MAGDA - Free Open Source DAW with Integrated AI (v0.9.0)

[ConceptualMachines]

Hi everyone,

I just released MAGDA 0.1.0, a free and open-source DAW with integrated AI. On top of the usual DAW features, it lets you use natural language to interact with the software and automate your workflow. AI here is used as an automation tool, not a creativity replacement.

Features in 0.1.0:

• Hybrid tracks (audio and MIDI on the same track)
• Arrangement view, session view, and mixer
• Plugin hosting (VST/AU)
• Modulation system with LFOs, bezier curve editor, and macro knobs
• Racks with parallel chains
• Piano roll with pitchbend and MIDI CC lanes
• Built-in drum grid device
• Built-in EQ, compressor, reverb, delay, and more
• AI chat panel for natural language commands

Powered by Tracktion Engine. The AI part is BYOAK (Bring Your Own API Keys). Currently supports OpenAI.

Free and open source under GPL v3. Pro tier with additional instruments and effects planned down the line.

Links:
Website
KVR Product Page
YouTube intro:
GitHub

If you run into any issues or bugs, please report them on GitHub Issues.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers

[jens]

AI here is used as an automation tool, not a creativity replacement.

You mean commands such as "create a funky bassline", right?

[ConceptualMachines]

AI here is used as an automation tool, not a creativity replacement.

You mean commands such as "create a funky bassline", right?

Fair point. The bassline example is probably the most provocative one I could have picked. In practice, the AI only works with symbolic data: tracks, clips, notes, plugin assignments. It doesn't generate audio. "Create a track called Bass with Serum 2" and "select all clips below length 1 bar" are just as valid commands. You have full control over the output.

[pekbro]

How do you open the settings menu under windows? There is no menu.

[ConceptualMachines]

How do you open the settings menu under windows? There is no menu.

Thanks for reporting this. It's currently being addressed in https://github.com/Conceptual-Machines/ ... e/pull/852 and will be included in the next release.

[pekbro]

How do you open the settings menu under windows? There is no menu.

Thanks for reporting this. It's currently being addressed in https://github.com/Conceptual-Machines/ ... e/pull/852 and will be included in the next release.

Thanks, this looks pretty interesting.

[3lu5iv3]

used this for about 10 minutes and i kinda like it.
is it possible to change the time signature?
i couldn't do it.

[ConceptualMachines]

MAGDA 0.2.0 Released

Version 0.2.0 is out with a bunch of new features and improvements:

• Custom Colours — Right-click any track header to pick a colour. Define your own palette in Preferences. Colours carry across track headers, mixer strips, session view, and clips.
• Mixer & Session View Polish — Mute/solo/record/monitor buttons moved above I/O, larger track colour area at the top of each strip, 0dB tick on the master fader, selection highlighting. Session view channels now pick up track colours.
• Audio Clip Properties Panel — Resizable properties panel in the waveform editor for warp mode, tempo, pitch, reverse, and other clip settings.
• Performance Info — Device inspector shows live plugin latency, track inspector shows total track latency, and the transport CPU tooltip now shows device info, sample rate, buffer size, peak CPU, and xrun count.
• AI Plugin Aliases — Type @ in the AI chat for autocomplete of your installed plugins.
• Improved Peak Meters — Smooth gradient, peak hold indicators, tighter ballistics.
• Multi-output plugins now create independent sibling tracks
• Rack and drum grid chains have bypass toggles and collapsible devices
• Drum grid pads have a plus button to add plugins directly
• Auto-detect new and removed plugins on startup
• Plugin browser favourites and config fixes
• Time ruler rewritten, crash fixes, and stability improvements

Download: magda.land
Source: GitHub
Video:

[ConceptualMachines]

used this for about 10 minutes and i kinda like it.
is it possible to change the time signature?
i couldn't do it.

Soon!

[tumface]

This says it has GPL license, but most of the code is written with Claude, right? So it's public domain, and you can't assign a copyright license to it.

[ConceptualMachines]

This says it has GPL license, but most of the code is written with Claude, right? So it's public domain, and you can't assign a copyright license to it.

The project links against Tracktion Engine, which is GPL3, so the license is inherited regardless. But thanks for the legal consultation

[tumface]

No, that's not how it works. It can't be assigned a copyright license *at all*, because it isn't copyrighted. It can't inherit any license, or anything. It's public domain. The portion which isn't written with Claude remains under its original license, but the newly created DAW code with Claude, called MAGDA, is public domain. You can't assign a GPLv3 license to it, because you don't own the copyright to it. Nobody owns it.

[ConceptualMachines]

0.3.0 is out — biggest update yet.

What's new:

• Chord Engine — real-time detection, Krumhansl-Schmuckler suggestions, and AI chord generation, all inside the piano roll
• Local AI — llama.cpp embedded, runs offline with a custom fine-tuned model. No API keys needed
• Multi-provider AI — OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, DeepSeek, OpenRouter all supported with streaming
• DSL Console — built-in REPL for scripting tracks, devices, grooves
• Groove & Swing — per-clip groove templates with a browsable library
• Track-level Macros and Modulators, 4OSC mod matrix UI, editable time signatures, count-in pre-roll
• Windows VST scanning fix — we got reports it wasn't working in 0.2. Should be sorted now — turned out to be a pipe deadlock in the scanner subprocess

Video walkthrough:
Download: https://magda.land

If you're on Windows and try scanning plugins, please let me know how it goes, want to make sure this is properly fixed.

[ConceptualMachines]

Just released 0.3.1 which adds diagnostic logging at startup so we can see exactly where it gets stuck. If you could grab it from https://magda.land and give it another try, the log file will be at %APPDATA%\MAGDA\Logs\magda.log. Even if it hangs, the log writes in real time so everything up to the hang point will be there.

You can send it over at magda.land/report/windows-vst or drop an issue on GitHub. Would really help us nail this down, cheers!

[ConceptualMachines]

MAGDA 0.4.0 Released

Version 0.4.0 is out. This one is about timing and MIDI devices:

• Time Bend — A new feature that redistributes notes across a phrase according to a curve. Cluster notes toward the start or end, or ripple them in repeating cycles. Three controls — Depth, Skew, and Cycles — shape the curve. Available in the Piano Roll, the Drum Grid Editor, and built into the new Arpeggiator and Step Sequencer devices.
• Arpeggiator — A full MIDI device. Drop it before an instrument, hold a chord, and it outputs the notes one at a time. Pattern, rate, octaves, gate, swing, latch, velocity modes. Time Bend is built into the panel, and every parameter is macro- and modulator-linkable.
• Step Sequencer — A self-driving MIDI device with a keyboard grid, per-step pitch, velocity, accent and glide, up to 32 steps, and four playback directions. Program it by clicking, step-recording from a controller, or by typing a text prompt and letting the AI fill it in. Time Bend built in.
• Drum Grid — Multi-Out & Macros — Each pad can route to its own mixer channel, and per-pad parameters are now full citizens in the modulation system.
• Large audio file loading is no longer a beachball — BPM detection and transient analysis run on a background thread
• MIDI file import and export
• Bipolar macro linking
• Inspector polish and assorted bugfixes

Download: magda.land
Source: GitHub
Video: