AbletonInstrumentHost

AbletonInstrumentHost is a public, self-contained SuperCollider Quark for organizing instrument hosting workflows around VSTPlugin, tempo sync, Ableton Link, presets, snapshots, automation, and export planning.

It does not replace Ableton Live. It gives SuperCollider a small, performable, programmable layer for instrument/session state so live coding and structured composition can share the same track registry and planning vocabulary.

Quick Start

AbletonInstrumentHost.start((bpm: 124, beatsPerBar: 4));

AbletonInstrumentHost.loadPlugin(\keys, (
    path: "Piano.vst3",
    outputs: 2,
    editor: false
));

AbletonInstrumentHost.loadPreset(\keys, (name: "soft-keys"));
AbletonInstrumentHost.noteOn(\keys, 60, 96);
AbletonInstrumentHost.setParam(\keys, \cutoff, 0.42);
AbletonInstrumentHost.automate(\keys, (
    param: \cutoff,
    points: [[0, 0.2], [8, 0.8]]
));

AbletonInstrumentHost.saveSnapshot(\verse);
AbletonInstrumentHost.setTempo(128);
AbletonInstrumentHost.restoreSnapshot(\verse);

AbletonInstrumentHost.exportStemPlan((tracks: [\keys], bars: 16));
AbletonInstrumentHost.exportScorePlan((tracks: [\keys], format: \lilypond));

AbletonInstrumentHost.stop;

Install

Quarks.install("https://github.com/ramonsesma/AbletonInstrumentHost");

Public API

• AbletonInstrumentHost.start(config)
• AbletonInstrumentHost.stop
• AbletonInstrumentHost.status
• AbletonInstrumentHost.capabilities
• AbletonInstrumentHost.loadPlugin(trackId, pluginSpec)
• AbletonInstrumentHost.unloadPlugin(trackId)
• AbletonInstrumentHost.loadPreset(trackId, presetSpec)
• AbletonInstrumentHost.saveSnapshot(name)
• AbletonInstrumentHost.restoreSnapshot(name)
• AbletonInstrumentHost.noteOn(trackId, note, vel, chan = 0)
• AbletonInstrumentHost.noteOff(trackId, note, chan = 0)
• AbletonInstrumentHost.cc(trackId, cc, value, chan = 0)
• AbletonInstrumentHost.setParam(trackId, param, value)
• AbletonInstrumentHost.automate(trackId, automationSpec)
• AbletonInstrumentHost.setTempo(bpm)
• AbletonInstrumentHost.linkStart
• AbletonInstrumentHost.linkStop
• AbletonInstrumentHost.exportStemPlan(spec)
• AbletonInstrumentHost.exportScorePlan(spec)

Architecture

The public facade delegates to focused internal classes:

• AIHSession: lifecycle and host/session state.
• AIHCapabilities: dynamic capability detection.
• AIHPluginRegistry: plugin track registry and per-track state.
• AIHSync: tempo, clock, and optional Ableton Link state.
• AIHPresets: preset normalization and snapshots.
• AIHAutomation: MIDI, param, and automation event shapes.
• AIHExportPlanner: stem and score export plan dictionaries.
• AIHVSTBackend: optional VSTPlugin adapter using dynamic class lookup.
• AIHResult: stable result dictionaries and reporting.

Degradation Model

AbletonInstrumentHost compiles without VSTPlugin installed. Capability detection uses symbol lookup such as \VSTPlugin.asClass, so optional dependencies are not hard references in class files.

When VSTPlugin or VSTPluginController is absent, loadPlugin stores the plugin intent in the track registry and returns ok: true with degraded: true plus warnings. MIDI events, params, presets, snapshots, automation plans, tempo state, and export plans still work as structured data.

When VSTPlugin is available, v1 expects either a ready controller in pluginSpec or a synth from which a VSTPluginController can be created. If neither is supplied, loadPlugin still stores the track intent and reports degraded state instead of creating hidden audio infrastructure.

LinkClock is part of modern SuperCollider builds, but linkStart is still best effort. If Link is absent or cannot be started, tempo state remains local and the result reports degraded state.

Export Planning

Export methods do not render audio or write notation files in v1. They return deterministic plans that downstream renderers can consume:

AbletonInstrumentHost.exportStemPlan((
    tracks: [\drums, \bass, \keys],
    bars: 32,
    format: \wav,
    destination: "exports/stems"
));

AbletonInstrumentHost.exportScorePlan((
    tracks: [\keys],
    bars: 32,
    format: \lilypond,
    notation: (quant: 0.25)
));

Tests

Run from the repository root:

& 'C:\Program Files\SuperCollider-3.14.1\sclang.exe' -D -r -s --include-path 'Classes' --include-path 'tests' 'tests\RunAbletonInstrumentHost.scd'

Or inside sclang after loading the Quark classes:

TestAbletonInstrumentHost.run;

License: MIT.