SSPACEAGEDOCUMENTATION/
Release and Assurance

Internal Instrument And Sampler Audit

Updated Aug 27, 2026   |   18.0 KB   |   docs/Internal_Instrument_Audit.md

Internal Instrument And Sampler Audit

Date: 2026-07-05

Purpose: list the current SpaceAge internal synths, samplers, and drum engines, then name the work needed for each one to feel like part of a professional product.

Architectural Rule

Instrument pages should make or shape sound. Mixer and lane channel strips should own shared effect sends.

Do not save, load, randomize, or clear mixer-send values as part of instrument patches. The following parameters are mixer-owned routing/mix state, not synth-patch state:

  • halostarsend
  • roomsend
  • delaysend
  • chorussend
  • flangersend
  • phasersend
  • tremolosend
  • octavesend

Internal tone-shaping effects can remain inside an instrument only when they are genuinely part of that engine's voice, clearly named as such, and not confused with mixer sends. Examples: Redshift room and delay can be treated as internal patch character for now, while channel-strip Halostar/EchoRay/Reverb sends belong in the Mixer.

Current Engines

Internal Engine / Generic Synth

Role: original built-in starter engine and legacy synthesis path.

Professional gaps:

  • Decide whether this remains a public engine or becomes an internal compatibility layer behind Redshift/Kick Lab.
  • Add or confirm preset save/load parity if it remains public.
  • Remove any mixer-send controls from its visible page and patch identity.
  • Tighten naming so users do not see both Internal Engine and more polished named synths as equal choices without context.
  • Validate A440 tracking, velocity behavior, and stuck-note handling against the newer MIDI architecture.
  • Give it a simpler default patch if it remains user-facing.

Classic Machines

Role: space-themed classic drum-machine flavor without protected brand names.

Professional gaps:

  • Finish preset saving and recall.
  • Add Render to Sample.
  • Keep all product copy and preset names free of Roland/808/606/707/etc. references unless legally cleared.
  • Normalize output levels across models.
  • Audit each model for recognizable character without cloning protected assets.
  • Add factory presets organized by role: kick, snare, hats, toms, percussion, noise hits, weird machines.

Physical Modeling

Role: modal/percussive physical-model-flavored engine, including tuned percussion and bass-guitar direction.

Professional gaps:

  • Prove A440 keyboard tracking for every pitched model.
  • Improve model-specific controls so marimba, xylophone, bell, bass, and tabla-like instruments do not feel like one generic resonator with renamed knobs.
  • Add credible velocity response and damping behavior.
  • Add preset save/load parity.
  • Add Render to Sample.
  • Add more factory patches: marimba, xylophone, bell, kalimba, glass bar, plucked string, tabla-inspired dayan/bayan, tuned log/wood, metallic mallet.
  • Profile CPU and denormal behavior on long resonances.

Redshift

Role: main subtractive / virtual-analog internal synth.

Professional gaps:

  • Finish the multi-page UI and keep knob sizing, spacing, and labels consistent.
  • Make knob edits fully undoable.
  • Keep preset save/load, dirty-state asterisk, and Arranger lane label updates reliable.
  • Keep mixer sends out of patch save/load and out of the Redshift page.
  • Finish pitch bend, mod wheel, sustain, pressure, and CC mapping response.
  • Improve filters: more musical resonance, better saturation staging, optional high-quality mode.
  • Expand factory presets with chord-safe pads, plucks, keys, leads, basses, and init patches.
  • Make gate patterns and motion controls obvious, reliable, and tempo-aware.
  • Add a virtual keyboard or audition row for sound design without hardware.

SoundFont

Role: SF2/SFZ-style workstation sampler path for user libraries and General MIDI testing.

Professional gaps:

  • Finish patch-edit controls that consistently affect all loaded fonts where possible.
  • Keep mixer sends out of the SoundFont patch page.
  • Add clear repair/relink workflow when a SoundFont path changes.
  • Improve large-font performance and visible loading/progress feedback.
  • Add preset metadata display: bank, program, original name, source file, category if known.
  • Add optional root/transposition helpers and better handling of GM/XG banks.
  • Confirm ADSR, filter, vibrato, and LFO controls behave consistently across fonts.
  • Add archive/package validation so collaborators receive required fonts or clear missing-asset instructions.

Kick Lab

Role: dedicated kick synthesis lab.

Professional gaps:

  • Add Render to Sample as a first-class action.
  • Document every parameter in the glossary/manual.
  • Polish Flux Nodes for per-note variation and make ranges obvious.
  • Normalize loudness across presets to avoid accidental speaker danger.
  • Add more musically sorted presets: tight, deep, subby, punchy, clicky, dusty, experimental.
  • Add visual pitch/amplitude envelope editing.
  • Add optional sidechain link points for future 808/sub generator.

Snare Lab

Role: dedicated snare synthesis lab.

Professional gaps:

  • Add Render to Sample.
  • Improve body/noise/transient separation so acoustic, synthetic, rim, clap-like, and noisy snares are easy to reach.
  • Polish Flux Nodes for liveliness without random chaos.
  • Add preset save/load parity and factory categories.
  • Add envelope visualization for body and noise components.
  • Normalize output and prevent overly sharp transient spikes.

Hat Lab

Role: dedicated hi-hat synthesis lab.

Professional gaps:

  • Add Render to Sample.
  • Make Flux Nodes a centerpiece because hats benefit strongly from per-note variation.
  • Add open/closed/pedal/shaker-like presets.
  • Add choke behavior presets and clearer short/long decay behavior.
  • Add metallic/noise blend controls with anti-harshness safeguards.
  • Normalize levels across closed and open hat patches.

Propulsion 1

Role: 3-oscillator subtractive synth.

Professional gaps:

  • Continue chord-safe preset QA so oscillator offsets never create accidental atonal/jazz-horror patches.
  • Add stronger tuning guards for oscillator semitone/fine defaults.
  • Optimize unison and filter cost for chords.
  • Finish polished multi-page UI.
  • Add preset metadata and category browsing.
  • Keep mixer sends out of patch identity and visible instrument pages.
  • Add a better init patch and a balanced factory bank: pads, plucks, keys, basses, leads, stabs.

Liftoff

Role: wavetable synth with imported wavetable/source support.

Professional gaps:

  • Improve wavetable import analysis and root-note/tuning feedback.
  • Add anti-aliasing, interpolation, and quality modes that are clear and CPU-safe.
  • Expand chord-safe factory presets.
  • Add visual table/source display.
  • Keep mixer sends out of patch identity and visible instrument pages.
  • Improve motion controls so sync/free behavior is obvious.
  • Add source/package relocation and archive behavior.

Glass Moon

Role: FM/additive/operator-based synth.

Professional gaps:

  • Split operator and global controls into clean pages so nothing is clipped.
  • Add a readable algorithm/operator-flow view.
  • Continue tuning QA: ratios should default to musically useful values, not accidental dissonance.
  • Make brightness and feedback safe enough for chords.
  • Add preset categories: bells, EP-like keys, glass pads, mallets, plucks, drones.
  • Keep mixer sends out of patch identity and visible instrument pages.
  • Profile high-feedback or complex patches for CPU and clipping.

Moonshadow

Role: spectral-modeling-inspired additive/resynthesis-flavored synth.

Professional gaps:

  • Fix CPU spikes above 100% on expensive patches.
  • Add clear quality/voice-limit controls.
  • Add partial/spectrum visualization.
  • Improve chord-safe presets and filter out overly unstable factory sounds.
  • Add import-analysis roadmap only after the current engine is stable.
  • Keep mixer sends out of patch identity and visible instrument pages.
  • Add better loudness normalization and panic/stuck-note validation.

Lunacy

Role: granular synthesis instrument with user-source loading.

Professional gaps:

  • Smooth grain playback; reduce raspy/grainy artifacts where the patch is meant to be fluid.
  • Add robust source import, storage, root-note, and tuning workflow.
  • Make sure every loaded source produces sound reliably.
  • Clarify which internal effects are part of Lunacy's voice and remove mixer-send duplication.
  • Add presets and categories; a synth with no presets feels unfinished.
  • Add CPU-safe density/quality modes.
  • Add waveform/source preview and grain-position visualization.
  • Confirm master effects sends are mixer-owned only.

Quasar

Role: proprietary multisample instrument/package format built from SpaceAge patches or loaded packages.

Professional gaps:

  • Add visible progress while capturing/building packages.
  • Add key/velocity map editor.
  • Add loop modes, including Loop on Release.
  • Add round-robin/layer editing and package validation.
  • Fix filename/path encoding issues permanently.
  • Add package metadata: author, source patch, capture settings, root notes, velocity layers, license notes.
  • Add relink/repair and archive handling for .ssquasar packages.
  • Add preview/audition and quality-control report after build.

Layers Sampler

Role: pad-based layered sample playback.

Professional gaps:

  • Add sample browser with user metadata: category, tags, source, author, description, pitch/root, BPM where applicable.
  • Add proper region/waveform editing.
  • Add root-note and tuning helpers for tonal one-shots.
  • Add velocity layer visualization.
  • Add loop modes and crossfade controls.
  • Add repair/relink and archive verification.
  • Keep channel effects sends in the Mixer rather than in the sampler patch UI.

One-Shots

Role: always-available one-shot sample layers attached to a pad/instrument context.

Professional gaps:

  • Clarify whether one-shots are drum-pad helpers, instrument embellishments, or both.
  • Add preview button and consistent audition behavior.
  • Add save/load parity and metadata.
  • Add root-note/tuning behavior if used melodically.
  • Add visible mapping/layer state so hidden always-on sounds do not surprise the user.
  • Keep effect routing in Mixer/Lane channel strips.

Cross-Engine Professional Requirements

  • Every public engine needs: save patch, load patch, init patch, dirty-state display, factory bank, category metadata, and useful tooltips/manual entries.
  • Every tonal engine needs: A440 pitch verification, chord-safe presets, pitch-bend behavior, mod wheel behavior, sustain behavior where relevant, and panic reliability.
  • Every expensive engine needs: quality mode, voice cap, CPU reporting, and presets that avoid accidental 100% CPU spikes.
  • Every sample-based engine needs: missing-file repair, archive packaging, metadata, and predictable root/tuning behavior.
  • Every drum/lab engine needs: render-to-sample, level normalization, transient safety, and Flux Nodes compatibility where musically useful.
  • Every UI page needs: consistent knob sizing, readable labels, no clipped controls, no hidden controls underneath buttons, and no duplicate mixer controls inside synth pages.

Immediate Code Direction

  • Keep mixer send APVTS parameters in place for channel strips and existing projects.
  • Do not include mixer sends in internal patch save/load lists.
  • Do not let factory preset loading silently alter mixer sends.
  • Hide legacy synth-page send controls where the old UI still has bound sliders.
  • Keep lane/mixer send state as mix state, not instrument-patch state.

2026-07-15 Automated Audio Gate

The processor-level smoke gate now verifies finite, non-silent note-on output plus clean note-off voice retirement for:

  • Internal Engine, Classic Machines, Physical Modeling, and Redshift.
  • Kick Lab, Snare Lab, and Hat Lab.
  • Propulsion 1, Liftoff, Glass Moon, Moonshadow, and Lunacy.
  • All nine TG55 factory programs: Bell, Brass, Choir, Percussion, Pluck, Glass String, String, Synthetic, and Woodwind.

All 21 cases pass. The engine registry is also checked for exactly 15 unique choices with TG55 at the stable final index. TG55's dedicated core suite passes sample-rate pitch checks, sixteen-voice polyphony and release cleanup, Element zones/crossfades, looping and one-shot behavior, factory programs, schema round trips/migration, malformed asset rejection, and extreme-value stability.

SoundFont and Quasar are asset-backed samplers and therefore require valid fixture assets for an honest playback gate. They are not counted as self-contained synthesis passes. Silent sample rendering now reports failure rather than producing a misleading successful result.

2026-07-17 Public-Build Audio Output Gate

The automated gate proves the self-contained engines are alive, but public readiness needs one broader pass at the correct time: immediately after MIDI closeout stabilizes and before any beta/public build is called shippable.

Checklist for that pass:

  • Instantiate every synth, lab, sampler, SoundFont lane, and Quasar lane from the current Instrument Bay workflow.
  • Load INIT plus one known-safe musical preset for each engine.
  • Play a short single note, a short chord where tonal, and a Stop/Panic cycle.
  • Confirm non-silent output, no stuck notes, no runaway CPU, and correct channel-strip routing.
  • Confirm preset save/load preserves the patch and does not alter mixer effects sends.
  • Confirm asset-backed engines report missing files clearly and pass when given known-good fixture assets.
  • Confirm drum/lab engines still render or route correctly after Flux Nodes and render-to-sample changes.

2026-07-29 Beta Readiness QA Checklist Surface

The beta readiness health model now exposes an instrumentAudioQaChecklist array so the Instrument and Sampler Audio QA blocker is concrete instead of rhetorical. The checklist covers Internal Engine, Classic Machines, Physical Modeling, Redshift, SoundFont, Kick Lab, Snare Lab, Hat Lab, Propulsion 1, Liftoff, Glass Moon, Moonshadow, Lunacy, Quasar, Layers Sampler, One-Shots, and TG55.

This does not replace human listening. It turns the public-build pass into an inspectable cockpit item: each engine still needs audible output, Stop/Panic cleanup, CPU sanity, preset recall, mixer routing, and asset repair proof where relevant.

2026-08-01 Fresh-State And Playability Audit

Standard INIT Contract

Every self-contained tonal engine created as a fresh Arranger Instrument now follows this baseline:

  • Concert pitch: MIDI note 69 resolves to A440 within one cent.
  • One audible fundamental; secondary oscillators/operators are silent until intentionally enabled.
  • No inherited semitone offset, fine detune, pitch spread, inharmonicity, random pitch, unison detune, gate depth, or modulation depth.
  • Fast but click-safe attack, useful sustain, and bounded release.
  • Filter bypassed/open, resonance and filter-envelope amount neutral.
  • Drive, fold, cross-modulation, noise, and motion neutral.
  • No mixer effects state is part of the instrument patch.
  • Stop, note-off, sustain release, Panic, and the voice watchdog can retire every voice.

Corrections In This Pass

  • Propulsion 1: fresh lanes now force a single tuned oscillator, silence oscillators 2/3, and neutralize unison detune/spread.
  • Liftoff: fresh lanes now remove the retained second-oscillator interval, fine detune, sub level, unison, warp, and motion.
  • Glass Moon: fresh lanes now silence operators 2-4 and clear operator fine offsets and feedback.
  • Moonshadow: fresh lanes now clear stretch, inharmonicity, motion, and noise.
  • Lunacy: INIT and fresh-lane creation now set pitch spread to zero and clear pitch, motion, freeze, reverse, and LFO depth.
  • All internal synth, lab, Classic, Physical Model, SoundFont, and TG55 rotary controls now use shared instrument drag sensitivity rather than multi-screen mouse travel.
  • SoundFont and Quasar are no longer offered as source-less fresh Instrument lanes. They remain asset-backed engines and must begin with a loaded source.

Confirmed Architecture

  • The shared voice pool supports note-off, sustain-aware release, source-aware release, Panic, finite voice retirement, and a bounded watchdog.
  • Physical Model, Redshift, Propulsion 1, Liftoff, Glass Moon, Moonshadow, Lunacy, TG55, and the drum labs have deterministic internal rendering paths.
  • SoundFont and Quasar require fixture assets for honest output validation and should never be counted as self-contained synthesis passes.

Deferred Listening Evidence

The automated gates prove finite/non-silent output and release contracts, but the beta candidate still needs a human pass for perceived loudness, timbral usefulness, chord quality, and CPU behavior at representative polyphony. That evidence belongs in the public-build audio QA checklist rather than being inferred from code inspection.

2026-08-27 Redshift Maturity Register

Redshift is the lineup's general-purpose subtractive instrument. Its living user documentation is docs/Redshift_User_Manual.md; behavior and manual changes are one release unit.

Completed foundation: two-oscillator synthesis, twelve procedural waveforms, filter types, 6/12/18/24 dB low/high-pass slopes, envelopes, mono/legato/glide, tempo motion routes for eight Tone destinations, patch persistence coverage, and focused audio/lane-isolation tests.

Next high-impact source expansion: single-cycle oscillator libraries for both oscillators. Readiness requires anti-aliased tables, deterministic pitch/phase, embedded-asset provenance, user-library repair/archive behavior, preset recall, cross-lane isolation, and CPU measurements at realistic polyphony. User files must never silently become embedded redistribution assets.

Implemented source-library increment: both oscillators now load arbitrary cycle files or categorized embedded AKWF resources independently. The watched user folder is shared with Prismatic Temple's catalog but Redshift owns separate immutable tables per Instrument slot and oscillator. Project and patch recall, portable archive collection, missing-file receipts, folder repair, stale-receipt rejection, and embedded-resource recall are covered by the focused Redshift gate. The same gate now measures 16-voice procedural, one-cycle, and two-cycle renders; the first recorded release run was 4.54% / 3.74% / 3.77% of the realtime window.