n-Track Studio is a digital audio workstation for recording, composing and mixing music on Windows, macOS and Linux. A song can combine microphone recordings, imported audio, MIDI performances and sampled instruments, with each part kept on its own track for editing and processing. Its tools cover both recording musicians and constructing arrangements from notes, beats and loops.
Recording and editing audio takes
Recording starts with the inputs assigned to each track. n-Track Studio can capture several inputs at once through a multichannel audio interface, or build a song by recording new parts alongside existing tracks. Live monitoring lets the performer hear the incoming signal through the project’s effects while recording.
Repeated recordings on the same track become separate takes. Their lanes let you compare performances and select which take plays during each section. A vocal track, for example, can use a verse from one take and a chorus from another without moving every recording onto an unrelated track. Takes can also be separated into individual tracks when they need independent treatment.
Audio parts can be trimmed, moved, repeated, reversed and stretched in time. Fade controls shape their beginnings and endings, while crossfades join overlapping material. For rhythmic recordings, Beat Doctor detects transients—the abrupt changes associated with drum hits and other percussive sounds. It can slice the recording at those points, move the resulting parts onto the selected timing grid and fill gaps left by that adjustment.
MIDI composition
The Piano Roll edits a different kind of performance: notes and their timing, duration and velocity rather than a recorded waveform. Notes can be drawn manually or recorded from a MIDI controller, then sent to a virtual instrument or an external synthesizer. Parts can also be entered with on-screen keyboard and drum controls.
The Step Sequencer builds repeating beats, sequences and arpeggios, including patterns that use imported sounds. Audio and MIDI loops can sit alongside recorded performances in the arrangement, so a programmed rhythm does not require the rest of the song to follow the same method of composition.
Sample instruments
n-Track Studio’s samplers turn audio into playable instruments. In the Melodic Sampler, an imported or newly recorded sample is assigned a root note and keyboard range. The root note establishes how the sample is pitched across the keys, while an envelope controls how its volume develops when a note is pressed, held and released. Pitch, fades and reverse playback provide further sound shaping.
The Drum Sampler assigns separate sounds to pads. Mute groups allow one pad’s sample to stop another, such as a closed hi-hat cutting off an open hi-hat. The Slicer instead divides a recording into pieces using a time grid or transient detection, then maps those pieces to keys. Slice boundaries remain adjustable, allowing a loop’s individual fragments to become material for a new pattern.
Extended and higher editions add the Multilayer Sampler. Several samples can occupy the same note, with separate tuning and velocity ranges. A soft key press can therefore trigger a different sample from a hard press, or several layers can sound together.
Mixer routing, automation and plug-ins
The mixer controls track levels, stereo position and effect processing. Tracks can feed groups for shared treatment, while auxiliary sends route portions of their signals to effects channels. Automation envelopes change volume, pan and send levels over the song; effect parameters can also be automated as an arrangement develops.
Live input processing can leave the recorded audio dry. A guitarist can hear an amp effect during a performance and change that effect afterward because the underlying recording retains the unprocessed signal. Built-in amp and cabinet models supply guitar processing, and the plug-in host supports VST, VST3 and CLAP, along with DirectX on Windows and Audio Units on macOS.
Pitch correction
VocalTune handles pitch correction for a single-note voice or instrument. Its live mode moves incoming notes toward the selected key and scale, with correction speed and amount controlling the response. Edit mode displays detected notes for manual pitch changes. VocalTune produces mono output and is intended for individual melodic parts rather than chords or complete mixes.
Stem separation
In Windows x64 and Arm64 builds, AI MixSplit processes an existing mixed recording. Vocal removal adds an instrumental version beneath the original audio, while instrument separation creates individual parts such as drums, bass, synths and vocals. Those parts enter the timeline as material that can be arranged and mixed separately.
Mixdown
A finished arrangement can be mixed into a WAV or MP3 file. n-Track Studio also supports audio formats including FLAC, Ogg and AIFF, as well as MIDI files. Extended and higher editions also support surround projects in 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 layouts, with surround panning and multichannel WAV mixdown.
Sharing projects across workstations, devices and Songtree
DAWproject import and export exchange sessions with other compatible audio workstations, not only a flattened recording. Recordings can also move between the desktop and mobile versions for further editing. Songtree integration adds a separate route for uploading music and collaborating with other musicians.
n-Track Studio editions
- Standard: unlimited audio, MIDI and Step Sequencer tracks; the Melodic, Drum and Slicer samplers; custom sound import; WAV and MP3 export; and amp, Convolverb and VocalTune effects.
- Extended: adds the full collection of effects, the Multilayer Sampler, a 64-bit audio processing engine, surround mixing and hardware control-surface support.
- Suite: adds the premium loop library and a catalogue of sampled instruments to Extended’s functions.
- Suite+: packages Suite for desktop and the iOS and Android apps under one subscription.
The desktop editions are paid software, with an evaluation download available.
