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Airwindows Consolidated Plugin

The Airwindows CLAP in Bitwig Studio

The Airwindows Consolidated Plugin is a CLAP/AU/VST3/LV2/Standalone which uses JUCE to expose all the Airwindows as a single plugin, complete with documentation. It is a standard stereo plugin which works in your DAW like any other effect.

The Airwindows Consolidated Plugin is open source software. You can access the complete source code and read about licensing here or just download a binary and enjoy the plugin.

Installing the plugin

Releases of the plugin are available on this github and are updated every time Chris releases a new effect.

To install

  • on Windows download the ...-Setup.exe file which is an installer and run it; or alternately download the windows .zip file and place the plugins in the appropriate location. If you aren't sure which to choose, choose the ...-Setup.exe file.
  • on macOS we provide a signed dmg containing a standard installer.
  • on Linux, we provide a zip file of the plugins for you to move.

As open source software, on all three operating systems, if you prefer, you can always build yourself using the instructions on our README. The binaries above use exactly that mechanism, run in github actions.

Navigating the UI

The User Interface has three core regions. An effect selector, at top, the parameters for that effect, in the left side column, and a documentation section on the right.

The selector has a menu, opened by clicking the 'hamburger' icon on the left side and jog buttons which scroll through the effects on the right side.

You can also click on the name of a plugin to activate a typeahead-search which allows you to type a partial plugin or category name and see a set of matching effects with their documentation to select.

The parameters display the current value and parameter name with a knob to edit the value. Shift allows slower knob drags. Double clicking a knob returns to default value. If you click on the value, a text editor appears allowing you to type in a value, or delete the value to return to default. For a very small number of parameters, text entry isn't supported; in these cases no editor will appear on click.

The documentation section displays the description of the effect which Chris wrote on launch day in a scrollable area.

In the footer, there is a spot to launch the settings menu which can configure the plugin in a variety of ways, including color scheme, documentation display, menu ordering, and more.

Finally the footer of the plugin shows the git hash and build date. Since this plugin updates with every new effect, check back often for new builds!

Effect Collections

The Airwindows collection has more than 350 effects, which can be daunting. As a result we've grouped them into "Collections" which limit the presented effect. The default collection ("Recommended") contains Chris's greatest hits.

To select a collection other than "Recommended", choose the "Filter by Collections" menu and select a collection you want. "All plugins" choice removes any filtering.

Custom Documentation

You can add user-defined documentation to the existing effect documentation by placing .txt files in the 'customDocs' directory. When switching effects in the UI, the plugin loads customDocs/<effect-name>.txt (if present) and prepends it with a separator before the original text. For example, to add documentation to the effect ToTape7:

  • Choose "Show Config Dir" from the menu to navigate to the config directory.
  • Create the file customDocs/ToTape7.txt.
  • Add "This is my own text" to the file and save.
  • In the plugin UI, switch away from the ToTape7 effect, then switch back. This forces the text to reload.

You'll now see:

This is my own text

#----------------------

This is the original text...

Note:

  • Filename casing is important on Linux (and sometimes on Mac). Use ToTape7.txt, not totape7.TXT.

Using a Screen Reader

The User Interface is exposed via a Screen Reader on macOS and Windows. Tab moves between elements, as expected. On the controls the arrow keys change values, with shift depressed change values in a smaller increment. Home and End will set a value to extrema, and delete will set it to default. On a given knob, Shift-F10 will activate the typein area allowing you to key in a value. As noted above, a small number of parameters do not support text-to-value; for those Shift-F10 will do nothing.

The documentation region by default is a read-only label, but many screen readers present large labels poorly. For Screen Reader users we recommend you convert that label to an editable region by pressing F7 or choosing the setting menu item. This only need be done once and is sticky on a machine.

Bugs, Changes, Feedback

The Airwindows Consolidated plugin is open source software. Have an idea? Open an issue in this repo or chat with us in the airwindows channel on surge discord. Have a change? Open a pull request (but if its a big one, perhaps open an issue first to chat). And finally, if you want to support Chris's continued investments in Airwindows, he has a patreon which is linked from airwindows.com.