Questions.
What people ask about tapey-1, the free tape synth. Something missing? Write to hello@isaque.me.
Playing it
What is tapey-1?
A synthesizer, a drum machine, a sampler and a four-track tape in one small panel. Everything you play goes through the tape, so it comes out a little warm, wobbly and aged, like an old cassette deck. It's free and open source.
Do I need to know music software to use it?
No. Open it and press a key: the middle row of your computer keyboard plays notes, and the first sound already goes through the tape. The screen shows what each knob does in that knob's colour, and every change can be undone.
Where does it run?
In a web browser at play.tapey.org, with nothing to install. As a desktop app on macOS, Windows and Linux. As an AU, VST3 and CLAP plugin inside Logic, Ableton Live and other music programs. Downloads.
Does it work on a phone or tablet?
Yes, on iPhone, iPad, Android and Chromebook, in the browser. You can also add it to your home screen, where it opens full screen like an app. Turn the phone sideways for the whole panel.
Can I use my MIDI keyboard?
Yes, in Chrome, Edge and the desktop app. Safari doesn't let websites use MIDI devices. You can also map any knob on your controller to a knob on the panel, with Remap.
Can I record my own sounds?
Yes. Press mic, then a key, and whatever the microphone heard becomes an instrument on that key. You can also drop in sound files.
Can I save a song, or take it into other software?
A whole song saves as one .tapey file: sounds, samples, sequences, the mix and the tape. You can also export the mix or each track as WAV or FLAC.
How it works
Why is it so small and fast?
The sound engine is written in Rust and runs in the browser as WebAssembly, which browsers run almost as fast as an installed program. The whole instrument is about 3.5 MB, smaller than one photo from a phone.
What is Rust?
A programming language for software that has to be fast and must not crash. The same Rust code becomes the browser version, the desktop app and the plugins, so everyone plays the same instrument.
Won't a synth in a browser lag?
The sound runs on the browser's own audio thread, apart from the screen, so scrolling or switching tabs doesn't interrupt it. If you hear clicks on a slower computer, pick a safer setting under Settings, Latency.
Does it need the internet?
Only the first time you open it. After that it works offline. The sound is made on your own device, not on a server.
Do I need an account? Do you collect my data?
No account, no ads and no trackers. Your songs stay on your device unless you save them somewhere yourself. tapey-1 only goes online to fetch the shared library of sounds.
Free and open source
Is it really free? What's the catch?
It's free, with nothing to buy and nothing locked. It's a personal project, given away.
What happens if the author stops working on it?
tapey-1 is released under the GNU GPL, a free software licence: every version released under it stays free, and anyone can copy the code, fix it and keep it going.
How do I share my own sounds?
Sounds, drum kits, samples and panel layouts are shared through the community library on GitHub. Each one passes an automatic check (data only, 1 MB at most, no links) and is approved by a person before it reaches everyone. How to share yours.
It says alpha. What does that mean?
It works, and it has rough edges. If something breaks or feels wrong, tell me or write to hello@isaque.me. Testers shape what gets fixed first.
How it was made
Who made it?
Isaque Seneda, an independent developer from Brazil. tapey-1 is a personal project.
Was it made with AI?
Yes. AI coding agents wrote a lot of the code, over a few weeks. Isaque decided what the instrument is and how it should sound and feel, and played it until it was right. All the code is public, so anyone can read it.
Did AI make the sounds?
No. Every sound comes from tapey-1's own synth engines: 26 sounds and eight drum kits.
I'm writing about tapey-1. Where are the images?
In the press kit: the panel in light and dark, the icon and the wordmark, free to use. For anything else, write to hello@isaque.me.