader all the time, not only while you are dragging it, so you can read the whole console at a glance. #### How to use 1. Open the top-bar overflow (kebab) while the Mixer tab is active. 2. Tap "Mixer strip layout". 3. Set "Show Fader dB" to On. #### Tips - It is off by default, which is how the mixer has always looked. - The live readout that appears while you drag is separate and always shows, on or off. ### Invert a track's polarity (phase) Free Flip a channel's polarity from the strip (useful for fixing phase cancellation between mic pairs), once enabled in Mixer strip layout. #### How to use 1. Enable "Show Phase" in Mixer strip layout (top-bar kebab) if not already on. 2. Tap the Ø button that appears below Rec-Arm; it turns teal when active. ### Arm a track for recording Free Toggle record-arm on a channel from the mixer, once you've turned the Rec-Arm button on in Mixer strip layout. #### How to use 1. Enable "Show Rec-Arm" in Mixer strip layout (top-bar kebab) if not already on. 2. Tap the red "R" button that appears between Solo and the AUTO badge. ### See REAPER's selected tracks highlighted Free Every track selected in REAPER, one or a dozen, deepens to its own colour on the iPad, so you can see at a glance which channels are in focus, including the master bus. #### How to use 1. Select one or more tracks in REAPER, or tap a strip on the iPad. Every selected strip deepens to a stronger wash of its own track colour. #### Tips - The highlight always shows REAPER's selection, on every connected device. There is nothing to turn on. - Selecting several tracks in REAPER highlights all of them, not just the first. - Each strip keeps its own colour when selected, so a wide selection is still easy to read track by track. - Turn the global "Follow" toggle on (top bar; **Follow REAPER selection** in **⋮** More) if you also want Channel Detail on *this* device to jump to whichever track REAPER selects. It is per-device, so one iPad parked on an EQ is not dragged around by another operator. ### Use the mixer on a narrower window (adaptive top bar) Free In Split View or portrait, the top bar automatically folds lower-priority controls (metronome, Visible, Link, Fine, Auto, even the three tabs) into a single overflow menu so nothing clips. The console stays usable at any width. #### How to use 1. Resize the app (e.g. into iPad Split View) or rotate to portrait. 2. Watch the top bar fold buttons into the More (⋮) menu as space tightens; tap More to reach folded items. 3. At the narrowest widths, the three mode tabs themselves collapse into one dropdown selector. #### Tips - More groups its rows under Page (Control View's Edit / Cancel, always first), Transport, Mixing, Editing, View, Actions and App headers. App (Customize toolbar…, Settings, Disconnect) is always last. - To choose what the bar shows and what goes into More first, open More and tap Customize toolbar…. ### Ride sends on the faders (Sends on Fader) Free · Tap Flip the whole mixer into send mode so every strip's fader, pan, and mute controls that track's send to one chosen destination, the classic digital-console monitor-mix workflow, with banking, layers, and automation still live. #### How to use 1. Tap **SoF** in the top bar (left of Link). The destination picker opens. 2. Pick the track you want to send to. The mixer flips into send mode: the button now reads "Send to {name}" and tints in that track's color, and the canvas border picks up the same tint. 3. Each strip now controls its own send to that destination: drag a fader for send level, the pan bar for send pan, tap **M** for send mute. 4. Tap the **SoF** button again to exit back to the normal mixer. #### Tips - The solo slot becomes a routing button. Tap it to cycle the send between POST (post-fader), PREFX (pre-FX), and PRE (pre-fader). - Banking, layers, and automation keep working exactly as in the normal mixer. The AUTO badge writes send-envelope automation in Touch/Latch/Write. - To re-target, exit and tap SoF again; your pinned and recent destinations make re-picking fast. - Sends on Fader is free. Every musician on stage can ride their own monitor mix from their own phone or tablet, with no unlock required. ### Pick and pin a send destination Free · Long-press to pin Choose which track Sends on Fader targets from a full-screen picker with your pinned and most-recent destinations up top. Long-press a track to pin it so your regular monitor and effect buses are always one tap away. #### How to use 1. Tap **SoF** in the top bar to open the destination picker. 2. Scroll to find your destination under PINNED, RECENT, or ALL TRACKS, and tap it to enter send mode. 3. To pin a track for quick access, long-press its card. It moves up to the PINNED section. Long-press again to unpin. #### Tips - The picker excludes the master bus and the track you're already sending to. - Pins and recents are saved per project and shared across every tablet connected to the session, so your monitor buses stay pinned on all of them. ### Ride the aux master in Sends on Fader Free While in send mode the master slot becomes the destination bus's own fader, so you can trim the whole aux/monitor mix from the same screen you're feeding it. The destination's strip is hidden from the bank so you never send it to itself. #### How to use 1. Enter Sends on Fader and pick a destination. 2. Look at the pinned zone at the mixer's edge. It now shows the destination bus itself, tagged AUX. 3. Drag it to trim the destination bus's own level, pan, or mute while the strips around it feed sends into it. #### Tips - The destination track is hidden from the strip bank while you're sending to it. Its aux master slot is the only place it appears, so you can't accidentally send it to itself. - The aux master stays pinned at the edge on every layer and bank while you're in Sends on Fader, even if you haven't pinned master. Leaving Sends on Fader puts your own pins back exactly as they were. ### Create a send from the mixer Free · Touch any send control In Sends on Fader, a track that has no send to the destination shows a silent, ghosted strip. Touch any of its controls and the send is created on the spot at −inf, so you can wire a monitor send routing-first before you raise the level. #### How to use 1. Enter Sends on Fader and pick a destination. 2. A track with no send to that destination shows a silent, greyed-out strip. 3. Touch any control (raise the fader, nudge the pan, tap mute, or cycle the routing button) and the send is created instantly with your change applied. #### Tips - Tap the routing button first to create the send pre-fader at −inf, then raise the fader, the classic "wire the monitor send silently, then bring it up" move. - Pulling a fader all the way back to −inf leaves the send in place; it never deletes it. ### Open the Track Setup editor Free · Long-press a scribble strip A table of every track in the current layer, one row each, for naming, colouring, choosing a record input and setting monitoring without leaving the iPad. Whatever you have selected in REAPER is already linked when it opens, ready to rename or recolour together. #### How to use 1. Long-press a channel's name strip in the mixer, or tap **Track setup** in the toolbar menu. 2. Each row shows the track's number, colour, name, monitoring and record input. 3. Use the Layer / All switch in the header to widen the list from the active layer to every track in the project. 4. Tap the back chevron when you are done. Nothing is staged: every edit is sent as you make it. #### Tips - The editor opens by itself after you add tracks, with the new tracks selected and therefore already linked. - Select a range of strips in the mixer first and those rows are linked when it opens, so renaming or recolouring the whole range takes no re-linking. Inputs need no trip through here at all: tap the input cell on any selected strip in the mixer and the sheet already covers the selection. ### Link rows so one edit fills them all Free · Tap the chain icon The linked rows are the tracks selected in REAPER. Tap a chain icon to add a row to the selection, and any single edit, a name, a colour, an input or a monitor mode, applies to every linked row. #### How to use 1. Tap the chain button at the end of each row you want to include. 2. The header counts what you have linked, and linked rows are tinted. 3. Edit any one of them. The change lands on every linked row. 4. Use Link all / Unlink all in the header to take the whole visible list at once. 5. For a run of neighbouring rows, slide down the chain column instead of tapping each one. #### Tips - Linked here means selected in REAPER. Whatever you had selected when you opened the editor is already linked, and linking a row here selects it in REAPER too. - Because it is one selection, it moves live. Select something else in REAPER, or on another iPad, and the linked rows follow. - The count only ever includes rows you can currently see. When more is selected than the view shows, the header names the rest: 4 linked (+2 off-screen selected). - Link all takes the rows you can see and leaves anything else selected. Unlink all clears everything, including tracks out of view and the master, so the label is true. - One thing does reach further than the count: monitoring. REAPER applies it to the whole selection, which is why the off-screen number is worth reading before you tap it. ### Link a run of rows by dragging down the chain column Free · Vertical drag Slide down the chain buttons to link every row you pass, or start on one that is already linked to unlink the run, so a set of twelve costs one gesture instead of twelve taps. #### How to use 1. Put your finger on the chain button of the first row you want. 2. Slide straight down or up the column. Every row you pass tints as it joins. 3. Lift. Those rows are now linked, and the header count includes them. 4. To drop a run, start the same drag on a row that is already linked. It unlinks everything you pass. #### Tips - The row you start on decides which way it goes, so one gesture both links and unlinks. - It adds to what you already had. Rows you linked earlier stay linked, and rows outside the run are left alone, so you can paint a block and then tap one or two out of it. - Painting the column selects those tracks in REAPER, exactly as painting a range of mixer strips does. - Nothing changes until you lift, so you can slide back and forth to settle on the run first. - Only the chain column paints. Start anywhere else on a row and the list scrolls as usual. - Sliding past the last row stops there. To cover more than a screenful, paint what you can see, scroll, and paint again. ### Rename tracks, and number them automatically Free · Type, then Done Rename one track, or name a whole linked set at once. With +1 on, a name that ends in a number continues the count down the set: Vox 1, Vox 2, Vox 3. #### How to use 1. Link the rows you want to name. 2. Set the header switch to Same to give every row the identical name, or +1 to number them. 3. Tap into the name field of the row where the sequence should start, type the name, and press Done. 4. With +1, rows above the one you edited are left alone. The sequence runs downward from where you typed. #### Tips - +1 only continues a name that already ends in a number. Type "Vox 1" to get Vox 1, Vox 2, Vox 3. Type "Drums" and every row gets "Drums": no number is invented for you. - Zero padding is kept, so "Tom 01" continues Tom 02, Tom 03. - +1 applies to names only. Inputs have their own sequential assignment, see the related card. ### Choose a track's record input Free · Tap the input cell Pick what a track records from: a mono channel, a stereo pair, or a MIDI channel on one device or on all of them. The same sheet in the mixer and in Track Setup, and it covers every track the edit will touch. Mirrors REAPER's own input menu, split so no level is a long list. #### How to use 1. Tap the input cell on the row you want to change. 2. Pick a branch: Mono, Stereo, MIDI, or None. 3. Drill in to the channel you want. MIDI splits into scope, then channel, so no list is longer than a screen. 4. Tap your choice. The sheet closes and the input is set on every track the edit covers: the linked rows in Track Setup, or the selected strips in the mixer. #### Tips - The sheet always spells out what the track is listening to right now, at every level. - Above one track it says "Applies to N tracks" at the top, and offers "Assign inputs sequentially" so the set can walk the interface instead of sharing one input. - MIDI lists All devices first, then each enabled device. Both drill to the same channel list, so you can record all MIDI inputs on channel 3, or one keyboard on channel 3, whichever you meant. - If it says there are no audio inputs, REAPER has most likely closed its audio device because it is in the background. Bring REAPER to the front and tap Retry. ### Assign inputs across tracks sequentially Free · Tap the input cell Give several tracks consecutive inputs in one move: inputs 6, 7, 8, 9 down the set, or stereo pairs from 2/3, or one MIDI device per track. Offered wherever you tap an input across more than one track, in the mixer and in Track Setup alike. Each start says how many inputs it will use before you commit. #### How to use 1. Point at the tracks you want to fill. In the mixer, select them: tap one strip's name plate, or slide across a range. In Track Setup, link the rows. 2. Tap the input cell on any of them. 3. Choose "Assign inputs sequentially". 4. Pick how to walk the hardware: Mono, Stereo, MIDI or MIDI per track. 5. Pick where the run starts. Each start states the count it will use and the range it will reach, for example "Input 6 (7 inputs)" with "6-12" alongside. MIDI asks for the scope first, so a channel run can walk one device or all of them. #### Tips - The run always goes in track order, top to bottom, whichever track you tapped to open the sheet. - The count is what the run will actually reach, not what you asked for. On an 8 in interface with 10 tracks it will say 8, and the last two are left untouched, with a note telling you how many were set. - Stereo pairs step by two from wherever you start them, so a run from 2/3 goes 2/3, 4/5, 6/7 and never 3/4. - A start with nothing left to walk into is not offered. The last input on the interface would fill one track, which is the plain choice one level up. - The entry only appears when more than one track will be filled. The sheet says "Applies to N tracks" at the top so you can see the reach before you commit. - The master is never part of the count. It has no record input. ### Set record monitoring Free · Tap to cycle Cycle a track's input monitoring between Off, On and Auto (tape style), for one track, a whole linked set, or everything selected in REAPER. #### How to use 1. Tap the monitor button on a row to step Off, On, Auto, then back to Off. 2. Link rows first if you want the whole set to follow. #### Tips - Auto is REAPER's tape style monitoring: input while stopped or recording, playback while playing. - Monitoring follows a selection and a track group, like mute, solo, record-arm and phase. Select a range in the mixer and one tap moves all of them. - That also applies here, and it now applies every time: the linked rows are the selected tracks, so a monitor tap always reaches the whole selection. When part of that selection is out of view, the header says so beside the count: 3 linked (+2 off-screen selected). - Unlink all clears everything, out of view included, so it is the reliable way to be sure a monitor tap reaches only what you are looking at. ## Docs: Timeline & Markers URL: https://mixsurface.app/docs/timeline/ ### Show or hide the timeline ruler Free · Tap Keep a thin timeline ruler under the top bar on every mode so you always know where you are in the song, or hide it when you need the screen space. #### How to use 1. Tap the ruler button in the nav bar to hide the ruler. 2. Tap it again to bring the ruler back. #### Tips - The setting is per device, so a phone can hide the ruler while the iPad keeps it. - With an extension older than v0.1.11 the ruler space shows the update notice. Install the latest extension from mixsurface.app/setup. ### Zoom and scroll the ruler Free · Pinch, one-finger drag Zoom in on the part of the song you are working on and scroll along it, without ever moving the playhead by accident. #### How to use 1. Pinch on the ruler to zoom in or out around your fingers, at any angle. The spot between your fingers stays under them, so sliding both fingers sideways while you pinch also scrolls. 2. Drag one finger sideways to scroll, or flick to let it glide; touch to stop it. Dragging never moves the playhead. 3. Pinch all the way out to see the whole project again, or tap with two fingers to fit it in one go. #### Tips - The closest zoom shows a tenth of a second; the widest shows the whole project. - You can scroll past the end of the project into empty time, as in REAPER. - Each project remembers its own zoom while MixSurface is open. ### Fit the whole song, then go back Free · Two-finger tap Zoomed in on a chorus and need to see where you are in the song? Tap the ruler with two fingers to see the whole project, and tap again to land back exactly where you were. #### How to use 1. Tap the ruler with two fingers at once, without moving them. The view zooms out to the whole project. 2. Tap with two fingers again to go back to the zoom and position you had. #### Tips - It works on the arrange lanes too. - If you pinch or scroll after fitting, that becomes your view: the next two-finger tap fits again from there. - A one-finger tap still moves the playhead as before. Two fingers never move it. ### Keep the playhead in view Free While you are zoomed in and REAPER is playing, the ruler pages along with the playhead so you never lose your place. Switch it off in the menu when you want the view to stay put. #### How to use 1. Zoom in on the ruler and start playback in REAPER. 2. The ruler pages forward when the playhead reaches the edge. 3. If you scroll away by hand during playback, following pauses. To jump back to the playhead, pause or stop, then press play. 4. To turn following off, open the menu (the three dots in the top bar) and switch off Follow playhead. #### Tips - Following also comes back on its own when the playhead moves back into the part of the song you are looking at. - While REAPER is stopped you can scroll freely; pressing play brings the view to the playhead. - The setting is saved on this device. ### Jump to a marker or region from the ruler Free · Tap Jump straight to a song section or a cue while tracking away from the computer or playing live. #### How to use 1. Tap a colored region band on the ruler to go to the start of that region. 2. Tap a marker tick to go to that marker. #### Tips - Jumps follow REAPER's smooth-seek setting, exactly like pressing the key in REAPER. With smooth seek on, a jump while playing waits for the end of the measure. - The left end of the ruler shows the name of the region you are in and the current position. - Each marker and region name sits on a chip in its own color, so it stays readable over the bar numbers. ### Seek to any point on the ruler Free · Tap Tap any empty point on the ruler to move the playhead there, as a click on REAPER's ruler does. #### How to use 1. Tap an empty part of the ruler. The playhead moves to that point. #### Tips - Tapping a marker or region jumps to it instead. - Zoom in first for a more precise spot. - With snapping on in REAPER, the playhead lands on the nearest grid line. - Holding on a region band loops that region. - Holding, then sliding sideways, draws a loop. ### Loop a song Free · Long-press Set REAPER's loop to a region and turn Repeat on, from the ruler or the region drawer. #### How to use 1. Press and hold a region on the ruler until you feel a tap, then lift your finger. 2. REAPER's loop now covers that region and Repeat turns on. 3. Or open the region drawer and tap the loop button on a region's row. #### Tips - The loop button stays lit while the loop matches that region. - The ruler shows the loop as a band: bright with Repeat on, dim with it off. ### Draw a loop on the ruler Free · Long-press and drag Hold on the ruler, then slide sideways to draw a loop of any length. It turns Repeat on when you lift your finger. #### How to use 1. Press and hold where the loop should start until you feel a tap. 2. Without lifting, slide left or right. A band shows the loop as you draw it. 3. Lift your finger. REAPER's loop is set and Repeat turns on. #### Tips - Drawing works in either direction and over regions too. - Put a second finger down to cancel without changing the loop. - Start a new loop away from the ends of the current one: a hold and drag on an end's tab moves that end instead. - With snapping on in REAPER, the loop jumps from grid line to grid line as you draw. ### Adjust or clear the loop Free · Tap Move the loop's start or end to the playhead, or clear the loop, from a small sheet on the ruler. #### How to use 1. Tap the bar along the top of the ruler, inside the loop. 2. Choose **Start to playhead** or **End to playhead** to move that edge. 3. Choose **Clear loop** to remove it. #### Tips - Changes you make to the loop in REAPER show on the ruler straight away. ### Grid lines and snapping on the ruler Free · None (follows REAPER's snap) The ruler shows REAPER's bars and beats. When snapping is on in REAPER, drawn loops and long-press seeks land on the grid. #### How to use 1. Look at the ruler: bar lines carry bar numbers (or the time at that bar when the top bar shows time), numbered the way REAPER numbers them, including a project's measure offset and start time offset, and beat lines appear as you zoom in. 2. To snap, turn on snapping in REAPER (Options: Toggle snapping). The ruler follows it. 3. Draw a loop or tap to seek. Both land on the nearest line you can see. #### Tips - Zoom in to snap to beats, zoom out to snap to bars. - If your project starts at bar 0 or bar 101, or at a time offset, the ruler matches the top bar. - Tempo and time-signature changes in REAPER show up on the grid. - Jumping to a marker always goes to the marker itself, never to the grid. ### Move one end of the loop Free · Drag a loop edge Each end of the loop has a line and a small tab on the ruler. Drag one to move just that end, as you would drag a time selection edge in REAPER. #### How to use 1. Find the loop's start or end: a thin line in the loop colour with a small tab at the top of the ruler. In the arrange, the line runs down through the tracks too. 2. Put your finger on or near the tab and slide left or right. Only that end moves, and the loop shows its new length as you go. 3. Lift your finger. REAPER's loop is set to the new range. #### Tips - With snapping on in REAPER, the end jumps from grid line to grid line, just like drawing a loop. - Drag one end past the other and they swap, so the loop never turns inside out. - Put a second finger down to cancel. The loop goes back to where it was and nothing changes in REAPER. - A tap on the tab still does what a tap there always did: inside the loop it opens the loop sheet. - Moving an end leaves Repeat as it was. ### Jump from the region drawer Free · Tap See every marker and region as a big, easy-to-hit list and jump to any of them. Built for live sets, so nothing in the drawer can edit your project. #### How to use 1. Tap the drawer button on the ruler. 2. Tap a row to jump to that marker or region. 3. Tap outside the drawer, or swipe it away, to close it. #### Tips - The row the playhead is in is highlighted. - While playing, REAPER jumps at the end of the bar or the current region. Until it does, the row you tapped pulses and says NEXT, and the same marker or region pulses on the ruler. - Each row shows the number, name and start time, plus the length for regions. - The drawer opens below the top bar, so play, stop and record stay in reach while it is open. ### Pin the region drawer open Free · Tap Pin the marker and region list to the left side so it stays open while you work in the Mixer, Channel, Control or Arrange. Needs a landscape screen about 950 px wide or more. #### How to use 1. Open the drawer from the ruler. 2. Tap the pin left of the title. The drawer stays and everything else moves to its right. 3. Tap the close button to put the drawer away. It stays pinned, so the next time you open it, it comes back docked. 4. Tap the pin again to unpin. #### Tips - Pinning is only offered with the screen in landscape and at least about 950 px wide, which covers iPads and wide tablets but not phones. Turn to portrait and the drawer steps aside; turn back and it returns. - The pin is remembered when you reopen the app. ### Queue the next song after this one Free · Long-press In a live set, line up the next song so REAPER finishes the current region and then carries on from the one you picked. #### How to use 1. Open the region drawer while REAPER is playing. 2. Press and hold the row of the region you want next. 3. REAPER plays to the end of the current region, then continues from the start of the one you picked. #### Tips - A plain tap on a region or marker row jumps straight away. Only regions have the long-press; a marker has no end to wait for. ### Filter the drawer by kind or lane Free · Tap Cut the drawer down to just the regions, just the markers, or one ruler lane, so the song list stays short. #### How to use 1. Open the region drawer. 2. Tap All, Regions or Markers. 3. If your project uses ruler lanes, tap a lane to show only what is on it. #### Tips - Ruler lanes need REAPER 7.62 or later. On older REAPER there are no lanes and the lane filter does not appear. - Markers and lanes you hide in REAPER stay hidden in MixSurface. ### Add a marker or region at the playhead Unlock · Tap Drop a marker or a region where you are while tracking, so you can find the take or the section later without going back to the computer. #### How to use 1. Open the region drawer and tap Edit. The editor opens in the section you are in, under the top bar and the ruler. 2. Tap **+ Marker** or **+ Region**. 3. The new item appears at the playhead. #### Tips - A new region covers REAPER's time selection if you have one, otherwise the next 4 bars. ### Rename or recolor a marker or region Unlock · Tap Name your song sections and color-code them so the ruler and drawer read at a glance on stage. #### How to use 1. Open full mode from the drawer's Edit button. 2. Tap the name of a row to rename it. 3. Tap the color chip to pick a new color. #### Tips - On REAPER before 7.62, a color cannot be reset to REAPER's default from MixSurface. ### Move a marker or region to the playhead Unlock · Tap Fix up a section's start or end while you listen, by parking the playhead where it should be. #### How to use 1. Move the playhead to the right spot. 2. Tap the marker or region row to open its editor, then tap **Start to playhead**. 3. For a region, tap **End to playhead** to move its end to the playhead. #### Tips - A region's end cannot move before its start; MixSurface tells you if REAPER refuses. ### Renumber a marker or region Unlock · Tap Set the number REAPER's own go-to-marker keys use, so your keyboard shortcuts and MixSurface agree. #### How to use 1. In full mode, tap the number on a row. 2. Enter the new number and confirm. #### Tips - Two regions cannot share a number. If the number is taken, MixSurface shows that REAPER refused the change. ### Delete a marker or region Unlock · Tap Clear out markers and regions you no longer need without walking back to the computer. #### How to use 1. In full mode, tap Delete on the row. 2. Confirm. #### Tips - Deleting uses REAPER's own delete, so REAPER's undo brings it back. ### Add, rename, hide or delete ruler lanes Unlock · Tap Set up REAPER's ruler lanes from the iPad, so your songs, cues and notes each get their own row on the ruler without going back to the computer. #### How to use 1. Open the region drawer and tap Edit. 2. Tap Lanes. Every lane is listed, hidden ones too. 3. Type a new name and tap Done, or tap the colour chip to pick a colour. 4. Tap the eye to hide or show a lane on REAPER's ruler. 5. Tap + Lane to add a lane at the bottom. 6. Tap the bin to delete a lane, then confirm. #### Tips - Deleting a lane deletes the markers and regions on it too. The confirm says how many. You can undo it in REAPER. - You cannot delete the last lane. - A hidden lane's eye lights up, so the lanes you have hidden stand out. - The Lanes button needs REAPER 7.62 or later. ### Turn smooth seek on or off Unlock · Tap Choose whether a jump while playing happens at once or waits for the end of the bar, so a song change lands in time. #### How to use 1. Open the region drawer and tap Edit. 2. Set Smooth seek to On or Off. #### Tips - On: while playing, a jump waits for the end of the bar. Off: it happens at once. - This is REAPER's own setting, so it changes seeking in REAPER too, and a change made in REAPER shows here. ## Docs: Arrange URL: https://mixsurface.app/docs/arrange/ ### Open the arrange Unlock · Tap the Arrange tab See every track of the mixer's current layer on the timeline, one row each, with the ruler on top. #### How to use 1. Tap the **Arr** tab in the top bar (the second tab). 2. Scroll up and down to see every track on the current layer. 3. Switch layers on the mixer to change which tracks you see. #### Tips - The arrange shows exactly what the mixer shows: the same layer, folders and pinned tracks. - The ruler on top is the same ruler as everywhere else; zooming one zooms the other. ### Read the items on each track Unlock · None (display) Every item shows as a block in its colour, with the take name when there is room, so you can see what is on the timeline from across the room. #### How to use 1. Open the Arrange tab. 2. Each block is one item, drawn where it sits on the timeline. 3. Zoom in to read the take names inside the blocks. #### Tips - Items draw in the colour REAPER shows: the active take's colour if it has one, else the item's own colour, else the track colour. - Muted items are dimmed and striped. - Move or edit an item in REAPER and the arrange updates by itself. ### See each take's waveform Unlock · None (display) Every audio item shows its waveform inside its block, read from REAPER's own peak files, so you can spot where the vocal starts or which take clipped from across the room. #### How to use 1. Open the Arrange tab. 2. Each audio item shows its waveform inside its block, under the take name. 3. Pinch to zoom in for more detail; the shape sharpens as you go. #### Tips - While you zoom or scroll, the nearest detail already loaded is shown stretched until the sharper one arrives. - Slip, trim or switch takes in REAPER and the waveform follows. - MIDI items stay plain blocks. - A take you just recorded shows its waveform once REAPER has finished building its peaks, usually within a few seconds. ### See what is inside a folder Unlock · None (display) A folder track's lane shows the waveforms of every track inside it in grey, as REAPER does, so a collapsed drum bus still shows where the hits are. #### How to use 1. Open the Arrange tab. 2. A folder track's lane shows the waveforms of all the tracks inside it, in grey. 3. Any items on the folder track itself draw on top as usual. #### Tips - The grey shows whether the folder is open or collapsed, so you can collapse a big folder and still see where its audio sits. - The grey layer is for reading only. To select or edit an item, open the folder and use the item on its own track. ### Watch a recording happen Unlock · None (display) While REAPER records, every armed track shows a red-outlined take growing from where recording started, so you know it is really rolling. #### How to use 1. Arm the tracks you want to record with their R buttons. 2. Press Record. 3. A red block grows on each armed track from where the take started. When you stop, it turns into the real item. #### Tips - During a count-in nothing shows yet; the block starts when recording does. - Tracks set to input monitoring only in REAPER don't grow a block, because they don't record. - With auto-punch on a time selection, the block stops at the end of the selection. ### Zoom and scroll the arrange Unlock · Pinch, one-finger drag, flick Pinch the lanes to zoom the timeline, then drag in any direction to move along the song and through the tracks at once; flick and the view glides on. #### How to use 1. Pinch on the lanes to zoom in or out around your fingers, down to a tenth of a second across the screen. What is between your fingers stays under them: slide both fingers while pinching to move along the song or through the tracks. 2. Drag one finger in any direction: sideways moves along the song, up and down scrolls the tracks, at an angle does both. 3. Flick to let the view glide on; touch anywhere to stop it. #### Tips - The glide slows down the way an iPad list does, on both axes at once, so a diagonal flick keeps its direction. - The view moves a little less than your finger, so it feels weighted. A slow drag stops where you lift; only a quick flick glides on. - Zoomed all the way in, the waveform shows single cycles, handy for placing an edge or a fade. - The ruler and the lanes always show the same stretch of time. - Tap the lanes with two fingers to fit the whole song, and again to go back. - Press play to bring the view back to the playhead, or switch Follow playhead off in the menu to keep the view where you left it. ### Move the playhead by tapping a lane Unlock · Tap Tap anywhere on the lanes to send the playhead there, snapped to the grid when REAPER's snapping is on. #### How to use 1. Tap a spot on any lane. 2. The playhead jumps there, the same as clicking the ruler in REAPER. #### Tips - With snapping on in REAPER, the tap lands on the nearest grid line. - Tapping on an item moves the playhead too; it doesn't select the item. ### Arm, mute and solo from the track headers Unlock · Tap R, M or S; tap the header Each row's header arms, mutes and solos its track, shows its level, and selects it in REAPER when you tap its name. #### How to use 1. Tap R to arm a track for recording, M to mute it, S to solo it. 2. Tap the track name to select the track in REAPER. 3. Watch the thin meter on the right edge to check the input level. #### Tips - On a phone only the R button shows, to leave room for the name. - These are the same buttons as on the mixer; a change on one shows on the other. ### Set a track's volume from its header Unlock · Drag the fader cap, double-tap the cap Each arrange row's header has a small volume fader, so you can balance a track while you record without leaving for the mixer. Only the cap grabs, so a swipe across the headers still scrolls. #### How to use 1. Find the small fader under the track name in the arrange. 2. Put your finger on the fader cap and drag right for louder, left for quieter. The level in dB shows on the bar while you hold it. 3. Double-tap the cap to go back to 0 dB. #### Tips - Only the cap moves the fader. Swipe anywhere else on the headers to scroll the tracks without changing a volume. - Touching the cap never selects the track, so a double-tap reset keeps a multi-selection intact. Tap the name to select. - With several tracks selected in REAPER, they move together, just like on the mixer. - If the fader is missing, the rows are too short: make them taller in Edit mode with the track-height button. - Taller rows put the name on its own line above the buttons, so long names stay readable. ### Open Channel Detail from a track header, and go back Unlock · Double-tap Double-tap a track's header in the arrange to open that track's FX chain and plugin workspace, the same gesture as on a mixer strip's name, and double-tap it again in Channel Detail to come back. #### How to use 1. Double-tap a track's header, away from its buttons and fader. Channel Detail opens for that track. 2. To come back, double-tap the same track's name in Channel Detail. You land back in the arrange. #### Tips - A single tap still selects the track in REAPER straight away. The first tap of your double-tap does that too, which is harmless. - Going back works once per trip. If you reached Channel Detail another way, the double-tap there does nothing. - Press and hold a header, then drag, to select a range of tracks instead. ### Show the selected track's full fader Unlock · Tap a track; menu toggle The arrange can show the selected track's full channel strip in a column on the right, just like the plugin view, for a bigger fader, pan and the rest of the strip. #### How to use 1. Tap a track's name in the arrange to select it. 2. Its full channel strip appears in the column on the right; use the fader, pan and buttons there. 3. To hide the column, tap the full-fader button at the right end of the Arrange bar at the bottom, next to the track and waveform height buttons. #### Tips - With several tracks selected, the column shows the first one; the others still follow its fader through REAPER's own selection ganging. - On smaller screens the column hides itself so the timeline keeps enough room. - The setting is saved on this device. ### Open an item's FX from its badge Unlock · Tap Items whose active take has FX show a green FX badge in their label. Tap it to open that item's FX chain in Channel Detail, for example the per-song chain on an album mastering track. #### How to use 1. Find the item. A green **FX** badge sits in its label when its active take has FX. 2. Tap the badge. Channel Detail opens on that item's FX. #### Tips - Select an item without FX to see a dim badge: tap it to add the first plugin. - The badge hides on items too narrow to hold it; use the Item FX button in the Edit lane instead. - A tap on the badge never moves the playhead or the selection. ### Open the selected item's FX from the Edit lane Unlock · Tap Add the Item FX button to the Edit lane to open the selected item's FX, handy for items too small to show a badge. #### How to use 1. Customize the Edit lane and add **Item FX**. 2. Select one item. 3. Tap **Item FX**. Channel Detail opens on that item's FX. #### Tips - Item FX is not in the Default bar: add it once and it stays. - It is greyed out unless exactly one item is selected. ### Select several tracks by dragging across headers Unlock · Long-press a header, then drag Press and hold a track header, then drag up or down across more headers to select that whole range in REAPER. #### How to use 1. Press and hold a track header until it responds. 2. Without lifting, drag up or down across the headers you want. 3. Lift your finger: all the tracks you crossed are selected in REAPER. #### Tips - A quick tap on a header still selects just that track. - A normal swipe up or down on the headers scrolls the tracks as usual. - Drag back toward where you started to shrink the range before you lift. - The range covers the tracks on screen; scroll first if you need more. ### Add a track by double-tapping below the last one Unlock · Double-tap the empty header column Double-tap the empty space in the track list below the last track to add a new track at the end of the project, the same as on the mixer. #### How to use 1. Scroll to the bottom of the track list until there is empty space below the last track. 2. Double-tap that empty space in the track-name column. 3. A new track appears at the end of the project. #### Tips - A single tap there does nothing, so a stray touch never adds a track. - Swiping up or down from the empty space still scrolls the tracks. ### Add a marker, undo and redo from the top bar Unlock · Tap On the Arrange tab the top bar trades Sends-on-Fader and Fine for what you reach for while editing: drop a marker at the playhead, undo and redo. #### How to use 1. Open the Arrange tab. 2. Tap + Marker to drop a marker where the playhead is. 3. Tap Undo or Redo to step through REAPER's history, in or out of Edit mode. #### Tips - Snap now lives in the Arrange bar at the bottom of the screen, next to Ripple and Lock. - On a narrow screen + Marker moves into the More (⋮) menu first; Undo and Redo go next. ### Use the Arrange bar Unlock · Tap The Arrange bar sits at the bottom of the Arrange tab, always: the Edit Mode button at the start, REAPER's editing options (Snap, Ripple, Lock) in the middle, the full-fader toggle and the track and waveform height at the end. #### How to use 1. Open the Arrange tab. The Arrange bar is at the bottom. 2. Tap Edit Mode at the left end to open the Edit lane above the bar. 3. Tap Snap to switch REAPER's snapping on or off; it lights while snap is on. 4. Tap Ripple or Lock to change how edits behave; hold either one for its menu. 5. Drag the track-height or waveform-height button at the end to resize the rows or the waveforms. #### Tips - Every button follows REAPER: change snap, ripple or locking on the computer and the bar shows it here. - To add Auto-crossfade, Item grouping, Grid lines or Move envelope points, open the bar's More (⋮) and tap Customize toolbar…. - Remove everything from the Arrange bar and it disappears, giving the tracks the room. - On a narrow screen the labels go first (Edit Mode keeps its word longest), then the height buttons move into More. ### Turn on Edit mode Unlock · Tap Edit mode lets you change items from the tablet: select them, trim them, set fades and item gain, and use the Edit lane. Off, the arrange is read-only. #### How to use 1. Open the Arrange tab. 2. Tap Edit Mode at the left end of the Arrange bar at the bottom. 3. The lanes get a coloured frame, the button reads Done, and the Edit lane appears above the Arrange bar. 4. Tap an item to select it; tap empty lane space to clear the selection and move the playhead. 5. Tap Done to go back to read-only. #### Tips - The selection is REAPER's own: select on the computer, undo or split, and the tablet follows. - The Edit lane holds Marquee, Move, Split, Delete, Mute, Duplicate and Glue. Split arms a cut: tap it, then tap an item where it should be cut. - Marquee selects many items at once: drag a box, or drag three fingers. - Move drags items along the timeline and onto other tracks. - Glue joins the selected items into one, and covers the time selection if there is one. - On a narrow screen the tools that do not fit move into the More (⋮) button at the end of the lane. - Delete asks nothing: Undo is one tap away in the top bar. - Edit mode is off every time the app starts. - To add Copy, Paste, Reverse, fades and more to the lane, open its More (⋮) and tap Customize toolbar…. ### Split an item Unlock · Tap Tap Split in the edit bar, then tap any item where it should be cut. The right part ends up selected, as when you split in REAPER. #### How to use 1. Turn on Edit mode. 2. Tap Split in the edit bar; it lights up. 3. Tap an item where it should be cut. It splits there and Split turns off. 4. To back out, tap Split again or tap empty lane space. #### Tips - With REAPER's snap on, the cut lands on the grid, like a trim. - The right part ends up selected, so Delete or Mute act on it next. - One Undo joins the item back together. - Locked items cannot be split, and Split is greyed out while REAPER's Items (full) lock is on. - Marquee, Move and Split take turns: arming one turns the others off. Turning the Items (full) lock on turns Split and Move off; Marquee only selects, so it stays on. ### Turn on ripple editing Unlock · Tap, hold Ripple editing makes later items follow when you move, trim or delete one, on its own track or on all tracks. The Ripple button cycles REAPER's three modes. #### How to use 1. Open the Arrange tab and find Ripple in the Arrange bar. 2. Tap Ripple to step through REAPER's modes: off, per track, all tracks, then off again. 3. Or hold Ripple and pick a mode from the menu; the current one has a check. #### Tips - The glyph shows the mode: two blocks for off, one lane with an arrow for per track, two lanes for all tracks. - While ripple is on, a light sheen runs across the button so you do not forget it. With Reduce Motion on, the button stays highlighted instead. - It is REAPER's own setting, so the computer and the tablet always agree. - Moving items with Move ripples exactly as REAPER's own move does. ### Lock edits Unlock · Tap, hold Locking stops accidental edits on the computer and on the iPad alike: a tap switches REAPER's locking on or off, and a hold opens Lock settings, the same list as REAPER's dialog. #### How to use 1. Open the Arrange tab and find Lock in the Arrange bar. 2. Tap Lock to switch locking on or off; it lights while locking is on. 3. Hold Lock to open Lock settings and tick what locking should protect: items, edges, fades, envelopes, markers, regions and more. #### What locking protects on the iPad With locking on, the iPad keeps the same edits off limits that REAPER's mouse does: - **Time selection** or **Loop points**: drawing the loop on the ruler does nothing and says "Time selection is locked in REAPER", and the loop sheet's buttons are greyed out. - **Item edges**: the trim handles disappear from the selected item. - **Item fade/volume handles**: the fade grips and the gain line disappear. - **Items (full)**: every handle disappears and Split and Move are greyed out. Tapping an item still selects it. - **Items (prevent left/right movement)** or **(prevent up/down movement)**: Move keeps the items in that direction and says so when you let go. - **Markers** or **Regions**: Start to playhead and End to playhead are greyed out in the marker editor. Renaming and recolouring still work. Delete, Glue and the other edit tools run REAPER's own actions, so they behave exactly as they do in REAPER. #### Tips - The list is REAPER's own Lock Settings, in the same order. - Some settings switch locking on by themselves, exactly as in REAPER, and the button follows. - To lock only the selected items, add Item lock to the Edit lane from Customize toolbar…. ### Trim an item Unlock · Drag Drag either edge of the selected item to pull it in or let more of the take back in. #### How to use 1. Turn on Edit mode and tap an item to select it. 2. Put a finger on its left or right edge, below the top corner. 3. Drag to trim; the edge snaps to the grid when REAPER's snap is on. 4. Lift to finish. #### Tips - The audio stays where it is: only the edge moves. - The trim follows REAPER's ripple editing, as a trim made in REAPER does. - Like REAPER, an edge can run past the start or end of the recording. - One Undo undoes the whole drag. - Locked items show a lock and cannot be changed. ### Move items Unlock · Drag Drag the selected items along the timeline and onto other tracks, as with REAPER's mouse. Drop them below the last track and REAPER adds tracks for them. #### How to use 1. Turn on Edit mode. 2. Tap Move in the Edit lane; it lights up. 3. Drag a selected item. Every selected item follows, keeping its spacing and its distance to the other tracks. 4. To give the items new tracks, drag below the last track. Rows marked New track show where they will go. 5. Lift your finger. REAPER moves the items in one step, and one Undo puts everything back. #### Tips - Dragging an item that is not selected selects it and moves only it, as in REAPER. - With snap on, the item you hold snaps to the grid and the others keep their distance to it. - With ripple editing on, the items after the ones you move follow, as they do in REAPER. - Items locked in REAPER stay where they are while the rest move. - When REAPER's Lock settings stop left/right or up/down movement, that direction stays still. With Items (full) locked, Move is greyed out. - Two fingers still zoom and scroll, and a tap still selects. A drag on empty space does nothing, so a missed grab never scrolls the view away. - Hold the items at an edge of the lanes and the view scrolls that way. - Marquee, Move and Split take turns: arming one turns the others off. ### Select items with a marquee Unlock · Drag, or three fingers Draw a box over the lanes to select every item it touches, as REAPER's marquee does. Then Delete, Mute, Duplicate, Glue or any item action works on all of them. #### How to use 1. Turn on Edit mode. 2. Tap Marquee in the Edit lane; it lights up. 3. Drag one finger across the lanes. Every item the box touches lights up. 4. Lift your finger. Those items are now REAPER's selection. 5. Or, without the tool, drag three fingers across the lanes. #### Tips - A marquee replaces the selection. An empty box clears it. - With Marquee on, two fingers still zoom and scroll, and a tap still selects one item. - Drag the box to an edge of the lanes and the view scrolls that way while the box keeps growing. - With one item selected, its trim, fade and gain handles still work while Marquee is on. - Delete, Mute, Duplicate and Glue act on every selected item. Undo is one tap away in the top bar. - Marquee, Move and Split take turns: arming one turns the others off. ### Set an item's fades Unlock · Drag Drag a top corner of the selected item sideways to set its fade-in or fade-out length; a small triangle marks where each fade ends. Fades show on every item, in REAPER's own curve shape. #### How to use 1. Turn on Edit mode and tap an item to select it. 2. Put a finger on its top-left (fade in) or top-right (fade out) corner, where the small triangle hangs. 3. Drag sideways to set the length; drag back to the edge to remove the fade. 4. Lift to finish. #### Tips - The shape set in REAPER is kept; only the length changes. - The waveform fades with it, live while you drag, so you can see how much of the take the fade swallows. - The fade-in and fade-out together never run past the item. - One Undo undoes the whole drag. ### Ride an item's gain Unlock · Vertical drag, double-tap Drag the upper half of the selected item up or down to change its gain, as on REAPER's item volume handle. A line across the item shows the level, with the dB value beside it while you drag; the waveform grows and shrinks with it. #### How to use 1. Turn on Edit mode and tap an item to select it. 2. Put a finger in the upper half of the item, away from its corners and edges. 3. Drag up for louder, down for quieter; the line across the item follows and its dB value shows beside it. 4. Double-tap there to go back to 0 dB. #### Tips - Move slowly for small steps: the gain follows a slow finger more finely than a fast one. - The lower half of the item still selects and pans. - The range runs from silence to +24 dB. - One Undo undoes the whole drag. ### Make waveforms taller Unlock · Drag, double-tap Press the waveform button in the Arrange bar and drag to draw waveforms anywhere from 1x to 16x their height, so quiet takes are easy to read. Display only: the audio does not change. #### How to use 1. Open the Arrange tab. 2. Press the waveform button at the end of the Arrange bar and drag up or right for taller waveforms, down or left for shorter; the button shows the size while you drag. 3. Double-tap the button to go back to 1x. #### Tips - Move slowly for fine steps. - The size is saved on this device. - Peaks that run past the block are clipped at its top and bottom. ### Make the arrange rows taller Unlock · Drag, double-tap Press the track-height button in the Arrange bar and drag to make every arrange row anywhere from 48 to 192 pixels tall. Taller rows give the item zones more room. #### How to use 1. Open the Arrange tab. 2. Press the track-height button near the end of the Arrange bar at the bottom (rows with an arrow). 3. Drag up or right for taller rows, down or left for shorter; the button shows the height in pixels while you drag. 4. Double-tap the button to go back to the standard height. #### Tips - The height is saved on this device. - The bar sits at the bottom of the screen, so dragging sideways is often easier: left shrinks, right grows. - Taller rows make the fade corners, the gain area and the edges easier to hit. - At the standard height and above, each header also shows a volume fader; at the smallest heights it is hidden. - The track at the top of the list stays there while you change the height. ## Docs: Channel Detail URL: https://mixsurface.app/docs/channel/ ### Open a plugin in the FX chain Unlock Jump into a plugin's controls, EQ curve, or gain-reduction reading by tapping its slot in the chain. #### How to use 1. Open Channel Detail for a track (double-tap a channel's name plate in the Mixer). 2. Tap any plugin slot in the FX chain rail on the left. #### Tips - Tapping a container drills into it instead of opening it directly. See "Look inside an FX container". ### Step to the previous or next track Unlock · Tap ‹ or › Walk through your tracks one at a time without leaving Channel Detail, in the same order the Mixer shows them, so checking every track's FX or sends is one tap per track. #### How to use 1. Open Channel Detail for a track. 2. Tap **›** above the channel strip on the right to move to the next track, or **‹** for the previous one. 3. The arrow at the first or last track is greyed out. The order does not wrap around. #### Tips - The order is the Mixer's: the current layer, without hidden or collapsed tracks, and pinned tracks where the Mixer shows them. The master is in it only if the Mixer shows the master. - Stepping selects the track in REAPER too, just like opening it from the Mixer. - If you were looking at SENDS, the next track opens in SENDS as well. - When the channel strip is hidden (portrait or a narrow screen), the arrows move into the **⋯** menu as Previous track and Next track. - While you are editing a template the arrows are hidden, so a stray tap cannot move you off the template. ### Land on a useful plugin automatically Unlock Channel Detail opens straight onto the first active plugin in the chain instead of an empty pane, so there's always something useful to look at. #### How to use 1. Double-tap a channel's name plate in the Mixer. 2. Channel Detail opens with the first active plugin already focused, no tap needed. #### Tips - If every plugin is bypassed or offline, the first one in the chain opens anyway. - An empty chain, or one with only containers, shows "Tap a slot to open" instead. ### Switch how a plugin is shown Unlock Choose between the specialized EQ curve, your saved custom layout, or the auto-generated grid for the focused plugin. #### How to use 1. Focus a plugin in Channel Detail. 2. Use the mode dropdown in the header to pick EQ, Template, or Generic. #### Tips - EQ plugins offer EQ + Generic; everything else offers Template + Generic, never both pairs at once. - The dropdown hides itself when there's only one option, or while a template edit session is open. ### Look inside an FX container Unlock See and manage the plugins living inside a REAPER FX container without leaving Channel Detail. #### How to use 1. Tap a container slot in the FX chain rail (marked with a trailing chevron). 2. The rail switches to that container's plugins. Open, reorder, add, delete, or bypass them exactly like the top-level chain. 3. Tap the back chevron to pop up one level. #### Tips - A container inside a container drills further, to any nesting depth. - Opening a plugin that lives inside a container shows its normal header: name, on/off, mode dropdown, and Edit, exactly like a top-level plugin, with the rail's back chevron alongside it. ### Open a mapped EQ plugin Unlock Get the dedicated multi-touch EQ curve automatically when you open a recognized parametric EQ, instead of a generic knob grid. #### How to use 1. Tap a mapped EQ plugin's slot (e.g. ReaEQ, FabFilter Pro-Q, Crave EQ). 2. Channel Detail opens straight onto the multi-touch EQ surface. #### Tips - See the EQ surface area for how to create, drag, and shape bands on the curve itself. - Switch to Generic from the mode dropdown if you ever want the plain knob grid instead. ### Add a plugin to the chain Unlock Insert a new plugin at the end of the FX chain from REAPER's full installed-plugin library. #### How to use 1. Tap "+ Add" at the bottom of the FX chain rail (or inside a container you've drilled into). 2. Browse Recents or All, search, or filter by tag. 3. Tap a plugin to add it. The sheet closes and it's appended. #### Tips - The new plugin opens automatically in the middle column, no extra tap needed. - Works inside an FX container too, including one that's still empty. ### Work on an item's FX in Channel Detail Unlock Give each song on an album mastering track its own chain and work on it with the same templates and EQ surface as a track's FX. #### How to use 1. Open an item's FX: tap its **FX** badge in Arrange, use the **Item FX** button, or select the item in REAPER with Link on. 2. The banner shows **ITEM** and the item's name. 3. Work on the chain as on a track: add, reorder and bypass plugins, open templates and the EQ surface. 4. The fader is the item's volume, the pan is the take's pan, **M** mutes the item, and the meter is the track's. 5. Tap the **‹ ›** arrows in the banner to step to the previous or next item on the same track. REAPER selects that item too. 6. Tap **Track FX** in the banner to return to the track. #### Tips - Items have no sends, solo or automation here. - If the item is deleted in REAPER, Channel Detail returns to its track. - Templates you made on a track work on an item with the same plugin. ### Follow REAPER's item selection Unlock · In REAPER With Link on, selecting an item that has FX in REAPER moves Channel Detail to that item's FX, and selecting a track moves it back. #### How to use 1. Turn Link on. 2. In REAPER, select an item that has FX. Channel Detail moves to that item's FX. 3. Select a track in REAPER. Channel Detail moves back to that track. #### Tips - An item without FX, or several items selected, changes nothing. - Whichever you selected last wins. ### Reorder your FX chain Unlock · Long-press, then drag Change the signal-flow order of plugins on a track by dragging them into place. #### How to use 1. Long-press any slot in the FX chain rail to enter rearrange mode. 2. Drag slots into the new order, or tap the × on a slot to remove it, then confirm the deletion. 3. Tap Done to exit rearrange mode. #### Tips - Works identically inside a drilled-in FX container. It reorders (or removes from) just that container's contents. ### Bypass a plugin Unlock Temporarily switch one plugin off without removing it, to A/B compare a mix with and without its processing. #### How to use 1. Tap the power icon on a plugin's slot in the FX chain rail, or the power icon in the header of the focused plugin, to bypass it. 2. Tap it again to re-enable. 3. Long-press the header's power icon instead to take the plugin fully offline, handy for a CPU-hungry plugin you don't need right now. Long-press again to bring it back online. #### Tips - Bypass keeps the plugin loaded but silent; offline unloads it entirely to free CPU. - Offline is only available from the header power icon. The FX chain rail's leading power icon only bypasses. ### Dial in a plugin's dry/wet mix Unlock · Drag Blend how much of a plugin's processed signal comes through, right from the header, no need to hunt for a mix knob inside the plugin's own UI. #### How to use 1. Open a plugin in Channel Detail. 2. Find the small Mix knob in the header, left of the on/off button. 3. Drag it to taste. 4. Double-tap it to snap back to 100% wet. #### Tips - Hidden automatically for plugins that don't expose a REAPER :wet parameter. ### Audition only what a plugin is adding (delta-solo) Unlock · Long-press Hear only a plugin's contribution to the signal, isolated from the dry source, handy for judging exactly what a compressor or EQ is doing. #### How to use 1. Open the plugin whose effect you want to isolate. 2. Long-press the Mix knob in the header. 3. It flips to a filled Δ chip. You now hear only the plugin's contribution. 4. Tap the Δ chip to exit and return to normal listening. #### Tips - Only available on plugins that expose a REAPER :delta parameter. The long-press does nothing otherwise. ### Filter the picker by tag Unlock Narrow the Add FX picker to plugins you've organized under a tag, like 'Vocal chain' or 'Mix bus'. #### How to use 1. Open the Add FX picker. 2. Tap a tag chip below the search field. 3. Tap it again to remove the filter. Combine several tags for a narrower list. ### Combine tag filters with AND or OR Unlock Control whether selecting several tags shows plugins in ALL of them or in ANY of them. #### How to use 1. Open the Add FX picker. 2. Tap the settings gear. 3. Under Combine tags, choose AND (must match every selected tag) or OR (matches any). ### Favorite a plugin for quick access Unlock · Long-press Mark a plugin you reach for constantly so it's always one tap away in the picker's Favorites strip. #### How to use 1. Open the Add FX picker. 2. Long-press a plugin row. 3. Tap "Add to favorites". #### Tips - Long-press again and choose "Remove from favorites" to un-favorite. - Once favorited, tap its chip in the Favorites strip at the top of the picker to add it to the chain in one tap. The strip only appears once you have at least one favorite. ### Reorder or remove your favorites Unlock · Long-press, then drag Rearrange or remove chips in your Favorites strip to match how often you reach for each plugin. #### How to use 1. Open the Add FX picker. 2. Long-press any Favorites chip to enter edit mode. 3. Drag chips to reorder, or tap the × to remove one. 4. Tap Done to exit. ### Organize plugins into custom tags Unlock · Long-press Group plugins into your own named categories, beyond Favorites, so you can filter the picker by workflow. #### How to use 1. Open the Add FX picker. 2. Long-press a plugin row. 3. Tap "Add to tag…". 4. Pick an existing tag, or tap "+ New tag" and name it. ### Rename or delete a tag Unlock · Long-press Rename or remove a custom tag once you no longer need it. #### How to use 1. Open the Add FX picker. 2. Long-press a tag chip in the filter row. 3. Tap "Rename…" or "Delete tag". 4. Confirm the deletion. ### Import your REAPER FX folders as tags Unlock Turn your existing REAPER FX folders into MixSurface tags in one tap, instead of re-organizing plugins by hand. #### How to use 1. Open the Add FX picker. 2. Tap the settings gear. 3. Tap "Import from folders". #### Tips - Safe to run more than once. It only adds new tags/members, never removes anything. ### Refresh the plugin list Unlock · Tap Rebuild MixSurface's plugin list on demand, for when you installed something while REAPER was already running. #### How to use 1. Open the Add FX picker. 2. Tap the refresh icon next to the settings gear. 3. The list rebuilds and a confirmation shows how many plugins were found. #### Tips - Use this after installing a plugin while REAPER is already running, even after REAPER's own rescan finished. MixSurface caches the plugin list separately and a plain rescan does not always tell it to refresh. - If a plugin is still missing after refreshing, run REAPER's own FX browser, "Scan for new plugins", first. Refresh only reloads what REAPER already knows about, it cannot discover a plugin REAPER itself hasn't found yet. ### Choose your preferred plugin format Unlock Pick which plugin format (VST3, AU, etc.) shows when the same plugin is installed in more than one format, or list every format as its own row. #### How to use 1. Open the Add FX picker. 2. Tap the settings gear. 3. Under Format, choose your preferred format, or choose "All" to list every variant. #### Tips - Plugins available in only one format are never hidden or affected, regardless of your preference. - The preference applies uniformly on every tab of the picker, on this device only. ### View any plugin's controls automatically Unlock Get usable knobs, buttons, and dropdowns for any plugin instantly, even ones nobody has built a custom layout for. #### How to use 1. Open any plugin that has no saved template. 2. Channel Detail auto-lays-out every readable parameter as a grid of knobs, toggle buttons, and dropdowns. #### Tips - More parameters than fit on your device's screen? The grid splits into pages sized to that device. Tap a page tab in the bar below the canvas to flip between them. A smaller screen simply shows more pages. - A plugin with no readable parameters offers "Start mapping" to build a custom template instead. ### Edit the auto-generated plugin view Unlock · Tap Edit, choose Turn a plugin's auto-generated grid into your own editable, saved layout, or start from a blank template. Tap Edit and pick how you want to begin. #### How to use 1. Open a plugin that shows the auto-generated grid (the Generic view). 2. Tap **Edit** in the plugin header. 3. Choose how to begin: - **Edit detected layout** keeps every control the auto view found and drops you straight into editing it. - **Start fresh** opens an empty template so you build from scratch by touching params in REAPER (listen mode). 4. Arrange the layout: move, resize, delete, or add controls, and flip between pages with the page bar. 5. Tap **Done** to save it as this plugin's layout, or **Cancel** to discard and return to the auto view. #### Tips - Pick **Edit detected layout** when the auto grid is close to what you want. Pick **Start fresh** when the plugin dumped dozens of params you'll never touch. - Editing works from the very first tap, before you ever save: the page bar and the Delete-page button are there for the whole session, so you can clean up a big auto layout page by page. - If the auto view spilled onto more than one screen, the whole layout carries over, not just the first page, and it re-flows into pages sized to whatever device you open it on. - Cancel is safe: nothing is saved until you tap Done. ### Build a custom control layout for a plugin Unlock Design your own knob/button/dropdown layout for a plugin instead of relying on the auto-generated grid, ideal for plugins with dozens of parameters where you only care about a handful. #### How to use 1. Open the plugin in Channel Detail. 2. If it has no saved layout yet, tap "Start mapping". That drops you straight into listen mode: touch parameters in REAPER and each one lands on the canvas. Otherwise switch the mode dropdown to Template, then tap Edit. 3. Tap an empty spot on the canvas to place controls another way (see "Add a control by touching a plugin parameter"). 4. Drag to arrange, resize as needed. 5. Tap Done to save, or Cancel to discard. #### Tips - Outgrown one screen? It splits into pages automatically, sized to your device (see "Spread a template across pages"). - The layout is device-wide per plugin. It's reused automatically wherever you use that plugin (see "Reuse a template on every instance"). ### Reuse a template on every instance of a plugin Unlock Your saved template for a plugin automatically applies wherever you use that plugin. Design it once, reuse it on every track. #### How to use 1. Build and save a template for a plugin once. 2. Add that same plugin to any other track or slot. 3. Open it in Channel Detail. Your saved layout appears automatically, bound to the new instance. #### Tips - If a plugin update renames or reorders its parameters, a control that can no longer find its match shows greyed instead of silently binding to the wrong one. Rebind it to fix. ### Spread a template across pages Unlock · Swipe or tap a page A template that outgrows one screen splits into pages automatically, sized to whatever device you're on. Swipe or tap through them while performing. Editing always shows page tabs. #### How to use 1. Build a template as normal; your controls live on one continuous layout. 2. When it holds more than fits on your device's screen, it splits into pages automatically. Swipe between them, or tap a page dot/tab. See "Choose dots or tabs for page navigation" for which one you get. 3. To push a control onto another page, drag it to the screen edge and hold; the canvas flips mid-drag (see "Move a control to another page"). #### Tips - Pages are windows sized to the device you're on, not saved files. Open the same template on a smaller iPad and it shows more pages; nothing is hidden or lost. - Editing always shows page-number tabs, whichever style you've chosen for viewing. - A control (or a resize that makes one bigger) stays on its current page whenever there's room. It only spills onto the next page when the page is genuinely full. ### Add a control by touching a plugin parameter Unlock · Touch a control in REAPER Add a knob to your plugin template by touching the matching control on the plugin's own UI in REAPER, no hunting through a parameter list. #### How to use 1. While editing a plugin template, tap an empty spot on the canvas. 2. Choose "From listen". 3. On your computer, touch/click the corresponding knob, fader, or switch on the plugin's REAPER window. 4. A bound knob appears on the canvas for each touch. Keep touching more controls to add more. 5. Tap Done to finish. #### Tips - Only touches on THIS plugin instance are accepted. Touch a different plugin and the app says so rather than staying quiet, so a missed capture never looks like a dead listen mode. - Touching a parameter that is already on the page is skipped, and the app tells you that too. - Every capture lands as a knob, regardless of the REAPER control's own widget type. - Leaving edit mode with Done or Cancel also ends the listen session. Anything you captured before Done is saved with the template. - "Start mapping" on a plugin with no layout yet drops you into this same listen session directly, so you can start touching parameters straight away. - While a listen session is running, tapping a control on the canvas does not open its settings. Finish or cancel the session first. ### Re-bind a control to a different parameter Unlock · Touch a control in REAPER Re-point an existing template control at a different plugin parameter, handy after a plugin update shifts its parameter layout and a control stops matching. #### How to use 1. While editing, tap the control you want to fix. 2. In its settings sheet, tap Rebind. 3. Touch the new target parameter on the plugin in REAPER. 4. Tap Add to confirm, or Cancel to back out. #### Tips - A control that no longer matches its saved parameter name shows greyed. That's your cue to rebind it. - Touching a different plugin during a rebind is refused, and the app tells you so instead of appearing to ignore you. - Leaving edit mode with Done or Cancel ends the rebind session too. ### Drop a gain-reduction meter into a template Unlock Add a gain-reduction meter to a plugin template. It wires itself to the host compressor automatically, with no listen step required. #### How to use 1. While editing a plugin template, tap + Add on the canvas. 2. Choose "GR Meter". 3. It appears already bound to the plugin you're editing. Arrange and resize it like any other control. 4. Tap Done to save. #### Tips - Only shows a live reading on compressors that report gain reduction to REAPER (most VST/VST3/AU compressors, JSFX compressors can't be read this way). ### Switch between FX and Sends (rail toggle) Unlock · Tap Flip the top of a track's Channel Detail between its FX chain and a mixer of its sends with one segmented toggle. The plugin list stays put, so you can jump back to a plugin any time. #### How to use 1. Open Channel Detail for a track. 2. At the top of the FX chain rail, tap **SENDS** on the FX | SENDS toggle. 3. The center swaps to a mixer of this track's sends. Tap **FX** (or any plugin slot) to go back to the FX chain. #### Tips - The mode sticks when you change tracks: if you are looking at SENDS, the next track you open, step to, or follow from REAPER opens in SENDS too. - The master bus has no SENDS view. Its toggle is hidden and it shows FX, but the next track still opens in SENDS. ### Mix a track's sends in Channel Detail Unlock The SENDS view turns a track's Channel Detail into a mini-mixer of every send it feeds, one strip per destination, each with a fader, pan, mute, routing, and a live level meter, footed in the destination track's own color. #### How to use 1. Open Channel Detail for a track and tap **SENDS** on the FX | SENDS toggle. 2. Each of the track's sends shows as a strip: drag the fader for send level, the pan bar for pan, tap mute, and cycle the routing button (POST / PREFX / PRE). 3. Read each strip's meter for the send's live level; the colored footer names the destination it feeds. #### Tips - The strip meter is derived from the source track's meter plus the send gain, so it reflects roughly what the destination receives without any extra metering setup. - The track's own fader stays on the right, unchanged, so you can balance the source and its sends side by side. ### Add a send Unlock · Tap ＋ Add a new send from the track you're viewing to any other track. Pick the destination from the same track picker used everywhere, and the send lands silently at −inf ready to bring up. #### How to use 1. In a track's SENDS view, tap the **＋** card at the end of the row. 2. Pick a destination track from the picker. 3. The new send appears at −inf. Raise its fader to bring it up. #### Tips - The picker hides tracks you already send to (and the master and the track itself), so you can't create a duplicate send by accident. ### Remove a send Unlock · Long-press Delete a send you no longer need by long-pressing its destination footer in the SENDS view and confirming, a deliberate two-step so you never lose a routing by a stray tap. #### How to use 1. In a track's SENDS view, long-press the colored destination footer at the bottom of the send strip you want to remove. 2. Confirm **Remove** in the dialog. 3. The strip disappears and the send is deleted in REAPER. #### Tips - Removing a send is permanent. To silence a send without deleting it, pull its fader to −inf or tap mute instead. ### Mix the sends feeding a track (RECEIVES) Unlock · Tap Flip the sends view to RECEIVES to see every send coming INTO the track you're on, one strip per source, so you can balance everything feeding a reverb, monitor, or bus from the bus's own page. #### How to use 1. Open Channel Detail for the destination track (a reverb, a monitor bus, a group) and tap **SENDS** on the FX | SENDS toggle. 2. Tap **RECEIVES** on the SENDS | RECEIVES toggle at the right of the header. The header reads "RECEIVES" followed by the track name. 3. Each source feeding this track shows as a strip, footed in that source's color: drag the fader for its send level, the pan bar for pan, tap mute, and cycle the routing button. 4. Use a strip's automation button to set that **source** track's automation mode, so its send rides get written in Touch, Latch, or Write. #### Tips - A receive is just a send seen from the other end, so every move here changes the same send you'd find on the source track's own SENDS view. - To stop a source feeding this track, long-press its colored footer and confirm **Remove**. - The master bus has no RECEIVES view. Tracks reach it through their main output, not a send. ### Add a source (receive from a track) Unlock · Tap ＋ Wire a new send INTO the track you're on. Pick the source from the same track picker used everywhere, and it lands silently at −inf, ready to bring up from the bus's own page. #### How to use 1. In a track's **RECEIVES** view, tap the **＋** card at the end of the row. 2. Pick the source track you want to feed into this one. 3. The new receive appears at −inf. Raise its fader to bring the source up. #### Tips - The picker hides tracks that already send here (and the master and the track itself), so you can't create a duplicate by accident. - This is the mirror of adding a send: it creates a send from the source into this track, so it also shows up on the source track's own SENDS view. ## Docs: EQ Surface URL: https://mixsurface.app/docs/eq/ ### Switch between curve and knob-grid views Unlock · Tap Trade the visual frequency curve for a dense column-per-band grid of knobs when you want to fly through every band's numbers quickly rather than think spatially. #### How to use 1. Tap the PARAM / KNOB segmented control at the right of the band-chip strip. 2. KNOB mode shows every band as a column of controls, paginated 6 per page; PARAM returns to the curve. ### Hide the band controls for a bigger curve Unlock · Tap Collapse the detail bar and band strip so the EQ curve fills the whole screen, then bring them back when you need a knob. Useful on any device, and the default on short screens where the curve would otherwise be a sliver. #### How to use 1. Look at the top-left corner of the EQ curve for the sliders button. 2. Tap it to hide the detail bar and the band strip. The curve takes over the full height. 3. Tap it again to bring the controls back. #### Tips - The curve is live either way: with the controls showing you can still drag bands, pinch a slope and double-tap to add a band. The sliders button is the only thing that hides them again. - On a short screen (a small tablet or a phone in landscape) the controls start hidden and float over the curve when you show them, so the curve never shrinks. - The controls float on top of the bottom of the curve, so a band you drag down there carries on moving out of sight. Hide the controls to see the whole curve again. - Your choice sticks for the rest of the session, whatever the screen size. - The dB zoom pill lives with the controls: it comes back when they do. ### Double-tap to drop a new band Unlock · Double-tap The fastest way to add a band, double-tap open space on the curve and a new band appears right there, ready to drag. #### How to use 1. Double-tap an empty spot on the curve (not on an existing band, and not directly on the curve line). 2. A new band appears at that frequency/gain with a type guessed from the frequency zone. ### Draw a new band onto the curve Unlock · Drag near the curve Start a drag right on the curve line in open frequency territory to spawn a new band exactly where you touched, then keep shaping it in the same motion. #### How to use 1. Touch down near the curve line where no band exists yet. 2. Drag. After a few pixels of travel a new band appears at your starting point, with a type guessed from that frequency zone (low = shelf/high-pass, mid = bell, high = shelf/low-pass). 3. Keep dragging to shape the new band's frequency/gain immediately. #### Tips - Lifting without moving (a tap) creates nothing. Only a real drag commits the new band. ### Add a band from the + button Unlock · Tap Pick an exact filter shape up front (Bell, Shelf, Pass, Notch) instead of relying on the curve's frequency-zone guess. #### How to use 1. Tap the "+" icon at the end of the band-chip strip below the curve. 2. Choose a filter type from the sheet that opens. 3. The new band appears centered at 1 kHz / 0 dB, ready to drag into place. #### Tips - The "+" only shows on plugins that can really take another band. An EQ with a fixed set of bands has nothing to add, so no button appears. - If the EQ has no free band slots left, MixSurface tells you instead of quietly doing nothing. ### Delete a band Unlock · Tap Remove a band you no longer want, instead of leaving it disabled and cluttering the strip. #### How to use 1. Select the band you want to remove, on the curve or from the chip strip. 2. Tap the bin icon next to the eye in the band's control bar. 3. Confirm. The band disappears from the curve and the chip strip. #### Tips - The bin only appears on plugins whose bands can really be removed. On an EQ with a fixed set of bands there is nothing to delete, so no button shows. - To silence a band without removing it, use the eye toggle instead. That is reversible with one tap. ### Select a band to edit Unlock · Tap Focus one band so its knobs, type, and slope respond in the detail bar below the curve, the starting point for every other EQ edit. #### How to use 1. Tap a band's node on the curve, or tap its chip in the strip below the curve. 2. The band's spine color highlights and its controls populate the detail bar. #### Tips - The first band is selected automatically when you open the EQ, and again whenever the selected band disappears. ### Shape a band by dragging its node Unlock · Drag Grab a band directly on the curve and pull it to the frequency/gain you want (or frequency/resonance for a high/low-pass), watching the curve redraw live. #### How to use 1. Touch and hold a band's node on the curve. 2. Drag left/right to sweep frequency; drag up/down to sweep gain (or the cutoff steepness for a high/low-pass). 3. Release to commit. REAPER's automation write closes cleanly on lift. #### Tips - Dragging a bypassed band automatically re-enables it, so shaping just works without a separate tap first. - Slow drags move at reduced, precise speed; fast drags track your finger 1:1. ### Pinch to reshape a band's Q or slope Unlock · Pinch Spread or squeeze two fingers to widen/narrow a bell, shelf, or notch's resonance, or to step a high/low-pass filter through its real slope options. #### How to use 1. Put one finger on a band's node and a second finger anywhere else on the curve, or, if the band is already selected, pinch anywhere on empty curve space. 2. Spread to sharpen (raise Q / steepen the cut); squeeze to soften. 3. Lift both fingers to lock in the change. #### Tips - On a high/low-pass band this quantizes to the plugin's real slope steps (e.g. 12/24/36/48 dB/oct) instead of a continuous Q. ### Fine-tune a band with an axis-locked three-finger drag Unlock · Three fingers, drag Lock a drag to just frequency or just gain for a surgical, single-axis move, at the same slowed-down precision the other drags use. #### How to use 1. Rest three fingers on the EQ curve, over or near the band you want. 2. Move slightly. The drag locks to whichever axis you moved along first (freq or gain), shown by a thin guide line through the band. 3. Keep dragging along that locked axis; the other parameter stays frozen. 4. Lift to commit the final position. #### Tips - A high/low-pass band only has a frequency axis to lock onto. There's no gain to freeze. ### Dial in a band with the knob row Unlock · Drag Adjust the selected band's frequency, gain, and Q by dragging its knobs in the detail bar, precise vertical-drag control independent of touching the curve. #### How to use 1. Select a band. 2. Drag a FREQ / GAIN / Q knob up or down; the live readout above the knob updates as you move. 3. Double-tap a knob to reset it to its default position. #### Tips - There's no numeric keypad entry. Knobs are drag-only, with double-tap-to-reset as the only shortcut. ### Change a band's filter shape Unlock · Tap Swap a band between Bell, Shelf, High/Low-pass, Notch, and whatever other shapes the plugin supports. #### How to use 1. Select the band. 2. Tap the TYPE dropdown in the detail bar. 3. Pick a shape from the list. #### Tips - On plugins with fixed, hardware-style bands (e.g. Oxford EQ's named filters), some bands have a permanently locked type and the dropdown appears dimmed. ### Tilt the whole spectrum with one band Unlock · Tap, then drag A tilt band pivots at its frequency: everything below goes down, everything above goes up, by the same amount. Use it to brighten or darken a whole mix in one move. #### How to use 1. Select a band, tap the TYPE dropdown, and pick Tilt Shelf. 2. Drag the band node up to brighten (lows come down, highs go up) or down to darken. 3. Drag it left or right to move the pivot, the frequency that stays at 0 dB. 4. Use SLOPE to set how abruptly the tilt turns over at the pivot, and Q to sharpen the knee. #### Tips - Tilt Shelf flattens out into plateaus at both ends: the full amount of cut below, the full amount of boost above. It is not half each way. - Pro-Q 3 and Pro-Q 4 also offer Flat Tilt, which never flattens out. It keeps climbing at a constant rate all the way across, so it reads as a straight line on the curve. Q and slope do nothing there, and the surface greys them out to say so. - Pushing Q up past about 2 makes the tilt overshoot its own plateau near the pivot, a small bump on the boost side and a dip on the cut side. That is the plugin's real behaviour, and the curve draws it. - Pro-Q 4's All Pass is drawn as a flat line, because an all-pass filter changes phase and leaves the level alone. Its frequency and Q still do something audible, you just cannot see it on a level curve. ### Pick a band's sonic character (subtype) Unlock · Tap On plugins that model several analog flavors per band, like a Pultec-style boost/cut pair or a resonant vs. plain shelf, choose which one this band behaves like. #### How to use 1. Select a band whose plugin exposes subtypes. A second dropdown appears next to TYPE. 2. Tap it and choose a subtype. 3. If that subtype adds a "Shift" or "Gain↔Q" knob, drag it to dial in the resonance/interaction. ### Pick a filter's slope Unlock · Tap Choose the exact rolloff steepness (dB/octave) for a shelf or cut from the plugin's real slope options, when it's exposed as a discrete list rather than a continuous knob. #### How to use 1. Select the band. 2. Tap the SLOPE dropdown in the detail bar. 3. Choose a dB/oct value from the list. #### Tips - Some plugins (e.g. Pro-Q 4) expose slope as a continuous knob instead of a list. Drag it like any other knob. ### Dial in a band's extra parameter Unlock · Drag Some bands carry one extra knob beyond freq/gain/Q/type, like Oxford EQ's per-band 'Overshoot', for a plugin-specific tweak that doesn't fit the standard set. #### How to use 1. Select a band that has an aux control. It appears in the detail bar's right-hand slot. 2. Drag the knob to adjust it; the readout shows the plugin's own formatted value when available. ### Adjust a plugin-wide EQ setting Unlock · Tap Some EQs have one control that colors the whole unit rather than a single band, like Oxford EQ's overall 'Eq Type' character, surfaced once instead of duplicated on every band. #### How to use 1. Look at the right end of the detail bar: a single global control shows inline, tagged "GLOBAL"; more than one shows behind a chevron button. 2. Tap the control directly, or tap the chevron first to open the sheet, then change it. ### Zoom the curve's dB range Unlock · Tap Tighten the vertical scale to see subtle moves clearly, or widen it to keep a big boost/cut in view. #### How to use 1. Tap ±30 / ±18 / ±12 / ±6 / ±3 in the top-right corner of the curve. 2. The curve and its gridlines rescale immediately. #### Tips - ±30 keeps a big boost or a deep cut fully on screen. ±3 makes half-a-dB moves readable. - The scale is remembered per plugin instance, so each EQ keeps the zoom you left it at. ### Set your preferred zoom as the default Unlock · Long-press Stop re-picking your favorite dB range every time you open a new EQ instance. Bake it in once for every EQ that doesn't have its own saved range yet. #### How to use 1. Set the zoom to the range you want (see "Zoom the curve's dB range"). 2. Long-press the zoom control. 3. Confirm "Set Default" in the dialog that appears. ### Reorder Knob-view columns by frequency Unlock · Tap Re-sort the band columns low-to-high after adding bands out of order, so the grid reads like the curve does. #### How to use 1. In Knob view, tap the sort icon in the header bar. 2. Columns rearrange by ascending frequency. ### See which EQs get the full parametric surface Unlock The multi-touch curve, drag/pinch gestures, and per-band control bar only light up for EQ plugins MixSurface has mapped. Every other plugin still opens, just as the standard auto-built knob grid. #### How to use 1. Open an FX slot running a mapped EQ. The parametric curve loads automatically instead of the generic control grid. 2. Mapped today: REAPER's own ReaEQ, plus Crave EQ 2 (Crave DSP), Pro-Q 2/3/4 (FabFilter), MB EQ (Metric Halo), MDWEQ6 (Massenburg DesignWorks), Big FrEQ (Empirical Labs), Oxford EQ (Sonnox), and EQuilibrium (DMGAudio), 10 EQs in total. 3. The drawn curve mirrors each plugin's real response, its shelf shapes and its filter slopes, so what you see on the surface matches what the plugin does. 4. Any other EQ still works fully. It just renders as the standard auto-built knob/fader grid rather than the curve. ## Docs: Control View URL: https://mixsurface.app/docs/control-view/ ### Add a new control page Unlock Start a brand-new blank canvas for a fresh set of controls, e.g. one page per song section, per workflow, or per FoH task. #### How to use 1. Open Control View. 2. Tap the + at the end of the page rail. 3. Choose Blank page. 4. The new page is created project-scoped and selected automatically. #### Tips - New pages default to Project scope. Promote to Global later from page settings if you want it to follow every project. ### Promote or demote a page between global and project Unlock Decide whether a control page lives in just this project or follows you into every project. Flip the Scope switch in page settings to promote or demote it. #### How to use 1. Long-press the page rail to enter its local edit mode. 2. Tap the page you want to change. 3. In Scope, switch between Project and Global. 4. Tap Save. #### Tips - Promoting keeps each control's plugin binding pinned to THIS project via a per-project overlay; demoting bakes those bindings back into the page. Global pages show a small globe badge on the rail. ### Rename and recolor a page Unlock · Long-press, then tap Give a page a memorable name and a color so it's easy to spot in the rail. #### How to use 1. Long-press the page rail to enter its local edit mode. 2. Tap the page you want to edit. 3. Type a new name and/or pick a color swatch. 4. Tap Save. ### Reorder pages Unlock · Long-press, drag Put your most-used pages first by dragging them into a new order in the rail. #### How to use 1. Long-press the page rail to enter its local edit mode. 2. Drag a page tile to its new position. 3. Tap Done to exit the rail's edit mode. #### Tips - Reordering only works within the same scope group. Global pages always sort before project pages. ### Delete a page Unlock · Long-press, tap × Remove a page you no longer need, including all its sections and controls. #### How to use 1. Long-press the page rail to enter its local edit mode. 2. Tap the × badge on the page. 3. Confirm Delete. #### Tips - Deleting the last remaining page drops you back to the first-launch empty canvas. You can always add a new one. ### Enter and exit page-edit mode Unlock Open a modal editing session on the current page so you can add, move, and configure controls, then save or discard your changes as a batch. #### How to use 1. Tap Edit in the top bar. 2. Make your changes: add sections/controls, drag them around, open their settings. 3. Tap Done to save, or Cancel to discard everything from this session. #### Tips - Page switching and adding a new page are locked while editing, so you can't lose your place mid-edit. ### Arrange controls exactly where they'll appear Unlock Edit mode shows the same pages you'll perform on, so what you arrange is what you get: a control never jumps to a different page when you tap Done. #### How to use 1. Enter edit mode on any page. 2. Arrange controls where you want them; the pages you see while editing are exactly the pages you'll perform on. 3. Tap Done. Nothing shifts to a different page behind your back. #### Tips - Just looking? Opening edit mode and tapping Done without changing anything saves nothing; your layout is left exactly as it was. - Because pages fit the current device, editing on a smaller screen can show more pages than a larger one, but each control still lands where you place it. ### Bind plugin parameters by touching them in REAPER Unlock · Touch a knob in REAPER The fastest way to build a page, start a listen session, then physically move any plugin parameter in REAPER and a matching knob appears on the iPad automatically, one per touch. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, tap + Add (page-level) or a section's own + button. 2. Choose From listen. 3. In REAPER, touch or move any FX parameter. A knob is added instantly. 4. Repeat for as many parameters as you want. 5. Tap Done to keep them, or Cancel to discard the whole batch. #### Tips - You can bind parameters from different tracks and plugins in the same session. One page can mix controls across your whole mix. Cancelling after adding more than 3 asks you to confirm the discard. - Touching a parameter that is already bound in the section you are adding to is skipped, and the app names the control that already carries it. A capture that goes nowhere never looks like a dead listen mode. - The listen sheet does not block the iPad while it is up, and leaving edit mode with Done or Cancel ends the session too. ### Bind a REAPER action to a button by performing it Unlock · Perform the action in REAPER Put a REAPER action, menu item, SWS command, custom action or ReaScript on a button just by doing it once, from the Main section or from the MIDI editor. The app captures which action ran, which section it lives in, and whether it's a toggle or a one-shot. #### How to use 1. On a global or project Control View page (not a plugin template), enter edit mode. 2. Tap the + in a group and choose **From listen**. 3. In REAPER, run the action/command you want. 4. A button appears already wired: momentary for a one-shot action, a lit toggle when REAPER reports a real on/off state. 5. Tap Done. #### Tips - Toggle buttons keep reflecting REAPER's live state afterward, e.g. the button lights up when Loop is turned on from the REAPER transport, not just from the iPad. Action capture and parameter capture can happen in the same listen session. - Actions are a Control View feature. Run one during a plugin-template listen session and the app tells you rather than swallowing it. - Performing an action that already has a button in the section you are adding to is skipped, and the app names the button that already carries it rather than silently doing nothing. Sections are checked one at a time, so the same action can still be placed in a different section on purpose. - Custom actions and ReaScripts bind to themselves, not to the first native action inside them. - If you type an action id by hand in the button settings, the app checks that the id really exists in the section you picked and tells you if it does not, instead of firing whatever else REAPER keeps at that number. It cannot catch the opposite mistake: an id that is valid in both sections runs the one you asked for, not the one you meant. - MIDI editor actions work too: open the MIDI editor during the listen session and perform the action there. The button remembers that it belongs to the MIDI editor, so it runs the right thing even though REAPER reuses the same command numbers in both places. Tap it with no MIDI editor open and the app says so rather than doing nothing. - Perform an action in REAPER's inline MIDI editor and the app tells you to open the full MIDI editor and do it there instead. Most inline actions live in the MIDI editor's own section too, so that is usually all it takes. - REAPER's remaining sections, the Media Explorer and the crossfade editor, cannot be triggered from outside REAPER at all, by any control surface. Perform one during a listen session and the app names the section and stops, instead of binding a button that would never work. The way around it is REAPER's: wrap the action in a ReaScript registered in the Main section, then bind that. - REAPER identifies custom actions and ReaScripts per install, not globally. Share a page carrying one and the button will not resolve on the other machine: tapping it warns you instead of doing nothing. Action buttons cannot be re-bound, so delete the button there and perform the action again to learn it on that machine. Native and SWS actions travel fine. ### Add level meters from tracks Unlock Drop one or more vertical level meters for any tracks in your project, in bulk. The Master bus is a pickable track too. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, tap + Add and choose Meter from track… 2. Check off every track you want a meter for. Master is listed alongside the regular tracks. 3. Tap Add N meter(s). #### Tips - Meter cells are narrow, so a long track name is shown in full. It's centered and allowed to spill past the cell rather than being cut off with an ellipsis. - A meter bound to Master keeps working across REAPER restarts and project reloads. MixSurface re-finds the master bus itself instead of trusting a saved ID that changes between sessions. ### Re-bind a meter to a different track Unlock Point an existing level meter at a different track without deleting and re-adding it, opens the same track picker used when adding a meter. #### How to use 1. Tap the meter in edit mode to open its settings. 2. Tap Re-bind… in the Bound to card. 3. Pick the new track, Master included, from the list. 4. Tap Add to confirm. #### Tips - This is the same track picker used when adding a new meter. Re-binding never needs listen mode or touching anything in REAPER. ### Add a gain-reduction meter for a compressor Unlock · Touch the plugin in REAPER Drop a live gain-reduction readout for any compressor onto your page. Just touch any control on that plugin once to bind it. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, tap + Add and choose GR Meter. 2. Touch any control on the target compressor in REAPER. 3. Tap Add to confirm. #### Tips - Only works on compressors that report a gain-reduction value to REAPER, true for most VST/VST3/AU compressors, generally not for JSFX. ### Configure a GR meter's look Unlock Choose how a gain-reduction meter displays (a moving line, a bar, or an analog-style needle arc) and set its scale and tick marks. #### How to use 1. Tap a GR meter control in edit mode. 2. Pick a Style: Line, Bar, or Arc. 3. For Line/Bar, choose Vertical or Horizontal orientation. 4. Set the Range (full-scale reduction) and toggle Show ticks. 5. Tap Save. #### Tips - The needle arc has no orientation toggle. It's always the arc shape. ### Add a static text label Unlock Drop a plain text caption onto the page to title a section or add context, purely decorative, with no binding. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, tap + Add and choose Static label. 2. Its settings sheet opens automatically. Type your text. 3. Tap Save. ### Drag a control to reposition it Unlock · Drag Move any control, grouped or ungrouped, to a new spot on the page; overlapping controls automatically shuffle out of the way. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, press and drag a control. 2. Drop it in an empty spot, or over other controls to push them aside. 3. Everything snaps to an 8px grid. #### Tips - A section's area is occupied space too. A control can't drop onto, or be shuffled into, a section it doesn't belong to. ### Move a control to another page Unlock · Drag to the edge, hold Drag a control to the left or right screen edge and hold. The canvas flips to the neighbouring page mid-drag so you can drop it there, iOS-home-screen style. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, press and drag a control. 2. Hold it against the left or right edge of the screen. 3. The canvas flips to the next page; drop the control where you want it. #### Tips - It's the same move whether you're editing a Control View page or a plugin template. - Dropping onto an occupied spot follows your collision preference (place-and-block, or shove aside). See "Choose what happens when controls collide". ### Resize a control Unlock Pick a larger or smaller footprint for a control so it fits your layout and is easy to hit. Growing it keeps everything on the current page whenever there's room. #### How to use 1. Tap a control in edit mode. 2. In Slot size, pick a size option. 3. Tap Save. #### Tips - Growing a control stays on its current page whenever there's room. It only spills onto the next page when the page is genuinely full. ### Set a control's accent color Unlock Tint an individual knob, fader, segmented, dropdown, or button so it stands out or matches a section's theme. #### How to use 1. Tap the control in edit mode. 2. Pick a swatch from Color (Active color for a button). 3. Tap Save. #### Tips - The chosen color carries across a type morph. Switching a colored knob to a fader keeps its tint. - The first swatch is Default. It shows the app's own accent color, which is exactly what the control renders when you leave it uncolored. - A button also has a separate Inactive color for its OFF state. ### Set a button's inactive color Unlock Give a button's OFF state a color of its own instead of the neutral grey box, so a row of buttons reads at a glance even when nothing is lit. #### How to use 1. Tap a button in edit mode. 2. Pick a swatch under Inactive color. 3. Tap Save. #### Tips - Leave it on Default to keep the plain grey resting box, which is what every button looked like before. - Pair it with Active color to give a button two readable states, for example a dim slate at rest and a bright red when lit. ### Invert a button that reads backwards Unlock Fix a button that lights up when the plugin is off. Some plugins report an engaged control as 0 and a disengaged one as 1. Invert flips both what the button shows and what a press sends. #### How to use 1. Tap a button in edit mode. 2. Set Invert to "On". 3. Tap Save. #### Tips - Reach for this when a button looks lit while the plugin's own window shows the control switched off, and dark when it is on. - It flips the press as well as the lamp, so the button keeps doing the right thing in REAPER. - The small value line under the button still shows the plugin's own wording, so it can read "Off" under a lit button. That is the plugin describing its own raw value. - Leave it "Off" for every button that already behaves, which is almost all of them. ### Keep a button label in mixed case Unlock Show a button's name exactly as you typed it instead of forcing it to capitals, for labels like Talkback or Mix Bus that read better in mixed case. #### How to use 1. Tap a button in edit mode. 2. Set Label case to "As typed". 3. Tap Save. #### Tips - The default, "Upper", is what every button has always done, so leaving it alone changes nothing. - On the default label placement (name beneath the button) the label is a single line, so a long name is trimmed rather than wrapped. - On the inline placement (name inside the button) the button keeps its chosen size and the name wraps to fit it instead, shrinking a step or two if it has to. - A very long name on a small inline button can still be cut off with an ellipsis. There is a floor on how small the text will go, so it stays readable from a distance. Pick a bigger button size, or a shorter name, if you need the whole thing visible. ### Narrow a knob or fader's travel range Unlock Restrict a knob or fader to only sweep part of the underlying parameter, e.g. lock a send knob to the top half of its range. #### How to use 1. Tap the knob or fader in edit mode. 2. Set Min and Max (normalized 0.0–1.0). 3. Tap Save. ### Tap empty space to add a control Unlock · Tap empty canvas In edit mode the whole canvas is the button. Tap any empty area to open the Add menu, no toolbar affordance to hunt for. #### How to use 1. Enter edit mode. 2. Tap any empty area of the canvas. 3. Choose what to add from the menu that opens. #### Tips - Tapping an existing control selects or moves it instead. Only empty space opens the Add menu. ### Group controls into a labeled section Unlock Create a colored, labeled box to visually cluster related controls, e.g. one section per plugin, or one per task. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, tap an empty spot on the canvas. 2. Choose New Section. 3. Name it and pick a color in the settings sheet that opens. 4. Tap Save. #### Tips - A new section starts empty. Add controls into it next with its own + button, or with the page-level Add sheet. ### Move a control into or out of a section Unlock Reassign an existing control's section membership. Pull it into a group, or drop it back onto the page as ungrouped. #### How to use 1. Tap the control in edit mode to open its settings. 2. In Group, pick None (ungrouped) or an existing section. 3. Tap Save. ### Move a whole section as one unit Unlock · Long-press the header, drag Reposition every control in a section together by dragging its header strip, instead of moving each control one at a time. It collides like a real control and can carry across pages. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, long-press the header strip on the left edge of a section, then drag. 2. Drop it in an empty spot. The section and every control inside it land together. 3. Drag against the left or right screen edge and hold to carry the section onto another page, same as a single control. #### Tips - A section can't drop onto space a control or another section already occupies, and vice versa. The target turns red and the section snaps back to where it started. - Unlike dragging a single control, a section never shoves anything else out of the way to make room. The drop only succeeds where there's genuinely free space, no matter your collision setting. ### Edit a section's name, color, and render style Unlock Rename a section, recolor its hull, and choose whether it renders as a solid outlined container or a subtle color underlay behind its controls. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, tap a section's header strip. 2. Edit the label, pick Container or Underlay render style, and choose a color. 3. Tap Save. ### Delete a section (ungroup) Unlock · Tap × Remove a section's grouping. Its controls survive and become ungrouped, directly on the page. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, tap the × in the section's top-right corner. 2. Confirm Delete. ### Change a control's type Unlock Swap a knob for a fader, button, segmented switch, or dropdown (and back) without losing its binding, handy when a bulk-add gives you a knob but the parameter really wants a toggle. #### How to use 1. Tap a control in edit mode to open its settings. 2. In Type, pick Knob / Fader / Button / Segmented / Dropdown. 3. Tap Save. #### Tips - Meters, GR meters, and labels are fixed (terminal) types. They don't show a Type selector. To change one, delete it and add a new one. ### Choose momentary or toggle for a button Unlock Decide whether a button fires only while held (momentary, e.g. talkback) or flips on/off and stays lit (toggle, e.g. mute). #### How to use 1. Tap a button in edit mode. 2. Set Button mode to Momentary or Toggle. 3. Tap Save. ### Add a center detent to a fader Unlock Turn on a snap-to-center notch for a bipolar fader (pan-style controls) so the center point is easy to find by feel. #### How to use 1. Tap a fader in edit mode. 2. Switch Center detent to On. 3. Tap Save. ### Edit a segmented or dropdown control's options Unlock Hand-author the labeled steps a segmented switch or dropdown shows, when you want custom names instead of the plugin's own text. #### How to use 1. Tap a segmented or dropdown control in edit mode. 2. Edit each row's label and value, or tap + Add segment for a new row. 3. Tap Save. ### Auto-generate evenly-spaced steps Unlock Skip hand-typing rows. Generate N evenly-spaced divisions (e.g. 4 quarter-steps) for a segmented or dropdown control in one tap. #### How to use 1. Open a segmented or dropdown control's settings. 2. Type the number of divisions you want (2–32) in the count field. 3. Tap + Add [N] divisions. This replaces the current rows. ### Choose what happens when controls collide Unlock Decide whether dropping a control onto an occupied spot places it (blocking the drop) or shoves the control underneath out of the way, a global editing preference. #### How to use 1. Open **Settings** and tap **Control View**. 2. Find **Reorder on collision** and choose **Off** or **On**. - **Off** (the default): dropping a control onto an occupied spot is blocked. The target turns red and the control snaps back. Nothing else moves. - **On**: the control already there reflows into the nearest free spot to make room. 3. The choice applies everywhere you arrange controls, both Control View pages and plugin templates. #### Tips - Leave it **Off** if you like placing controls precisely without a neighbour jumping out of the way. - The setting is remembered on this device and never changes your saved layouts. It only affects the drag interaction. - A section's area counts as occupied space either way. A control can't land on it, reflow or not. Dragging a whole section is different again: it never reflows anything, always blocking and snapping back on a collision. See "Move a whole section as one unit". ### Show or hide a control's value Unlock Force the live value number to show or hide on a knob, fader, or meter, useful when the automatic rule hides it on the smallest controls but you still want to read it. #### How to use 1. Open a knob, fader, or meter's settings. 2. Set Value readout to Auto, Show, or Hide. 3. Auto shows the number on larger controls and hides it on the smallest ones; Show and Hide force it either way. ### Line controls up with alignment guides Unlock · Drag While dragging a control, snap-lines appear when its edges or center line up with a neighbour, so a tidy, aligned grid is easy to build by eye. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, drag a control. 2. When its edge or center lines up with a nearby control, a guide line appears and the control gently snaps into alignment. 3. Both axes work at once. Line up horizontally with one neighbour and vertically with another to drop straight into a grid. #### Tips - The pull is gentle. It only kicks in when you're already close, so it never fights precise placement. - Guides show the exact line you're aligning to, so you can build an even layout without measuring. ### Scan a control's options from the plugin Unlock · Tap Discover a segmented or dropdown control's labels by scanning the bound plugin parameter's own values, instead of typing them by hand, ideal for plugins that don't report their choices up front. #### How to use 1. Open a segmented or dropdown control that's bound to a plugin parameter, in a plugin template or a Control View page. 2. Tap **Scan values from FX**. 3. MixSurface sweeps the parameter, reads back each distinct choice, and fills the rows. Its original value is restored when the scan finishes. 4. Review the discovered labels and values, tweak if needed, then **Save**. #### Tips - Use this for plugins that hide their choices (many JUCE-style plugins, e.g. Valhalla, report mode parameters as continuous). The scan finds the options anyway. - If the parameter isn't really a list of choices (it's continuous, or has more than 32 distinct values) the scan tells you it looks continuous and leaves your rows untouched. - If the scan can't run (the audio engine is off, or the parameter is being automated/modulated so the writes don't stick), you'll get a clear "couldn't scan" message with the reason, instead of a misleading "looks continuous". - The scan never overwrites silently. It fills the editor for you to confirm before Save. - The button appears for any plugin-parameter-bound dropdown or segmented control, in Channel Detail's plugin editor or a Control View page alike (a live scan still needs a live plugin to sweep). ### Re-bind an existing control to a different parameter Unlock · Touch a knob in REAPER Point an already-placed control at a different plugin parameter, useful when a binding goes stale or you want to repurpose a control. #### How to use 1. Tap the control in edit mode to open its settings. 2. Tap Re-bind… in the Bound to card. 3. Touch the new parameter in REAPER. 4. Tap Add to confirm. #### Tips - Leaving edit mode with Done or Cancel ends the re-bind session too, so the prompt never stays up over a page you have already closed. - Action buttons cannot be re-bound. Re-bind listens for a plugin parameter, and an action is not one, so the button tells you instead of starting a session it cannot finish. To point a button at a different action, delete it and learn the new action. ### Notice and fix a control that needs relearning Unlock When REAPER's plugin parameter order shifts (e.g. after a plugin update), a bound control can go stale. It dims and shows a broken-link glyph until you re-bind it. #### How to use 1. Look for a dimmed control with a small broken-link icon in the corner. 2. Tap it to open its settings. 3. Tap Re-bind… and touch the correct parameter in REAPER. #### Tips - This is for parameter controls. Action buttons cannot be re-bound: delete the button and perform the action again to learn it. ### Rotate the iPad without breaking your layout Unlock · Rotate the iPad The same page works in portrait and landscape: controls repack to fit the new shape and stay upright and readable, with no sideways text. #### How to use 1. Build or open a page in either orientation. 2. Rotate the iPad. 3. The controls repack to fit the new shape automatically, with no rebuild and nothing turned on its side. #### Tips - Repacking keeps every control at a comfortable size and upright: a narrower screen uses more pages rather than shrinking or rotating anything. - Want a specific layout for a screen size instead of the automatic fit? Arrange it yourself: see "Save a custom layout for this screen size". ### Delete a control Unlock · Tap × Remove a single control from the page, from its own × badge, or from its settings sheet. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, tap the × badge on the control (or open its settings and tap Delete control). 2. Confirm Delete. ### Save a custom layout for this screen size Unlock · Arrange, then Done Instead of letting a page auto-fit, author its own layout for the size you are on: arrange the controls and MixSurface saves that layout keyed to this device width, separately from the layouts you saved on other sizes. #### How to use 1. Put the app on the device and orientation you want to design for (a phone, a tablet, portrait, a resized window on a Mac). 2. Tap Edit. The pill in the edit bar shows the orientation and the current width, which is the size a save will store. 3. Move and resize the controls for this size. 4. Tap Done. This layout is saved just for this screen size; the layouts you saved on other sizes are untouched. #### Tips - Same controls, same bindings: only their positions and sizes differ between screen sizes. Add a control on one size and it appears (auto-placed) on every other size until you arrange it there too. - A device with no saved layout of its own uses the closest saved layout at or below its width, then re-fits to its screen. Save once on that device to give it its own layout. - Changed your mind? Tap "Reset to automatic layout" to drop the layout saved for this size and go back to automatic fitting. To prune layouts saved on other sizes, open the manage-sizes list (the settings icon by the pill). ### Delete a page's controls while editing Unlock · Tap a page tab's ✕ Clear every control on a page in one tap, instead of deleting them one at a time. Each page tab carries its own ✕ while editing, so you can clear any page without navigating to it first. Works the same in Control View and in Channel Detail's plugin-template editor. #### How to use 1. Open a template for editing: a plugin template in Channel Detail, or a Control View page. 2. The page tabs run in one scrollable row along the bottom; each tab shows a small ✕ while editing. 3. Tap the ✕ on the tab of the page you want to clear (you don't have to be on that page). 4. Confirm Delete. Every control on that page, and any section it fully empties, is removed from the template on every device. #### Tips - A tab only shows its ✕ when that page actually has something to remove. - After you clear the page you're on, you land on the previous page (or the next one if you cleared the first). - This clears content from the template itself, not just this device's view of it. - Clearing a page in the middle of a multi-page template removes its tab right away and renumbers the rest; the later pages keep their exact layout. ### See when a layout was auto-fitted Unlock · Tap the AUTO-FIT pill When a page was authored at a different size and MixSurface had to move controls to fit your screen, a small AUTO-FIT badge appears. Tap it to see the authored size and how to make the layout your own. #### How to use 1. Open a page whose layout was authored on a different screen size. 2. If controls had to move to fit your screen, an AUTO-FIT badge shows in the top-right corner. 3. Tap it. A message tells you the size the layout was authored at and that you can adjust it here. #### Tips - AUTO-FIT only appears when something actually moved to fit, not just because the sizes differ. A layout that already fits your screen shows no badge. - To stop the auto-fit and pin a layout for this exact size, tap Edit, arrange the controls, and Done: see "Save a custom layout for this screen size". ### Build a mastering metering wall from a template Unlock · Tap + One tap gives you a page led by the super meter, with loudness history and true-peak band, spectrum, dynamic range, and a second page of loudness columns, spectrogram, stereo cloud, phase and VU, fed by the MixSurface Analyzer on your monitoring chain. #### How to use 1. In Control View, tap + at the bottom of the page rail. 2. Choose From template, then Mastering metering. 3. MixSurface adds the MixSurface Analyzer as the first plugin on your monitoring chain and opens the new page. 4. Play your mix. Integrated loudness starts counting when playback starts. #### Tips - The page is global, so it is there in every project. - Swipe to the second page for the spectrogram, stereo cloud, phase and VU. - On iPhone the same meters are split across three pages. - With no pages yet, the empty Control View offers Blank page and From template directly. ### Build a mixing metering wall from a template Unlock · Tap + One tap gives you a page led by a large spectrum, with the stereo cloud, phase scope, VU pair and a super meter, and a second page with the spectrogram and loudness history. #### How to use 1. In Control View, tap + at the bottom of the page rail. 2. Choose From template, then Mixing metering. 3. Play your mix and watch the spectrum and the stereo cloud. #### Tips - Pinch the spectrum to zoom into a frequency range; double-tap to see 20 Hz to 20 kHz again. - The page is global, so it is there in every project. ### Read loudness and dynamics on one dial Unlock The super meter shows short-term loudness against PSR on its outer ring, integrated loudness against PLR on its inner ring, and integrated loudness, true peak and PLR in the centre, coloured against your delivery target. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, add a meter and choose Super meter, or start from the Mastering metering template. 2. Tap the super meter to open its settings and pick a delivery target. 3. Tap Done and play your mix. #### Tips - The left half of each ring is loudness (minus 40 to 0 LUFS), the right half is PSR or PLR (0 to 20 dB). The two halves meet when loudness is near 0 LUFS and PSR is near 20 dB. A short PSR arc means a dense, squashed mix; a long one means plenty of headroom above the loudness. - Long-press the dial to reset the measurement and start over. - The target shows as a tick on the loudness half. ### Check loudness against a delivery target Unlock · Long-press to reset Read integrated, momentary and short-term loudness, true peak and LRA, coloured against a streaming or broadcast target, and restart the measurement with a long press. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, tap the loudness meter to open its settings. 2. Pick a target: Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon Music, EBU R128, ATSC A/85 or Custom. 3. Tap Done and play your mix. 4. The integrated reading turns green inside the target's tolerance, amber within 1 LU of it, red beyond. True-peak max turns red above the ceiling. 5. To start a new measurement, long-press the meter. #### Tips - Integrated loudness and LRA also restart on their own when playback starts. - Show or hide the TP max and LRA readouts in the meter's settings. ### Watch dynamic range (PSR and PLR) Unlock See how hard the mix is being squeezed: PSR as a live bar against short-term loudness, PLR as a value against integrated loudness. #### How to use 1. Add a Dynamic range meter (or use the Metering template). 2. Play your mix. 3. Read PSR (peak to short-term loudness) on the bar and PLR (peak to integrated loudness) below it. #### Tips - A PSR under about 6 dB reads red: a sign the master is heavily limited. ### Follow loudness over time Unlock Graph short-term loudness over the last 1, 3 or 10 minutes against your delivery target, to spot the sections that jump out. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, tap the loudness history graph to open its settings. 2. Choose the window: 1, 3 or 10 minutes. 3. Optionally pick a target to draw its band behind the graph. 4. Tap Done and play your mix. #### Tips - Long-press the graph to clear it and start over. - Silence and the time before playback show as gaps. ### See true peaks on the loudness history Unlock A band above the loudness history reaches up to the true peak of each moment, red where peak to loudness is under 6 dB and amber under 9 dB, so crushed sections stand out. #### How to use 1. Play your mix with a loudness history on the page. 2. The band above the line shows how far the true peaks reach. 3. To hide it, tap the graph in edit mode and set Peak band to Off. #### Tips - Red means peak to short-term loudness under 6 dB: that section is heavily limited. - The band covers time the iPad was not watching, because the analyzer keeps it. ### Read the spectrum Unlock A log-frequency analyser of your mix with a slope you choose, so a balanced mix reads flat, plus range, averaging and peak hold. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, tap the spectrum to open its settings. 2. Set the tilt (0, 3 or 4.5 dB per octave), the range (60, 72 or 90 dB), averaging (off, short or long) and peak hold. 3. Tap Done and play your mix. #### Tips - A 3 or 4.5 dB per octave tilt makes typical mixes read close to flat, which makes bumps easier to see. ### Watch the spectrum over time Unlock The spectrogram scrolls the spectrum from right to left, low frequencies at the bottom, brighter where there is more energy, over the last 5, 10 or 30 seconds. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, add a meter and choose Spectrogram. 2. Tap it to choose the window (5, 10 or 30 seconds), the tilt and the range. 3. Tap Done and play your mix. #### Tips - Pinch up and down to zoom into a frequency range; double-tap to see the whole range again. - When playback stops the picture keeps scrolling, so you can see where the music ended. ### See where each frequency sits in the stereo field Unlock The stereo cloud draws one dot per frequency band, left to right by pan and low to high by frequency, bigger where there is more energy and red where a band is out of phase. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, add a meter and choose Stereo cloud, or start from the Mixing metering template. 2. Play your mix. #### Tips - A wide mix spreads the dots; a mono mix lines them up in the centre. - Red dots mean that band is out of phase between left and right. Check it in mono. ### Check stereo image and phase Unlock A goniometer of left against right with a correlation bar, to catch out-of-phase material and overly wide sources before they reach mono. #### How to use 1. Add a Phase scope (or use the Metering template). 2. Play your mix. 3. Mono material draws a vertical line; wide material spreads out; out-of-phase material leans horizontal. 4. Watch the correlation bar: towards +1 is mono compatible, below 0 is trouble. #### Tips - Turn the correlation bar off in the scope's settings if you only want the picture. ### Meter with analog VU needles Unlock A pair of VU needles calibrated to the reference level you mix at, with a clip light for peaks near full scale. #### How to use 1. In edit mode, tap the VU meter to open its settings. 2. Choose the reference: 0 VU at -14, -18 or -20 dBFS. 3. Tap Done and play your mix. #### Tips - -18 dBFS is the common reference for mixing; -14 suits louder material. ### Zoom into a spectrum or the loudness history Unlock · Pinch Pinch the spectrum or spectrogram to zoom into a frequency range, or the loudness history to zoom in time and scroll back through the last ten minutes, then double-tap to reset. #### How to use 1. Put two fingers on the spectrum, spectrogram or loudness history. 2. Spread them to zoom in, pinch to zoom out, and move both fingers to pan. 3. Double-tap to go back to the full view. #### Tips - On the loudness history, moving two fingers to the right scrolls back in time. Tap Live to follow the music again. - One finger still swipes between pages. ### Add or choose an analyzer for a meter Unlock · Tap Add Meters read the MixSurface Analyzer. When a meter says there is no analyzer, add one with a tap, or point the meter at a different analyzer. #### How to use 1. If a meter shows "No analyzer on monitoring" or "No analyzer on master", tap Add. 2. MixSurface inserts the MixSurface Analyzer as the first plugin of that chain. 3. To read a different analyzer, enter edit mode, tap the meter and pick Monitoring, Master or one of the analyzers in your project. #### Tips - Monitoring works in every project. An analyzer on a track is remembered per project. - "Analyzer bypassed" means the analyzer is bypassed or offline in REAPER. - "Analyzer updated, reload project" appears after a MixSurface update until the project is reopened. - Meters need the MixSurface extension 0.1.18 or newer. ## Docs: Feel & Gestures URL: https://mixsurface.app/docs/feel/ ### Turn on Fine mode for precise drags Free · Nav-bar toggle When a mix needs surgical accuracy (trimming a send by a fraction of a dB, or nudging a knob into an exact spot), flip on Fine mode to halve how far a drag moves the value, everywhere in the app. #### How to use 1. Tap "Fine" in the top nav bar (it folds into the overflow menu on narrow layouts). 2. Drag any fader, knob, pan bar, or slider. The same finger travel now moves the value half as far. 3. Tap "Fine" again to return to normal 1:1 sensitivity. #### Tips - Fine mode is a session setting, it resets to off every time you relaunch the app, so you never accidentally ride a whole session at half-speed. - It applies to every draggable control across Mixer, Channel Detail, and Control View, turn it on once, not per control. - The button lives in the top toolbar on every screen (it's not mixer-specific). It folds into the overflow (kebab) menu on narrower layouts like Split View. ### Zoom in on a template control for fine dial-in Unlock · Double-tap On a Channel Detail plugin template or a Control View knob/fader, zoom the control's whole travel into a narrow window around its current value, so a full drag makes a tiny, precise change, no need to keep Fine mode on globally. #### How to use 1. Find any knob or fader placed in a plugin template or a Control View page. 2. Double-tap it. The control re-centers so its full travel now covers roughly ±12% around the value you were at. 3. Drag as normal. The same finger motion now makes a much smaller, more precise change. 4. Double-tap again to zoom back out to the full range (the value itself never changes on entry or exit). #### Tips - A small tick on the edge of the ring or track always shows where the true, full-range value actually sits, even while zoomed in. - Mixer strip faders and pan bars don't zoom this way, they stay double-tap-to-reset. ### Triple-tap a zoomed control to reset it Unlock · Triple-tap Jump straight back to a focus-zoomed control's default value and exit zoom in one motion, instead of dragging out then double-tapping to exit. #### How to use 1. On a focus-enabled knob or fader (Channel Detail plugin template or Control View), tap it three times in quick succession. 2. The control resets to its default value and exits zoom mode in one step. #### Tips - If you double-tap to zoom in and then change your mind, just tap once more, the third tap overrides the zoom and resets instead, so the net result reads as a simple reset. ### Push slowly for precision, throw fast for full-range moves Free Nudge a control slowly and it moves in small, careful steps; flick it fast and it tracks your finger 1:1, the same felt "weight" a physical fader or knob has, on every draggable control in the app. #### How to use 1. Push a fader, knob, pan bar, or slider slowly and gently. 2. Notice the value moves less than your finger travel, useful for landing on an exact spot. 3. Flick or throw the same control quickly instead. 4. Notice it now tracks your finger's full travel 1:1 for fast, coarse moves. #### Tips - This works automatically on every draggable control, there's nothing to turn on. - Stack it with Fine mode for even finer control on slow, deliberate touches. ### Avoid phantom jumps when you pause mid-drag Free If you hold a fader still for a beat mid-ride and then push again, the small "catch-up" jolt your skin's grip produces on release is silently absorbed so the value never jumps, dragging resumes cleanly from exactly where you paused. #### How to use 1. Start dragging a fader (most noticeable pushing firmly straight up a vertical fader). 2. Pause, holding your finger still for a moment mid-drag. 3. Push again, tracking resumes precisely from the pause point instead of jumping ahead. #### Tips - This is entirely passive, there's no setting to turn on. It only engages after a genuinely still hold, so normal continuous rides are never affected. ### Get an instant response the moment you touch a control Free Every draggable control starts changing value on your very first pixel of movement, no dead zone to push through before a slow, careful ride begins to register. #### How to use 1. Touch down on any fader, knob, pan bar, or slider. 2. Move your finger even a fraction of a pixel. 3. The value starts changing immediately, no minimum travel is needed before the drag "catches." ### Watch a fader glide smoothly when it's moved for you Free When automation, a reset, or an update from Reaper moves a control you're not touching, it eases into the new position instead of snapping there instantly, the same motorized-fader feel as a real console during recall. #### How to use 1. Let go of a fader (don't touch it). 2. Trigger a change that moves it without your finger, e.g. play back a track with volume automation, or double-tap it to reset. 3. Watch the cap ease smoothly into its new position rather than teleporting there. #### Tips - This only applies while a control is at rest. While you're actively dragging, the control tracks your finger directly with no added smoothing. ## Docs: Setup & Settings URL: https://mixsurface.app/docs/setup/ ### Install the free MixSurface REAPER extension Free One-time setup step on the computer running REAPER, required before the iPad app can find or control your session. #### How to use 1. On the computer running REAPER, go to mixsurface.app/setup and download the build for your platform (macOS or Windows). 2. macOS: unzip, then double-click the .pkg installer and follow the prompts. 3. Windows: unzip, then copy reaper_mixsurface.dll into %APPDATA%\REAPER\UserPlugins\. 4. Fully quit and reopen REAPER once after installing. #### Tips - It's a single file, no companion background process to keep running. - The download link always points at the latest build. ### Enable MixSurface as a control surface in REAPER Free Registers the installed extension with REAPER so it starts listening for the iPad app, a one-time step per machine. #### How to use 1. In REAPER, open Preferences (Cmd+, on Mac / Ctrl+P on Windows). 2. Go to Control/OSC/web. 3. Click Add, choose MixSurface from the list, and click OK. 4. If MixSurface isn't in the list, quit and reopen REAPER once, then try Add again. #### Tips - REAPER remembers this across restarts. You only do it once per machine. ### Connect your iPad to REAPER Free Finds REAPER automatically over the local network and connects with a single tap, no IP addresses to type in. #### How to use 1. Put the iPad on the same Wi-Fi as the computer running REAPER (a USB cable to the Mac also works, as it's just another network path). 2. Open the MixSurface app. It scans via Bonjour/mDNS and lists every REAPER it finds. 3. Tap the instance you want to connect to. 4. On first launch, allow the Local Network permission prompt when iOS asks. #### Tips - Discovery self-heals if the computer's IP changes mid-session, no manual refresh needed. If a REAPER you expect still doesn't show up, tap the refresh icon at the top of the list to force a fresh scan. - Guest Wi-Fi / some corporate networks block device-to-device discovery; use a normal home/studio network. ### Connect by IP when discovery fails Free An escape hatch for networks that block automatic discovery: type the computer's IP address and connect directly, using the same probe-gated connect as the auto-discovery path. #### How to use 1. On the connection screen, tap the plus icon at the top right (next to refresh). 2. Type the IP address of the computer running REAPER, for example 192.168.1.20. 3. Leave the port at 24780 unless you run multiple REAPER instances with a port offset. 4. Tap Connect. MixSurface runs the same connection check as auto-discovery and connects if REAPER answers. #### Tips - Not sure of the IP? Expand "Where to find your computer's IP" in the sheet. On Mac it's under System Settings > Wi-Fi > Details next to your network; on Windows under Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi > network properties, or run ipconfig in Command Prompt. - Discovery is still the front door. Only reach for connect-by-IP when a REAPER you expect never shows up in the list, which usually means the network is blocking device-to-device discovery (guest Wi-Fi, some VPN routers, AP isolation, venue networks). - The last IP and port you connected to are remembered and prefilled next time. - Once connected, MixSurface remembers the target and reconnects automatically when the computer is reachable again, connecting straight back to that IP without waiting to rediscover it. ### Reconnect automatically to your last REAPER Free Once you've connected to a REAPER instance, MixSurface remembers it and reconnects the moment it becomes reachable again, without you re-picking it from the list. #### How to use 1. Connect to a REAPER instance once. MixSurface remembers it. 2. Put the iPad to sleep, background the app, or let REAPER restart. 3. Reopen or foreground MixSurface. It probes for that REAPER every few seconds and connects the instant it answers, showing a "Waiting for…" row until then. #### Tips - Tap Cancel on the "Waiting for…" row to forget that instance and go back to the full discovery list. ### Disconnect from REAPER Free Cleanly leaves the current REAPER session and forgets it, so the app won't try to auto-reconnect, useful when switching to a different studio or computer. #### How to use 1. Open the overflow (kebab) menu in the top toolbar. 2. Tap Disconnect. 3. You land back on the connection screen; the next tap starts a fresh search. ### Get told when your REAPER extension is out of date Free The app updates itself through the store, but the REAPER extension is a manual download. When they drift apart, MixSurface shows a notice so you know to grab a fresh extension. #### How to use 1. Connect the iPad to REAPER as usual. 2. If the extension on the computer is older than this app version needs, a banner appears at the top: either "update available" (most things still work) or "incompatible" (time to update now). 3. Tap "How to update" to open mixsurface.app/setup, download the latest extension, install it, and fully restart REAPER. #### Tips - The app auto-updates through the App Store; only the REAPER extension is a manual download, so this notice is your cue to refresh it. - Dismiss the banner and it stays gone for the rest of that session. A reconnect re-checks and reminds you if it's still out of date. ### Unlock Channel Detail, EQ, and Control View Free A single one-time purchase (no subscription) that permanently unlocks the plugin-control channel strip, the multi-touch EQ, Control View, templates, and action buttons on this device. The mixer and layers stay free forever. #### How to use 1. Tap any locked tab (Channel Detail or Control View), or open the kebab menu → Settings → Purchase → Unlock MixSurface. 2. Review what unlocking adds, then tap the Unlock button. It carries the live price from your store account. 3. Complete the system purchase sheet. 4. The app unlocks immediately and returns you to where you tapped. #### Tips - It's a one-time purchase, not a subscription. Pay once, keep it forever on that store account. - If purchases are turned off on this device, the button reads "Check again" instead of a price. On iOS that is usually Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → In-app Purchases, or a device managed by an employer or school. Lift the restriction, tap "Check again", and the button turns back into a purchase. - Anything you already own stays unlocked, whatever the store currently says. ### Restore your purchase on a new device Free Re-applies your existing MixSurface unlock on a new or reinstalled device, no need to buy it twice on the same store account. #### How to use 1. Open the kebab menu → Settings → Purchase, or the Unlock screen. 2. Tap "Restore Purchases". 3. If you own the unlock, it re-applies immediately and the app confirms it. 4. If nothing comes back, the app tells you so rather than going quiet. Sign in with the store account you bought it on and tap Restore again. #### Tips - The app also looks for an existing purchase on every launch, so a reinstall usually restores itself before you get here. - A restore that cannot reach the store reports that too. It never leaves the button looking like it did nothing. ### Try MixSurface without REAPER (Demo mode) Free Explore the whole app (mixer, EQ, plugin templates, GR meters) on a simulated session with no REAPER installation required, ideal for evaluating before you install anything. #### How to use 1. On the connection screen, tap "Try demo" at the bottom. 2. Browse the mixer, Channel Detail, EQ, and Control View exactly as if connected to a real session. #### Tips - Demo sessions are capped (limited tracks/templates) and never touch a real REAPER project. ### Use MixSurface from more than one tablet at once Free Two or more tablets can connect to the same REAPER session simultaneously. A fader move, mute, or plugin tweak on one shows up live on every other connected device, so a FOH iPad and a monitor-engineer iPad can share one rig. #### How to use 1. Connect a second (or third) tablet to the same REAPER the same way as the first, just pick it from the discovery list. 2. Move a fader, mute a track, or edit a Control View page on one device. 3. Watch it reflect on every other connected device almost instantly. #### Tips - Each device keeps its own bank/page selection. Only the underlying REAPER state and anything you author (templates, layers, Control View pages) is shared. ### Run MixSurface against a second REAPER instance Free Lets two REAPER instances on the same machine (or a live rig alongside a studio rig) run MixSurface side-by-side without port clashes, each showing up as its own named entry on the iPad. #### How to use 1. In REAPER's Add Control Surface dialog (Preferences → Control/OSC/web), open MixSurface's configuration field. 2. Type a config string like `port_offset=100 instance_name=studio` to shift that instance's ports and give it a name. 3. Repeat for the other instance with a different offset. 4. On the iPad, each instance now appears in the discovery list labeled with its instance name, e.g. "Mac (studio)". #### Tips - port_offset shifts the UDP/HTTP/TCP ports together. Use a different offset per instance so nothing collides. - Skip this entirely for a single-REAPER setup; it works with zero configuration out of the box. ### Find a setting by category Free · Tap Settings are grouped into General, Mixer, Control View, Toolbars, Purchase and About & support, so you go straight to the one you want. On iPad the categories sit in a sidebar next to their settings. #### How to use 1. Open Settings from the top-bar kebab. 2. On iPad, the categories are in a sidebar on the left. Tap one and its settings appear on the right. 3. On a phone, tap a category to open it. Use the back arrow to return to the list. 4. Tap the back arrow on the main Settings screen to return to the surface. #### Tips - General has the device settings: keep screen awake and immersive fullscreen. - Mixer has channels per layer and solo mode. Control View has page navigation and reorder on collision. - Toolbars lists every bar with the preset this device uses, and your presets. Tap a bar to customize it. - Purchase has Unlock and Restore Purchases. - About & support shows the app version, the extension version and the computer you are connected to. Have them handy when you report a bug, and send your logs from the same page. ### Choose dots or tabs for page navigation Unlock Decide how a multi-page plugin template or Control View page shows and switches its pages while you're performing, a swipeable dot indicator, or a tap-only tab strip. One device-wide preference for both surfaces. #### How to use 1. Open Settings from the top-bar kebab and tap **Control View**. 2. Under "Page navigation", choose **Dots** (the default) or **Tabs**. - **Dots**: swipe left or right between pages; tap a dot to jump straight to it. - **Tabs**: tap a page number to switch. Swiping is turned off. 3. The choice applies everywhere you view a multi-page layout: plugin templates in Channel Detail and Control View pages alike. #### Tips - This only changes how you browse pages while performing. Editing a template or page always shows page-number tabs plus drag-to-edge paging, no matter which style you've picked for viewing. ### Keep the screen awake Free · Tap The device never dims or sleeps while MixSurface is in front, so the surface is still there when you glance back at it. On by default. #### How to use 1. Open Settings from the top-bar kebab and tap **General**. 2. Find "Keep screen awake". It is already **On**. 3. Tap it to switch it **Off** if you would rather the device slept on its normal schedule. #### Tips - It is **On** by default because a surface you glance at between cues is useless if the screen has gone dark. Turn it off to save battery when you are not on a show. - Switching to another app, or locking the device, releases it immediately. The screen only stays awake while MixSurface is actually in front. - The setting is remembered on the device. If you had already turned it off, it stays off. ### Go fullscreen (hide the system bars) Free · Tap Give the surface the whole screen and keep system buttons away from the edge you are reaching across. On by default. #### How to use 1. Open Settings from the top-bar kebab and tap **General**. 2. Find "Immersive fullscreen". It is already **On**. 3. Tap it to switch it **Off** if you would rather keep the system bars visible. #### Tips - On Android this hides both the status bar and the navigation bar, so there are no system buttons along the edge to catch with the side of your hand mid-fader. Swipe in from an edge to bring them back for a moment; they hide themselves again. - On iPhone and iPad it hides the status bar and fades the home indicator. There is no navigation bar on iOS, so you reclaim less height, and the swipe-up home gesture keeps working either way. - The setting is remembered on the device and applies to every screen. ### Share your diagnostic logs Free · Tap Hit a bug we're chasing? Send us your recent app logs straight from Settings. It opens the normal share sheet so you can pass them along over Telegram, Mail, or anything else, no account or upload needed. #### How to use 1. Open Settings from the top-bar kebab and tap **About & support**. 2. Tap "Share logs". 3. Pick a target in the share sheet (Telegram, Mail, AirDrop, Files, and so on) and send the logs to whoever asked for them. #### Tips - Do this right after you hit a problem: the log keeps a rolling window, so fresh reports carry the most useful detail. - The logs live only on your device until you tap Share. Nothing is uploaded automatically. - If you have not used the app yet there may be nothing to send, and you'll see a short "no logs recorded yet" note instead of the share sheet. ### Customize a toolbar Free · Tap, hold and drag Choose what each bar shows and where: add, remove and rearrange buttons on the Mixer, Channel, Control View and Arrange top bars and the Arrange edit bar. Your first change saves your own copy, so the Default bar is always there to go back to. #### How to use 1. Open More (⋮) on the bar you want to change and tap Customize toolbar…. You can also go to Settings, Toolbars and tap the bar. 2. Tap ⊖ to remove a button. 3. Hold a row and drag it to move it. Drag it past the Left, Center or Right heading to move it to that part of the bar. Drag it under More menu ⋮ to keep it only in the More menu; drag it back up to put it in the bar. 4. Scroll down to Add and tap a button, a Separator or REAPER action… to add it at the end of the bar. 5. Tap a row to choose how it shows: icon, text, or icon and text. Turn on Keep in bar to make it the last thing to fold into More when the bar gets narrow. Tap Done to keep it. 6. Watch the preview at the top: it is the real bar at this screen's width. A row marked "Folds here on this iPad" (or iPhone, Mac) does not fit at this width and is in More; tap the mark to open the item and keep it in the bar. #### Tips - Changes save as you make them. There is no Save button. - Changing the Default bar saves your own copy, named after the bar (for example "Mixer top bar"), and this device switches to it. Default itself never changes. - To go back, pick Default in the Preset menu at the top of the editor. - Use + New preset… to start from an empty bar or from a copy of another preset. ### Use a toolbar preset on another device Free · Tap Toolbar presets are saved on the REAPER computer, so every tablet, phone or desktop connected to it can use them. Each device picks its own preset for each bar. #### How to use 1. Open Settings and tap Toolbars. Each bar shows the preset this device uses for it. 2. Tap a bar, then pick a preset in the Preset menu at the top. Only this device changes. 3. Under Presets, rename, duplicate or delete a preset. 4. On another device connected to the same REAPER computer, open the same bar and pick the preset there. #### Tips - An edit made on one device shows up on every device using that preset. - If the REAPER computer you are connected to doesn't have a preset this device uses (it was deleted, or you switched to another computer), the bars that use it show Default and you get a notice. This device remembers its choice, so the preset comes back when you connect to a computer that has it. - Presets need extension 0.1.17 or newer. With an older extension every bar shows its Default. - While disconnected you can still switch between the presets this device already knows, but not change them. ### Add a REAPER action to a toolbar Free · Tap Put any REAPER action, including custom actions and scripts, on a bar as a button. You pick it by running it in REAPER. #### How to use 1. Open the toolbar editor for a bar (More, then Customize toolbar…). 2. Scroll to Add and tap REAPER action…. 3. When the sheet says "Run the action in REAPER now", run the action in REAPER: from a shortcut, a menu or the Actions list. 4. The action is added to the end of the bar and its details open. 5. Give it a short label and pick an icon, then tap Done. #### Tips - Tap Cancel on the sheet to stop without adding anything. - If the action is already on the bar, its row is highlighted instead of adding it twice. - Toggle actions light up in the bar when they are on.