mtrack

mtrack is a multitrack audio, MIDI, and lighting player for live performances. It runs on small devices like the Raspberry Pi and is designed to be controlled remotely — from your feet, a phone, or any device with a browser — so you never have to babysit a computer on stage.

Dashboard

Features

Multi-format audio playback — WAV, FLAC, MP3, OGG, AAC, M4A, AIFF via Symphonia. Automatic transcoding to match your audio device.
MIDI playback and control — Play back MIDI files, emit MIDI events on song selection, and control the player via MIDI. Beat clock output for syncing external gear.
DMX lighting engine — Tag-based, venue-agnostic lighting system with a custom DSL for effects, cues, and sequences. Real-time effects engine with OLA integration for DMX output.
Web UI — Full browser-based interface for playback control, song management, lighting show authoring, playlist editing, and hardware configuration. Includes a DAW-style timeline editor with integrated playback preview and real-time stage visualization.
Zero-config startup — Point mtrack at a directory of songs and it works. No config file required. Bulk import entire song libraries from the filesystem.
Lock mode — Safety mechanism for live shows. Lock the player to prevent accidental configuration changes while keeping playback controls active.
MIDI-triggered samples — Low-latency sample playback via MIDI or piezo audio triggers with velocity scaling, voice management, and release groups.
Terminal UI — Optional ratatui-based TUI with playlist, now-playing, fixture colors, and log panel.
Hardware profiles — Per-machine hardware configurations with hostname-based profile selection. Carry the same config across rehearsal and show rigs.
Remote control — gRPC and OSC interfaces for external control and status reporting.
Systemd integration — Generated service file with security hardening for production deployments.

Quick Start

Install via cargo:

$ cargo install mtrack --locked

Start the player (zero-config):

$ cd /path/to/my/songs
$ mtrack start

Or point at a specific directory:

$ mtrack start /path/to/my/songs

Existing config files still work:

$ mtrack start /path/to/mtrack.yaml

The web UI will be available at http://localhost:8080. Use the web UI to import songs, create playlists, configure hardware, and author lighting shows.

Timeline editor

Documentation

For full documentation, see the mtrack book.

Topics covered include:

Getting started — installation, device discovery, song setup, and player configuration
Web UI — dashboard, song browser, timeline editor, playlist editor, configuration, and lock mode
Interfaces — terminal UI, gRPC, and OSC control
Configuration — hardware profiles, samples, and triggers
Lighting — lighting system overview, fixture configuration, effects, and cueing
Deployment — systemd setup and service hardening

Building

mtrack uses a Makefile for build tasks. With devbox installed:

$ devbox shell
$ make build

Other useful targets: make test, make lint, make fmt, make docs, make docs-serve.

License