audioPluginInterface

R2026b

Specify audio plugin interface

Syntax

PluginInterface = audioPluginInterface

PluginInterface = audioPluginInterface(pluginParameters)

PluginInterface = audioPluginInterface(pluginParameters,gridLayout)

PluginInterface = audioPluginInterface(___,Name,Value)

Description

PluginInterface = audioPluginInterface returns an object, PluginInterface, that specifies the interface of an audio plugin in a digital audio workstation (DAW) environment. It also specifies interface attributes, such as naming.

PluginInterface = audioPluginInterface(pluginParameters) specifies audio plugin parameters, which are user-facing values associated with audio plugin properties. See audioPluginParameter for more details.

PluginInterface = audioPluginInterface(pluginParameters,gridLayout) specifies a grid layout for audio plugin parameter UI controls.

PluginInterface = audioPluginInterface(___,Name,Value) specifies audioPluginInterface properties using one or more Name,Value pair arguments.

Examples

Specify Default Audio Plugin Interface

Create a basic audio plugin class definition file.

classdef myAudioPlugin < audioPlugin
    methods
        function out = process(~,in)
            out = in;
        end
    end 
end

Add a constant property, PluginInterface, which is specified as an audioPluginInterface object.

classdef myAudioPlugin < audioPlugin
    properties (Constant)
        PluginInterface = audioPluginInterface;
    end
    methods
        function out = process(~,in)
            out = in;
        end
    end 
end

Associate Property with Parameter

Create a basic audio plugin class definition file. Specify a property, Gain, and a processing function that multiplies input by Gain.

classdef myAudioPlugin < audioPlugin
    properties
        Gain = 1;
    end
    methods
        function out = process(plugin,in)
            out = in*plugin.Gain;
        end
    end 
end

Add a constant property, PluginInterface, which is specified as an audioPluginInterface object.

classdef myAudioPlugin < audioPlugin
    properties
        Gain = 1;
    end
    properties (Constant)
        PluginInterface = audioPluginInterface;
    end
    methods
        function out = process(plugin,in)
            out = in*plugin.Gain;
        end
    end 
end

Pass audioPluginParameter to audioPluginInterface. To associate the plugin property, Gain, to a plugin parameter, specify the first argument of audioPluginParameter as the property name, 'Gain'.

classdef myAudioPlugin < audioPlugin
    properties
        Gain = 1;
    end
    properties (Constant)
        PluginInterface = audioPluginInterface(...
            audioPluginParameter('Gain'));
    end
    methods
        function out = process(plugin,in)
            out = in*plugin.Gain;
        end
    end 
end

If you generate and deploy myAudioPlugin to a digital audio workstation (DAW) environment, the plugin property, Gain, synchronizes with a user-facing plugin parameter.

Specify Interface Properties

Create a basic audio plugin class definition file. Specify the plugin name, vendor name, vendor version, unique identification, number of input channels, number of output channels, and a yellow background.

classdef monoGain < audioPlugin
    properties
        Gain = 1;
    end
    properties (Constant)
        PluginInterface = audioPluginInterface( ...
            audioPluginParameter('Gain'), ...
            'PluginName','Simple Gain', ...
            'VendorName','Cool Company', ...
            'VendorVersion','1.0.0', ...
            'UniqueId','1a1Z', ...
            'InputChannels',1, ...
            'OutputChannels',1, ...
            'BackgroundColor','y');
    end
    methods
        function out = process(plugin,in)
            out = in*plugin.Gain;
        end
    end
end

Input Arguments

pluginParameters — Audio plugin parameters

none (default) | one or more audioPluginParameter objects

Audio plugin parameters, specified as one or more audioPluginParameter objects.

To create an audio plugin parameter, use the audioPluginParameter function. In a digital audio workstation (DAW) environment, audio plugin parameters synchronize plugin class properties with user-facing parameters.

gridLayout — Layout for plugin UI

none (default) | audioPluginGridLayout object

Audio plugin grid layout, specified as an audioPluginGridLayout object.

Name-Value Arguments

Specify optional pairs of arguments as Name1=Value1,...,NameN=ValueN, where Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name-value arguments must appear after other arguments, but the order of the pairs does not matter.

Before R2021a, use commas to separate each name and value, and enclose Name in quotes.

Example: PluginName="cool effect",VendorVersion="1.0.2" specifies the name of the generated audio plugin as "cool effect" and the vendor version as "1.0.2".

PluginName — Name of generated plugin

name of plugin class (default) | character vector | string

Name of your generated plugin, as seen by a host audio application, specified as a character vector or string of up to 127 characters. If 'PluginName' is not specified, the generated plugin is given the name of the audio plugin class it is generated from.

Note

A plugin name cannot contain any of the following:

• The special characters <, >, :, ", /, \, |, ?, or *

• A trailing period (for example, "MyPlugin.")

• A trailing space (for example, "MyPlugin ")

• Control characters, such as the newline character

Additionally, the plugin name cannot be a system reserved filename (with or without a file extension), such as COM1 on Windows^®. For example, "COM1" and "COM1.plugin" are not valid plugin names.

VendorName — Vendor name of plugin creator

' ' (default) | character vector

Vendor name of the plugin creator, specified as a character vector of up to 127 characters.

VendorVersion — Vendor version

'1.0.0' (default) | dot-separated character vector or string

Vendor version used to track plugin releases, specified as a dot-separated character vector or string of 1–3 integers in the range 0 to 9.

Example: "1"

Example: "1.4"

Example: "1.3.5"

UniqueId — Unique identifier of plugin

'MWap' (default) | four-element character vector or string

Unique identifier for your plugin, specified as a four-element character vector or string, used for recognition in certain digital audio workstation (DAW) environments.

InputChannels — Input channels

2 (default) | integer | vector of integers

Input channels, specified as an integer or vector of integers. The input channels are the number of input data arguments and associated channels (columns) passed to the processing function of your audio plugin.

Example: InputChannels=3 calls the processing function with one data argument containing 3 channels.

Example: InputChannels=[2,4,1,5] calls the processing function with 4 data arguments. The first argument contains 2 channels, the second contains 4 channels, the third contains 1 channel, and the fourth contains 5 channels.

Note

This property is not applicable for audio source plugins, and must be omitted.

OutputChannels — Output channels

2 (default) | integer | vector of integers

Output channels, specified as an integer or vector of integers. The output channels are the number of output data arguments and associated channels (columns) passed from the processing function of your audio plugin.

Example: OutputChannels=3 specifies the processing function to output one data argument containing 3 channels.

Example: OutputChannels=[2,4,1,5] specifies the processing function to output 4 data arguments. The first argument contains 2 channels, the second contains 4 channels, the third contains 1 channel, and the fourth contains 5 channels.

BackgroundColor — Color used for GUI background

RGB triplet | short name | long name

Color used for GUI background, specified as short or long color name string, or an RGB triplet

Example: BackgroundColor=[1 1 0] specifies the GUI background to be yellow.

Example: BackgroundColor="y" specifies the GUI background to be yellow.

Example: BackgroundColor="yellow" specifies the GUI background to be yellow.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Hexadecimal Color Code	Appearance
"red"	"r"	[1 0 0]	"#FF0000"
"green"	"g"	[0 1 0]	"#00FF00"
"blue"	"b"	[0 0 1]	"#0000FF"
"cyan"	"c"	[0 1 1]	"#00FFFF"
"magenta"	"m"	[1 0 1]	"#FF00FF"
"yellow"	"y"	[1 1 0]	"#FFFF00"
"black"	"k"	[0 0 0]	"#000000"
"white"	"w"	[1 1 1]	"#FFFFFF"

This table lists the default color palettes for plots in the light and dark themes.

Palette	Palette Colors
"gem" — Light theme default Before R2025a: Most plots use these colors by default.
"glow" — Dark theme default

You can get the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for these palettes using the orderedcolors and rgb2hex functions. For example, get the RGB triplets for the "gem" palette and convert them to hexadecimal color codes.

RGB = orderedcolors("gem");
H = rgb2hex(RGB);

Before R2024a: Get the hexadecimal color codes using H = compose("#%02X%02X%02X",round(RGB*255)).

Before R2023b: Get the RGB triplets using RGB = get(groot,"FactoryAxesColorOrder").

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | logical | char | string

BackgroundImage — Image used for GUI background

char | string

Image used for GUI background, specified by its file name using either a character vector or string. If the file is not on path, you must specify the full file path. Supported file types are PNG, GIF, and JPG.

The background image may include transparencies, in which case the BackgroundColor is used.

Example: BackgroundImage="Sunrise.png" specifies the GUI background image to be the 'Sunrise' image.

Example: BackgroundImage=fullfile(matlabroot,"mySkins","Sunset.jpg") specifies the GUI background to be the 'Sunset' image.

Data Types: char | string

Version History

Introduced in R2016a