Settings reference

This chapter lists every setting you can change in Head Chef, grouped by the window, menu or panel where it lives. Each table gives the choices, the setting's starting value and where Head Chef keeps it.

The Saved with column uses three answers:

• Session means the setting is stored in the session file and comes back when you open the session. Changing it marks the session as having unsaved changes.
• Preferences means Head Chef stores the setting on your Mac and uses it every time you start the app, whichever session you open.
• Not stored means the setting lasts until you quit Head Chef. It stays the same when you open another session, and returns to its default the next time you start the app.

Audio Engine #

Choose Settings > Audio Engine… or press ⌘,. Changes to the devices and buffer size take effect when you click Apply; Cancel leaves them as they were. The window cannot be opened while recording. See Connect your hardware.

• A buffer size of 32 or 64 samples gives the lowest latency but works the Mac harder. The window warns you when you choose one.
• Level Meter Style changes the meters the moment you choose it, without Apply.
• The default recording input is the input a new session's starting audio track uses. Each audio track keeps its own input; see Recording audio.
• The window also shows readouts you cannot change: the session and device sample rates and their clock, the input, output and round-trip latency, and whether Head Chef may use the microphone. Click Refresh Devices after you connect or disconnect an interface.

If a device you chose is no longer connected, the list shows it as unavailable. Choose another device or System Default Output.

Session Settings #

Choose Settings > Session Settings… or press ⌘ Num 2. Changes take effect when you click Apply. The window needs an open session and cannot be used while recording. See Tempo and session settings.

• You can change Sample Rate only while the session has no audio clips. After that, the session keeps its rate. See sample rate.
• Pan Depth sets how much a mono track drops in level at the center of the pan range compared with the sides.
• A session opened from a file with a tempo map shows Initial Tempo / BPM instead, which you cannot type in. Click Move Tempo Change... to move one tempo change to a new Bar, Beat and Tick. Each tempo value stays exactly as it was.
• When a song did not store a time signature, Head Chef assumes one and offers a Keep button, for example Keep 4/4, to store it with the song.
• Set the musical length to cover your song. There is no fixed duration limit.

New Session dialog #

Choose File > New Session… or press ⌘N.

Click Use as Default to keep the current Sample rate, Start with and Sound for every new session. Head Chef confirms with Saved for future sessions. Every new session starts eight bars long at 110 BPM in 4/4.

When you add a track with no session open, New Session opens without Start with and Sound, and adds the track you chose instead.

Options menu #

Metronome and time display #

Right-click the ♩ button or the clock in the toolbar to open these settings. None of them adds a step to Undo.

• The clock format buttons read Bars|Beats, Min:Sec and Samples. Until you choose one, Head Chef shows bars and beats when the session has instrument tracks and minutes and seconds when it has only audio. Clicking the clock also steps through the formats.
• With Ruler Coupled, the ruler follows the clock's format. With Ruler Free, the ruler keeps its own format.
• The Floating Transport's SECOND CLOCK has its own format; click it to change it.

Control Surface #

Choose Settings > Control Surface…. See Control surfaces and assistants.

Enable is available once you have chosen a MIDI input and a MIDI output that are both listed. Click Refresh Ports after you plug in a surface, and Done to close the window.

Render Mix dialog #

Choose File > Render Mix… or press ⌥⌘B. See Rendering and File formats.

• Sample rate is unavailable for Standard MIDI (.mid).
• Dither is fixed at None for 32-bit float. Noise shaped is offered only for WAV.
• The dialog keeps your last choices while Head Chef is running.

View menu and the window layout #

Track heights are saved in a small hidden file next to the session file, so keep the two together when you move a session. Arrange Mix Layer and Clip Gain Line cannot both be on; turning one on turns the other off.

Edit toolbar #

These controls sit in the bar below the toolbar in Arrange. See Editing audio.

The grid and nudge readouts show each size in seconds, milliseconds or samples for the session's sample rate. Ripple Lock keeps Ripple mode from being chosen; ⌘-click RIPPLE to turn it on or off.

MIDI keyboard settings #

Click MIDI in the toolbar. See MIDI and instruments.

Plugin folders #

Click Folders… in the Plugin Browser, then Edit Folders…. See Plugins.

Piano roll #

Settings that belong to tracks and clips #

These track and clip settings are part of the session and are saved with it: track names and colors, fader level, pan, mute, solo, channel processing, sends, plugins and their settings, recording inputs, and clip gain with its gain points. They are described in Tracks, Editing audio and Mixing.