Carla 2.5.8

Carla is an audio plugin host, with support for many audio drivers and plugin formats. It has some nice features like automation of parameters via MIDI CC (and send output back as MIDI too) and full OSC control. Carla currently supports LADSPA (including LRDF), DSSI, LV2, VST2/3 and AU plugin formats, plus SF2 and SFZ file support. It uses JACK as the default and preferred audio driver but also supports native drivers like ALSA, DirectSound or CoreAudio. There are 4 types of engine processing: Single-client: (JACK driver only) Same as Multi-client, except that all JACK ports belong to a single master client. This is needed when a setup doesn't support multi-client JACK apps, such as LADISH. Multi-client: (JACK driver only) Every single plugin is exposed as a new JACK client. Audio and MIDI ports are registered as needed. Rack: Plugins are processed in order, from top to bottom. Plugins with non-stereo audio channels are not supported, but a forced-stereo option is available for Mono ones. Patchbay: Modular patchbay mode, just like in JACK Multi-client and many other modular applications. Every plugin gets its own canvas group and ports allowing you to interconnect plugin audio and MIDI.

Tags c++ midi mixers sound-synthesis audio
License GNU LGPLv3
State stable

Recent Releases

2.5.818 Jan 2024 12:14 minor feature: Fix double backslash encoding in pre-included serd Fix a few minor ttl details in carla.lv2 (to make validators happy) Fix potential audio buffer overflow issues due to over-optimization in math utilities Fix winevst for DLL_PROCESS_ATTACH
2.5.730 Sep 2023 12:15 minor feature: Allow configuration of Carla client name when headless (via CARLA_CLIENT_NAME env var) Fix save missing LV2 files Fix some wine bridge details
2.5.618 Aug 2023 12:20 minor feature: Fix compatibility of plugin discovery with newer 2.6.x tools Fix crash when using JACK under Linux ARM Fix carla-lv2 pre-run with 0 frames Fix carla-vst GUI for high-dpi screens Fix carla-native-plugin library exported symbols Show custom error message when trying to start JACK driver without JACK Skip special treatment for LADISH (do not set session management hints)
2.5.503 Jul 2023 05:05 minor feature: Allow IPC during plugin discovery (controlled by external tools) Expose a few extra APIs in carla-utils library Install extra carla-utils related headers during make install Fix invalid/empty LV2 paths for compatibility with lilv Fix LV2 plugin state for plugin bridges Fix showing engine device settings on systems without JACK Fix usage with LMMS on Windows Remove use of REAL_BUILD macro, no longer needed Tweaks for integration in OBS Other minor fixes and cleanup
2.4.116 Oct 2021 07:25 minor feature: Better handling of VST3 parameters (hide as needed, number of steps, etc). compatibility with Python 3.10. getting the proper X11 UIs size for more plugins. plugin bridges not automatically closing if main Carla dies on macOS (similar to how it is done on Linux). unused parameters preventing real ones from showing up in the edit plugin dialog. CarlaNativePlugin.h and CarlaPluginPtr.hpp header files not installed system-wide. XY-Controller GUI missing on "make install" target. VST2 plugins under macOS and High-DPI. Replace -lpthread usage with -pthread, ing RISC-V builds. Send keyboard and focus events as needed/possible to VST2 and VST3 UIs. Small tweaks to XY-Controller (make lines 1px thick, UI with Esc key). Special tweaks for static plugin target build (embeding carla statically in other applications/plugins). Other minor and tweaks.
2.4.020 Aug 2021 11:45 minor feature: Add option to use classic skin by default. Add support for lv2 ui gtk bridges on any system. Set display scale factor for carla-bridge-*/carla-single standalone usage (on macOS and X11 systems). Linux VST3 plugin GUIs crash on. Build under msys2 (will not force static binaries). Keyboard focus for bridges on macOS (2nd attempt). Canvas icon in settings to be high-dpi compatible. Wrong scale factor of plugin GUIs under macOS.
2.3.209 Aug 2021 11:25 minor feature: Add 32x32 icon. Do not show "--gdb" in usage/help when not installed system-wide. Default SF2 search path. Keyboard focus for bridges on macOS. X11-UIs related regressions in v2.3.1.
2.3.117 Jul 2021 16:05 minor feature: Add NSLocalNetworkUsageDescription and NSMicrophoneUsageDescription in macOS builds. Allow canvas eyecandy for Qt = 5.12. Alternative approach to deal with JACK postponed events (improves PipeWire usage). Implement parameter groups for VST2 plugins. Ignore hosts calling Carla-VST effOpen twice (don't print errors). Listen to Windows and X11 plugin UI resize events (without extensions). Make some macOS dialogs modal. Remove favorite plugins from list when they fail to load. Update JUCE plugin code to new APIs, hook into VST2 for feature parity with native implementation. Use new tick_double for JACK transport. Use posix_spawn to launch macOS bridges. Available decimal points on a few dialogs being incorrect. Bridged plugin UIs appearing behind main carla window on macOS. Canvas auto-refreshing on exit, potentially leading to crash. Canvas split/join action. Carla-vst-wine symbol visibility. Default rack "skin" for a few plugins. Initial size for LV2 UIs with no UI resize extension (all OSes). Loading state of Windows/macOS VST2 plugins without chunk. MacOS binaries not being de/symbol stripped. Midi-pattern plugin having double notes on transport reposition. Race condition (and potential crash) around postponed RT events. Qt = 5.10 version checks. Unused JACK latency callbacks (removed). X11 UIs not having keyboard focus.
2.3.015 Apr 2021 17:05 minor feature: a float vs int usage, which will break in python soon. Cancelling plugin discovery. Main client name for multiple carlas inside NSM. Missing vst3 poly aftertouch. Patchcanvas use of keyboard modifiers. Project filename/folder only set after saving once. Recursive VST2 audioMasterAutomate parameter changes. Sorting plugins by favorite. Do not run 2nd instance of lv2 plugin if it has event output(s). Read lv2 midi:binding on control ports and parameters. Use Ctrl+P to open/side panel. Use buffers on standalone bridge mode. Midipattern: overall up. Midipattern: use Esc key to UI.
2.3-alpha213 Oct 2020 03:25 minor feature: Special macOS 10.12 treatment for Carla-Control as done for Carla . Clear up which symbols are exposed in utils and standalone libs. . bridge build. . Ammend last commit, use BUILD_BRIDGE_ALTERNATIVE_ARCH. . Bump version to alpha2.
2.3-alpha127 Sep 2020 03:45 minor feature: GCC4 compatibility in clang Signed-off-by: falkTX lt;falktx@falktx.com gt;.
2.2.0-RC322 Sep 2020 14:45 minor feature: Match macos local env with build script Signed-off-by: falkTX lt;falktx@falktx.com gt;.
2.2.0-RC207 Sep 2020 13:45 minor feature: Bump linux script download Signed-off-by: falkTX lt;falktx@falktx.com gt;.
2.2.0-RC119 Jul 2020 07:25 minor feature: Add new CARLA_CUSTOM_SAFE_ASSERT . Protect backend from a few late calls after engine request. . Change an error message. . Protect jack metadata usage with a mutex; other position. Protect *all metadata access, even in bridge mode. . Some attention to inline display. . up icons. . Pass DLS/GIG files into fluidsynth if version is recent enough. . Use newlocale methods in CarlaScopedLocale to be thread-safe. . Ignore errors from non-native vst3 files. . Force discovery to be in "C" (english) so we can parse errors. . for vst2 plugins that crash on init. . Try to load vst2 plugin again if first time plugin blows up. . Tweak previous commit to work under plugin bridges too. . build in some systems. . Tweak code for canvas group positions. . Add action to copy canvas as image to clipboard. . bridged discovery build. . Check for updated program names during audioMasterUpdateDisplay. . build. . strict build. . Update JUCE. . Add new files from juce. . VST2: creation of a rack when one of the parameters is a NaN. . Add missing QPainterPath include. . wrong assertion with size 1 MIDI messages in carla-patchbay. . Fully Scalable UI Part 1. . wrong custom dial arcs value and add from #1126. . Fully Scalable UI Part 2. . Change the way plugins are deleted, ensure they are not being used. . patchcanvas: ports text width calculation. . patchcanvas: some groupos with inline display becoming too small. . Improve performance of inline display rendering. . build, partially. . Backwards compatible std::shared_ptr. . typo. . bridge build. . Avoid comparing shared_ptr directly to nullptr. . a couple of with carla-plugin. . carla-control adding more than 1 plugin. . carla-control not handling CLI arg for custom address. . New internal CLI arg "--osc-gui=". . Add script used to test carla-plugin as standalone. . Add script to test carla-osc usage locally. . up new scripts to work system-wide, and install them by default. . Make ScalableButton
2.1.112 Jun 2020 03:16 minor feature: Use CARLA_CATCH_UNWIND in the base utils Signed-off-by: falkTX lt;falktx@falktx.com gt;.
2.114 Apr 2020 09:45 minor feature: Add a simple cv2audio plugin. Brown color for CV ports, to make them more easily recognizable. Crash loading LV2 plugin with CV and latency ports. Mingw/gcc-9 build.
2.1-rc231 Mar 2020 16:05 minor feature: missing argument in note-on/off osc example. word-wrap in add-plugin dialog. Windows README.txt line endings. Build windows binaries with -mstackrealign. Don't show side panel in carla-control. Show "Label/URI" instead of just "Label". Keep application signals alive (so Ctrl+C works even while engine is ). Update copyright year.
2.1-rc117 Jan 2020 14:05 minor feature: missing argument in note-on/off osc example. word-wrap in add-plugin dialog. Windows README.txt line endings. Build windows binaries with -mstackrealign. Don't show side panel in carla-control. Show "Label/URI" instead of just "Label". Keep application signals alive (so Ctrl+C works even while engine is ). Update copyright year.
2.1-b1-test108 Oct 2019 09:05 minor feature: missing argument in note-on/off osc example. word-wrap in add-plugin dialog. Windows README.txt line endings. Build windows binaries with -mstackrealign. Don't show side panel in carla-control. Show "Label/URI" instead of just "Label". Keep application signals alive (so Ctrl+C works even while engine is ). Update copyright year.
2.0.025 Sep 2019 15:13 major feature: https://kx.studio/News/?action=view url=carla-200-is-finally-here