Nodes and Connections
How the canvas works - node anatomy, ports, drawing and editing connections, selection, and groups.
The canvas is the whole app. Everything you build lives here.
Nodes#
A node is one thing in your signal path: a source, a destination, or a processor. Every node has a name, a coloured accent rail identifying its type, and ports.
An annotated node card - ports, meters and name.
node-anatomy| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Accent rail | Left edge, colour-coded by node type |
| Name | Double-click to rename; there is a reset to return to the default |
| Ports | Left edge = inputs, right edge = outputs |
| Meters | Live level per channel |
| Channel rows | One row per channel; wide nodes collapse extras behind "Show all channels" |
Nodes with many channels hide the unused ones. Click Show all channels to reveal them, Show fewer channels to collapse again.
Adding nodes#
Right-click the canvas. The menu is grouped by category:
| Category | Contains |
|---|---|
| ASIO Channels | Input and Output channels of your primary device |
| Routling I/O | Virtual devices other apps can send to or take from |
| App Capture | System Audio, or a specific running application |
| WASAPI / WDM/MME / Kernel Streaming | Secondary devices |
| Mixing & Effects | Volume Knob, FX Module, Ducker, Virtual ASIO |
Moving and removing#
Drag a node to move it. Right-click it for its own menu, including removal. Toggle Snap to Grid (the magnet, bottom-right) to align nodes to the dots as you drag.
Connections#
A connection carries audio from one output port to one input port. Each has its own gain.
Drawing#
- Drag from an output port and drop on an input port.
- Or click the output port, then click the input port.
Esccancels a connection in progress.
Dropping near a port is enough - you do not have to hit it exactly.
Editing#
Click a wire to open its inspector, which is where gain lives.
| Action | Gesture |
|---|---|
| Open inspector | Click the wire |
| Adjust gain | Drag the inspector's slider, or type a value |
| Reset to 0 dB | Alt + click the wire, or double-click the slider |
| Delete | Click the wire, then Del, or the inspector's remove control |
| Re-route | Drag a wire's endpoint to a different port |
Gain range is -60 dB to +36 dB, in steps of 0.1 dB.
A connection selected with its gain inspector open.
connection-inspectorThe port mixer#
Right-click any port to open the port mixer - every connection on that port in one panel, each with its own gain and remove control. It is the same panel as the wire inspector, listing every connection instead of one.
The port mixer panel, opened by right-clicking a port.
port-mixerSelection#
| Action | Gesture |
|---|---|
| Select one | Click a node |
| Add to selection | Shift + click |
| Box select | Shift + drag on empty canvas |
| Deselect all | Esc |
With several nodes selected, right-click to group them.
Groups#
A group is a named frame around nodes. Drag the group header to move everything inside together. Double-click the header to rename.
Groups nest - a group can contain other groups. Right-click a group header for Ungroup, which dissolves the frame but keeps the nodes.
Nested groups on the canvas.
groups-nestedGroups survive saving and reloading a session.
Navigating the canvas#
| Action | Gesture |
|---|---|
| Pan | Drag empty canvas, or middle-drag |
| Pan with the wheel | Wheel scrolls vertically, Shift + wheel horizontally |
| Zoom | Ctrl + wheel, or the controls bottom-right |
| Reset zoom | The 100% button bottom-right |
| Fit everything | Fit View button, or the canvas right-click menu |
Undo#
Ctrl+Z undoes, Ctrl+Y or Ctrl+Shift+Z redoes - up to 20 steps. The buttons are bottom-right next to the zoom controls.
Undo covers graph edits: adding and removing nodes, connections, gain changes, grouping. It does not cover opening or closing a device.
Related#
- Keyboard Shortcuts and Gestures - the full list
- Node Types Overview - what each node type does
- Sessions and State - saving your graph