Options & App
Draw.Audio options: loop playback, Performance Mode, shortcuts, language and Reset All. Install the free music maker as an app and use it offline.
Options
- Opening Options
- Click the gear button at the right of the header. On a phone, open the Menu (☰) and tap Options. Simple mode has no Options window: its gear button opens Song Settings, which also holds Language and Performance Mode. Options has two tabs, General and MIDI, and applies to every song. Settings saved with a song are in Song Settings. Each section's ? button explains its controls.
- Playback
- Two settings in Options → General control how the song plays. Both are described in Playback & Sequencing. Loop Playback: on by default. The song starts again when it ends; when off, playback stops at the end. Start Playback From: where Play begins: Selected Page, Song Start, or Song Position.
- Performance Mode
- Cuts animations and visual effects to save battery and CPU on lower-powered devices. Turn it on in Options → General. It starts on for devices with 2 GB of memory or less, and if animations stutter during playback, a message offers to turn it on. The visualizer and transport bar are off while it is on.
- Single-Key Shortcuts
- On by default: letter, number and symbol keys run shortcuts on their own, such as A for Automation mode. Turn it off if you press keys by accident or use speech input. Space, Enter, Escape, the arrow keys and Ctrl/Cmd shortcuts always work. See the full list on the Shortcuts page.
- Language
- Sets the language of menus and labels. Auto-detect, the default, follows your browser's language. You can also choose one of 15 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Turkish, Indonesian and Vietnamese.
- Reset All
- Restores the default song and every setting, then reloads the page. Click Reset All, then click it again within 3 seconds to confirm. Kept: My Songs (the songs open in this tab are saved there first), your saved presets, favorites, DX-7 banks and language. Reset: the open song, Options, MIDI settings and mappings, and metronome and chord settings. Songs open in other tabs are not affected. Reset All is not available in Simple mode.
- MIDI Tab
- Connect a MIDI keyboard or controller, set recording and metronome options, map knobs with MIDI Learn, and import or export MIDI files. See MIDI & Export.
Help Menu
- What the Help Menu Holds
- Click the ? button in the header to open it. Take the tour: a short, hands-on walkthrough of the basics. Simple mode: switches to the simplified layout (see Simple Mode). Discord: the Draw.Audio community on Discord, in a new tab. Tips & tricks: short tips for working faster. Keyboard shortcuts: every shortcut (computers only). Guide: this guide, in a new tab. What's new: recent features and changes. About: credits and licenses.
Phones and Tablets
- Header Menu
- On screens up to 768 pixels wide, such as phones, the header shows a Menu button (☰) in place of several buttons. It holds New song, My Songs, Song Settings, Explore, Tour, Options, Simple mode and Help. Share stays in the header. Swipe the menu up or tap outside it to close it.
- Pages and Mixer Tabs
- On a phone, the area below the grid has two tabs: Pages shows the page thumbnails, and Mixer shows the track strips. See Mixer.
- Touch Gestures
- Drag your finger across the grid to place or erase several notes. Long-press a note to set its velocity, pan and chance. More tips are in Help → Tips & tricks.
Install, Offline and Updates
- Install as an App
- Draw.Audio is a free web app (PWA) that you can install from your browser, so it opens in its own window with an icon like any other music app. In Chrome or Edge, including on a Chromebook, use the install icon in the address bar or Install in the browser menu. On an iPhone or iPad, open Safari's Share menu and choose Add to Home Screen. The installed app uses the same songs and settings as the browser.
- Offline Use
- After your first visit, Draw.Audio opens without an internet connection, and your songs are saved in your browser. The preset lists, and the drum kits and sounds you have already used, are stored for offline use. Needs a connection: Create Link, opening a shared song, Explore, and loading sounds you have not used before.
- Automatic Updates
- Draw.Audio checks for a new version each time it opens and every hour while it stays open, and downloads it in the background. The new version loads the next time you open or reload the page. There is nothing to install by hand.
Background Playback
- Lock Screen Controls
- Playback continues when you lock the screen or switch apps, and Draw.Audio appears in your device's media controls, such as the lock screen. Play and Pause: start and stop the song. Pausing keeps the controls on screen so you can press Play again. Previous: restarts the song from the beginning. Progress bar: shows the song's length and position. A song with no end, such as one with a track set to Random or a page that repeats forever, has no progress bar.
Accessibility
- Keyboard Use
- Draw.Audio is keyboard accessible. Press Tab to move focus to the grid, use the arrow keys to move the cursor, and press Enter to add or remove a note. Shift+arrow keys select notes, and Shift+F10 opens the note's options. The Shortcuts page lists every grid key.
- Screen Readers
- Screen readers announce the note at the grid cursor and each note you add or remove, track and page changes, Play and Stop, undo and redo, and when chords or the arpeggiator turn on or off.
Several Tabs
- Working in Several Tabs
- Each browser tab keeps its own copy of its songs, so tabs never overwrite each other. A song that is already open in another tab opens as a copy. See Songs, Sharing & Explore.