A multi-stem radio broadcaster built on Ableton Link.

LinkRadio is a daemon that broadcasts tempo-synced, multi-stem audio loops over a local network. All listeners on the same Link session hear the same loop at the same time — determined by UTC clock, no central coordination needed.

• Fetches a JSON manifest from an HTTP server describing scheduled loops
• Each loop has 4 stem channels: drums, bass, harmony, melody
• A UTC-based scheduler deterministically picks which loop to play — all instances worldwide agree without coordination
• Audio is broadcast via Ableton Link for beat/tempo sync
• Manifest is re-fetched every 60s, enabling live programming

{
  "sections": [{
    "start_time": "2020-01-01T00:00:00Z",
    "end_time": "2030-12-31T23:59:59Z",
    "loop_duration_seconds": 30,
    "loops": [{
      "id": "my_loop",
      "bpm": 120.0,
      "beats": 8,
      "stems": {
        "drums": "drums.wav",
        "bass": "bass.wav",
        "harmony": "",
        "melody": ""
      }
    }]
  }]
}

Empty stem paths = silence on that channel.

WAV files only. PCM 16-bit or 24-bit, mono or stereo (stereo is mixed down to mono).

git submodule update --init --recursive
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build .

Binary goes to build/bin/LinkRadio.

LinkRadio <host> <manifest-path> [port]

Example:

LinkRadio example.com /manifest.json 8080

A test server with a manifest and sample loops is included:

cd examples/linkradio/test_server
python3 generate_test_loops.py
python3 -m http.server 8080

Then in another terminal:

./build/bin/LinkRadio localhost /manifest.json 8080

Ableton Link is dual licensed under GPLv2+ and a proprietary license. If you would like to incorporate Link into a proprietary software application, please contact link-devs@ableton.com.