Rack
====

A chain of up to eight VST3 effects, with the level matched so that swapping
plug-ins in and out does not change how loud the track is.

Universal build - runs natively on both Apple Silicon and Intel. Signed with a
Developer ID, notarized by Apple and stapled, so Gatekeeper lets it through
without argument.


INSTALL
-------

Drop each item onto the folder sitting next to it in this window:

    Rack.vst3       ->  VST3
    Rack.component  ->  Components        (this is the one Logic and GarageBand use)
    Rack.app        ->  Applications      (optional - the standalone)

Those three folders are shortcuts to where macOS keeps plug-ins. The first two
live inside /Library, so the Finder will ask for an administrator password.

Prefer it done for you? Run

    Install Rack.command

Then open your DAW and rescan plug-ins - look for "Rack".

Rack.app needs no install at all. Run it from /Applications, or straight out of
this window.


WHAT IT HOSTS
-------------

Rack scans exactly one folder for the effects it can load:

    /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3

That is where every VST3 installer writes, so anything you have installed
normally will show up in the picker. Rack does not scan the user-local folder or
VST3_PATH - a random roll that landed on a stray copy in someone's build tree is
a roll you cannot make sense of.

Instruments and synths are left out, and so are Rack and Happy Accident
themselves: nesting one wrapper inside the other means two level matches
fighting over the same signal.

The first roll on a new machine is the slow one - Rack has to open each plug-in
module to see what is inside it. The answers are cached in

    ~/Library/Application Support/NEAP Rack/

so you pay that once per machine rather than once per session.


THE INTERFACE NEEDS INTERNET
----------------------------

Rack's interface is a web page, loaded at
https://neap.cloud/rack/ui/index.html - so the interface can be improved without
shipping you a new plug-in. The machine running Rack needs internet access for it
to draw. If the panel comes up blank, that is the first thing to check.

In Logic, an AU running in Apple's sandbox may be refused that network fetch. If
the panel is blank there but fine in the standalone, that is what happened.


IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG
-----------------------

Rack keeps a log of what it loaded and when:

    ~/Library/Application Support/NEAP Rack/logs/rack.log

Third-party plug-ins run in the same process as Rack, and a rack holds several at
once, so one badly behaved effect can stall the host. The log is there to say
which one it was.


LICENCES
--------

The two typefaces the interface is drawn with are licensed under the SIL Open
Font License 1.1. The licences ship with the plug-in and are also available from
https://neap.cloud/rack/assets/fonts/


NEAP Plugins
