Devalang is a compact domain-specific language (DSL) for music makers, sound designers, and creative coders. Compose loops, control samples, synthesize audio, and render your ideas — all in clean, readable text.
Whether you're prototyping a beat, building generative music, or performing live, Devalang gives you rhythmic precision with the elegance of code.
From studio sketches to live sets, Devalang puts musical ideas into motion.
🚀 v0.1.0+ - Complete Rewriting
NEW: Devalang Playground V2.0 is now available — Try it in your browser!
- 🌐 Website — Project homepage
▶️ Playground — Try Devalang in your browser- 📖 Documentation — Complete language reference
- 📜 Changelog — Version history
- 💡 Examples
- 📦 Devapack — Community-driven addons
- 🧩 VSCode Extension — Syntax highlighting & snippets
- 🐙 Installers — For Windows, macOS, and Linux
- 📦 npm — Install via npm
- 📦 cargo — Install via Cargo
Launch the Playground to try Devalang without installing anything.
Visit the Download page to get the latest releases for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
npm install -g @devaloop/devalangcargo install devalang# Initialize a new project
devalang init my-project
# Navigate to the project
cd my-project
# Check syntax
devalang check --entry examples/index.deva
# Build audio files
devalang build --path examples/index.deva --formats wav mid
# Play audio (live mode)
devalang play --live --input examples/index.devaDevalang supports addons to extend functionalities. This allows you to easily add sound banks, effects, or other features.
To create your own addon, please refer to the Devapack documentation.
# List available addons
devalang addon list
# Install an addon (format: <author>.<addon-name>)
devalang addon install devaloop.808This will install the devaloop.808 sound bank in your current working directory inside .deva folder.
You can then use it in your Devalang scripts !
Create a file hello.deva or index.deva (if you do not specify --input argument, it defaults to index.deva).
- Devalang files use the
.devaextension. - Devalang engine is indentation-sensitive for blocks, similar to Python.
- Files are plain text and can be edited with any text editor (VSCode recommended).
- Ensure your text editor supports UTF-8 encoding.
- Devalang is case-sensitive, so be consistent with capitalization.
- Devalang reads files from top to bottom, so order matters.
- Devalang files typically start with global settings (e.g.,
bpm,bank), followed by definitions (synth,pattern,group), and finally execution commands (spawn,play). - Devalang files can include comments using
#or//for single-line comments. - You can name your files anything, but
index.devais a common convention for the main entry file. - You can organize your project with subfolders as needed. (use module system like
@import { var } from '<module_path>'and@export { var }).
Refer to the documentation for a complete syntax reference.
# Set the tempo
bpm 120
# Load a bank of sounds (make sure you have the bank installed)
bank devaloop.808 as drums
# Create a simple kick pattern
pattern kickPattern with drums.kick = "x--- x--- x--- x---"
# Define a synth and a melody
let mySynth = synth saw
# Define a melody using a group to organize notes
group myMelody:
mySynth -> note(C5)
-> duration(500) # 500ms
mySynth -> note(E5)
-> duration(1/4) # Quarter note
mySynth -> note(G5)
-> duration(1/16) # Sixteenth note
-> velocity(0.8) # Velocity (0.0 to 1.0) or 0-127
-> lpf(800) # Lowpass filter at 800Hz
-> reverb({ size: 0.3 }) # Reverb effect
# Play the melody (in parallel)
spawn myMelody
# Play the kick pattern (in parallel too)
spawn kickPattern
You can create a devalang.json (recommended) or devalang.toml or even .devalang (legacy) file to customize check/build/play settings.
This typically evitate to re-type common arguments like --path, --formats, etc.
Comments are not supported in config files, please use
devalang initto generate a default config.
# Build to WAV, MP3, and MIDI
devalang build --path hello.deva --formats wav,mp3,mid# Play the audio file
devalang play --input hello.deva
# Play live (repeats and watch until stopped)
devalang play --live --input hello.deva
# Play live loop with very short crossfade
# With 50ms, transitions between loops are no more distinguishable
devalang play --live --crossfade-ms 50 --input hello.deva- ✅ Lexer & Parser — Complete tokenization and AST generation
- ✅ Patterns — Rhythmic notation with swing, humanize, velocity
- ✅ Synths — Built-in synthesizers with ADSR envelopes
- ✅ Filters — Lowpass, highpass, bandpass audio filtering
- ✅ Effects — Reverb, delay, distortion, drive, chorus
- ✅ Variables —
let,const,varwith scoping - ✅ Groups & Spawn — Organize and parallelize execution
- ✅ Loops & Conditions —
for,if,elsecontrol flow - ✅ Triggers — Conditional audio triggering
- ✅ Events — Event system with
onandemit
- ✅
devalang init— Scaffold new projects (3 templates) - ✅
devalang build— Compile to WAV/MIDI - ✅
devalang check— Validate syntax - ✅
devalang play— Audio playback - ✅
devalang addon— Manage addons (install, list, discover) - ✅
devalang login/logout— Authentication - ✅
devalang telemetry— Privacy controls
- ✅
render_audio()— Browser audio rendering - ✅
render_midi_array()— MIDI export - ✅
debug_render()— Debug information - ✅
parse()— Parse Devalang code - ✅ TypeScript types included
- ✅ WAV — 16/24/32-bit audio export
- ✅ MIDI — Standard MIDI file export
- ✅ MP3 — Lossy audio export (via LAME)
- ⚡ Fast builds — 7-10ms for typical projects
- ⚡ Low latency — Optimized audio engine
- ⚡ Release builds — 5-6x faster than debug
- ✅ Online Docs — Complete language reference
- ✅ VSCode Extension — Syntax highlighting
- 🎹 Prototype audio ideas without opening a DAW
- 💻 Integrate sound into code-based workflows
- 🎛️ Control audio parameters with readable syntax
- 🧪 Build musical logic with variables and conditions
- 🔄 Create patterns with expressive notation
- 🎨 Live code with fast iteration cycles
- 📦 Version control your music with git
Visit docs.devalang.com for:
- Complete syntax reference
- API documentation
- WASM integration guide
- CLI command reference
- Advanced tutorials
- Best practices
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/devaloop-labs/devalang.git
cd devalang
# NPM (TypeScript) and Cargo (Rust) are required
npm install
# Build CLI (Rust)
cargo build
# Build WASM (Web & Node.js)
npm run rust:wasm:all
# Build TypeScript
npm run ts:build
# Run tests
cargo test --features cli
npm testWe welcome contributions! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
- 🐛 Report bugs via GitHub Issues
- 💡 Suggest features in discussions
- 📝 Improve docs with pull requests
- 🎵 Share examples of your creations
- 🧪 Write tests for new features
MIT License — See LICENSE for details.
Copyright (c) 2025 Labscend Studios
Star ⭐ the repo if you like it !
{ "project": { "name": "My Awesome Project" // Change this to adjust project name }, "paths": { "entry": "audio/helloWorld.deva", // Change this to adjust entry file path "output": "output" // Change this to adjust output directory }, "audio": { "format": ["wav", "mid"], // Change this to adjust output formats (options: wav, mid, mp3) "bit_depth": 16, // Change this to 24 or 32 for higher quality "channels": 2, // Change this to 1 for mono output "sample_rate": 44100, // Change this to 48000 for higher quality "resample_quality": "sinc24", // Change this to adjust resampling quality (options: sinc8, sinc16, sinc24, sinc32) "bpm": 120 // Change this to adjust the project tempo (only if not set in code) }, "live": { "crossfade_ms": 500 // Change this to adjust crossfade duration when playing live } }