OK
Here’s the complete post with that section trimmed and retitled:
Update 1 — Found the actual cause of the key/pitch issue
To clarify: my original report was based on testing in the standalone version of Scaler. I later also tested in the VST3 plugin inside Reaper to see if the issue was standalone-specific — it wasn’t. The actual cause turned out to be the same regardless of standalone vs. plugin: it’s a sample rate mismatch, not a key/scale corruption.
My audio hardware runs at 48000 Hz, but Scaler’s Export Audio dialog was defaulting to 44.1 kHz. That mismatch causes the exported file to play back slower and at a lower pitch (same effect as playing a 48kHz recording back at 44.1kHz) — which is what I was hearing as a “key change.” Setting Export Audio’s sample rate to 48000 Hz manually before exporting resolves it completely.
I confirmed this by rendering the same MIDI/chords through Reaper’s own render engine (correct) versus Scaler’s Export Audio at its default 44.1kHz setting (wrong/shifted) — same source material, different result, isolating it specifically to the export sample rate default.
Feature request: could Export Audio default to (or auto-detect) the host/hardware sample rate, rather than always defaulting to 44.1kHz? This mismatch is easy for any user to hit without realizing it, since nothing in the export dialog flags that it differs from your system’s actual rate. Even just a warning if the export rate doesn’t match the detected hardware rate would help.
Update 2 — No way to transpose a single chord, section, or scene independently
I also ran into a related but separate issue while testing: there’s no way to transpose even a single chord, let alone a scene or section, without it affecting the entire shared project key at once.
I tested this multiple ways:
- Selecting one single chord and using Semi +/-
- Multi-selecting several chords and using Semi +/-
- Selecting an entire scene and using Semi +/-
- Toggling the chain-link icon shown on duplicated scenes*
All of them shifted the Current Scale for the whole project, including chords, scenes, and sections I didn’t touch — even at the smallest possible scope of a single chord. The only method that actually stays scoped to just the intended chord(s) is manually replacing each one at a time by name (search → select the target chord), which correctly leaves everything else untouched — but this is extremely time-consuming for anything beyond a couple of chords.
Given how common it is to write different chords, sections, or scenes in different keys, this feels like a significant missing feature rather than just an edge-case bug — a one-click way to transpose a selected chord, section, or scene independently (without affecting the rest of the project) would go a long way. Right now the only reliable option is manually rebuilding each chord by name, which isn’t a reasonable substitute for a basic transpose function.
*I wasn’t able to determine what this link icon actually controls — clicking it changed its appearance but had no visible effect on transpose scope, so I’m not clear on its intended function.
Update 3 — Scaler VST3 in Reaper requires playing twice for all layers to sync
When running Scaler as a VST3 plugin in Reaper with a multi-layer project (Main Track + Motion/Arpeggio layers), the first playthrough after loading only plays the Main Track — the Motion/Arpeggio layers stay silent. Stopping and pressing play a second time causes all layers to play correctly, from then on. This seems to be specific to running Scaler inside a DAW host (Reaper) rather than standalone, and suggests the layers aren’t fully synced to the host transport on the very first playback pass.