Browse musical guides, look up commands and try code without leaving Reference. Start with Make sound with Volta, or search for the sound or technique you want to explore.
Guides and Symbols#
Guides explains musical tasks, sound design and Studio workflows. Search looks through titles, headings and page text. Symbols gives a command's signature, parameters and a short example; an exact command name ranks first. Start here returns to the introductory guide.
Find a page or section#
Browse guides lists topics by category. Filter guides narrows the page list; Search guides searches the full text. Press Enter to open the first match. On this page shows the current guide's outline. Use Find a section to search its headings, or expand a heading to see its subsections.
On wide windows the guide library and outline have their own scrolling columns. On smaller windows their buttons open panels over the reading area. Choosing a destination closes the panel; Escape dismisses it. Focus reading hides the navigation columns; Show navigation restores them.
Back and Forward move through your Reference history. Back to source returns to your editor. If you arrived from a lesson, Back to lesson returns to that lesson with your work preserved. Following a section while scrolling does not add steps to Back and Forward.
Edit and run an example#
Each code block has its own editor. Volta examples include syntax colors, completion and local undo history. Your drafts survive page navigation and closing and reopening Reference during the session. Long examples scroll inside their own editor.
- Run live, or Cmd/Ctrl+Enter in the example, plays the current code in a dedicated Reference example song tab. Your previous song and unsaved work remain in their own tab. Edit and run again to hear the change.
- Stop stops playback and cancels delayed autoplay if an example is still preparing. The main transport can also pause, stop or restart playback.
- Undo and Redo affect only that example's edits.
- Copy copies the current code, including your changes.
- Reset restores that example's published code.
- Open in editor creates a separate working copy in a new song tab. It accepts incomplete code and import statements, without starting playback or changing the sound currently playing. Use Run in that editor when ready, and Save As to give the song a name and location.
Errors appear below the example that was run. A failed run keeps the last installed sound. Plain snippets may need additional definitions before they can play; opening or copying them does not require successful playback. Inline runs accept up to 16,000 bytes; open larger programs in a song editor to run them. Shell commands, JSON and other non-Volta examples have Copy and Reset controls.
Imports and required sounds#
Run resolves imports and prepares available sample assets using the same rules as a song. Bundled library names work when those libraries are installed. An example using a custom module needs that module available too: opening a code block does not create the files it refers to. Save a working copy beside its local modules when using relative imports. See Reuse sounds and patterns with imports and The standard library for the available import forms and libraries.
Hear and open library songs#
Some guides link to complete example songs. Hear it plays a short preview; Open example opens the song library with that title selected by the filter. The public Reference pages also offer recorded audio previews of featured examples. In Studio, Run live plays your current edits.