clap studioDownload free

Getting started

Install

Clap Studio needs macOS 14 Sonoma or newer. Download it from its GitHub release page, unzip it and move Clap Studio to your Applications folder. The app is not notarized by Apple yet, so the first time you open it macOS asks you to confirm under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Open Anyway. Later updates install from inside the app (see Licence and updates).

The welcome window

On the first launch a welcome window says what the app does, that your files are only read, and that the first launch prepares the listening models, which takes a minute or two.

  • Choose Folder… adds a folder of your own samples.
  • Try the Demo Sounds… asks where to put 20 short demo sounds (it suggests ~/Music/ClapStudio/Demo), copies them there and adds ~/Music/ClapStudio to the library, so whatever you later put beside the demo is found too.
  • Not Now closes it. It does not come back on its own: File > Add Demo Sounds… brings the demo back, and Help > Welcome to Clap Studio shows the window again.

Once the demo is in, an empty drum machine and melody get a starter project made from it (a House groove and a few bars of chords and bass), and three hints point to the map, to dragging a sound into your music app and to searching by description. Skip Tour or Done closes them for good.

To remove the demo, delete its folder in Finder: the library drops its sounds the next time it looks. Clap Studio never deletes files itself.

While it listens

The status bar says what is happening: "Compiling models, one time only", then "Listening to samples (12/40)". Results are kept, so the next launch opens at once and only new or changed files are listened to. Folders are watched, so files you add appear by themselves; right-click a folder in the sidebar and choose Rescan to check it now. Moved or renamed files keep their cues and their history of use.

The window

  • The sidebar holds your filters, collections, categories, moods, tags, folders and, when one is plugged in, a Squid Salmple drive.
  • The middle shows Library (a list), Map (every sound as a dot) or Places (recordings on a world map); ⌘1, ⌘2 and ⌘3 switch between them.
  • The inspector on the right shows the selected sound: its waveform, cues, trim, sound edits and properties.
  • The toolbar has the project tempo and key, the drum machine, the melody and the effects.

The free edition

Clap Studio is free with one limit: the library holds up to 100 files, samples and field recordings together, demo sounds included. Every feature is the same. See Licence and updates.