Editor Layout

OCTAVE's interface is split into resizable panels. Drag any divider to adjust their widths or heights — sizes persist between sessions.

OCTAVE editor layout

The strip across the top of the window. From left to right:

Playback controls — play / pause, stop, transport position
Tool selector — Select / Place / Erase (1 / 2 / 3)
Modifier toggles — Cymbal / Tap, Ghost / HOPO, Accent, Open / Kick (context-aware per instrument)
Snap division — 1/4 through 1/64
Volume + Speed sliders — playback gain and rate
Stems Mixer button — opens the per-stem volume / mute / solo popover (guide)
Auto-Chart button — opens the auto-chart modal (guide)
Save / Export
Settings — opens the Settings modal

Project Explorer (left panel)

The list of songs in the currently-open project folder.

Each song shows its album art thumbnail, title, and artist.
A dot next to a song indicates unsaved changes.
Click a song to load it; switching songs auto-saves the current one if you have Autosave enabled.
Right-click for per-song actions (rename, reveal in folder, remove from project).

The main 2D editor — a canvas-based piano roll. See the MIDI Editor guide for tools and modifiers.

Top of the area: instrument tabs (Drums, Guitar, Bass, Keys, Pro Keys, Vocals, Pro Guitar, Pro Bass).
Below the tabs: difficulty selector (Expert / Hard / Medium / Easy).
Below that: the lanes themselves, with the playhead overlay and beat grid.

The 3D YARG-style highway. Plays in lockstep with the MIDI editor. See the Chart Preview guide.

Context-sensitive inspector:

With nothing selected: song metadata (artist / title / album / charter / etc.) and tempo events list.
With a note selected: pitch, velocity, length, modifiers.
With multiple notes selected: bulk-edit common modifiers.

Tabbed area at the bottom of the window:

Drag any panel divider. To restore defaults: Settings → Layout → Reset Panels.