MUSSORGSAL

This is/will be a "fully-functional mock-up" of a digital audio workstation, or DAW, for short, implemented in LÖVE.

Note that this requires either the latest nightly, or the upcoming 0.11 version of LÖVE, that added support for queue-able sources!

Features (abridged)

#####Instruments

• A basic sampler.
• A basic synth.

#####Effects

• A majority of effects from various tracker formats.
• "Mixer"
• Filters
• ADSR (Envelopes)
• Visualizers

#####Views

• DSP Graph (Instruments & Effects)
• Editors (Numerical/Tracker, Piano-roll, Score/Sheet, Raw)
• Arranger (2 Dimensional)
• Log window (Also chat window)

Command-line flags

-s Runs a headless server, good if one wants to host a server remotely; no CLI input though.

License

MUSSORGSAL is licensed under the ISC License.

Features (tl;dr)

This program has two main goals:

• to combine the features of various, vastly different DAWs.
• to enable (online) collaboration between people, and OS-es.

#####Collaboration

• Either WAN, LAN or on the same device. (The last may be a bit difficult.)
• Servers can hold only one active session at once. (Same with clients being able to have one project open at a time, actually.)
• Servers can use either a black-list or a white-list to allow or deny clients access to the sessions.
• Clients can be servers as well.
• Automatic adaptive locking of currently edited objects.
• Locks can be set beforehand as well, if one intends to work on a part for a longer amount of time.
• Integrated IRC-like chat; one public channel, one private channel per 2-peer groups. Nickname, inline object reference support.
• Eye candy in the form of seeing collaborators' active objects, edit cursors, mouse cursors and their playback states. (toggle-able)
• Unlike a certain other collaborative DAW, the GUI/view/interface is local, not global. (Though they may have fixed that already...)
• Sessions can be left and rejoined later; the server will try to sync the offline project with the online session, merging changes both ways, if it can.

#####Editors

• All editor types are just visual interfaces accessing the underlying data in various ways. (Some do need to store some editor-specific data though.)
• More than one editor can be open at any time; even for the same pattern.
• Tracker ticks are equated with MIDI PPQ.
• Tracker rows are equated with MIDI PPQ and Time Signature.
• Key signature applicable to Score view and possibly Piano roll view.
• Chords / Scales applicable to Piano roll view, and possibly Score view.
• The Piano roll and Score views defaults to separating data per-instrument. Ghost notes can be toggled for the former.
• The Tracker view, by default, shows all tracks in a pattern; each track shows notes, instrument numbers and a number of effect columns at a time. (Filterable)
• Individual notes have various "Aftertouch"-like parameters, that are most easily editable in the Tracker view.
• Note lengths are fairly straightforward in Piano roll view, some "blending" can happen in Score view due to the nature of Modern Musical Notation; Tracker view either denotes note lengths with a note off symbol (==), a note cut symbol (^^), or with a new note (that's not a glide or anything similar).
• Tracker view tracks are generic; any instrument can reside within them; notes save which track they're in in this view.
• Score view may have a MIDI-channel-esque separation that would grant more fine-tuned note separation along different staves; interoperability with Piano roll based on 16 colors...
• The raw editor would just list note (and other parameter) properties, filterable.
• The 2 "graphical" editors (Score view notwithstanding) should support editing automation curves as well, whenever.

#####DSP Graph

• Initially a simple hard-coded [I]=[F]=[F]=[M]-[V]-[O] chain, where I,F,M,V,O are instrument, effect, mixer, visualizer, out respectively.
• Later, the signal paths will be user-definable.
• Also later, custom instruments and effects.

#####Instruments

• The sampler is able to cross-fade between two arbitrary waveforms.
• The generator supports all the basic waveforms, some more esoteric ones, filtered noise generators, and can even be given a custom function.
• Voices are active from a note-on until a note-cut. While a note-off also means that new note input is safe in the Tracker view, the voice still plays the note's release envelope, if present; otherwise the two are equivalent.
• ADSR envelopes are per-voice, per-((per-voice)-parameter).
• Most tracker effects are per-voice also, after the ADSR; the ones modifying "global" or non-instrument related pattern state are handled separately.
• Filters act on the combined output of instruments.
• Visualizers will, at first, be implemented only after the mixer component.

#####Arranger

• Two-dimensional.
• Arranger tracks are also generic, tracks can hold arbitrary clips.
• Pattern clips (instances) can't overlap, there's a reason why this is 2 dimensional...
• Having more than one of the same global parameter automated at the same place in time will use the vertically lowest clip's values.
• Instances can be resized from both ends. Above mentioned granularity restrictions apply here as well.
• Loop points, position jumps implemented here. Pattern breaks are non-existent, since they can be simulated by resizing an instance. Loop points may have additional parameters, like delay time, playback direction.

#####Misc. Functionality

• Support for importing various modules. (The 4 usual suspects, initially; No exporting though.)
• Not really needed unless this would support 3rd party plugins (VST,DX,AU,LADSPA,...), but freezing patterns, and sending them as audio clips through to other collaborators would be a necessity in that case. (Otherwise the use-case would be lessening the CPU usage.)
• Similarly as above, bouncing would be needed if a client's RAM could not bear keeping everything loaded at once. (Shouldn't happen, even with audio clips, since LÖVE supports partial decoding from disk.)