Show HN: Vibez – Open-Source Rust Based Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)

Open source DAW · written in Rust

    Perform
    **→**
    Arrange
    **→**
    Mix



    One track, three workspaces, in that order. You **Perform** it from a pad grid,
    you **Arrange** what you played on a linear timeline, and you
    **Mix** it on a real console. Capture is the hinge between the first two: it
    turns a live performance into editable arrangement.

The real grid uses the same keys: 1234 / QWER / ASDF / ZXCV, rebindable in the app.

Perform

Workspace 01Sections are reusable multitrack loops that share your project's tracks, instruments, effects and mixer. You author one with the same editor you use in Arrange, then launch it from the pad grid. The same 16 pads do three jobs, and F1 to F3 pick which.

Sections modeLaunches on a musical boundary: immediate, 1 beat, 1 bar, or end of section. A Section triggered slightly late still lands where you meant it.
Instrument modeThe same 16 pads become a playable instrument for the selected track, with Full Level, 16 Levels and Note Repeat.
Track Mutes modeMute and unmute tracks on that grid, through an anti-click ramp so tails gate cleanly instead of clicking.
SwingModelled on the MPC2000XL. Set it per project, per track, or per clip, and automate it.

Arrange

Workspace 02 · where the performance landsArrange is the linear timeline. Multi-track audio and MIDI, clip drag, resize, split and join, time selection, looping, an overview minimap, warping with tempo follow, a piano roll, and automation across tracks, devices, plugins, buses, sends and master.

Capture is how a performance gets here F5

  Capture records an entire performance, Section launches, live playing, mutes and automation gestures, and writes it into Arrange as ordinary clips and automation lanes you can edit afterwards. It is timed against the audio engine's sample clock, not the UI frame rate. Captured material keeps no reference back to its Sections, so editing a Section later never rewrites a take you already recorded, and everything Capture writes is material you could have drawn by hand.

Mix

Workspace 03A real console rather than a row of faders. Every channel has its own four band EQ, pan, fader, metering, mute and solo. There are buses, returns and sends, the master is an actual channel, and the device rack below follows the selected one. It hosts the built-in synth, sampler and drum rack alongside VST3 and CLAP plugins with their native interfaces.

Keys

The whole keyboardThe pads are the four rows in the middle of the keyboard. Everything else is transport and editing, and the app never steals a key from a text field you are typing in.

Perform

F1Sections mode

F2Track Mutes mode

F3Instrument mode

F4Section Record on and off

F5Capture into Arrange

1

Q

A

ZThe pads, four rows of four, rebindable

[

]Previous and next pad bank

NNote Repeat while held, in Instrument mode. Reserved, so no pad can take it

ShiftShow the instrument target overlay while held

EscCancel a key rebind

Transport and view

SpacePlay and stop

Ctrl

LLoop the arrangement

Ctrl

0Zoom to fit

Ctrl

1

2Narrow and widen the shared grid

Ctrl

3Triplet grid

Ctrl

4Snap to grid

Ctrl

5Adaptive grid

Ctrl

ZUndo

Ctrl

Shift

ZRedo, or

Ctrl

Y

EscStop the audition, then cancel whatever is being edited

Arrange and clips

Ctrl

TAdd an audio track

Ctrl

Shift

TAdd an instrument track for MIDI

Ctrl

↑

↓Move the selected track up and down

Ctrl

C

X

VCopy, cut and paste clips

Ctrl

DDuplicate the selected clip

Ctrl

ESplit at the playhead

Ctrl

JJoin the selected clips

Ctrl

MCreate a clip from the time selection

Ctrl

Shift

LLoop the selected clip

Del

BkspDelete selected notes, otherwise selected clips

ShiftHold to add to the selection

Piano roll and Browser

BToggle draw mode

Ctrl

ASelect every note in the clip

←

→Nudge selected notes by one grid step

↑

↓Transpose selected notes by a semitone

↑

↓With no notes selected, moves through Browser results

EnterImport the selected Browser sample into the arrangement

Alt

←

→Make the Browser narrower and wider

    **On a Mac, press Cmd.** Everywhere these tables say Ctrl, macOS uses Cmd instead.
    The app resolves a single command modifier per platform, so a shortcut never wants Cmd
    for one thing and Ctrl for another.

What it does not do yet

v0.1.4It is an alpha and worth saying so plainly. Linux is the primary development platform; macOS and Windows build and pass CI on every change but get less hands-on testing. Projects save to a self-contained versioned container, but breaking format changes are still possible.

MIDI input. One port at a time, notes only, into the selected instrument track. The pads are computer keys today; controller mapping is the next milestone.

Recording. No audio input, no MIDI recording, and no MIDI output. Section Record and Capture work on what the app itself plays.

Safety nets. No autosave or crash recovery yet, and no audio fades or crossfades.

Download v0.1.4

Released 9 August 2026Direct downloads. Nothing is code signed yet, so macOS and Windows will both want a word with you the first time.

x86_64

        Make the AppImage executable first:
        ```

chmod +x vibez-v0.1.4-linux-x86_64.AppImage
./vibez-v0.1.4-linux-x86_64.AppImage
```

Apple silicon and Intel

        vibez is not notarised with Apple, so macOS will refuse to open it. After dragging it
        to Applications, clear the quarantine flag:
        `xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/vibez.app`
        You can also allow it under System Settings, then Privacy & Security, after the
        first blocked attempt.

x86_64

        The installer is unsigned, so SmartScreen will show a blue warning. Choose
        `More info`, then `Run anyway`.

Or build it yourself

You need a stable Rust toolchain and, for the time stretcher's C++ build, a C++ compiler and libclang. On Linux, also install the audio and device headers.

sudo apt install libasound2-dev libudev-dev libdbus-1-dev git clone https://github.com/alexanderwanyoike/vibez cd vibez && cargo run --release

      Then open `assets/demo.vibez` from the File menu to hear something
      immediately.