Ableton Link node addon

Ableton Link native addon for Node.

Realized using node-addon-api (supported by Node) and always the latest version of Ableton Link.

Tested Env

OS tested:

• Ubuntu 18.04 running on WSL on Windows 10
• Windows 10

Node versions tested:

• 13.13.0
• 12.0.0
• 10.16.0
• All versions < 10.16.0 doesn't work

Requisites

To run this project you need the G++ compiler (4.8 or above), Python (v2.7, v3.5, v3.6, v3.7, or v3.8) and Node (10.16.0 or above)

Linux

Run this command to install requisites:

sudo apt-get install g++ python

Windows

You need the windows-buil-tools that containt boot G++ and Python, to install run:

npm install -g windows-buil-tools

Dependencies

• Ableton Link
• node-addon-api
• bindings

Install

The installation will download all the dependencies and also compile the AbletonLink source code for the current enviroment.

During the installation the program you will see all the logs of the compilation. The logs depends on your compiler and version.

GitHub

Run the script:

git clone --recursive https://github.com/Onni97/abletonlink-node-addon
cd abletonlink-node-addon
npm install

Important: --recursive is required to download the submodules

npm

The package is also avaiable in npm, so you can simply execute:

npm install abletonlink-addon

or add the dependency to your package.json

Examples

To run the included examples you need readline-sync. Install it with:

npm install readline-sync

Usage

This module exposes a class that interracts with the native code of Ableton Link.

const AbletonLinkAddon = require("ableton-link-addon");
var link = new AbletonLinkAddon.AbletonLink();

Every single instance rapresents a partecipant in the session

Constructor

The constructor initialises the addon and sets the default values:

• the session is enabled
• quantum = 4
• tempo = 120 (if the session isn't already started)
• the object will use the application thread functions
• the beat starts from 0
• the start/stop syncronization in disabled
• the start/stop state is stopped

Methods - 1

These methods don't depend on the application/audio thread setting.

They have thread-safety and realtime-safety properties: When a method is marked thread-safe, it means it is safe to call from multiple threads concurrently. When a method is marked realtime-safe, it means that it does not block and is appropriate for use in the thread that performs audio IO.

- isEnabled

Says if Link syncronization is enabled

thread-safe :heavy_check_mark: | realtime-safe :heavy_check_mark:

isEnabled() : boolean

@returns true if Link syncronization is enabled, false otherwise

- enable

Enables Link syncronization

thread-safe :heavy_check_mark: | realtime-safe :x:

enable()

- disable

Disables Link syncronization

thread-safe :heavy_check_mark: | realtime-safe :x:

disable()

- isStartStopSyncEnabled

Says if start/stop sync is enabled

thread-safe :heavy_check_mark: | realtime-safe :x:

isStartStopSyncEnabled() : boolean

@returns true if start/stop sync is enabled, false otherwise

- enableStartStopSync

Enables start/stop sync

thread-safe :heavy_check_mark: | realtime-safe :x:

enableStartStopSync()

- disableStartStopSync

Disables start/stop sync

thread-safe :heavy_check_mark: | realtime-safe :x:

disableStartStopSync()

- getNumPeers

Says the number of peers connected (doesn't count who calls the method)

thread-safe :heavy_check_mark: | realtime-safe :heavy_check_mark:

getNumPeers() : number

@returns The number of peers

- setNumPeersCallback

Sets the callback to be executed when the number of peer changes

thread-safe :heavy_check_mark: | realtime-safe :x:

setNumPeersCallback(numPeersCallback : function)

@numPeersCallback The callback to be executed, takes the new number of peers as number parameter

- removeNumPeersCallback

Removes the callback to be executed when the number of peer changes

thread-safe :heavy_check_mark: | realtime-safe :x:

removeNumPeersCallback()

- setTempoCallback

Sets the callback to be executed when the tempo changes

thread-safe :heavy_check_mark: | realtime-safe :x:

setTempoCallback(tempoCallback : function)

@tempoCallback The callback to be executed, takes the new tempo as number parameter

- removeTempoCallback

Removes the callback to be executed when the tempo changes

thread-safe :heavy_check_mark: | realtime-safe :x:

removeTempoCallback()

- setStartStopCallback

Sets the callback to be executed when the start/stop sync changes

thread-safe :heavy_check_mark: | realtime-safe :x:

setStartStopCallback(startStopCallback : function)

startStopCallback The callback to be executed, takes the new start/stop state as boolean paramenter

- removeStartStopCallback

Removes the callback to be executed when the start/stop sync changes

thread-safe :heavy_check_mark: | realtime-safe :x:

removeStartStopCallback()

Methods - 2

These methods depend on the application/audio thread setting.

In general, modifying the session state should be done in the audio thread for the most accurate timing results. The ability to modify the session state from application threads should only be used in cases where an application's audio thread is not actively running or if it doesn't generate audio at all. Modifying the Link session state from both the audio thread and an application thread concurrently is not advised and will potentially lead to unexpected behavior.

- getTempo

Returns the current tempo(bpm)

getTempo(cleanResult = false) : number

@cleanResult If the data must be rounded to 2 decimals before return (false by default)

@return The tempo

- setTempo

Returns the current tempo(bpm)

setTempo(tempo)

@tempo The new tempo

- getQuantum

Returns the quantum

getQuantum() : number

@return The quantum

- setQuantum

Sets the quantum

setQuantum(quantum: number)

quantum The new quantum

- getBeat

Returns the current beat

getBeat(cleanResult = false) : number

@cleanResult If the data must be rounded before return (false by default)

@return The beat

- requestBeat

Set the new beat in sync with the session

requestBeat(beat: number)

@beat The new beat

- forceBeat

Set the new beat instantly, not in sync with the session

forceBeat(beat: number)

@beat The new beat

- getPhase

Returns the phase

getPhase(cleanResult = false) : number

@cleanResult If the data must be rounded before return (false by default)

@return The phase

- isPlaying

Says if the session is playing

isPlaying() : boolean

@return True if session is playing, false otherwise

- play

Makes the session play

play()

- stop

Makes the session stop

stop()

- isAudioThread

Says if this is in audio thread mode

isAudioThread() : boolean

@return True if this is in audio thread mode, false if is in app thread mode

- setAppThread

Sets App thread mode

setAppThread()

- setAudioThread

Sets Audio thread mode

setAudioThread()

Examples

There are 2 simple examples in the example directory.

To see an example of web application using this addon you can go here.

License

MIT

Issues

Please open new issues on the GitHub dedicated page.

Author

Me, Alessandro Oniarti