The chain - Shadow Rack Docs

This is where you set the order of a channel's plugins, copy them to other channels, bypass them and save the whole chain as a preset.

The left side of the channel view is the channel's chain: its plugins from top to bottom in the order the signal goes through them. Here you change the order, switch plugins on and off, copy them to other channels and save the whole chain as a preset.

Vox Lead's chain: five plugins, the last one bypassed, the New York send after them

A plugin row#

Each plugin is one row:

the grip and its position in the chain,
a picture of the plugin's own interface, so you recognise it at a glance (see plugin window),
the name, and MAKER / CATEGORY under it,
DELAY - how much the plugin delays the signal, in ms: yellow above 1 ms, red above 5 ms,
CPU - how much of the audio time it uses: yellow above 10 %, red above 25 %,
the power icon (on / bypass) and ⋯ for the plugin menu.

A pill tells you when something's special: BYP (bypassed), MISSING (not on this Mac - see plugins), SWITCHED OFF or BAD AUDIO (see crash safety), or SC KICK (its sidechain comes from Kick - see sidechain).

Click a row to open the plugin on the right. Double-click opens it in its own window. Right-click opens the plugin menu. ↑ / ↓ select the previous / next plugin.

At the bottom of the panel, the LATENCY line adds it all up, for example LATENCY 4.20 ms (plugins 2.10 + 2.10 PA). It turns red when the plugins add more than 5 ms. See latency.

Changing the order#

Grab a row and drag it up or down. The plugin lifts out of the chain, the others glide aside to make room, and the gap where it will land is outlined in red. Near the top or bottom edge the list scrolls by itself. Let go, and the plugin is in its new place - with a short fade, so there's no click.

The yellow NY SEND marker is part of the chain while you drag: a plugin lands above or below it exactly as you see it. The marker itself can be dragged too - see New York buses.

Dragging a plugin: the red gap shows where it lands — Mid-drag: the plugin is lifted out, the red outline is where it goes

Copying and moving plugins#

What	How
Copy a plugin in the same chain	Drag it with `⌥` held: the original stays, a copy lands in the gap
Duplicate it right after itself	`⌘D` (Edit > Duplicate plugin)
Move it to another channel	Drag the row onto that channel in the switcher at the bottom: it goes to the end of that channel's chain
Copy it to another channel	The same with `⌥` held
Copy, then paste anywhere	`⌘C` copies the plugin with all its settings; open another channel, select a plugin, `⌘V` pastes it after it

A copy is the plugin with its current settings and sidechain. Plugin commands like copy, paste and bypass work in the channel view.

Bypass#

Press B, click the row's power icon or BYPASS in the plugin's header (Plugin > Bypass plugin). A bypassed plugin switches smoothly to the dry signal, delayed exactly like the plugin, so the channel doesn't move in time or phase and nothing clicks. The plugin keeps running in the background, so it comes back at once, with its reverb tail or compressor state already there.

Bypass is saved with the session. ⌘Z does not undo it.

BYPASS ALL#

BYPASS ALL on the top bar, ⌘⇧B or View > Bypass everything takes every plugin on every channel out at once: each channel passes its dry signal, still in time (New York buses go quiet - their dry sound would only be a clean copy of their channels). The top bar's bottom edge turns red and every strip is drawn dimmed. Press it again and the plugins are back.

Removing#

⌫ or ⌫, the X in the plugin's header, or Edit > Remove plugin. The message Removed Pro-C 2 from Vox Lead has an UNDO button. Remove all plugins in the channel menu (≡) empties the whole chain - also undoable.

Undo#

⌘Z and ⌘⇧Z (or the arrows on the top bar) undo and redo step by step; the Edit menu names the step, for example Undo Remove Pro-C 2.

Undoable: adding, replacing, removing, moving, copying, pasting and duplicating plugins, Remove all plugins, chain presets, sidechain changes, and channel changes (adding, deleting, moving, name, colour, icon, routing).
Not undoable: bypass (of a plugin, a channel or everything), and the settings you turn inside a plugin's own window.

The UNDO on a message only undoes what that message is about. ⌘Z while you're typing a name or a search undoes your typing, never the rack.

Chain presets#

A chain preset is a whole chain - every plugin with its settings - saved as a file. They live in ~/Documents/Shadow Rack/Chain Presets/.

Save: channel menu (≡) > Save the chain as a preset....
Add to the chain: Add a chain preset ▸ - its plugins go after the ones already there.
Replace the chain: Replace the chain with a preset ▸.
Copy another channel's chain: Same chain as ▸ lists every channel with plugins (Kick (2 plugins)); the selected channels get that chain with its settings, replacing theirs.

In the mixer, CHAIN on the tool row does the same for every selected channel at once, and you undo it in one step. Both preset submenus end with Show the presets folder.

Chain presets don't carry sidechain sources - set those again on the new channel.

The menus#

Plugin menu (right-click a row, or ⋯): Try loading again (missing plugins only), Replace with..., Duplicate plugin, Copy plugin, Paste plugin, Add to favourites / Remove from favourites, Take its picture again.

Channel menu (≡ in the name row, or right-click a strip in the switcher): the chain presets above, Remove all plugins, Keep in time with the PA, Save as my ready-made New York (on a New York bus), Duplicate channel, Delete channel.

The menus only hold what has no button of its own and isn't done by dragging - bypass, open in window, sidechain and remove are on the plugin's header; moving to another channel is a drag.