Cascading Settings

Stardust uses a three-level cascading configuration model: settings live at the Show level by default and can be overridden at the Song or Patch level.

Show settings (the defaults)
  ↓ inherited by
Song settings (overrides for this Song only)
  ↓ inherited by
Patch settings (overrides for this Patch only)

The principle

You should not have to configure your MIDI rig, audio output, and UI layout for every patch. You configure them once — at the Show level — and they apply to every Song and Patch automatically.

If a specific patch needs different behavior (e.g. one patch needs MIDI channel 16 instead of channel 1), you override only that setting only at that level. Everything else still inherits.

What can be cascaded

Practically every setting:

Audio: device, buffer size, sample rate, output routing
MIDI: input devices, channel routing, virtual MIDI outputs
Device profiles: keyboard model, attached pedals
UI layout: which widgets appear in Perform mode and where
Master settings: master volume, master reverb send
Click track: tempo, time signature, count-in
Transpose: pitch shift
Performance behavior: minimum patch-advance interval, transition style

Override UI affordance

When a setting is overridden at a lower level, the UI shows a small ● indicator next to it with a tooltip:

Overrides Song-level value: 80%

Or, for Patch-level overrides that bypass the Song level:

Overrides Show-level value: Channel 1

Resetting overrides

Right-click on any overridden setting to see a menu:

Option	When shown	What it does
`↩ Reset to Song-level (80%)`	When the Song level has a different value	Removes the Patch override; Patch now inherits from Song
`↩ Reset to Show-level (60%)`	When the Show level has a different value	Removes both Patch and Song overrides; inherits from Show
`↩ Reset to default (100%)`	Always	System default — full reset

Each reset option shows the actual value it would reset to, so you can compare before clicking.

Example workflow

You’re MD’ing Hamilton. At the Show level you set:

Audio device: Focusrite Scarlett 4i4, 128 samples, 48 kHz
MIDI input: Roland RD-2000 (channel 1)
Expression pedal: CC 7 → master volume
Footswitch 1: advance patch

These settings apply to every Song and every Patch by default.

For “My Shot,” your strings patch needs the expression pedal to control filter cutoff instead of volume. You override only that one setting at the Patch level:

Expression pedal: CC 7 → Filter Cutoff (overrides Show-level mapping)

Every other Song and Patch keeps the default expression-pedal-to-master-volume mapping. The “My Shot — Strings” patch shows a ● next to that mapping so you can see at a glance it’s overridden.

When the show ends and you go back to building the next Song, you don’t need to redo any setup — it’s all still inherited from the Show level.

Why cascade

Most existing live hosts treat patches as independent units — MIDI mappings, audio settings, and layout are configured per patch. For a 50-patch show that means setting up the same keyboard mappings dozens of times.

Cascading lets you define settings once at the level they apply to, and override only where something genuinely differs. The override indicator (●) makes it visible at a glance which level supplied each value.

Implementation notes

For contributors:

The data model uses optional Option<SettingOverride> fields at each level
Resolution happens via a resolve_setting() function that walks up Patch → Song → Show
The override indicator UI is generated from the resolution chain (we know which level supplied the value)
See Data Model for the full schema