Tracktion Engine
Tracktion Engine gives C++ developers the machinery behind a DAW without making them build one from nothing. Tracks, clips, plugins, MIDI and playback are already invited.
Programming - Sound Engine
Product information
Overview
Tracktion Engine is for developers who want to build a DAW without first spending several years reinventing what a DAW is. Written in modern C++ and built around JUCE, it provides a high-level model for creating sequencers, plugin hosts and other timeline-based audio applications. Better still, this is not an engine designed entirely in theory. Its foundations come from the technology behind Tracktion's own Waveform DAW. They built the machinery for a real workstation, then opened the toolbox for everyone else.
Bring Your Own DAW
Recording, playback, audio clips, MIDI, automation, plugins, time stretching, routing and editing are the sort of problems Tracktion Engine would rather you did not solve from zero again. Its data model provides reusable concepts for assembling the guts of a music application while leaving the actual product up to you. The project's own ambition stretches from a simple file player or sequencer all the way to a full DAW. How far down that rabbit hole you go is between you, your compiler and your project deadline.
JUCE Brought a Friend
Tracktion Engine fits directly into the JUCE ecosystem and is distributed as a JUCE module. That makes the pair particularly attractive for audio developers who want JUCE handling the cross-platform application layer while Tracktion Engine tackles higher-level sequencing and DAW concepts. JUCE gives you the bricks. Tracktion Engine arrives with several rooms already planned. You still have to build the house, obviously. This is C++, nobody was going to let you leave that easily.
A DAW Donated Its Organs
Tracktion open sourced the engine behind Waveform in 2018, giving developers access to technology already shaped by years of building an actual commercial workstation. That heritage is a big part of what makes the project interesting. Instead of starting with an empty audio callback and a heroic amount of optimism, developers can begin with abstractions for projects, tracks, clips, playback and plugins already waiting for them. Reinventing the wheel remains available if you miss suffering.