Limit is a deliberately constrained, runs-on-the-box software music instrument. It is not a general-purpose DAW; it is a focused environment for capturing, committing, and completing musical ideas within a fixed and finite structure. Constraint is the feature.

What It Is

• A JUCE-based standalone app with a minimal, controller-first UI
• A linear, bounded musical timeline (no non-linear arranging or micro-editing)
• A small, fixed set of internal instruments/effects built with JUCE's DSP facilities
• Designed around MIDI control (nanoKEY2 + MPD218) and a future Manifold keyboard surface

What It Is Not

Limit explicitly avoids:

• DAW-style editing, comping, or unlimited undo
• Unlimited tracks, devices, routing graphs, or plugin GUIs
• Mouse-centric precision workflows
• Cloud services, background daemons, or online dependencies
• AI composition or generative features

When the constraints are reached, the work is considered finished or handed off elsewhere.

Repository Layout

• src/: JUCE app code and DSP integration
• tests/: unit/integration tests (Catch2)
• assets/: bundled presets, UI resources, and logos
• third_party/JUCE/: JUCE source (submodule recommended)

Build & Run (Local)

JUCE must be available at third_party/JUCE (submodule recommended).

./scripts/configure.sh
./scripts/build.sh
./scripts/run.sh

Run tests (Catch2):

ctest --test-dir build

Formatting and linting:

./scripts/format.sh
./scripts/lint.sh
./scripts/lint-md.sh
./scripts/format-sh.sh
./scripts/lint-sh.sh

Sanitizer build (ASan/UBSan):

./scripts/sanitize.sh

Run sanitized app:

./scripts/run-sanitize.sh

Run sanitized tests:

./scripts/sanitize-test.sh

Leak sanitizer suppressions live in lsan.supp (add entries only for known system-library leaks). Current suppressions include ALSA (snd_pcm_open) from JUCE device init.

For symbolized sanitizer backtraces, install llvm-symbolizer (package llvm or llvm-17/18) so run-sanitize.sh can resolve stack frames.

Valgrind (memcheck on tests):

./scripts/valgrind.sh

CI

CI runs on GitHub Actions (Ubuntu). It performs configure, build, tests, and lint:

• Build: ./scripts/configure.sh, ./scripts/build.sh
• Tests: ctest --test-dir build
• Lint: ./scripts/lint.sh, ./scripts/lint-md.sh

Local tooling needed for linting:

• clang-format, clang-tidy
• mdl (ruby gem)

OP-1 Field Influence

Limit borrows the OP-1 Field’s instrument-first workflow and its deliberate bounds:

• A tape-style recording model with fixed length and finite storage (bounded, linear time)
• A small, fixed device set: synth, drum, sampler, effects; no plugin sprawl
• Mode-driven interaction (sound, sequence, tape, mix) rather than a DAW timeline
• Tape “tricks” and simple edits over deep, mouse-centric micro-editing
• Master processing is post-tape on the output bus (send/master effects operate on tape playback)
• Automatic, always-on persistence rather than explicit save management

References

• Design specification: docs/design.md.
• Control scheme and dev keyboard emulation: docs/control-scheme.md.

License

GPL-3.0-or-later. See LICENSE.