SSPACEAGEDOCUMENTATION/
Project and Reference

SPACEAGE by Sample Squad

Updated Aug 30, 2026   |   4.0 KB   |   README.md

SPACEAGE by Sample Squad

SpaceAge is a composition-centered microDAW for developing musical ideas into arranged songs. Its main workspaces bring Drum Composer, Piano Roll, Chord Engine, Arrangement Canvas, Mixer, shared effects, internal Instruments, sampling, project storage, and rendering into one focused application.

Current Product Shape

  • Drum work uses four banks of 16 Pads, the Drum Composer, dedicated Drum Labs, sample layers, one-shots, and per-step performance controls.
  • Non-drum Arrangement lanes own independent Instruments, patches, Mixer destinations, and MIDI-channel policy. MIDI clips remain portable musical data rather than hidden Pad assignments.
  • The Arrangement Canvas supports clips, Sections, loops, snapping, selection, movement, cloning, variants, splitting, resizing, gaps, overview, and lane-aware editing.
  • The Piano Roll and Chord Engine provide note editing, chord markers, theory-aware choices, arpeggiation, and performance controls.
  • Mixer channels own gain, pan, mute, solo, routing, channel processing, and sends to shared effects. Instrument patches do not own hidden Mixer sends.
  • Projects support deterministic blank state, Save, Save As, recovery snapshots, missing-asset repair, and visible load feedback.
  • Whole-song audio rendering follows Arrangement duration, routing, automation, and effect tails. Quasar builds proprietary multisample packages with progress and cancellation.

Instruments And Audio Sources

SpaceAge includes native subtractive, wavetable, FM-style, spectral/additive, granular, physical-model-inspired, and drum-synthesis engines. It also supports user samples, layered samples, one-shots, SoundFont playback, and Quasar multisample packages. Factory sounds and performance remain subject to the hands-on beta matrix before public release claims are approved.

MIDI Boundary

SpaceAge contains a broad MIDI 1.0 software foundation for note and controller recording, editing, routing, automation, import/export, hardware setup, guarded SysEx workflows, clock/transport policy, and diagnostic receipts. Real USB and 5-pin DIN latency, multi-controller behavior, device-specific setup, external DAW round trips, and supported-hardware claims still require saved physical validation.

True MPE, MIDI 2.0, universal hardware compatibility, and hosting user-installed VST instruments or effects are not current product claims. The build may be delivered in standalone and VST3 plug-in formats; that does not mean SpaceAge hosts third-party plug-ins.

Beta And Release Status

This repository is under active pre-beta validation. Automated tests provide substantial evidence for project lifecycle, Arrangement and sequencer transactions, lane-owned Instrument routing, native Instrument safety, Mixer/effects behavior, rendering, and MIDI software contracts. They do not replace human listening, physical MIDI testing, viewport review, clean-machine installation, host validation, accessibility review, or legal and asset-rights signoff.

Do not distribute a customer package unless every item in docs/Release_Readiness_Checklist.md is passed and the release packaging command accepts the exact clean source commit, legal signoff, asset clearance, clean-checkout evidence, and fresh binaries.

Development Build

SpaceAge currently builds with JUCE 8.0.8 for Windows as a standalone application and VST3 plug-in. Release instructions and the reviewed dependency boundary live in docs/Build_Test_Package_Workflow.md and docs/Third_Party_Code_And_Licenses.md.

Performance Engineering Rule

Performance is part of feature correctness. New work must predict scaling and idle costs before implementation, use CPU-conscious architecture, and verify the result afterward. The permanent rule, accepted optimization history, rejected experiments, and forward impact register live in docs/Performance_Optimization_Rule_And_Impact_Report.md.

Redshift's living user guide is docs/Redshift_User_Manual.md. Any user-visible Redshift control, motion, oscillator, filter, patch, or workflow change must update that manual in the same development pass.