Before you start
You need:
- An account (free tier is fine to try the DAW)
- At least one song in your Gallery - generate one in Music Studio if you have not yet
- A desktop browser. The DAW is desktop-only - viewports under 900px width show a "desktop only" message.
Open the DAW
Go to Music DAW. The page loads in three regions:
- Media library on the left - your gallery, samples, SFX, and AI Music
- Timeline in the middle - tracks and clips arranged horizontally over time
- Effects rack on the right - effects you have added to the master bus or a track
Below the timeline there is a mixer panel with channel strips for each track. Above it, a header with transport controls (play, pause, record, loop), the time display, and the export button.
Your first 60 seconds
- Click the My Gallery tab in the library if it is not already active. Your generated songs appear as a list.
- Drag any track from the library onto an empty track lane in the timeline. A clip with a waveform appears.
- Click the Play button at the top. You should hear the track and see the playhead move across the timeline.
- Click Pause or press space to stop.
- In the top-right, click Export WAV. A file downloads to your computer within a few seconds. Open it - that is your mix.
You have just used the DAW end-to-end. Everything else is iteration on this loop.
Add a second track
- Drag another song from the library onto a different track lane (or onto an empty area below the existing tracks - a new track is created).
- Drag the clip horizontally to align it with the first track. The grid snap will lock it to the beat.
- Use the volume slider on each track header to balance the levels.
- Press play - you are now hearing both tracks layered.
If one track is louder than the other, that is normal for AI-generated audio. Pull its volume down. Better still, add a Compressor effect (see Effects and rack).
Record or generate your own sound
You are not limited to your gallery. From the same session you can:
- Record a live take - plug in a guitar or use a mic and hit Record in the transport. See Recording live audio.
- Generate a bed or an element - the AI Music tab generates music matched to your project tempo, and the SFX tab generates sound effects from a description. See The Library.
A first-run guide opens the first time you open the DAW. Reopen it any time from the Help button in the header.
Save your work
Click the Save button (floppy disk icon in the header). The DAW POSTs your project state to the server and shows a confirmation toast. The project now lives in your account - click the Projects folder icon to see all your saved DAWs.
You are covered between saves too:
- Auto-save picks up every kind of edit. Timeline edits, clip drags and trims, effect and knob changes, piano-roll note edits, AI-Engineer actions, and generated audio all mark the project unsaved and schedule a save a few seconds later. The status readout next to Save tells you where things stand.
- A local backup runs every 30 seconds to your browser's storage as a second net.
- You get asked before you lose anything. Leaving the DAW with unsaved work - by the AetherWave logo in the top-left, or by the browser's Back button - opens a dialog with three choices: Stay here, Leave without saving, or Save and leave. If that save fails, you are kept on the page rather than sent away from the work, and a local backup is written. Closing the tab outright falls back to the browser's own prompt, which has no Save button, so prefer the logo when you have work in flight.
- One DAW tab at a time. Two tabs open on the same project would overwrite each other. If a second tab spots the first, it pauses its own auto-save and tells you - close the other tab and reload.
You can close the tab and reopen the DAW later without losing your work.
Upload local audio
If you have an audio file on your computer that did not come from Music Studio, click the upload arrow above the library search bar and pick the file. Two things happen at once:
- The file is uploaded to your gallery (so it lives there permanently)
- A clip is dropped onto the next available track in the DAW
Supported formats: WAV, MP3, M4A, OGG, FLAC. File size limits depend on your plan (free / starter: 10 MB, studio and up: 50 MB).
Common first-session questions
Why are there four tracks already when I open the DAW? The boot path can restore tracks from a previous session. If you do not want them, click the Projects button, then New Project to start fresh.
Why can I not hear anything? First, click anywhere on the page. Browsers require a user gesture before audio context can start. Then check the master volume slider at the bottom-right (look for the MASTER fader).
My clip is red and says "Audio Unavailable" The original audio URL has expired or is unreachable. This usually happens with old projects. Re-upload the source from your gallery or Music Studio.
The export is silent / very quiet Make sure at least one track is not muted, and the master volume fader is not at zero. Solo a single track and try again to confirm it produces audio.
Where to go next
- Tracks and clips - drag, split, trim, snap
- Recording live audio - mic and instrument recording
- The Library - samples, SFX, and AI music
- Effects and rack - EQ, reverb, the Pro lineup
- Export and render - WAV vs MP3, troubleshooting