Spark Plug records a quick audio idea whenever the mood strikes: a melody, a riff, a lyric, a groove you're humming. The Spark Plug button, a red-and-orange record button with a spark, is at the far right of the top bar on every screen (just left of Your Team while that's open), and at the top of the Songwriting Tools window. Under the top bar's button a small line says "Record ideas here" ("Click to stop & save" while it records), and the Songwriting Tools window shows the same words just left of its button. After a one-time explainer the very first time (see below), one click starts recording right away, with nothing to fill in. Click it again and the idea is saved.
The very first time you press Spark Plug, a short "Meet Spark Plug" explainer comes up before anything records. It says where your ideas are saved (Media Hub → Ideas), that ⇧⌘I starts and stops it, which input it records from (with Change input to pick another), and that Spark Plug records and saves on this Mac only. Click Got it and recording starts. Close it instead and nothing is recorded. Either way it never appears again on this Mac, in any profile.
Starting and stopping
- The Spark Plug button at the top of the window (it turns solid red while it records)
- ⇧⌘I (Shift+Cmd+I) from any screen, even while you type
- File → "Spark Plug: Record / Stop Idea", or the MusicLaunch icon in the menu bar
- The Command Palette (⌘K): "Spark Plug: Record an idea"
While it records, a small recorder at the bottom left shows the time, the input level, Stop & Save, and a trash button that throws the take away (it asks first). Keep working: you can move to any section, or close the window (MusicLaunch stays in the menu bar), and Spark Plug keeps recording. If no sound arrives for 3 seconds, the recorder says "No signal from" and your input's name. In a stereo take where only one input has sound, it tells you which one and suggests the matching Mono setting.
Where ideas are saved
Each idea is saved the moment you stop, with an automatic name like "Idea — Oct 3, 2:14 PM". You can rename it and add a note afterwards. It is a 24-bit WAV file at your input's own sample rate (usually 44.1 or 48 kHz), so it drops straight into Logic or any DAW. Ideas live in Media Hub → Ideas; "Open" on the "Idea saved" message takes you there. Ideas belong to the profile, not to a campaign. In Media Hub → Ideas you can link an idea to a Producer's Pad song. Back Up Now (Settings → Data Backup) copies your ideas with the rest of your media.
Choosing the input
Settings → Spark Plug sets what to record from: the System default, or any microphone or audio interface your Mac sees. Spark Plug remembers your choice. If that input isn't connected next time, it records from the system default and tells you. Channels can be Stereo (inputs 1 + 2), Mono: input 1 or Mono: input 2. Using one mic in input 1 of a two-input interface? Pick Mono: input 1. Spark Plug records the input as it is, with no echo cancellation, noise reduction or automatic level, and doesn't play it through your speakers.
Unless you pick an input, Spark Plug uses the System default, and AirPods, an iPhone or a video-call app's virtual mic can become your Mac's default without you noticing. So the first time you record, and whenever the input changes, a note above the recorder says "Recording from" and the input's name, with Change to pick another.
Spark Plug records inputs 1 and 2 of an audio interface or S/PDIF box. An interface with a Source setting, such as Line or S/PDIF, is listed with the source it's set to after its name, for example "— External Line Connector" (usually the analog jacks) or "— External SPDIF Interface" (the digital input). Logic and every other app share that Source, so only change it if your cable is plugged into the other input: the wrong one silences them all. If you're not sure, leave it as it is. To change it, quit Logic and other audio apps first (or the change may not stick), change Source on the interface's Input tab in Audio MIDI Setup, and then quit and reopen MusicLaunch.
The first time, your Mac asks whether MusicLaunch may use the microphone. If microphone access is off, Spark Plug says so and offers "Open System Settings" (Privacy & Security → Microphone).
Nothing gets lost
A take in progress is saved if you quit MusicLaunch, switch profiles, turn Demo Mode on or off, or install an update. If the input is unplugged, your Mac gets very low on space (under 200 MB free) or the file reaches 2 GB (about 1 hour 55 minutes in stereo at 48 kHz), Spark Plug stops and saves what it has. After a crash or a power cut, the take is saved the next time MusicLaunch opens, as "Recovered idea" with the time it started. Spark Plug won't start with less than 500 MB free. To restore a backup, stop recording first.
Ideas from your phone
Ideas don't wait until you're at your Mac. With two free iPhone Shortcuts, an idea you sing into your phone is waiting in Media Hub → Ideas the next time MusicLaunch is open. Here is the path: the Record a Spark Shortcut saves the recording in your own iCloud Drive (Shortcuts → MusicLaunch Sparks), iCloud Drive copies it to your Mac, and MusicLaunch brings it into Ideas once Phone inbox is on. It travels through your own iCloud Drive; nothing goes through MusicLaunch's servers. The "Get ideas from your iPhone" card at the top of Media Hub → Ideas shows the same three steps.
Set it up once (about 2 minutes)
Turn on the phone inbox (on your Mac)
In MusicLaunch, go to Media Hub → Ideas and click Turn on Phone inbox on the "Get ideas from your iPhone" card. (The same switch is in Settings → Spark Plug → Ideas from your phone.) If your Mac asks whether MusicLaunch may use iCloud Drive, click Allow.
Add the Shortcuts (on your iPhone)
Scan the QR code on that card (or under Get the iPhone Shortcuts in Settings) with your iPhone camera, or open musiclaunchapp.com/sparks on your phone. Tap each button, then Add Shortcut: one for Record a Spark and one for Send to MusicLaunch.
Make Record a Spark one tap away (optional)
Put it on your Home Screen (in the Shortcuts app, touch and hold it, then Share → Add to Home Screen) or on the Action Button (Settings → Action Button → Shortcut).
Catch an idea on the go
- Record a Spark — records an idea with one tap. Run it from your Home Screen, the Action Button or Control Center, or say "Hey Siri, record a spark". It starts recording right away; tap Done when you're finished, and a notification says it's saved.
- Send to MusicLaunch — in the Share menu of Voice Memos and Files. It sends a recording you already have: tap Share, scroll to the very bottom of the list, and tap Send to MusicLaunch.
Don't see Send to MusicLaunch? iPhone puts Shortcuts at the very bottom of the Share list, below Copy and Save to Files. You can also tap Save to Files and choose iCloud Drive → Shortcuts → MusicLaunch Sparks: that's the same folder.
What happens on your Mac
While MusicLaunch is open, every recording saved to your MusicLaunch Sparks folder is added to Media Hub → Ideas, in the profile that is open, and its copy goes to the Trash once it is added. When MusicLaunch is closed, your recordings wait in iCloud Drive and come in the next time you open it. The inbox is paused in Demo Mode.
A message says when ideas come in, such as "2 ideas came in from your phone"; click Show to see them. Each one becomes the same 24-bit WAV as a Spark Plug take, so it plays, takes a note, links to a Producer's Pad song and drags into your DAW like any idea. It keeps your memo's name (or gets an automatic one like "Idea — Oct 7, 4:12 PM") and is dated when you recorded it, not when it arrived. A small phone icon marks ideas from your phone.
Settings shows the folder and when MusicLaunch last checked it, or "Waiting for the folder: run Record a Spark on your iPhone once" until your first recording makes it. A recording that can't be added stays in the folder, and Settings says why.
If an idea doesn't show up
- Look at the top of Media Hub → Ideas. If recordings are waiting in iCloud Drive while Phone inbox is off, it says how many: click Bring them in.
- Is MusicLaunch open? It brings phone ideas in only while it's running.
- Is Phone inbox on (Settings → Spark Plug → Ideas from your phone)? It pauses while Demo Mode is on.
- Is iCloud Drive on, on your iPhone and your Mac, with the same Apple ID? A recording can take a minute or so to reach your Mac, and longer when your iPhone is in Low Power Mode.
- In Finder, look in iCloud Drive → Shortcuts → MusicLaunch Sparks. If the recording is there, MusicLaunch picks it up within a minute while it's open. If it isn't, it hasn't reached your Mac yet.
AirDrop
Turn on Notice AirDropped recordings in the same place. When a recording arrives in Downloads while MusicLaunch is open, MusicLaunch asks whether to add it to Ideas: click Add, or Not now. The file stays in Downloads either way.
Import and drag and drop
In Media Hub → Ideas, click Import, next to Record an idea, to add recordings from your Mac: Voice Memos, AirDrop, email attachments. Or drag them onto the list: from Finder, from Mail, or straight from the Voice Memos app on your Mac. The new ideas are highlighted, and a message names any file that couldn't be added and why. MusicLaunch adds .m4a, .mp3, .wav, .aif, .aiff, .caf, .aac and .flac files up to 2 GB.
Android
The Shortcuts are for iPhone, but the phone inbox works with any synced folder. Install Google Drive or Dropbox on your Mac, make a folder for your phone recordings, then in Settings → Spark Plug click Choose folder… and pick it. Save recordings from your phone into that folder. Each new recording is moved into the folder's "Added to MusicLaunch" folder once it is added. Recordings that were already in the folder when you chose it are left alone; use Import for those.
Demo Mode
In Demo Mode, Media Hub → Ideas shows three sample ideas. You can still record, but those recordings are kept only until MusicLaunch restarts. Nothing goes into your real ideas.
