Setting up a recording with multiple mics, music, and remote callers

The Studio module is a production-grade audio mixer that runs in your browser — multi-mic input, music beds, sound effects from a cart wall, remote callers via WebRTC, and broadcast-grade LUFS metering. Podcasts, radio shows, video productions, and live-stream audio all share the same mixer.

What you can wire into a session:

- **Up to 8 microphone inputs** — each on its own channel strip with gain, pan, gate, compressor, EQ. USB mics, XLR mics over a USB interface (Focusrite, MOTU, etc.), and the laptop's built-in mic all show up automatically.
- **Up to 2 music beds** — drag in MP3, WAV, AIFF, FLAC. Beds have their own ducking — when a mic channel speaks, beds auto-attenuate.
- **A cart wall** — 16 pads of pre-loaded clips (intro, outro, station ID, news sting, sound effect). Click to fire; the pad lights up while playing.
- **Remote callers** — up to 4 via the browser-based WebRTC bridge. Caller picks up on their phone or laptop; their audio routes into a channel strip like a local mic.
- **Master output** — broadcast-loudness LUFS metering on the master bus, with peak-hold meters per channel.

A typical podcast recording flow:

1. **Open the Studio** → "+ New session." Name it.
2. **Plug in mics + check signal** — every channel strip shows real-time level. Tweak gain so each speaker peaks at -12 dB to -8 dB on regular speech.
3. **Test the bed** — drag your intro music to Bed 1. Hit play. Check that ducking kicks in when you speak.
4. **Bring in remote guests** (if any) — copy the caller-invite link from the Callers panel, send to your guest. They open it in their browser; their audio shows up as a new channel strip.
5. **Hit Record** — top bar. The platform records a multitrack file (each channel saved separately) plus the master mix.
6. **Edit later** — recording lands in the session's Episodes tab. You can re-mix offline, trim, or export to the streaming destinations.

Broadcast LUFS metering:

For terrestrial radio and most podcast platforms (Spotify, Apple), the integrated LUFS target is -14 to -16 LUFS. The master meter shows your running integrated value. If you're too quiet, the meter shows below the target line; if you're too loud (over -10 LUFS) the master compressor engages to bring you back.

Cross-surface uses:

The same mixer powers:
- **DJ Live Rig** at /dj/rig (drag tracks in, build a set, mix live).
- **Cinema audio-post panel** in /cinema (re-balance dialogue, music, effects on a finished video).
- **Live Stream module** when configured (mic the host, push the mixed feed to Cloudflare Stream Live with a clean audio bed).

You can have the same channel routing live in multiple surfaces — change the gain on Mic 1 in Studio and the DJ rig sees the same change.