326 lines
20 KiB
Markdown
326 lines
20 KiB
Markdown
<p align="center">
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<a href="https://getartcraft.com/">
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<picture>
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<source media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" srcset="docs/brand/artcraft-logo-white.svg">
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<img alt="ArtCraft" src="docs/brand/artcraft-logo.svg" width="200">
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</picture>
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</a>
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</p>
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<h1 align="center">SoundCraft</h1>
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<p align="center">
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<b>Recording, editing and mixing audio; an open-source, clean-room reimplementation of Avid Pro Tools, rebuilt in pure Rust.</b>
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</p>
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<p align="center">
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A complete digital audio workstation that runs natively on macOS, Windows, Linux and FreeBSD, and
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in the browser. Multitrack editing, a full mixer with plugins, sends and automation, MIDI, recording
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and bouncing, and every action scriptable from the command line or by an AI agent.
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</p>
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<p align="center">
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<img alt="Rust" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/100%25-Rust-b7410e?style=flat-square&logo=rust">
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<img alt="egui" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/UI-egui-14a9c4?style=flat-square">
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<img alt="Platforms" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/macOS%20%C2%B7%20Windows%20%C2%B7%20Linux%20%C2%B7%20FreeBSD%20%C2%B7%20Web-0b7385?style=flat-square">
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<img alt="License: MIT OR Apache-2.0" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT%20OR%20Apache--2.0-blue?style=flat-square">
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<img alt="Status: pre-alpha" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/status-pre--alpha-orange?style=flat-square">
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</p>
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<p align="center">
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<a href="https://discord.gg/artcraft"><img alt="Join the ArtCraft community on Discord" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Join%20us%20on%20Discord-5865F2?style=for-the-badge&logo=discord&logoColor=white" height="40"></a>
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</p>
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<p align="center">
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<a href="https://getartcraft.com/apps/soundcraft"><b>SoundCraft on getartcraft.com</b></a> ·
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<a href="https://getartcraft.com/">ArtCraft</a> ·
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<a href="https://getartcraft.com/apps">All Crafting Apps</a>
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</p>
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<p align="center">
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<img alt="SoundCraft's Edit window with a nine-track session: drums, bass, pad, keys and lead, a reverb aux and a master fader" src="docs/images/edit.png" width="100%">
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<br>
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<sub>The Edit window: tracks, waveforms, MIDI, rulers, markers and the transport, playing the built-in demo song (every sound in it is synthesised by SoundCraft itself).</sub>
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</p>
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> [!NOTE]
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> **ArtCraft is a community of artists from all walks of life.** Painters, photographers,
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> filmmakers, illustrators, designers, animators, hobbyists, and people who picked up a pencil
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> last week. If you make things, you're one of us. **[Come say hi on Discord](https://discord.gg/artcraft).**
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<p align="center">
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<a href="#what-it-does">What it does</a> ·
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<a href="#getting-started">Getting started</a> ·
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<a href="#for-agents-and-scripts">Agents & scripts</a> ·
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<a href="#how-its-built">How it's built</a> ·
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<a href="#status-and-roadmap">Status</a> ·
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<a href="#downloads">Downloads</a> ·
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<a href="#the-crafting-apps">The Crafting Apps</a> ·
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<a href="#license-and-credits">License</a>
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</p>
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## What it does
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SoundCraft follows the workflow audio engineers already know: an **Edit window** for arranging and
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editing, a **Mix window** for balancing, edit modes, tools, playlists, memory locations, AudioSuite
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processing and the rest. If you've spent years in that workflow, your hands should already know
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where things are.
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<table>
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<tr>
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<td width="50%"><img alt="The Mix window with channel strips, inserts, sends, I/O, pan knobs, faders and meters, and an EQ plugin window" src="docs/images/mix.png"></td>
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<td width="50%"><img alt="The MIDI editor showing a lead melody as a piano roll with a velocity lane" src="docs/images/midi.png"></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><b>Mix window.</b> Ten inserts and ten sends per track, busses and aux inputs, master faders, VCAs, routing folders, solo-in-place with implicit solo, and meters with peak hold.</td>
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<td><b>MIDI editor.</b> Instrument tracks with built-in synths, a piano roll with a velocity lane, step input, quantize, transpose, and Standard MIDI File import and export.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td width="50%"><img alt="Volume automation drawn on the Pad track, with the Memory Locations and Big Counter windows open" src="docs/images/automation.png"></td>
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<td width="50%"><img alt="The SoundCraft app icon: a singing nightingale on a teal field" src="assets/app-icon/soundcraft-1024.png" width="70%"></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><b>Automation and markers.</b> Breakpoint automation for volume, pan, mute, sends and every plugin parameter, written live in Write, Touch and Latch, plus memory locations and a big counter.</td>
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<td><b>Everywhere.</b> Signed builds for macOS (universal), Windows (x64, x86, Arm), Linux (AppImage, deb, rpm, Flatpak), FreeBSD, and a WebAssembly build that runs in the browser.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td width="50%"><img alt="The Video window showing a colour-bar test movie with a timecode burn-in, above a Video track with thumbnails in the Edit window" src="docs/images/video.png"></td>
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<td width="50%"><img alt="The Renderer window showing a 7.1.4 speaker layout with two object tracks, beside the Mix window with surround panners and Object/Bed buttons" src="docs/images/surround.png"></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><b>Video.</b> A picture track with thumbnails and a Video window that follows the playhead, decoding H.264, ProRes and Motion JPEG in pure Rust, with timecode burn-in and sync offset.</td>
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<td><b>Surround and immersive.</b> Main and bus formats from stereo to 9.1.6 and Ambisonics, a surround panner with divergence and height, object/bed routing and a Renderer window with live speaker levels.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td width="50%"><img alt="The Score Editor showing the lead melody in standard notation on a treble and bass staff" src="docs/images/score.png"></td>
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<td></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><b>Notation.</b> A Score Editor for MIDI tracks, MusicXML export for Sibelius and other notation programs, and printable engraved scores.</td>
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<td><b>Your plugins too.</b> CLAP, VST3 and Audio Units, with their own editors, their state saved in the session, and every instance created off the audio thread.</td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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### Feature tour
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- **Editing:** Shuffle, Slip, Spot and Grid modes; Smart, Selector, Grabber, Trim, Pencil, Zoom and
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Scrubber tools; cut, copy, paste, duplicate, repeat, shift, insert silence, separate (at
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selection, on grid, at transients), heal, consolidate, strip silence, nudge; fades and
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crossfades in five shapes, drawn straight from the clip corners; playlists with comping lanes;
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clip gain lines; edit groups; single-key Commands Focus shortcuts; undo for everything.
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- **Mixing:** fader and pan with automation, pre/post sends, busses, aux inputs, master faders,
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VCA masters, routing folders, solo modes, mute and solo groups, phase invert and trim, clip
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effects, and automatic plugin delay compensation.
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- **Automation:** volume, pan, mute, send and every plugin parameter; Write, Touch, Latch and
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Trim passes recorded live from the faders; thin, glide, coalesce and convert to clip gain.
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- **Plugins:** 7-band and 1-band EQ, compressor/limiter, expander/gate, de-esser, maximizer,
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channel strip, room and plate reverbs, mod delay, chorus, flanger, phaser, saturator, lo-fi,
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rectifier, pitch shifter, time shift, gain, trim, invert, DC removal, signal generator, dither,
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a subtractive synth and a drum synth, all original. **CLAP plugins** load too. Any processor
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runs offline as AudioSuite, and user presets save per plugin.
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- **MIDI:** instrument and MIDI tracks, a piano-roll MIDI editor with a velocity lane, an event
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list, a score view, step input, quantize, transpose, real-time properties, Standard MIDI Files,
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and Audio-to-MIDI from a sung or played melody.
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- **Recording:** punch in on a selection or on the fly, pre/post-roll, loop recording with a
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playlist per take, input monitoring through the full channel strip, and autosave with recovery.
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- **Time and tempo:** Bars|Beats, Min:Secs, Timecode (every rate, drop-frame included),
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Feet+Frames and Samples; tempo and meter maps with a tempo editor; linear, parabolic and
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S-curve tempo ramps; key signatures and detected chords; Beat Detective and Identify Beat;
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pitch-preserving Elastic warping.
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- **Audio files:** WAV/BWF/RF64, AIFF/AIFC and FLAC in and out; MP3, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, ALAC, CAF
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and the audio of MP4/MOV movies in. Any sample rate and bit depth.
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- **Bounce:** mix or stems to WAV, AIFF or FLAC at 16/24/32-bit float with dither and
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normalisation, reporting peak, true peak and integrated loudness (LUFS).
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- **Fast:** a parallel mix engine, copy-on-write undo, and a UI that holds 120 frames per second
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with seventy-odd tracks playing.
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## Getting started
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Download a build from the [releases page](https://github.com/storytold/soundcraft/releases), or build
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from source with a recent stable Rust:
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```sh
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git clone https://github.com/storytold/soundcraft
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cd soundcraft
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cargo run --release -p soundcraft -- --demo # opens the demo song
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```
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Linux needs the ALSA headers (`libasound2-dev` on Debian/Ubuntu, `alsa-lib-devel` on Fedora).
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The web build:
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```sh
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cd apps/soundcraft-web && trunk serve --release # then open http://127.0.0.1:8080
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```
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Useful shortcuts: <kbd>Space</kbd> play/stop, <kbd>⌘</kbd><kbd>=</kbd> Mix/Edit,
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<kbd>F1</kbd>–<kbd>F4</kbd> edit modes, <kbd>F5</kbd>–<kbd>F10</kbd> tools, <kbd>⌘</kbd><kbd>E</kbd>
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separate, <kbd>⌘</kbd><kbd>D</kbd> duplicate, <kbd>Enter</kbd> new marker, <kbd>⌘</kbd><kbd>⇧</kbd><kbd>N</kbd>
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new tracks. **Setup › Keyboard Shortcuts** lists them all.
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## For agents and scripts
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Everything you can click is also a command with an id and JSON parameters, and the same commands
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are reachable from the menus, the keyboard, the command line, a JSON control channel and an
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[MCP](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) server. Programmatic calls never open dialogs, and
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`session.inspect` reports exactly what changed, so an agent can check its own work.
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```sh
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# Headless: load the demo, turn the kick down, add an EQ, bounce.
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soundcraft-cli run --demo \
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--cmd 'mix.volume={"track":"Kick","db":-6}' \
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--cmd 'mix.insert={"track":"Bass","plugin":"eq_7band"}' \
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--bounce mix.wav
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# Drive the running app.
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soundcraft --demo --control 7801 &
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soundcraft-cli app --port 7801 transport.play
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soundcraft-cli app --port 7801 ui.screenshot '{"path":"shot.png"}'
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# Give Claude a DAW.
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claude mcp add soundcraft -- soundcraft-cli mcp --demo
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```
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See [`docs/control-protocol.md`](docs/control-protocol.md) and [`docs/mcp.md`](docs/mcp.md).
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`soundcraft-cli commands` lists every command.
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## How it's built
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SoundCraft is a Cargo workspace of small crates with strict layering: nothing below the UI knows
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about egui, so the interface could be swapped for another one.
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| Crate | What it does |
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|---|---|
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| `soundcraft-time` | Timebases, tempo and meter maps, timecode, grid |
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| `soundcraft-audio-io` | Audio file formats and waveform overviews |
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| `soundcraft-midi` | Standard MIDI Files and MIDI operations |
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| `soundcraft-dsp` | Plugins, offline processing, meters, loudness, FFT |
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| `soundcraft-model` | The session document |
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| `soundcraft-mix` | The mix engine (realtime and offline share it) |
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| `soundcraft-engine` | Commands, undo, editing, import/export, bounce |
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| `soundcraft-playback` | Audio devices (CoreAudio, WASAPI, ALSA, WebAudio) and recording |
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| `soundcraft-automation` | MCP server and control-channel client |
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| `soundcraft-ui-egui` | The user interface |
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The code never panics on bad input: errors are values, and a malformed file or a bad agent call
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produces a message, never a crash. `cargo xtask ci` runs formatting, clippy, the tests, the asset
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and layering checks and the WebAssembly build.
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## Status and roadmap
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SoundCraft is **pre-alpha, and close to its first alpha**: it covers 94 % of the incumbent's menu
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items and roughly two thirds of its features in depth. The core works and is fun to use, and plenty is still missing. The
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honest status, what's next and our effort estimates are in [`ROADMAP.md`](ROADMAP.md); the
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menu-by-menu comparison is in [`docs/parity.md`](docs/parity.md). Bug reports and wish lists are
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very welcome, in the issues or on Discord.
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## Downloads
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**Download SoundCraft** from GitHub: the [latest release](https://github.com/storytold/soundcraft/releases/latest) has every build listed below, and [all releases](https://github.com/storytold/soundcraft/releases) has earlier versions and their notes. `<ver>` in the file names is the version number, and `SHA256SUMS.txt` lists a checksum for every file.
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### Windows
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| Build | Installer | Portable |
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|---|---|---|
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| x64 (64-bit Intel/AMD) | `soundcraft-<ver>-windows-x64.msi` | `soundcraft-<ver>-windows-x64-portable.zip` |
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| arm64 (Snapdragon and other ARM PCs) | `soundcraft-<ver>-windows-arm64.msi` | `soundcraft-<ver>-windows-arm64-portable.zip` |
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| x86 (32-bit) | `soundcraft-<ver>-windows-x86.msi` | `soundcraft-<ver>-windows-x86-portable.zip` |
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Installers and executables are code-signed.
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### macOS
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| Build | File | Notes |
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|---|---|---|
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| App, universal (Apple silicon + Intel) | `soundcraft-<ver>-macos-universal.dmg` | Signed and notarized |
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| Command-line tool, universal | `soundcraft-cli-<ver>-macos-universal.zip` | Signed and notarized |
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### Linux
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| Format | x86_64 | aarch64 (ARM64) | Notes |
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|---|---|---|---|
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| AppImage | `soundcraft-<ver>-linux-x86_64.AppImage` | `soundcraft-<ver>-linux-aarch64.AppImage` | Runs anywhere; updates itself with [AppImageUpdate](https://github.com/AppImageCommunity/AppImageUpdate) (`.zsync` files) |
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| Flatpak | `soundcraft-<ver>-linux-x86_64.flatpak` | `soundcraft-<ver>-linux-aarch64.flatpak` | Sandboxed; `flatpak install --user <file>` |
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| Debian/Ubuntu | `soundcraft-<ver>-linux-x86_64.deb` | `soundcraft-<ver>-linux-aarch64.deb` | |
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| Fedora/RHEL/openSUSE | `soundcraft-<ver>-linux-x86_64.rpm` | `soundcraft-<ver>-linux-aarch64.rpm` | |
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| Tarball | `soundcraft-<ver>-linux-x86_64.tar.gz` | `soundcraft-<ver>-linux-aarch64.tar.gz` | Unpack anywhere |
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### FreeBSD
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| Build | File |
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|---|---|
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| x86_64 | `soundcraft-<ver>-freebsd-x86_64.tar.gz` |
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### Web (WebAssembly)
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| Build | File | Notes |
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|---|---|---|
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| Static site | `soundcraft-web-<ver>.zip` | Runs in a modern browser; host it on any static server |
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## The Crafting Apps
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SoundCraft is one of the **Crafting Apps**: free, open-source creative tools from the
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[ArtCraft](https://getartcraft.com/) team, each written from scratch in Rust and each able to
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stand on its own.
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| | App | What it's for | Code | Learn more |
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|:-:|---|---|---|---|
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| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/storytold/photocraft/main/assets/app-icon/hicolor/64x64/apps/ai.storyteller.photocraft.png" alt="" width="32" height="32"> | **PhotoCraft** | Image editing: layers, masks, type and real PSD files | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/photocraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/photocraft) |
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| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/storytold/vectorcraft/main/assets/app-icon/hicolor/64x64/apps/ai.storyteller.vectorcraft.png" alt="" width="32" height="32"> | **VectorCraft** | Vector illustration | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/vectorcraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/vectorcraft) |
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| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/storytold/filmcraft/main/assets/app-icon/hicolor/64x64/apps/ai.storyteller.filmcraft.png" alt="" width="32" height="32"> | **FilmCraft** | Video editing, color and sound | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/filmcraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/filmcraft) |
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| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/storytold/lightcraft/main/assets/app-icon/hicolor/64x64/apps/ai.storyteller.lightcraft.png" alt="" width="32" height="32"> | **LightCraft** | Photo library and raw development | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/lightcraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/lightcraft) |
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| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/storytold/pdfcraft/main/assets/app-icon/hicolor/64x64/apps/ai.storyteller.pdfcraft.png" alt="" width="32" height="32"> | **PdfCraft** | Reading, organizing and protecting PDFs | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/pdfcraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/pdfcraft) |
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| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/storytold/effectcraft/main/assets/app-icon/hicolor/64x64/apps/ai.storyteller.effectcraft.png" alt="" width="32" height="32"> | **EffectCraft** | Motion graphics and visual effects | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/effectcraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/effectcraft) |
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| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/storytold/designcraft/main/assets/app-icon/hicolor/64x64/apps/ai.storyteller.designcraft.png" alt="" width="32" height="32"> | **DesignCraft** | Page layout and publishing | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/designcraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/designcraft) |
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| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/storytold/soundcraft/main/assets/app-icon/hicolor/64x64/apps/ai.storyteller.soundcraft.png" alt="" width="32" height="32"> | **SoundCraft** | **Recording, editing and mixing audio · you are here** | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/soundcraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/soundcraft) |
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And [**ArtCraft**](https://getartcraft.com/) itself, our AI image and video studio for artists who want real control.
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<br>
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<p align="center">
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<a href="https://discord.gg/artcraft"><img alt="Join the ArtCraft community on Discord" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Join%20us%20on%20Discord-5865F2?style=for-the-badge&logo=discord&logoColor=white" height="40"></a>
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</p>
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<h3 align="center">Come make things with us</h3>
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<p align="center">
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Our Discord is where artists of every kind hang out: people who paint, shoot, draw, cut film,
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set type, and people still figuring out what they like to make. Share what you're working on,
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ask for help, tell us what's broken, or tell us what you wish these tools could do.
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Whatever your medium and however long you've been at it, you're welcome here.
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</p>
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<p align="center">
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<a href="https://discord.gg/artcraft"><b>discord.gg/artcraft</b></a> ·
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<a href="https://getartcraft.com/">getartcraft.com</a> ·
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<a href="https://getartcraft.com/apps">The Crafting Apps</a> ·
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<a href="https://getartcraft.com/apps/soundcraft">SoundCraft</a>
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</p>
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## License and credits
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SoundCraft is dual-licensed under [MIT](LICENSE-MIT) or [Apache-2.0](LICENSE-APACHE), at your option.
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Copyright (c) 2026 ArtCraft Team and the SoundCraft contributors. Required notices are in [NOTICE](NOTICE).
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Bundled fonts, icons, images and other assets keep their own open licenses; each one is listed
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with its author, source and license in [ATTRIBUTION.md](ATTRIBUTION.md).
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Every icon in the interface is drawn in code, the app icon is original, and the demo song and the
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screenshots' audio are synthesised by SoundCraft itself, so there are no samples or artwork from
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anyone else in this repository.
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The ArtCraft name, wordmark and logos in [`docs/brand/`](docs/brand/) are trademarks of the
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ArtCraft Team and are not covered by this license. They may be used only unmodified, and only as
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part of this repository and SoundCraft, under [`docs/brand/LICENSE-brand.txt`](docs/brand/LICENSE-brand.txt).
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Forks and modified versions must remove them.
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<sub>Avid and Pro Tools are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. SoundCraft is an independent, open-source project and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Avid Technology, Inc.; these names are used only to describe the workflows it is compatible with.</sub>
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||
<sub>Adobe, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Lightroom, Acrobat, After Effects and InDesign are trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. SoundCraft is an independent, open-source project and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Adobe Inc.; these names are used only to describe the workflows it is compatible with.</sub>
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||
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<p align="center">
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<a href="https://getartcraft.com/"><img alt="ArtCraft" src="docs/brand/artcraft-mark.svg" width="28"></a><br>
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<sub>Made by the <a href="https://getartcraft.com/">ArtCraft</a> team and community.</sub>
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</p>
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