> [!WARNING]
>
> As of 2024-09-10, I'm working hard to bring this project back
> to a usable state (as seen e.g. [here](https://mastodon.social/@unspeaker/112752419822653484)).
>
> I reached the limit of how much of the UI I can write imperatively,
> and started refactoring it in a more declarative style. I'm quite
> excited about how the interface logic is turning out!
>
> Your moral support means a lot to me.
> Feel free to [contact me on Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@unspeaker)!
>
> (Especially if you know how to host LV2 plugin UIs in `winit` 😁)
>
> - the author

# tek

Tek is a [MIDI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIDI) sequencer, sampler, and plugin host
for the Linux terminal. It's written in [Rust](https://www.rust-lang.org/), and targets
[JACK](https://jackaudio.org/) (or [Pipewire](https://www.pipewire.org/)'s JACK implementation).

My goal is to have a pop-up scratchpad for musical ideas that doesn't get in the way
of building upon them. Kind of like [Ableton](https://www.ableton.com/) — but for free systems,
and without all the bloat!

Besides Ableton, I'm also inspired by the workflow of trackers and various old-school hardware
sequencers (of which I've broken several). I've found that every existing music-making tool
takes me about 80% of the way to the music I want to make. And so, after a decade of fucking
around, I've decided it's finally time to make good on my old dream to build the instrument
that will take me 100% there.

A secondary goal is to make my music making environment extensible, programmable, and
interoperable; the intended project format is an
[S-expression](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-expression)-based notation
([EDN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clojure#Extensible_Data_Notation),
[Steel](https://github.com/mattwparas/steel), or similar... though I've also been
looking for an excuse to embed a
[Forth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_(programming_language)) 😏)

You can follow my progress, my tragicomical struggles with maintaining
mental health as a rogue knowledge worker in a cyberpunk dystopia, and various
other trials'n'tribulations, on [Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@unspeaker).

---

See `demos/project.edn` for the initial contents of the session.

## Requirements

* Linux
* Rust toolchain
* JACK or Pipewire

### Recommended

* MIDI controller
* Samples at ~/Lab/Music/pak
* Odin2 LV2 ~/.lv2/Odin2.lv2

## Overview

Tek is inspired by "clip launching" workflows as exemplified by Ableton Live, Bitwig Studio,
Ardour, and probably others. The main view consists of three sections:

* The **arranger view** corresponds to Ableton's Session and Arrangement views.
  It allows you to put together a musical composition as a sequence of **phrases**,
  playing simultaneously across multiple **tracks**.
* The **sequencer view** allows you to edit phrases, which consist of MIDI events.
* The **chain view** allows you to add **devices** to each track. Devices determine
  how a given phrase will sound. Currently, there are two devices implemented:
  **sampler** and **plugin**.

> [!NOTE]
> Use `Tab` to switch focus between views. Use `Enter` to exclusively focus the highlighted view,
> and `Esc` to unfocus it. When a view is focused, use the `Arrow Keys` and `Enter` to navigate.
> Use `;` (semicolon) to open the command palette, which will list the remaining keybindings.

## TODO:

* Control:
  * [ ] Customize key map
  * [ ] MIDI map
  * [ ] Scriptable
  * [ ] Command panel
  * [ ] Search panel
* Save project:
  * [ ] Preserve EDN layout
* Samples:
  * [x] Sample browser
  * [ ] Resample
  * [ ] Repitch
  * [ ] Sample editor
  * [ ] Envelope
  * [ ] Stretch sample to BPM
  * [ ] Set BPM from sample
  * [ ] Map MIDI note to sample
  * [ ] Multisample
* Sequencer/Arranger:
  * [x] Fix next/prev clip
  * [ ] Move clip/track/scene
  * [ ] Set track gain
  * [ ] Play from one clip, record into another
  * [ ] Offbeat of next clip starts during end of first
  * [ ] Pattern chain
  * [ ] Actually sync
* Chain:
  * [ ] Add device
  * [ ] View and connect device ports in chain view
  * [ ] Open LV2 GUI
  * [ ] Pin favorite FX parameters with `*`
  * [ ] Parallel monitoring chain
  * [ ] Support CLAP plugins
  * [ ] Support VST2
  * [ ] Support VST3
* Transport:
  * [x] Focus transport to set BPM/sync/quant with `.,`
  * [ ] Double/halve BPM with `xX`
* Rendering:
  * [ ] LineBuffer for scroll?
  * [ ] Buffered rendering with e.g. needs_update (only needed if the release build becomes slow)
    * [x] Buffered sequencer
    * [ ] Buffered chain view