Tape Saturator

Tape Saturator is a Vite/React Web Audio app for exploring physically modeled tape coloration in the browser. It combines machine presets, stage-level controls, real-time metering, and offline rendering in a single interface.

Features

• Real-time tape processing with an AudioWorklet
• Machine presets modeled after Studer A810, Ampex ATR-102, and MCI JH-24
• Two control surfaces: a compact macro view and a graph-based signal-flow view
• Transport controls, input/output metering, and stage-level inspection
• Offline 16x render that downloads a processed WAV file

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• npm
• A modern browser with Web Audio and AudioWorklet support

Development

Install dependencies:

npm install

Start the dev server:

npm run dev

Create a production build:

npm run build

Run the test suite:

npm test

Usage

1. Load an audio file with the Load Audio button or drag and drop it into the app.
2. Switch between Compact View and Graph View depending on whether you want macro controls or stage-by-stage inspection.
3. Tweak tape speed, formula, bias, saturation, transformer drive, transport behavior, and related parameters while audio is playing.
4. Click Process to run an offline 16x render and download the processed file as WAV.

GitHub Pages Deployment

The repo includes a GitHub Actions workflow at /.github/workflows/deploy-pages.yml that:

• runs on pushes to main
• builds the app with the correct Pages base path
• uploads dist
• deploys to GitHub Pages

To enable it:

1. Open the repository settings on GitHub.
2. Go to Pages.
3. Set the source to GitHub Actions.
4. Push to main or run the workflow manually.

With the current origin remote (af80a/tape-js), the default Pages URL should be https://af80a.github.io/tape-js/.

Project Notes

• The app uses Vite for bundling and Vitest for tests.
• The production build emits the worklet bundle at dist/worklets/tape-processor.js.
• Additional DSP calibration notes live in docs/spec-fit.md.