GitHub - mohsenil85/imbolc: Imbolc DAW - terminal-based digital audio workstation

Imbolc Studio

A complete audio workstation in your terminal.

Alpha software. Imbolc is under active development. Expect rough edges. Bug reports are very welcome.

Write beats, layer synthesizers, shape sounds with effects, mix tracks, record finished songs, annoy your neighbors, all from the comfort of your terminal.

Highlights

Sound Design

58 built-in instruments — oscillators, FM synthesis, physical models, drums, classic synths, samplers, and more
39 built-in effects — delays, reverbs, compressors, modulation, distortion, granular, spectral, and more
Semi-modular signal chain — per-track source → LFO → effects → EQ → mixer with bus routing
Powered by SuperCollider — professional-grade DSP with custom synthdefs

Sequencing

Piano roll and drum sequencer — per-note velocity and probability, variable grid resolution, groove and humanize
Automation — automate any parameter with drawable lanes
Arpeggiator — arpeggiate chords with configurable patterns

Studio

Mixer with up to 128 buses — per-track levels, pan, mute/solo, sends, and master control
Real-time LAN collaboration — multiple players on a shared session over your local network
Record and export — capture your session and export to WAV
SQLite project files — projects are plain SQLite databases you can query, edit, and share with standard tools (patch export WIP)

Does your DAW have

Stradella bass keyboard — full accordion layout with automatic chord voicing across a circle-of-fifths grid
Just intonation — 5 tuning systems (12-TET, scale JI, chord JI, adaptive JI, global JI) with 3 JI flavors (5-limit, 7-limit, Pythagorean)
Per-pad groove — independent swing, timing offset, humanization, and time signature per pad
Generative composition — Euclidean rhythms, Markov chains, and L-systems with macro controls for density, chaos, energy, and motion
Harmonic Snap — notes automatically quantize to your key and scale

Accessible REPL

TUIs can be an accessibility nightmare. Imbolc ships a full text-mode REPL with 236 commands across 16 domains — every action available in the UI is available as a typed command.

Screen-reader friendly — plain stdin/stdout, no visual UI required
Tab completion — context-aware completion with inline hints
Readline Editing - C-a, C-e, etc
Built-in help — help, help <group>, help <group> <command>
Scriptable — pipe a text file in for automated or headless music production
Works anywhere — over SSH, in containers, on headless servers

Support the Project

Imbolc is built by one person and given away for free. Sponsorship keeps development going — new instruments, new effects, and new features — while keeping Imbolc open source and $0 for everyone.

Quick Start

Install Rust and SuperCollider (scsynth must be on your PATH).
Compile SynthDefs: imbolc-core/bin/compile-synthdefs
Run: cargo run -p imbolc-ui --release

Terminal: Works in any modern terminal. For the best experience (enhanced piano keyboard), use Kitty or Ghostty.

Keybindings

F1 - Create instruments and groups
F2 - Edit patterns
F3 - Track View
F4 - Mixer
F12 - Server settings
? - Show keybindings
: - Invoke
; - Repl
^n - New Instrument
^N - Add new instrument to current layer group
^m - Midi settings
1-0 - Select Instrument
/ - Piano mode
^q - Quit